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Recorded Live At The Village Gate'New York'December 9'1963

Milt Jackson-vibraphone
Jimmy Heath-tenor sax
Hank Jones-piano
Bob Cranshaw-bass
Alber "Tootie" Heath-drums

The idea to try to explore jazz interpretations of masterpieces by the Great Polish Romantic Composer has been deep on Andrzej Jagodzinski’s mind for ages, patiently awaiting its realisation. However the concept definitely needed a meeting of kindred spirits with a similar approach to the music. And it looks as if we finally succeeded – here we are with our fifth record from Chopin’s Collection. This project has been magically germinating within us for the last fifteen years.
We released our first CD „Chopin” in 1994 which became a bestseller (Best Record ‘94 Award for the disc „Chopin” - „Jazz Forum Magazine” readers poll and „Fryderyk’94” - Polish Show Business Award for the disc „Chopin”, as well as Laurel „Melomani ‘94” - by Association of Jazz Music Fans in Łódź). At this point our adventures were only about to begin... Chopin simply conquered our minds.
CD cover In 1995 we recorded the second „Chopin” - „Andrzej Jagodziński Trio: Chopin - Live At The National Philharmonic”, and then next projects followed: „Chopin Once More - Special Guest Janusz Olejniczak” (1999), which was recognized a Golden Disc 2000 Year and had its French edition as „Chopin- Metamorphosis Andrzej Jagodzinski Trio - Janusz Olejniczak”. In 2009 the time had finally come to record the great „Sonata in B flat minor”.
While recording our first album, we were aware we were walking on slippery ground, we couldn’t foresee whether or not the audience were ready for such an experiment, nor to what extent. However we were continuously presenting our music: first in Europe and then - encouraged by the zeal of our audience - throughout the world: Mexico and Siberia, USA, Argentina and China, Lebanon and Izrael... We played Our Chopin in The Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, but also out in the open air in Chicago Park.
CD cover Now, having fifteen years of experience and our fans’ approval, we needn’t be worried - there seems to be no risk! The idea has been proved, interpretations have become so well engrained, some arrangements have been enriched and there is no doubt that it is possible to play them as jazz standards - nobody will now blame us for „ruining monuments”.
Therefore we decided to recapitulate our experience and approach to Chopin’s works once again, organizing the material in two separate performances.
These two discs - together with „Sonata in B flat minor” - fully reflect our actual comprehension of The Great Romantic’s work, which continue to stimulate us both intellectually and emotionally. It still does! - Therefore we have not uttered our last word!
We invite you to immerse yourselves into a marvelous harmony of Chopin’s music! We dedicate this album to our Maestro and we are very happy to pay homage to him on his 200th anniversary!
All compositions by F. Chopin arranged by Andrzej Jagodziński
Produced by Andrzej Jagodziński, Adam Cegielski
and Czesław Bartkowski
Recorded at RecPublica Studios, Lubrza, July 2009
© 2010 Studio Realizacji Mysli Twórczych

Genre/Style: Jazz / Soul-Jazz / Fusion / Flute / Spiritual Jazz
Format: mp3

The first thing to know about Lloyd McNeill is that his are the very best soul-jazz flute LPs, and each is first-rate, a masterpiece of self-direction. The second thing to know is there is much more to him than his recorded legacy. He is one of those incredible, super-sensitive people who excels at every artistic idiom and endeavor; making wonderful music is just part of his flowing creativity. A professor (at Rutgers University, earlier Dartmouth), he has much to say about music and creativity as well as an impeccable gift for saying it...sensibly. McNeill's writings on his musical experiences provide invaluable documents of "the period" (late 1960s-1970s) as well as a rare glimpse at the joy of a relatively unsung master.

Born in Washington, DC in 1935, McNeill earned his B.A. at Morehouse College in Atlanta and also studied painting at Howard University in his home town and lithography at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He has taught variously painting, illustration, and music at Dartmouth, Howard, Spelman, and Livingston College at Rutgers University. Films he has scored include "To Market, To Market," "TV Education in Samoa," and "Summer in the Parks." Also his quartet provided the music for the Spoken Arts LP "The Dream Awake."

McNeill has played with jazz legends --Andrew White (his longtime collaborator/producer), Eric Dolphy, Sabu Martinez, Mulatu Astatke, among many others-- and he has had a significant hand in the arts scene of Washington, D.C. The major galleries of art, including those of the Smithsonian, sponsored multi-media "happenings" that soared far above the hippie caricature of acid rock with light show. During the first flowering of post-Civil Rights, African-American culture, the Lloyd McNeill Quartet's improvisitory, simultaneuous jazz and large-scale painting "happened" while a lucky, perhaps unsuspecting public drank it in.

McNeill believes his influences and their results in his art, music, and poetry are inseparable and mutually reinforcing. Time spent with Picasso in Cannes, 1965 led to new expressions in all three, for instance. And when one brushes against a force such as Picasso, just the idea of "meeting Picasso" has a certain momentum, never mind the inevitable casting of rays of a different kind of light. Canvas, vinyl, the stage, paper, and books of poetry offer a few key imprints of McNeill, and McNeill consistently pays tribute to many illustrious peers.

There are six principal albums, all produced and entirely under the artist's control. Each title surpasses anything comparable on the major labels, even Blue Note. The Black Jazz label may be roughly similar in style, but Asha and Baobab are wholly Lloyd McNeill. The records reflect none of the usual external trends from the decade in which they were recorded; all sound like 1971 rather than 1979. The final record even reprises the first (the exotic, broodingly moody "Asha"), and the sound throughout remains somewhat interchangeable and timeless. But each record has its own themes and currents, and even improvisation has its signatures and fingerprints.