Four Seventies Jazz Records On A Sunday Afternoon

Today I share some records from my jazz library that I was just playing on my radio show this week. Pull up a chair and take a listen... Today we got all records from the seventies-a good solid decade for jazz, although it would get bit by the funk and disco bug in the later half of the decade. While they may not all be considered classics, all you need is one decent cut on a record to make finding it worthwhile-in my opinion, of course. Heck, all you really need is one or two seconds of material to get samples into something that might end up being a classic!... Perspective is everything!

Freddie Hubbard
"Super Blue"
1977

Freddie Hubbard has a nice ensemble cast of musicians appearing on this record, including Ron Carter, Hubert Laws and George Benson. It sounds to me like Ron Carter in is playing bass through a synth pedal on this song? It definitely has that late seventies funkiness about it. Not quite headhunters territory, but most of them aren't.

Don Shirley
"Point Of View"
1972

Don Shirley is probably my numero uno Anton Levay lookalike that also happens to be a pianist. Here, he delivers us mostly cover versions of a mix of sixties pop standards with a Gershwin Melody that takes up most of side two. Here I am sharing is a version of the Simon and Garfunkel classic, "Bridge Over Troubled Water," where the cello accompaniment really gives it that cinematic mood.

Claus Ogerman Orchestra
"Gate Of Dreams"
1977

This was originally made as a ballet score for larger orchestra and jazz group, which premiered in 1972, although the original name had been changed for the release of this recording. George Benson also appears in on this record, as do David Sanborn and Joe Sample-among others. The stringed instruments are very present on this album, almost making it seem less less of a jazz/ fusion record than in it is.

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson
"Secrets"
1978

Here is a duo album from Gil Scott-Heron and multi instrumentalist, Brian Jackson. This one even features synthesizer sounds of the TONTO, the famous giant one-of-a-kind studio synthesizer from the seventies- probably made most famous from those several peak-era Stevie Wonder records. You can feel the disco influence on this one is pretty heavy, but there is no shortage of interesting topics of the day on this record...just judging from the song titles on then record, you have angel dust, show business, Madison Avenue and a Third World Revolution, just to name a few.

Thanks for reading and have a great day...I hope you liked my post!