Joel Dorn Back With Hyena Records

By I Aug. 14, 2002

Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Cannonball Adderley, Les McCann and Eddie Harris are names synonymous with jazz for the people, having more in common with old school soul and feeling good then the academia, concert halls and political correctness that’s often associated with the state of traditional jazz. The four artists are icons of the music, able to match exquisite chops with the ability to entertain; relying as much on the visceral as the intellectual. On Sept. 17th, Kirk and Adderley will be represented on reissues that document the magic of the “live” music they summoned night after night, while marking the debut of Hyena, the latest label venture from record producer Joel Dorn. Reissues of Les McCann and Eddie Harris will follow Oct. 1. Hyena will be an imprint of The Music Force, the California-based company that’s home to Sin-Drome Records.

Returning with Hyena, Dorn begins the fourth in a series of record labels (Night Records, 32 Records & Label M) that have allowed him to treasure hunt, mining gems from music’s vaults (Atlantic Records, Muse Records & The Left Bank Jazz Society), while also recording a select roster of new artists (Leon Parker, James Blood Ulmer & The Jazz Passengers). Fittingly, Dorn comes full circle with Hyena, reissuing the four long out of print albums that started it all on Night Records: The Man Who Cried Fire by Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Radio Nights by Cannonball Adderley, Les Is More by Les McCann and A Tale Of Two Cities by Eddie Harris.

“These records were meant to be the soundtracks to documentaries that didn’t exist,” Dorn says. “They’re the audio equivalent of filmmaking.”

The four Night Records’ titles are commonly considered minor classics, capturing the artists in a pure setting without any of the self-consciousness and pressure that accompanies the making of “live” albums. “The beauty here is that none of the artists knew they were recording records during the taping of these shows. This is how the music actually went down,” says Dorn. “It’s a living history of what happened in the clubs on those nights.”

The Man Who Cried Fire makes a case for Kirk as being one of the most broadly inspired artists in the history of jazz. A near master of every instrument he picked up, Kirk blows sweet and lovely on “Slow Blues” and the second interlude of “New Orleans Fantasy,” two rare examples present here of Rahsaan’s clarinet playing. The opening to the latter also catches Kirk joyously erupting on a piece with The Olympia Brass Band at The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. “You Did It, You Did It” and “Multi-Horn Variations” find Kirk, in typical fashion, blowing the boundaries off any pre-conceived lines of what jazz should be. However, if there’s one defining attribute of this “live” document, it’s the proof positive of how brilliant Kirk could play straight and inside, whether it be the exotica of the manzello on “Bye Bye Blackbird,” his gloriously swinging tenor sax on “Unidentified Tenor Selection” or the gorgeous and soaring flute of “A Visit From The Blues.”

Adderley’s Radio Nights was culled from two weeks of performances in 1967 and ‘68 at New York City’s old Half Note. The performances were originally broadcast “live” by noted jazz disc jockey Alan Grant. Adderley’s featured here in variations of his legendary group, featuring brother Nat Adderley on trumpet, tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd, pianist Joe Zawinul, bassist Sam Jones, and drummers Roy McCurdy and Louis Hayes.

The dynamic of this line-up built upon the inherent communication between its members was like few groups before or after. As the disc’s liner notes acknowledge, Cannonball never went on stage with a set list, preferring to feed off the audience’s energy in deciding what to play. “The Little Boy With The Sad Eyes,” and “Unit Seven” showcase the seemingly telepathic swing that Cannon and company could invoke. On “Work Song,” Cannon’s little bi