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Unity

LP

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 140 ratings

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Unity (Remastered / Rudy Van Gelder Edition) Amazon Music Unlimited
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Vinyl, March 25, 2014

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.52 x 12.32 x 0.2 inches; 10.23 ounces
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Blue Note
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ December 21, 2013
  • Label ‏ : ‎ Blue Note
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00HG30CE8
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 140 ratings

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
140 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2019
    Larry Young along with Woody Shaw, both young NJ jazzmen who left the scene far to young, but left behind some outstanding work of which this is the perfect example. Remaster of a Rudy Van Gelder Studio production, the sound is clear crisp, and balanced. Listening makes me wonder why anyone wants to sacrifice such sound quality for mp-3!!
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2020
    Larry Young's name is upfront, but this is a great ensemble.
    Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson and Elvin Jones: Awesome!
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2016
    Orig. 1965; reissued 1999. LY, org; Woody Shaw, tpt; Joe Henderson, ten sax; Elvin Jones, dr.

    When I first heard this album, it didn’t do anything for me. I think I had been expecting something more out of the norm, maybe an early variant on the Mahavishnu Orchestra. (Four years after this session, Young did record with John McLaughlin in the Tony Williams Lifetime.) What this album is, and I missed it then, is a high-level funk-bop album, of the type produced around then by such as Wayne Shorter, Donald Byrd, Bobby Hutcherson and others. It’s a good one too, not least because Young surrounded himself with premiere talent. Woody Shaw was a virtuoso who had just joined or was about to join the Horace Silver quintet, had been friends with Eric Dolphy and was exploring the musical innovations of John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. As for tenor player Henderson, already fluent, he would go on to be one of the premiere tenor sax players in jazz. It’s not necessary to tout the talents of drummer Jones. In 1965, he was at the peak of his career, a formidable drummer who unleashed a torrent of polyrhythmic sound behind any group he powered. Actually, that points to my only reservation about this quite good album. Even on re-listening, I feel Jones is too much for the group. I have never found his solo work that interesting to listen to: it’s technically fluent, even amazing at times, but for this group, with these players, I feel less would have been more. Who would have fit better? Tony Williams perhaps, or someone like Dannie Richmond? I don’t know but Jones’s drumming is intrusive. There is, of course, no bass player for the session because Young’s feet play the bass line, which is adequate but not innovative. But then, I’m not sure innovation was what distinguishes Young here. What is impressive is how well, and fluently, he plays single note bop lines on the recalcitrant keys of his Hammond B-3 organ (the best of all electric organs to play jazz on).
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2015
    I bought this for the Henderson- Shaw collaboration but it is first of all a Larry Young recording .He takes charge all the way with a very complete concept of what he wants his music to sound like. He was a major loss to the jazz world. There certainly is nothing wrong with Henderson and Shaw's playing either.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2022
    true genius
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2015
    True Talent and Humble Brother Larry Young RIP my Brother he shared well on his
    organ and those he played with mainly Woody Shaw, May they both RIP true talented Brothers
    from the Big Band era right along with my Dad RIP Dad. Kudos to my Big Band Family.
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2017
    an outstanding jazz album. I highly recommend it for fans of bebop and post bebop jazz. That said, the opening track has a military style beat which to me is unappealing.
    I always skip that track.
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2015
    This is a great album, I purchased the 75 anniversary edition Vinyl fro a local record shop and when I opened it, it was warped. I managed to fix it easily using the heated ceramic tile method. (yep, google it!) There are a few spots also where there is some slight distortion. I don't have the original LP or the CD so I am not sure if it is inherent just in this vinyl release, but I assume it is. Worth it though if you love the sounds of vinyl, and nothing beats seeing that cool blue note label on an LP, since I can't afford the high prices of the originals.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Lecordier Patrick
    5.0 out of 5 stars Bonne prestation
    Reviewed in France on July 14, 2021
    Ce disque avec Elvin Jones ...
  • Pier Morandi
    5.0 out of 5 stars Talento, sensibilità e una punta di magia.
    Reviewed in Italy on October 16, 2018
    Unity fu uno dei capisaldi e dischi di culto della vecchia e cara Blue Note.
    Larry Young, lontano dallo stile più classico (o fruibile) di Jimmy Smith, si muove su un terreno fatto di ricerca e sperimentazione.
    E’ una sperimentazione, ancor oggi 2018, viva e fresca, ma questo fatto, oltre ad essere un merito acquisito di Unity, rappresenta anche un brutto segno, perché mostra il generale appiattimento culturale della musica di oggi (e non solo della musica); un declino che vaga alla ricerca di una confezione più che di un contenuto.
    (Ovviamente le eccezioni ci sono, ma sono rarità…)

    Il quartetto, con Joe Henderson al tenore, Woody Shaw alla tromba, il vulcanico Elvin Jones alla batteria, il nostro Larry Young all’Hammond, è fortemente ispirato e mostra grande interplay fra i musicisti ed un groove generale (anche per merito dell’attenzione di Fred Lion e del suono Van Gelder) di assoluta meraviglia.

    Atmosfera, idee, talento, fra le mura di Englewood Cliffs, sotto gli occhi compiaciuti di Alfred Lion, Francis Wolff e Rudy Van Gelder. La copertina, del solito Reid Miles, è un’altra opera d’arte, modernista e minimalista.

    La famiglia Blue Note è, come sempre, al completo e fa di tutto per coccolarsi i musicisti. E’ però una famiglia allargata, perché ai nostri dobbiamo aggiungere Michael Cuscuna, l’uomo che darà nuova vita, anni dopo, alla vecchia Blue Note in profonda crisi, producendo riedizioni e ristampe fatte d’amore e di qualità, che le daranno luce eterna.

    Solito librettino con le note originali di Nat Hentoff, unite a quelle del 1999 del solito Bob Blumenthal.

    Unity fa parte della cerchia degli albums che non possono mancare negli scaffali di un appassionato, ma anche (o soprattutto) di un giovane che voglia conoscere e capire cosa capitò in quegli anni fatti di sensibilità e magia.
  • ランドルト環
    5.0 out of 5 stars ハモンドオルガンのモダンな奏法を開拓したモーダル・ジャズの名作
    Reviewed in Japan on July 26, 2021
    トニー・ウィリアムス・ライフタイムの『Emergency!』(1969年)やマイルス・デイヴィスの『Bitches Brew』(1969年)への参加で知られるアメリカ合衆国のジャズ・オルガン奏者/ピアニスト、ラリー・ヤング(Larry Young)のリーダー作としては最も有名なアルバム。

    1965年に録音され、1966年にブルーノート・レコーズから発売された。

    ウディ・ショウ(trumpet)、ジョー・ヘンダーソン(tenor saxophone)、エルヴィン・ジョーンズ(drums)、ラリー・ヤング(organ)による2管ベースレスのクァルテットによる演奏。ベースパートはオルガンのベースペダルで演奏。

    ジョン・コルトレーンの影響下、ジミー・スミスのアーシーなソウルジャズとは異なるハモンドオルガン(B-3)のモダンな奏法を開拓したモーダル・ジャズの名作。

    「Zoltan」はゾルターン・コダーイの組曲「ハーリ・ヤーノシュ」のマーチの引用で始まる。

    「Monk’s Dream」はセロニアス・モンクの曲。

    「Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise」(朝日のごとくさわやかに)はシグマンド・ロンバーグ作曲のスタンダード曲。
  • KaleHawkwood
    5.0 out of 5 stars Together
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2012
    Unity is a perfect name for this pretty much perfect jazz album. As someone who`s new to Larry Young - not having exactly made a beeline for records featuring organ before - I am delighted and excited by this quartet of Young on organ, the always resourceful Joe Henderson on tenor sax, the terrific Woody Shaw on trumpet and Mr Ubiquity himself, the irrepressible Elvin Jones on drums.
    The opener Zoltan, composed by Shaw, starts with a bar or two of martial drumming (Jones sounding more like Blackwell or Roach, with their `woody` attack) then the leader`s organ is there in a clear spray of notes and the number is underway. Henderson shines on his solo. A great track.
    Next is Monk`s Dream, with organ to the fore form the off. Young isn`t a `funky` organist, and has the smoothest, clearest tone of any I`ve heard, with a lyrical, impressionistic approach which reminds me not a little of one of my favourite musicians, vibist Bobby Hutcherson.
    One excellent aspect of this set is that there`s so much room for each musician to breathe. And no bass player! Young and an explosive Jones bop around this Monk tune as a duet, no brass on this one.
    Shaw & Henderson, as if impatient to be back in the fray, blast off the tenor`s own number If, a swinging affair which boasts some of Joe`s most Trane-like playing, before Shaw comes in, his trumpet a balm to the ears as he extemporises a fine, treble-heavy solo behind an insistent Young and percussive Jones.
    That`s half the album. The rest is just as good. Shaw has two more of his own, The Moontrane, a wonderful track with urgent solos all round, and the closer Beyond All Limits, an apt name for this modest marvel of an record. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise is as exultant as its title, a fast workout which brings a big grin to my face when I hear it.
    There are no ballads, which is odd in a way, as one would have loved to have heard these guys in mellower mood. But no matter.
    Unlike many in the exemplary Rudy Van Gelder reissues from Blue Note, there are no extra tracks, and what a good thing that turns out to be. After all, we get forty minutes packed with great music beautifully executed, Larry Young`s sensitive playing underpinning nearly every bar of these six well chosen tunes. No need for more. This Nov 1965 recording is as close to impeccable as jazz gets.
    I will be playing Unity regularly for a very long time. It`s an addictive, highly `listenable` set, with a quartet so together, their instruments complementing each other so well, and so often unexpectedly, that every note sounds like a discovery, for the players and for us.
    Essential.
  • Liam R
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great ensemble playing, headed by organ
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 27, 2023
    Loved this album, I though it might be unavailable, but got it on Amazon for a good price