VA - Nicola Conte Presents Spiritual Swingers

Originally available last year only as a very expensive Japanese import, fans on these shores of Nicola Conte can rejoice in gaining tantalizing hints of his famously deep record crates. Following his two-part Viagem series of rare bossa nova and Brazilian jazz, the stylish Italian thrills us this time with a smashing set billed as “spiritual swingers,” but it would be more aptly referred to as “the roots of spiritual jazz”, since most of this material predates the heyday of spiritual jazz, most famously typified by A Love Supreme by John Coltrane (1965) and Karma by Pharaoh Sanders (1969).

Yes, it’s an unorthodox take on the sub-genre, since most spiritual comps focus on Black Power Afrocentrism, hippie exoticism, indie-label free jazz wigouts and outrageously long and meditative sleigh-bell-sprinkled vamps. However, Conte wouldn’t be so well respected if he didn’t know his stuff. Going as far back as 1957 for Lorez Alexandria’s oft-compiled “Baltimore Oriole,” he showcases a period in jazz in which space, mood, timbre, and tonal colour were trademarks of such forward-thinking labels as OJC, Prestige, and Fantasy. So you get homages to Miles’ Kind of Blue (Mark Murphy doing “Milestones” and the Klaus Weiss Trio’s oceans-deep “Subo"), Anita O’Day (!) taking on Horace Silver’s “Senor Blues,” the Quincy Jones-arranged “Swahili” by Clark Terry, George Gruntz’ “Spanish Castles” (joined by the great Barney Wilen on soprano), Alice Clark’s arranger Ernie Wilkins waltzing to “The Hooter,” and so much more.

You would need a small fortune to own all of these tracks in their original form, which would mean nothing if the music wasn’t so expertly sequenced and so completely inspiring. A pure triumph, and proof of how important vinyl excavators are in this current musical climate. Don’t miss this one.