Pure Pleasure Organic Grooves 113 Items

LP | 1974 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1978 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Recording with a sextet at the New York jazz club Sweet Basil in August 1977, McBee’s band included Chico Freeman on reeds, Dennis Moorman on piano, Joe Gardner on trumpet, Steve McCall on drums, and Famoudou Don Moye on percussion. Two complete albums of music were released by Enja Records from this engagement, the ground breaking recordings "Music From The Source" [1978] and "Compassion" [1979]. »Few groups today sound as fresh, generate as high an emotional charge, or leave as lasting an impression as McBee’s sextet,« Chris Albertson wrote upon the release of these recordings. »It is as if each member were a unique piece of a puzzle, carefully placed to complete precisely the breath taking picture intended. The music is adventurous enough to satisfy any aural daredevil who has not completely lost his or her sense of beauty, yet all the basic jazz values have been preserved with due reverence.«

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Cecil McBee

Mutima

LP | 2010 | UK | Original (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1974 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A landmark recording in early creative improvised modern music, bassist Cecil McBee's recording for the Strata East label is an important document introducing him as a leader from the international jazz-based scene in New York City via his native Tulsa, OK and following a brief mid-'60s stint in Detroit. McBee as a pure musician has staggering technique, rich harmonic ideas, and an indefatigable swing, but it is as a composer that he is set apart from other musicians of this mid-'70s era. "Life Waves" is a stunning piece of composed and improvised music, with a brief clarion horn section setting off McBee's chordal strumming and harp bop drive. Trumpeter Tex Allen's brash lines, the incendiary tenor saxophonist George Adams, and more thoughtful alto saxophonist Allen Braufman dig into hefty but contrasting solos, while drummer Jimmy Hopps stokes the coals. The other premier piece, "Mutima", has a soaring longer melody switching on and off onto a samba palate that is pretty, beautiful, and much more introspective than other wild and woolly cuts. The legendary but under recognized flutist Art Webb shines on the floaty free "A Feeling", and the atypical but wholly contemporized "Tulsa Black", a portent to the music that would be made later in this time period by Sonny Fortune, and featuring the wah-wah electric bass guitar work of Cecil McBee, Jr. The two-minute "Voice Of The Seventh Angel" sports the disparity of a complex arrangement alongside the beautiful singing of a young Dee Dee Bridgewater, while the marathon "From Within" has McBee performing solo, but overdubbed on two basses in opposite stereo channels, using serene long-toned arco and static pizzicato in arresting sounds that meld into a bridge squawk reminiscent of the saxophone playing of bandmate Adams. In retrospect, McBee's great career was ostensibly launched well before this recording, having worked with prominently with Charles Lloyd, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Yusef Lateef, Charles Tolliver, and countless others. "Mutima" (translated as "unseen forces") undoubtedly solidified his stature and brilliance as a major player.

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Cab Calloway

Hi De Hi De Ho

Release: 2010 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1956 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Cab Calloway

LP | 2009 | UK | Original (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1956 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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From 1932 to the late 1940’s the period covered by this set, Cab had an orchestra that was about as swinging a band of solid senders as you’d find on the big-band circuit.
Cab projects, in his singing on records, something of the vital magic of his stage presence, a boundless exuberance and enthusiasm. His orchestral backing during the Thirties and Forties included many well-known names in jazz. At various times, Milt Hinton, Danny Barker and Cozy Cole were in his rhythm section.The reeds included the late, great Chu Berry as well as Ben Webster. Dizzy Gillespie was in the band, some members of which, at odd moments, served as a laboratory for the style to be called Bop. »This whole new chord structure idea was interesting to me,« Milt Hinton recalled, »and I would walk the new chords behind his playing.« Cab wasn’t the least enthusiastic. Danny Barker quoted him as saying, »I don’t want you playing that Chinese music in my band.«
The main attraction, however, was always Cab—showman, singer, entertainer. Most audiences didn’t even know that some of his sidemen were candidates for the jazz hall of fame. And that was as it should be. The musicians’ first function was to provide musical backing and a musical setting for the man who was being called 'King of the Hipsters', and this they did, wonderfully well. It was as Barry Ulanov noted in Metronome (January, 1943) a band extraordinary in every respect, hailed for its »clean musicianship, its jazz kicks, its brilliant showmanship«.

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Boz Scaggs

Silk Degrees

Release: 2009 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2010 | UK | Original (Pure Pleasure)

Bobbie Gentry

Ode To Billie Joe

38,99 €*

Release: 2010 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Billy Parker's Fourth World

Freedom Of Speech

LP | 1975 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

LP | 1973 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1975 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Most of the musicians who gathered to record this fantastic spiritual jazz record for the Strata-East label on May 24th, 1974 had crossed each other's paths in various musical pairings over the preceding few years. Husband and wife team Dee Dee Bridgewater (vocals) and Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet) had been working together on albums like Frank Foster's "Loud Minority", and Roy Ayers' "Coffy" and "Virgo Red". Ten weeks before the "Freedom Of Speech" session, the couple had been joined in Tokyo by Cecil's brother Ronald Bridgewater (tenor saxaphone) to record Dee Dee's debut album, the beautiful "Afro Blue". Also in the studio on May 24th, 1974 was Donald Smith, (piano, vocals), fresh from recording on his older brother Lonnie Liston Smith's "Cosmic Funk" - on which Ronald Bridgewater had also played percussion. Cecil McBee (bass) was also there - just two weeks before, he'd completed his own Strata East date "Mutima", and in February he'd played on Mtume's "Rebirth Cycle" - with both albums also featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater on vocals. He'd also played on Lonnie Liston Smith's "Astral Travelling".
So 1974 was a huge year for all five of these people. Donald Smith and Cecil McBee were six months away from recording on Lonnie Liston Smith's massive "Expansions", with McBee fitting in a few Pharoah Sanders albums in between.
AND THEN, THE MYSTERY ... So with all this fervent activity, the question has to be asked ...Who was Billy Earl Parker Jr (drums), the leader of this session?
Billy Parker remains unlisted as a musician on all major jazz sites. His only other recording appears to be as a percussionist on Charles Tolliver's "Impact" in 1975.

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Billy Harper

Capra Black

Release: 1973 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 2012 | UK | Original (Pure Pleasure)

Bill Evans & Jim Hall

Undercurrent

37,99 €*

Release: 2012 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Boss Of The Blues Sings Kansas City Jazz

Big Joe Turner

LP | 1956 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

38,99 €*

LP | 1974 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1956 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Besides helping to invent rock 'n roll with his hit "Shake, Rattle and Roll", Big Joe Turner was one of the most soulful blues shouters of all time. His best albums married the boogie-woogie piano stylings of the great Pete Johnson with a jazzy jumpin' horn section. "Boss Of The Blues" is arguably Joe's best recording, in part because he sang with particular gusto during these 1956 sessions. At the time, "Boss Of The Blues" marked a nostalgic return to the jump-blues style that Turner helped pioneer in the '40s. Besides Johnson, Boss featured some of Kansas City's finest ever jazzmen and various members of Count Basie's band, including Joe Newman (trumpet), Pete Brown (alto sax), Lawrence Brown (trombone), Frank Wess (tenor sax) and Freddie Green (guitar). The bawdy "Cherry Red" and the rollicking "Roll 'Em Pete" are my favorite Turner-Johnson collaborations. Both feature some incredible playing by the piano master. Turner's versions of "I Want A Little Girl", "Low Down Dog", "You're Driving Me Crazy", and "Morning Glories" are definitive. If I had to compile a list of my 10 favorite albums, "Boss Of The Blues" would be there.

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Ben Webster

Live At Pio's

LP | 1979 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1974 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A great small club date from Ben Webster – different than some of his European concerts of his final years, in that this one was done at a lounge in Rhode Island, and maybe has a bit more bite and focus overall! The tracks are short, and Webster gets superb rhythm accompaniment from the trio of Junior Mance on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums – who really come out swinging, and push Ben to take some of his boldest solos of the period – plenty of bite throughout, and a fire that you don't always hear on his other 60s recordings. Titles include "Cookin For T", "Sunday", "Pennies From Heaven", "How Long Has This Been Going On", and "Gone With The Wind".

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Babatunde And Phenomena

Levels Of Consciousness

LP | 1965 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1979 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This reissue of an LP cut for the Theresa label contains plenty of exciting music. Percussionist Babatunde Lea takes stirring solos and constantly inspires the ensembles and soloists during a generally high-powered set. The musicians were all based in San Francisco at the time, including guest soloists trumpeter Eddie Henderson and trombonist Julian Priester. The music is Afro-Cuban jazz with bits of 1970s electronics and funk added to the mix. But despite some R&B-ish vocals (which dominate a bit during the last few tracks) and commercial moments, the music is excellent, there are some strong solos.

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Aretha Franklin

Yeah!

Release: 1965 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Archie Shepp & Richard Davis

Body & Soul

LP | 1991 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1991 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Archie Shepp & Mal Mal Waldron

Left Alone Revisited

2LP | 2021 | UK | Original (Pure Pleasure)

50,99 €*

LP | 1959 | UK | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Mal Waldron's first tribute to Billie Holiday, titled "Left Alone", was recorded in 1959, mere months before the singer's death. He returned to salute the legendary vocalist on several occasions since then, with this recording likely being his final tribute, recorded less than a year before his own death. Waldron, who worked with Holiday during her last years, is intimately familiar with her takes of the six standards heard on this disc, along with her own "Lady Sings The Blues". Archie Shepp's often gritty tenor sax is reminiscent of the texture of Holiday's voice, yet he perfectly complements Waldron's lush piano. They also pack a punch with their stark performance of "Left Alone" (Shepp's occasional reed squeaks seem deliberate, as if to imitate breaks in her voice). Waldron also recites Holiday's lyrics set to his composition at the conclusion of the LP. Shepp switches to soprano sax for an emotional take of "Everything Happens To Me" and "I Only Have Eyes for You," with the latter song sounding as if the unheard singer is being ignored by her love interest. Shepp's "Blues For 52nd Street" is both sassy and swinging. This instrumental salute to Billie Holiday is one of the best albums ever to honour her memory.

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Annie Ross & Zoot Sims

A Gasser

37,99 €*

LP | 1981 | US | Reissue (Pure Pleasure)

Release: 1959 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Although best known as a member of the vocalese supergroup Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, the great jazz singer Annie Ross's solo albums are gems unto themselves and "A Gasser!" from 1959 is the finest of them all. Miss Ross is in peak vocal form here and is joined by the great Zoot Sims on saxophone and much of the same band featured on the Lambert, Hendricks & Ross classic "The Swingers". Don't expect any of the vocal acrobatics of the Lambert, Hendricks & Ross recordings however. This is straight-ahead jazz singing by one of the great singers in her prime. From the wry wit of "Everything I've Got" through the sheer perfection and beauty of "You're Nearer", this set is a must-have for jazz vocal fans. Highly recommended.

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Adele Sebastian

Desert Fairy Princess