Pete La Roca: Basra (Blue Note 80 series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

This Blue Note 80 series reissue is pressed on 180g vinyl in stereo. Basra pairs Joe Henderson's tenor with one of the most atmospheric rhythm sections of the decade, and AllMusic's Scott Yanow calls it a classic.

This edition

• Blue Note 80 series
• 180g vinyl
• Stereo mix

About the album

Drummers who lead their own dates tend to make a lot of noise about it. Pete La Roca went the other way: his first album as a leader is moody, spacious and full of mystery, built more on atmosphere than on drum solos.

He recorded it at Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio on May 19, 1965, with Alfred Lion producing and a superb quartet. Joe Henderson brings his dark, searching tenor, Steve Kuhn plays piano with a painter's touch, and Steve Swallow holds down the bass. The title track is a hypnotic, drone-heavy piece that drifts toward the Middle East, "Malaguena" turns the Spanish classic into a slow-burning modal workout, "Lazy Afternoon" is gorgeously unhurried, and La Roca's own "Candu" and "Eiderdown" swing with real elegance. "Tears Come from Heaven" is a slow, aching ballad, and through it all La Roca colours the music with cymbals and mallets rather than pounding it.

La Roca led two albums in his prime years, and this first one has steadily won over a new generation of listeners. A drummer who knows when not to play is, we're reliably told, the rarest instrument in jazz.

Also at Kops: more Pete La Roca on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# 0838650), a reissue of the 1965 album.