The Jazz Soul of Manfred Mann

I do some posting to a Best of the 60s Facebook page. Some time back, I thought to post Manfred Mann’s Pretty Flamingo, a song I always liked a lot more than Do Wah Diddy. To me, MM was one of many British invasion wannabe Beatles pop groups that stuck around for a few years, had another hit with Bob Dylan’s The Mighty Quinn, and then transmogrified into Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and hit again with Blinded by the Light. It never would have occurred to me to buy one of their albums or otherwise follow their careers. Still, I did have a sneaking affection for the catchy, slightly quirky My Little Red Book, mainly because it was on the What’s New Pussycat soundtrack (a topic for another day).

In the course of locating Pretty Flamingo on YouTube, I checked out some other MM. I was astonished to hear an instrumental featuring flute and vibes that wouldn’t have been out of place on a late night jazz station in the 60s, but a real outlier on Shindig or Ready Steady Go (for which MM wrote and performed the theme song). It piqued my interest enough to do some research, which revealed that MM had started out as a beat/R&B/jazz band a la Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames and then hit the pop jackpot. Unfortunately, when I tried to re-listen to the jazz track I’d discovered, I couldn’t remember the name of the tune, and my YouTube search skills proved unavailing. I gave up and forgot about it.

More recently, I was checking out the Cannonball Adderley Quintet’s version of Cannonball’s Sack o’ Woe.  The YouTube “recommendations” column suggested a version by none other than MM. It turned out to be a kickin’ up-tempo excursion with brief, crisp solos on alto, harmonica (!), piano, and vibes. I flashed back to my previous search and soon found the cool jazz track I’d heard in my first MM search. More exploration yielded more instrumental jazz, from organ combo funky (The Abominable Snowmann) to cool (a great flute and vibes version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, which to my ears is as good as (and I suspect based on) the Modern Jazz Quartet’s England’s Carol), to small-group arrangements of the pop tunes of the day (Satisfaction, I Got You Babe, Still I’m Sad, and a “where’s the melody” romp through My Generation) featuring Jack Bruce (bass), Henry Lowther (tpt), and Lyn Dobson (ts). MM’s regular cast of characters also demonstrate their jazz chops on these recordings, including Mike Hugg (vibes), vocalist Paul Jones (harmonica), Mike Vickers (as) and Mann himself on keyboards.

I don’t want to oversell these things—don’t throw out your old Blues Note and Prestige albums—but they are quite enjoyable, and I’m impressed that MM put  them on their albums. I wonder what influence they had on the fans who came to them via Do Wah Diddy? If you’re interested, all of these performances, including a couple not on YouTube (Milt Jackson's Spirit Feel, for one), can be found on The Soul of Mann, a mostly instrumental compilation. The exception is the oddly titled LSD, which is really a blues, another genre of which MM was fond. The album is available as a relatively reasonably priced Japanese import.

The cool flute and vibes tune I couldn’t find? It’s called Bare Hugg. Enjoy!

The Discovery of Herculaneum

In the course of the massive shifting around of seemingly every inanimate object in the house required by adding on to said house, I’ve had to move my CD collection out of the living room. The plus side was a chance to look at the many that I’ve acquired over the years but never played. I bought one of them—Orange Blossom by the band Herculaneum—several years ago in an effort to assuage my guilt about mainly listening to the music of senior citizens and dead people rather than contemporary artists ( a topic I plan to address in an upcoming post). I remembered, or thought I did, that the band was part of the Chicago free jazz scene. I do enjoy some post-Ornette music, but I’m picky. In recent years, a lot of the bands of that ilk that I’ve investigated do a lot of initial random instrumental plunking and mumbling that causes me to react as Brendan Gill’s Uncle Arthur did to Moby-Dick: “Good God, man, get on with your story!”

Happily, I didn’t have that problem with Herculaneum, which has put out five albums over the last 10 years or so. Based on what I’ve heard, they strike me as a freebop band—think the Jazz Messengers with a front line of Sonny Simmons, Roswell Rudd, and Don Cherry. Orange Blossom features solid compositions by Dylan Ryan, the band’s drummer/vibraphonist, solid arrangements using counterpoint in stimulating ways, sharp ensemble playing by Patrick Newbery, trumpet; Nick Broste, trombone; and David McDonnell, alto sax; and strong solos by all concerned. Ryan’s drumming pushes the band to hit the ground running on the first track, Bears of Illium, a pattern that persists throughout the CD. He also provides a subtle underpinning to the gorgeous (but oddly named) Fuzball in Valhalla and Cry of the Locusts.  Twin Unicorns is a particularly interesting piece, with Broste, and especially McDonnell, taking compelling solos. Newbery shines on Bears of Illium and Let There Be Neon, among others, but everyone takes care of business throughout, as does bassist Greg Danek (check out Return to the Woods.) There’s also nice guitar work by John Beard on Fuzball in Valhalla and Andra Kulans on viola on Cry of the Locusts.

Herculaneum’s last two albums, Uchu and Olives &Orchids, are available in vinyl or download (woe the poor unhip CD listener!) on Bandcamp. I’ll be buying both. To get a taste of the band, check out part of this live performance in 2012. 

In Lieu of a Blog Post...

Well, it's more of an explanation than a post. Note to self: Don't work at home and  add a two-story addition onto your house and then expect to have a lot of time to maintain your blog. I've been gone so long, I didn't know I'd actually received a comment on my Knockouts post -- sorry, Todd! Any way, I've got a plan to do a couple of new posts soon, so Don't give up on me yet.

Larry Young's Unity

When I’m in the mood to listen to music, I usually turn to my ever-growing pile of new music (I’m old fashioned enough that I’m still buying CDs). It’s often out of guilt—why buy this stuff if I’m not going to play it? This is bad, because it causes me to neglect the classics, like Larry Young’s Unity.

I’m not a Blue Note fetishist. Plenty of other labels produced (and still produce) great music. I have to admit, though that Alfred Lion maintained a pretty high standard overall. Unity is a classic example. I remembered how good it was, thanks both to the quality of the musicians but also Blue Note’s penchant for extensive rehearsals prior to making a recording. There was a lot I didn’t remember, though:

• Nat Hentoff’s liner note reminded me of how young Woody Shaw was—21 when he made this record! Not only is his trumpet playing astonishingly mature, but his compositions, particularly “Zoltan” and “The Moontrane” (now a jazz standard) are equally accomplished.
• “Zoltan” is named for Zoltan Kodaly, whose march from his Hary Janos Suite form the composition’s opening.
• Joe Henderson’s witty and apt quotations, like Charlie Parker’s Buzzy in his tenor solo on “If.” I don’t usually think of Joe as using quotations, but he does here.
• The great arrangement of “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise,” proving that the Great American Songbook is still a fine vehicle for jazz when treated imaginatively.
• The subtlety of Elvin Jones’s drumming, perhaps easier to hear in a non-Coltrane setting.

One thing I can never forget is Larry Young’s groundbreaking playing. He was a real stylist, utterly distinctive. He moved the organ from soul jazz into more adventuresome territory without losing his soul —and that goes for his later, more fusion-oriented work with Tony Williams, too.

Here’s “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise." I hope you enjoy it.