Katanga

Curtis Amy & Dupree Bolton, Curtis Amy, ?????????&?????????? | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 14, 1998)
• Original Release Date: 1963
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B000007TFQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,924 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #95 in Music > Jazz > Soul-Jazz & Boogaloo

Track Listings

1. Katanga

2. Lonely Woman

3. Native Land

4. Amyable

5. You Don't Know What Love Is

6. A Shade of Brown

7. A Soulful Bee, a Soulful Rose [*]

8. 24 Hour Blues [*]

9. Lisa [*]

Editorial Reviews

Katanga is a very key soul jazz record at the same time unknown by maintream audience and for which jazz fans are searching since years desperately. This session is the sixth and last one recorded by Curis Amy in his Pacific period (between 1960 and 1963). Between hard bop and soul Jazz this is a unique and legendary record. The only presence of trumpetist Dupree Bolton, who is so rare on records and so absent from the jazz recording sessions as he spent most of his time in jail, justifies the key interest of this record. Fans of Clifford Brown and Fats Navarro will praise this record. Curtis Amy is of course imperial on both soprano and tenor. "Katanga" and "Lonely Woman" are both jewels and both composed by Curtis Amy. A lot of colours and a pure sound for this astonishing jazz session. On the guitar Ray Crawford, on the piano Jack Wilson, on bass Victor Gaskin and on drums Doug Sides. The record has been recorded in Los Angeles, a very original west coast sound. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "mainstream" jazz at its best., January 6, 1999

By 

Ian Muldoon (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Katanga (Audio CD)

One of the delights of the CD revolution has been the rediscovery of great music overlooked at the time of its initial release perhaps due to fashion - anything by Miles, Mulligan or Monk was purchased leaving one's wallet a little thin and unable to stretch to the relatively "unknown". On the other hand, the 50s and 60's was a period of unparalleled revolution in the music, and those who were not part of the avant garde may have been unfairly dismissed. To me KATANGA represents "mainstream" jazz at its best, the front line at least the equal of Shelley Manne's renowned Blackhawk work. And the remastering belies its origins 36 years ago at the Pacific Jazz Studios in Los Angeles, especially in regard to the bass which is beautifully round and full without being too forward, and the stereo image which is excellent. Producer Michael Cuscuna has done justice to Richard Bock's original excellent production. I'd not heard of Dupree Bolton but he is a mightily impressive trumpet player with tone, attack, and inventiveness to match the best. Ray Crawford, familiar to those who know OUT OF THE COOL by heart, is an unfussy master of colour and timing, and Curtis Amy is outstanding on soprano sax as well as tenor. The music is not over-arranged and leaves space for the music to breathe - two highlights for me were NATIVE LAND by Curtis Amy which clocks in at over 10 minutes and the title track KATANGA which really cooks. It's a cliche but I'm happy to spend 12 bucks for these two tracks alone. But there's more! As a bonus, there are three tracks added to the original album featuring Marcus Belgrave instead of Bolton, and Roy Brewster on valve trombone, augmented by a four piece rhythm section. I recommend this album. Ian Muldoon email: [e-mail]

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great tragic musician, July 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Katanga (Audio CD)

It was only thanks to an article in the excellent literary magazine Granta that I even heard of Dupree Bolton. His teaming up with Curtis Amy is great, but it's Bolton who steals the show. After reading about his tragic life, his ups and downs, his personal problems, and above all, the energizing quality of his trumpet playing, I bought this CD just to find out how good he really was. Buy this CD! Had he continued to play and survive into a more modern period, Dupree Bolton would probably have become one of the most famous trumpet players in the annals of jazz. As it is, Bolton has been relegated to the position of an overlooked talent who should have made it bigger than he did. The songs on the CD percolate with short-burst madness, improvisational ingenuity, tonic surprises, and rhythmic twitching. Fans of Fats Navarro and Cliff Brown will dig the blowing. Amy and the others are worthy context for Bolton. A gem of a CD.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A paradigm of Bebop, August 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Katanga (Audio CD)

For more than 30 years I was looking for this record and for a reedition as CD. Now my wish is fullfilled. Since three weeks you can get this rarity as a CD. I recommend this re-edition of a forgotten Bepop record as one of the most amazing composition. The music shows how far evolved Bebop was in the Fiftys. It is very differentiated. The pieces bring together different styles of Bebop-Jazz. If you want to know the paradigm of Bebop, this record can convey it to you. There is no boring piece on it.