Tag Archives: Charles Tolliver

Listening Room – “Action”

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Action

Jackie McLean – Plight from “Action”

Jackie McLean – Hootnan from “Action”

From “Action” : 1964 : Blue Note BLP 4218

A great album from a period when it seemed Jackie McLean could do no wrong, “Action” is full of exciting and challenging music.  McLean is joined by Charles Tolliver (who was one of his main collaborators at this time) and Bobby Hutcherson’s righteous vibe playing is featured prominently throughout the record.  Plight is a classic written by Tolliver and the Mclean composition Hootnan would probably be considered the most in line with the classic Blue Note sound as it best known, while still fitting in with the adventurous sound of the album as a whole.

Players:
Jackie McLean – Alto Sax
Charles Tolliver – Trumpet
Bobby Hutcherson – Vibes
Cecil McBee – Bass
Billy Higgins – Drums

Listening Room – “Another Earth”

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Another Earth

Gary Bartz – Another Earth

From “Another Earth” : 1968 : Milestone M-9018

This 1968 Milestone album finds Gary Bartz fronting a great band that included Pharoah Sanders, Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell.  The music is adventurous without being unfocused.  The title track is a suite of sorts and took up all of Side One on the original LP and clocks in at an impressive 24 minutes.  [Note:  This album can be found on CD as a two-fer with Bartz's "Libra" album.]

Players:
Gary Bartz – Alto & Soprano Sax
Charles Tolliver – Trumpet
Pharoah Sanders – Tenor Sax
Stanley Cowell – Piano
Reggie Workman – Bass
Freddie Waits – Drums

Listening Room – “The Ringer”

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The talented trumpeter Charles Tolliver released “The Ringer’ on the Freedom Records label (a subsidiary of Arista) in 1969.  It featured a great quartet which included Stanley Cowell on piano and Jimmy Hopps on drums.  The five compositions are all Tolliver originals and showcase his great compositional skills.  Tolliver didn’t record many records after this one, but in recent years he has been releasing some great big band recordings which I hope to preview here soon.

The Ringer
This album is out of print and hard to find.

Released 1969  :  Freedom Records  :  Catalog # A 1017

Players:
Charles Tolliver – Trumpet
Stanley Cowell – Piano
Steve Novosel – Bass
Jimmy Hopps – Drums

Charles Tolliver – On The Nile from “The Ringer”

Charles Tolliver - Spur from “The Ringer”