Customer Reviews

It's Time

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the opening segment you know you are in for a different kind of old school romp. The choral interplay can occasionally feel contrived but otherwise elevates already seriously swinging, highly original grooves into realms bop rarely ventured. At a time when older jazz usually sounds stagnant for me it is always nice to have continued motivation like this to keep digging through dated discographies.

It is easy to underestimate Max Roach, but nearly impossible to overestimate his work. He came out of the bop era, but was on the cutting edge of jazz into the 1990s.

Here, Max takes the Civil Rights themes of "Bitter Sweet" and applies a choir to them, giving his musical and political thrust an almost godly urgnacy. Donald Byrd was also working with choirs at the time with equal effectivenes, but here, the musical and the politcal are impossible to seperate. Choirs were common in music in 1962-Mitch Miller, Bing Crosby-but Roach uses these pretty voices to provoke and discomfort us.

There is a lot going on musically too: blues tinge but with lots of subtitutions and Dolphy-esqe inversions. The fact that Roach could apply a vocal section to this and make it work only shows you how smart his arranging was.

Great artifact and great music in 2008. A must buy

Max Roach compositions with big band and chorus, with emphasis on the music...

I can't say much more, except this is one of my favorite jazz lps...

This has to be one of thee greatest of the overlooked jazz classics... It defintely evokes the day in which it was made... 5 stars...

I downloaded this cd into my i-Pod just for the track Lonesome Lover. It has to be one of the most extraordinary jazz recording ever recorded. The jazz, the chorus and Abbeys vocals are simply amazing. Love, love, love this track.

this is an edited version of my inicial review of this title;

I still have this cd and it is rarely played. It has such wonderful player, but it is so dominated with the chorus. I have to say that there are so many other great recordings to listen to that this one never gets picked. I wish it did not have the chorus at all. With musicians such as these and a great cover by Prophet (eric dolphy had his work on his first 2 lps for New Jazz), this should have been a quartet or quintet recording. These selections deserve it. 3 stars for the main players (it would be 5 without the oohhs and ahhhs)