(2021) VA – Impulse Records: Music, Message and the Moment


Review:
Impulse! Records celebrates its 60th anniversary with this new collection charting the label’s history from 1961-1976 with a selection of tracks that explore the sounds of Impulse! during the societal and cultural revolutions of the 1960s. Since its initial 1961 releases produced by founder Creed Taylor, Impulse! Records has been synonymous with excellence in jazz. “The House That Trane Built” was stylish both in packaging (with its distinctive orange-and-black color scheme and exclamation point) and content, with a remarkable artist roster boasting not only John Coltrane but Charles Mingus, Ray Charles, Archie Shepp, Alice Coltrane, Quincy Jones, McCoy Tyner, Gil Evans, Oliver Nelson, Duke Ellington, Johnny Hartman, and Pharoah Sanders. Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment follows 2011’s box set First Impulse: The Creed Taylor 50th Anniversary Box which compiled the label’s first six LPs (all released in 1961) plus rare bonus tracks. This set takes a different approach, charting the label’s history from 1961-1976 with a selection of tracks that explore the sounds of Impulse! during the societal and cultural revolutions of the 1960s – a time which shares much in common with the present day.  Its 25 often-lengthy tracks reflecting on politics, social upheaval, spirituality, and the African-American experience are put into context via new essays by A.B. Spellman and Greg Tate. The label’s boldface names are all here including John and Alice Coltrane, Quincy Jones, Charlie Haden, Max Roach, Stanley Turrentine, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Ahmad Jamal, and Albert Ayler. The sequence also details the label’s development away from traditional sounds and into adventurous and avant-garde free jazz realms.





Tracklist:
CD 1
01. John Coltrane Quartet - Africa
02. Max Roach - Garvey's Ghost (feat. Carlos 'Potato' Valdez, Carlos 'Totico' Eugenio & Abbey Lincoln)
03. Quincy Jones and His Orchestra - Hard Sock Dance
04. John Coltrane - Up 'Gainst the Wall
05. Elvin Jones & Jimmy Garrison Sextet - Just Us Blues (feat. McCoy Tyner)
06. John Coltrane - Alabama
07. Charles Mingus - Better Get Hit in Yo' Soul
08. Shirley Scott Trio - Freedom Dance
09. Yusef Lateef - Sister Mamie
10. Archie Shepp - Malcolm, Malcolm - Semper Malcolm
11. Stanley Turrentine - Good Lookin' Out
12. Earl Hines - Black and Tan Fantasy
13. Oliver Nelson - The Rights of All

CD 2
01. Pharoah Sanders - The Creator Has a Master Plan (Edit)
02. John Coltrane & Alice Coltrane - Reverend King
03. Ahmad Jamal - The Awakening
04. Albert Ayler - Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe
05. Charlie Haden - We Shall Overcome
06. Alice Coltrane - Blue Nile
07. Pharoah Sanders - Astral Traveling
08. Archie Shepp - Blues for Brother George Jackson
09. Michael White - Lament (Mankind)
10. Dewey Redman - Imani
11. Marion Brown - Bismillahi 'Rrahmani 'Rrahim
12. John Handy - Hard Work


Media Report:
Genre: jazz
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits