Grachan Moncur III: Aco Dei De Madrugada - One Morning I Waked Up Very Early [BYG]

Why you'll love it

Back on vinyl: Grachan Moncur III's 1969 session for the Paris label BYG, recorded at Studio Saravah. Moncur wrote much of Jackie McLean's Blue Note classics One Step Beyond and Destination... Out!, and this is one of his rare albums as a leader.

This edition

• Reissue of the 1970 BYG album
• 4 tracks

About the album

Grachan Moncur III grew up in Newark, switched from cello to trombone at 11, and was touring with Ray Charles by his early twenties. In 1963 he wrote the bulk of Jackie McLean's One Step Beyond and Destination... Out! for Blue Note, then made his own Evolution, records that pushed hard bop toward something freer.

By 1969 he was in Paris, where BYG was recording the American avant-garde in a hurry, and he cut Aco Dei De Madrugada at Studio Saravah that September and November. The title track and "Ponteio" bring a Brazilian lilt to the open structures, and "Osmosis" and "Tiny Temper" stretch out. Original BYG copies are scarce, and frankly so are trombonists this adventurous.

Tracklist

Listen

Out October 23, 2026 on BYG (cat# BYG529333), a reissue of the 1970 album.