1972
Live In Munich
101. Track 01 7:01
102. Track 02 5:24
103. Track 03 6:43
104. Track 04 11:04
105. Track 05 7:08
106. Track 06 9:41
107. Track 07 10:20
201. Track 01 7:57
202. Track 02 7:29
203. Track 03 19:50
Bass – Tunde Koboje
Drums – Art Blakey, Ginger Baker
Drums [African] – Laolu Akins
Guitar – Berkley Jones
Saxophone [Saxes] – Bud Beadle
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Steve Gregory
Vocals – Kehinde Lijadu, Taiwo Lijadu
Amazing stuff from Ginger Baker's personal archives – live recordings with his Salt group – born of his relocation to Nigeria and a wonderful, dexterous fusion of jazz & rock percussion with African rhythms!
This live recording is one of several releases based on the private archives of legendary drummer Ginger Baker, which finally see the light of day. Although not intended for a formal release and suffering from "bootleg" sound quality problems, the musical importance of this material is so significant, that it overshadows any technicalities and is essentially a Godsend. This album brings a live recording of Baker's ensemble Salt, which he founded following the demise of Air Force. Salt never recorded any bums during its short life-span, and therefore this material by the band is invaluable. In Salt Baker assembled a group of British Jazz players, which played in the last Air Force lineup, augmented by African vocalists and drummers, taking an even more radical step towards World-Jazz Fusion. Some great players are present: saxophonist / flautist Steve Gregory, saxophonist Bud Beadle and others. But the great surprise of this recording is the participation of the legendary Jazz drummer Art Blakey, who "battles" with Baker in a series of drum exchanges. Definitely worth investigating, especially in view of the fact that the sound quality on this album is quite excellent, as it originates from a TV recording made of the concert.
For me, what really sets this one above other GB offerings is the presence of master drummer Art Blakey. With the two drummers flanking the rest of the band, Ginger on then left and Art on the right (I think; it's a real tribute to Baker's drumming that this old jazz head had a hard time discerning which is which). There are a couple of drum duets (as opposed to "battles") that are downright thrilling: two of the hardest hitting and most melodic drummers extant having at it with gusto. And the whole thing in startlingly good hifi-stereo.
This recording is a missing link, so to speak. I will assume that the reader is at least somewhat familiar with Ginger Baker. This is not Cream, Blind Faith, Air Force or anything else which made the tabloids. s closest comparison is with the Fela Kuti recordings, but it's not that either. What is prominent for me is that Ginger is a jazz percussionist, as he tried to tell everyone way back then, but they wouldn't listen and wanted to hear him rock. The recording does not suffer from being bootlegged within the crowd, all you hear is the music. The only audience interference is at the end of songs, where it is appropriate for a live recording. As a bottleg recovery, it is wonderful. It had to be recovered, and they did it. It is not really presented well or correctly by the crew in terms of listing what is on the two discs, but we should not hold that against anyone since the second disc has three, not two tracks! Some riddles may arise while listening as to who is on stage when, but with sincere listening, it becomes clear. I suggest you just relax and let it fill your environment rather than delve into it with certain expectations. Headphones and a stereo turned up to 11 may be called for the real thrill seeker
Ginger Baker had been pursuing African rhythms since meeting his hero Phil Seamen in the 1960s, and started down the African road in earnest with his group Air Force, formed in 1970. Baker then moved to Nigeria in the early 1970s to set up a recording studio in Lagos and work with Fela Kuti. There was a large gap in his recorded output between Air Force (1970) and the Baker Gurvitz Army (1974), with his only appearance being Fela Live (1971) which, by the way, contains a track recorded in Berlin in 1978 with Fela and the great Tony Allen (Fela's wonderful drummer). As an aside, I am guessing that the current Ginger Baker and African Friends Berlin 1978 came from the same sessions.
Ginger Baker and Salt finds Baker and his band deep into African rhythms, riffs and vocals, with great sax and guitar solo work to flesh it out. The musicians are first rate and their performance is fiery. The sound quality is also quite good. According to the liner notes, the concert was filmed for German television, but the video tapes were lost. A pity, but thankfully we have the audio of this great concert.
If you want to hear Baker at his best, buy this album...
102. Track 02 5:24
103. Track 03 6:43
104. Track 04 11:04
105. Track 05 7:08
106. Track 06 9:41
107. Track 07 10:20
201. Track 01 7:57
202. Track 02 7:29
203. Track 03 19:50
Bass – Tunde Koboje
Drums – Art Blakey, Ginger Baker
Drums [African] – Laolu Akins
Guitar – Berkley Jones
Saxophone [Saxes] – Bud Beadle
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Steve Gregory
Vocals – Kehinde Lijadu, Taiwo Lijadu
This live recording is one of several releases based on the private archives of legendary drummer Ginger Baker, which finally see the light of day. Although not intended for a formal release and suffering from "bootleg" sound quality problems, the musical importance of this material is so significant, that it overshadows any technicalities and is essentially a Godsend. This album brings a live recording of Baker's ensemble Salt, which he founded following the demise of Air Force. Salt never recorded any bums during its short life-span, and therefore this material by the band is invaluable. In Salt Baker assembled a group of British Jazz players, which played in the last Air Force lineup, augmented by African vocalists and drummers, taking an even more radical step towards World-Jazz Fusion. Some great players are present: saxophonist / flautist Steve Gregory, saxophonist Bud Beadle and others. But the great surprise of this recording is the participation of the legendary Jazz drummer Art Blakey, who "battles" with Baker in a series of drum exchanges. Definitely worth investigating, especially in view of the fact that the sound quality on this album is quite excellent, as it originates from a TV recording made of the concert.
For me, what really sets this one above other GB offerings is the presence of master drummer Art Blakey. With the two drummers flanking the rest of the band, Ginger on then left and Art on the right (I think; it's a real tribute to Baker's drumming that this old jazz head had a hard time discerning which is which). There are a couple of drum duets (as opposed to "battles") that are downright thrilling: two of the hardest hitting and most melodic drummers extant having at it with gusto. And the whole thing in startlingly good hifi-stereo.
This recording is a missing link, so to speak. I will assume that the reader is at least somewhat familiar with Ginger Baker. This is not Cream, Blind Faith, Air Force or anything else which made the tabloids. s closest comparison is with the Fela Kuti recordings, but it's not that either. What is prominent for me is that Ginger is a jazz percussionist, as he tried to tell everyone way back then, but they wouldn't listen and wanted to hear him rock. The recording does not suffer from being bootlegged within the crowd, all you hear is the music. The only audience interference is at the end of songs, where it is appropriate for a live recording. As a bottleg recovery, it is wonderful. It had to be recovered, and they did it. It is not really presented well or correctly by the crew in terms of listing what is on the two discs, but we should not hold that against anyone since the second disc has three, not two tracks! Some riddles may arise while listening as to who is on stage when, but with sincere listening, it becomes clear. I suggest you just relax and let it fill your environment rather than delve into it with certain expectations. Headphones and a stereo turned up to 11 may be called for the real thrill seeker
Ginger Baker had been pursuing African rhythms since meeting his hero Phil Seamen in the 1960s, and started down the African road in earnest with his group Air Force, formed in 1970. Baker then moved to Nigeria in the early 1970s to set up a recording studio in Lagos and work with Fela Kuti. There was a large gap in his recorded output between Air Force (1970) and the Baker Gurvitz Army (1974), with his only appearance being Fela Live (1971) which, by the way, contains a track recorded in Berlin in 1978 with Fela and the great Tony Allen (Fela's wonderful drummer). As an aside, I am guessing that the current Ginger Baker and African Friends Berlin 1978 came from the same sessions.
Ginger Baker and Salt finds Baker and his band deep into African rhythms, riffs and vocals, with great sax and guitar solo work to flesh it out. The musicians are first rate and their performance is fiery. The sound quality is also quite good. According to the liner notes, the concert was filmed for German television, but the video tapes were lost. A pity, but thankfully we have the audio of this great concert.
If you want to hear Baker at his best, buy this album...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.filefactory.com/file/1txkb3f24mhu/7274.rar
Thanx very much for this unheard stuff !
ReplyDeleteThanx very much for this unheard stuff !
ReplyDeleteMany thanks
ReplyDelete