Vinyl: Charlie Earland Pleasant Afternoon LP 1981 Funk organ jazz breaks

Charlie Earland Pleasant Afternoon LP 1981 Funk organ jazz breaks

Original US pressing on Muse Records.

Charles Earland (24 May 1941 – 11 December 1999) was an American jazz composer, organist, and saxophonist in the soul jazz idiom.

Earland was born in Philadelphia and learned to play the saxophone in high school. He played tenor with Jimmy McGriff at the age of seventeen, and in 1960 started his first group. He started playing the organ after playing with Pat Martino, and joined Lou Donaldson's band from 1968 to 1969.

The group that he led from 1970, including Grover Washington, Jr., was successful, and he eventually started playing soprano saxophone and synthesizer. His hard, simmering grooves earned him the nickname, 'The Mighty Burner'.

In 1978 Earland hit the disco/club scene with a track recorded on Mercury Records called "Let the Music Play", written by Randy Muller from Brass Construction. The record was in the U.S. charts for 5 weeks and reached number 46 in the UK Singles Chart. With Earland's playing on synthesizer, the track also has an uncredited female vocalist.

From 1988 until his death, Earland traveled extensively. One of the many highlights of his latter years was playing at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1994. Among the musicians that performed with him at the Berlin Jazz Festival, was the Alabama born, Chicago resident, Zimbabu Hamilton on the drums.

Earland continued to perform throughout the U.S. and abroad until his death. He died in Kansas City, Missouri of heart failure at the age of fifty-eight.

A fantastic album by Charles Earland – and one which, like many of his Muse albums, has a groove that he hardly ever managed to put on wax with other labels at the time! The band – which features Grady Tate, Melvin Sparks, Bill Hardman, and Houston Person – comps in a perfect groove, while Earland leads them through long modal lines that provide an excellent showcase for his lively talents on the organ. The whole record's great, but our favorite cuts are "Murilley", "Organic Blues", and "Pleasant Afternoon". © 1996-2011, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

Melvin Sparks Guitar

Ralph Dorsey Percussion, Conga

Rudy Van Gelder Engineer

Charles Earland Organ, Organ (Hammond), Main Performer, Vocals

Bill Hardman Trumpet

Houston Person Sax (Tenor), Producer

Grady Tate Drums

A1 Murilley

A2 A Prayer

A3 Organic Blues

B1 Pleasant Afternoon

B2 Three Blind Mice

CONDITION:

SLEEVE: EX

RECORD: NM