Search - Billy Harper :: Black Saint

The Album That Launched The Label

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 03/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Black Saint label, and its cousin Soul Note, brought us some of the most memorable avant-garde jazz of the 70s and 80s, and it all started with this release. In fact, Billy Harper christened both labels, yet it is the classic "Black Saint," made for its namesake label, that lives as one of the great jazz albums of the 70s, not to mention one of Harper's finest releases. Billy Harper is a tenor saxophonist in the post-Coltrane tradition who broke into the scene in the late 60s and early 70s (he made a significant contribution to Lee Morgan's "Last Session" -- see my review), but really hit his stride in the mid 1970s. "Black Saint" was recorded live on tour in Europe with a terrific band of Virgil Jones on trumpet, Joe Bonner on piano, David Friesen on bass and Malcolm Pinson on drums. Aside from this disc, I have never encountered these musicians again on any of the nearly 1000 jazz albums I own. But these cats play delightfully together and I would go so far as to say that Bonner's contribution on piano is as essential to Harper's sound as McCoy Tyner's was to Coltrane's. The only thing disappointing about this release is that is so short (approximately 40 minutes), and there are surely additional source tapes from that tour which could have yielded some bonus tracks. But as is, the three tracks are more than a meal, with the 20 miunte plus "Call of the Wild/Peaceful Heart" an energetic soundfest and soaring conclusion. Fans of great tenor saxophone jazz should not miss the "Black Saint.""