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-—___'Thnraday, January 5. H84 - THE CHARLOTTE POST - PwlB -^.
Releases
arious Artists
Newly-discovered live
^recording of Mile* Davis
and Thekmious Monk, both
f. showing off each artist at
the prime of their careers,
' ; highlight tUs week’s issue
. fit she new entries in the .
much-praised Contem
porary Masters Series on
Columbia Records. Hie re
lease also includes sets of
guitarist Kenny Burrell,
f trombonist A1 Grey, and
multi-artist compilations of
various instrumentalists
and various vocalists.
This is the sixth batch of
Contemporary Masters
albumf in as many years,
and represents the third
appearance by Mile* Davis
in the series. Heard ’Reend
The World is a doubte-LP
cert dnrisg^ltM tours of
one and twowere recorded
liveMKohsefaieiiMin Hall in
?i; Tokyo with a group com
prising Miles on trumpet,
Sam Rivers on tenor saxo
George Butler
....Charlotte native
and drummer Tony Will
iams. Sides three and four
w|re recorded at Berlin’s
“Berliner Jazztage ’64”
with Miles backed again by
Hancock, Carter, and Will
iams, and Wayne Shorter
on tenor sax. Liner Notes
were written by Gary Gid
dins.
The fourth set of life
TVeknious Monk double
LP performances in the
Contemporary Masters
Series is simply titled
Puppets Are Critters?
that
Puppeteers Donald
Devft, Drew Allison and
DeeBraxton use about 20
lln eight skits. They
v f in black theater
which means they
are fufly visible, not hid
den beneath the puppet
atage. Almost immediately
yen forget about them
since each wears a Hack
tunic and gloves and what
kjflta^Hke • beekeeper’s
While younsterB should
enjoy Gray Seal’s more
adveutursonie moments,
their elders win bring an
extra appreciative edge to
tgo dancing draftsmen’s
lamps, the clown with the
rsvjsrtfole face, the mind
sets of dancing foam fact.
This award whining show
received Us national
premiere at tbePuppeteer*
of American National Fes
tival held this year in
Ames, Iowa
"'if w <ZF7*t»
Tokyo Concerts. All four
sides were produced by Teo
Macero, recorded live at
Tokyo’s Sankei Hall on
May 21,1963. Joining Monk
(Hi piano and Charlie Rouse
on tenor saxophone were
bassist Butch Warren and
drummer Frankie Dunlop.
Annotator Bob Jllumentha]
describes this particular
quartet lineup as “one of
the best, if not the best, of
Charlie Rouse’s decade
with the pianist.”
Kenny Burrell’s Blnesin’
Around consists of all pre
viously unreleased mate
rial from four sessions pro
duced by John Hammond
during 1961-62. As detailed
in Bob Porter’s liner notes,
these were “a swing date”
(was tenor saxophonist
Illinois Jacquet and pianist
Hank Jones); "a modem
date” (with Jones, bassist
George Duvivier, and
trombonist Eddie Bert);
and “an organ session”
(with Jack McDuff and Leo 5
Wright on alto sax).
8trnttin’ and Shoutin’
“which reveals (Al) Grey
in all his pi lingered glory,”
as Ira Gitler’s liner notes
quip, was produced by
John Hammond and in
tended lor release in 1976.
This all-star blowing ses
sion - featuring Grey on
trombone, trumpeters
Waymon Reed and Danny
Moore, and saxophonist
•Ernie Wilkins, Jimmy For
rest and Cecil Payne -
takes off on five originals
by . Grey and Wilkins,
along with 8tardast and All
of Me.
Columbia’a Contempo
rary Masters Series con
tinues to set the pace with
this outpouring of previous
ly unreleased recordings.
Since its inception in 1977,
the Series has offered
music by Charlie Parker,
Lester Young, Duke Elling
ton, Charles Mingus, Clif
ford Browgr Max Roach,
Ornette Coleman, Roy El
drige, and numerous
multi-artist compilations.
Executive producers of the
Series are Jfam Ftahel and
Dr. George Butler.
SINGER IRENE CARA
Appropriately primed
Irene Cara Began Honing
Her Craft At An Early Age
By Loretta Manago
Post Staff Writer
With a great-aunt who
plays five instruments and
a father and brother who
are musicians, the direc
tion Irene Cara would take
professionally seems to
have been pre-charted for
her.
Since the age of five, Ms.
Cara has been exposed to
/-the entertainment arena.
As a matter of fact, she has
been working and honing
her craft since she was in
elementary school, playing
the piano by ear and study
ing danice, singing and
piano.
Although seven years old
may seem to be an early
age for someone to be
associated with show busi
ness, Ms. Cara had al
ready been appropriately
primed for that Hfe. Her
first performances were
benefits and appearances
on local New York Span
ish-language TV and radio
shows and before she
turned 10 Ms. Cara had
made her Broadway debut
as one-of the orphans in the
Jack Cassidy-Shirley
Jones musical Maggie
Flynn.
The pattern that became
characteristic of Ms.
Cara’s growing popularity
was attributed to the fact
that the more she was seen
the more in demand she
became. Still at a very
young age, Ms. Cara was
asked to appear in a tri
bute to Duke Ellington at
Madison Square Garden
where she shared the stage
with such luminaries as
Sammy Davis Jr., Stevie
Wonder and Louis Arm
• strong.
While Ms. Cara ad
vanced in age so did her
ability to please varying
crowds. Another musical,
The Me Nobody Knows, a
stint on The Electric Com
pany, a co-boot on an NBC
talk show and a guest star
on various television shows
including Kojak. What’s
Happening and Johnny
Carson all earmarked Ms.
Cara’s oncoming success.
During the mid-seventies
Ms. Can extended her ta
lents from singing and
embarked on a film career.
At age 15 she made her
feature film debut in Aaron
Loves Angela. Following
that movie score was Ms.
Cara’s starring role in the
Warner Bros, film Sparkle.
Ms. Cara’s rich experience
in television productions
such as Roots: The Next
Generation, Hie Guyana
Tragedy: The Story of Jim
Jones and Sisters coupled
with her Broadway work
all played a hand in- a
significant breakthrough
for her.
That breakthrough was
the movie Fame in which
Ms. Cara starred and sung
the movie’s title song. Not
only did the song Fame
leap to the top 5 position on
the record charts, but the
song garnered an Oscar for
the Beat Original Song in
I960.
A 16-year veteran of film,
theatre, television and re
cord, Ms. Cara, for one so
young, has indeed accom
plished a great deal, but for
one who never rests upon
past laurels there’s still
more conquests to make.