Good and bad news

Hi folks,


as the title says, I have good and bad news. The bad first: I won't continue with this blog. As I already mentioned a few times, I'm about to finish my studies and therefore I have my head elsewhere at the moment.

The good news however are absolutely excellent. I was contacted by a fellow blogger who also runs a Cti-blog. His collection is far better than mine and I have given him a few that are missingin his one. Head over to "The CTI that never sleeps" and check it out, you'll get the fodder that you're searching for.

Thanks to those that kept checking my blog.


Cheers

Grover Washington - Feels so good

A lesser known but nonetheless essential G.W. album. It starts with the funky "the sea line" (some thick drums here) and continues with the totally different, lush and aptly titled "Moonstreams" (great guitar solo by my favourite: Eric Gale). Knucklehead is another funky, bass-laden (Louis Johnson) track. "It feels good" is in a similar mood although G.W.'s creamy sax overshadows the others this time. "Hydra" ends the album with something somewhere inbetween the funky and the lush mood.

An absolutely essential album for any Soul-Jazz/Cti afficionado. Go and get it!

Moonstreams:



Knucklehead:



It feels so good



Hydra:

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George Benson: White Rabbit

Hi there, sorry for not providing you with your Cti-dose, my thesis has kept me busier than I expected. I'm afraid I'll keep it very short but it's better than nothing (I guess). I'll make another posting tomorrow (promised!). I'll also search for dead download links.





This is Benson's second LP as a leader. He emulates a spanish flamenco style including some acoustic guitar, trumpet fanfares and other stuff that fits into this mood.
A good Cti album. I find it a bit too lush for my taste though. I prefer to hear the more energetic Benson.

"White Rabbit" (Song) on YouTube

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More to come...

Sorry for not updating the blog (for one month!). I'm busy with my thesis and forgot it completely. I'll make two updates to morrow evening.


Cheers and thanks for sticking to the blog!

Don Sebesky - Giant Box

Taylor was obviously in a good mood after the success with Deodato's "2001" album and allowed Cti's regular arranger Don Sebesky (the others being Deodato himself, Bob James and David Matthews) to assemble almost all the big names that recorded in Cti's history for this album.

It begins with a stunning mixture of John McLaughlin's "Bird of Fire" and a Stravinsky-piece. Billy Cobham on drums and the arrangements for the orchestra made me turning up the volume a bit louder. I just wonder why this one has to end in a fade-out as Sebesky was given space for two LP's.

"Song to a seagull" is the opposite, a slow, calm piece (a Joni Mitchell tune) with a lush Desmond solo and the orchestra in the background. Wonderful.

"Free as a bird" is the most typical jazz track here, a fast boppish tune. Not my cuppa tea but fans will definitely enjoy it (great soli by Hubbard and Washington).

"Psalm 150" starts (and ends) with some unnecessary christian lyrics but soon changes to a typical Cti song from the early 70's. Great stuff.

"Vocalise" is another classical (Rachmaninov) adaption which is being "upgraded" after the first half to a jazz song before it finishes off as slowly as it begins. This includes the only appearance on this album by Milt Jackson.

"Fly/Circles" has some vocals from the seldom heard Roy Kral and includes seemingly many different elements. A mixture of sopisticated and easier parts.

"Semi-tough" has some pop-/disco elements and is probably the most danceable one but lacks on the other side a bit of the sophistication that the other songs have. The Seawind-albums have probably the most similar sounding tunes.

Doug Payne mentions "I remember Wes" which is not included here. Most likely a bonus track on a reissue.

A must have for every serious jazz fan. This is a fairly good rip but you may here some crackle from the vinyl.

Chet Baker/Jim Hall - Studio Trieste

When Cti became bankrupt, Creed Taylor saw himself forced to sell almost all (130) mastertapes to CBS (now Sony). The CBS folks sifted through the catalog and noticed a couple gems (and some other odd tapes) that were not released before and decided to launch the 9000 series, including this highlight.

It starts with "Malaguena" which (together with "All Blues" and "Django" also appeared as similar takes on the Jim Hall album (same recording session) below. Hubert Laws' flute is beautiful in this setting but he should've gotten more room (as opposed to the keyboard solo at the beginning which doesn't really fit well to the other instruments). Baker itself has just a minor role here.

"All Blues" is what the title suggests. This version is IMO far superior as it doesn't sound as "mixed" as the one on "Youkali" (this issue is maybe simply the "Youkali" recording without the overdubs). Very relaxed soli by Baker, Hall and Laws. Just beautiful.

"Django" mixes both slow and uptempo parts. Again beautiful soli by the major players (I wish Laws would've focused more on this style).

All in all a must have. Sadly just available as an expensive japanese import.

Jim Hall - (Youkali+All Blues) from "Youkali"

This one just landed in my mailbox. I originally thought that it might be a japanese import, due to the japanese characters on the booklet. I didn't bother to check the whereabouts as it was a bargain but it seems unclear wether the reissuing company actually had the rights, at least it appears to be slightly bogus.

Released in 1992, long after CTI's Heydays, Creed Taylor took (among others) recordings from the 1982 Studio Trieste sessions and overdubbed them (You can hear Chet Baker who died 4 years earlier) over the new ones, resulting in probably the last recording of the original Cti sound.

The title track, "Youkali" has a light reggae feeling and includes very nice soli by Grover Washington, Hall and guest guitarist Chuck Loeb (with an interesting distorted guitar).

On "Django", Hall and Baker really shine, the sound is in the same mood as on Halls recording that I posted earlier. This is (I haven't checked it yet) the same Django that appears on "Studio Trieste" or another take with the overdubbs. Beautiful.

Skylark, an old Mercer/Charmichael standard that stems originally from a Roland Hanna session and is the only standard on the album. I have my difficulties to review standards, due to them being well..., standard. The recording itself is stellar though and if you're into it, then it'll certainly be a delight.

The Miles Davis tune "All Blues" takes a while to get into the mood but turns eventually into a tune with both slightly funky and relaxing moods. A lengthy tune that is never tiring.

"Malagueña" is an old, spanish (classical), uptempo tune that has been adopted many times by jazz musicians. It's difficult to put in any Cti drawer as it incorporates so many different aspects.

"All across the city" is the slowest (and with 6:14 the shortest) song on the album. It's not spectacular but Hall's soli are again fantastic, every note fits perfectly.

All in all a great album that deserves the same attention as the other well-known Cti Hits. Downside is that the overdubbs not just add more material, some musicians were edited out (most notably Hubert Laws and Stebe Gadd). I wonder what it sounds without the overdubbs.

Airto - Free

Airto has never been much of a leader but the ones that he made for Cti (after becoming known as the sideman for Miles Davis in the late sixties) are classics and fit well into every jazz collectors' collection. He's one of just very few latin jazz performers that headed recordings for Cti.

#1 on this album, "Return to forever" (unsurprisingly written by Chick Corea) is a great fusion piece with an emphasis on Corea's keyboards and the percussion wizzard playing all types of instruments with great effect. Not all that danceable due to its complexity. Awesome stuff though.

"Flora's Song" is (I think) more in the mood of the early bossa nova records (including some acoustic guitar and Hubert Laws flute work). While there's plenty solo space for the musicians, none of them really shine as the percussion/brass section drown them out a bit.

"Free" is simply a (overly) lengthy track filled up to the brim with mysterious sounding instrumental forays and some shouts by Airto. Not quite sure what the point of this song is. Not my cup of tea.

Keith Jarrett (!) adds "lucky southern", a nice, piano based tune with some percussion and flute in the background. Difficult to say something about it as it's with 2:34 waay too short.

"Creek" is an uptempo tune with Joe Farrell and (the underrated IMO) acoustic pianist Nelson Ayres providing nice, lengthy soli. It could be one of the highlights but it finishes with what I hate most in recordings: a fade-out just when the song is at it's height. It could've easily become much better without it.

"So tender" is a very generic, but nonetheless beautiful bossa nova song by Jarrett with him and the brass-section in the foreground. Very beautiful but again a bit short (and again with a #ß$%&§ fade-out, arrrrgh).

"Jequie" is practically in the same, laid-back mood with Farrell Corea playing the soli . It's (again) very, very short. None of the others have the chance to show what they're capable of.


While it's certainly one of the best Cti-albums I'm a bit disappointed by those three short songs that definitely should go on for several minutes longer.
I've had difficulties to find this one on ebay, grab it immediately if you can get it for little money (it seems to be out of print).

Seawind: "One Sweet Night" + "Angels of Mercy" + "Campanas de Invierno"

The Follow-up to their debut is practically in the same vein. It's all here, Pop, Soul, Jazz, Fusion, Funk, Disco and a few times hints towards gospel. Sometimes more accessible ("one sweet night"), sometimes with an instrumental emphasis (wings of love), sometimes laid back and mellow ("Campanas de Invierno"), sometimes funky and uptempo ("Angel of Mercy"). Absolutely essential for every 70's R&B fan. Great vocal parts by Pauline Wilson.

Seawind: "We got a way" + "Roadways" (from "Seawind")

Sorry for not posting lately, I've beed tied in with my studies. :(

This band is (I think) relatively unknown to Jazz Fans but they are nonetheless very interesting for both Cti fans and casual pop music fans alike.

Seawind hails from Hawaii and made some pop-music with
funk and disco-influences and christian lyrics. Most well-known may be the horn section with Kim Hutchcroft who played on George Benson, Jimmy Smith, Patrice Rushen, Alphonse Mouzon albums (among many others) and Jerry Hey, who played and arranged with/for Bill Summers, George Duke, Lee Ritenour, Michael Jackson, etc.

Seawind made two albums for Cti, "Window of a Child" and the debut "Seawind".

"Seawind" begins with a nice laid back funky tune (quote: "The funk will open up the door") called "we got a way".

"You Gotta Be Willin' To Lose" has bad ass bass/guitar intro which is sadly interrupted by a pace change and singer Pauline Wilson's squeaky singing. I wish they would've sticked to the style .

"He loves you" is a nice ballad in a bossa mood (Chick Corea's collaboration with Flora Purim came to my mind).


"The Devil is a liar is the most "complex" one: The song begins in the mood where "He loves you" ended, continues with a short, danceable pop part before it reaches the climax with all instruments in full power.

"A love song" starts with some guitarwork/singing that i associated with a hippie sitting in the grass, singing his song. This is shortlived though. After 1 1/2 minutes it changes to a fully instrumental
setting. It's difficult to describe, it's probably the least interesting one for the fans.

"Make up your mind" is totally different. Four minutes of funky pop/disco (and sadly just spare lyrics) that would've made "Tower of Power" proud.

"Praise" could best be described as instrumental pop. The funky bass is still there, but very subtle.

The final track ("Roadways") is probably the most interesting one for those that are more interested in the Jazz veine of Seawind due to the nice Soprano soli.


This record is all in all very eclectric, both diehard funk/pop fans will find a lot to enjoy but it's also recommended for those that have an ear for fusion.

I've included "We got a way" and "Roadways" to show what the album is about.

Seawind had some legal quarrels with Creed taylor in the past with the result that Cti lost the the rights to the tapes. The albums are nonetheless availbale, but only via the bands website. I'm afraid that I don't find the emails but the I remember that the prices were reasonable. I managed to get a cheap vinyl copy on ebay.

I'll feature the other album shortly..

Lonnie Smith: Mama Wailer

This is one of the essential Cti releases. Thrown onto the market in July 1972 (just three months after " Live at Club Mozambique"), when Soul-Jazz was at it's height, Lonnie Smith (not to be confused with another organist, Lonnie Liston Smith) romps through four tracks of dirty, smoking grooves.

The title track has everything the soul-jazz afficionado looks for. A popping pass (a Ron Carter, a hookline, a solid and steady rythm (Billy Cobham on drums), a latin tinge (Airto) and nice, soulful soli (Grover Washington). I find Smith's clavinet a bit odd though, I wish he would've played organ exclusively.

"Hola Munteca" is a laid-back mixture of latin-soul and jazz. The instrumentation is spare, with Smith in the foreground. Sadly, none of the others play a solo. Smith's solo contains a hint towards The Champs "Tequila".

"I feel the earth move" is a great revamp of Carole Kings soft-rock hit. The band picks up speed early until the end, again with the emphasis on Smith and the rest of the band laying the foundations.

The lengthy "Stand" begins very slowly but after 2 minutes the band begins with slow grooves that let you shake your head and pop your fingers. Guitars and Saxophone "discuss" with the organ before at halftime everything is being woven together to a complex piece where hell breaks loose.

This one is highly recommended to every serious soul-jazz afficionado, although I wish that the other musicians beside smith would get more solo space. It's a shame that this is currently out of print and only available as an import from Japan (which seems to be a heaven for Cti-fanatics, thanks to the King label which keeps releasing them constantly).
It's also the only Cti release that has Smith's name on it. He never released another one, not even as a sideman.

Grover Washington, Jr. - Soul Box

I'm always a bit stumped when I go through the online auction platforms and my local record dealers offerings to dig for Grover Washington albums as it seems that his name stands almost exclusively for his 80's hit record "Winelight", despite the gems that Washington made right from the start of his Career.

Soul Box appears to be the most ambitious one, judging from the big line-up (a long list of Cti-regulars +strings + horns).

"Aubrey" is a (slightly) short, sweet ballad with Washington in the spotlight. A wooden flute adds a nice touch.

"Masterpiece" is a stunning blaxploitation-style track with some Herbie Hancock style Clavinet by Richard Tee , an orchestration, a bass and a funky guitar (by Eric Gale) that would easily fit to a spy movie soundtrack. More than 13 minutes that are never boring.

"Trouble Man" is fairly similar but jazzier, more subtle and less funky (version of the blaxploitation soundtrack). I find the 15 minutes for this one a bit too long (especially if you listen to the entire album at once).

The reendition of Stevie Wonders "You're the sunshine of my live" is interesting as it changes back and forth from very smooth pop-parts to something more jazzy.

The same goes for "Don't explain", a Billy Holiday Tune. It's again rather lengthy and alternates between the usual dreamy Jazz-Pop and some more sophisticated parts (though far away from being as sophisticated as say, the Hubbard albums).

The "Easy Living/Ain't nobody's business if I do"-medley is difficult to categorize. Washington stays almost exclusively in the foreground (there's one other solo by Eric Gale), the rythm section stays in the background. It mixes an uptempo part with lengthy, slow and dreamy (for which the orchestra is responisble) parts.

The last song, "Taurian Matador" is a bit odd. Billy Cobham adds complex drums (Idris Muhammdad plays on the other tracks), the keyboard solo let the scene sound a bit as if someone is chased by a criminal in a crime movie before Washington brings it back to something more Jazz-like. Tough stuff, definitely not comparable to the other songs on the album and to what most listeners have in mind when they hear the name Grover Washington.


The record definitely needs close listening. It's far too good to hear it as some nice muzak that you can listen to while you're dusting off your vinyl collection.

Freddie Hubbard: "Straight Life" (from "Straight Life")

Creed Taylor obviously had a nose for choosing musicians that experience the climax of their career. Before Hubbard came to Cti, he was already a major player who "graduated" in Hard-Bop, Post-Bop, Modal-Jazz and Bebop and played with all the other big names from the scene.

His stint with Cti also became the breakthrough to a wider audience, his albums were huge commercial successes before he gradually lost recognition in the scene (except the late seventies, where he joined Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. outfit) and his chops.

"Straight Life" from 1970 was issued right in the middle of Hubbard's stay with Cti

"Straight Life" is a mildly infectious tune that shows Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Hancock and Jack deJohnette playing mostly less accessible, hard swinging soli while Benson keeps his part solid.

"Mr.Clean" is what the title suggest: a slower track with an emphasis on the slightly funky beat. Hancock and Benson have (IMO) the best solo parts, Hancock on Fender Rhodes (?) while Benson inserts some soul-elements.

"Here's that rainy day" is a beautiful, relaxing ballad where Hubbard finally comes to shine, while Benson and Ron Carter stay in the background (no drummer here).

Well, I must admit that now that I'm writing reviews and therefore examine the music more closely, I become much more critical of Hubbard's albums. The more I listen to Cti, the less suitable complex rythm sections appeal to me for this electrified soul-jazz thing. Especially the drums on the first two tracks should stay more in the background IMO and leave the solo space entirely to the others. The overlength (Straight life = 17 minutes) make things rather worse. Or am I too snotty?


"Here's that rainy day" on the other side is of course totally different but just slightly refreshing as Hubbard is a bit too "lonely" here. I would've loved to hear Benson and Hancock playing a solo, too.

It should not be too difficult to get this album 2nd hand (even on vinyl).

Here's a more accessible version of "Straight life" from the 1975 downbeat awards. Chick Corea, keys; Stanley Clarke, bass; Lenny White, drums. Check out Airto's funny percussion solo (the announcer is Quincy Jones).

How to download in five steps.

I noticed that a visitor had some problems with the download. Here's a short explanation how it (hopefully) should work out. Please post here if you still experience problems.

1. Copy the link from the comment section into your browser (I usually forget to make them clickable) and hit enter.
2. You should then see this:

Click on "continue" to proceed.

3. The next screen should look like this:

Enter the digits under "1." in the box to the right and click the button left to "2."

4. The next screen should look like this:Click the link on the top.

5. A box should then pop up and ask you where you want to save it. You may have noticed that it is being downloaded as a .bin-file (at least here on my pc). You'll possibly have to rename it into a .zip file if your file archiver doesn't recognize it immediately as a compressed file.

George Benson: "All Clear" + "Ode to a kudu" (from "Beyond the blue Horizon")

(the recent releases show the chimney in a pitch-black background and a beige surrounding while the photo on the backside is the same motif as the one on the front)


Bennson is probably the busiest Cti musician, having recorded 12 albums + a truckload of appearances on other musicians Cti recordings + a number of Lp's that he made under the guidance of Creed Taylor before Taylor moved on to give birth to Cti in 1967.

Beyond the blue horizon presents Benson right at the height of his creative peak during his Cti tenure and shows him as a very versatile musician. It starts with a nod to Miles Davis by adding a slightly R&B'ish "So what" (probably an idea by Davis' alumni Jack DeJohnette on drums).

"The gentle rain" mixes beautiful gentle latin beats with some more complex uptempo parts and on the very nice "All Clear" Benson leans back and swings in a romantic fashion (most notably together with Clarence Palmer's organ, as it adds a nice touch, even though Palmer sticks to simple chords).

"Ode to a kudu"'s title speaks for itself: a sparingly instrumentalised ballad with an "emphasis" on Benson, but sadly waaay too short. I'd love to hear the band exploring this piece much longer.

"Somewhere in the east" meanders at the beginning quite some time between the Congas and the guitar before Benson finally decides to take off with (as the title suggests) east-asian flavor (which I don't feel very comfortable with here).

I find that this is all in all a fantastic album but the often complex and sophisticated rythm group (with subsequently Benson fidaddling in the same manner) makes it probably less interesting for the soul-jazz-funk-r&b-cti beat fascists. But even then it is absolute worthwhile.

As this seems to be commercially easily available (correct me if I'm wrong), I'll add just two tracks, the extended (and superior IMO) alternate tracks from "ode to a kudu" and "all clear").

Please make sure to add some comments, I'd like to hear your opinion!

The next two blog entries will be about Grover Washington and Freddie Hubbard

Fuse One - Silk

In one of the last recordings before Cti fell semingly completely apart, Creed Taylor assembled again a batch of Cti-veterans and added a couple newcomers, including the then 19-year old up and coming Wynton Marsalis for a (yet again) shortlived group billed "Fuse one" that resulted in three recordings (two for Cti).

The first track ("Silk") and the last ("Sunwalk") bear some pop elements that make me shudder slightly but they alternate with downtempo parts with some nice soli which fully compensate. Eric Gale has some wonderful subtle yet funky spots on "Silk".

"In Celebration Of The Human Spirit" is an uptempo tune with bassist Stanley Clarke in the spotlight who (along with the others) delivers some fast soli that are not really my taste. While not necessariloy a bad, they sound less accessible and subtle than what you may expect from a Cti-album.

"Hot Fire" is in a faster latin tune that reminds me a bit to Carlos Santana, this time, none of the musicians is being showcased, almost everyone gets the chance for a solo. Interesting to hear Marsalis on a song that is almost dancable if you keep his later, conservative albums in mind.

This has never been re-issued outside Japan, hence you'll come into the pleasure of the full album. It seems not to be too difficult to grab a second hand Lp via ebay et al. You may want to search for Fuse one's compilation ("the complete recordings") that has both albums and which is also available on CD.
instead of this one which is just 33 minutes long.

Please give a big round of applause to blog reader "Alicia" who send me this gem! :-D

Eric Gale: Forecast

- Sorry for not posting lately, my interweb connection was screwed up and I had severe problems with the upload. -

Eric Gale is the artist that I truly discovered after I was introduced to Cti (I noticed him for the first time on my first Cti-albums by Turrentine and Hubbard). Gale almost exclusively appeared as a sideman, he began playing mostly for various Soul-Jazz and R&B greats (Including Fats Domino, Jimmy Smith and Bobby Timmons but his looong tenure at Cti seemingly led to an increasing demand for him as a session musician.

Beside the huge number of Jazz recordings (inluding appearances for Sadao Watanabe, Herbie Hancock, The Fania All Stars (!)) he also kept playing R&B and Pop tunes (for Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Bill Withers, Billy Joel among many others).


He had sadly just rarely the chance to show his chops under his own name and recorded just this one album under the Cti/Kudu-belt (a couple of his later albums feature quite a few big names from the Cti-scene, including the string orchestra). He also played with the instrumental R&B outfit "Stuff".

The album varies a lot. The georgeous, lush and slow Jobim tune "Dindi" has Gale in the spotlight and truly shows what he stands for while the opener "Killing me softly" (Gale also played the song on the popular version by Roberta Flack) should've been left off (coffee powder advertisements come to my mind). "Cleopatra" is in a similar pop-mood but includes some nice soli. "White Moth" is the typical one in the Cti-vein and lets you tap your fingers and shake your head (I'm wondering though what Gale had in mind with the snare drum breaks inbetween). On "Tonsue Corte" Gale hints at Reggae and the funky "Forecast" reminds me to the lighter blaxploitation soundtrack songs by Isaac Hayes.

It's a shame that this is not available on Cd outside Japan (unless you want to pay for the expensive import).

Make sure to check out his nice guitar solo (starts at 3:28) in this Grover Washington video:

Jim Hall: "Concierto de Aranjuez" (from "Concierto")

This one is currently my favourite. Recorded in the spring of 1975, It's one of the last albums in the long list of the famed 6xxx-series and yet another one that makes me bang my head as Hall practically made just this sole appearance under his own name on Cti (his other album, "Youkali" contains material that has already been issued elsewhere but with the addition of a truckload of overdubs).


Hall and his guests (Baker, Hanna, Desmond, Carter, Gadd) play throughout the album with a cool, very relaxed tone that fits from the first to the last second (although one can hear vaguely a few shouts (?) on the Bonus Track "Rock Skippin"). Desmonds sax and Bakers horn shimmer constantly and make me wish that some of the soli would never end.

The "Concierto de Aranjuez" that I've included is an interpretation (the adagio to be precise) from a famous composition by the spaniard Joaquin Rodrigo and probably the most well known one in Jazz circles as it has already been famously covered by Miles Davis some 25 years earlier prior to this issue. This time, it's been arranged by Cti-regular Don Sebesky but without the additional orchestra.

I'm afraid my knowledge about classic music is fairly limited, maybe one of you guys/gals can add something noteworthy? It has been reissued quite a few times (make sure to search for the version that adds 5 bonustracks) and should be easy to find if you're on a tight budget.

Now make yourself comfy (it's almost a whopping 20 minutes long), get yourself your preferred drug (dark chocolate in my case) and turn the speakers up. This is as smooth as smooth can get.

Wtf? The blog is gone? Now what?

If you're visiting other blogs, you may have noticed that some have closed shop because apparently some disgruntled trolls find it cool to get the blog/hosting links reported. I hope this won't happen here but I can hardly prevent this. If it does happen and you still want to be updated then please post your email addy here and I'll get in touch with you. Please obfuscate your addy (like myname [at] greateemailservice.com) to prevent that it's being picked up by the spammers.

What to get? Vinyl or Cd?

Cti albums must be heard with the best possible material - period. Almost all recordings (thanks to the now legendary sound engineer Rudy van Gelder) have a stellar recording quality and the sonic depths with the large bands + the orchestras needs to be fully explored - preferably on CD. I have quite a few albums in good quality on vinyl but it's just not the same, the CD's especially the remastered reissues are superbe. Many of the reissues contain some previously unreleased bonus tracks that make the CD even more inferior to the vinyl.

Finding them is a different issue. As I already wrote, many of them are out of print for a looong time, a few gems have been issued in Japan only (I so hate the record labels for this legalese crap). I luckily bought a couple from 2001 here in Germany for very little money, it's worth to check their website for updates.

Vinyls are more difficult to find, except the very popular albums, for example from George Benson and Grover Washington. If you belong to the few enthusiasts that want a holistic experience then you'll certainly like Cti's gatefold covers (designed by Pete Turner) that have similar to the Blue Note and ECM albums a distinctive design (usually a simple but colorful motif with a black surrounding). Many of them are certainly a grace on the shelf (a couple are quite boring though).

Milt Jackson: "People make the world go round" (from the album "Sunflower").

This one is an odd addition to the Cti Catalog and probably belongs to the ones that are the furthest away from the distinctive Cti-sound. At the time of the recording (1972), Jackson was still busy with both the Modern Jazz Quartet (which he should brake up two years later) and issuing albums under his own name. He sticks mostly to boppish material with some hints towards post-bop, modal and cool jazz. The other Cti-regulars (Hubbard, Hancock, Carter) show that they still master the old styles (Hancock plays on some tracks acoustic piano only instead of the Fender Rhodes/Organ that most Cti-albums have), Billy Cobham sits behind the drums, Jay Berliner plays acoustic Guitar and the relatively unknown Ralph McDonald takes care of the percussion (plus the usual, dreamy reeds and strings orchestra directed by Don Sebesky).

It's by all means a very good and recommended album but far too conventional to belong to the top Cti-albums. Get it if you have an open ear or if you can find it as a bargain . I've included "People make the world go round", which is by far the catchiest song on the album.

A word about the net ressources

You may have already noticed that I'm not a native speaker, my english lacks some eloquence and I hate flowery reviews with a passion. That's why I'll point you to some ressources on the web that I'll use frequently and that should do the job.

The All Music Guide is usually my first address for brief reviews , discographies, etc. Check it out by yourself as it's quite big. When digging for Cti-records one should watch out that the albums do not always bear the "Cti"-name as Cti's catalog was bought by Columbia after it's bankruptcy and Columbia itself by Sony. Cti itself had a couple imprints (Kudu, Salvation, etc.) under which many important recordings were issued. Check Doug Payne's site for more information about it.

As already mentioned, Doug Payne has the #1 website when it comes to Cti, discographies, rosters for every album and much more. Go ckeck it out. Doug also writes for allmusic.com and allaboutjazz.com, so it's quite possible that it's his work if you find something there.

Besides that, a quick internet search with "artist name" + "album name" gives good results, often from allaboutjazz.com or so.

Jeremy Steig: Firefly

It's a sad fate that quite a few artists on Cti's roster have released just a very small number of albums, often resulting in them being completely overlooked. One of them is a flutist called Jeremy Steig, who recorded (in april '77) one noteworthy album shortly before Cti became bankrupt (1978). This set is surely funky but don't expect the soulfulness from Turrentines or Hubbards albums. Eric Gale is probably the best known Cti-musician on this album.

This one seems to be out of print (please let me know if I'm wrong) at least in most parts of the world and therefore you'll come into the luxury of the full album in the best possible quality (files in .flac-format).

Stanley Turrentine: "Gibraltar" (from the album "Salt Song").

This is a prime example for what the All Music Guide calls "Slow Burning Funk", a typical Cti Song. Taken from the "Salt Song"-Album, highlightes are Ron Carter with a simple but effective earworm bassline, Eric Gale with a beautiful, subtle (but waaay too short) guitar solo (he's getting a better exposure on the next track, "I told Jesus") and of course Turrentine. Airto Moreira provides (as usual on Cti) spare percussion. The Album features (like most Cti releases) a lush string orchestra, this time with arrangements from Deodato Read the annotations from Doug Paynes excellent website for more information. The link is in the comment section. More from Turrentine's Cti-records later on this blog.

Welcome to the Show

Hi there,

you've found your way to this blog and maybe the blog-url, the description on the top or the Cti Logo have catched your attention. For those that are familiar with the music blogs, this is the short story:

- I'll post excerpts (usually one track) from Cti-Albums in low quality (128 kb) except if the album is out of print.

- please post your opinion and say thank you if you enjoy this blog

and here is the longer story for the rest:

I'm a huge fan of Cti (Creed Taylor Incorporated), one of a couple of Jazz-labels (Blue Note and ECM come to my mind) that became known for having developed it's own distinctive sound and I'd like to enlighten those that are not familiar with it with this blog. Cti began to take off in the late sixties and early seventies, when both Jazz and Rock greats incorporated electronic/electronically enhanced instruments and musical boundaries where shattered like the Berlin wall. Many of the Jazz-snobs who digged the more concervative 50's/60's Jazz were quite upset and labeled the new Jazz-Styles -especially Cti- quickly as commercial crap (which I still hear very, very often in the jazz Clubs that I visit).
Cti was declared bankrupt in 1978 and reissues are rather sporadic, hence the existence of this blog.

So, what is Cti's music about? Is it funky? Yep. Is it cool? Certainly? Has it Soul? Yes! Let's stop here, I'll let you decide as I friggin hate reviews and flowery terms that try to explain music but usually fail to explain what it is about.

Enough chatter for now


P.s: Some music that I'm going to post has been taken from other blogs and in most cases I don't remember where it was from. If you see that something is from you and you don't want to have it posted here or you want to see you being credited, please let me know and I'll do it asap!