Kenny Cox - 1968 - Introducing Kenny Cox and The Contemporary Jazz Quintet

Kenny Cox

1968

Introducing Kenny Cox and The Contemporary Jazz Quintet

01. Mystique 4:40

02. You 5:25

03. Trance Dance 6:00

04. Eclipse 5:47

05. Number Four 10:45

06. Diahnn 8:35

Bass – Ron Brooks

Drums – Danny Spencer

Piano – Kenny Cox

Tenor Saxophone – Leon Henderson

Trumpet – Charles Moore

Originally released in 1968, Introducing Kenny Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet is the first recording by the storied and somewhat lesser known Detroit ensemble. Led by pianist Cox, the Contemporary Jazz Quintet featured saxophonist Leon Henderson (brother of Joe Henderson), trumpeter Charles Moore, bassist Ron Brooks, and drummer Danny Spencer. Interestingly, this group is perhaps best known for its connection to the legendary Detroit rock group the MC5 as both Moore and Henderson performed on the band's 1971 cut "Sister Anne." Cox himself was well established in the Detroit scene by the time of this recording having studied at the competitive Cass Tech High School and the Detroit Conservatory of Music as well as performed with a who's who of Detroit players including Yusef Lateef. Though well-versed in the traditions of jazz standards and bop, Cox and his ensemble resembles most closely here the classic Miles Davis quintet of the mid- and late '60s. But rather than merely aping Davis, the Contemporary Jazz Quintet had a muscular and urban group sensibility all its own. In that sense, this is fiery, expansive, and cerebral post-bop of the highest order.

Detroit native Kenny Cox was born in 1940. He began playing music on trumpet, but switched to the piano, attending the Detroit Conservatory of Music/ Institute of Music Arts. After graduation he left for New York City, where he connected with Etta Jones and was her accompanist and music director until 1966. The spell in New York also allowed him opportunities to perform with the likes of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jackie McLean, Kenny Dorham, and fellow Detroiters Kenny Burrell and Donald Byrd (who of course left Detroit to pursue their careers )

Cox developed as a modern jazz composer inspired by the music of the ’60s and the political and cultural landscape of Detroit. By 1967 he had written enough material to record two albums for the Blue Note label, forming the Contemporary Jazz Quintet. It was a breakthrough ensemble, in many ways paralleling the development of Miles Davis.

In the electronic-infused ’70s, CJQ changed with the times, adding second drummer, keyboards, and guitar, in what was dubbed an “infinite Q.”. Cox also formed the Strata co-operative, and with other musicians, produced a line of albums, publications, and performance opportunities. In the ’80s; Cox remained active but nationally obscure, playing in the metropolitan Detroit area, and appeared with his Guerilla Jam Band, performing at several Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festivals.

He was taken on as a professor at Wayne State and Michigan State Universities, and enjoyed a brief stint teaching in California. Back in Detroit, he led a trio, published a book of compositions, And Then I Wrote…The Music World of Kenn Cox, collaborating with former CJQ member Charles Moore’s band Eternal Wind (an unfortunate name, which prompted LJC to wince, Chronic Flatulence? )

In the spring of 2008, Cox was given a lifetime achievement award by the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association. He died of lung cancer at his home in Detroit at the end of 2008, age 68.

Quite an introduction, we might agree. Lead by Cox, Moore and Henderson's brass ramblings might feel somewhat 1965, given how progressive Jazz was way back yonder, for that we should be grateful, this "old" style soon to give way to more funky excursions from the likes of Miles, Herbie, Wayne et al. The rhythm section of Spencer and Brooks is absolutely sparkling, which goes without saying for pretty much each and every Jazz combo of that generation. Great production too, capturing the vitality while still coming out fresh, Rudy Van Gelder and Francis Wolff dab-hands at such nuances.