CTI

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.