Strata East
Live In Tokyo (LP)
* Gatefold LP, 180 grams quality reissue * It’s incredible to witness this resurgence of Strata-East’s recordings over the last few years – an appreciation for the label’s ground-breaking approach to music-making, backed by a phenomenal catalogue, continues to attract listeners both new as well as its devoted faithful once again giving rise to its revered and cult-like status. The label’s return to prominence and its subsequent reintroduction to new audiences has been aided, in no small part, by…
Step by Step
Reissue of 'Step By Step' by trombonist John Gordon - a deep jazz classic on the legendary Strata-East label! Features the likes of Charles Tolliver on trumpet and Stanley Cowell on piano! John Gordon, a trombone master, brings us another gem from that most renowned of 70’s record labels, Strata-East. The trombone is a difficult instrument. In the hands of an artist like John Gordon, however, it can create vivid images and conjure up beautiful music.
Live at Slugs' Volume I
Where have you gone, Charles Tolliver? There was such promise in the concept of Music Inc., and in Strata East, but evidently the music world's attention was elsewhere and this tremendous live set was probably heard by only a few hundred sets of ears. On the back of the record sleeve, Tolliver undersigned his mission statement: "Music Inc. was created out of the desire to assemble men able to see the necessity for survival of a heritage and an Art in the hopes that the sacrifices and high level …
Live at Slugs' Volume II
Owning both this disc and Live at Slugs', Volume 1 is essential for hardcore Jazz fans. Part two of the Slugs' date is just as impressive and again feature three originals all penned by the group. Here we get a better example of Charles Tolliver's compositional work with the touching John Coltrane tribute Our Second Father. Again Tolliver's trumpet is simply stunning.
The rhythm section of Cecil McBee and Jimmy Hopps also deserve mention as these two really drive the quartet along in a similar f…
Compassion
I have to admit that I'm biased in favor of Charles Tolliver. He plays with a combination of strength and sweetness that goes beyond mere language. The fact that he is self taught is more miraculous. This particular recording has the best sound quality I've ever heard. The clarity is stunning and all the music is magnificent. The recording is so good, one can hear the sound of a musician's fingertips accidentally brushing across the bass strings, for example. Alvin Queen is always brilliant on t…
Two Is One
* 2021 Repress. Remastered. 180 gram LP * It seems that every major jazz artist has a one-off sort of record in their discography, be it with strings, voices, spoken word or - as in this case - a foray into the funkier side of jazz. Charlie Rouse (going here as Charles Rouse) gets his chance on Two Is One, a funky soul jazz excursion on Strata-East, the artist-run label where creativity and pushing boundaries was at the forefront. Playing mostly with a group of session musicians, Rouse put toget…
Musa
* 2021 Repress. Remastered. 180 gram LP * A passionate and personal album, more or less a piano only instrumental work that will attract all kinds of music lovers from jazz, classical music, avantgarde and progressive rock. Excellent performance with a great flow in the composition and breathtaking improvisations. Some kind of jazz version of Keith Emerson.
Stanley Cowell, born in 1941, is a living legend as jazz pianist and his skills can be witnessed on his 1974 solo effort “Musa: Ancestral st…
The World of the Children
* 2021 Repress. Remastered. 180 gram LP * One of the rarest albums on the infamous Jazz label Strata-East from 1977 and it’s a spiritual soul jazz masterpiece. Sonelius Smith’s free piano comes together with Shamek Farrah’s heartfelt saxophone for a totally unforgettable journey into the meaning of sacred jazz. Fresh and imaginative, but not too improvisational. Rhapsodic but never over-indulgent and with a raucous, bold groove that’s in the real classic Strata East mold.Playful and wild but bea…
Impact
Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London Trumpeter/ flügelhornist Charles Tolliver often straddled the line between the lyricism of hard bop and the adventurous nature of the avant-garde. Released in 1975, Impact contained a stimulating progressive edge within an energetic large band (14 horns, eight strings, and rhythm section) format. Tolliver's arrangements are consistently bright and build momentum, while the soloists are given sufficient room to manoeuvre throug…
Live at The Loosdrecht Jazz Festival
Charles Tolliver began his professional career and simultaneously his recording debut with the saxophone giant Jackie McLean on Blue Note Records in 1964. Since then he has become one of the all-time preeminent trumpeters in Jazz as well as one of its most gifted composer / arranger bandleaders. He is also a Grammy nominated recipient for his Blue Note Records recording With Love.With a career that has spanned five decades he has recorded and/or performed with such renowned artists as Roy Haynes…