The Sidewinder [VINYL]

The defining, career topping statement from the tragic trumpeter Lee Morgan was recorded on December 23rd 1963 by the great Rudy Van Gelder who has re-mastered the album for CD superbly to ensure that everything shines. Far and away Blue Note’s biggest seller, that success came as a surprise to label owner Albert Lion who at the time headed up an ailing company, but thanks to this album and others in the hard bop style it put Blue Note back on surer ground. Money also poured in from an unlikely and unexpected source with an edited version of the title track reaching the U.S Billboard charts, more accustomed to pop music. The Sidewinder has been sampled and covered multiple times too, almost instantly by Quincy Jones but perhaps most famously in The Skatalites reggae version, renamed as “Malcolm X”. It’s completely infectious, instantly recognisable and never outstays its welcome despite being over 10 minutes long.Morgan had been mostly silent from 1961, releasing just “Take Twelve” after being ravaged by drug dependency, but Lion knew that the artist still retained his talent, giving him a chance to come back from self-imposed obscurity as a sideman. Finally approaching fitness Lion put his faith in Morgan as a front man, and this sublime album was the result. Backed up by a strong line up of his own sidemen, Joe Henderson is on tenor saxophone - a Blue Note regular who featured on 30 albums for the label; with backup from Barry Harris on piano and Bob Cranshaw on double bass, both who had featured on “Take Twelve; rounded out by Billy Higgins on drums. The players instantly lock together like a well-oiled machine, none better than on second track Totem Pole where Morgan and Henderson intertwining beautifully. In this expanded version there’s an earlier take of this track added as a bonus to enjoy. Of the three remaining tracks, Gary’s Notebook, Boy What A Night and Hocus Pocus all have merit, though for me the first two tracks stand out closely followed by Boy What A Night.It’s easy to see how this album became a surprise hit, there’s plenty going on, the quintet mesh well together and it’s easy on the ear – there’s nothing to alienate listeners new to jazz with everything swinging in a most pleasing way. Those first two tracks bear repeated listening – since receipt this album has been on the player multiple times. This is core listening for anyone looking to build up a collection, and particularly those looking to ease themselves gently into the genre.Morgan was to go on to repeat the format of this album throughout much of his short remaining career before he was murdered in a between sets argument in a saloon by his common law wife. He was just 33 and a real loss to the jazz community. The Sidewinder pays homage to an audacious talent cut down in his prime; it’s how he should best be remembered.

I have recently been listening to Sonny Clarke, Dexter Gordon and Miles Davis amongst others so I have been steered towards this disc. I find this disc very hard to take off my CD player and I have enjoyed it immensely. The Sidewinder is one of those tracks that everybody will have heard at some point so familiarity on playing draws you in straight away. Joe Henderson is on tenor sax, Barry Harris is on piano, Bob Cranshaw is on Bass and Billy Higgins is on drums. Recorded in 1963 at the Van Gelder Studio at Englewood Cliffs, NJ, this disc was remastered by Van Gelder in 1998. As you would expect with a Rudy Van Gelder recording, this has a very real life feel to it and is a joy to listen to, it's very tempting to turn the volume up and feel like the band is in the room with you. I thoroughly recommend this disc to anyone with an interest in Hard Bop with a Bluesy feel.

This was the first Blue Note LP I bought when I was a teenager and was ordered from Orpheus Records in Southsea after initially hearing the record on Humphey Lyttelton's "Best of jazz." I can still remember walking up the hill to catch the bus for college one morning after playing the record continually the night beforehand and thinking how great the record was and that Lee Morgan must have been one of the greatest trumpet players of all time. Every track seemed to crackle with excitement and offer the possibility of exploration in to further styles of jazz that remained unfamiliar at the time. It seemed to be a staggeringly brilliant and ebullient piece of music. What is strange is that I never replaced by LP with a CD and quickly by-passed Blue Note for more contemporary styles before going through a period of Blue Note obsession in the early 2000's. Even then, I never returned to this disc but I decided to pick another copy up as it went for sale for about £3 on line. For some reason I always felt that returning to this record might be a bit of a disappointment but it is quite intriguing to find that whilst my perception has changed totally, it is a far more nuanced record than I recollected. In effect, this is a quintet of 5 musicians who have really different philosophies but combine to make something really quite special. Morgan seems more influenced by Gillespie than I recollected, his lines being full of dynamics and rhythmic phrasing as opposed to the more "round the block" kind of be-bop of Clifford Brown. I hadn't expected that. I now see Joe Henderson as a more adventurous player but here is seems to thrive over the funky drive of the rhythm section and the combination with Morgan reminds me of the other "perfect trumpet and tenor blend" of Tina Brooks and Freddie Hubbard. In fact a tune like "Totem Pole" sounds like it has migrated from Brooks' "True Blue." I would also have to say that Barry Harris plays this session without putting a foot wrong. His gospel inspired solo on the title track teasingly plays over the groove in a fashion that is fascinating. he is not what I would call a sophisticated player yet here he is a masterful conjuror taking simple phrases and working upon them until the effect become mesmerising. On paper Harris seems too much of a "soul" player to find it with a hip front line of Morgan and Henderson but his presence acts as the perfect contrast . Bob Cranshaw is a model of strength on bass and crucial to why this record sounds so good. However, the very best thing about this record is Billy Higgin's sensational drumming which rattles it's way throughout the recording in a loose-limbered fashion which is the icing on the cake. There is a moment in the last chorus by Morgan on "Sidewinder" where the trumpet plays a couple of phrases based on two notes where Higgin's has some kind of telepathic hold on the former. You almost want to jump out of your seat and punch the air this is so exciting! That said, the free-wheeling joie de vivre of "Boy, What a night" is the album's highlight and such a fantastically snaky and confident theme that it is difficult to understand that this isn't more widely known. Stereotypically, this album is seen as the disc which prompted Blue Note to pursue a more commercial policy as it chased the potential to repeat the hit that was the title track. This is demonstrably too simple. The title track was apparently initially intended as a filler and the other tracks could all have served as opening tracks on any other Morgan disc - especially the aforementioned "Boy, what a night." As a 17 year old, this record struck as an incredibly infectious and exciting piece of jazz and I believed that it typified what a Blue Note record should sound like . Thirty years later and the record now seems like the coming together of five musicians from disparate styles of jazz to produce a disc that is perfectly realised. It isn't at all typical and perhaps as "odd" in it's way as other "Hard Bop classics" such as "Shades of Redd, " or "True Blue" - both of which include a large degree of writing and not the head + blowing sessions that form a large body of the label output in this idiom. The whole effect is like a recipe that uses an unusual mix of ingredients to produce the perfect fruitcake. I think that this record deserves it's reputation - for all the unorthodoxy, this is perfect the apogee of "Hard Bop."

I was in no particular mood to continue with my project in hand and just wanted to wind down. We decided to sit and watch a film, we came across this documentary film about the life of this jazz player, a genius within his genre. His life was of sadness but a gifted trumpeter. He tragically died but his music lives on - 'The Sidewinder' contributes lively grooves that is spellbinding. This music is lives on - just a shame Lee Morgan and other jazz musicians are understated. I am pleased that I too time off to learn and be knowledged of this great jazz musician.