Jazz lovers will look at the Rhino roster as one of the most imposing since the 1927 Murder's Row of the New York Yankees.
Rhino Records has packaged multidisc releases of jazz heavyweights as part of its Atlantic Jazz Gallery, CD albums that are available at many record stores. (If you are unable to locate any of the following, call 1-800-35-RHINO.)The 18-month campaign to reissue and restore the Atlantic jazz catalog began June 15 with "The Last Giant: The John Coltrane Anthology" (CD R2 71255). The two-disc set's 18 tracks include two treatments of the Trane trademark "My Favorite Things," but this is not a compilation of Coltrane hits.
It all begins with a young Coltrane playing in a 1946 Navy jam session in Hawaii with a group called the Melody Masters. That's followed by a couple of 1951 dates with Dizzy Gillespie and a 1954 effort with altoist Johnny Hodges ("Thru the Night") when he was 27. The anthology covers 21 years of Coltrane, ending with a brief excerpt from the "Ogunde" tape recorded in May 1967, his last public appearance. Less than two months later Coltrane was dead of liver cancer at age 40.
Other releases of Coltrane memories may highlight more of his familiar works, such as his years with Miles Davis, but this boxed set presents a look at the tenor saxophone legend showing the development of his unique style.
The most ambitious Rhino release so far is the six-CD "Beauty Is a Rare Thing" (R2 71410) with Ornette Coleman, who has been called the greatest living figure in avant garde jazz. However, despite all the tributes and deification of Coleman since his arrival on the scene in the late '50s, my simple ears and tastes aren't in sync with his playing. I didn't understand him three decades ago and I still don't.
Maybe that's my problem, but apparently I was not alone. Dizzy Gillespie told Time magazine in 1960, "I don't know what he's playing, but it's not jazz." About the same time Miles Davis said, "Just listen to what he writes and how he plays. If you're talking psychologically, the man is all screwed up inside," an observation by a man who should know. Thelonious Monk was even more succinct. "Man, that cat is nuts!"
There's no doubt that Coleman's sound and self-taught techniques wandered away from the limits of conventional jazz, and Coleman remembered, "Most musicians didn't take to me; they said I didn't know the changes and was out of tune." As a matter of fact, when he was in Los Angeles the acceptance was so limited Coleman had to take a job as an elevator operator to make ends meet.
Even though Coleman is known for the alto and tenor saxophone, he also taught himself to play the violin, and his love for strings is displayed on the 44 tracks, six of which were previously unreleased. He's a complex jazz figure, and he has said that the rule should come from inside the musician instead of having harmonic principles being dictated by others.
Explained Coleman, "When you get up in the morning, you have to put your clothes on before you can go out and get on with your day. But your clothes don't tell you where to go; they go where you go. A melody is like your clothes."
If that's true, Ornette doesn't buy his clothes from the rack.
There is no controversy or confusion surrounding the Eddie Harris anthology, "Artist's Choice" (2-CD R2 71514). Harris reached the record buyer's attention in 1961 with his million seller "Exodus," his first of three recordings to hit double figures. The other two were "Listen Here," which is included among the 24 cuts on this release, and "Compared to What," with Les McCann, which is not. As a matter of fact, Harris' tenor is joined by McCann's piano on only one track here, despite the fact the two have had many satisfying collaborations. Harris' primary sidemen on "Artist's Choice" are pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Higgins, an impressive trio indeed.
Rhino has featured Les McCann on his own anthology, titled "Relationships" (2-CD R2 71294), which includes "Compared to What" with Harris, the aforementioned best seller. McCann, a Kentucky native, made his name in Los Angeles at clubs on the strip, and his reputation grew as he teamed with Stanley Turrentine and later Lou Rawls, who joins McCann for the first three tracks of the second disc ("God Bless This Child," "Willow Weep for Me" and "Lost and Lookin' "). The first CD of the set is a vivid reminder of McCann's intertwining gospel with jazz, his concept of soul piano.
Incidentally, Rhino and Atlantic have reissued a single McCann CD called "Layers" (CD R2 71280), which was originally recorded in 1974. The album was deemed revolutionary at the time because it was one of the early jazz efforts to employ the synthesizer, and it was also the first record ever to use a pair of 16-track tape machines to record simultaneously.
When I was in college in the late '50s, I listened to a record at a campus record store (that's where they allowed you to listen to records before you bought) and my attraction to the acoustic bass was cemented. The album was "The Clown" and the track was "Haitian Fight Song" by Charlie Mingus, a simple bass riff that was overpowering, thanks in part to young trombonist Jimmy Knepper. The "Fight Song" is one of 13 tracks for the Mingus anthology "Thirteen Pictures" (2-CD R2 71402), as are the classics "Better Git It In Your Soul" and "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat."
The album also includes "Wig Wise," which the trio of Mingus, Max Roach and Duke Ellington recorded in 1962. Mingus, who called jazz "black classical music," was, like Ellington, known as a band leader of great significance. His arrangements are given much credit for making Lionel Hampton's 1947 band his best. Mingus blossomed in the mid-'50s, thanks in part to the role played by drummer Danny Richmond. He continued composing and directing from a wheelchair until his death from Lou Gehrig's disease on Jan. 5, 1979.
One of the most intriguing and unpredictable figures in jazz annals is preserved on Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "Does Your House Have Lions" (2-CD R2 71406). Kirk, who was blind, left his Columbus, Ohio, home in 1960 and arrived in Chicago with three saxophones around his neck and the audacity of Willie Sutton. On this 31-track album Kirk is listed as playing more than 20 instruments, sometimes two or three at the same time. The list of instruments includes such rarities (to say the least) as the nose flute - yes, he played it with his nose - palms and the music box. The tenor, though, was his main weapon. Kirk died at age 41 in 1977, and I knew little about him, but this anthology goes a long way toward correcting that oversight.
David "Fathead" Newman is one of those Texas tenormen who have had a lengthy impact, and his Rhino anthology, "House of David" (2-CD R2 71452), demonstrates his various career turns. The first disc centers primarily on his relationship with Ray Charles, who is involved with 10 of the 15 tracks. The second CD targets his career after Ray Charles. Among the vocalists are Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Scott, Dr. John and Aaron Neville ("Pledging My Love").
Rhino and Atlantic have also issued a pair of single-CD album samplers that showcase many of their artists throughout the years. "Saxophones" (CD R2 71256) is pretty much self-explanatory, with Kirk, Coleman, Coltrane, Harris and Newman being joined by Yusef Lateef, Hank Crawford and Charles Lloyd, who provides nearly 18 minutes of "Forest Flower - Sunrise, Sunset."
Atlantic's "Best of the '50s" (CD R2 71282) supplies more variety, ranging from Joe Turner and LaVern Baker and Chris Connor to Mingus, the MJQ and Jimmy Giuffre with his "The Train and the River."
With this project, Rhino and Atlantic have combined to make available timeless jazz performances, lengthy bios and comments and handsome packaging.