Unity

Artist: Larry Young
Label: Blue Note Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Original recording reissued
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 724349780828
EAN: 0724349780828
ASIN: B00000I41F

Release Date: 1999-03-09

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Tracks:

Zoltan
Monk's Dream
If
The Moontrane
Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
Beyond All Limits

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Customer Reviews:

Not Your Average Jazz Organ Quartet.......2007-01-04

Larry Young has been referred to as the "Coltrane of the B-3 organ". While I applaud those who appreciate his artistry, I believe that this description does not really do him justice. During the era that this recording was made, jazz organ on Blue Note was dominated by Jimmy Smith, whose success helped keep Blue Note afloat financially. Jimmy played in a blues and boppish style. Larry Young, on the other hand, had a totally different conception. This date from 1965, really showcased his advanced harmonic and melodic style. Additionally, the supporting cast was truly world class; Woody Shaw on trumpet (one of his first dates), Joe Henderson, and the legendary Elvin Jones. This was truly a date for the ages; it sounds just as fresh today as it did when released over 40 years ago! This recording should be in everyone's basic jazz library.

Larry Young, Elvin Jones, Woody Shaw, and Joe Henderson........2005-05-19

"Unity" is an album that belongs in the post-Hardbop category. Larry Young was the first Organist to start to break away from the Jimmy Smith tradition. If you have experienced any of his first few sessions for the Prestige label, you will hear the undeniable Jimmy Smith influence in his playing. Jimmy Smith is the king of the Organ but Young took what Smith had done and refined it. He also added his own material to start a whole new way to look at an instrument that was handicapped by it's own size, but stood out with it's incredible sound. Joining the "Young" organ master is the masterful Elvin Jones with his complicated Rhythmic drumming, Elvin had just left the Coltrane group and, if you have heard any of his earlier sessions with the Coltrane group, you will start to hear his playing change in a way that he is more open to what the soloist is doing yet still keeping the beat and Enhancing the feeling. Larry played the Organ more like a piano so he constructs his solos on lines more than sticking to the more chordal improvisation that was so heavily used by Smith and others. Joe Henderson, a very talented Tenor Saxophonist is often considered to be incredibly original yet you will hear an almost direct relation between him and fellow sax men Junior Cook and Sonny Rollins. Hendersons solos are constructed of broken up phrases that are loud but meaningful statements. Woody Shaw is a very fine trumpeter who sounds like a combonation of Blue Mitchell and Freddie Hubbard. The players are in top form, the Compositions are played with intensity.

"Zoltan", the opening tune, was composed by Woody Shaw and the solo work done on this song alone is worth the price of the album. Young and Jones play a Duo on "Monks Dream" which is obviously by Thelonious Monk. "Moontrane", another Shaw original, was written for John Coltrane since he was one of Shaws, Youngs, and Hendersons biggest influences. The form is standard 32 bars but the harmonies and Chordal structure are much different than that of many standard jazz compositions. "If" is a Henderson tune resembling the blues but many of the chords are replaced with altered voicings that make it very unique sounding. The group plays a reworking of the standard "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" and features excellent solos from all around. The closer, also by shaw, is a smoker and uses even more complex harmonies and chord patterns that "Moontrane" not to mention the odd number of 5o bars. If you want to hear extremely good jazz, this is one of the best examples.

Unity: One of the Greatest Modern Jazz Albums.......2005-05-07

For fans of post-bop jazz, Larry Young's Unity is, quite simply, essential. Young has been called the Coltrane of the Hammond B-3 organ for his progressive, modal, accessible music. Like Miles' Kind of Blue, Coltrane's A Love Supreme and Horace Silver's Song For My Father, this album -- although unfairly unheralded -- is one of those magical musical occasions. Elvin Jones, Woody Shaw and Joe Henderson do some of their best work on this session. A classic.

This is a must have!.......2004-11-23

Wow, what a great album. Who would have thought that Larry Young would provide one of the great jazz albums of the 60's. This album is the perfect blend of old and new. A lot of jazz purists scoffed at the organ as having a roller rinky, circus kind of sound, but this album proves how great the organ can be. Along with the outstanding playing of Woody Shaw on trumpet, Unity creates a unique vibe of its own. It's hard to deny the power of this album. Not overly uptempo or funky like some of the organ albums of the seventies and not entirely contained in the boundries of the traditional jazz of the fifties. This album is for any fan of jazz. You will not be disappointed.

A Perfect Album for so Many Reasons.......2004-06-25

This album is one of the most satisfying jazz albums I've ever bought. First off, it's a treat to hear the organ in such an up-front and wide-open setting; usually when we hear a B-3's sweet tones it is merely tapping out some cute seventh chords in the background of a blues jam. Larry Young is as unrestricted as any jazz musician can sound within the bounds of a chord progression here, playing lines as melodic and purposeful as Freddie Hubbard or as emotional and forceful as Joe Henderson, who also plays in top form on the date in question, within the same solo, all the while holding down a solid bass line with his left hand so masterfully that many have been led in ignorance to think there is a bass player on the recording (there isn't). Woody Shaw, often hailed as one of the most underrated soloists in post-bop, shows his true talent here as well, placing his unorthodox yet fluid phrases in all of the tunes from his own 60's avant-garde flavored "Moontrane" to the very standard standard, "Softly As in a Morning Sunrise," all with the same level of energy and sheer emotion that is par for the course on this fantastic album. So, the soloing is great. Really great.

Next order of business: Elvin Freaking Jones! Elvin passed away recently, and I'm sure many people are looking for his most characteristic and celebrated recordings to appreciate what a great talent he was and what an impact he had on jazz drumming and on jazz as a whole. Unity is as good a place to start as any. Though he was obviously most famous for his work in thepurpose-driven John Coltrane Quartet, he displayed hisunique polyrhythmically swinging style on a number of records as a sideman including this one and other perennials such as Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil and Sonny Rollins' Live at the Village Vanguard. It is a joy to hear him communicating with less familiar musicians with the same empathy as he did in the Coltrane quartet. His solos are fantastic as well, with his free, over-the-barline style which often displayed itself in open-ended solos turning up here inside the boundaries of extended form ("Monk's Dream") and in four bar phrases ("Zoltan"). Even within the restriction of specific solo lengths, Elvin plays with the same freedom and motive-oriented melodicism as always.

And last but not least: song selection. No Larry Young originals here, but three by Shaw and one by Henderson which are wonderful new (at the time) compositions that have become those type of "standards" that get played from time to time but aren't in the Real Book and don't exactly get called at wedding gigs. The very Monk-ish "Monk's Dream" is a Larry and Elvin duet here, a very good choice and a nice variation for the album's general flow. As said earlier, the standard "Softly..." is treated with the same improvisational attitude as the more modern tunes. Great selections.

Okay, if my bombastic ramblings communicate nothing else to you, please hear this last line: buy this album!ý

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