Evolution

Sound DNA

• Jazz
• Avant-Garde & Free Jazz

• angular
• restless
• cerebral

About

There aren’t a great many classic Blue Note albums with vibraphone, rather than piano, as the sole chordal instrument. <i>Evolution</i>, the 1964 debut of trombone enigma Grachan Moncur III, features the great Bobby Hutcherson in such a role, painting on a different kind of harmonic canvas alongside the formidable horns of Moncur, trumpeter Lee Morgan, and alto saxophonist Jackie McLean. Moncur’s side-player work with McLean on the 1964 releases <i>One Step Beyond</i> and <i>Destination... Out!</i> showcased this core instrumentation as well, with a variety of rhythm sections. On <i>Evolution</i>, we hear Blue Note mainstay and lifelong Sonny Rollins bassist Bob Cranshaw (whose surname is misspelled on the cover). On drums is a young Tony Williams, who in the previous year recorded <i>Seven Steps to Heaven</i> with Miles Davis, <i>My Point of View</i> with Herbie Hancock, <i>One Step Beyond</i> with McLean, and <i>Una Mas</i> with trumpet legend Kenny Dorham. The dynamism and imagination in Williams’ playing is a major asset on this groundbreaking set of four Moncur originals. The <i>Evolution</i> lineup somewhat resembles the Dave Holland Quintet of the late 1990s and early 2000s, which used vibes and trombone in a unique combination. It’s also one of a number of classic Blue Note titles that together form a mini-canon of the avant-garde, including entries by the likes of Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, and Ornette Coleman. Unlike Coleman’s work, Moncur’s writing is not harmonically “free.” But the first two compositions, “Air Raid” and “Evolution,” convey unusual moods and textures, while the minor-key burner “The Coaster” brings a bit of a Spanish tinge with a hard-bop feel reminiscent of The Jazz Messengers in the Curtis Fuller years. “Monk in Wonderland,” meanwhile, is a fetching mid-tempo closer, with Morgan, McLean, and Moncur in a potent solo rotation. There’s a foot in the mainstream jazz aesthetic of the time, but a left-of-center searching quality to the improvisation that makes <i>Evolution</i>—and its successor, 1965’s <i>Some Other Stuff</i>—a pivotal recording.

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits