X-Ray Spex

The Day the World Turned Day-Glo

This fabulous and still timley X-Ray Spex 45 is mostly about our "plastic, chemical, toxic world". But there are other ways to understand it and react to it. Right now, mine is something like this: 

I'd like to watch that missile strike again, while I eat my wimpy bun NOT!

Does everyone feel better now? Even the 'Nelson' response fails to capture my feelings!

Max Roach

Nica

At the end of the 1950's, drummr Max Roach led a piano-less group that featured Julian Priester on trombone, Tommy Turrentineon trumpet and his brother Stanley on tenor sax. Stanley achieved fame and fortune on CTI doing a commercial, if not pop-r&b version of soul jazz. The high quality of his jazz contributions must not be overlooked. Like his playing with Max Roach. On Nica, written by pianist Sonny Criss about the well known jazz patron, Panonica de Koenigswarter, Turrentine takes a dry, penetrating solo that shows the influence of Sonny Rollins and hard bop. He was an original master, even this early!

Charles Atanga & Emitas

Onguindo

Charles Atanga is a bass player from Ivory Coast. He recorded as Charles Atanga & Emitas, and made this moody, dark as deep mole sauce, track in 1975. The electric organ gives this a layer of strange texture. It is mildly funky, like some of the bleaker tracks Curtis Mayfield cut during the early 1970's. Like Right On For The Darkness. It fits well with this di and rainy morning.

The Gaylettes

I Like Your World

Judy Mowatt might have gotten her biggest career break via the I Threes and their backing of Bob Marley when Bunny and Peter left, but she was around years before that, solo and as part of the Gaylettes, who made a number of great records for Merritone and Island in the late 1960's. This one combines soul with a 'girl group approach' and is quite successful. Mowatt sounds great, too!

Sister Sledge

Frankie

Joni Sledge, of Sister Slege, died just a few days ago. She and her three sisters formed the singing group in the early 1970's and had many hits, while also cheering on the Pittsburgh Pirates in their World Series run in 1979. The hits more or less ended in the mid 1980's, when they released their last album for several years, When the Boys Meet the Girls. The worked with Chic's Nile Rodgers on this one, and it did yield their last major hit, Frankie (only #32 on the US r&b chart, but #1 in the UK). Frankie sounds like an early 1960's girl group disc, has a strong NOLA groove and a fantastic horn arrangement! It IS finger licking good. A fine salute to Joni, who at 60, is gone far too soon!

Valerie Capers

Subrosa

Pianist Valerie Capers, the first blind person to graduate from Julliard, is not even as well known as her trumpet playing brother, Bobby! Val has been recording and writing great tunes (several for Mongo Santamaria) since the early 1960's. Her first solo record, a great slab of latin jazz, has never been re-issued, and it deserves a hearing here! Get ready to be moved!

Toshiko Akiyoshi

Kelo

Toshiko Akiyoshi grew up in Manchuria, and after the secons world war ended, she and her family resettled on the island of Kyushu. It was there that she was exposed to jazz, and her long, unusual trip led her to America and close relationships with several jazzmen. She began to record in the early 1950's, well before she became interested in leading a large ensemble and integrating japanese musical themes into jazz and blues forms...this is from a very early record featuring Boots Mussulli on alto. Mussulli had played with Kenton, Krupa and Ventura before this date. The tune is by trombonist JJ Johnson, and it is delightful!

Nellie Luther & Her Rhythm

He's a Real Gone Guy

From Lake Charles, LA, pianist and singer Nellie Lutcher had many hits after WWII and into the 1950's. She wrote most of them and plays spectacular piano on all of them! Her singing and diction was unusual and she seems to have been a significant influence on Nina Simone. Here is one she wrote (still shows at ASCAP) that is a favorite, and was also much covered as a vocal and an instrumental in the 1950's