1966

January

THE FREE SPIRITS Out of Sight and Sound

Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder and Bob Thiele sometime late in 1966 (the band members had only started hanging out in June, soon jamming--mostly at a Manhattan club called Scene which was located near the theater district. (The band members claim that they performed a total of perhaps 30 times.) The release of The Free Spirits' album, entitled Out of Sight and Mind, occurred in early 1967, probably in January. Though considering himself a protégé of Gábor Szabó, The Free Spirits was Larry Coryell's first New York City band since his move from Seattle in 1965. Though all of the band members (except Columbus "Chip" Baker) had backgrounds in playing jazz music, Larry Coryell steered their music toward the electrified free-form chaos that rock and roll was moving toward. (Artists like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, and The Yardbirds were already making their impact on music and pop culture; The Who and Jimi Hendrix had not yet broken into the public eye).

     The band was over-the-moon excited to get Thiele and Van Gelder--two legends behind many of the greatest jazz records in history--but the generation gap with its Old Guy "expert/experience" attitude versus Young artist "enthusiasm" made the experience a nightmare, resulting in a near-consensus opinion that it failed miserably in their goal of capturing their dynamic live sound. Thiele and ABC had determined that the Spirits were making a pop album and had thus locked in a 3-minute maximum length restriction for each song. The less than satisfactory result (the boys had been in the habit of routinely jamming on a single song for up to 15-minutes at a time) is the main reason why everyone in the band strongly recommends the interested listener to seek out the 2011 release of the tapes made Live at the Scene February 22, 1967, for a more accurate representation of the band's music and energy.)

February

Impulse! Records releases JOHN COLTRANE's watershed avant garde album, Ascension. His first studio album since the revolutionary A Love Supreme, it represents his pronounced move away from the more-typical quartet or quintet format as well as his move toward free jazz--the endorsement of which--by the world's most respected and revered jazz musician--made it both "real" and acceptable, making the album one of jazz history's most significant landmarks.

March

Polydor Records releases, in Europe only, the proto-punk rock album Black Monk Time by German-based American garage band, THE MONKS. The band consisted of children of American children of military families stationed abroad (here near Köln, Deutschland). The album's lyrics' aggressive anti-VietNam War stance bypassed German censorship due to its English lyrics and the distraction produced by its wild (some reviewers have called it "demented"), aggressive sound--which is why it might not have been considered for American release. (It was not released in the US until 1994.) Today it is widely considered among the first (if not the first) punk rock albums (nine years before Punk became a thing).

April

May

May 9 - A&M Records releases HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS' sixth album, What Now My Love. The album of Herb's now-standard "Ameriachi" music would occupy Billboard Magazine's top album spot for nine weeks and appear in the year-end top 20 in terms of record sales (along with four other Tijuana Brass albums).  

May 16 - Capitol Records releases THE BEACH BOYS' landmark album, Pet Sounds. Despite a rather lukewarm reception in the USA, it was promoted in the UK as "the most progressive pop album ever." Pet Sounds was recognized for its ambitious production, sophisticated music, and emotional lyrics and is now considered to be among the greatest and most influential albums in music history.

June

Though recorded on December 24 (Christmas Eve) of 1964, Blue Note did not release Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil album until June of 1966. (This rather unusual time delay may perhaps be attributed to the success and sales of Wayne's July 1965 release of his August 3, 1964, recordings--an album entitled Juju). The Speak No Evil album represents Wayne in a phase of his career in which the now 31-years old was not only an experienced and highly-respected saxophonist but also a burgeoning bandleader. He was also going through a divorce.       In late 1964 Miles Davis was still trying to form a solid quintet--what would become his second "great quintet"--but he was having trouble filling his saxophone chair. Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and infant drummer Tony Williams were already on board. Since the recording sessions for the Second Great Quintet's first album occurred in January of 1965, it can be deduced that Wayne's employment of Herbie and Ron for Speak No Evil provided a kind of "audition" effect for Wayne's invitation to join Miles et al. for the recording sessions. (The album's title, E.S.P., comes from the band members' collective awe at the kind of "telepathic" connection they all had with each other from the very start of those sessions.) For Wayne to willingly step into the rarified but controlled world of Miles Davis was a risk, but it was one that paid off handsomely.

June 27 - Verve Records releases rock music's first double album (and second double album in music history after Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, released just the week before!): THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION (Frank Zappa)'s Freak Out!

  

July

July 18 - Columbia Records releases THE BYRDS' third studio album, their first since the departure of principle songwriter Gene Clark and their first album to contain no covers of Bob Dylan songs. Containing such hit songs as "Eight Miles High," "5D (Fifth Dimension)" and "Mr. Spaceman," Fifth Dimension is recognized as the band's most inconsistent album yet is also considered one of the very first protoypical/foundational albums of the psychedelic rock music scene.

August

August 5 - EMI / London releases THE BEATLES last studio album before their retirement from live concert performing, Revolver. The album has since become regarded as one of the greatest and most innovative albums in the history of popular music, with recognition centred on its range of musical styles, diverse sounds and lyrical content.

September

DON ELLIS ORCHESTRA 'Live' at Monterey ! 

 

From recordings from September 18, 1966, day three of that year's Monterey Jazz Festival. During Sunday afternoon's legendary set, trumpeter and bandleader Don Ellis used his off-beat humor and educational speaking skills to connect with the audience, teaching them what made his songs unusual (the very, very odd time signatures and polyrhythms being played by his 20-person stage "orchestra"). The young audience members responded with a surprising affection as well as a very unexpected inclination to dance!

     An amazingly intimate and accessible recording of this genre-bending modern big band ensemble on a large stage at a large outdoor concert in 1966. Several writers I've come across cite this performance--the Don Ellis Orchestra performance at the 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival--as one that blew people away, and inspired many, many musician-performers into wildly radical changes to their approaches to music and performance. Reputedly, Don Ellis never wrote or played a song in straight time (4/4) and this is certainly true for this concert. At Monterey, Ellis was expressing his recent enchantment-bordering-on-obsession with Eastern musics, particularly Indian.

     In my own journey to become familiar with this album I have been intensely aware of the rhythm section. The three bassists, the three drummers and the handful of percussionists on stage during the performance are all impressively tight and attention-attractingly skilled. One of these drummers, a very young Ralph Humphrey, (read: "Ralph Humphrey--The Legend of Odd Meters" in DRUM! magazine) later played with Frank Zappa, Chick Corea, and for a while, Seals & Crofts, and L. Subramanian.

     Another drummer, also young, Steve Bohannon, has received mention from several writers with respect to his short-lived legacy as a fearless (Steve would have said, "naïve") musician despite his few years (he died in a automobile accident in 1969 at age 21).

     Here we are treated to some very clear recordings of these drummers' exceptional prowesses. Apparently it was this performance and recording that propelled Ellis into the world's view. For the next thirteen years his music, recordings, performances, and books would stir controversy in the jazz and music world. (What I wouldn't give to own one of the "Where is Don Ellis?" bumper stickers that ran rampant after the Monterey concert!) What continues to amaze me about this album is how well it has preserved the passion and energy of the performances of that day--and how much I enjoy all of the songs and the light-heartedness of the performances.

A five star masterpiece of progressive music from a VERY serious envelope-pusher. This album is also a treasure that we are very lucky to have.

October

October 24 & 25 - Miles Davis' "second great quintet" records the music that would become the February 16, 1967 Colombia Records release, MILES DAVIS QUINTET Miles Smiles. The session presents the world with one of the greatest quintet lineups in jazz music history with 33-year old tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, 26-year old pianist Herbie Hancock, 29-year old bassist Ron Carter, and 21-year old drumming phenom Tony Williams. 

November

December

Live at the Village Vanguard Again! JOHN COLTRANE the only recording of 'Trane's quintet featuring his wife Alice, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Rasheid Ali. The covers of his classic standards "Naima" and "My Favorite Things" allowed listeners context in which to try to get used to and/or understand John's movement into free jazz.