Music Monday: Richard Evans, Don Cherry, and Dexter Gordon

Dodgy internet means fewer musical choices, but I did stumble upon a couple of gems that are worth posting this morning.

First, I’ve been really grooving to the Richard Evans Trio album Richard’s Almanac. Richard Evans is hardly a household name in jazz, but in the 1950s he was a solid bassist and arranger. He came of age alongside Sun Ra in Birmingham, Alabama and played with Ra in Chicago. In the 1960s, he became a key figure in the Chicago jazz and R&B scene. He released Richard’s Almanac in 1959 with Jack Wilson on piano and drummer Robert Barry.

I don’t want to say that this album is “good” in a traditional sense, but it is a wonderful taste of early R&B out of Chicago:

Evans goes on to arrange some altogether more pop-y faire with the Soulful Strings: 

I’ve also been listening to Don Cherry’s and Ed Blackwell’s famous pair of albums titled Mu. Recorded in 1969, they reflect not only a powerful statement in early “world music,” but also a classic example of how the pseudoarchaeological continent of Mu remained relevant in Black radical contexts:

First Part:

Second Part:

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the 60th anniversary of Dexter Gordon’s 1964, One Flight Up. While not quite a masterpiece and maybe a bit out of sync with the style of time, it has nevertheless stood the test of time as a significant album with Donald Byrd on Trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass, and drummer Art Taylor. It’s always a pleasant and engaging listen: