Mosaic gets plenty of accolades for its expansive (and sometimes exhaustive) limited-edition box sets of historic jazz recordings, and deservedly so. Some years after they started their project, president Michael Cuscuna and company got the idea to release smaller, three-disc sets by artists who either weren't as appreciated as they should be, or had recordings that were unavailable and that filled in important eras in their careers. The Mosaic Select series has a tremendous catalog with triple-disc sets by Curtis Amy, John Patton, Carmell Jones, a pair by Andrew Hill, Grachan Moncur, Johnny Mercer, Onzy Matthews, Bobby Hutcherson, Art Pepper, Randy Weston, Johnny Richards, and more.
Charles Tolliver's volume in this series is an important one. First of all, these recordings were not owned by Blue Note or any of Capitol's subsidiaries; they are owned by the artist, and originally appeared on Strata East, a label he co-founded with the pianist on these dates, Stanley Cowell. It 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.) Secondly, 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 the Nuyorican Poet's Café (at least it was put to great use). Slug's 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 what was going on musically in the '70s. Lastly, 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.
Charles Tolliver - trumpet
Stanley Cowell - piano
Cecil McBee - bass
Jimmy Hopps - drums
Clint Houston - bass
Clifford Barbaro - drums
Disc 1
1. Drought (A) 9:20
(Charles Tolliver)
2. Felicite (A) 8:23
(Cecil McBee)
3. Orientale (A) 17:36
(Stanley Cowell)
4. Spanning (A) 8:24
(Charles Tolliver)
5. Wilpan's (A) 10:35
(Cecil McBee)
6. Our Second Father (Dedicated to the memory of John Coltrane) (A) 13:20
(Charles Tolliver)
Disc 2
1. Drought (B) 12:18
(Charles Tolliver)
2. Stretch (B) 10:39
(Charles Tolliver)
3. Truth (B) 7:04
(Charles Tolliver)
4. Effi (B) 10:43
(Stanley Cowell)
5. 'Round Midnight (B) 8:36
(Thelonious Monk)
Disc 3
1. On The Nile (A) 13:33
(Charles Tolliver)
2. Ruthie;s Heart (Dedicated to my mother) (A) 18:46
(Charles Tolliver)
3. Repetition (A) 8:51
(Neal Hefti)
4. Impact (B) 7:28
(Charles Tolliver)
5. Our Second Father (Dedicated to the memory of John Coltrane) (B) 20:15
(Charles Tolliver)
6. Earl's World (Dedicated to my brother) (B) 6:24
(Charles Tolliver)
(A) Charles Tolliver, trumpet; Stanley Cowell, piano; Cecil McBee, bass; Jimmy Hopps, drums.
Recorded live at Slug's Saloon, New York City on May 1, 1970
Engineer: Orville O'Brien
Disc One, tracks 1-3 originally issued as CHARLES TOLLIVER MUSIC INC LIVE AT SLUGS', VOLUME ONE (Strata East SES1972)
Disc One, tracks 4-6 originally issued as CHARLES TOLLIVER MUSIC INC LIVE AT SLUGS', VOLUME TWO (Strata East SES19720)
Disc Three, tracks 1-3 are previously unissued
(B) Charles Tolliver, trumpet, Stanley Cowell, piano; Clint Houston, bass; Clifford Barbaro, drums.
Recorded at Yubinchokin Hall, Tokyo on December 7, 1973
Concert produced by Toshinari Koinuma for Ai Music Concert MC Masahiko Yuh Engineer: Kunio Arai
Disc Two originally issued as CHARLES TOLLIVER MUSIC INC LIVE IN TOKYO (Strata East SES19745)
Disc Three, tracks 4-6 are previously unissued
