Charles Tolliver & Stanley Cowell - Music Inc (2025) [Hi-Res]

Music Inc. is an album by American jazz trumpeter Charles Tolliver's Music Inc. with a Big Band recorded in 1970 and first released on the Strata-East label.

"The remarkable Music, Inc. Big Band remains the apotheosis of trumpeter Charles Tolliver's singular creative vision. Rarely if ever has a big band exhibited so much freedom or finesse, while at the same time never overwhelming the virtuoso soloists on whom the performances pivots" (Jason Ankeny, AMG)

The remarkable Music, Inc. Big Band remains the apotheosis of trumpeter Charles Tolliver's singular creative vision. Rarely if ever has a big band exhibited so much freedom or finesse, while at the same time never overwhelming the virtuoso soloists on whom the performances pivot. Built around the core of Tolliver, pianist Stanley Cowell, bassist Cecil McBee, and drummer Jimmy Hopps, the music boasts the kind of give-and-take born equally of talent and telepathy -- each player seems to communicate with his colleagues on a higher plane, delivering performances to rival any in their careers. Tolliver in particular plays like a man possessed, summoning an energy and clarity that slice through the big, bold arrangements like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

Charles Tolliver, trumpet
Stanley Cowell, piano
Cecil McBee,bass
Jimmy Hopps, drums
Bobby Brown, flute
Wilbur Brown, flute, tenor saxophone
Jimmy Heath, flute, tenor saxophone
Clifford Jordan, flute, tenor saxophone
Howard Johnson, baritone saxophone, tuba
Lorenzo Greenwich, trumpet
Virgil Jones, trumpet
Danny Moore, trumpet
Richard Williams, trumpet
Garnett Brown, trombone
Curtis Fuller, trombone
John Gordon, trombone
Dick Griffin, trombone

Digitally remastered