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Greetings Sorry State gang. How are you all? Did you have a great Record Store Day this past Saturday? We hope so. We had a great day here at the store even though we couldn’t please all of our Taylor Swift fans waiting in line. However, that release aside, we did well in getting the other records to those that wanted them. If you stopped by or ordered from us, a big thank you for your support. We appreciate it. I thought this year's RSD list was a good one although I wish some releases that came out in the UK were available here. I was happy with my grabs and perhaps as time moves on I’ll find those missing odds and ends. I wish the same to you for whatever you are hunting for.
This upcoming Saturday is International Jazz Day in case you didn’t know. A global celebration of all things Jazz. My DJ friends over at The Face Radio will dedicate the whole day to special Jazz filled broadcasts as our part of joining the fun. I’ll be working here at the store that day, but there is a Jazz record that I have been enjoying that I recently picked up which I would like to tell you all about.
The Wayne Powell Octet: Plays Hallucination. Lo-Lace Records. 1965 / Mo-Jazz Records. 2022
Fellow DJ pal Tim Spurrier turned me on to this one when he made it his featured album on one of his Soulside shows recently and I must thank him. He got his hands on a limited reissue that Mo-Jazz Records had just put out. I was impressed and immediately secured a copy for myself. I’m so glad I did as this type of record is right up my Strasse.
Originally released as a private press album on the Lo-Lace label out of Los Angeles in 1965 it is rarely seen, and I don’t feel too bad for not having heard of it.
Wayne Powell played vibes, inspired by Lionel Hampton, and put together this combo for gigs and recorded this one album with those players. The record is a nice mix of mood and tempo. Jazz with a healthy dose of Rhythm & Blues. Pop in places and deep and spiritual in others. The main selling point for me though is when the band get into a Mod-Jazz mood and remind me of my favorite Ramsey Lewis, Billy Larkin and The Deligates, and Harold Johnson Sextet records or like on the song Duckin’ similar to The Googie Rene Combo’s tune called Smokey Joe’s La La that is a Mod classic and was sampled nicely by DJ David Holmes for his My Mate Paul track. Compare the two yourselves and see what you think.
Another cut in this style is the song Tootsie, which obviously predates the Dustin Hoffman film by quite a few years. I doubt very much that there is a connection. Interestingly though, is that on the 45 that was released back in the day the song was titled Tutzy. I wonder how and why the change in spelling came about or whether it is just something as simple as a typo. If anyone has the answer, get in touch.
As mentioned, Wayne Powell played the vibes and I just love the sound of a vibraphone in jazz. Roy Ayers, Cal Tjader, Milt Jackson, Lionel Hampton, Dave Pike, Terry Gibbs, Bobby Hutcherson, Mulatu Astatke, Gary Burton, et al are household names round my place and represented well in my collection. So, it was a bonus that vibes feature on some tracks. Title track Hallucination allows Powell to show his chops. It’s a beautiful track helped along by some tasteful Latin conga and tidy piano playing, not to mention great trumpet and horns and a guitar solo rounding out the sound.
Guitarist Don Kobayashi and trombone player Clint Arnold share the spotlight on album closer Quernemoen, another strong cut. The tempo here is more late night or lazy sunny afternoon. A nice plodding bass line and brush work from the drummer help give the track the finishing touches.
There are two cuts with a slow blues feel to them, Blue And Easy and More Blues, and two more danceable R ‘N B numbers called Jurkit and Brown’s Bucket, which are fun. The whole album has a strong R ‘N B feel rather than just straight jazz, and that part appeals to me. Additionally, the jazz component is more of a big band style than a small combo and for these tunes that works.
The only thing missing would be some vocals on one or two tracks. Generally, I prefer without, but I could see a good singer tackling some tunes here if they wrote lyrics.
Also of note are the typos on the sleeve. I must assume that Mo-Jazz reproduced the original exactly, and those mistakes were left unchanged. Right? Other than the Tootsie/Tutzy spelling difference between the single and album, which seems intentional. Regardless, who cares? It’s the music that matters. I certainly won’t let that bother me when the music is this good.
Mo-Jazz made this reissue a limited pressing of just 500 copies, so if I have whetted your appetite I wouldn’t hang around on this one. Stateside dwellers might have to stump the Euro shipping charges, though.
Jazz music still has so much to offer the world. Recordings like these that are over fifty years old are being discovered and enjoyed by a wider audience and reaching different generations. I am always excited when I hear something old like this for the first time. Especially when it ticks so many boxes. So, pour yourself a drink and imagine you are in a Los Angeles night club circa 1965 and nod your head and tap your feet to the cool sounds of The Wayne Powell Octet.
Cheers! Until next time - Dom