MAULAWI Orig Detroit 1974 STRATA Soul Funk Jazz RARE
$
250
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Description
Artist: Maulawi Nururdin
Title: Maulawi
Item: 12" LP
Record Label & #: Strata SRI 104-74 Stereo
Condition: Cover is VG++, tight spine and seams. I removed the torn shrinkwrap so the cover was protected for the most part. A couple small stains in lower left front. Record is a nice glossy VG++/NM. Please see our grading scale below.
Comments: Rare original pressing, one of only 1000 first pressed. See our other auctions for more Jazz.
A: Street Rap (6:15), Root in 7/4 Plus (5:41), Eltiton (8:20)
B: Naima (7:02), Sphinx Rabbit (12:26) All Compositions by Maulawi Nururdin and Joyce Major except for “Naima” composed by John Coltrane.
Writes Andy Freivogel at Dusted Reviews:
Nururdin, himself a multi-instrumentalist, composer and band leader, places his own thumbprint high atop the mix with his sax playing, a sweet, razor-thin layer of liberation to the often dense, and sometimes dark, journeys in sound. Stacks of percussion drive the body of this work, buoyed by the staccato thrust of Rufus Reed's bass work, and every song on Maulawi jerks the listener sideways and back again with shifts in key, time and timbre.The opening track, “Street Rap,” forges a deep swinging funk with the overheated static of a summer evening in a Chicago 'hood; neighbors and passersby engage in both friendly conversation and in-yo-face debate (“you act like I'm blind in one eye and can't see out the other!”) as the band responds with Rhodes counterpunches and warped clavier jabs. The balance of inner jazz calm and shimmering facade of aural chaos occasionally recall the squawking abandon of Miles' Evil Live, but the undying groove plots closer to the same Chi-town vibe that permeates some of Curtis Mayfield's work from the roughly the same era and a few years before, including “We're A Winner” and “(Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go.” In the same way Mayfield pushed the ceiling of funk with his reedy, wavering falsetto, Nururdin pushes that end of the spectrum even higher, with vocal arrangements sung by alto Joyce Major (co-composer on nearly all tracks) and soprano Diane Cunningham, adding a virtual jet stream of shrill, but essential and angelic harmony.
Dueling congueros Adam Rudolph (who, interestingly, records now for Soul Jazz under the name Hu Vibrational) and Silas King provide a tense, push-me pull-you foundation of authentic latin rumble. The two percussionists, along with Reed, bassist Al Erick and two drummers, push tracks through multiple changes, exploring Afro-latin rhythms like palo and mambo (“Eltition”), downshifting to a subdued 6/8 clave feel in others, and turning the Coltrane ballad “Naima” almost upside down and celebratory, releasing it from the blues with a blissful samba chorus, featuring the almost flute-like voices of Major and Cunningham. Even when the rhythm section descends into moments of dissonant, fluttering chaos (only at the direction of Maulawi: evidence abounds of this ensemble's unflappable discipline), there's a persistent, shining optimism to the unified voice of the musicians here. Maulawi provides a gritty snapshot of a scrappy ensemble cutting a deep, brooding groove. This is the voice of a gifted composer and bandleader capturing a complex, fearful era without uttering a single word.
On Sep-18-07 at 05:38:08 PDT, seller added the following information:
Sorry about the bad link on the "Click here to watch auction". This received a bid right away and we didn't have a chance to fix it!
