Sunflower (Milt Jackson album)

Last updated
Sunflower
Sunflower (Milt Jackson album).jpg
Studio album by
Released1973
RecordedDecember 12 & 13, 1972
Studio Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre Jazz
Length42:42
Label CTI
Producer Creed Taylor
Milt Jackson chronology
The Legendary Profile
(1972)
Sunflower
(1973)
Goodbye
(1973)

Sunflower is an album by vibraphonist Milt Jackson recorded in 1972 and released on the CTI label. [1] Assisting Jackson are trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, a star-studded rhythm section composed chiefly of Miles Davis alumni, and, on the first track, string and woodwind accompaniment, courtesy of Don Sebesky. [2]

Milt Jackson American musician

Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with several hard bop and post-bop players.

CTI Records American record label

CTI Records is a jazz record label founded in 1967 by Creed Taylor. CTI was a subsidiary of A&M before becoming independent in 1970. Its first album was A Day in the Life by guitarist Wes Montgomery in 1967 Its roster included George Benson, Ron Carter, Eumir Deodato, Astrud Gilberto, Freddie Hubbard, Bob James, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Hubert Laws, Stanley Turrentine, and Walter Wanderley,

Freddie Hubbard American musician

Frederick Dewayne Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives for modern jazz and bebop.

Contents

In 1997, Sunflower was reissued on compact disc under Sony Music Entertainment by was of their catalog label Legacy Recordings and Epic Records. [3]

Legacy Recordings US record label; imprint of Sony Music Entertainment

Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 2004, under the Sony BMG joint venture, the label began to manage the archives of RCA Records, J Records, Windham Hill Records, Arista, LaFace, Jive, and Buddah Records. Legacy Recordings now also handles Philadelphia International Records and the catalog of recordings produced by Phil Spector.

Epic Records American record label

Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc., the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953, but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres, including pop, R&B, rock, and hip hop. Epic Records has released music by artists including Glenn Miller, Tammy Wynette, George Michael, The Yardbirds, Donovan, Shakin Stevens, Europe, Cheap Trick, Meat Loaf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ted Nugent, Shakira, Sly & the Family Stone, The Hollies, Celine Dion, ABBA, Culture Club, Boston, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Michael Jackson. Along with Arista, Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainment's four flagship record labels.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "While Sunflower sometimes feels more like a group session rather than a Jackson-led one, that's part of its exquisite beauty". [4] Reviewing a 1979 LP reissue for The Los Angeles Times , jazz writer Leonard Feather assigned it 4 stars, noting that "[t]he reissues on CTI continue to remind us how much vibrant talent was brought together on that label in its pre-fusion days." [2]

Leonard Feather British musician

Leonard Geoffrey Feather was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [4]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]

Track listing

All compositions by Milt Jackson except where noted

  1. "For Someone I Love (What's Your Story)" - 10:20
  2. "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand) - 7:06
  3. "People Make the World Go Round" (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) - 8:28
  4. "Sunflower" (Freddie Hubbard) - 10:01
  5. "SKJ" - 6:47 Bonus track on CD reissue

Personnel

Vibraphone musical instrument

The vibraphone is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family. It consists of tuned metal bars, and is usually played by holding two or four soft mallets and striking the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a vibraphonist or vibraharpist.

Trumpet musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family

A trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group contains the instruments with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpet-like instruments have historically been used as signaling devices in battle or hunting, with examples dating back to at least 1500 BC; they began to be used as musical instruments only in the late 14th or early 15th century. Trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music. They are played by blowing air through nearly-closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded rectangular shape.

Flugelhorn Brass musical instrument

The flugelhorn is a brass instrument that is usually pitched in B but occasionally found in C. It resembles a trumpet, and the tube has the same length but a wider, conical bore. A type of valved bugle, the flugelhorn was developed in Germany from a traditional English valveless bugle, with the first version sold by Heinrich Stölzel in Berlin in 1828. The valved bugle provided Adolphe Sax with the inspiration for his B soprano (contralto) saxhorns, on which the modern-day flugelhorn is modeled.

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References

  1. Milt Jackson discography accessed February 1, 2012
  2. 1 2 3 Feather, Leonard. "Singer Remains Unsung". The Los Angeles Times. August 19, 1979. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
  3. Milt Jackson - Sunflower (Reissue). Media notes. CTI/Legacy Recordings/Epic Records. ZK 65131
  4. 1 2 Jurek, T. Allmusic Review accessed February 1, 2012