United cover

United

Released

Virtuoso trumpeter Woody Shaw made five albums for Columbia Records, each one a statement. On this farewell to the label, that statement is, “Roll the tapes and let’s go.” The band — a quintet with Steve Turre’s trombone joining the leader on the front line, and Gary Bartz guesting on alto sax on two tracks — recorded at three separate sessions in March 1981, but the music has the feel of a single day spent in the studio, in the old-school Blue Note manner. They rip through a couple of Shaw originals, a piece by Wayne Shorter, one by pianist Mulgrew Miller, a standard and a blues. Their version of “What Is This Thing Called Love” is basically a tribute to the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet’s version from 1956, with all the trumpet pyrotechnics that implies.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Fire Illuminations cover

Fire Illuminations

Wadada Leo Smith, Orange Wave Electric
Spirit Groove cover

Spirit Groove

David Murray, Kahil El'Zabar
Sound cover

Sound

Roscoe Mitchell Sextet
The Complete Machine Gun Sessions cover

The Complete Machine Gun Sessions

The Peter Brötzmann Octet
Clifford Brown & Max Roach cover

Clifford Brown & Max Roach

Max Roach, Clifford Brown
Funky Donkey, Vols. 1 & 2 cover

Funky Donkey, Vols. 1 & 2

Luther Thomas, Saint Louis Creative Ensemble, Human Arts Ensemble
Picture Music cover

Picture Music

Klaus Schulze
Now Then cover

Now Then

Tani Tabbal Trio