Cecil McBee - Mutima
ORDER LIMITED TO ONE ITEM PER CUSTOMER
Cecil McBee : bass [click here to see more vinyl featuring Cecil McBee]
Jimmy Hopps : drums
Onaje Allen Gumbs : acoustic piano, electric piano
Lawrence Killian : conga
Dee Dee Bridgewater : vocals
George Adams : tenor & soprano saxophone
Cecil McBee, Jr. : electric bass
Michael Carvin gong : percussion
Jaboli Billy : hart cymbals, percussion
Tex Allen : trumpet, flugelhorn
Allen Braufman : alto saxophone
Art Webb : flute
Allen Nelson : drums
1 LP, standard sleeve
Limited edition
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : unspecified
Label : Pure Pleasure Records
Original Label : Strata East Records
Recorded in 1974 at Minot Studios. White Plains, New York
Engineered & mixed by Richard Adler and Ron Carran
Produced by Cecil McBee
Remastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London
Tracks :
- From Within
- Voice Of The 7th Angel
- Life Waves
- Mutima
- A Feeling
- Tulsa Black
Reviews :
A landmark recording in early creative improvised modern music, bassist Cecil McBee's recording for the Strata East label is an important document introducing him as a leader from the international jazz-based scene in New York City via his native Tulsa, OK and following a brief mid-'60s stint in Detroit. McBee as a pure musician has staggering technique, rich harmonic ideas, and an indefatigable swing, but it is as a composer that he is set apart from other musicians of this mid-'70s era. "Life Waves" is a stunning piece of composed and improvised music, with a brief clarion horn section setting off McBee's chordal strumming and harp bop drive. Trumpeter Tex Allen's brash lines, the incendiary tenor saxophonist George Adams, and more thoughtful alto saxophonist Allen Braufman dig into hefty but contrasting solos, while drummer Jimmy Hopps stokes the coals.
The other premier piece, "Mutima," has a soaring longer melody switching on and off onto a samba palate that is pretty, beautiful, and much more introspective than other wild and woolly cuts. The legendary but under recognized flutist Art Webb shines on the floaty free "A Feeling,' and the atypical but wholly contemporized "Tulsa Black," a portent to the music that would be made later in this time period by Sonny Fortune, and featuring the wah-wah electric bass guitar work of Cecil McBee, Jr. The two-minute "Voice of the Seventh Angel" sports the disparity of a complex arrangement alongside the beautiful singing of a young Dee Dee Bridgewater, while the marathon "From Within" has McBee performing solo, but overdubbed on two basses in opposite stereo channels, using serene long-toned arco and static pizzicato in arresting sounds that meld into a bridge squawk reminiscent of the saxophone playing of bandmate Adams. In retrospect, McBee's great career was ostensibly launched well before this recording, having worked with prominently with Charles Lloyd, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Yusef Lateef, Charles Tolliver, and countless others. "Mutima" (translated as "unseen forces") undoubtedly solidified his stature and brilliance as a major player. Michael G. Nastos/AMG
Ratings :
Discogs : 4,52 / 5