180g Vinyl LP Reissue Remastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

This 1968 recorded outing was Charles Tolliver's first album as a leader. The setting is unique only because his second Freedom-Black Lion album, The Ringer, and all of his subsequent albums on Strata-East featured his quartet Music Inc. with pianist Stanley Cowell. Here he is surrounded in quartet and quintet formats with a truly stellar cast of the leading players on the New York jazz scene including Gary Bartz, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Joe Chambers. 

Charles plays the role of leader, composer and trumpeter here but it is surely the last role that deserves the most attention. The trumpet is a brass instrument that leans toward a hard sound and staccato phrasing yet Tolliver is the quintessence of fluidity throughout. While it may be undeniable that he has learned from his musical heritage and past trumpet masters, a trumpeter of such flow, tone, control, lyricism and creativity is, by definition, a major musician.

There is also a previously unreleased bonus track of the song, "Repetition," recorded by Charles for this LP which will be included on this new Pure Pleasure 180g vinyl LP reissue of the album. This song was originally made famous by Charlie Parker's LP With Strings. This album is certainly an important and lasting document in light of the musicians involved and in light of its unique context for Charles Tolliver. But basically, it is just a great album to listen to!

Musicians:
Charles Tolliver, trumpet
Gary Bartz, alto saxophone
Herbie Hancock, piano
Ron Carter, bass
Joe Chambers, drums