Norman Connors - 1972 - Dance Of Magic

Norman Connors

1972

Dance Of Magic

01. Dance Of Magic 21:00

02. Morning Change 6:29

03. Blue 10:20

04. Give The Drummer Some 2:22

Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Gary Bartz

Bass – Stanley Clarke

Drums – Norman Connors

Flute – Art Webb

Percussion [African], Balafon – Anthony Wiles

Congas – Nat Bettis

Piano, Electric Piano – Herbie Hancock

Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Carlos Garnett

Trumpet – Eddie Henderson

Recorded June 26 & 27, 1972 at Bell Sound Studios, NYC

A landmark first album from drummer Norman Connors -- a spiritual jazz masterpiece that builds wonderfully on the post-Coltrane tradition! Norman is years away from his smoother soul recordings at this point, and coming out of a righteous jazz background that included work with Marion Brown and Archie Shepp. For this initial set, Norman's in incredible company -- working with players that include Herbie Hancock on both electric and acoustic keys, plus Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Gary Bartz and Carlos Garnett on saxes, Stanley Clarke on bass, and Billy Hart and Airto on percussion -- plus a chorus of vocalists on the album's mighty title cut! Tracks are all long, spiritual, and freely exploratory -- but never in a style that goes too far outside, or that forgets the joy and love that can spring forth in a forward-thinking session like this one!

This album is totally incredible. I could leave this review at that, but that might be a bit lazy. In short though, there's not many albums that have impressed on a first listen as much as this one has.

The title track, which takes up all of side one, is an incredible accelerator of a tune. This tune is like a totally magical pagan festival, full of euphoria, percussion, chanting, and just the most exhilarating music you could ask for, all packed into 21 minutes. Imagine a spiritual dance/festival, but condensed and pumped the hell full of steroids and energy, it's so intense it should come with a warning. Side two is no less invigorating, but slightly more westernised than the title track. There's a kind of spy film feel to the first two tracks, but with all the best elements of spacey, free, psychedelic and afrocentric all lumped into the equation. This album could almost be accused of being a little over the top (rather like this review), but thankfully it stays just on the right side of the 'too much' boundry.

Norman Connors, considering he was such a young guy at the time, has managed to pull together some of the best of the '70s jazz world, for example, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Henderson, Cecil McBee, Stanley Clarke, Gary Bartz, Art Webb, Carlos Garnett, Alphonse Mouzon, etc. I suppose if you chuck that lot into a studio you're bound to get something incredible come out of it.

This album literally shakes you by the scruff of the neck for 40 minutes, and then just tosses you aside when it's done. There are not many albums out there that are as much of an exhilarating ride as this one.

Look at the roster; no joke, that's for sure. Before airplanes and top hats, before disco beat all my spiritual heroes into dust, before the cars and booze and loose friends, Norman connors knew how to throw a party.

No misses here, my friends. Just a mix - at times, free or groovy or heavy or playful or - did I say heavy? Yes, like a weight you don't want to take off. Who wouldn't like being pressed back into the earth by Connors circa 1973? Thrown to the ground to remember your roots, our roots, as mystical human beings. Thank you, Mr. Gravity for that responsibilty. Or honor.

ed with a who's who of fusion titans including trumpeter Eddie Henderson, bassist Stanley Clarke, and keyboardist Herbie Hancock, Dance of Magic channels the lessons drummer Norman Connors learned in the employ of Pharoah Sanders, Sam Rivers, and Sun Ra, marshaling Latin rhythms, electronic textures, and cosmic mysticism to create nondenominational yet deeply spiritual funk-jazz. The sprawling 21-minute title cut spans the entirety of the record's first half, capturing a monumental jam session that explores the outer edges of free improvisation but never steps past the point of no return. Connors' furious drumming is like a trail of bread crumbs that leads his collaborators back home. The remaining three tracks are smaller in scale but no less epic in scope, culminating with the blistering "Give the Drummer Some."