Milt Jackson and the Monty Alexander Trio - Soul Fusion (1978 Japanese Pablo Vinyl LP)

Milt Jackson and the Monty Alexander Trio - Soul Fusion | Vinyl LP, 1978 Japanese Pablo (MTF 1090, Polydor K.K., Gatefold)

• Milt Jackson’s vibraphone with the Monty Alexander Trio (John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums), recorded June 1 and 2, 1977 at Group IV Recording Studios in Los Angeles, produced by Norman Granz
• Eight tracks mixing blues, bossa nova, a Stevie Wonder cover and originals, with Alexander’s swinging, bluesy piano complementing Jackson’s warm, singing vibes tone
• Japanese gatefold pressing with obi and insert, manufactured by Polydor K.K., with liner notes by Benny Green and Japanese insert notes by Hideki Sato

Milt Jackson and Monty Alexander had first recorded together in 1969, and by the time of Soul Fusion they had already played the Montreux Jazz Festival together and knew how their musical temperaments fit. Jackson was a founding member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and had spent two decades in that group’s precisely arranged, chamber-like setting. Alexander, born in Kingston, Jamaica, plays piano with a rhythmic directness and a bluesy warmth that brought out a different side of Jackson’s playing: looser, more groove-oriented, less concerned with formal structure. John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton (who would later co-found the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra) form a rhythm section that is both supple and firm, responding to the two leaders’ shifts between swing, Latin feels and ballad tempos.

The programme covers a lot of ground in eight tracks. “Parking Lot Blues” and the title track “Soul Fusion” sit in bop territory. “Isn’t She Lovely” is Stevie Wonder’s song from Songs in the Key of Life, given a jazz treatment that keeps the melody’s joy while opening it up for improvisation. “Once I Loved” is the Jobim standard (“O Amor em Paz”), and “Bossa Nova do Marilla” extends the Brazilian thread on side B. “3,000 Miles Ago” is more reflective. Norman Granz produced: the same man who founded Verve Records, ran Jazz at the Philharmonic, and championed integrated audiences at a time when that required courage. Pablo Records was his late-career label, founded in 1973, and its sessions have a relaxed, musician-first character that Granz cultivated deliberately. Val Valentin engineered. Benny Green (the British jazz critic and broadcaster, not the pianist) wrote the liner notes. Phil Stern photographed the cover. This 1978 Japanese pressing is a gatefold manufactured by Polydor K.K. Catalogue number MTF 1090 (original US Pablo catalogue: 2310 804).