Charles Tolliver - LYDIALIEBMAN.COM

Live at the Captain’s Cabin
Release Date: November 23, 2024
Label: Reel to Real

The superlative trumpeter Charles Tolliver first stepped into the spotlight in the mid-1960s, as a sideman to the great saxophonistJackie McLean; in 1971, he co-founded Strata-East Records, a nexus of hard bop and spiritual jazz, with undersung piano genius Stanley Cowell. Tolliver took a decades-long recording hiatus, and reemerged in the new millennium, kicking off a creative streak that continues apace; 2020’s Connect was met with critical accolades, including four and a half stars from All About Jazz: “The album finds Tolliver still at the top of his game.”

If Tolliver remains at the top of his game, Live at the Captain’s Cabin — recorded in March of 1973 — arguably represents him reaching that summit. Tolliver cultivated his skills as a bandleader by learning from mentors like Jackie McLean, Horace Silver, and Max Roach. The latter, for whom Tolliver regularly worked in the 1960s ― offered Tolliver room to perform, write, arrange, and learn what it takes to lead with confidence, vision, and brotherhood.

After more than a decade of such tutelage, Tolliver stepped out as a leader in 1968. The following year, he created the Music Inc. Quartet, with Stanley Cowell, bassist Cecil McBee, and drummer Jimmy Hopps. Over the next five years, Tolliver made a name for himself as an adventurous powerhouse, a brilliantly virtuosic musician, bandleader, and arranger.

The early 1970s shifted jazz into previously uncharted territory, under the influence of emergent hard rock and electronic instrumentation. To contend with the magnitude of volume and power harnessed by rock bands, Jazz musicians began utilizing larger drum kits and amplified bass; hybrid styles like jazz rock, jazz funk, and jazz soul materialized. On Live at the Captain’s Cabin, you hear Tolliver and company — foundationally steeped in the bebop tradition — taking risks of their own, bridging bebop with more modal and avant-garde aesthetics, rooted in the paths forged by Coltrane’s later work.

Therein, Tolliver and this stellar incarnation of Music Inc. ― pianist John Hicks, bassist Clint Houston, and drummer Cliff Barbaro ― appear in superb form, during a tour that took them across Canada and the West Coast. Located near downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, The Captain’s Cabin was an intimate, roughly 100-capacity underground venue, concealed beneath a grocery store.

To Tolliver’s recollection, the recording of the live set wasn’t planned. “We just went on and wailed away like we normally did,” he says. Tolliver attributes the cohesive spontaneity of the set to the consistency of being together on the road, and avoiding over-rehearsing to keep the proceedings fresh and exciting: “By the time we got to Edmonton, I mean, we were a pretty tight band.”

The energy required to play with Tolliver was a paramount factor in his recruitment process. “I always used John Hicks,” the maestro explains. “We started together before I even met Stanley [Cowell], so that was always my go-to pianist. And I loved how Clint Houston was playing at the time, and so I brought him on board. And a young Clifford Barbaro… had the kind of drive that was necessary for the group.”

The set consists of a mixture of previously recorded and new compositions, all composed by Tolliver, with the exception of the album opener, “Black Vibrations,” written by Houston, and the Neal Hefti standard “Repetition.”

The band takes off like a rocket with “Black Vibrations,” with exhilarating solos from Tolliver, Hicks, and Houston, and Barbaro’s absolutely explosive drumming. “Drums are essential to every success, either in the studio or on the bandstand,” Tolliver asserts. “You could be one of the greatest articulating artists on whatever your instrument is ― it don’t mean anything if the drummer isn’t in sync. It’s the drums that make it fly.”

“Earl’s World,” written for Tolliver’s younger brother, originally appears on his Charles Tolliver and His All-Stars debut, which featured Herbie Hancock, Gary Bartz, Ron Carter, and Joe Chambers. The live version of this lilting tune, which features a fantastic bass intro from Houston, possesses a fervor that Tolliver progressively builds on over every chorus of the vacillating groove.

Tolliver dazzlingly solos over the entirety of the high intensity “Impact,” with the rhythm section driving the odd-metered groove. Hicks would later interpret the anthemic song on his 1979 trio album, After the Morning. Tolliver also arranged it for orchestra on his 1976 album of the same name. Captivatingly, Tolliver’s performance on Captain’s Cabin effortlessly replicates the energy of an entire big band from his single horn.

“Compassion,” a mid-tempo waltz, opens with a flourishing solo from Hicks. Characterized largely in part by his dynamic energy, Hicks is ethereal here. Barbaro’s loose and swirling drums brilliantly envelop Tolliver’s solo while Houston’s remarkably fluid bass, gifting beautiful countermelodies throughout, is a sublime grounding force holding them all together. “To arrive in this artform as a trumpet player, one needs to have gotten a handle on playing a ballad, you know?” says Tolliver. “With a good tone and the ability to tell a story.”

Written while Tolliver was in college, “Truth” was first recorded on Jackie McLean’s 1964 Blue Note recording, It’s Time, featuring Tolliver, Herbie Hancock, Cecil McBee, and Roy Haynes. “Truth,” which stands as this album’s sole ballad, eventually gives way to an intensifying mid-tempo swing, before the band settles into a resplendent finale.

“Repetition,” initially popularized by Charlie Parker, is performed at a dizzying pace, with Tolliver and Hicks drawing on one another’s vivacity, keeping each other on their toes throughout. Barbaro and Houston are in sensational stride, keeping up with Tolliver’s limitless and stunning phraseology and potency. The aptly titled “Stretch” closes the set with Houston, Hicks, then Tolliver taking breathtaking, extended solos over almost 17 minutes of bebop-inspired, hard-swinging jazz.

Fifty-one years after this recording, there is much to be inspired by in listening to this set. Tolliver and his group are undoubtedly some of the foremost influencers of the generation that followed. Their conspicuous passion ― activated by youth, brilliance, and a determination to be heard over the often thunderous din of oppression and systemic inequities ― clearly resonates today.