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Various Artists: Innerpeace: Rare Spiritual Funk And Jazz Gems

By Chris May
August 11, 2018
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Various Artists: Innerpeace: Rare Spiritual Funk And Jazz Gems

It took a few years for producer Bob Shad's newly formed Mainstream Records to nail its direction in the 1960s. A less than auspicious start was releasing the first singles by the latter-day Trump-boosting halfwit Ted Nugent. A better move, given hindsight, was releasing the debut album by Janis Joplin's Big Brother & The Holding Company. But by the end of the decade, Mainstream had hit its stride as a platform for jazz—in particular freedom jazz / spiritual jazz, with which it took its place in the sun alongside

Stanley Cowell

piano
1941 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Stanley Cowell and

Charles Tolliver

trumpet
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Tolliver's Strata-East, Bob Thiele's Impulse! and Joe Fields' Muse.

Ostinato driven and Fender Rhodes drenched, Innerpeace: Rare Spiritual Funk And Jazz Gems / The Supreme Sound Of Producer Bob Shad cherry picks tracks from eleven Mainstream albums, some by established hard-bop musicians stretching out into funk-infused jazz, others by younger players who cut their teeth in the soul-jazz groove. The albums are the cover shot's

Hadley Caliman

saxophone
1932 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">Hadley Caliman's Hadley Caliman,

Dave Hubbard

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Hubbard's Dave Hubbard,

Sonny Red

saxophone, alto
b.1932

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Red's Sonny Red (all 1971),

Harold Land

saxophone, tenor
1928 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Harold Land's Damisi,

Roy Haynes

drums
1926 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Roy Haynes' Senyah,

Charles Williams

keyboards
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Williams' Stickball,

Buddy Terry

" data-original-title="" title="">Buddy Terry's Lean On Him,

Pete Yellin

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Pete Yellin's Dance Of Allegra,

LaMont Johnson

" data-original-title="" title="">LaMont Johnson's Sun, Moon And Stars (all 1972),

Shelly Manne

drums
1920 - 1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Shelly Manne's Mannekind (1973) and

Frank Foster

saxophone
1928 - 2011

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Foster's The Loud Majority (1974). The majority of the tracks are up-tempo and assertive, but the flute-led "Mebakusk" (Pete Yellin) and "Love Song" (Sonny Red) provide relatively chilled-out contrasts.

Band personnels include trumpeters

Cecil Bridgewater

trumpet
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Bridgewater,

Eddie Henderson

trumpet
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Eddie Henderson and

Oscar Brashear

trumpet
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Oscar Brashear, keyboard players

Bill Henderson

vocals
1926 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Henderson,

Jan Hammer

keyboards
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Jan Hammer and

Larry Willis

piano
1942 - 2019

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Willis, drummers and percussionists

James Mtume

percussion
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">James Mtume, Lawrence Killian and

Elvin Jones

drums
1927 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Elvin Jones, and bassists

Cecil McBee

bass
b.1935

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil McBee and

Buster Williams

bass, acoustic
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Buster Williams. Most of the bandleaders are saxophonists and flautists, so there are fewer supporting reed-players, but the list includes

David 'Bubba' Brooks

b.1922

" data-original-title="" title="">David 'Bubba' Brooks and

Frank Wess

saxophone, tenor
1922 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Wess. 'Nuff said?

The albums Innerpeace is drawn from are as rare as hen's teeth in 2018. The closest most listeners will have got to them will be samples on discs by hip hoppers such as De La Soul. Which makes this outstanding 67-minute compilation doubly welcome. Also not to be missed: WeWantSounds' reissue of Buddy Terry's Mainstream debut, Awareness (1971), previously reviewed here.

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Track Listing

In The Back, In The Corner, In The Dark (Harold Land); Senyah (Roy Haynes); Iron Jaws (Charles Williams); Inner Peace (Buddy Terry); Cigar Eddie (Hadley Caliman); Requiem For Dusty (Frank Foster); Mebakush (Pete Yellin); B.C. (Dave Hubbard); Love Song (Sonny Red); Libra��s Longing (LaMont Johnson); Infinity (Shelley Manne).

Personnel

Various Artists

various

Bands led by: Harold Land, Roy Haynes, Charles Williams, Buddy Terry, Hadley Caliman, Frank Foster, Pete Yellin, Dave Hubbard, Sonny Red, LaMont Johnson, Shelley Manne.

Album information

Title: Innerpeace: Rare Spiritual Funk And Jazz Gems | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: WEWANTSOUNDS

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