Jesse Sharps Quintet - 2004 - Sharps and Flats

Jesse Sharps Quintet

2004

Sharps and Flats

01. The Goat And The Ramjam 6:55

02. Question 7:05

03. Macrame 6:00

04. Mike's Tune 7:45

05. As A Child 6:50

06. Carnival 5:05

07. McKowsky's First Fifth 16:35

Baritone Saxophone – John Williams(tracks: 7)

Bass – David Bryant(tracks: 7), Joel Ector

Bass, Soloist – Alan Hines (tracks: 7)

Drums – Carl Burnett, Everett Brown Jr. (tracks: 7)

Flute – Aubrey Hart (tracks: 7)

Flute, Soloist [Solo] – Adele Sebastian (tracks: 7)

Piano – Horace Tapscott (tracks: 5 to 7), Nate Morgan (tracks: 1 to 4)

Reeds – Jesse Sharps

Soprano Saxophone – Billie Harris (tracks: 7)

Tenor Saxophone – Sabir Mateen (tracks: 7)

Trumpet – Steve Smith

"

McKowsky's First Fifth" is a previously unreleased track by the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (from the Live at the I.U.C.C. sessions)

You could be forgiven for not knowing how important saxophonist, bandleader and composer Jesse Sharps is. After all, the only album to come out under his name, Sharps And Flats, was recorded in 1985, and wasn’t issued on CD until 2004.

But despite this seemingly small recorded footprint, Jesse Sharps is a major figure in the history of jazz music in Los Angeles. As the bandleader for Horace Tapscott’s Pan-Afrikan People’s Arkestra (P.A.P.A.) – the Marshall Allen to Tapscott’s Sun Ra – he led Tapscott’s seminal music community through its most cohesive phase. And, after a hiatus living in Europe, his return to Los Angeles in the 2000s saw him build a new group, The Gathering, which linked original heads including acclaimed singer Dwight Trible and legendary trombonist Phil Ranelin with a new generation of LA jazz voices, including none other than Kamasi Washington. Sharps has been around, and he’s made an indelible mark.

Sharps And Flats was recorded in 1985 for Tom Albach’s legendary Nimbus West imprint, a label Albach had founded specifically to document the work of Horace Tapscott and his circle. Featuring a quintet of P.A.P.A. regulars at the height of their game, Sharps And Flats is one of the great lost Nimbus sessions – it lay unissued until 2004, and never saw a vinyl press.

In line with the original Nimbus CD release, this edition of Sharps And Flats includes ‘McKowsky’s First Fifth’, a stunning 16 minute bonus cut by the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra featuring Horace Tapscott, recorded in 1979. A lost classic of the LA underground, on wax at last!