Rooster_Ties Posted May 2, 2003 Report Posted May 2, 2003 (edited) Call me crazy (lord knows I've been called worse), but lately I can't help but play these "what if" games. SO, here's the latest... Who could have been really GREAT artists to have recorded on the famed early 70's label "STRATA-EAST"??? - you know, the one formed by Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell in about 1969 or 1970. (And I mean, besides people who actually recorded on that label.) Note, the question isn't just "who would have been a 'good fit' on STRATA-EAST", but be a little creative - and think of some people who maybe turned out only one even slightly "STRATA-EAST"-ish sounding album in the late 60's or early 70's, and imagine what they might have done making a few albums with that vibe that STRATA-EAST seemed to have. "What if" they had gone that direction with they career??? - if only for a few years (say from 1970-1976). I'll go first, with a couple non-obvious choices... Andrew Hill, on the basis of 'side one' of the 2nd LP of Hill's 2LP set "One For One", the side with Charles Tolliver (tp), Pat Patrick (as/fl/bs), Bennie Maupin (fl/ts/bass-cl), Ron Carter (B), and Ben Riley (d). This one tiny bit of Hill (only three tunes!) has an 'attitude' and 'swagger' about it like almost nothing else in the entire Hill catalog. Also, in some ways I think Hill's "Lift Every Voice" has some of those same STRATA-EAST things going for it too. Is it really that hard to imagine a series of Andrew Hill albums in the early 70's, continuing with the kind of output he had in 1969 and 1970??? (Maybe "Dance With Death" and/or "Grass Roots" might also fit here too, but to a lesser degree.) Sun Ra, on the basis of Ra's work on "Lanquidity", which I'll admit wasn't until 1978 - but for the sake of argument, let's pretend Ra went through that phase a few years earlier. Another "Ra" album that kinda vaguely hints at the STRATA-EAST sound is "Strange Celestial Road" from 1980. Of course, Woody Shaw would be an obvious choice too, I think. (No elaboration probably needed.) What about Joe Henderson??? To me, it's not very hard to imagine him being on STRATA-EAST. Who else??? Maybe Donald Byrd could have turned out some albums (on S-E) that were better than his 'really-commercial' BN output, starting around 1972. PS: OK, from now on, in this thread "S-E" stands for "STRATA-EAST", if you get tired of typing it out. Edited May 2, 2003 by Rooster_Ties Quote
BFrank Posted May 2, 2003 Report Posted May 2, 2003 Chico Freeman Billy Harper Gary Bartz George Adams and/or Don Pullen Archie Shepp Larry Young Quote
kdd Posted May 2, 2003 Report Posted May 2, 2003 Good choices BFrank but Harper did make one for Strata-East and a great one at that. James Spaulding might have been a good candidate for the label. Quote
BFrank Posted May 2, 2003 Report Posted May 2, 2003 Thanks, kdd! For some reason, I don't have Capra Black and didn't realize that it was a Strata-East album. How 'bout: - Ricky Ford - David Murray - Max Roach Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted May 2, 2003 Author Report Posted May 2, 2003 Another couple that I just thought of... Eddie Henderson Bennie Maupin And also (as was said above), I think Larry Young might have been a really interesting choice. I'm not aware of any organ players on STRATA-EAST, but that could have been a really interesting direction for the label. Oh man, what about John Patton!!! B) Quote
Usual Channels Posted May 2, 2003 Report Posted May 2, 2003 Muntu! Jemeel Moondoc, Roy Campbell, William Parker, Rashid Bakr. As far as I know, they never recorded, but they were hitting the lofts around '75... Quote
JSngry Posted May 4, 2003 Report Posted May 4, 2003 I'm not aware of any organ players on STRATA-EAST, but that could have been a really interesting direction for the label. Shirley Scott did a beaut of an album for Strata-East: ONE FOR ME. Sorta/kinda has a Young-ish vibe to it w/o being explicitly Youngish. REASONABLY ACCURATE AMG REVIEW HERE! Quote
JSngry Posted May 4, 2003 Report Posted May 4, 2003 As a leader? The obvious choice for me would be Max Roach, since he sorta bred that whole vibe w/his mid/late 60s bands. Woulda like to have heard Kenny Dorham do a leader date for Strata-East. The Last Poets. Bartz, obviously. Frank Mitchell. Joe Lee Wilson. Betty Carter. Hannibal. DEFINITELY Hannibal. Ishmael Reed. Andy Bey. K'atetta Aton (still looking for somebody who's heard of her and/or knows where she is today...) Cannonball. Imagaine Cannonball on Strata-East throughout the early 70s instead of Capitol and weep for what was not. Oh yeah, the whole Black Jazz roster. But they had their OWN label. And believe it or not, the very earliest Earth Wind & Fire. Seriously. Those were the days... Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted May 4, 2003 Author Report Posted May 4, 2003 The obvious choice for me would be Max Roach, since he sorta bred that whole vibe w/his mid/late 60s bands. What else by Roach fit's the pre-"STRATA-EAST" mold?? I only have "Members Don't Get..." Whattami missing??? Quote
JSngry Posted May 4, 2003 Report Posted May 4, 2003 There's little to choose from, but check out DRUMS UNLIMITED, and even the two impulse! albums, PERCUSSION BITTER SUITE and IT'S TIME. Quote
Usual Channels Posted May 4, 2003 Report Posted May 4, 2003 JSnrgy - Wow! I didn't know Ishmael Reed was on recordings--I just got into his great book "Mumbo Jumbo." I see on AMG that he has a record from '83 called "Conjure"--have you heard it? Is it any good? Quote
JSngry Posted May 4, 2003 Report Posted May 4, 2003 (edited) Heard it, don't have it. It's interesting, as are all those American Clave releases. I also have him reading one piece on a Broadside LP called NEW JAZZ POETS. We used a slight sample of it on WELCOME TO THE PARTY, on "Hip Bop". Listen closely and you'll hear a voice repeating the phrase "Burning lakes of fire". That's Reed. The jazz/spoken word thing was a small but interesting part of the Strata-East scene. Various albums had passages of poetry and/or spoken word, usually of a political/Nationalist bent (see ALKEBU-LAN) and Jayne Cortez did a REALLY interesting album for S-E accompanied only by Richard Davis called CELEBRATIONS AND SOLITUDES. If it ever gets reissued, snap it up, if only for "How Long Has Trane Been Gone?". Edited May 4, 2003 by JSngry Quote
BFrank Posted May 4, 2003 Report Posted May 4, 2003 (edited) I have "Conjure", but haven't listened to it much, actually. As Jim mentioned, it is on American Clave, which is Kip Hanrahan's label. There are only 2 cuts with Reed. The sub-title of the album is "Music for the Texts of Ishmael Reed" and it's got a great lineup of musicians, which is not unusual for a Hanrahan project. Edited May 4, 2003 by BFrank Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted May 4, 2003 Report Posted May 4, 2003 Strata East was basically a "vanity label". If you had the bucks to pay for a session, they would issue it. A bunch of friends of Tolliver and Cowell bit. The label "style" was dictated by the sessions issued, but it was really the same as a public access channel. Quote
JSngry Posted May 5, 2003 Report Posted May 5, 2003 What's the deal with Charles Sullivan's Strata-East album? Seems like ther was a "custody battle" between the label and Sullivan after the label folded, with Sullivan winning and releasing the album on Inner City. Did the label retain rights to sessions that were self-produced/financed as a matter of course, or did some artists in fact get financial backing to one degree or another from the label itself? Quote
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