Candid reissues some great Why Not titles

[robviti]

While visiting another member's record store today, I discovered that Candid had reissued several titles from the Japanese Why Not catalog this past March. Every one of these mid-priced remasters is worthy owning, imo. Hopefully, there will be more to come.

Air Feat. Henry Threadgill - Air Song

[WNCD79403]

Henry Threadgill - tenor, baritone and alto saxophones, flute

Fred Hopkins - bass

Steve McCall - percussion

Air, the archetypal free jazz trio, originally formed out of a similar co-operative called Reflection in 1971. Henry Threadgill on Saxophone, Fred Hopkins on bass and Steve McCall on percussions re-united in 1975 and this album when this album was recorded. The perceptive Japanese producer Masahiko Yuh recorded Air for his Why Not label. The band went on to reach notoriety with their ragtime inspired free jazz albums. This album is the first of two LPs recorded for Why Not. The trio functions with all three members contributing musically on an equal foot. The creative solos and advanced interplay make this record sublimely satisfying.

Chico Freeman - Morning Prayer

[WNCD79412]

Chico Freeman - tenor and soprano saxophones, flute, pan-pipe, percussion

Muhal Richard Abrams - piano

Cecil McBee - bass, cello

Steve McCall - percussion

Ben Montgomery - drums, percussion

Douglas Ewart - bass flute, bamboo flute, percussion

Chico Freeman is the son of well known saxophonist Von Freeman. Raised in Chicago during the 1950s and 60s Chico honed his musical skills as a reed man and joined the A.A.C.M (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). The band that Freeman put together for this recording for Why Not results from his involvement in the A.A.C.M. and make for an incredibly exciting band. With Freeman playing sax, flute and percussion there is Henry Threadgill (also on sax, flute and percussion), Muhal Richard Abrams (percussion), Cecil McBee (bass and cello), Steve McCall (percussion), Ben Montgomery (drums and percussion) and Douglas Ewart (bass flute, bamboo flute and percussion).

George Cables - Why Not?

[WNCD79402]

George Cables - piano

Tony Dumas - bass

Carl Burnett - drums

Pianist and New Yorker George Cables absorbed all that the city had to offer and its influence on him shaped his approach to music. Trained classically as a youth Cables attended the Mannes College of Music for two years and by the age of 19 was playing professionally with the Jazz Samaritans alongside drum legend Billy Cobham. Cables went on to work as sideman with Max Roach, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and after touring with Sonny Rollins he settled in Los Angeles. In 1975 the perceptive Masahiko Yuh, sensing that here was an artist drastically underexposed as a leader, went to LA to record this record. With Tony Dumas on bass and Carl Burnett on drums to trio recorded at Record Plant Studios. The result was a record which defines the modern jazz piano trio in a manner which is always contemporary and always fresh even decades after it was recorded.

Walt Dickerson - Tell Us Only The Beautiful Things

[WNCD79401]

Walt Dickerson - vibraphone

Wilbur Ware - bass

Andrew Cyrille - percussion

Walt was a true original with a unique sound and a distinctive approach to the vibraphone, taking forward the path laid out by Hamp right through to Milt Jackson and beyond. Dickerson made quite an impact on when he first burst on to the then embryonic "free jazz" scene as evidenced by his being voted "New Star 1962" in the prestigious Down Beat critics poll. In spite of this however, wider jazz recognition never came aided no doubt by long periods of seeming inactivity. After recording four albums for PRESTIGE in the early sixties, the somewhat enigmatic Walt dropped out until 1975 when the ubiquitous Masahiko Yuh recorded this and another album in his hometown Philadelphia.

[Soulstation1]

All of these are over on emusic

[AndrewHill]

The Air and the Dickerson disks look very interesting.

[felser]

The Air and the Dickerson disks look very interesting.

And Freeman was a monster player back in those days. Not sure why he lost the fire in the 80's, but he did.