Review by Matt Collar
The 2025 anthology New Awakening: Adventures in British Jazz 1966-1971 spotlights a vibrant and transformative era for jazz in Britain. Whether it was a passion for New Orleans trad jazz in the 1940s or a mod take on blues, rock, and Motown soul in the '60s, Britain has a long history of adopting American musical traditions and making them their own. The same creative and cultural process happened to post-bop and avant-garde jazz beginning in the late '60s. Fueled by the already potent influence of artists like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman, British jazz musicians began pushing the boundaries of their own playing. Throw into the mix the cultural melting pot of cities like London, where immigrants from Africa, India, and the Caribbean commingled their own musical traditions right alongside the burgeoning psychedelic and progressive rock movements, and British jazz musicians were poised for a creative explosion. New Awakening illuminates this heady period, digging into the forward-minded work of artists like trumpeter Ian Carr, bassist Graham Collier, and saxophonist Dick Morrissey, the latter of whose minor blues "Storm Warning" opens the box set, smartly setting up the collection's tone of dark-sunglasses-in-the-nightclub hipness. Like that track, these are often rhythmically kinetic, harmonically sophisticated recordings that straddle the line between hard-swinging acoustic jazz and sonically textured electric fusion. It's a vibe that grows even more avant-garde as the collection moves forward, revealing the sprawling big-band orchestrations of John Dankworth's "Return from the Ashes," the blown-out Hammond organ reverie of the Graham Bond Organization's "Wade in the Water," and the spacey free-jamming of Nucleus' "Elastic Rock." They delve further into this genre-crossing style towards the latter half of the set, showcasing progressive tracks like Brian Auger's electric fusion take on Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" and Julie Driscoll's acid-rock hippie-freak anthem "A New Awakening" (from which the box set borrows its title). As if to underline the connection between the experimental jazz and progressive rock in Britain at the time, they even include Cream bassist Jack Bruce's wholly improvised free-bop number "Over the Cliff," from his sole 1970 instrumental album, Things We Like.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/new-awakening-adventures-in-british-jazz-1966-1971-mw0004434048
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Reseña de Matt Collar
La antología de 2025 New Awakening: Adventures in British Jazz 1966-1971 destaca una época vibrante y transformadora para el jazz en Gran Bretaña. Ya fuera por la pasión por el jazz tradicional de Nueva Orleans en la década de 1940 o por la versión mod del blues, el rock y el soul de Motown en los años 60, Gran Bretaña tiene una larga historia de adopción de las tradiciones musicales estadounidenses y de hacerlas propias. El mismo proceso creativo y cultural se produjo con el post-bop y el jazz de vanguardia a partir de finales de los años 60. Impulsados por la ya potente influencia de artistas como John Coltrane, Miles Davis y Ornette Coleman, los músicos de jazz británicos comenzaron a ampliar los límites de su propia forma de tocar. Si a esto le añadimos el crisol cultural de ciudades como Londres, donde inmigrantes de África, India y el Caribe mezclaron sus propias tradiciones musicales con los florecientes movimientos psicodélicos y de rock progresivo, los músicos de jazz británicos estaban listos para una explosión creativa. New Awakening ilumina este apasionante periodo, profundizando en el trabajo vanguardista de artistas como el trompetista Ian Carr, el bajista Graham Collier y el saxofonista Dick Morrissey, cuyo blues menor «Storm Warning» abre el álbum recopilatorio, estableciendo inteligentemente el tono de la colección: la elegancia de las gafas de sol oscuras en un club nocturno. Al igual que ese tema, se trata a menudo de grabaciones rítmicamente cinéticas y armónicamente sofisticadas que se sitúan en la frontera entre el jazz acústico de swing duro y la fusión eléctrica con texturas sonoras. Es una vibración que se vuelve aún más vanguardista a medida que avanza la colección, revelando las extensas orquestaciones de big band de «Return from the Ashes» de John Dankworth, el ensueño del órgano Hammond de «Wade in the Water» de Graham Bond Organization y la improvisación espacial de «Elastic Rock» de Nucleus. Profundizan aún más en este estilo que traspasa los géneros hacia la segunda mitad del álbum, con temas progresivos como la versión de fusión eléctrica de Brian Auger de «Maiden Voyage» de Herbie Hancock y el himno hippie-freak de acid rock de Julie Driscoll «A New Awakening» (del que el álbum recopila toma su título). Como para subrayar la conexión entre el jazz experimental y el rock progresivo en la Gran Bretaña de la época, incluso incluyen el tema free-bop totalmente improvisado «Over the Cliff», del bajista de Cream Jack Bruce, extraído de su único álbum instrumental de 1970, Things We Like.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/new-awakening-adventures-in-british-jazz-1966-1971-mw0004434048
Tracks:
CD 1
1 The Dick Morrissey Quartet: Storm Warning
2 Davy Graham: Watermelon Man
3 The Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet: Tan Samfu
4 The Joe Harriott Double Quintet feat. John Mayer: Overture
5 The John Dankworth Orchestra: Return From The Ashes (From The Film Return From The Ashes)
6 The Graham Bond Organization: Wade In The Water (US B Side Version)
7 Georgie Fame: No Thanks
8 The Mike Taylor Trio: Two Autumns
9 The Mike Westbrook Concert Band: A Greeting
10 The Joe Harriott Quintet: Shepherd’s Serenade
11 Michael Garrick Septet: Ursula
12 The Tubby Hayes Quartet: Dear Johnny B
13 Pentangle: In Time
14 Harold McNair: The Hipster
15 Jethro Tull: One For John Gee
16 Spooky Tooth: Luger’s Groove
CD 2
1 The John Cameron Quartet: Troublemaker
2 The Graham Collier Sextet: Down Another Road
3 John Mclaughlin: Binky’s Beam
4 The Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet: One Green Eye
5 The New Jazz Orchestra: Angle
6 Ken Wheeler & The John Dankworth Orchestra: Sweet Dulcinea Blue
7 Michael Gibbs: Some Echoes, Some Shadows (For John Dankworth)
8 Wynder K. Frog: Harpsicord Shuffle
9 Jasper: The Beard
10 Manfred Mann Chapter Three: Where Am I Going
11 Colosseum: Those About To Die
12 Keef Hartley Band: Premonition
13 Nucleus: Elastic Rock
14 Brian Auger & The Trinity: Maiden Voyage
15 Affinity: A Day In The Life (Live At Ronnie Scott’s, 1969)
16 The Johnny Almond Music Machine: Voodoo Forest
17 Jack Bruce, John McLaughlin, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Jon Hiseman: Over The Cliff
CD 2
1 Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express: Dragon Song
2 The Ray Russell Quartet: Can I Have My Paperback Back (Live At The Playhouse Theatre, 1969)
3 If: What Did I Say About The Box, Jack?
4 Chris Spedding: The Forest Of Fables
5 The Trio (Featuring John Surman): Joachim
6 Satisfaction: Sharing
7 Julie Driscoll: A New Awakening
8 Bob Downes Open Music: Keep Off The Grass
9 Trifle: Is It Loud?
10 Garrick’s Fairground & Norma Winstone: Epiphany
11 Nucleus: Song For The Bearded Lady
12 John McLaughlin, John Surman, Karl Berger, Stu Martin, Dave Holland: Earth Bound Hearts
13 If: Seldom Seen Sam
14 John Taylor: And Think Again
15 Mike Osborne: So It Is (Edit)
Label: Cherry Red
28.2.2025
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