I've been on the trail of this album ever since I did a history of saxaphonist Harold Vick and came across the killer track "H.N.I.C", which apparently stands for'Head N#@@er In Charge'. So a few weeks ago, I went into ebay with all guns blazing, fought the good fight, and here we are ....
In 1966, three years after his organ n' sax debut "Steppin' Out", Vick released two quite different albums on RCA Victor : the latin-flavoured "Caribbean Suite" and the relatively straight-ahead "Straight Up".
Discography minutiae :
"Commitment" was generally thought to also have been recorded in 1966, languishing in the vaults until Muse put it out in 1974. However, due to some help from the folks over at the Organissimo forums, it seems that this album was most probably recorded for RCA Victor on May 1-2, 1967. Sessions on those dates are listed as having exactly the same lineup, with three same-named tracks. The other four tracks here are the Vick compositions, so I think we can safely assume that he re-named them seven years later. This would mean there are still three unreleased tracks somewhere, including a version of "Sunny".
It remains a mystery why this album was shelved for seven years. Vick released one more album with RCA, 1968's orchestrated "Watch What Happens". He went on to Encounter Records for the funky "Power Of Feeling" in 1973 under a pseudonym, then had a heart attack in April 1974. However, by August he was back in the studio recording "Don't Look Back" for Strata-East.
Sometime in the last four months of 1974, Muse released these 1967 recordings as "Commitment", and then Strata-East released "Don't Look Back". Independent label war ?
Annnnnnyway ... these sessions were and are worth excavating :
While the instrumentation is the same as that of "Straight Up"from the year before - saxaphone, guitar, vibes, piano, bass and drums - this is a more live, less orchestrated band who break out more often, harking back to some of the rawness of the "Steppin' Out"album.
Even in straight-ahead jazz tracks like "Commitment" and "Out Of It" there's a sense of communication between the soloists that is sometimes missing from Vick's more heavily 'arranged' albums from the 60s. Vick flourishes in this looser atmosphere, and his playing is beautiful and lyrical throughout.
There's a fantastic up-tempo take on Jimmy Heath's "A Time and A Place" , which you may know from Heath's 1974 album, or versions by Art Farmer, Milt Jackson and others. The jazz dancers should cream themselves over this one, with solid solos from Vick's tenor, pianist Walter Bishop Jr(last seen here with "Cubicle"), vibesman Victor Feldman, and guitarist Malcolm Riddick showing some Grant Green-like moves.
Victor Feldman, who's a significant presence on this album, takes over Bishop's piano chair for "H.N.I.C" to contribute a fiery, percussive piano solo that winds around Vick's flute throughout the track.
While mostly heard on tenor sax on this album, Vick switches to soprano for a beautiful reading of "Wild is the Wind" , supported just by Feldman's vibes, and Bishop's piano, backed by sparse work from Herb Bushler's bass and Mickey Roker on drums.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this album, leave a comment and let me know what you think. Download links and more Harold Vick albums are below.
TRACKLIST / MUSICIANS Corrected as much as possible from an original Discogs entry - unsure who's on bass for some tracks.
PRODUCTION CREDITS Recorded May 1-2, 1967 at Bell Sound Studios, New York.Muse Records MR-5054 Released in 1974 Producer, Liner Notes - Fred Norsworthy Artwork By - Ron Warwell Photography - Jim Dunn
SESSION INFORMATION (Presuming that four Vick compositions here were later re-named)
New York, May 1st 1967Harold Vick (fl,ts) Vic Feldman (p,vib) Walter Bishop Jr. (p) Malcolm Riddick (g) Ben Tucker (b) Mickey Roker (d)
UPA1-4086 Sunny (unissued) RCA UPA1-4087 Reflections UPA1-4088 Home is where love is UPA1-4089 A time and a place UPA1-4090 Like Alice UPA1-4091 Where butterflies play UPA1-4092 Pitco blues
New York, May 2nd, 1967
Bob Bushner (b) replaces Tucker, rest same
UPA1-4093 Blue gardenia (unissued) RCA UPA1-4094 Wild is the wind UPA1-4095 Leave it the way it is UPA1-4096 Where butterflies play
POST CREDITS Vinyl rip by Simon666This vinyl is a little worn. I used a new needle, but there's some mild distortion here and there, not too bad. Album links in this post go to : Ile Oxumare, Orgy In Rhythm, Call It Anything. Please thank and support these bloggers if you click through ..
swboy has given me permission to drop a few of his rips that were formerly on El Reza, so I'll try to add a few treats for those who have this already. This is one of my favourite Strata-East albums and a complete joy to listen to. There's something unique about Harold Vick's saxaphone sound that made me want to look deeper into his career.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HAROLD VICK
Harold Vick emerged in the early 1960s as a saxaphonist with a distinctive, lyrical tone who retained a blues edge as the soul-jazz scene played back and forth with post-bop modernism throughout the decade, then followed the development of new forms in the 1970s.
Influenced by Gene Ammons, he played in the band of vocalist Lloyd Price from about 1958-1960 before joining Jack McDuff's band. He became a preferred tenor sax player for all the top-shelf soul-jazz organists like McDuff, John Patton and Jimmy McGriff.
In fact, he played with so many hammond organists that he has his own clickable org-hammo-gram.
'Our Miss Brooks' excerpt
His debut 1963 album "Steppin' Out"(Blue Note) sits firmly in the blues / early soul-jazz camp, with John Patton on the B3 and frequent collaborator Grant Green on guitar. The opening track "Our Miss Brooks" referred to Ellen Brooks, who had been Vick's girlfriend but was now going out with John Patton, who she married the next year. Ahh, musical tension in the studio! Listen to the above clip and imagine her sitting with a glass of wine, Yoko-like, at the back of the studio while the organ and sax face off. Nevertheless, Vick recorded another session with Patton the next year, but this was rejected by Blue Note and he moved on.
'Tiempo Medio Lento' excerpt
In 1966 he released "The Caribbean Suite" on RCA, built around an eight-part suite of the same name by British saxophonist Kenny Graham, with Vick adding some of his own tracks. Vick (on flute and soprano sax) is accompanied by Bobby Hutcherson, Albert Dailey and others, with Latin percussion by Montego Joe and Manuel Ramos. A bold change of pace and great stuff, you can almost hear Martin Denny and Bacoso drinking beers together in the jungle bushes behind, watching through binoculars. Thanks as always to Bacoso for re-upping this in relation to this post.
'A Rose for Wray' excerpt
Later in the year, he released "Straight Up", more straight-ahead than the previous album, but with the laid-back settings nonetheless giving you an opportunity to experience the subtle expressiveness of his playing against a backdrop of guitar, piano, vibes and trumpet. There's a few bossa tracks, and Vick adds soprano sax and flute to his woodwind arsenal.
'Hnic'
Vick recorded the album "Commitment" in 1967, but it wasn't released until 1974 on Muse, just before "Don't Look Back". Listen to the killer track "hnic" above, with Victor Feldman ripping it up on piano - Walter Bishop plays piano on most other tracks. The track also features Mickey Roker - drums; Herb Bushler - bass; Malcolm Riddick - guitar; and Vick on flute.
1967's "The Melody Is Here" was later re-released as "Watch What Happens" with some additional tracks. Three tracks feature a quartet with Herbie Hancock, Bob Cranshaw and Grady Tate, the rest feature "The Harold Vick Orchestra" which includes Jimmy Owens, Joe Farrell, Hancock and others with a chorus of female voices. "Ode To Trane", above, comes from the Hancock quartet sessions.
'Buzzard Feathers' excerpt
In the early 1970s, drummer Jack deJohnette formed the band Compost with Harold Vick, Jumma Santos and others, seemingly as an excuse to go crazy on the wah-wah clavinet in a party funk-rock atmosphere. Vick seems to be enjoying himself immensely on sax and flute, often grabbing Jack's wah-wah pedal. Two albums were released : "Compost" (1972) and "Life Is Round" (1973), with vocalist Lou Courtney joining for the second album.
'Peace K.D.' excerpt
In 1973 Vick released an album called "Power Of Feeling" under the pseudonym "Sir Edward" on Bernard Purdie's Encounter label.
There's still conjecture on Dusty Groove, Soul Strut and other places as to whether this actually was Harold Vick, or indeed even Sonny Stitt - but a quick look at the back cover of the "Commitment" release from the following year confirms that it's Vick, via a somewhat disparaging comment from Fred Norsworthy, who's much keener on the 1966 material :
Bad Harold, naughty Harold
Players include Joe Bonner (rhodes), Wilbur Bascomb (bass), Omar Clay (drums), and Jumma Santos (percussion). Harold's clearly stolen the wah-wah pedal from the Compost sessions for this album.
Anyway I've ordered the vinyl, so will be back properly with this one in a week or two. (EDIT : Got it, go HERE )
Vick later re-recorded the track "Keep on Moving On" from this album on Shirley Scott's fantastic 1974 Strata-East release "One for Me", which features some of his best playing.
So let's move on to today's album - 1974's "Don't Look Back" was recorded and released in the wake of Harold Vick's recovery from a heart attack, which may partially explain the passion with which he approaches his playing throughout. The title track "Don't Look Back" is a joyous melodic number that Vick himself attributes to new love experienced in his time of crisis. It was later covered on the Shirley Scott "One For Me" album (with Vick on sax), and also on Nat Adderley's same-titled album "Don't Look Back" in 1976.
His work on sax and flute has a harder, more intense edge to it than his other recordings - check out his tenor work on "Lucille" - while still displaying the subtlety of his best work - listen to his multi-tracked coda "Prayer", where Joe Bonner's rhodes mixes in with Vick's clarinet, flutes and saxaphone.
'Prayer'
Trumpeter Virgil Jones is a strong presence on this album, frequently trading solos with Vick on tracks like the latinesque "Senor Zamora" - his recent work had included a high profile arranger's role on Charles Earland's "Intensity"; and performances on albums as diverse as McCoy Tyner's "Song Of The New World" and Leon Spencer's "Where I'm Coming From".
As well as appearing on the aforementioned Tyner and Shirley Scott albums, euphonium player Kiane Zawadi had recently worked on Archie Shepp's "Attica Blues" and Dollar Brand's "African Space Program". He contributes a great solo here on "Melody For Bu", which is dedicated to organist Bu Pleasant, on whose Muse album Vick played the same year, and which also includes the track. Both Zawadi and Virgil Jones had worked with Vick almost a decade before on "Oh! Pharoah Speak" by Pharoah Sanders and the Latin Jazz Quintet.
'Melody For bu' excerpt
George Davis appears on alto flute on three tracks, as well as wah-guitar on the spiritual-flavoured "Stop and Cop" - see my "sidebar" on his career near the base of the Mike Longo post. Drummer Billy Hart now wins the "Most Labelled" award for this blog.
Vick's final album as a leader was "After The Dance" in 1977, named after the Leon Ware - Marvin Gaye penned title track. While I'm generally partial to some mixed disco-jazz albums of the period, this one suffers from some unimaginative track choices and arrangements, although I quite like the single "Things Aint Right", an Esther Marrow cover that mixes some blaxploitation-style wah-wah and orchestral textures with the disco beat, even if Vick's sax is a little incidental to the overall plot ...
Harold Vick continued to work frequently as a sideman until his death in 1987 from a heart attack. Saxaphonist Sonny Stitt composed a tribute track on his 2000 album "This Is What I Do" called "Did you Hear Harold Vick?", which is more of a funky, playful number rather than a mournful dirge.
Prayer Bass Clarinet, Alto and concert Flutes, Soprano Saxophone - Harold Vick Fender Rhodes - Joe Bonner PRODUCTION DETAILS
Arranged By, Composed By, Producer - Harold Vick All selections: (Matron Music) BMI.
Produced at Blue Rock Studio, New York City.
Mixed and mastered at Generation Sound Studio, New York City.
Engineer [Recording] - Eddie Korvin Mastered By - David Crawford Mixed By - Tony May Photography - Jim Dunn
Album Design, Art Supervision - Creative Hands, Inc.
Thanks to MsManagement and Lou Courtney for their assistance. Special thanks to the musicians for their love and cooperation in this endeavour.
God of Life / God of Love
We Praise Thy Name
Prayer of acknowledgement
and thanks to the Almighty Creator
for all things
All Praise Due to Allah
1958-60 Lloyd Price : Harold Vick played in vocalist Lloyd Price's band from about 1958-1960 alongside John Patton. Price released three albums over this period, but I have been unable to find musician's listings for these. Harold Vick is said to have played with Aretha Franklin(1970-1974); the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band (1969-70) and King Curtis (1969-70) but doesn't seem to appear on any recordings by these artists. Various obituaries and articles also refer to work with Nat Adderley, Mercer Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Taylor, Donald Byrd, and Jimmy Smith - but it is not clear whether this is just live work or involved recording. Any further knowledge would be appreciated.
Ray Charles : Harold Vick is listed as a saxaphonist on two Ray Charles compilations. The only two songs appearing on both comps were "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Ruby". These songs appear on the respective albums "The Genius Hits The Road" and "Dedicated to You". The former has listings that do not include Vick, the latter had no musician listings that I could find. Therefore, by deduction I've listed him as appearing on "Dedicated to You", but this is still open to question : I'd imagine that Charles recorded "Sweet Georgia Brown" more than once.
POST CREDITS
"Don't Look Back" vinyl rip by swboy originally posted at El Reza
Pics from Discogs
Text and research by Simon666
Also big thanks to Bacoso for the re-up of "Caribbean Suite" .
Apart from the albums in the discographies, album links within the post go to :
Strata-East Fan Club, Orgy in Rhythm, Ile Oxumaré, My Favourite Sound, My Jazz World, Pharoah’s Dance, Call It Anything, Sergio Sonico, Granazi, Oufar Khan, Musica Y Programas, Blog–O–Blog, headfonehaus, seventeen green buicks, Blue Beat in My Soul and Jazz Jupiter Variation.
As always, please thank and support these bloggers and those in the discographies if you click through and download.
While the instrumentation is the same as that of "Straight Up" from the year before - saxaphone, guitar, vibes, piano, bass and drums - this is a more live, less orchestrated band who break out more often, harking back to some of the rawness of the "Steppin' Out"album.
Victor Feldman, who's a significant presence on this album, takes over Bishop's piano chair for "H.N.I.C" to contribute a fiery, percussive piano solo that winds around Vick's flute throughout the track.
