Harold Land – Choma (Burn) LP WeWantSounds (UK)

Wewantsounds presents this reissue of Harold Land‘s 1971 Mainstream Records LP Choma (Burn), recorded in Los Angeles with Bobby Hutcherson and featuring Reggie Johnson on bass, Ndugu and Woody Theus on drums, Bill Henderson and Harold Land Jr. on piano/Fender Rhodes. Together the musicians create a superb spiritual mix of funky and modal jazz that was the trademark of the Harold Land-Bobby Hutcherson quintet between 1968 and 1972. Choma (Burn) is reissued here in its original gatefold artwork with all the photos scanned from first generation negatives recently found in the Mainstream Records vaults, and comes with newly remastered audio and a two-page insert including new liner notes by Kevin Le Gendre. Growing up in San Diego, and settling in Los Angeles early on, Harold Land became a pioneer of the hard bop style by recording with the Clifford Brown–Max Roach Quintet in 1954. Through his involvement with the quintet, he became acquainted to Bob Shad who had produced the recordings on his EmArcy label. Becoming a prominent voice on the West Coast jazz scene at the end of the ’50s, Land recorded many albums for Pacific Jazz as a leader and, in the late ’60s, he started a fruitful collaboration with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson forming the Harold Land/Bobby Hutcherson Quintet in 1968. The quintet would last until the early ’70s and record a handful of highly acclaimed albums for Blue Note, Cadet and Mainstream Records. Choma (Burn), comprised of four tracks, has an interesting instrumentation and features two drummers — Ndugu and Woody “Sonship” Theus — playing simultaneously alongside Reggie Johnson’s chunky double bass and Bill Henderson and Harold Land Jr.’s piano and Fender Rhodes. A must have for all fans of the Harold Land-Bobby Hutcherson Quintet fans, Choma (Burn) catches the musicians at the height of their creative peak.