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Tag Archives: soul jazz

World News

Listening Report: Kibrom Birhane Serves Up Tasty Dreamy-Funky New Ethio-Jazz Soul Groove Blends On Vinyl, Streaming

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

Imagine a new music that successfully fused fascinating sounds from Ethiopia with jazz, rock, soul, funk as well as ambient music. Now imagine a music like this that wasn’t a mess arrangements wise and yet that wasn’t blandly over-worked or sterile either. Imagine the music that you can enjoy multiple ways, both as a forward-focused primary listen at full tilt or at low volume in the background. If you satisfied all those requirements you might be listening to the new album by Kibrom Birhane called Here And There.

I first caught wind of this artist from a friend who had purchased Here And There after hearing it in a record store and posting about it on his Facebook feed. About a week later I happened to be in a different store that was playing that very same album and at that moment when I realized what it was, I got a bit excited.

Why did I get excited? 

Well, historically I have discovered some of my favorite music in record stores. Not on the radio. Not from a YouTube link somebody sent me. Not from hearing it in a commercial or a Tik Tok video. I got the music just from hearing it played in the utmost of sympathetic environments for new music discovery. 

This is how I first discovered artists like Elvis Costello, The Good Rats, The Cure, The Smiths, Solomon Burke, Betty Lavette, Squeeze, Rockpile, Built To Spill and many others…

So whenever I’m in a store and something new comes on the sound system which resonates, I get a little extra buzzed that perhaps – just perhaps — this new music will become another favorite for the long-haul…

I don’t know much about Kibrom Birhane but this is his third album. Here And There is effectively an independent release but don’t let that sway you: this album is produced to a very high standard, presented in a high-quality, vintage style, thick cardboard gatefold jacket — it is a two LP set — with high-quality graphics. The standard weight vinyl is dark black, well centered and quiet. You don’t always get this kind of experience from an “indie” release.

From Mr. Birhane’s Bandcamp page we learn more about his musical background and the intent of the recording:

“Here And There not only delivers the ancient traditional and deep jazz roots of Kibrom’s native Ethiopia, but also lifts the listener to a new and unique musical space informed by his work as member of L.A. based Ethio-Cali; an ensemble that boasts such illustrious musicians as Kamasi Washington, Dexter Story, Mark De-Clive Lowe and Todd Simon. In this album, Kibrom has woven Ethiopian Jazz, East-African Funk, Spiritual and Soul Jazz with Psychedelic threads into a rich tapestry of musical colors.”

So… how would I try to explain this music in words?

Well, lets take a short trip in the “way-back machine” to 2018 when I was introduced to the music of a tremendous “Ethio-Jazz” artist from here in the San Francisco Bay Area:  Meklit Hadero. I have seen her perform live three times since and reviewed her then-new album here on Audiophile Review (click here) which is produced by Dan Wilson (of the band Semisonic).  

In that review I tried to describe her music: 

“I’ll put it this way, if you were a DJ, Meklit’s music would fit in beautifully in a mix alongside tracks from some of Joni Mitchell’s mid-70s ventures into world rhythms (The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Don Juan’s Restless Daughter) as well as recordings by King Sunny Ade and perhaps some of Pat Metheny’s ventures into world rhythms. You could also pepper your DJ set of Meklit music with selections from Paul Simon’s Graceland and Talking Heads’ Remain in Light and Meklit’s music would stand out amongst that heady crowd. Toss in some jams this side of Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters era for good measure.” 

Now, take Meklit out of that equation and stretch the music out a bit in a jamming sense and you’ll have some idea what Kibrom Birhane’s Here And There sounds like!

You can stream Kibrom Birhane’s Here And There in CD quality on Tidal, Qobuz and Apple Music (click the service names to jump to the album there). He is also on Bandcamp where you can also find the vinyl (click here) in addition to Amazon (click the album title anywhere in this review to jump there). 

Some of my favorite tracks so far include the groovy album opener “Merkato” (which probably reminds me most of Meklit’s music actually) and “Enate” which has a badass distorted guitar lead riff that would not be out of place in the ‘80s era of King Crimson. 

Yet, its not all danceable grooves here, so a track like “Ethiopia” slows down the pace to where I could imagine a lyric from Dan Penn and a lead vocal from Bettye LaVette floated on top of it (complete with a Hammond B3-type organ swell on the chorus), as a sort of modern twist on the classic Muscle Shoals soul sound

Oh, and did I mention that the harmonized horn arrangements (trumpet, sax, etc.) here remind me of no less than some of Frank Zappa’s “big band” recordings from around 1972 (Wakajawaka and The Grand Wazoo)?

“Tinish Tinish” mixes things up adding in an eerie Vocorder-like “talk box” vocal line into the mix which — along with the Farfisa-esque organ stabs — sounds like music for a tense hunt scene through a smokey club from a imaginary detective mystery TV series.  

And, come on… admit you just love saying the words: “Tinish Tinish.”

I’m not exactly sure what “Tinish” means but the Urban Dictionary calls it “Braveness, lovely, something related to a branch of tree,” which feels like a nice way to describe this music. 

Give Kibrom Birhane’s Here And There a spin. It might well become a fertile branch on your 2022 musical tree.

World News

Record Store Day Preview: Jazz Dispensary’s Dank D-Funk Blend, Vol. 2

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

I’ve written about the fine Jazz Dispensary sampler series from Craft Recordings in the past. These are thoughtfully curated collections of rare funky soul-jazz sides culled from the label archives of parent company Concord Music which controls the catalogs of Fantasy, Prestige, Milestone, Fania and many other labels. 

Why do you need to own these collections? Well as a budding collector of soul-jazz and groove jazz titles from the ‘60s and early ‘70s I can attest to several things:  

  1. These albums are often hard to find and if you do they can be pricey in decent condition
  2. If you do find them used, they are often in “well loved” to downright beat up and abused condition. These records were great party albums often played on average to low quality automatic record changers of the day, so people grooving and dancing to the tunes didn’t much think about taking care of their vinyl.  and… 
  3. Many of these albums are good but usually have one or two standout tracks which is what DJs tend to zero in on, those grooves with the killer beats and drum breaks and a combination of strong songs and good production vibes. 

So, the concept underlying Jazz Dispensary’s series is useful. It gives you the intrepid soul-jazz collector a chance to hear some of these great grooves in a form that makes for a fun party album in its own right, without breaking your bank for pricey rarities.  On this latest edition, guest curator Doyle Davis (of Grimey’s, a used records and books store in Nashville) offers up a second dose of his Dank D-Funk Blend. 

While the first edition focused on the Prestige Records vaults, The Dank D-Funk Blend, Vol. 2 taps into other labels in the company’s roster.

You’ll hear the Afro-Cuban beats of Ray Barretto’s peace love plea “Together,” Charles Earland’s fiery “Letha” and Leon Spencer groovy take on Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me.” Esther Marrow breaks out a funky “Things Ain’t Right.”

I really loved the title track of Pleasure’s 1977 LP Joyous, one of those groups I’ve never heard of before or even seen out in the wilds of crate digging.  Cal Tjader surprisingly good cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” gives way to  Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers 1968 smoker “Heat!” 

There is even a solid Johnny “Guitar” Watson tune here from 1973 — “You’ve Got a Hard Head” — before he descended into the the disappointing DJM Records disco era.

All tracks on The Dank D-Funk Blend, Vol. 2 are reportedly mastered from their original analog tapes. The only one of these I already had in my collection is the Pucho track which sounds very comparable to my original pressing, with perhaps a bit more crisp detail on the high end. It is also mastered a bit more quietly than my original pressing so I had to turn up my amp a bit after switching albums. 

The Dank D-Funk Blend, Vol. 2 is pressed on surprisingly quiet and — happily —well centered orange-red swirl, fire-colored vinyl which was made at Memphis Record Pressing.  A limited edition of 3800 copies, The Dank D-Funk Blend, Vol. 2 is packaged in a quite stunning jacked featuring embossed artwork by Argentinian artist Mariano Peccinetti, who designed the previous volume’s cover.  

The Dank D-Funk Blend, Vol. 2 is a fun jam. Put it on your Record Store Day list and be sure to grab a copy if you can. 

World News

European cold wave from ’70s-’80s inspires new Soul Jazz compilation

Posted on by Lazlo Rugoff

Focusing on artists whose work is shaped by the genre, including Lena Willikens, Toulouse Low Trax, and more.

Soul Jazz is releasing a new compilation, titled Cold Wave #2, this June.

Read more: Lena Willikens on digging and DJ culture

Focusing on contemporary electronic musicians whose work has been shaped by ’70s and ’80s European cold wave sounds, the compilation features Lena Willikens, Broken English Club, V.C.V.S, Toulouse Low Trax from Germany, Dave I.D., and more.

Alongside no wave, the compilation’s tracks also take influence from Patrick Cowley, Laurie Anderson, and Suicide.

Cold Wave #2 follows Soul Jazz’ Fire Over Babylon: Dread, Peace and Conscious Sounds at Studio One compilation, released this May.

Pre-order Cold Wave #2 here in advance of its 25th June release, check out the artwork and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

1. Lena Willikens – Howlin Lupus
2. Beta Evers – Hiding
3. L.F.T. – Stay Away From The Light
4. Job Sifre – At Least We Try
5. De Ambassade – Niet Van Mij
6. Toulouse Low Trax – Rushing Into Water
7. V.C.V.S. – Hum
8. Dave I.D. – Help Starts
9. Broken English Club – Vacant Cars
10. Krikor Kouchian – Deserver Dub

Photos by: Zahra Reijs for The Vinyl Factory.

World News

Studio One ’70s roots music collected in new Soul Jazz compilation

Posted on by Lazlo Rugoff

Featuring Freddie McGregor, The Gladiators, Horace Andy, The Viceroys, and more.

Soul Jazz is releasing a new compilation, titled Fire Over Babylon: Dread, Peace and Conscious Sounds at Studio One, on 2xLP this May.

The compilation aims to shine a light on Studio One’s roots music output during the 1970s.

In doing so, Fire Over Babylon brings together tracks by The Gladiators, Freddie McGregor, Horace Andy, The Viceroys, Trevor Clarke, Wailing Souls, The Silvertones and more.

It follows Soul Jazz’ release of Trees Speak’s new album, PostHuman, this May.

Pre-order Fire Over Babylon: Dread, Peace and Conscious Sounds at Studio One here in advance of its 28th May release, check out the artwork and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

1. Freddie McGregor – I Am a Revolutionist
2. The Silvertones – Burning In My Soul
3. Wailing Souls – Without You
4. Devon Russell – Jah Jah Fire
5. Trevor Clarke – Sufferation
6. The Gladiators – Sonia
7. Judah Eskender Tafari – Always Trying
8. The Viceroys – Ya Ho
9. Im and Count Ossie – Give Me Back Me Language And Me Culture
10. The Gladiators – Serious Thing
11. The Prospectors – Glory For I
12. Wailing Souls – Things and Time
13. Pablove Black – Inner Peace
14. The Gladiators – Peace
15. Horace Andy – Mr. Jolly Man
16. Wailing Souls – Rock But Don’t Fall
17. Albert Griffiths and The Gladiators – Righteous Man
18. The Viceroys – So Many Problems

Photo by: Thomas Euler

World News

The B3’s The Word on WRD’s The Hit

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

Some of you might remember a couple months ago when I wrote a review about the new album from The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. There, I discussed the notion that this type of music — organ-driven groove jazz — may be gaining fresh new audiences after many many decades of blues, rock, jazz and jam-band DNA bubbling up through cross pollinating music scenes. Click here if you missed that review.

Well, in that review’s aftermath I was pleasantly surprised to receive in the mail an album (without even a press release attached to it) by a group making new music in that similar space. It was clear someone wanted me to hear this music and I’m glad they sent it. 

Something of a supergroup of players from a variety of bands in the jam band universe, WRD features Robert Walter (Greyboy Allstars, 20th Congress) on Hammond B3 Organ, Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds) on guitar and Adam Deitch (Lettuce, Break Science) on drums.

Like Delvon Lamarr’s Organ Trio, WRD’s music is fun and frisky, floating over infectious rockin’ improvisational grooves that are great for dancing or driving.  The vibe here is a tad different than Lamarr’s somewhat funkier soul-surf vibe, leaning at times more toward the more hybrid psych sounds Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders were mining on the early 1970’s Live at Keystone album (think “Finders Keepers”). Also, for other points of reference, perhaps consider the track “Uncle Martin’s” from Hooteroll, a collaboration between Garcia and organist Howard Wales. At other times WRD’s The Hit reminds me of some early George Benson jams when he was on CTI (“Footin’ It”). 

The music here is kind of like a cross between The Spencer Davis Group on steroids and the sort of jams Medeski, Martin and Wood (another organ trio jam band) excelled at. I hear echoes of early Chicago, Traffic, and even moments of Georgie Fame. I have an obscure rockin’ blues jam album by Preston Love featuring Shuggie Otis that this reminds me of at times grooves-wise.  

I’m sure there are other references going on… I’m offering up these touchstones to give you an idea of what to expect.

WRD switch up things periodically to keep the sound and textures interesting, adding Tenor Saxophone player Nick Gerlach on two tracks and Josh Fairman on bass on another. 

WRD’s The Hit has a nice audiophile pedigree in that all the tracks were recorded in live takes, with the band all in the same room. So there is a natural vintage feel to the recording which in part comes from the players “vibing” off of one another in close proximity (no headphones were used apparently during the sessions and everything was recorded straight to tape). 

Also since the band was playing together with (likely) minimal isolation, microphones on the instruments capture the “bleed through” from one another, adding to the somewhat more organic sound on this album, a sound that was popular in the 1950’s, ’60s and early ’70s when this style of recording was more the norm.  

This vinyl pressing of WRD’s The Hit is happily quite nice sounding with only one audible pressing glitch that lasted probably a 10th of a second. Why does this matter? Well, the album comes pressed on a beautifully trippy white, pink and red opaque splatter vinyl. That type of multi color vinyl can be noisy but this one sounds quite clear even in the quiet spaces between tracks. 

You can still order WRD’s The Hit at their website but hurry soon as it looks like the pre-orders are selling out fast (click the WRD anywhere in this review to jump to their page or on the album title to jump to Amazon where it is also available for pre-order). These limited edition, small-batch pressings can go quickly in the indie world but it is worth making the effort to support independent artists who are doing good things.  

World News

No wave meets krautrock on Trees Speak’s new album, PostHuman

Posted on by Lazlo Rugoff

“A high-concept collage of retro-futurist science-fiction music.”

Trees Speak are releasing a new album, called PostHuman, via Soul Jazz Records this May.

Formed of Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz, PostHuman sees the duo combining krautrock and no wave with DIY guitars, and John Carpenter-inspired sonics.

The resulting album is described as “a high-concept collage of retro-futurist science-fiction music.”

The vinyl edition of PostHuman includes a bonus 45 single featuring ‘Machine Vision’ and ‘Seventh Mirror’.

It follows Soul Jazz’ compilation of Studio One rocksteady and reggae — called Rocksteady Got Soul — in March.

Pre-order PostHuman here in advance of its 21st May release, check out the artwork and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

1. Double Slit
2. Glass
3. Chamber of Frequencies
4. Divided Light
5. Elements of Matter
6. Magic Transistor
7. Scheinwelt
8. PostHuman
9. Synthesis
10. X Zeit
11. Incandescent Sun
12. Healing Rods
13. Steckdose
14. Amnesia Transmitter
15. Quantize Humanize
16. Gläserner Mensch
17. Machine Vision
18. Hidden Machine

World News

Arthur Russell’s The World Of Arthur Russell reissued on 3xLP

Posted on by Lazlo Rugoff

Featuring his solo work alongside music from Loose Joints and Dinosaur L.

Arthur Russell’s The World Of Arthur Russell collection has been reissued on 3xLP, via Soul Jazz Records.

Read more: Listen to an Arthur Russell concert recording from 1985

A pioneering force in New York’s underground scene, Arthur Russell remains best known for his disco and avant-garde cello sounds.

As Philip Glass recalls, “this was a guy who could sit down with a cello, and sing with it in a way that no one on earth has ever done before or will do again.”

Connecting these different strands of his work, The World Of Arthur Russell features his solo releases as well as several Loose Joints and Dinosaur L tracks.

It follows the discovery of an Arthur Russell concert from 1985 for the first time, by downtown NYC non-profit arts institution Roulette.

Order The World of Arthur Russell here, and check out the artwork and tracklist below.

Tracklist:

1. Dinosuar L – Go Bang (Francois K Mix)
2. Lola – Wax The Van
3. Loose Joints – Is It All Over My Face (Larry Levan Mix)
4. Keeping Up
5. In The Light Of The Miracle
6. A Little Lost
7. Loose Joints – Pop Your Funk
8. Lets Go Swimming (Walter Gibbons Mix)
9. Dinosaur L – In The Cornbelt (Larry Levan Mix)
10. Treehouse
11. Indian Ocean – Schoolbell/Treehouse (Walter Gibbons Mix)

World News

Grooving With The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio on Vinyl and Qobuz / Tidal Streams

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

When considering a new artist in a category that has been arguably played to death over the years, one may give pause to think: do I really need to go there?

However when I first heard The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio on the fine  new compilation from Colemine Records that I reviewed earlier this month (click here) I had to check them out. I have to admit, I was initially a bit excited I’d (ahem) discovered something fresh before everyone else. 

Well, not quite everyone, it seems… From the band’s website: “Since its humble beginnings in May, 2015, the trio has issued two Billboard-charting albums and a 45; toured nationally and internationally, and performed on live at Upstream Music Festival broadcast by KEXP that garnered over 7 million views.”

Well, I guess I’m better a little late to the party than never!

But seriously folks, the notion of an organ driven instrumental collaboration is not exactly a new thing, echoing back to the ‘60s when artists like Brother Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Shirley Scott were popular and often collaborated with other musicians such as George Benson and Wes Montgomery. 

In more recent times, the great Medeski Martin & Wood collaborated a number of times with John Scofield.  And of course there were organ-guitar hits in the rock and soul world, notably Booker T & The MGs (ie. “Green Onions”) and the great grooves of The Meters (“Cissy Strut”).  And we can’t forget that James Brown put out several instrumental albums featuring his organ playing.

So, mash all that influence up with a decidedly harder edge (definitely closer to the Meters vibe) and you’ll get an idea of what The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio is cooking up. These folks have found their own sweet little corner of this good vibe instrumental soul jazz / acid jazz niche.

On their new second studio album— called I Told You So — there aren’t really any big surprises but that isn’t a bad thing. It is all about the tunes and the grooves and this album has many greats in that regard.

The album is just so enjoyable I’ve played it over many times already and it only gets better, each spin revealing new layers. They do a sweet cover of Wham’s “Careless Whisper,” but other than that they are crafting their own originals.

Sonically, the album sounds terrific with a rich, earthy vibe to the recording.  Guitarist Jimmy James’ sound oozes with big — at times seriously badass overdriven — amplifier tones. 

I don’t know if I Told You So was made digitally or in the analog realm but I’m not especially concerned one way or another — I’m not hearing any harshness and overall the album sounds real nice.  The lower end and mid range is sweet while the high-end is crisp and natural sounding. Grant Schroff’s drums are full bodied and organic. No gimmickry here.  

I got my hands on one of the opaque pink vinyl limited editions of I Told You So and happily it is a great pressing — well centered and quiet. There is a red vinyl version out there as well for those of you who get into the colored vinyl thing.

It’s no accident at the cover for I Told You So seems to mirror the design aesthetics of vintage 1960s Blue Note jazz releases. The bold yellow and black vibe of Colemine’s label on this release echoes the classic early Prestige Records “fireworks” design from the late ’50s and early ’60s.

This is fun stuff, folks: groovy grooves you can dance, walk, drive, work and even just sit and listen to. You can’t beat that sort of flexibility when it comes to a listening experience. The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio albums seem to sell out pretty quickly at stores from what I’ve seen so far, so you should jump on them soon if you want to grab a copy.

You can also find I Told You So streaming on Tidal and Qobuz and both versions sound fine. The Qobuz version is streaming in 24-bit, 44.1 kHz Hi Res form so it has something of an edge over the 16-bit Tidal stream, but both are fine and will let you get an idea of what this fine band sounds like. 

I am looking forward to digging down into The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio‘s other releases soon.

World News

Beginning at the End with Leon Spencer, Jazz Dispensary Vinyl Me Please Reissue

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

Sometimes when I put on an album, I pause to wonder why it was released in the first place… or what the producer was thinking with regards to how the record was assembled… or how the record label might have altered the artist’s intended recording in order to maximize its chances upon release… Especially when reviewing reissues of older albums, I do stop to consider these things because I know that the music universe is populated with many collections issued not to the artist’s satisfaction…

That said, the late ’60’s/early ’70’s music sub-genre of “soul jazz” and “acid jazz” is littered with many great groove jammers by artists many people have never really heard of these days. And perhaps it is fair to bet that many people outside of major markets like New York and LA didn’t hear about them back in the day, especially if you weren’t listening to the right hip radio station. These weren’t hugely popular artists at the time but their music became influential and respected, achieving notoriety in certain circles. 

Today, thanks to the world of vinyl record collectors — and probably boosted by DJ’s who like to sample amazing beats from the time before they were called beats — there are a lot of fine reissues of jazz obscurities popping up. 

I’ve reviewed some recently from Craft Recordings’ fine Jazz Dispensary imprint late last year — just click on the artists’ names here to get to those reviews of records by Bernard Purdie, David Axelrod, Jack DeJohnette and Idris Muhammed,

This final album that I am reviewing in this current round of releases was challenging as I didn’t really know anything about Leon Spencer beforehand. And after listening to this album — Where I’m Coming From— over and over the past several months, it fell into that odd purgatory bucket where I wondered why it was put out the way it was back in the day, why it disappeared, and most importantly why I wasn’t connecting with it today?

I finally realized what was bothering me about it, which stymied my review for a couple months: the best tracks on this perfectly OK album of sexy soul funk jazz grooves are buried at the end. 

In the world of instrumental soul-jazz especially, cover tunes are often a major focus, at least for selling albums initially. Thus this 1973 album starts out with a fun instrumental take on the then-still-fresh Stevie Wonder hit, “Superstition.” Spencer also does Curtis Mayfield’s “Give Me Your Love” (from the smash hit Super Fly soundtrack) and Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man” (also a soundtrack album, by the way)  All of these are great tunes but on many of these albums, those sometimes workman-like interpretations have a tendency to float by the listener, lost in the shadow of the originals. 

I mean… it is a rare instance that a cover of a Stevie Wonder tune is going to better  or even approach the passion zone of the original. Just sayin’…

Thus it didn’t entirely surprise me to find Spencer’s originals tucked on to the end of the album. “The Price a Po’ Man’s Got To Pay” is a smokin’ little blues jammer which has a really sloppy tape splice edit (or a bad “punch in”), so I can understand that song finding a home toward the end of the album.  

But the title track — “Where I’m Coming From” —with its sweet Traffic-inspired groove provided by no less than the great Idris Muhammed should have opened the album.  Boosted by a horn section that includes Sonny Fortune on Sax, Hubert Laws on Flute plus in-the-pocket guitar from Melvin Sparks, this tune builds to sweet slow burn that rings true, at least to these ears. Spencer’s organ playing is funky and impassioned, revolving off a riff that also reminds me of some of the grooves honed by Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders in the early/mid 1970s and even some things by The Meters. 

The Jazz Dispensary reissue is true to form a very high quality affair. The 180-gram red vinyl RTI-pressed vinyl sounds great — it is perfectly centered and dead quiet, probably much better than the early ’70 pressings Prestige Records was churning out by then (via Fantasy Records which had purchased the label by then). 

The vintage-style red vinyl feels kind of like an old Fantasy Records pressing, for those of you who remember those.  The cover is made of thick cardboard, again, a design arguably better than what Prestige Records was issuing at the time of its release.

This reissue of Where I’m Coming From isn’t exactly cheap via Vinyl Me Please, but then finding an original of this album seems to be going for about the same price. So if you are into Leon’s grooves, you can still order a copy direct from them (click the album title anywhere in this review to jump to their page.

World News

Exploring David Axelrod’s Heavy Axe, Colored Vinyl Reissue

Posted on by Mark Smotroff

I had high anticipation for this particular album in the new series of high quality reissues from Jazz Dispensary, the boutique-within-a-boutique imprint from Craft Recordings:  Heavy Axe by David Axelrod. Prior to last Fall, I’d only “heard of” Mr. Axelrod but never really actually heard his music. 

Then I got my hands on a sweet soul-jazz compilation which came out on Record Store Day late last year called Orange Sunset (which I reviewed, click here) which opens up with a track by him called “Everything Counts.”  That song knocked me out, a fairly epic production with big horns and a sweeping build that could easily be a final scene in a film (perhaps the next Guardians of the Galaxy?).

It turns out that opening track on Orange Sunset was actually the final song on Axelrod’s Heavy Axe. So when I put the full album on I had some fairly high expectations. 

Sonics wise this reissue is just fine. The rich brown “timber” colored vinyl is well centered and quiet, pressed at RTI and mastered by Cohearant Audio (as all of the albums in this series have been).  So the physical, technical sound of the album wasn’t of any issue for me — it sounds good for what it is.  

As I’ve listened to it a number of times, however, I do wish however this actual recording had been fully remixed, not just remastered. “Why,” you ask?  Well, there are some neat bass synthesizer parts which are pretty much buried in the mix (either played by George Duke or Rudy Copeland). I mean, really, there is not a lot of distinctive bass on this album but everything else is quite clear: drums, scratchy funky guitars, punchy horn sections, etc.  

Don’t get me wrong. The low end is there but it is very muted, so when they go break out into a solo, it feels a bit like something is missing from the mix. Curiously, when I checked out the album on Tidal and Qobuz, the bass — while still not super satisfying and balanced, especially volume-wise in relation to the kick drum— it is a wee bit more apparent there.  

Heavy Axe opens up encouragingly with “Get Up Off Your Knees” (written by producer Julian “Cannonball” Adderly).  I could do without the covers of Vince Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” and Carly Simon’s “Your So Vain.” 

The side one closer is an Axelrod original called “My Family” and it rings much truer. To that — for me at least — Axelrod’s originals are the focus on this album, which comprise about half of the tracks here. “It Ain’t For You” is a groovy little funk swinger but again, the bass parts are sort of buried so … well… its a little hard to get down and boogie (if you will) without a prominent bass line! 

That first track I mentioned, “Everything Counts” somehow works, probably because there is so much else going on in the tracks — big shimmering strings, chime-y Fender Rhodes textures and so on. 

All that said and given the price point on Heavy Axe, you might want to explore the album first on a CD or stream to see if you like the album enough to want to own it on vinyl. You can find it streaming on Tidal in 192 kHz, 24-bit MQA format (click here) and on Qobuz in Hi Res format (click here).  Heavy Axe is a good album.  But if you already have Orange Sunset, you have a pretty good idea what this album is about and that might well be all you need. 

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