Naire - Naire 1974

Naire Paulo Siqueira (Goiânia, July 15, 1943), generally known by the stage name Naire, is a musician, composer, producer, publicist, musical therapist, and Brazilian speaker. He began his musical career in church choirs and vocal trios in his homeland, before moving to São Paulo and later to Rio de Janeiro, where he still lives today. Naire is the great-grandson of the artist and sculptor Goiano José Joaquim da Veiga Vale. Obscure album by a sensational artist, released without fanfare by RGE in 1974. Countless partnerships with Paulinho Tapajós, arrangements by Luiz Claudio Ramos and an enviable technical file make this CD a must.

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Earth Quake - Why Don't You Try Me 1972

Most listeners who remember them think of Earth Quake as a mid-'70s band, but the group's roots go back a decade earlier. Indeed, the band started out as part of the mid-'60s band scene in San Francisco, where -- originally known as Purple Earthquake -- they were more than a little bit unusual. The most visible groups working in the city at the time tended to put a combined druggy/folkie spin on electric music, but Earth Quake, consisting of John Doukas (vocals), Robbie Dunbar (guitar, piano, vocals), Stan Miller (bass, vocals), and Steve Nelson (percussion, vocals), were more of a power-pop-cum-hard-rock outfit. They were much closer in spirit to the Flamin' Groovies or the Chocolate Watchband than, say, to the Grateful Dead. They were good enough to attract the attention of Matthew King Kaufman, an aspiring manager who hoped to carry them to national fame and, toward that end, landed them a contract with A&M Records in 1970. At the time, A&M, which had specialized mostly in MOR pop and light jazz releases, was signing some acts with harder and more diverse sounds (it was around the same time that Tarantula was added to their roster), and Earth Quake was among the first hard rock bands on the label. Unfortunately, the label never knew how to market them, and a pair of albums -- a self-titled debut and Why Don't You Try Me? -- failed to ignite any interest from the public. They left the label in 1972, frustrated with their lack of success, though there was one fortuitous event during this period that enabled both the band and their manager to move past this experience in short order -- for reasons that are not exactly clear, the makers of the movie The Getaway (1972), a high-profile, big-budget (and highly successful) thriller starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw, used some of the band's music without getting all of the necessary clearances from the parties involved. When the smoke cleared, this accident proved profitable for the band and, even more so, for their manager.
Kaufman used a portion of the settlement money to set up his own record label, Beserkley Records, in 1973. And Earth Quake, along with Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, the Rubinos, and Greg Kihn, comprised the core of the company's roster. Their debut album for the new label, Rockin' the World, was assembled from live performances and captured the group -- now a five-piece with the addition of Gary Phillips (late of Copperhead) on guitar and vocals -- in some pretty inspired moments, and got them more notice than either of their A&M LPs had. They became something of the house band at Beserkley, playing behind Richman on his signature tune, "Roadrunner" (a song that, as much as any other, defined what he and the label were about). Their later records for the label also included backing vocals by Greg Kihn. The group's final album, Two Years in a Padded Cell, showed up in 1979, and the band finally called it quits a couple of years later. In 2003, two decades after that breakup, a pair of compilations -- Purple: The A&M Recordings (Acadia), assembling their two A&M albums, and Sittin' in the Middle of Madness (Castle), covering the Beserkley recordings -- were released, showcasing the two halves of their history. AMG.

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Mack Sigis Porter - Peace On You 1972

A black African artist, born in Ghana during the English colonial occupation, Mack Porter moved to the Netherlands and then to Italy in the late 60's, releasing here four pop and soul-oriented singles for the small Naples label Fans. In 1969 he won the Un disco per l'Europa song contest in Lugano, Switzerland. Signed to RiFi he made a concept album in 1972, under the name of Mack Sigis Porter, called Peace on you, strongly inspired by psych and slightly progressive atmospheres, with wild guitar solos (and some Hendrix-like vocals) but even some orchestral arrangements. Among the guest musicians, there was keyboardist Vince Tempera from Il Volo. The rare and expensive album was housed in a nice gatefold center-opening cover that had the small cutout of a bird shape in the central part. It's totally untrue that it only came out in a handful of promo copies as some insist. The album was a standard release that had no promotion at all and sold in minimal quantities. The first reissue ever produced for this album has been issued by the German label Shadoks Music in 2006, a wonderful limited pressing of 400 copies with thick cover (center-foldout as the original) and heavy vinyl, absolutely recommended! After his musical career, Porter became a stylist, and he's currently still working in this field under the name Mack Squire.

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24hrdejavu

After several months of absence our good friend is back:

https://24hrdejavu.blogspot.com/

TAKE CARE AND ENJOY!

George Duke - Faces In Reflection 1974

Released in 1974, Faces in Reflection was, in many ways, George Duke's third album as a leader for MPS. The first two, Solus and The Inner Source, were recorded separately but issued as a double-LP by SABA, which shortly thereafter ceased doing business and was folded into MPS. That said, there is little resemblance between the man who recorded his early albums like Save the Country, those aforementioned, and the seasoned studio experimentalist who cut Faces in Reflection. Duke's periods with Cannonball Adderley and Frank Zappa (the latter an ongoing relationship; it was Zappa who introduced Duke to the synthesizer) had taught him a ton musically and about working in the studio. The players here include Leon "Ndugu" Chancler and bassist John Heard. The sound is a seamless mixture of fusion, jazz, funk, and sound experiments; all are quite musical. It is a shock in the present century to even consider that this was Duke's first date as a leader even using a synth -- the ARP 2600 -- because he comes across as a master of its many textures and possibilities. The electric Rhodes and acoustic pianos are still a big part of the sound here, and the radio-friendly chart-topping funk he would cut later in the decade was still a little ways off. The set kicks off on the rock side of jazz and the jazz side of rock with a killer drum break from Chandler in double- and triple-time answered by the synth, bass, and Rhodes piano. Very quick, its funky bassline rumbles and pops playing counterpoint to Chancler's furious drumming. There are chunky wah-wah effects, and a reaching set of harmonic pulses Duke puts forth before his killer Rhodes solo. This cut is followed with Duke's own rendition of "Capricorn," a tune he wrote for the Adderley band (it was originally narrated by Rick Holmes, who wrote the words for the Soul Zodiac album). Its slow, soulful, summery groove is a sharp contrast to "The Opening." Duke's voice, humming and singing wordlessly as a component of the instrumental music, is lovely. It nurtures the free-flowing soul groove in the tune, and his Rhodes plays the chords percussively, allowing Heard an out-front look at the pace in the melody. But Duke's laid-back, in the cut solo on both acoustic and electric pianos, with just a little, dabble from the synth in the later third, makes this one of the great late entries in the classic cosmic soul-jazz book. One of the early, riotous, funky fusion offerings from Duke is "Psychocomatic Dung," and one can hear Joe Zawinul's enormous crescendos signaling a dynamic shift in the track (à la "Boogie Woogie Waltz") in Duke's composition. The bassline in this cut is simply monstrous, almost stealing the leader's thunder, which in turn is eclipsed by the colossal, uber funky pulse in Chancler's breakbeats in triple-time on the snare and ride cymbals. The way the ARP gets used here is also reminiscent of the knottiness in Zappa's early-'70s compositions as well. That said, Duke's ability to absorb these influences and turn them around with Afro-Cuban and other Latin rhythms is just smoking. Chick Corea may have been playing faster and more complex material with Return to Forever, but he had none of the real emotional fire and accessibility that was in Duke's approach even at this time. Corea had all but left jazz behind and Duke was saturating himself in it even as he pursued funky Brazilian, soul, and rock elements in his sound. Check out the mellow, flowing the first version of the title track which closes outside one on the LP. It's a synth drift that begins harmonically altering a simple melody as if it is a mirror of itself. Chancler's drums stroll through the middle, braking, rolling, filling, and putting the lyric frame in the context of a rhythmic statement. Heard just allows his simple pulse to keep both sides together. It's utterly lovely. Brazilian music makes a solid entry on the second half, first in the gorgeous "Maria Tres Filhos," with a wonderful ringing acoustic work articulated on acoustic piano with a ramped up bassline by Heard. Chancler is all over the place on the cymbals and tom-toms. The lyric is complex and full of interesting contrapuntal statements, but it swings like mad. The other entry is the sci-fi samba called "Da Somba." Think of genius Brazilian guitarist and composer Luiz Bonfá meeting Duke instead of Deodato for the killer samba fusion classic "Jacaranda" (that Bonfá had recorded in 1973 with a host of American and homegrown players). You'd get an idea of the passion, fury, and joy inherent in this tune as well as its steaming virtuoso musicianship. The overdriven Rhodes and synth lines asserting a pair of melodies and on-a-dime changes in time and scale, with a bruising upright bassline and thrumming, skittering blurry fast drum kit that is almost impossible to believe -- the drum and bass kids have nothing on Ndugu's hands and feet. The title cut reprises to close the set, with Duke singing a lithe, gentle, and brief melody sending it off into the quiet. It is simply an amazing ride of an album more than three decades after it was recorded, and it is still capable of making the listener's jaw drop. [For those seeking something a little more collectible, SPV has made available at a drastically reduced price the Japanese masters of the album in gatefold cover with a booklet containing the original liners and Duke's reflections on the album, all encased in a sturdy slipcover sleeve to protect the CD. It's more expensive than the Verve version but it a more handsome package. Either way, you cannot go wrong on this one.] AMG.

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Brian Auger And Julie Tippetts - Encore 1978

Julie Driscoll left Trinity, the band she fronted and directed with Brit soul-jazz icon Brian Auger, in 1969. She recorded a pair of solo albums, married Keith Tippett, a brilliant jazz improviser and bandleader, and recorded with Ovary Lodge, a free-form vocal ensemble, in 1977. In 1978 she and Auger reunited for Encore, a one-off studio offering that revealed the hole she'd left in the progressive pop scene of the late '60s. Her voice was in even better shape nearly a decade later: fuller, stronger, more throaty, without giving up a bit of her range. Auger, meanwhile, had remained very active with his groundbreaking soul-jazz-funk ensemble the Oblivion Express. While some complain that these sides don't have the Swinging London imprint on them, that would be because they stayed back there in the musty, dusty pop history bin. Listening to Encore in the 21st century is nearly a revelation. Auger, for his part as the band's musical director on his trademark B-3, acoustic piano, and a slew of electronic keyboards, is a strictly no-BS performer. He's as straight-ahead as they get, and Julie Tippetts understands that the root of the song is in its intention. Together, they make a nearly flawless pair on these nine cuts. Nowhere is this clearer than on the two tracks previously defined by other vocalists. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," while oft-covered, had never come close to Eric Burdon & the Animals' version. Tippetts, however, plasters the song with bluesy feeling and a smoldering, nearly angry plea. Then there's Jack Bruce's "Rope Ladder to the Moon." Tippetts implicitly understands the jazz feel of the tune as Bruce wrote it. The funky backdrop bassline by David McDaniels doesn't even muddy it up. Auger's Rhodes piano and B-3 and George Doering's gorgeous acoustic guitar playing are certainly the pegs the tune turns on, but it's Tippetts who delivers the authority and dark secret in this song about love's cruelty.
And, of course, there's Pops Staples' "Freedom Highway," in which the vocalist here gives Mavis Staples a run for her money in offering the sense of determination and joy in the gospel and blues shout she got to use so rarely in her solo career. But there's more than this, too: Tippetts and Auger deliver the album's two bookends written by Al Jarreau, "Spirit" and "Lock All the Gates," as harder, funkier jazz numbers while never losing the airiness at their core. On the former, Tippetts is prodded and edged to the ledge by Auger and McDaniels, and the tune nearly lifts off. The only weak spot on this whole set is the Auger vocal on Milton Nascimento's "Nothing Will Be as It Was." It's not that the tune wouldn't have been a standout on an Oblivion Express record, but on this one, it's pale in comparison to the solid groove consciousness and expression in Tippetts' Earth angel voice. Auger wrote a couple of winners here as well in both "Git Up" and "Freedom Pilot," and they stand up with the canonical tracks just fine. The former is as jazzy funk tune with some knotty twists and turns that Tippetts pulls off without a seam, and the latter is a soul groover. Finally, it should be mentioned that "No Time to Live," the Steve Winwood-Jim Capaldi tune, is given all the elegance of the original, but Tippetts adds her own sense of smoke and fire to its lyric, turning it inside out as a soul tune. The lead work of Doering as it punches through Auger's fat acoustic piano makes this little ballad soar. Ultimately, this is as necessary as any of the previous Auger/Driscoll (nee Tippetts) collaborations and aurally reveals that for the two of them, time may move on, but their collaborative spirit is nearly effortless in its balance, dignity, feeling, and poise. AMG.

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Central Nervous System - I Could Have Danced All Night 1968

The band was originally known as "Five Sounds" and included keyboardist Joe Sealy. They released two singles in 1965 and 1966 on Epic which charted on Halifax radio station CHNS. In 1968 the "Five Sounds" were the house band on CBC television's "Where It's At" (the local segment of the national series) which was hosted by Frank Cameron and produced in Halifax.

In 1968 the band went to New York to record "I Could Have Danced All Night" album and changed the name to "Central Nervous System" at the suggestion of Mark Joseph who worked at the Record Plant where the album was recorded. The album consisted of Billard and Jollimore penned originals and cover of Lonnie Mack's "Why" which was not listed on the album cover. Album was produced by Tom Wilson (Zappa, Dylan) and Eddie Kramer (Hendrix, Stones) was one of the engineers.

The band split up in 1969 just before the album had a chance to try itself in the marketplace and dates were lined up to tour in the United States. Billard and White both went on to play in "Pepper Tree" at different times. Oakley switched to lead guitar and was a founding member of "Soma". Jollimore and Cassidy both went to Lighthouse.

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Gale Garnett and the Gentle Reign - An Audience with the King of Wands 1969

Say what you like about the 1960s, but it would be no easy task trying to identify another decade of the late twentieth century when music as singular as this would have made its way onto record. On the surface, this is music typical of the era. It's only with repeated listening that its singularity emerges, with influences from all quarters and then some merging into a brew that's both heady and a little unsettling.
Gale Garnett has a resonant, chestnut brown voice that belies her winsome appearance on the cover, and she applies it to a range of material that might have tested the interpretative power of a more accomplished, "correct" singer. That in itself contributes in no small part to the appeal of "Ballad For F. Scott Fitzgerald" where, over an accompaniment of guitar and strings, she hints at the unlikely amalgam of Bobbie Gentry and Julie London.

Such pigeonholing as that might imply has no place here, however, especially when the nuanced "Word Of Advice" makes a political point in something other than the naive counter-cultural norm of the day. The Gentle Reign comes into its own on this one with its mixture of folk and beat group stylings.

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CCS - CCS 1970

CCS - Collective Consciousness Society - was an unlikely collaboration between blues traditionalist Alexis Korner (b. 19 April 1928, Paris, France, d. 1 January 1984, London, England; vocals/guitar), producer Mickie Most (b. Michael Peter Hayes, 20 June 1938, Aldershot, Hampshire, England, d. 30 May 2003, London, England), and arranger John Cameron (b. 1944, England). Formed in 1970, the unit revolved around Korner and long-time associate Peter Thorup (b. 14 December 1948, d. 3 August 2007; vocals), plus several of Britain’s leading jazz musicians, including Harry Beckett, Henry Lowther, Kenny Wheeler, Les Condon (trumpets), Johnnie Watson, Don Lusher (trombones), Ronnie Ross, Danny Moss (saxophones), Ray Warleigh (flute), Herbie Flowers, Spike Heatley (basses), Barry Morgan and Tony Carr (drums) and Bill Le Sage (tuned percussion). Although the exact line-up was determined by availability, the unit’s commercial, brass-laden sound remained intact over three albums. CCS enjoyed several hit singles, each of which was marked by Korner’s distinctive growl. Their version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’, which served as the theme to BBC television’s Top Of The Pops, reached number 13 in 1970, and the following year they enjoyed two UK Top 10 entries with ‘Walkin’’ and ‘Tap Turns On The Water’. CCS was dissolved in 1973 when Korner and Thorup formed Snape with Boz Burrell (bass) and Ian Wallace (drums), two former members of King Crimson. AMG.

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Fynn McCool - Fynn McCool 1970

A short-lived progressive underground rock outfit whose album is now rare and sought-after. It's reputed to contain some good instrumental interplay and to maintain a consistently high quality of material throughout. The 1960’s came to an end, and the new decade looked promising for the group. Soon they started recording at Olympic Studios, and their style would be far different from the Shake Spears. Fynn McCool now was into heavier, progressive tunes – no more pop for Belgian kids. Their first record, “U.S. Thumbstyle” / “Diamond Lil'” (RCA 1956; A-side by Chris Stone, B-side by Mick Fowler) was released in May 1970 and the group’s album was still being completed, when RCA suddenly decided to release it prematurely in August 1970 – the tracks were not fully worked out and the model that was being built for the cover art wasn’t finished either.

Fynn McCool turned out to be a fluctuating group, as by the time the album (recorded with the initial line up) came out, the line up had already been changed, as two more ex-Grapefruit members, Bob Wale (replacing Chris Stone on guitar) and Geoff Swettenham (brother of Pete Swettenham; replacing Mick Carter on drums) were recruited in July. Bob Wale had joined Grapefruit in spring 1969, and had been a key figure in the group’s immediate change of style from sweet baroque pop to heavier tunes. Vik Tedeschi, a Swiss-German Jazz musician, joined on saxophone, oboe and flute, but for just a couple of months. Fynn McCool broke up in February 1972.

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Gary Bartz Ntu Troop - Home! 1969

Conservatory of Music and became a member of Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop from 1962-1964 where he worked with Eric Dolphy and encountered McCoy Tyner for the first time. He also began gigging as a sideman in the mid-'60s with Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, and later as a member of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers. His recording debut was on Blakey's Soul Finger album. Tyner formed his famed Expansions band in 1968 with Bartz on alto. In addition, Bartz also formed his own bands at this time and recorded a trio of albums for Milestone, and continued to tour with Max Roach's band. In 1970, Miles Davis hired Bartz and featured him as a soloist on the Live-Evil recording. Bartz formed the Ntu Troop that year as well, an ensemble that fused soul and funk, African folk music, hard bop, and vanguard jazz into a vibrant whole. Among the group's four recordings from 1970-1973, Harlem Bush Music: Taifa and Juju Street Songs have proved influential with soul jazzers, and in hip-hop and DJ circles as well. From 1973-1975 Bartz was on a roll, issuing I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies, Music Is My Sanctuary, Home, and Another Earth, all stellar outings. He meandered for most of the 1980s, coming back in 1988 with Reflections on Monk. Since that time, Bartz has continued making records of quiet intensity and lyrical power -- notably Red & Orange Poems in 1995 -- and has with become one of the finest if under-noticed alto players of his generation. AMG.

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Charles Wright - Doing What Comes Naturally 1973

After leaving the fading Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Charles Wright released this sprawling double LP full of roof-burning funk grooves, tender soul serenades, and new interpretations on his patented brand of messed-up R&B. Scoring a mild chart hit with the album's title track, Wright wasn't satisfied with rehashing the past successes of his work with his old band. The longing mid-tempo reflection on lost love of "You & Me" holds its own neatly next to the baroque soul vibrations of "A Mother's Love." As evidenced by his previous work with the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Wrightexcels at balladry, and they flow thick on Doin' What Comes Naturally. The sublime keys that tickle throughout "1,2,3,4,5,?" blend sweetly with its instrumental counterpart, "1,2,3 You & Me," later on. Only keen quiet storm radio show hosts will acknowledge the beauty of "You Threw It All Away," with its pleading chorus and lush string arrangements, a treasure. The tracks stretch out in length throughout the course of two slabs of wax; unfortunately, the entire fourth side is occupied by the track "Nonsense," which, after one listen, can be described as just that. This is an intensely pleasurable listening experience. AMG.

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Child - Child 1969

Interesting group, info about it not available but don't miss it.

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Blue Cheer - Outsideinside 1968

Blue Cheer's debut album, Vincebus Eruptum, was widely and accurately described as "the loudest record ever made" when it first appeared in early 1968, and the band seemingly had the good sense to realize that for sheer brutal impact, there was little chance they could top it. So for their second LP, Outsideinside (which appeared a mere seven months later), rather than aim for something bigger and more decibel intensive, Blue Cheer decided to see how much polish they could add to their formula without blunting the skull-crushing force of their live attack. While Vincebus Eruptum was cut in simple and straightforward form with minimal overdubs, Outsideinside found Blue Cheer embracing the possibilities of the recording studio; Leigh Stephens overdubbed multiple guitar parts on several tunes, while the mix sends his leads flying around the room, though aggressive use of panning and the monstrous, fuzzy growl of his tone gets cleaned up on some tunes (check out the wah-wah solos on "Gypsy Ball"), though the results are still as gentle as a chainsaw. The engineering is friendlier to Paul Whaley's drumming; his traps don't sound as much like trash cans on these sessions, though the crude, phase shifting on "Just a Little Bit" remains gloriously amateurish. And if Dickie Peterson's bass sounds just about the same, he got to spend more time on his vocals here, and his blustery howl communicates better this time. The opening cut, "Feathers from Your Tree," also added a piano to the mix (which is somehow audible through the dozens of amps), while "Babylon" is almost funky in its lead-footed approximation of an R&B groove, and "The Hunter" is a broad but playful exercise in sexual swagger that, if nothing else, provided a lyrical conceit Kiss could use to more profitable effect nine years later. But if Outsideinside is cleaner, tighter, and more ambitious than Vincebus Eruptum, it's still clearly the work of the same band, and Blue Cheer sound every bit as thunderous on their sophomore effort. If anything, this LP captures the psychedelic side of their musical personality with greater clarity than the blunt approach of the debut; Outsideinside doesn't sound trippy so much as righteously buzzed, and the speedy roar of this the music is big enough that the legend that parts of this were so loud they had to be recorded outside seems not just plausible, but perfectly reasonable. AMG.

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