View basket “Steamin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet” has been added to your basket. Roots Ian Carr’s Nucleus SKU: BEWITH102LP Barcode: 4251804125376 22.00 £22.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Be With Records Released Date: 5th November 2021 Buying Format: 1LP Out of stock Back Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info What an unbelievable record. From the wild cover to the iconic breakbeats, Roots from Ian Carr’s Nucleus is one of the dopest albums we know. This is seriously thick, funky-prog jazz-rock heaven. Originally released on Vertigo in 1973, other than a couple of versions at the time for other territories, Roots was never re-pressed since so it’s gone on to become another one of those impossible to find records. Maybe it was a little too out there for the time, but it’s aged very, very well indeed and this Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to “recognise rigid boundaries” and worked on delivering what they saw as a “total musical experience”. We can get behind that. Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels. Working together with producer Fritz Fryer and engineer Roger Wake, the seven compositions by Carr, Brian Smith and Dave MacRae that make up Roots flirt with perfection, and Nucleus at that time made up of the cream of 1970s UK jazz with Brian Smith on tenor saxophones and flutes, Dave MacRae on piano and electric piano, Jocelyn Pitchen on guitar, Roger Sutton on bass, both Clive Thacker and Aureo De Souza on drums and percussion, Joy Yates delivering the vocals and of course Carr on trumpet. The spellbinding title track immediately renders the album indispensable. Riding the illest of loping breakbeats, “Roots” is low-slung, doped-out heist-funk. An absolute monster. If it sounds familiar then that’s likely down to it being sampled by Madlib for Lootpack and Quasimoto’s “Loop Digga”, as well as by a whole host of beat manipulators. “Roots” conjures prime instrumental hip-hop / beat music, only 20 years ahead of its time. Truly, these are the roots. Through sinuous bass, twinkling keys and a hypnotic guitar riff, a smoky brass motif weaves its way into a gloriously deep haze around Carr’s solos. “Roots” is over 9 minutes long, but there’s not a single wasted second, not surprising given that this is a condensed version of an originally 40 minute long commissioned composition. The soothing vocal fusion delight of “Images” follows. Meticulously constructed, with gorgeous flute work from Brian Smith, with Joy Yates’ silky vocals and Dave MacRae’s Rhodes never sounding better. The cool, driving “Caliban” closes out the first side. Originally the third movement in a four part commission to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday it stands up on its own, all robust rhythms and blended brass. Keyboard colour and Carr’s trumpet are splashed across the funk drums and basslines (and there’s even some bamboo flute). This really is fusion: the elements of jazz and rock coming together in beautifully synthesis. Side two opens in riotous fashion with the short, thrilling samba of “Wapatiti”. Next up, “Capricorn” forms a smoothed-out, jazzy constellation. Mellow and dreamy, its twinkling percussion and languid horns slowly build the vibe before head-nod drums and a killer bassline enter the fray. With a distinct heaviness that Black Sabbath would’ve envied, “Odokamona” is a venomous slice of riff-soaked jazz metal (yes, you read that right), elevated by Carr’s wah-wah horns. The album closes with MacRae’s exceptionally cosmic “Southern Roots and Celebration”. Very much in conversation with Weather Report, it opens as a languorous, spiritual jazz of chiming keys and serene guitar that turns slowly, gorgeously into a mid-paced, brass-laced banger. It’s another sure-fire party starter and the sound of the band having a righteous blast, building an ecstatic chaos that ends with Yates screaming. And of course we need to talk about Keith Davis’ cover for Roots. Perhaps the coolest record cover of all time? Certainly one of the most bonkers. Just your run-of-the-mill high-gloss, acid-tinged airbrush dystopian/utopian living-room party scene. Consider this your chemical flashback trigger warning. Front-and-centre the hip-to-death green robot holds court with their giant ball of yellow barbwire wool, hooked up to… something(?) being teased out from under the stairs (probably best not to ask). A thoroughly zoned-out, long-legged Pop Art party-goer lounges half-plugged in to the painting behind her as a pair of legs flail into shot from the the top of the stairs opposite. We won’t even begin to guess what the chap’s up to in the middle, but the view out of the windows is rather nice, and someone’s already got the hoover out ready to tidy up. All of the Nucleus sleeves are something special, but this particular one? Crikey. This Be With edition of Roots has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Pete Norman’s cut to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. The crazy cover has been restored at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue. Artist Ian Carr’s Nucleus Genre Jazz Label Be With Records Buying Options 1LP Format 1LP Condition New Country UK Track Listings Roots Images Caliban Whapatiti Capricorn Odokamona Southern Roots And Celebration Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Jazz View Product Quick View Jakob Bro & Arve Henriksen & Jorge Rossy Uma Elmo Jazz | ECM | 1LP Released 26th March 2021 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Jakob Bro & Arve Henriksen & Jorge Rossy Uma Elmo £19.00 Genre: Jazz Label: ECM SKU: 3542716 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 26th March 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Randy Brecker The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion Jazz | Moosicus Records | 180g, 2LP Released 2nd December 2013 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Randy Brecker The Brecker Brothers Band Reunion £22.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Moosicus Records SKU: M12171 Formats: 180g, 2LP Released Date: 2nd December 2013 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Dizzy Gillespie Cubana Be, Cubana Bop Jazz | BMG Records | 1LP Released 19th October 2018 £13.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Dizzy Gillespie Cubana Be, Cubana Bop £13.00 Genre: Jazz Label: BMG Records SKU: 4050538421361 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 19th October 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Charles Lloyd Trios: Chapel Jazz | Blue Note | 1LP Released 24th June 2022 £24.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Charles Lloyd Trios: Chapel £24.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Blue Note SKU: 4526650 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 24th June 2022 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Nimbus Sextet Forward Thinker Jazz | Acid Jazz | 1LP Released 27th May 2022 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Nimbus Sextet Forward Thinker £22.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Acid Jazz SKU: AJXLP637 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 27th May 2022 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Gerard Wilson Moment Of Truth Jazz | Blue Note Tone Poet | 180g, 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released 3rd June 2022 £33.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Gerard Wilson Moment Of Truth £33.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Blue Note Tone Poet SKU: 3573206 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 3rd June 2022 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Ornette Coleman Tomorrow is the Question Jazz | Concord Jazz | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 27th April 2015 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Ornette Coleman Tomorrow is the Question £20.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Concord Jazz SKU: 7235973 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 27th April 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Concertgebouw 1961 (The Lost Recordings) Jazz | The Lost Recordings | CD Released 12th September 2023 £TBC Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Concertgebouw 1961 (The Lost Recordings) £TBC Genre: Jazz Label: The Lost Recordings SKU: FON 1604023 Formats: CD Released Date: 12th September 2023 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Ahmad Jamal Marseille Jazz | Jazz Village | 180g, 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes Download Code Released 19th December 2017 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Ahmad Jamal Marseille £20.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Jazz Village SKU: JV3357014243 Formats: 180g, 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes Download Code Released Date: 19th December 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Miles Davis ESP Jazz | Impex Records | 180g, 1LP Released 10th January 2014 £45.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Miles Davis ESP £45.00 Genre: Jazz Label: Impex Records SKU: AIMX6018 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 10th January 2014 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Jazz Start again
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