David "Fathead" Newman: Davey Blue

 

David Newman spent his career as a jazz musician saddled with the nickname “Fathead.” Early on, he did an album or two as “David Newman” and found out that no one knew who he was, so it was back to “Fathead” for the balance of his life. For me (and I suspect other listeners as well), the most detrimental aspect of the name is that it puts Neman into the groove/funk/soul category, which doesn’t really convey the breadth and depth of his artistry. That’s not to say he wasn’t a wailing Texas tenor (and alto and flute) player—all of the years he spent in the Ray Charles orchestra can testify to that. Personal note: I saw Ray Charles when Fathead was with him, so I actually got to hear him play, although without any memory of his playing.

Take Davey Blue, for instance. It’s got bluesy swingers (Cellar Groove), gorgeous ballads (A Child Is Born), Afro-Caribbean sounds (Amandla), jazz standards (Freedom Jazz Dance, and dig the vibes and piano solos!), and a stunning version of Duke Pearson’s Cristo Redentor. Newman is at home regardless of what he plays. The fine vibraphonist Bryan Carrott (I’ve got to listen to more of him!), the great pianist Cedar Walton, bassist David Williams, and drummer Kenny Washington all sound terrific, both individually and collectively. I’m already on the lookout for more David Newman, and you should be, too, Fathead or not.

Here's Cristo Redentor:

Freedom Jazz Dance:

and the title track.

Middle Eastern Rock from John Berberian and the Rock East Ensemble

 

The way some record labels looked at it back in the early Sixties, Ravi Shankar’s breakthrough into the rock-pop world meant that someone who played the oud might hit it big as well. That’s how John Berberian, master oud player, wound up making records for the Mainstream, Roulette, and Verve Forecast labels, the latter issuing Music and Gibran in 1968, with NYC deejay Rosko reciting Khalil Gibran’s poetry while Berberian and other fine purveyors of Armenian and Turkish music provided the background sounds. The producers for that album figured that the next step ought to be Middle Eastern Rock. Berberian loved the idea, and so John Berberian and the Rock East Ensemble was born. The record came out in 1969 and then the label, as so often happened, didn’t do much with it, and it vanished with its sounds almost unheard. Berberian went on to make numerous recordings of Armenian mujsic and is still a master of the oud, but the Rock East Ensemble was no more.

I heard it back then, though. I fished it out of a cut out bin in a drugstore and, lover of middle Eastern-tinged music that I was and am, went home and played it. I’d say it was a Middle Eastern, jazz, and rock album, in that order. Guitarist Joe Beck brought his jazz and rock chops, while Berberian, clarinetist Souren Baronian, and a clutch of other musicians brought their inter-genre skills to achieve a fascinating mix of music that stayed with me over the decades.

Now, thanks to the gang at Modern Harmonic, the fount of many an obscure reissue, Middle Eastern Rock is available on CD and just as tripped out. I highly recommend it as a true fusion record that repays repeated listening.

Here are Tranquility and Iron Maiden: