Sunflower | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1973 | |||
Recorded | December 12 & 13, 1972 | |||
Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 42:42 | |||
Label | CTI | |||
Producer | Creed Taylor | |||
Milt Jackson chronology | ||||
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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]
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 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,
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.
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 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 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.
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 Geoffrey Feather was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Los Angeles Times |
All compositions by Milt Jackson except where noted
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.
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.
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.
Red Clay is a soul/funk-influenced hard bop album recorded in 1970 by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. It was his first album on Creed Taylor's CTI label and marked a shift toward the soul-jazz fusion sounds that would dominate his recordings in the later part of the decade. It was the album that established Taylor's vision for the music that was to appear on his labels in the decade ahead. It is Hubbard's seventeenth album.
First Light is an album by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. Recorded in 1971, it features string arrangements by Don Sebesky. It was his third album released on Creed Taylor's CTI label and features performances by Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Eric Gale, George Benson, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira and Richard Wyands. The album is part of a loose trilogy including his two previous records at the time, Red Clay and Straight Life. First Light won a 1972 Grammy Award for "Best Jazz Performance by a Group"
Sky Dive is the twentieth album recorded in 1972 by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. It was his fourth album released on Creed Taylor's CTI label and features performances by Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, George Benson, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira and Ray Barretto.
Polar AC is a compilation album by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. It was his final album released on Creed Taylor's CTI label and features performances by Hubbard, Hubert Laws, George Benson, Junior Cook, and Ron Carter. It was put together by CTI after Hubbard left the label to go to Columbia, and the tracks were recorded at different sessions, between 1971 and 1973. The album featured pieces: "People Make the World Go Round" and "Betcha, By Golly Wow", recorded both on April 12, 1972, and "Son of Sky Dive" recorded around 1973. "Polar AC" came from First Light sessions, whilst "Naturally" was recorded during Sky Dive sessions, and both can be found on CD reissues of their respective albums.
Phase One is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris in February 1971 and originally released on the French America label then reissued in the US on Prestige Records the following year. It features Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye performing two side-long pieces dedicated to John Coltrane and Albert Ayler respectively.
Sugar is an album by jazz saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, his first recorded for the CTI Records label following his long association with Blue Note, featuring performances by Turrentine with Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, Ron Carter, and Billy Kaye with Lonnie Liston Smith added on the title track and Butch Cornell and Richard "Pablo" Landrum on the other two tracks on the original release. The CD rerelease added a live version of the title track recorded at the Hollywood Palladium in 1971.
Passing Ships is a studio album by American jazz pianist Andrew Hill featuring performances recorded in 1969 for the Blue Note label but not released until 2003. The album features Hill with a six piece horn section performing seven original compositions.
Bluesnik is an album by American saxophonist Jackie McLean recorded in 1961 and released on the Blue Note label.
She Was Too Good to Me is an album by Chet Baker. The album was released in 1974 as what some would call a "comeback" album. The title track is an alteration of "He Was Too Good to Me". There were three recording sessions.
Bad Benson is a 1974 studio album by American guitarist George Benson, released on CTI Records.
Goodbye is an album by vibraphonist Milt Jackson recorded in 1973 and released on the CTI label.
Morning Star is an album by flautist Hubert Laws released on the CTI and recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in 1972.
From the Hot Afternoon is an album by American jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond featuring performances recorded in 1969 and released on the CTI label.
God Bless the Child is an album by American jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell featuring performances recorded in 1971 and released on the CTI label.
Blue Moses is an album by American jazz pianist and composer Randy Weston featuring performances recorded in 1972 and released on the CTI label.
Time & Love is an album by American vocalists Jackie Cain and Roy Kral featuring performances recorded in 1972 and released on the CTI label.
Giant Box is a double album by American arranger/conductor and composer Don Sebesky recorded in 1973 and released on the CTI label.
The Doctor is In... and Out is an album by multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef recorded in 1976 and released on the Atlantic label.
Uhuru Afrika is an album by American jazz pianist Randy Weston recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Roulette label. The album features lyrics and liner notes by the poet Langston Hughes and was banned in South Africa in 1964, at the same time as was Lena Horne's Here's Lena Now!, with copies of the albums being seized in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Golden Boy is an album by Quincy Jones which was released by Mercury in 1964. The album includes three versions of the theme from the musical Golden Boy with three original compositions and jazz versions of pop hits.