KCOU JAZZ
Jan. 26, 2025
Six tracks exploring the geography of jazz music. While some titles capture the feel of a specific city or country, the show leaves the door open to more conceptual soundscapes.
Songs Included
Lee Morgan | Search For The New Land (1966)
Clocking in at over 15 minutes, Search for the New Land by Lee Morgan is a tour-de-force. Bold and brewing in its approach, this piece battles between ethereal interludes and searing solos.
Under the vision of trumpeter Lee Morgan, the sextet works like a machine: Herbie Hancock lays the ground work on piano as Wayne Shorter and the understated Grant Green trade solos with drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Reggie Workman. Together, they create a searching, spacious hard-bop sound that’s both introspective and commanding standout statement in Morgan’s catalog.
Following up on the success of Morgan’s The Sidewinder, this project trades bluesy elements for expansive, modal landscapes.
Masayoshi Takanaka | Brasilian Skies
Continuing the theme of musical travel, Japanese guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka brings a sunny mood on Brasilian Skies. Vibrant vocals, playful percussion, and a breezy beat feature in this joyful interpretation of Brazil’s skies and beaches. Like much of the album, it’s full of bright textures: whistles, syncopation, and electric guitar tones that make it both transportive and fun.
Recorded in Rio de Janeiro, this late 70s title track radiates the sunny, rhythmic energy of samba and bossa nova.
Antonio Carlos Jobim | Antigua |
Wave (1967)
Settling in the waves of the Caribean, Antigua washes flute and guitar over relaxed cross-stick percussion. In crafting this dreamy composition, Antonio Carlos Jobim twists harpischord and trombone countermelodies and heavenly choir into flowing flute trances.
The Brazilian composer, known for shaping the sound of bossa nova, captures a serene, sun-soaked atmosphere that reflects the island’s gentle beauty through soft textures and flowing arrangements.
The John Betsch Society | Ode to Ethiopia | Earth Blossom (1974)
Across the Atlantic, The John Betsch Society channels a rich percussive pallette and buzzing woodwinds to color Ode to Ethiopia. Billy Puett’s deep bass clarinet leads this team of musicians down a melodic river, where flutes and temple blocks build out the high and low ends of the musical register. Adding elephant-like trumpet, electric guitar, and bright piano, The John Betsch Society creates an atmospheric soundscape from their studio in Nashville.
Dizzy Gillespie | A Night In Tunisia | World Statesman (1956)
An accomplishment in big band compsition, Dizzy Gillespie etches his icon status on A Night in Tunisia. Beginning cute and quiet, the band quickly gathers into crescendoing hits, in anticipation for Dizzy’s solo.
Dizzy’s trumpet solo is fiery and precise, a masterclass in bebop virtuosity, backed by a dynamic rhythm section that reflects the Latin jazz foundations of the tune. In his career, Dizzy’s mastery of the trumpet led him to serve as the first Jazz Ambassador for the U.S. State Department in 1956. Serving as a cultural diplomat, Dizzy led orchestras across the world to promote American culture.
Nelson Boyd also takes a commanding bass solo, only interrupted by the fury of pummeling saxophone and trumpet solis. With an emphatic ending solo, this bold and percussive track captures the cross-cultural energy at the heart of Gillespie’s musical vision.
Eastern Rebellion | Bolivia (1976)
Ending in South America, Eastern Rebellion’s Bolivia sunsets an evening of geography-inspired jazz music. Led by Cedar Walton and featuring an array of talented musicians, Bolivia is a lyrically complex and rhythmically driven piece.
Notably, saxophonist George Coleman leads melody forward as the only brass player on this tune. Coleman plays off drummer Sam Jones and employs a varied style, shifting between winding lines and pointed phrases.
With mountains to the west and the Amazon basin to the east, Bolivia marks the final stop on a global jazz journey that included visits to Brazil, Antigua, Ethiopia, and Tunisia, spanning music from the 1950s to the 1970s.