2-CD import. Recorded on November 7th, 1976 at the Warwick Suite, Grand Hotel, Birmingham.
"Mike Osborne was one of the most adventurous saxophonists to emerge from the transitional 1960s/70s period in British jazz - after the strict harmonic rules of bebop were transformed by the free jazz of Ornette Coleman. Osborne worked in Mike Westbrook's pioneering big band, and in the vivid South African groups of Chris McGregor - but this 1976 live recording represents the late saxophonist at his freest. He performs here with regular bassist Harry Miller and Birmingham drummer Tony Levin - both inveterate envelope-pusher, and with them Osborne's soulful, somewhat Jackie McLean-like sound takes wing. Osborne's own pieces are full of biting lyricism and unexpected playfulness, while he's brittle and urgent over Miller's flying bass walk on John Coltrane's Cousin Mary, drily unsentimental on Sonny Rollins' Alfie, and bounces off Levin's potholed-road thumps on Thelonious Monk's Nutty. This isn't just a relic of an undocumented group, but a grippingly original jazz performance by any standards."-John Fordham, The Guardian, UK |