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Press release: On November 22, Blue Note Records will release of Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’, a never-before-issued live recording of jazz legends McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson leading a stellar quartet with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Jack DeJohnette at the hallowed lost NYC jazz shrine, Slugs' Saloon, in 1966. The release was produced by Zev Feldman, Jack DeJohnette, and Lydia DeJohnette. Forces of Nature includes an elaborate booklet with rare photos by Francis Wolff, Raymond Ross, and Robert Polillo; plus liner notes by esteemed author and critic Nate Chinen, and interviews and statements with DeJohnette, Jason Moran, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Nasheet Waits, and Terri Lyne Carrington. Originally recorded by the legendary engineer Orville O’Brien — who recorded classic 1960s jazz albums such as Freddie Hubbard’s The Night of the Cookers, Charles Tolliver’s Music Inc. and Alice Coltrane's Journey in Satchidananda — the tape has been in DeJohnette's personal archives for nearly 60 years. The 2-LP 180g vinyl set is transferred from the original tape reel and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, who also mastered the 2-CD and digital.

Just received a batch of the Hat Hut ezz-thetics Revisited CDs (via Tommy's Jazz & Squidco) This live Horace S Quintet (64-66) is absolutely superb (including SQ) from a stellar period in his career. It's basically a compilation of live tracks that Horace released on the Emerald label (one LP & one CD), which was a subsidiary of Silveto. The whole of Emerald CD 1003 (Half Note) is replicated (sans the Alan Grant Intro) & two tracks (of 4) from the Emerald LP 1001 (Cork & Bib) making 80 minutes in toto. For Joe Henderson fans it's a real bonus - standout track imho is The Tokyo Blues (Cork & Bib) running in at 15 minutes. BTW the Emerald CD was rereleased on the 32 Jazz label, titled Re-Entry. Looks like the two Cork & Bib titles are on CD for the first time.

Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Kenny Barron, Herbie Lewis and Louis Hayes. They played a week at the Crawford Grill, here in Pittsburgh, sometime in the fall of ‘67. The only tune I remembered them doing was ‘Backlash.’ I’ve never seen a reference to the group, any recordings... Obviously short-lived, although if they went to the bother of coming up with a name (as opposed to something like the Freddie Hubbard-Joe Henderson Quintet) it makes me think they may have had plans for the group. Anyone hear them? Did they have other gigs? (Those were the days, when you could hear Freddie Hubbard in a neighborhood club.) Is my mind playing tricks on me?

This 1988 concert from Germany isn't solid gold -- Arnett Cobb, a year from his demise, is a bit wavery at times -- but the interaction between Joe Henderson and Jimmy Heath is pretty special. Each man seems energized by the presence/playing of the other -- Henderson leading off on "Steeplechase" with a highly engaged solo, to which Heath responds in kind, and so it goes. One wishes the album were longer than 44 minutes, but there is a "Tenor Tribute Vol. 2," with the same line up, which I've yet to hear. http://www.amazon.com/Tenor-Tribute-Vol-1-Arnett-Cobb/dp/B0038M2W8U/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1450045528&sr=1-2&keywords=tenor+tribute Here's "Steeplechase" (YouTube says it's "Cottontail," which is on Vol. 2, but it's "Steeplechase"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gwIBsb3CGI