Charles Tolliver - 'Mosaic Select 20'

 

This is an interesting Mosaic set, in that these recordings were not owned by Blue Note or any of Capitol's subsidiaries; they are owned by Charles Tolliver, and originally appeared on the Strata East label which he co-founded with the pianist on these dates, Stanley Cowell.  Strata East was a musician's label that recorded some of the greatest jazz music of the 1970s and was well distributed. (Unfortunately, with very few exceptions -- and a real comment on the record industry here in the U.S. -- the only way to procure most Strata East recordings on CD these days is from Japan.)  Most of these sides were cut live at Slug's Saloon, a legendary, long gone spot on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a space now occupied by a chic bakery.   Slug's Saloon was the go-to joint for musicians who were still developing the "new thing" after Coltrane, who played regularly and collaborated with one another.  Its audience was hip and sophisticated and deeply interested in music that was current.  Charles Tolliver himself went all out to find more of the music recorded on these dates, and there are six selections, roughly a full CD, of completely unreleased music from the Slug's gigs. 

This 3CD Mosaic box set features the music from two Charles Tolliver concerts. The first concert was recorded live at Sluggs Saloon, in New York on 5/1/70. This concert fetures, Tolliver (trumpet), Cecil McBee (bass) Stanley Cowell (piano), and Jimmy Hopps (drums). The second concert was recorded live in Tokyo 12/7/73.  This show features Tolliver, Cowell, Clifford Barbaro (drums), and Clint Houston (bass).  The sound quality is just phenomenal.  In particular, the bass could not sound better. The two concerts feature some of Tolliver's most creative and exciting songs, as well as some great songwriting by McBee and Cowell.  The first show features some of the best playing I've heard from bassist McBee.  Pianist Stanley Cowell, but he provides both some excellent songwriting and playing on these two shows.  The style of the music is 1960s post bop with a tinge of soul jazz, hard bop, and avant-garde.   It is fairly similar in style to the work Charles did on Jackie Mclean's blue note recordings.  To my ears, this is hands down the best recording, with Charles Tolliver listed as the leader.

For the freeload, tell us what your favorite movie soundtrack albums are.