CTI

Can I mention her name again? ESTHER PHILLIPS!!! Nobody cares about her. But I do.

Faves: Bob James 1&2, Randy Weston - blue moses, Freddie Hubbard - red clay, straight life, polar ac, sky dive, Idris Muhammad - Power of Soul (I have 6 of these!!! =obsessed) Joe Farrell - upon this rock, Deodato - prelude, Grover Washington Jr. (RIP) - mr. magic, feels so good, johnny hammond - higher ground, breakout, Quincy Jones - walking in space. shit there are so many good records.

Fritz you are right on about the samplability of these. even the bad ones are worth having to a beat maker.

Important to note: Rudy van Gelder is the fucking MAN. He recorded almost all of these albums and many Blue Note also. He has got to be the most important figure in the soul-jazz world.

Re: the covers. They had a groovy thing going. I investigated this a bit once, but didn't come up with much. This is Pete Turner's website, with a few of his best covers.

joe farrell is the shit

Man I've got a big stack of CTI records in my collection that I've hardly listened to. Friends of the Library shops are full of this stuff outside of DC, can't believe how much of it is available for a $1 each at most.

Though there's a reason I don't often listen to it, some of it is a little too slick. The Freddie Hubbard stuff is great (especially Red Clay) but apart from that, I think I like my jazz a little rougher on the edges. Don't see myself playing much George Benson, Milt Jackson etc. much in the future.

The packaging on this stuff is great though. I think I like having George Benson's White Rabbit in my stack just for the cool cover, even though I really couldn't get past the first tune.

I thought this was a Chris & Cosey thread AGAIN, goddammit.

Milt Jackson???? George Benson I can understand, tho not agree w/

Yeah, I can't deal with the George Benson stuff either, usually, but I really like Milt Jackson on CTI (People Make the World Go Round!!!)

i would take jackson over hutcherson career-wise (maybe not 70s era but still)

I also lurve MJQ.

guys those geo benson albums are FONKY; nuthin liek Breezin & his crossover hits from the later 70s

anyone got this
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61hP2OvBcrL._SS400_.jpg
kinda tempted.

sorry this is the descrip: "Remastered for the first time using the original two-track analog tapes, this brand new 4-CD set celebrates the vintage years of CTI, when a distinctive style and sound were born. Each disc represents an aspect of CTI s artistic personality straight-up jazz, big hits, the Brazilian influence and cool, classic sounds. Over 5 hours of music showcase all the major artists on the CTI roster, both in solo performances and in the unforgettable collaborations that made each CTI album so distinctive."

my wife would kill me if i played this stuff around the house.

my wife would kill me if i played this stuff around the house.

ditto to the power of 10.

i have the album thats shown in the lower left corner, rite of spring by hubert laws, which according to the label is remastered - but hey whatever !)

and to be honest, its not really been a heavy feature on the playlist, but thats more down to the fact it was 'hidden' in the archive until recently.

yeah, i've got a fair amount of the records represented, but i kind of like the idea of a CTI megamix. the deodato record is pretty tight.

Hubert Laws doing Pink Floyd's Cymbaline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZo7sSIKDGY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CNYsmAJwI

love CTI and usually buy anything I see that's cheap. the Tamba 4 albums on A&M are so good

i always thought the cover of Aja was designed in tribute to CTI, same overall design, liner notes, slick thick cardboard for the LP.

Mr. Clean is definitely one of my favorite CTI tracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye_4T51hmCk

Hubert Laws doing Pink Floyd's Cymbaline

Really gotta wonder how this came to be! I will rep for Grover Washington's "Feels So Good" (on Kudu, not CTI proper) til the end of time. <3<3<3 Eric Gale's guitar on "Knucklehead."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UiGYUKquQ0

funny, re: aja/steely dan, i thought the same thing. but i think i read something where fagan said he *hated* all the fusion-y cti stuff from the 70s. which seemed weird. maybe they just liked the art direction.

joe beck's guitar on "upon this rock" is sick

Lalo Schifrin's instrumental disco album on CTI, Black Widow, is totally awesome, one of the best disco records of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHVHz7AKGqs&

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coFPVTszo8o

aight these are convincing me i should buy that set. and also visit my local used vinyl stuff and dig for more CTI.

Another brilliant CTI album which mixes disco/funk & jazz is Idris Muhammad's House of the Rising Sun, which has some incredible grooves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmooOTmGpMc&

This is my favourite version of all time of "House of the Rising Sun". OTOH, I've always found The Power of Soul, Idris' previous CTI album, to be a bit underwhelming. It's got some nice grooves too, but it's a bit too mellow even for a CTI record, doesn't really play to his strengths.

Nina Simone also released one album on CTI, Baltimore. Apparently she herself hated it, but IMO it's not bad at all, and the title tune especially is amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flsRJ1knNkA

this is one of my all time fave disco songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a96OgR6hjDY

Unfortunately the album that one's from has never been reissued. Hopefully Sony, or whoever owns CTI rights these days, will one day do that.

love to see this album reissued - title track is bomb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZkbUAL3SfE

Jaxon, that's that shit!

Lalo Schifrin's instrumental disco album on CTI, Black Widow, is totally awesome, one of the best disco records of all time.

ah yes.

this has been on my watch list ever since i picked up Towering Toccata which i picked up on the strength of the cover alone !

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51so9U6LS3L._SS500_.jpg

Unfortunately, none of the linked stuff is on the box. It IS a nice way to dive into the label, though.

this album is dope. straight-up jazz tho, like the early freddie hubbard CTI's - no semi-classical string arrangements or funky soul/disco backbeats, just swinging post-bop.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IZsuFLnZYTA/SN90-2Vp6wI/AAAAAAAAALk/5y7V0LckfbI/s1600/all%2Bblues%2Bcover.jpg

That "Baltimore" cut by Nina Simone is almost Grace Jones-like. Awesome. Thanks, Tuomas.

Lalo did 9/11

I'm just enjoying the 1st disc of the expanded 2cd California Concert at the Hollywood Palladium. It is a bit smooth an un-noisy for the time but it is also pretty deeply groove-y. So I might get well into it or at least bits of it.
Currently on Red Clay.

Was looking at Hubert Laws Morning Star in the same shop. Seems like they pick up several remainder records/cds from places. Always seem to have odd semi-obscurities in.

a lot of otherwise good CTI tracks go on a few minutes too long imo

disc 1 of this "cool revolution" box is a damn good selection. jazz sounding alive and well and dope as hell.

i made a CTI spotify playlist a while back -- not exhaustive, just stuff I like.

http://open.spotify.com/user/129292964/playlist/7EGFs8aaFrJKTN6rr5rEGx

George Benson killed so hard when he played on Freddie Hubbard CTI records

otm - that Sky Dive LP (which I think is on CTI) is a fave, tons of great stuff on there.

I love his solo on Mr. Clean, which is on Straight Life

and his playing on stanley turrentine's "sugar", yeesh!
really want to hear this record: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/Beyond_the_Blue_Horizon.jpg

I'm not a big fan of the way CTI handled "straight-ahead" jazz tunes. I think the rock/funk feel stuff works much better than swing feel stuff with their sound.

i was actually a bit surprised by the first disc of this.. there's very little rock/funk influence, apart from electronic pianos. it sounds so brisk and un-slick, though.. you hear a lot of grain.

I'm not an audio engineer and I don't know a lot about audio, but I always feel like CTI records have a relatively narrow "frequency range" or something -- everything sounds compressed into this small space. Which works really well for me when it's mellow but tight funk, and less well for me when it's swung modern jazz. I also find some of the Benson solo stuff borderline corny (his arrangements of Take Five and So What for example), but some of it is great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp2LVN-1CxA

This is the most recently updated thread I see. Recent spins of CTI stuff that sounded good are Jobim's Stone Flower, Joe Farrell's Moon Germs & Outback, George Benson's White Rabbit. I couldn't believe after so many years of seeing it but never listening to it that Hubert Laws' 'Crying Song' was the Pink Floyd tune. Not a lot to say but that there's still good listening to be found there....

for me the ultimate CTI record is milt jackson's "sunflower". so gorgeous. i find myself reaching for it so often. i have an incredibly crackly copy - sound is so rich and beautiful.

honorable mention for hubbard's "red clay" and "straight life".

coleman's list upthread is a pretty great primer.

there are a number of good one and two disc CD compilations out there, but i am partial to this one

https://www.amazon.com/Cti-Master-Collection-Various-Artists/dp/B0000630CC

"i have an incredibly crackly copy - sound is so rich and beautiful."

!!!!

get a better copy!

i mean one of the best things about CTI is you can get the majority of their catalog near mint for 10 bucks and under.

just spun sunflower recently — yeah, such a lush, immersive vibe

i like the crackle

i don't *always* like surface noise but it goes nicely with 70s fusion records ... "dusty grooves"

whoever recommended 'Sugar' had it right- one of the better Turrentine efforts I've heard.

I have that 4CD box mentioned way upthread - here's the Amazon link; totally worth it.

I also have a budget 5 pack of Joe Farrell's albums for them (had to buy Moon Germs separately). There's a great 2CD-equivalent compilation of Turrentine's work for them, but as far as I know there's no physical version, just this: The Essential Stanley Turrentine.

Oh, and I bought a 2-for-1 UK CD that has Hank Crawford's Wildflower and Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing, both of which are great.

And here's a Spotify playlist I made of all Grover Washington, Jr.'s albums on CTI sister label Kudu:

Grover Washington, Jr. on Kudu (1972-1977)

The Upchurch/Tennyson Kudu album seems to be really overlooked. Produced by Taylor but has a foggy mid-morning atmosphere like nothing else on Kudu or CTI, parts of Esther Phillips' Performance excepted. Out-there Bob James ARP on a version of "(I Am The) Black Gold (Of the Sun)," which isn't even on YouTube.

Out-there Bob James ARP on a version of "(I Am The) Black Gold (Of the Sun),"

:-O

It's at 41:23 here.

https://www.mixcloud.com/ballardarcade/ballard-arcade-005/

i got a small haul of kudu vinyl yesterday for like $20 ... all four grover albums in unperson's link + a hank crawford

i really like the self-titled Joe Farrell Quartet album

I knew about Red Clay for years, but didn’t know about CTI as a label with a house sound until recently, when I bought an LP of Freddie Hubbard Sky Dive based on the cheap price and personnel on the front. It kind of blew me away.

I’ve since bought Rite of Spring, First Light, and White Rabbit and like them all. I understand about complaints of smoothness, etc., but they’re fun, jammy jazz that isn’t $20+ per record.

oh hell yeah! there are lots of good (and plenty of dud) CTI records. Basically up til they go disco they're mostly pretty good, and if someone ever released alternate takes sans the Sebesky string arrangements you could have an argument for some truly great sessions by the biggest players in the bop game at the time.

A bunch of CTI albums have been reissued as 2CD sets by the Beat Goes On label in the UK. I have two sets (six albums total) by Stanley Turrentine, one by Freddie Hubbard (Red Clay, Straight Life, and First Light) and one by Milt Jackson (Sunflower and Goodbye). They've also bundled several Hubert Laws albums, and some by Jim Hall and other folks, but I don't have any of those.

Sunflower is one of the ones where the string arrangements really complete the album. Great record with ace playing by Hubbard in particular. I've never heard Goodbye.

Ok, now I am totally obsessed. I’ve gotten Freddie Hubbard - Straight Life, Grover Washington, Jr. - Mr. Magic and have three more on the way.

It’s perfect music to play while cooking on a summer evening. Bouncy and groovy, uplifting in that it makes me feel good.

Thanks again to those upthread for all the recommendations!

Johnny Hammond's 'Higher Ground' on Kudu is doing it for me right now. Killer lineup: Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, Jack Dejohnette and more. Super grooves.