Blackstone Legacy

Woody Shaw | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 1, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Contemporary
• ASIN: B00000IN45
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,773 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Blackstone Legacy

2. Think on Me

3. Lost and Found

4. New World

5. Boo Ann's Grand

6. A Deed for Dolphy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars another neglected jazz recording, July 24, 2007

By 

Case Quarter (CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blackstone Legacy (Audio CD)

the writer of the linear notes of the original release compared this recording to miles davis' bitches brew. nothing can be further from the truth. first of all there are no guitars on blackstone legacy. bitches brew has three pianists. on the legacy george cables handles the pianos. unlike bitches brew the legacy doesn't want to bring jazz in an entire different direction by including rock and electronic music. the legacy begins with standard jazz statements and ensembles and lays a groundwork with bass players ron carter and clint houston and lenny white on drums.

bennie maupin and gary bartz, doing the horn work, were used by miles during the 70s, maupin on bitches brew and bartz later on a couple of recordings. at that time nobody was playing bass clarinet like maupin and bartz was the best alto player the 70s produced, so it made good music sense for miles to recruit them. but on legacy they get to stretch within the jazz idiom. listen to bartz on lost and found and new world.

there's nothing brooding or introspective about woody shaw's playing, here if his playing reminds me of anyone it's freddy hubbard.

the strength of the compositions is their length, except for a deed for dolphy, all over ten minutes. boo-ann's grand, a shorter version, appears on jackie mclean's demon's dance.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Special Recording from a Special Time in Jazz, January 24, 2011

By 

W. Welburn (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blackstone Legacy (Audio CD)

The comparisons between Blackstone Legacy and Bitches Brew are irresistible, yet somewhat misleading. Upon listening to this recording after many years, Blackstone Legacy has much more in common with a slew of music recorded during this very narrow slice of jazz history, including Gary Bartz' NTU Troop (Harlem Bush Music), Pharoah Sanders' Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) and Thembi, Roy Haynes Hip Ensemble (Equipoise), Herbie Hancock (Mwandishi), Mtume's Umoja Ensemble, Lee Morgan (his last album) and Doug Carn (Infant Eyes), among others. But I am not merely nostalgic here. These recordings were part blowing sessions and part thematic, mirroring a continued desire for liberation and cultural sensibilities in the arts and in politics. Anyone expecting the rhythms to be "funk-rock" will be very disappointed. Shaw's recording it has endured time through melodic compositions that provide a stellar ensemble with plenty of room for improvisation.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I Like the Idea Better Than the Execution, November 4, 2010

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Ronald Kenyon (Paris, France) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blackstone Legacy (Audio CD)

I wanted to like this album when I bought the vinyl twofer. I wanted to like this album when it was reissued--in slightly truncated form--on CD. But I still don't like it that much. It's that I like the idea of the album more than the execution. Lots of wonderful and gifted musicians--Gary Bartz, George Cables, et al--but it still doesn't succeed for me. I think Woody Shaw was one of the great trumpeters; I just appreciate his other albums more than this one.