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"A legendary concert by one of the great unrecorded bands in free jazz history is here at last. Webo, the third installment in the Black Editions Archive series of previously unreleased recordings from Milford Graves' private tape library, roars into the station June 21, 2024. For the first time, Charles Gayle, Milford Graves, & William Parker—three lions of the Black American jazz avantgarde—are finally heard together on record, presented here across three audiophile-quality LPs for two brutalizingly joyous hours of real ju-ju & musical mastery. The trio of Charles Gayle, Milford Graves, & William Parker gave only seven public performances between 1985 and 2013, and released no recordings. Their June 1991 two-night stand at the short-lived Lower East Side venue Webo, long referenced as a signal event in New York free jazz's 1990s resurgence, has been a topic of discussion among close followers of the music for decades. In the uncompromising grassroots spirit of the 1970s New York Musicians Organization and loft jazz movements from which they had emerged, the band produced and promoted the Webo concerts themselves. Photography and audio recording were not allowed at the concerts, and this official recording, commissioned by the artists, was never released—until now. So vivid was the lore surrounding Webo that it topped the list of recordings sought by Black Editions Archive from Graves' private collection. The tapes maximally substantiate eyewitness accounts describing extra-sensory levels of communication within the band, and the extraordinary clarity and impact of their performance. From William Parker's liner notes: 'Imagine a village or choir of drummers, horn players and strings. You can hear the bass and drums churning with a call and response, a melodic-rhythmic propulsion. In reality there is only one drummer, one bass, and one saxophone.' Age 52 at the time of these concerts, Charles Gayle had only recently made his first recordings. To all but the most immediate insiders he was still more myth than reality. Milford Graves, two months out from his 50th birthday, was about halfway into his body of recorded work and had sanctioned just one appearance on a commercially released recording in the last 14 years (Pieces of Time by an all-drummer quartet with Kenny Clarke, Andrew Cyrille, and Famoudou Don Moye). William Parker, the young man of the group at age 39, was a mere fifty entries into his discography, now 500+ entries and counting. All three musicians were at least a quarter century into passionately developing a personal and collective music rooted in the cultural values and radical aesthetics of the 1960s and '70s Black American avant-garde. 30+ years after the Webo concerts, Black Editions Archive is honored to make these historical recordings available to the public. The three LPs are presented in a heavy black, pigment-stamped box with mounted cover painting along with liner notes by William Parker, commentary from Alan Licht (witness to night one of the Webo concerts), a reproduction of the original concert flyer, and a set of 6"x9" printed photos from the 2021 Webo reunion outside MoMA PS1, Queens, NY. Cover Painting by Jeff Schlanger/musicWitness, made June 8, 1991, at Webo during the band's performance. Vinyl pressed at RTI, lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio."—Michael Ehlers, 2024

SOURCED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES: MOBILE FIDELITY 180G 33RPM SUPERVINYL LP
REVEALS MULTIPLE LAYERS OF RHYTHM, VISCERAL BASS, AND PIONEERING PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
1/4" / 15 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe

Miles Davis' boundlessly influential On the Corner was so far ahead of its time upon release in 1972, the jazz cognoscenti rejected its groundbreaking concoction as middling in nature. Yet time has a way of righting wrongs and shifting views by adding needed context and perspective to visionary ideas, music, and approaches — the likes of which fill Davis' boldest and most controversial — undertaking. Designed to bring the focus back on the groove and bottom-end frequencies, the funk-loaded On the Corner revolutionized jazz. It also set new standards for record production, presaging remixing and electronica by more than a decade. And the work has never sounded more thrilling thanks to this very special pressing.

Sourced from the original master tapes and pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g 33RPM SuperVinyl LP of On the Corner exposes the internal mechanisms, free-associated playing, and then-unmatched studio techniques in vivid fashion. The low end, crucial to every composition here, is both heard and felt, with locked-in bass lines and low-range percussion conveyed as taut, solid, and visceral passages. You can discern the multiple layers of rhythm Davis employed on complex tracks such as "Black Satin," as On the Corner stands as his first effort to use overdubbing and multiple tape machines. As a pioneer, Davis likely would’ve loved MoFi’s groundbreaking SuperVinyl profile that features the lowest-possible analogue noise floor as well as pristine transparency, dead-quiet surfaces, and superb groove definition.

New degrees of spaciousness and airiness — equally important to the musique concrete arrangements — give the impression Davis and Co.'s creations float in space. Instruments are portrayed in three-dimensional manners, rhythmic loops retain tonal purity, and horn solos skitter across an extra-wide soundstage that takes listeners into Columbia's Studio E. Mobile Fidelity's SuperVinyl LP captures Teo Macero's innovative production — and the trumpeter's cutting-edge aural collages — in definitive fashion.

Heavily inspired by Sly and the Family Stone, On the Corner portrays street vibes and remains Davis' Blackest-sounding record. The conscious attempt to connect with youthful audiences tapped into rock and funk is evident not only on the colorful cartoon cover art depicting hot-pants and zoot-suit revelers, but in the music's emphasis of recurring drum and bass grooves. Distinct from Davis' earlier fusion experiments, the record's long-misunderstood set dials back improvisation in favor of beats, loops, and atmospherics that generate trance-like effects. While Davis utilizes his band for core duties — Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock prominently figure — he also relies on an all-star cast of side-men for concentrated soloing and additional support.

With rhythm providing the basic foundation, other notes fall into place, with their positioning steered by Macero and Davis' editing-room techniques. Looking to the manipulation-based work of Karlheinze Stockhausen and teaming with Stockhausen disciple Paul Buckmaster, Davis re-imagines what grooves constituted and could accomplish throughout On the Corner. The shapes of the songs become completely transformed as they progress. Faint melodies, spacey chords, chunky riffs, wah-wah fills, and repeated motifs bounce in and out of a sonic funhouse that wouldn't be out of place at a Harlem block party.

Exotic, intrepid, and filled with Davis' "jungle sound," On the Corner remains daringly hip more than four decades later.

MoFi SuperVinyl

Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are virtually indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

180g 2LP 45rpm

180g 2LP 45rpm
Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series)
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records!
An absolute must-have for every jazz collector!
180-gram mono 45 RPM double LP
Pressed at Quality Record Pressings
Gatefold old-style "tip-on" jacket by Stoughton Printing

The Clown was Charles Mingus' second masterpiece in a row, featuring Jean Shepard (yes, that Jean Shepard from the holiday movie A Christmas Story) on the title tune narrating a story about a clown attempting to please the world with his performances. The Clown also introduced two of Mingus' finest compositions in the driving, determined "Haitian Fight Song" and the '40s-flavored "Reincarnation of a Lovebird," a peaceful but melancholy tribute to Charlie Parker; Mingus would return to both throughout his career.

With Pithecanthropus, Mingus displayed a gift for airtight, focused arrangements that nonetheless allowed his players great freedom to add to the established mood of each piece. The Clown refines and heightens that gift; instead of just writing heads that provide launch points for solos, Mingus tries to evoke something specific with every piece, and even his most impressionistic forays have a strong storytelling quality.

The Clown tells the story of a clown "who tried to please people like most jazz musicians do, but whom nobody liked until he was dead," Mingus said, in an interview. "My version of the story ended with his blowing his brains out with the people laughing and finally being pleased because they thought it was part of the act. I liked the way Jean changed the ending; leaves it more up to the listener."

The title track is even more interesting for the free improvisations led by trombonist Jimmy Knepper, as the group responds to Shepherd's story and paints an aural backdrop. It's evidence that Mingus' compositional palette was growing more determinedly modern, much like his increasing use of dissonance, sudden tempo changes, and multiple sections.

Musicians:
Charles Mingus, bass
Shafi Hadi, alto and tenor saxophone
Jimmy Knepper, trombone
Wade Legge, piano
Dannie Richmond, drums
Jean Shepherd, narration (Track 4)

Harumi Ohzora’s “Viva” first released in 1983. This album features an array of musical influences from Salsa to Synth-pop and Rumba to Mambo. The record’s lyrics were composed by Takashi Matsumoto and its music composed by Haruomi Hosono.