Harold Mabern
Harold Mabern Jr. (March 20, 1936 – September 17, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer, principally in the hard bop, post-bop, and soul jazz fields.Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. p. 42 ...
. It was recorded in 1978 and was released by Trident Records.
Recording and music
The album was recorded at Blank Tapes Studio, New York City, in June 1978. The musicians were Mabern on piano, electric piano and synthesizer,
Jamil Nasser
Jamil Nasser (born George Joyner, June 21, 1932 – February 13, 2010)Obituary at
on bass, and Walter Bolden on drums. All of the compositions were written by Mabern, with the exception of the title track, which was written by Keno Duke, a drummer with whom Mabern played in the 1970s. "Edward Lee" refers to trumpeter
Lee Morgan
Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...
, with whom Mabern played. On "Too Late to Fall Back Baby", Mabern uses a synthesizer to add horn sounds to his electric piano playing.
Release and reception
''Pisces Calling'' was released by Trident Records on LP, and was reissued on CD in Japan in 2009. Crtiic
Marc Myers
Marc Myers (born September 4, 1956) is an American journalist, author of five books and a regular contributor to ''The Wall Street Journal'', where he writes on music, the arts and celebrities. In 2007, he founded ''JazzWax'', a leading daily jazz ...
wrote: "Throughout ''Pisces Calling'', Mabern's fingering is commanding and lyrical. His chords aren't merely played but hurled like fistfuls of darts, and there's an urgent snap to his delivery. His use of three different keyboards on different songs provides the album with texture and dimensional moods." The ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' reviewer commented that the title track "ebbs and flows with surging chords and liquid arpeggios strongly evocative of the sea. And Mabern sails through it as if he were riding the crest of a whitecap."
Track listing
;Side one
#"Pisces Calling" – 4:56
#"The Lyrical Cole-Man" – 6:59
#"Waltzing Westward" – 8:04
;Side two
#"Too Late to Fall Back Baby" – 4:12
#"Edward Lee" – 6:58
Source:
Personnel
*
Harold Mabern
Harold Mabern Jr. (March 20, 1936 – September 17, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer, principally in the hard bop, post-bop, and soul jazz fields.Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. p. 42 ...
– piano, electric piano, synthesizer
*
Jamil Nasser
Jamil Nasser (born George Joyner, June 21, 1932 – February 13, 2010)Obituary at