Back to the old University Jazz with the missing HUJE 1981 (Howard University Jazz Ensemble)

Here's an old wishlist album that suddenly popped up to my complete surprise.  It's from so long ago that I couldn't for the life of me remember why I wanted to buy it, but I'm assuming my reasoning was sound.  Lately this assumption has been frequently tested, though it obtains for the most part when I'm in a relaxed state.  Which is a rarity, nowadays.  You can use the search function at the top left hand to find two other posts from these guys, HUJE '83 and '84.

It's the standard big band college music we have heard so often here before.  Information is here, as usual.

The amazing first track, called Caronstan:





I'm going to do something I've never done before and provide lossless rips for these records for everyone in the next little while so we can enjoy a bit of quarantine time.

By request, Osiris Featuring Toto Blanke & Charlie Mariano‎, recorded 1978

Somebody pointed this out to me long ago, and it took this long for it to surface for sale.  Long before any pandemic was on the horizon.  Everyone now can have a listen.  I don't think I need to mention the two famous artists involved here, but note that the remainder of the musicians are not so well known.  It seems to be a one-off band in a live performance, with information included here.

Note that the sound of the recording is not ideal, and I'm being a little uncharacteristically complimentary, being on a par with some really rough and ready primitive mikes, maybe hidden in someone's briefs for the chief purpose of impressing a lady companion.  The first track in particular might drive you a little crazy in some parts as it did me with its static non-white noise.  Luckily that's a short drive for me.

There is a bit of eastern stuff, a bit of fusion, some nice electric and some nice acoustic guitar stuff.  All over the place, but more jazzy in general than I would've expected given those two huge talents dominating the set.  The duet of them 2 is nice and has the advantage of being familiar:





Recorded November 16th 1978, Festsaal Schweriner Schloß, Schwerin.
More requests upcoming.

Stay safe and be careful out there and let's hope the music sees us through to the day when it will be all carefree again like it was before...

Ron Johnston / Ian McDougall / Oliver Gannon - Rio (1988)

Here's a surprisingly late album coming in as follow-up to the Three from 48 hours ago, which has some more of that very mellow, very smooth jazz written in a highly competent manner.  The artists waste no time on the opener called Search with trombonist Ian McDougall setting up a nice unison melody with guitarist Gannon above the juicy electric keys:





I love when pianist Ron Johnston solo plays his electric keyboard magic, on Free Recall:





It's just jazz, but it's really well written jazz.

By request, Ron Johnston, Ian McDougall, Oliver Gannon ‎– Three from Canada, 1976

Here we are with the 1st of 2 from this 3-some.  Basically we have Johnston on piano and electric keys, Gannon on guitars, and McDougall on trombone.  From the blurb on the back:

Ian Ollie and Ron enjoy making music together.  In fact, Ron and Ollie traveled the 3000 miles from Vancouver to Toronto in order to make this album with Ian.  It is a Canadian album from the inside out with all the tunes written by the performers.  There's a bit of jazz, a bit of rock (-where? Editor), some bossa, some ballads, and a lot more you can't label.  Mostly it feels good and sounds good.

To give you an idea, the track called Patricia opens with an electric key intro that blows me away:





For a much more atmospheric sound recalling actually some of the killer intellectual prog out of France, consider Last Summer:





Obviously, that silky smooth and pure tone of the trombone which sounds like a wise old monk talking peace into you, adds so so much.

Back to Koen de Bruyne in Kluis (OST, 1978) [Enclosure]

I thought that the title of this was appropriate for these locked down times.

Do I have the heart to copy and paste his brief discogs bio:

Jazz and ambient/electronic musician from Belgium.
He was a prominent studio musician working for several pop artists in his home country like his brother Kris De Bruyne for example, as well as artists from abroad like funk band BLACK BLOOD and with Janko Nilovic (known for jazz library music) in a group called Mad Unity.
To his name he only has two records; Koen De Bruyne - Here Comes The Crazy Man! from 1974 is a keyboard heavy funky fusion record with exceptional sound because of the use of brass instruments and vocals by Patricia Maessen; could be compared in some degree to the also Belgian group Placebo. His other album is Koen De Bruyne - In Kluis an experimental electronic soundtrack album for the movie 'In Kluis' by Jan Gruyaert.
Koen De BRUYNE died in 1977 while he was producing Kris De Bruyne - Ballerina's. The first song 'Oh Producer' on this record is dedicated to him.

Ouch...

Let's set aside the masterpiece from 1974 mentioned before on this blog here.  I almost fell out of my chair when I learned he made a follow up album in 1978, which is the soundtrack to a movie, of course let's not expect the same kind of one of a kind insanity as happened 4 years before, but it turned out to be a really solidly well-composed, well-crafted, well-thought-out slab of black vinyl with interesting ideas and atmospherically beautiful keyboard sounds-- just what you'd expect from a very creative young guy 'ordered' or rather commissioned to write soundtrack music for background music, not in-your-face. For sure the closest point of comparison would be keyboardist of Secret Oyster Kenneth Knudsen's best works, like Pictures and Anima which I think I posted here before, boy is it hard to remember these things now.  Btw if there's anybody out there who still hasn't heard Pictures, I'll post that one too, it's incredible.

Very sadly unknown even among those who should be seeking after these styles, which is, namely, me plus one or 2 other people in the world I guess equally crazy men and as particular in their musical tastes.  As you all know I love to research these 'art films' on imdb, always encountering a near-total paucity of information, but in this case, a nice cover with a naked girl, as can be seen here, translated as "The Enclosure".  Even the great youtube has nothing on this one, unless you're looking for tips on how to reno your old garden shed or how to make a lot of money staying home in front of your laptop making really dumb videos for idiots.  Doesn't matter, though it's surprising that he chose his own artwork for the album cover rather than the movie poster or somesuch analogous advertisement.

Each track I think is priceless in its own little way.  All instrumental keyboard music here.  So as I often do I'll just post the first track, called Landscape:





For anybody who plays keyboards those opening chords are quite interesting, but just wait till the synthesizer comes flying in from outer space right after.  Oh man...

I'll include the earlier Here Comes the Crazy Man (the OG LP version, not the CD which I recommend you purchase for the extremely interesting bonus tracks, and which I don't want to share here!!) and the Mad Unity - Funky Tramway one-off album from 1975 (but written by the great and beloved library composer Janko Milovic, I take it).  From that one, the gorgeously written Flemish Suite:





And to all those European countries out there that I maligned so much as a tourist in this blog hit so hard with this vicious, horrific pathogen called SARS-nCoV-2, please accept my heartfelt apologies for what you are going through, because as the WHO director said we must now face together the common enemy of humankind.  It's just like those scifi movies where everyone must join forces to fight one invader and we have to stay together or we will not succeed.  Watching the numbers rise daily though I can say with some confidence that Europe is approaching the peak and plateau in the next 1-2 weeks or, as Chairman Mao once said, It's never darkest till it's completely black...