A lunar tune immediately kicks the lp into a racetrack groove, with ervin blowing hard as his fellows breathlessly tear into this furiously. The state of american craft has never been stronger arts. Booker ervin, jaki byard, richard davis, alan dawson space. The relation between architectural modernism, post modernism, urban. Booker telleferro ervin ii october 31, 1930 august 31, 1970 was an american tenor saxophone player. Ervin who has his ballad largo as a feature performs five originals and poor butterfly. The third of ten titles recorded for prestige between 1963 and 1966, booker ervin s the freedom book finds the texasborn tenor player supported by the insync rhythm section of jaki byard piano, richard davis bass, and alan dawson drums. He first reached a wide audience in 1958, when he began playing with the great bassist charles mingus. Find booker ervin discography, albums and singles on allmusic. Fictional must have a strong connection to the space race, whether from a fictional apollo 181920 mission, or humanity returning to the moon with a new moon program. Booker ervin usa, 1965 the space book full youtube. Booker ervin of course did end up with a blue note contract in the late 1960s, but his best work was behind him at that point. Number two i cant get started mojo there is no greater love also issued on original jazz classics ojccd8962. Booker ervin space book 1964 prestige londonjazzcollector.
Booker ervin tenor sax jaki byard piano richard davis bass al dawson drums. The song book, the blues book and the space book were all subsequently recorded in 1964 for prestige, but this seminal 1963 recording is a masterpiece of unconventional, advanced hard bop. A very distinctive tenor with a hard, passionate tone and an emotional style that was still tied to chordal improvisation, booker ervin was a true original. Having recently completed a book on the history of american craft, i have been. Get in trouble, eat delicious food, go for a run, stay alive, read books, buy. Supported by trumpeter richard williams, pianist bobby few, bassist cevera jeffries and drummer lennie mcbrowne, ervin created an album that pushed the boundaries of hard bop. Tenor saxophonist booker ervin s quartet with pianist jaki byard, bassist richard davis and drummer alan dawson was so strong.
He was originally a trombonist, but taught himself tenor while in the air force 19501953. Jan 17, 20 booker ervin headed to blue note in 1968 for the in between, a record that found him continuing in the vein of his later prestige sessions. Prestige pr 7386,transatlantic records pr 7386 format. Booker ervin the space book 1964 londonjazzcollector. May 30, 2012 ervin, fresh from a sevenyear stint with mingus, continued to grow musically more adventurous in the mid sixties. Booker ervin freedom book 1963 prestige londonjazzcollector. In some ways tenor saxophonist booker ervin was the archetypal jazz player for the postbop 1960s, combining the tradition of texas sax with just the hint of edgy modernism, a sort of the deltameetsmorocco sound so accessible that it is easy to miss the chances ervin took with his music. Features jaki byard, richard davis and alan dawson. A lunar tune, might seem by name to belong rather to the space book album in this valuable series. Ervin, booker space book vinyl, lp, album at audiophileusa. The space book is an album by american jazz saxophonist booker ervin featuring performances recorded in 1964 for the prestige label, with his quartet.
But after getting inside the space, evans realized it had good bonesth. This album is a fine example of booker ervin s unique style. Shakespeare and company null bookshelves shakespeare and. Booker ervin, jaki byard, richard davis, alan dawson space book. His 1960 album the book cooks features fellow saxman zoot sims in a. A hard biting tenor voice reminiscent of coltrane, though not quite as ferocious in his linear attack, ervin pulls off bursts of speed interspersed with strong compositional lines. Simon spillett wrote the following essay on booker ervin to accompany a 2017. Albums include the freedom book, the quest, and the space book. Booker ervin vinyl records and cds for sale musicstack. Considered the pinnacle of ervins book series blues, space and freedom. Green label stereo 2nd issue housed in an original laminated cover. The complete songbook sessions bonus track version.
May 21, 2012 booker ervin ts jaki byard p richard davis b alan dawson d recorded rudy van gelder studio, englewood cliffs, nj, december 3, 1963. Booker telleferro ervin ii denison, texas, october 31, 1930 new york city, july 31, 1970 was an american tenor saxophone player. Jan 14, 2014 among many great records in the reissue campaign is this gem from booker ervin. Jul 12, 2009 the early space race was really a chase, with the united states trailing its superpower rival the soviet union badly. Ervin, fresh from a sevenyear stint with mingus, continued to grow musically more adventurous in the mid sixties. Tenor saxophonist booker ervin possessed one of the warmest and emotionally expressive tones in jazz. The soviets took a strong lead by tossing sputnik 1 into earth. Jan 02, 2017 here is once again an album and a jazzman that only specialists and connoisseurs know, yet one that deserves your attention, because yes, booker ervin s 1964 album the freedom book is a real buried treasure.
Listen free to booker ervin the blues book eerie dearie, one for mort and more. Booker ervin, the book cooks downhome and majestic, the tenor saxophonists sound was like a cane stalk shooting up out of rich earth. Artists booker ervin, dexter gordon ts jaki byard p reggie workman b alan dawson d recorded munich, west germany, october 27, 1965, recording by will schmidt music. Booker ervin the good book by simon spillett parts 14 complete. Space book as a departure from his roots as mostly a texasstyled tenorman. Here, taylor, lyons and murray race pellmell into music without metric. Space book joins ervin with three other great individualists. Booker ervin and jaki byard both veterans of mingus, have paid their dues, and play edgy modern bop superb. Booker ervin the trance booker ervin ts reggie workman b alan dawson d jaki byard p rec. Pr 7295 the freedom book original jazz classics cd. In the years following the civil war, the educator booker t. Booker ervin the song book 1964 prestige londonjazzcollector. The complete songbook sessions bonus track version album. Oct 23, 2019 this book of hers looks at the first program that attempted to put women in space in the 1950s and.
Ervin is best known for his association with bassist charles mingus. Ervin played on some of mingus greatest recordings, including the seminal lp mingus ah um. The groups full of great players with reeds from eric dolphy, booker ervin, and jerome. Booker ervins album the in between is featured jazz. Jan 07, 2019 booker ervin the freedom book 1964 prestige records recorded december 3, 1963 at van gelder studios. May 09, 2007 the first of four thematically linked albums, tenor saxophonist booker ervin s the freedom book is an overlooked classic. John handy as, ts, shafi hadi as, booker ervin ts, horace parlan p. Ervin s band of jaki byard, richard davis and alan dawson communicates. Booker ervin s debut as a leader teamed the intense tenor saxophonist with fellow tenor zoot sims one will have little difficulty telling the cooltoned zoot apart from booker, trumpeter tommy turrentine, pianist tommy flanagan, bassist george tucker and drummer dannie richmond.
Listen to the complete songbook sessions bonus track version on spotify. A lunar tune immediately kicks the lp into a racetrack groove, with ervin blowing hard as his. Just around the corner, race riots would change the jazz landscape and the country. If one also forgets the qualifications of age, race and national. Booker ervin the space book aotw album of the week. Booker ervin tenor saxophone, jaki byard piano, richard davis bass, alan dawson drums, don schlitten producer, design, rudy van gelder recording engineer, ewing galloway photography, ira gitler liner notes.
Sep 19, 2012 booker ervin ts tommy flanagan p richard davis b alan dawson d recorded rudy van gelder studio, englewood cliffs, nj, february 27, 1964. Jaki byard, who like ervin, had served in the bands of charles mingus. A cip catalog record for this book is available from the british library. Share your videos with friends, family, and the world. Booker ervin, jaki byard, richard davis, alan dawson. But it was his series of song books for prestige records that broadcast the stentorian announcement that a jazz orator of gigantic stature had arrived. International literary giants haruki murakami and erwin mortier have made the. Booker ervin, booker ervin, booker ervin the book cooks.
Straightaway jazz themes is an album released by canadian jazz trumpeter maynard ferguson containing music composed for the 19611962 television series straightaway. Charles mingus all categories lps, cds, vinyl record albums. Tenor saxophonist booker ervin s quartet with pianist jaki byard, bassist richard davis and drummer alan dawson was so strong and dynamic that it is surprising that it only existed in the recording studio, and only for two sessions. As with other prestige recordings, ervin is ably backed by richard davis on bass and alan dawson on drums, and without these two geniuses the album would not be a classic. Music profile for booker ervin, born 31 october 1930. Hard boppostbop booker ervin the freedom book 1963. Hed make the classics the freedom book and the space book with. In his book, the fifties, david halberstram noted, here was a world.
Tenor saxophonist booker ervins quartet with pianist jaki byard, bassist richard. Booker ervin the good book by simon spillett parts. Ervin is instantly recognisable with his distinctive blisteringhot phrasing and melancholy tone, all played with aggressive fervor. References segregation by design cambridge university press. Dexters deck not exactly difficult choice, since there are only two tracks on the whole album, side one and side two. For the fourth and final of ervin s series of books, the music is indeed somewhat spacey. Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at. Van gelder studio, englewood cliffs, nj, october 2, 1964. Booker ervin, booker ervin, jaki byard, richard davis, alan dawson space book music. Actually released in 1960, the book cooks is a soulful and heated set, as capable of smoldering as it is of bursting. Keywords progress, teleology, social change, inequality, race. Of booker ervin s nine prestige albums, this one is special because it presents him exclusively in the contexts of standard songs. Booker ervins album the in between is featured jazz con. Ervin s aggressiveness, his ferocity, his incomparable texas spaciousness of sound and style, are undiminished.
804 622 855 936 1352 289 959 1024 1241 1504 851 825 1035 695 1014 1660 637 801 1504 1733 626 1711