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Living Black!

by

Charles Earland

 
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Living Black!
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Avg: 4.0 (16 ratings)

The Burner torches this live set from Newark.

  • We Say...

    Review by Dan Epstein

    A giant of the jazz organ, Earland was known to his colleagues as "The Burner," supposedly because sitting in his groove was like riding in a souped-up luxury vehicle. Though he recorded a number of classic records, Living Black! — recorded in 1970 at the Key Club in Newark, with a young Grover Washington, Jr. on tenor sax — gets the nod here because it shows just how ferociously Earland could, yes, burn in a live setting.

  • They Say...

    Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

    Recorded in 1970 at the Key Club, Living Black! is notable for many reasons, not the least of which is that it showcased Earland in a live setting at his most inspired. From choosing his sidemen to material to reading the audience to pure instrumental execution, there isn't a weak moment on this date, nor a sedentary one. Earland makes the band roll on all burners from the git and never lets up. Consisting of four extended tunes, there's the burning rhythm and stomp of "Key Club Cookout," which blazes with wisdom and rhythm fire. Earland's own soloing is revelatory, but it is the way he drags absolutely unexpected performances from his sidemen that makes him so special as a bandleader. In this case, Grover Washington never played like this again on a record; deep in the soul groove on his tenor, he turned it inside out, looking for new embouchures in which to get the sounds out of the horn. He dug deep inside his trick bag and left no one wanting. Likewise, guitarist Maynard Parker, who came from the Chicago blues school, gets to exercise that side of his West Side soul personality -- check out his break on "Westbound No. 9." The long blues strut of "Killer Joe" is what drives the tune, the longest track on the record. It features a slow, strolling horn line from Washington and trumpeter Gary Chandler that opens out onto a gorgeously pastoral frame before popping out with the blues feel once again. Parker's guitar playing fills all the places Earland chooses not to, so the band's density is total. There is a moving and instrumentally astonishing short version of "Milestones" that closes the set, but it wasn't even necessary. Everybody who was there, no doubt -- as well as any listener with blood instead of sawdust in her or his veins -- had their minds blown long before.

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