McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson - Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' - 2 x SHM CDs

2024

Jack DeJohnette: “…as it happened, the opportunity came to play at Slugs’ with this combination. There was some anticipation that this would really be great. And sure enough, everybody really played like there was no tomorrow. Luckily, we have this document from that week with this incredible personnel making this incredible music with this intensity and commitment. That is rare… This recording represents a time and period where musicians were really playing, intensely searching and experimenting with new things. It was a highly creative time then. Musicians were trying things and of course, there were venues like Slugs’ where people could actually play and develop their craft. There were bands that people could play in and develop. At that time, things were shifting in music; shifting over to a more, shall we say, exploratory music. And so that environment encouraged those explorations.”

Nate Chinen: “This astonishing windfall of an album, recorded at Slugs’ in the spring of 1966, captures the crackling push-pull current of its time — a moment when jazz practice at its highest levels felt both grounded and volatile… Each of the brilliant players heard here was operating as a sensitive instrument. Each, in his own way, was also at a pivotal juncture in his career, whirling through a cycle of endings and beginnings.”

Don Was: “This recording of an absolutely extraordinary night at Slugs’ in 1966 takes us on a wild journey to the furthest reaches of these songs… Messrs. Henderson, Tyner, DeJohnette and Grimes take their time exploring every back alley and side street written into the compositions… a peek into a very special moment in time.”

Zev Feldman: “This Joe Henderson-McCoy Tyner album has been one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever been involved with… On this recording we hear four legendary jazz masters in peak form during an exciting time in their careers captured at one of the most hallowed and long-lost jazz shrines, Slugs’ Saloon… It’s clear to me that anyone listening to these recordings will find their jaw on the floor a lot of the time.”