The Perlich Post

Sunday, June 23, 2024

Sunday Jazz Session: Listen to Sahib Shahib's Jazz Party

Celebrating the brithday of woodwind wizard Sahib Shihab with the hard swingin' Sahib's Jazz Party album from 1964.

Remembering Suicide's Alan Vega on his birthday

Raising a glass to Suicide co-founder Alan Vega – born Boruch Alan Bermowitz in Brooklyn – with a few performances and more.

Richard Morton Jack publishes Labyrinth, the definitive guide to 60s British jazz

Labyrinth: British Jazz On Record, 1960-75 comes packed with reviews of 300 UK jazz gems penned by Richard Morton Jack

Here's the scoop...

Labyrinth is a massive hardback book, 375 pages in length, printed on high-quality art paper, with an embossed cover and cloth quarter-binding, written by Richard Morton Jack (Psychedelia: 101 Iconic Underground Rock Albums, Nick Drake: The Life, The Sunbeam Guide To Led Zeppelin). This limited edition record guide is the most comprehensive overview of the subject ever published. It celebrates over three hundred albums, offering detailed background info about each, alongside excerpts from original reviews and masses of high-quality images that reproduce their fabulous artwork and labels at near-full size. It also features a fascinating introduction by Tony Reeves (Mike Taylor Quartet, New Jazz Orchestra, Colosseum etc).

Covering abstract jazz, avant-garde jazz, serial jazz, free jazz, Indo-jazz, jazz-rock and more, it tells a story Britain should be proud of: open-minded and creative musicians pushing the boundaries of their art in the face of penury and indifference, and welcoming influences from a range of other cultures via immigrant musicians such as Joe Harriott (Jamaica), Amancio D’Silva (India), Guy Warren (Ghana) and Harry Beckett (Barbados). Get a copy via Soundohm right here. Check out Ritchie Unterberger's interview with Richard Morton Jack right here.

Saturday, June 22, 2024

Happy Birthday Leon Johnson aka "Chaino"

Raising a glass to Philadelphia-born, Chicago-raised percussion ace Leon Johnson better known in the world of exotica as "Chaino"

Woody Harrelson & Ted Danson chat about Cheers, Coen Bros & Larry David

Woody Harrelson shares his acting experiences working on No Country For Old Men & Curb Your Enthusiasm with Conan O'Brien.

Dollar Bin Delights: Zébaron – Concerto Pour Une Flûte

The "Concerto Pour Une Flûte" album attributed to "Zébaron" is the work of flautist Jean-Claude Gozzo & guitarist Sergio Renucci.

Zébaron – Concerto Pour Une Flûte (MFP) 1976

Over the years of visiting second-hand record shops, I've come across the mysterious Zébaron album from 1976 filed in classical, world, French language, easy listening, instrumental, lounge, and the bargain bin. The exotic looking sleeve doesn't give much away other than there is definitely some flute involved. But the recording is far from a snoozy solo flute recital. It's actually a lot closer in spirit to a French sound library stab at a breezy samba-jazz set you might get from Tele Music or Music Pour L'image only the tracks are longer and the performances have a touch more personality.

Zébaron seems to be the nom-du-disc of flautist Jean-Claude Gozzo and his guitar-playing pal Sergio Renucci who wrote the majority of the tunes together. What really elevates Concerto Pour Une Flûte from vanity project status, however, is the solid rhythm section of respected French jazz bassist Gilbert Rovère (Dexter Gordon, Duke Ellington, Cannonball Adderley, Martial Solal, René Thomas, etc) credited here as "Bibi Rover" and dependable drummer Fred "Junior" Desplan who approach the recording as they would any jazz ensemble session. While the album is clearly a showcase for J.C. Gozzo's flute flights as the title suggests, the propulsive play of Rovère and Desplan with guitarist Renucci keeps things moving. As you can hear on the tracks "Mélancolie" and "Le Baron" below, this Gozzo hombre can definitely play which makes you wonder whether it might be an alias for a credible artist on a money-making studio project since the name doesn't appear to be connected to any other recordings before or since. Perhaps only Sergio, Fred and Gilbert know for sure. Have a listen.