Sides

'Sides - Records by Jim Dulzo

DAVID LIEBMAN/RICHARD BEIRACH: Forgotten Fantasies IRA SULLIVAN: Ira Sullivan THE REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE: The People's Republic THAD JONES/MEL LEWIS: New Life THE PAUL DESMOND QUARTET: Live!

This second release by A&M Records' new jazz label, Horizon, has converted my initial skepticism into undisguised glee: someone at Herb Alpert's old record company has decided that John and Mary Doe are ready for something a tad hotter than Tijuana Taxi!

Maybe it's just my purist roots showing, but I find the bare, intimate sound of the new Liebman / Bierach collaboration a refreshing change from the last Lookout Farm effort, Sweet Hand. It's just acoustic piano and saxophone or flute, with a touch of live electric effect. Liebman and Bierach trade very free but basically melodic lines over the space of six tunes, and like the tasteful album cover, the jams seem oriental in their respect for silence as a form of music. Refreshing, with the current spate of electrified disco-hash that's sweeping the jazz scene under the rug.

I'd never heard of Ira Sullivan until this new Lp bearing his name showed up. According to the liner notes he's a semi-retired (but not old) horn playet from Chicago's late fifties bop scene. Sullivan played occasional gigs with Charlie Parker and has an amazing range of instrumental talents, including all sizes of sax, flute, and trumpet. This is new material with his current Miami-based quintet. They play very free, light, and pretty stuff. They sound like they've been together a long while, gliding effortlessly through an astonishing range of styles . . . but it doesn't sound patchy. There is a real flow here that is part of a trend towards sixties-type freedom of phrase and color, but somehow more understandable. A much better groover and more interesting than Jarrett's latest, if you're into comparison.

I was really gratified to see the release of new music from the Revolutionary Ensemble, and with thorough national distribution, yet. I'd rate this as a bit tamer than the trio's earlier live albums. The most accessible thing is the opening composition, entitled "New York." The Revolutionary Ensemble is three very exciting musicians: LeRoy Jenkins. violin; Sirone, bass; and Jerome Cooper, drums. They are some people to be watched as the avant-garde continues to develop against impossible odds in this muzak-infested country.

A&M claimed in their initial trade ads that their new Horizon jazz label would be sumptuously packaged, impeccably recorded and pressed, and would have intelligent, informative liners notes and diagrams. The Thad Jones/Mei Lewis big band bombshell, entitled New Life, Iives up to that somewhat amazing guarantee in every way. The sound is gorgeous- twenty crack horn players from New York wailing out some very big-sounding charts. And a triple fold-out cover chocked full of everything you could ask for: stereo spread charts, orchestra parts, individual bios on all the players . . . whew! A lot of stuff for the fan. And great music, if you 're a big band sucker like me. l'd like to be able to report that Paul Desmond has come up with a new lick or two for the martini set that digs his extra dry cocktail jazz, but l'm sorry . . . just that same oíd shit . . . two discs of it, live in cosmopolitan Toronto. Sorry, Paul, even the liner notes aren't as funny as they were in sixty three . . . Nice stuff for quiet parties, though.

All in all, more great hot wax from Herb. If A&M backs this up with some carefully placed advertising bread in college and black markets, they'll do just fine. And so will you, if you pick up on a few of these new discs. I do believe there is even more jazz on the horizon.