Walter Bishop Jr. - Soul Village (1977)

American jazz pianist and composer. (Born October 04, 1927 in New York City, NY, USA)

He was the son of composer Walter Bishop, Sr.. In high school his friends included Kenny Drew, Sonny Rollins, and Art Taylor. 

He began his musical career after World War II, and played and recorded with Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, Oscar Pettiford, Kai Winding, Miles Davis, Jackie McLean, Curtis Fuller, Terry Gibbs, Clark Terry, Blue Mitchell, and Supersax. 

In the early 1960s, he also led his own trio with Jimmy Garrison and G. T. Hogan. He continued performing into the 1990s.

One of a rare few electric albums from the great Walter Bishop Jr -- a pianist who started during the bop years, but really grew into new modes in the 70s! 

The set's an album on Muse, but one with the same hip grooves as Walter Bishop's pair of excellent albums for the Black Jazz label -- and like those gems, this set features Bishop working on Fender Rhodes -- hitting a groove we never would have expected in the old days, and really going for a style that's at the hippest end of the soul jazz spectrum of the 70s! 

Tunes are a mix of funky fusion and modal, spiritual styles -- and other players include Randy Brecker on trumpet, Gerry Niewood on tenor and flute, and George Young on soprano and alto sax -- and the horns are all arranged tightly by Mitch Farber, in a way that adds an extra edge to the record, but still leaves plenty of space for Bishop's solo flights on the keys. 

Tracklist

1.  Soul Turnaround - 9:10

2.  Valerie  (Walter Bishop Jr., Mitch Farber) - 5:46

3.  Sweet Rose - 6:43

4.  Philadelphia Bright  (Farber) - 6:40

5.  Coral Keys - 5:28

6.  Soul Village - 8:17

All compositions by Walter Bishop Jr. except where noted.

Companies

• Copyright © – Muse Records
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Muse Records
• Record Company – Blanchris, Inc.
• Recorded At – C.I. Recording Studios
• Printed By – Imperial Packing Co., Inc.
• Pressed By – PRC Recording Company, Richmond, IN
• Published By – Newport Music Co.
• Published By – Distant Land Music Co.

Credits

• Art Direction, Design, Photography By – Hal Wilson
• Bass – Mark Egan
• Congas, Percussion – Victoria
• Drums – Ed Soph
• Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Walter Bishop, Jr.
• Engineer – Chuck Irwin
• Guitar – Steve Khan
• Lacquer Cut By – Bre
• Liner Notes – Bret Primack, Joe Fields
• Producer [Produced By], Arranged By – Mitch Farber
• Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone – George Young
• Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Gerry Niewood
• Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Randy Brecker
• Written-By – M. Farber, W. Bishop, Jr.

Recorded June, 1977

Recorded at CI Recording, NYC

For free catalog send to Muse Records, a division of Blanchris, Inc., 160 West 71st Street, New York, N.Y. 10023

©℗ 1977, Muse Records, a division of Blanchris, Inc.

Notes

Released: 1977

Genre:  Jazz

Style:  Soul-Jazz, Fusion, Jazz-Funk

Runtime: 

Producer:  Mitch Farber

Label:  Muse Records 

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