Record Reviews

PATRICK WILLIAMS ~ COME ON AND SHINE MPS 4029759097266 (Barcode: 4029759097266) ~ USA ~ Jazz-Funk Fusion Recorded: 1977 Released: 2014 This is a reissue of a little known early album by the great American composer Patrick WilliamsFind albums by this artist, who is one of the leading cinematic composers for the American movie and TV industries, but also a great Jazz aficionado, especially as a leader of Big Bands and composer of Jazz-Classical Fusion recordings. This album presents not one, but two different Jazz Big Bands, one from the East Coast (NY) and one from the West Coast (LA), performing seven original compositions by Williams, one by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer and one standard, all arranged by Williams. The lineups of these bands read like a who´s who of the American Jazz scene at the time and include among others trumpeters Marvin StammFind albums by this artist and Lew SoloffFind albums by this artist, saxophonists Lou MariniFind albums by this artist and Ronnie CuberFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Dave GrusinFind albums by this artist, guitarist Steve KhanFind albums by this artist, bassist Tony LevinFind albums by this artist, drummer Grady TateFind albums by this artist and also the Belgian harmonica virtuoso Toots ThielemansFind albums by this artist. The music is a mixture of Jazz and Funk / Groove, which was at the peak of its popularity at the time, not very ambitious musically but excellently performed and in retrospect still entertaining today. The Big Band arrangements are a classic example of the American school regarding Big Band arrangements. Overall a nice stroll down the memory lane… Side Note The legendary German MPSFind albums on this label (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald) label, founded by Hans Georg Brunner-SchwerFind albums by this artist (HGBS) in 1963, first as SABAFind albums on this label Records and later on from 1968 as MPS Records, was the most important independent European record label, which had an enormous contribution to the development of European Jazz. For many years MPS cooperated with the legendary German producer / author Joachim BerendtFind albums by this artist, my Friend and Mentor, whose visionary approach and open-mindedness brought the crème de la crème of the Jazz (in the broadest meaning of the word) musicians from all over the world to the label. Between 1963 and 1983 MPS produced about five hundred albums, many of which are among the most important Jazz recordings on this planet. In 1983 the MPS catalog was sold to UniversalFind albums on this label, which sadly resulted in all those artistic treasures to almost disappear from the face of the earth – a situation not only tragic but culturally criminal. Universal reissued a part of the MPS albums (probably 128 titles) on CD between 1999 and 2011 under the "Most Perfect Sound Edition" moniker. Since 2008 the German Promising MusicFind albums on this label label released some of the MPS recordings, but at a very slow pace. In 2014 the German company Edel AG bought the MPS catalogue from Universal and released a series of 25 MPS albums on CD with a new slipcase graphic design, which brought all those excellent albums back to life. In 2015 Edel AG started to record and release new albums under the MPS moniker. In 2016 Edel AG released a series of 10 classic MPS albums on CD, which were beautifully remastered and re-packaged, presenting the original artwork and liner notes, as well as new liner notes and photographs. An obvious labor of love, these reissues are what the MPS catalogue truly deserves. This project was continued in 2017 with another series of 10 classic MPS albums released on CD. In later years some new reissues were released sporadically. Over the years many SABA / MPS albums were reissued in Japan, which is often the only available source for these albums today, but that is a story in itself.

Updated: 27/05/2018Posted: 04/10/2016

CD 1 Slipcase Remastered Recommend To A Friend