Ira Sullivan's Strings Attached, from 1983 [FLAC limited time only]

 

Here's another wonderful and progressive album that is truly lost to time and memory.  

Ira Sullivan is a sax player who starting putting out records in the 1950s, generic jazz with standards, inevitably.  However in the very late year of 1983 he put out this very interesting album full of great compositions.  On this alt. page you can see details about the credits.  So most of the compositions are by David Einhorn (very little other material appears from him in the database) and the arranging of the strings was done by ? who? there is no name, might have been either Einhorn or Sullivan.

The amazing Late Nights (written by David and brother Peter Einhorn), I love that the acoustic guitar intro eschews all the usual jazz cliches and just comes up with original chord strummed figures:

On this album there is another Ballad which is just gorgeous, this time the (chamber) composition is by (reeds and woodwinds player) John Alexander:

Surprisingly the whole album is full of gems.  Not one bad track in my opinion. The CD actually found nonreleased bonus tracks to throw in there too, which are equally interesting.  What a gem...  Will wonders never cease?  Not on this blog!

Ron Carter's Pastels from 1977

 

This one album by Ron Carter I thought was just genius.  I suppose he's a pretty well-known bassist in pure jazz circles, but I didn't really think he delved into the progressive fusion domain, just the standard modern bebop stuff which I really can't listen to anymore.  But he indeed put out this one album at a time when I guess most of his colleagues dipped their toes in fusion or dunked themselves in it.

Compositions are by Ron Carter, but arrangements by the great Don Sebesky, featured before on this blog, back here with his gorgeous and masterful classical arrangements.  So I think this collab is what makes this particularly compelling.  Information on this record with all the credits here.

The unbelievable beauty, with its gentle chord modulations, of the generically entitled chamber piece called Ballad:

This owes a lot obviously to the orchestral arrangements by Sebesky.  I tried to locate all the albums he arranged in the mid-1970s that would be interesting to hear, but there weren't many, with Giant Box being the standout.  I think I also linked that one back in the Sebesky post.

The title track is also amazing:

More similar 1970s US progressive fusion coming.

Roland Haynes' Second Wave from 1975 [FLAC limited time only]

 

This is a one-off (unfortunately) from this fusion keyboardist.  

Hugely enjoyable high energy instrumental keyboards-led stuff for the fusion fanatic, like myself.

Title track:

Going to come back with more US fusion material from the golden age of the seventies next week.

The Advancement from 1970

 

Discogged:

American jazz, psychedelia and folk fusion band. Formed in early 1969 in Hollywood, California, by Rudy Onderwyzer who brought together a number of session musicians.

Regarding Rudy:

American jazz trombonist and night club owner. Born on October 10, 1929. Died on November 6, 2017 (88 years old). He owned 3 jazz clubs in his early years. Together with drummer Shelly Manne he was part-owner of the Shelly's Manne-Hole nightclub in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He also owned The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach (1969-1981), another important jazz showcase and recording location on the US West Coast at the time. Around 1983 he opened Hop Singh's in Marina Del Ray, only to close it in 1986. Onderwyzer finished his employment career as a bookkeeper for Rudy's Lock And Key. He also worked part-time for the L.A. Times newspaper for over 10 years, in its Polling Department.

So unfortunately, the only LP from him, really.  It's a mix of chamber progressive prog and more simplistic jazz-rock, mostly instrumental.  However the compositions are wonderful, and quite advanced for this early year of 1970.  Consider the wonderful track called Juliet for ex.:

Unfortunately I couldn't make out the compositional credits for these tracks.

Or the very plaintive Painful Struggle:

The astounding folk singer Linda Perhacs in Parallelograms, and more

 

Here's a legit lost masterpiece in my opinion, not so lost though as one would imagine, as it seems it was rediscovered and expanded on a couple of decades ago.  So really this upload should be 'limited time only' for sure.  The original album from 1970 was reissued on CD with some wonderful nonreleased bonus tracks and demos.

Information on her here.  The bio indicates:

Linda Perhacs (born 21 September 1943) is an American psychedelic folk singer, who released her first album, Parallelograms, in 1970 to scant notice or sales. The album was rediscovered by record enthusiasts and reissued numerous times beginning in 1998, growing in popularity with the rise of the New Weird America movement and the Internet. In 2014, she released a second album titled The Soul of All Natural Things, and a third, I'm a Harmony, in 2017.

Musically she's a dead ringer / singer for early Joni Mitchell, way back in her Songs for a Seagull days, back in the late sixties before Joni became pop-influenced and expanded into the piano-playing as on Blue. Especially with the very female-centred lyrics and the wonderfully performed backup vocals (by herself).  Even her voice is very very similar.

But consider the fact that this LP starts with this amazingly odd song called Chimacum Rain [Chimacum is a location in Wash. State]:

I mean if an artist has the courage to start off with something so oddball, you know they're pretty uncompromising in general.  Even more odd is the title track, which, literally is about mathematical figures!  This song absolutely blows me away musically, completely, in every way you can imagine:

In all this blog, have we ever encountered a song purely about mathematical constructs, that is, not being used metaphorically? It's possible, but I don't remember.

The other really beautiful song to me is If You Were My Man, which is so compelling with the profound depth of her longing:

Seriously makes me want to cry listening to that one.  Obviously, based on some personal heartbreak experience.  And the harmony vocals!   Amazingly to me, this was a demo that never made it onto the album. Perhaps written for a second album that never came about?

It turned out she released two more albums, which like the situation with British Affinity singer Linda Hoyle, are not quite as astounding.  For ex., Daybreak, from the 2014 album, shows the inevitable influence of all the alternative music that came out in the intervening years:

Pay attention to the 2005 BBC interview (among the CD bonus tracks for 1970 rereleased) as well in which she talks about her 'beautiful vision' of the world (in her beautiful voice).

All I could say is, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the beauty and emotion of your music, Linda Perhacs.