Herbie Mann - Live at the Whisky 1969: The Unreleased Masters (2 CD, 2016/FLAC)

 

While jazz flautist Herbie Mann is often remembered as a pop-jazz player, he was actually a pioneer in popularizing world music and even prog-rock with recordings released on his own Embryo imprint (as part of Atlantic Records). And in the late 60s, he was fronting one of the most progressive and electrifying bands in the world: guitarist Sonny Sharrock, Miroslav Vitous on electric & upright bass, saxophonist Steve Marcus, drummer Bruno Carr, and vibraphonist Roy Ayers. Together, the sextet cut the dynamic Live at the Whisky A Go Go album in 1969, drawn from a four night run at the legendary nightclub on Los Angeles Sunset Strip. Though the band s repertoire was quite varied on these dates, just two side-long tracks, Ooh Baby and Philly Dog, surfaced on the Atlantic Records release.

Roy Ayers - Evolution: The Polydor Anthology (2 CD, 1995/FLAC)

 Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk.

Evolution: The Polydor Anthology charts Roy Ayers' 12 years and 20 LPs with Polydor, a rich time where his gliding, loose-groove jazz-funk gained many fans -- though perhaps fewer than it did 20 years later in the midst of the rare groove/acid jazz revival. During the 1970s, Ayers and his band, Ubiquity, progressed from political- and social-commentary funk to blaxploitation to disco to some surprisingly touching R&B ballads, and this two-disc set covers it all with grace and a smooth flow. Fans of hip-hop, groove music, funk, and jazz will all be able to find something to enjoy on the collection. Highlights include "We Live in Brooklyn Baby," "Evolution," "Running Away," and "Get on up, Get on Down," among others.

Personnel includes: Roy Ayers (vocals, piano, electric piano, organ, clavinet, vibraphone, vibraharp percussion, synthesizer); Wayne Garfield, Dee Dee Dridgewater, Chicas (vocals); Harry Whitaker (vocals, piano, electric piano, organ, clavinet, harpsichord); Edwin Birdsong (vocals, organ); Seldon Powell (baritone saxophone); Jon Faddis (trumpet, flugelhorn); Garnett Brown (trombone); Jerry Friedman (guitar, electric sitar); Billy Nichols (guitar); Emir Ksasan (bass); Alphonse Mouzon (drums); William King (congas, bongos, percussion).