Harold Land: The Fox—Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series (Vinyl)
Harold Land (1928 – 2001) is yet another tenor player who had escaped my (limited) scope of jazz knowledge. Not only an escapee but a giant among tenorists. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Sonny, Stan and Coltrane. If you don’t know his playing, yes, it’s that good.
Of course, jazz aficionados have known about Land all along; his giant hardbop/postbop chops and his accomplishments in composition. The Fox, from 1960 is a perfect vehicle to highlight both. But much like Booker Ervin, Land’s contemporary and another unsung giant tenor playing now benefitting from the jazz reissue onslaught (find my recent review of his Tex Book Tenor from the Blue Note Tone Poet Series here), getting to know these musical giants has been an absolute pleasure. And an education.
The Fox is instructive (and highly entertaining) in so many ways. Land gives a masterclass in hard bop playing, encouraging his sidemen to feats of virtuosity that only a good recording could highlight. And this is a good recording as streamed, but the new remaster by Bernie Grundman takes it up many notches. More on the sound later.
Like all brilliant, confident, musicians, Land surrounds himself with excellence. They include:
Dupree Bolton - trumpet
Elmo Hope - piano
Herbie Lewis - bass
Frank Butler - drums
Track listing
"The Fox" (Land) 5:36
"Mirror Mind Rose" (Hope) 6:32
"One Second, Please" (Hope) 5:51
"Sims A-Plenty" (Hope) 6:17
"Little Chris" (Land) 5:10
"One Down" (Hope) 7:23
Notice the compositions, two by Land and four by yet another unsung player/composer, Elmo Hope. Land is very complimentary about all his collaborators on Leonard Feather’s jacket notes, with Elmo Hope as “one of the first and most original pianists to emerge from the bop era”.
Herbie Lewis, bass and Frank Butler on drums, both hitherto unknown to me, stick to Land like glue. Whether at lightning speed (“The Fox”) or ballad (“Mirror-Mind Rose”), both are exceptional.
Most interesting as far as (tragic) backstory goes is with trumpeter Dupree Bolton (1929-1993)—geez, Booker, Lee, Clifford, Woody, etc, the trumpet tragedy never ends! Land says: “He had a unique, fresh quality—something different. If things had worked out right for him, he could have been one of the most important trumpet players of our time”. The time was 1959.
Bolton ran away from home at 14 to be a musician, and soon after, the road and heroin (that old chesnut!), then almost a lifelong incarceration for drug related crimes. Another wasted life. And wait ‘till you hear him on The Fox. Land continues, “this album furnishes a magnificent example of the grandeur of his playing”.
Sound
The playing by all throughout is magnificent with fabulous ensemble and brave, far reaching solos. The rhythmic engine is tight and propels Land and Bolton to feats of greatness.
What a coup for jazz fans that The Fox was chosen for the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series. And another feather for choice of remastering engineer, Bernie Grundman. It’s another Grundman magic carpet ride—accurate timbre, excellent instrumental placement and a natural rhythmic flow in the soundstage. The uptempo charts, “The Fox” and side two opener Hope’s “Sims A-Plenty” literally explode out of the speakers. It’s a musical and audiophile thrill ride. But everything is in perfect focus courtesy of Grundman.
Interestingly, no Rudy or Roy on the original board. This time it’s Art Becker and David Wiechman engineering with David Axelrod producing. It was recorded in LA at Radio Recorders in August of ‘59. The LP was released in 1960 on Hifijazz then recut for Contemporary in 1969. It’s positively Rudy-esque re instrumental placement, Land, Hope left, Bolton hard right,,but a little more fill with bass and some drum strokes flirting with the centre.
As always with these first class Craft products, it was cut AAA from the original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP, and presented in a tip-on jacket.
Harold Land — The Fox (April 12, 2024) available for pre order at Craft Records. No financial affiliation, but Audiophilia thanks Jacob Mask of Craft for providing an advance copy for our readers.
