Shabazz | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 1975 | |||
Recorded | July 4 and 13, 1974 | |||
Venue | Montreux Jazz Festival (Montreux) Rainbow Theatre (London) | |||
Genre | Jazz fusion | |||
Length | 39:57 | |||
Label | Atlantic Records SD 18139 | |||
Producer | Ken Scott and Billy Cobham | |||
Billy Cobham chronology | ||||
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Shabazz is a live album by drummer Billy Cobham. It was recorded in Switzerland and England during July 1974, and was released on LP in 1975 by Atlantic Records. On the album, Cobham is joined by saxophonist Michael Brecker, trumpeter Randy Brecker, trombonist Glenn Ferris, guitarist John Abercrombie, keyboardist Milcho Leviev, and bassist Alex Blake. [1] [2]
All of the musicians had participated in the recording of Cobham's 1974 studio album Total Eclipse , [3] and Abercrombie and the Brecker brothers had previously appeared on Crosswinds (1974) as well. [4] "Taurian Matador" and "Red Baron" were originally recorded on Spectrum (1973). [5]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [6] |
In a review for AllMusic, Robert Taylor wrote: "All of the songs are blowing sessions allowing each musician ample time to develop their ideas... This is a good, old-fashioned blowing session that captures one of Cobham's best bands at their peak." [1]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings stated: "Shabazz turned up the dials to 11... The recording is classic '70s 'in concert' fare, cavernous and booming, with the drums mixed well up, but still perfectly listenable." [6]
Exposé Online's Jon Davis commented: "This band is in absolute top form... Shabazz is a great sounding recording for both performance and audio quality, and deserves a place as one of the best live fusion albums of the 70s." [7]
The writers at Billboard included the album in their "Recommended LPs," stating "Cobham swings throughout." However, they cautioned: "at times it can get to be a bit too much." [8]
All compositions by Billy Cobham.
John Scofield is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the band of Miles Davis, and has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists, including saxophonists Eddie Harris, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson and Joe Lovano; keyboardists George Duke, Joey DeFrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Larry Goldings and Robert Glasper; fellow guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Pat Martino and Bill Frisell; bassists Marc Johnson and Jaco Pastorius; and drummer Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with Phil Lesh, Mavis Staples, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Gov’t Mule.
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer, received an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2004, and was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2007.
Milcho Leviev was a Bulgarian composer, arranger, and jazz pianist.
William Emanuel Cobham Jr. is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
John Laird Abercrombie was an American jazz guitarist. His work explored jazz fusion, free jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Abercrombie studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. He was known for his understated style and his work with organ trios.
Randal Edward Brecker is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B.
Spectrum is the debut solo album by jazz fusion drummer Billy Cobham.
Don Grolnick was an American jazz pianist, composer, and record producer. He was a member of the groups Steps Ahead and Dreams, both with Michael Brecker, and played often with the Brecker Brothers. As a session musician, he recorded with John Scofield, Billy Cobham, Roberta Flack, Harry Chapin, Dave Holland, Bette Midler, Marcus Miller, Bob Mintzer, Linda Ronstadt, David Sanborn, Carly Simon, J. D. Souther, Steely Dan, and James Taylor.
Gil Goldstein is an American jazz pianist and accordionist. He has won 5 Grammy Awards and he was nominated 8 times.
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Joachim Kurt Kühn is a German jazz pianist.
Double, Double You is an album by Kenny Wheeler featuring performances by Wheeler with Mike Brecker, John Taylor, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. The album was recorded in 1983 and released on the ECM label.
You Gotta Take a Little Love is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1969, featuring performances by Silver with Randy Brecker, Bennie Maupin, John Williams, and Billy Cobham. The Allmusic review awarded the album 4 stars.
Crosswinds is the second album of fusion drummer Billy Cobham. The album was released in 1974 and it contains four songs in total, all composed by Billy Cobham. It features songs that are more mid-tempo and slow-tempo as opposed to the earlier Spectrum album.
Soul Box is the third studio album by American saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. The project was originally divided in two LPs, both released in 1973 on Kudu Records with quite identical covers as Soul Box Vol. 1 (KU-12) and Soul Box Vol. 2 (KU-13), then issued as a 2-LP set as KUX-1213. Both albums were recorded during March 1973 with the same personnel. With the rising of CD's Soul Box Vol. 1 & Soul Box Vol. 2 were reissued on CD by Motown in the early 1990's. Unfortunately Vol. 2 was mastered incorrectly with a totally wrong track separation. Original tracks #1 + #2 were combined into 1 single track of 17 minutes, track #3 was cut as track #2 and track #4 was cut as track #3. Subsequently a totally wrong printing on the CD and the back cover of the CD was performed: The CD contained & listed only 3 tracks. The printed titles were not matching the corresponding tracks and were stated with wrong durations, not matching the original songs of the LP. It took until 2008, when the two volumes were released on one CD by Verve/GRP Records to get the tracks right again with their track separations and title durations back to the original recordings from the Kudu LP's.
Journey is the second album released by record producer Arif Mardin as leader. Released on the Atlantic label in 1974, it features "a veritable who's who of funk and jazz greats", many of them regular session and studio musicians who appear on Mardin-produced albums for other artists.
Total Eclipse is the third album of fusion drummer Billy Cobham. The album was released in 1974. It comprises eight songs, all written by Billy Cobham. The album peaked number 6 in the Billboard Jazz album chart, number 12 in the R&B album chart, and number 36 in the Billboard pop albums chart.
Spaces is an album by jazz guitarist Larry Coryell that was released in 1970 by Vanguard Records. Coryell is accompanied by John McLaughlin on guitar, Chick Corea on electric piano, Miroslav Vitouš on bass, and Billy Cobham on drums. The album was produced by Daniel Weiss and engineered by David Baker and Paul Berkowitz.
The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix is an album of Jimi Hendrix's compositions by jazz composer, conductor and pianist Gil Evans. The music was arranged by Evans and members of his orchestra. The album was recorded in 1974 and performed by Evans with an orchestra featuring David Sanborn, Howard Johnson, Billy Harper, and John Abercrombie. The album was re-released with additional tracks on CD in 1988.
Timothy Gerard Landers is an American bassist best known for his contribution to the 1970s-80s jazz-fusion genre and his work with Al Di Meola, Billy Cobham, and Gil Evans. Landers is a session musician and was a member of Tom Scott's band on The Pat Sajak Show.