FORCES OF NATURE

On 22nd November Blue Note Records will release Forces Of Nature: Live At Slugs‘, a previously unheard live performance starring two giants of modern jazz: pianist McCoy Tyner and tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. The concert, which also features bassist Henry Grimes and legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette, then just 23, was recorded in 1966 at Slugs, a famous jazz club in Manhattan’s East Village by the redoubtable audio engineer Orville O’Brien, who recorded several classic jazz albums, including Freddie Hubbard’s The Night of the Cookers, Ornette Coleman’s Friends And Neighbors – Ornette Live At Prince Street, and Alice Coltrane’s Journey to Satchidananda. The 1/4″ master reel has been kept safe for the past 58 years by DeJohnette, who stored it in his personal music archive. He and his wife Lydia co-produced the project with Zev Feldman, an intrepid producer and jazz archeologist renowned for his lovingly curated deluxe issues of rare live recordings.

The set includes an epic, 26-minute take on Henderson’s classic composition, ‘In ‘N Out.’ Another iconic Henderson tune ‘Isotope,’ is also featured and available to download and stream today. The music, available as a 2-LP and 2-CD set, comes housed in a deluxe sleeve and a thick booklet packed with copious liner notes and pertinent observations by leading jazz musicians, including Jason Moran, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Nasheet Waits, and Terri Lyne Carrington.

The 2-LP 180g vinyl set is transferred from the original tape reel and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, who also mastered the 2-CD and digital.

Says Blue Note’s boss Don Was: “This recording of an absolutely extraordinary night at Slugs’ in 1966 takes us on a wild journey to the furthest reaches of these songs… Messrs. Henderson, Tyner, DeJohnette and Grimes take their time exploring every back alley and side street written into the compositions… a peek into a very special moment in time.”

‘ Isotope’ is released today and is available to listen to HERE

Forces Of Nature: Live At Slugs’ will be released on 22nd November 2024