Aquarian Dream - "You're a Star / Play It For Me (One More Time)" 12" (1977)

Thought i'd leave the sticker on, though it's better described as 126 bpm

I've got a couple of big posts that are taking too long to prepare, so I thought I'd drop another 12" single on you in the meantime.

We had an extensive look at Norman Connors' jazz life last month with the albums "Dance Of Magic" and Jazz-Nekko's "Live at Nemu Jazz Inn" - the first of those posts has a full Connors discography with blog links.

Today's 12" single features both Norman Connors and Gary Bartz again, but this is a very different record from those other two. The band Aquarian Dream were Connors' pet funky disco project, launched in 1976 with their debut album "Norman Connors presents Aquarian Dream", the same year as Connors hit his commercial peak with his own album "You Are my Starship".

The two tracks on this 12" come from their second album "Fantasy" (1978), though the edits are slightly different from the album versions. The uptempo "You're a Star" has had several lives on the dancefloor, most recently in sped-up, house-ified fashion on Dimitri From Paris' first "Night at the Playboy Mansion" compilation in 2000. Connors himself, and writer Jacques Burvick, also revisited the track on the 1980 "Celestial Sky" album by the Starship Orchestra.

These days I'm more likely to spin the funkier "Play It For Me One More Time", which has a great strong vocal from Gloria Jones and Sylvia Striplin. Fantastic lineup on both of these tracks, check below.

Neither of the first two Aquarian Dream albums were great commercial successes at the time, though their reputation has grown since. They broke their ties with Norman Connors and recorded a third album, "Chance to Dance" (1979) with producer Jeff Lane, best known for his work with B.T. Express and Brass Construction. After the commercial failure of that album they broke up.

Hope you enjoy this one!

** Also, continuing the new explosion of jazz blogs, check out Cheeba's new THE SHAD SHACK - a Mainstream Records Fan Site, for all sorts of funky goodness.

TRACKLIST

1. "You're a Star" (5:30)
2. "Play It For me one More Time" (4:28)

Both tracks written by Aquarian Dream / Jacques Burvick

MUSICIANS

Vocals - Gloria Jones , Marcella Allen , Patricia Shannon , Sylvia Striplin
Backing Vocals - Julia Tillman Waters , Luther Waters , Maxine Willard Waters , Oren Waters
Bass - Eddie Watkins , Ernie Adams
Drums - James Gadson , James Morrison
Fender Rhodes, Micro Moog, Poly Moog, Vocals, Piano - Jacques Burvick
Guitar - Wah Wah Watson , Ray Parker Jr.
Guitar, Vocals, Percussion - Claude Bartee III
Horns - Garnet Brown & The L.A. Horns
Keyboards - Winston Daley
Soprano Saxophone - Gary Bartz
Soprano & Tenor Saxophone, Vocals - Claude Bartee Jr.
Strings - Bill Henderson
Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Vocals - Albert Jones

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Elektra, WEA Records Ltd.
Catalog#: LV 7, LV 7
Executive Producer - Don Mizell
Producer - Norman Connors
Arranged By - Aquarian Dream, McKinley Jackson
Co-producer (1) - Jacques Burvick
Remix Assistant (1) - Bob Bullock , Jimmy Simpson
Assistant To The Producer - Aki Aleong
Mastered By - John Golden
Mixed By - Barney Perkins
Recorded and mixed at ABC Dunhill Studios
Horns and strings recorded at Burbank Studios
Mixed at Burbank Studios
Mastered and remixed at Kendun Studios

POST CREDITS

Vinyl rip by Simon 666.
Album links in this post go to : Baby Grandpa, Blak's Lair, My Jazz World, Black to Blog.
Please thank and support these bloggers if you click through and download ...

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Bartz - Henderson - Connors - "Live at Nemu Jazz Inn - 1" (1975)

Originally posted by JN and Bacoso to "Orgy In Rhythm", April 2008

Simon says :
Many thanks to Jazz-Nekko, the much-loved Okinawan Devil, for allowing a re-post of this incredibly rare gem of an album as a follow-up to the last Norman Connors post. So this is both a re-post and a guest post! I'll hand you over to the ever-dependable JN and then add some words about 1975 ...

Jazz-Nekko says :
Gary Bartz is certainly on the top alto players of the modern generation, and like so many others - probably one of the most under-appreciated jazz artists. Eddie Henderson's horn is clearly influenced by Miles' early fusion period. Fellow Philadelphians, Elmer Gibson and Norman Connors have recorded with a "who's who" of jazz & fusion giants. It was only a year later that Connors became the Buddah Records Company's musical director.

This live set, "Live at Nemu Jazz Inn - 1", was released only here in Japan and just 500 albums were pressed. This set does not even show up in any of the artists' discographies; makes you wonder if the artists thought it worthy. For more than one reason, however, this ol' devil sure thinks it worthy: I attended this "Live at Nemu Jazz Inn" with my brother and two friends of ours.

The audience was 50% Japanese and 50% foreigners, mostly military personnel, as the club was not far from two bases. As you will hear, it was a quiet, respectful crowd but much of the raucous applause was cut out of the album. These guys were at the height of their artistic and imaginative skills. Connors led this set and personally selected the crew for their world tour. It was my first time to see Henderson in concert. Perhaps it is my bad memory or prejudice, but I cannot help but think his playing that night was a bit off. The sad part about this was that they did not include three other numbers – warm-ups – if you will, but the playing in those was also rather remarkable.



Throughout this, post-bop oriented but frequently dallying around the edges of fusion, gig, the group showed what they learned from the likes of Davis, Hancock, Roach, Sanders, Rivers, Harper and Sun Ra, marshaling polyrhythms, electronic textures, and cosmic mysticism to create a deeply spiritual jazz experience. The album kicks off with a darkish and fusion-edged version of Trane's 'Naima'. It was a ferocious attacking force by Bartz on alto, Henderson blew out the walls with his flugelhorn, Workman on bass and Connors' chameleon-like skin work; however, Bartz wins the honours on this track, in my opinion, but Workman gave him a run for his money. Bartz showed his ability to act as the group's adhesive by bopping and weaving his vamps around the others' strong solo works, as Connors continually drew out the map for the band.



The sprawling 26-minute 'Dance of Magic' spans the entirety of the flip side, capturing a memorable jam that explores free improvisation but without stepping beyond a point of no return. Connors' tremendous skins never fail to lead the band back home.

There was a certain coolness, a distorted sense of despair or subtle melancholy to this show that remains very clear in my memory to this day. Connors' oddly timed garbling/vocals perfectly suit a dark-toned feeling. I believe in the old adage that, "the only good jazz is jazz that is live" and here you will see what I mean ~ enjoy!

Simon adds :

1975 : THE TURNING POINT

What's unusual about this beautiful piece of jazz is its placement in the chronology of the main players' careers. Three years after they'd all been on "Dance of Magic", this album sounds like it could have been recorded the next day - yet in 1975 all three had just taken major, career-changing steps into jazz-influenced RnB or fusion-funk via their three individual albums of that year.

Let's check 1975 ...

Sometime in 1975, Gary Bartz recorded his album "The Shadow Do", in which the Mizell Brothers had packaged him up in their commercial jazz-RnB-funk that would continue in 1977's "Music Is My Sanctuary".

In March-April 1975, Eddie Henderson recorded "Sunburst", a funk/fusion album that was a major step away from his previous atmospheric post-Mwandishi albums.

In May 1975, all three major players - Henderson, Connors and Bartz - worked on Norman Connors' "Saturday Night Special", which was his first major RnB album, coming after the transitional "Slewfoot" on which all three had played as well.

Then in July 1975, two months later, they're in Tokyo recording this album, "Live at Nemu Jazz Inn" ....

They would have arrived back in the USA to see "Valentine Love", the single from "Saturday Night Special" with Michael Henderson and Jean Carn on vocals, hit the RnB Top Ten in the fall.

So 1975 was certainly a turning point for these three people.

While the others were putting on their dancing shoes, bass player Reggie Workman was still valiantly holding up the jazz front in 1975 - Charles Tolliver's "Impact!" (January); Marion Brown's "Vista" (February); Ken McIntyre's "Home" (June); and then after this July recording, off to Sonny Fortune's "Awakening" (August). Hopefully the others still took Reggie down to the disco occasionally.

Keyboardist Elmer Gibson (heard here on rhodes and piano) has a small catalogue of recording, but he obviously goes for quality ..... he can be heard on the wonderful and necessary 1972 "Neptune" album by The Visitors, as well as Norman Connors' "Dark Of Light" and "Slewfoot", and then this live album. He was Connors' musical director for a few years and composed "Kumekucha" on "Love From the Sun", and "Chuka" on "Slewfoot".

From what I can gather, despite leading an active life as a jazz educator and festival organiser, he then took a twenty-one year break from recording, then recorded his debut album "Generation Dance" in 1996-97, releasing it independently in 2002. And ... it features Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson and Norman Connors. Since then he's got busy and released three more albums, as well having appeared on TC III's "Mega Jazz Explosion" from 2006 alongside Bartz and Henderson. Elmer lives here.

Also don't miss El Goog Ja's Gary Bartz discography.

TRACKLIST

01. 'Naima' (Coltrane) - 7:07
02. 'Revelation' (Hancock) - 18:10
03. 'Dance of Magic' (Connors) - 26:35

MUSICIANS

Gary Bartz - alto saxaphone
Eddie Henderson - flugelhorn
Norman Connors - drums, voice
Elmer Gibson - piano, electric piano
Reggie Workman - bass

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Recorded live on 19 July, 1975 at Nemu Jazz Inn, Tokyo, Japan.
Released 1975
Nippon Columbia/Cobblestone VQ-7509-CO

POST CREDITS

320 vinyl rip and cover scans of this album by Jazz-Nekko.

Album blog links in this post go to :
Pharoah’s Dance, Ile Oxumaré, Strata-East Fan Club, El Goog Ja, Blak’s Lair, Mwandishi, My Jazz World, Happy as a Fat Rat in a Cheese Factory. "Neptune" by The Visitors link originally at El Reza, used by permission of Reza.

Please thank and support these bloggers if you click through and download.
If links go dead, please let me know so I can re-direct and keep the page current.

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Norman Connors - "Dance of Magic" (1972) + discography

originally posted by Bacoso at "Orgy in Rhythm", November 2006

Norman Connors' first album as a leader is a beautiful collision where the post-Bitches Brew crew meet up with post-Pharoah Sanders spiritual jazz across the rhythms and harmonies of latin america. Check the personnel on the cover, all you could want really!

While almost all of these people would end up in jazz-influenced RnB/disco within a few years of this album - in particular Connors himself - their work in the 1972-75 period is fascinating in its search for, and creation of, new hybrid forms. There are several albums that contain a large crossover of the musicians that are on this one, and taken together they make a wonderful journey. Here's what you need to check out :

Norman Connor's next two wonderful albums, "Dark of Light" and "Love from the Sun" which both develop ideas fermented here; Stanley Clarke's "Children Of Forever", and Carlos Garnett's "Black Love", "Journey To Enlightenment" and "Let This Melody Ring On". Plus of course, we've got Hancock, Henderson and Hart from the Mwandishi band, who we've discussed recently. For them, this comes the same year as "Crossings".

Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater appears on most of the above albums, but not this one - unless she's one of the mysterious U.B.F Singers on the first track?

On the immediate front, many of the people here seem to have come straight off the back of Pharoah Sanders' "Black Unity" and "Live at the East" sessions - Connors, Clarke, Garnett, Cecil McBee and Billy Hart - while some of the sessions that make up Sanders' "Village Of The Pharoahs" (Clarke, Connors, McBee) occur soon before and after this album.

Original 1972 Cobblestone cover
I prefer the 1976 Buddha release (at top) due to Norman's jacket.

I listed all of those albums from saxophonist Carlos Garnett because he's a strong force across the first three Connors albums, and his own subsequent albums can be seen as a continuation of this particular fusion of spiritual jazz and latin elements. There's a strong melodic/harmonic influence from him in the main themes of the "Dance Of Magic" tracks, and he arranged the title track, which takes up all of Side One.

Garnett had worked with co-saxophonist Gary Bartz on Mtume's "Alkebu-Lan - Land Of The Blacks" as well as various Miles Davis sessions. For Bartz, this session occurs in the same year as "Juju Street Songs" / "Follow the Medicine Man".

At this stage Herbie Hancock is stretching his rhodes textures as far as they can go, now fully integrating the keyboard's delay, distortion, wah-wah and ring modulation effects into his playing and composition, just a year before he would shift his sonic experimentation to synthesisers. For Hancock, this session falls between Joe Farrell's "Moongerms" (where he'd been with Stanley Clarke) and Miles Davis' "On the Corner" (which he'd go on to with Garnett and Billy Hart)

I hadn't listened to this album for a few years until today, and it's the percussion that really 'strikes' me this time - Connors has assembled Brasilian wunderkind Airto Moreira and up to six others, and it's just a total funky joy to listen to. Conga player Nat Bettis had been with Gary Bartz on his NTU Troop "Harlem Bush Music" series of three albums, and he and Anthony Wiles had played on Pharoah Sanders' "Thembi" the year before alongside Cecil McBee.

1972 is a huge year for Airto - he recorded his album "Free" (with Stanley Clarke in tow); Buddy Terry's "Pure Dynamite" included Airto, Clarke, Hart and Henderson; both Airto and Clarke continue on to Deodato's best-known effort "Prelude", and he's all over Cannonball Adderley's "Happy People".

Session pix, right-click for larger
L-R Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Cecil McBee, Eddie Henderson, Art Webb, Gary Bartz, Carlos Garnett, Airto Moreira.

Connors' twenty-one minute "Dance Of Magic", which takes up Side One of the original album, starts with the vocal chants of the U.B.F Singers, then rises and falls with barrages of latin percussion over the twin bass attack of McBee and Clarke. Hancock holds the rhythmic centre on acoustic piano, while saxaophonists Garnett and Gary Bartz wail freely over the top, followed by a solo from trumpeter Eddie Henderson and then Hancock, who's initially so caught up in the general percussiveness of it all that he starts plucking and scraping the piano strings.

Cecil McBee's "Morning Change" (preview at top of post) at times melodically presages his album "Mutima" , and is anchored by Hancock's rhodes and a beautiful central sax and trumpet melody that develops into a solo from trumpeter Henderson, here still flying without the reverbs and delays he would soon swamp his sound in, and then a soprano sax solo from Garnett.


Stanley Clarke's ten minute "Blue" is built around a melody line than combines Henderson's muted trumpet with Art Webb's flute. Webb was strongly featured on Clarke's "Children Of Forever" album, and he excels here in a three minute solo. Henderson continues on muted trumpet, then finally Hancock goes crazy on the wah-wah rhodes before the melody is recalled.

The album finishes with Connors' appropriately titled "Give the Drummer Some". He bursts in with a short solo that breaks down to vocal/percussion call and responses, then the conga leads the entire percussion section, joined by Connors, into an exuberant finish.

As mentioned before, Norman Connors went on to develop these ideas across his next two albums, then made a transition into a jazz-influenced RnB that was also highly influential. You'll find all of his 70s and 80s discography, as well as his production work, in blog links at the base of this post.

Links for this album are in the comments. Bacoso's upload had expired, so I've upped this from the deleted CD re-issue which is apparently itself quite rare and valuable these days. So, since I'm also supplying WAV files, you can all print the cover out, rip it and sell it on Ebay, then we'll all take a nice holiday - which I for one need after the Todd Cochran extravaganza. By the way, the epic Cochran post didn't appear on feeds for some reason, so have a read if you missed it ....

TRACKLIST

01. Dance Of Magic (21:00) - Norman Connors
02. Morning Change (6:29) - Cecil McBee
03. Blue (10:20) - Stanley Clarke
04. Give The Drummer Some (2:22) - Norman Connors

MUSICIANS

Drums - Norman Connors
Bass - Cecil McBee (1,2) , Stanley Clarke
Piano, Fender Rhodes, Electric Piano - Herbie Hancock
Alto & Soprano Saxophones - Gary Bartz
Tenor & Soprano, Saxophones - Carlos Garnett
Flute - Art Webb
Trumpet - Eddie Henderson
Baliphone - Anthony Wiles
Percussion - Airto Moreira (2,3,4) , Alphonse Mouzon (1,3) , Anthony Wiles , Babafemi (1) , Billy Hart (2,3,4)
Percussion, Congas - Nat Bettis
Vocals - U.B.F. Singers, The (1)

PRODUCTION DETAILS 

1972 - Cobblestone, CST-9024
then re-released :
1976 - Buddah, BDS 5674
Producer - Dennis Wilen , Skip Drinkwater
Engineer [Recording] - Harry Yarmark
Mastered By - Sam Feldman
Recorded at Bell Sound Studios, NYC , 1972

NORMAN CONNORS on Planet Blog :

** spiritual norman **

"Dance of Magic" (1972) - in COMMENTS HERE
"Dark Of Light" (1973) MP3- at Pharoah's Dance
"Dark Of Light" (1973) FLAC- at Call It Anything
"Love from the Sun" (1973) at My Jazz World
"Bartz - Henderson - Connors - live at Nemu Jazz Inn" (1975) - also here. 

** transitional norman**

"Slewfoot" (1974) at My Jazz World

** soul-disco king norman ** ( these are great too)

"Saturday Night Special" (1975) at My Jazz World
"You are my Starship" (1976) at Blak's Lair
"Romantic Journey" (1977) at Blak's Lair
"This is your Life" (1978) at My Jazz World / alternate
(12" single of "Captain Connors" at Tuttsi Fruttsi Icecream)
"Invitation" (1979) at Blak's Lair

"Take it to the Limit" (1980) at Soulfunkjazz's Blog
"Mr C" (1981) at Blak's Lair / alternate

** producer norman **

"Norman Connors presents Aquarian Dream" - Aquarian Dream (1976) at Baby Grandpa
("Phoenix" 12" extended version @ tuttsi fruttsi icecream)
"Fantasy" - Aquarian Dream (1978) at My Jazz World
("You're a Star / Play it for me - Aquarian Dream - 12") also at this blog.
"Sharing" - Vitamin E (1977) ONE plus TWO
"Love Will Find a Way" - Pharoah Sanders (1978) at El Goog ja
"Celestial Sky" - Starship Orchestra (1980) at My Jazz World
"Back for More" - Al Johnson (1980) at Here Only Good Music
"Can't We Fall In Love Again" - Phyllis Hyman (1981) at Groove With You

** later jazz norman **

"Beyond a Dream" (live with Pharoah Sanders) (1978) at My Jazz World
"Meditation" - Pharoah Sanders at Ile Oxumaré
(this is a bootleg of a different part of the same concert)

** norman the sideman **

"The Magic Of Ju-ju" - Archie Shepp (1967) at Into the Rhythm
Jackie McLean - session rejected by Blue Note (1968)
"Hues" - Sam Rivers (1971) at Inconstant Sol
"Live at The East" - Pharoah Sanders (1971) at Pharoah's Dance
"Black Unity" - Pharoah Sanders (1971) at Oufar Khan
"Love In Us All" - Pharoah Sanders at Pharoah's Dance
"Streams" - Sam Rivers (1973) at Ile Oxumaré
"Village Of the Pharoahs" - Pharoah Sanders (1973) at Pharoah's Dance "Wisdom Through Music" - Pharoah Sanders (1974) at Magic of Juju
"Odyssey" - Charles Earland (1976) at My Jazz World

POST CREDITS

Album blog links in this post go to :
Pharoah’s Dance, My Jazz World, Blak’s Lair, DJ Uilson Professor Groove, ile oxumaré, el goog ja, Oufar Khan, Nothing Is v2.0, Blog Do Turquinho, Everything Is On The One, The Bodega, It’s Coming out of your Speaker, Afrofunkybrassjazz, jazz-rock-fusion-guitar, Baby Grandpa, Bug In The City, Here only Good Music, Groove With You, Music Download cc , Magic of Juju, Musical Moadom, mec fais tourner les skeuds

Please thank and support these bloggers if you click through and download.
If links go dead, please let me know so I can re-direct and keep the page current.

Comments are welcome and encourage me to keep writing/posting, thanks. 

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