JM082B Greg Foat 2

A1 Chakan CLIP

The music of Nat Birchall joins with a long-flowing conversation in jazz. His chosen tongue is that of the spiritualised musical discourse whose vital source can be found in the sacred testaments of John Coltrane, and which was channelled most directly by his fellow travellers Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, and his wife Alice. Many others followed where Coltrane led, giving voice in music to the esoteric renewal of the soul and mind that lent spiritual strength to the black counterculture, and complemented the political radicalism of the late 1960s and 1970s. This rich vein of spirit music has rarely been tapped by British jazz musicians, and Birchall is one of the few to have been drawn to it with the conviction of heart that it demands. For these are the sonic and spiritual spaces where the colossi of an earlier age declaimed and confessed with sacrificial passion, from within the flames of revolution.

Ultimately, it has been the sonic pathways offered by jazz that have provided Birchall with the clearest way to channel the resonances of the higher heights, wherefrom timeless musical messages might be revealed. 'It seems to me that's it's the most direct way of tuning in to this higher source. That music seems to me to display this connection to whatever this higher source, this higher energy, might be. It seems to connect to it the most, more than other music. You can hear it in other musics to a certain degree sometimes, but this seems to be almost purely of that nature. That's what really motivates me the most.'

All music is a spiritual communion - it is a talking in tongues, a present conversation with the past and the future, a dance with technology, a branch held out to a stranger. It speaks to the old and the young in a language that is beyond language, it expresses and elicits emotion and thought at once, it is both bodily and mental, noise and silence, intention and accident: it is the dissolution of opposites, the fleeting noise made eternal prayer, the transubstantiation of spirit into sound. Music is the expression of unity, in which difference is both accepted and resolved, and from which a mended world might be born. To make music is, as Roland Kirk observed, to talk with the spirits. We are lucky that the music of Nat Birchall allows us to hear the sounds of their world once more.

01 Nat Birchall - Song To The Divine Mother [clip]

02 Nat Birchall - Invocation [clip]

There are few Australian originals in jazz, though vibraphonist Alan Lee surely ranks alongside the best. Australian jazz is and always will be an interpretation of the American art form, but throughout his long career Lee has ploughed his furrow undaunted, 'What I want is the fire! Whether it's John Coltrane's Blues Minor from Africa Brass or Backwater Blues by Leadbelly, I want the emotion, the gut wrenching pain, the cry from within!'

These are uninhibited words. A musician and bandleader who cut a number of jazz sides for small independent Melbourne labels from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, Lee has always searched for this fire, evident in the broad styles he's covered throughout his career, and which we have attempted to explore here, the first and only collection of music from Alan Lee. From '60s soul jazz, to the deep modal sounds of the early '70s and cross-genre experiments exhibited in his chamber jazz, Lee's personal life has been as varied and explorative as his music, a journey that has taken him beyond the thresholds of jazz improvisation and spiritual awareness.

The tracks that feature on this anthology were recorded by various incarnations of Lee's band and are taken from across three albums recorded between 1973 and 1974. These albums represent the sole output in LP format that can be credited to Lee as band leader, and all are collectors' items in their own right. The deep modal version of Love Song and Freddie Hubbard's perennial spiritual jazz standard Little Sunflower are both taken from the self-titled LP 'Alan Lee Jazz Quartet'. The album 'Gallery Concerts 1973', which was recorded for Bruce Clarke's jazz sub-label Cumquat Records, provides us with a fierce electric-jazz version of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring: Dance Of The Adolescents plus the plaintive chamber jazz of John Lewis' Sketch as well two tracks featuring vocalist Jeannie Lewis; Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 and the beautiful Bailero in which Lee exchanges the vibraphone for the conductors role in presiding over a jazz trio accompanied by a seven piece concert ensemble. Completing this compendium is a track taken from the 1974 follow-up recording for Jazznote, the album titled 'The Smilor'; included is a cover of the Milt Jackson-penned Enchanted Lady.

What you are hearing on this album is the story of one man's travels, a journey within a foreign art form but also a journey within himself. Illustrated in the stories Lee shares, such as his correspondence with fellow vibraphone player Gary Burton on how to achieve advanced extended techniques for the vibraphone (resulting in pages of technical diagrams) or travelling across the US to purchase an original 1940s Deagan Imperial Vibraphone from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra 'Just to get that Milt Jackson sound'. There are moments of deep introspection and intellect in Lee's playing, emotional music that contains and shares a common spiritual oneness, seeking the thrill he experienced after first listening to Lionel Hampton and the Benny Goodman Quartet. 'The emotion, the gut wrenching pain, the cry from within.'

01 Alan Lee - Sunflower [clip]

The phrase 'living legend' is undoubtedly overused but there can be few people more deserving of such an accolade than Jack Costanzo. Born on the 24th September 1919, Costanzo is arguably the most significant percussionist of the modern era. Playing with many key orchestras, leading his own band, appearing in numerous TV shows and films and tutoring bongo playing to the stars, more than any other figure Jack Costanzo brought percussion, specifically Latin percussion and his trademark bongos, to widespread attention. But he wasn't merely a popularist, he was in turn revered by his peers and critics alike for his natural ability, invention, and perhaps most importantly his sheer versatility. He became known as 'Mr. Bongo' (first coined by jazz critic Leonard Feather), and the tag could hardly be more appropriate.

Latin music and its influence in general is often criminally overlooked in music history, but as a white Italian American who rose to prominence playing Latin music at the height of the mambo craze of the 1950s, Jack Costanzo has probably even more neglected. But hopefully not for too much longer as this 23 track retrospective seeks to redress the balance and give him the special treatment his spectacular career deserves. Showcasing many of the musical highlights of his mid-50s peak and featuring extensive liner notes based on new interviews with Costanzo himself, 'Mr. Bongo' serves as a perfect introduction to the many who may not yet be aware of Jack Costanzo, as well as providing those who are already fans with the ultimate collection of his work.

04 Quiere (Live) [clip]

05 El Diablito [clip]

07 Bongo Fever [clip]

22 Pharoahs Curse (feat. Tony Martinez  His Orchestra) [clip]

26 Besame Mucho (feat. Tony Martinez & His Orchestra) [clip]

Songs ancient and divine - the seventh volume of Jazzman’s acclaimed Spiritual Jazz series examines the influence and impact of Islam on four decades of jazz innovation.

Through Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, the civil rights era in America saw African American liberation politics famously associated with Islamic belief. This was not the first time that radical developments in African American cultural life had been widely and famously associated with Islam - that distinction belongs not to political or sporting giants, but to the progressive jazz musicians of the bebop generation. Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey, Sahib Shihab, Gigi Gryce, Idrees Sulieman, Ahmad Jamal, Yusef Lateef; all these legendary jazz pioneers - and countless more - were early converts to the spiritually charged Ahmadiyya school of Islam.

Their faith profoundly influenced the music that they made, and the presence of prominent and innovative Muslim musicians at the heart of jazz culture in America has been recognised ever since. The tracks on this collection follow the story of Islam and jazz from the 1950s to the 1980s. Recorded by Muslim jazz musicians, they often draw specifically on Middle Eastern or Islamic music, dream of an esoteric or spiritual Afro-East, or invoke the landscape and sound worlds of Islamic Africa. Spiritual Jazz 7 presents a selection of visionary music - inspired by faith, powered by jazz.

12 Dawan Muhammad - Taumbu (clip)

10 The Lightmen Plus One - All Praises To Allah (Parts One & Two) (edit) (clip)

09 Abdelrahman 'Abdo' Elkhatib & Solar Plexus - Ah Ya Zen (clip)

08 Sabu & Sahib Shihab - Nus (clip)

06 Idrees Sulieman - The Camel (clip)

05 East New York Ensemble De Music - Mevlana (clip)

04 Creative Arts Ensemble - Uhuru (clip)

03 Emmanuel Abdul - Rahim - Kalahari Suite (clip)

02 Ritual Trio - Africanos Latinos (clip)

01 Maurice McIntyre - Humility In The Light Of Creator (clip)

Cosmic Language

A1 Nat Birchall - Man From Varanasi

B2 Nat Birchall - Dervish

B1 Nat Birchall - A Prayer For

A2 Nat Birchall - Humility

As dedicated record collectors, we at Jazzman Records love nothing more than discovering good and obscure soul, jazz and funk records.

We started out by selling rare and obscure vinyl from a market stall in Camden in the early ‘90s, and we have now branched out into reissuing those very records so sought after by collectors.

The result so far is 6 record labels and over 200 high quality releases on LP, CD, 7” and as downloads.

We continue to scour the world to find interesting and rare records to re-release... We Dig Deeper!

Jazzman Records

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