NOAH HOWARD The Black Ark SCARCE 1972 UK POLYDOR PRESS Nr MINT
£
69
$
91
£ 69
Sold For
Oct 24, 2011
Sold Date
Oct 14, 2011
Start Date
£ 40
Start price
5
Number Of Bids
Great Britain
Country Of Seller
eBay
Auctioned at
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Description
NOAH HOWARD The Black Ark SCARCE 1972 UK POLYDOR PRESS NEAR MINT
FULLY TEXTURED EJ DAY GATEFOLD, BEAUTIFUL COPY
NOAH HOWARDThe Black Ark
UK POLYDOR (2383 093 SUPER) PRESSING (1972) OF NOAH HOWARD'S "The Black Ark" LP - Recorded at Bell Sound Studios, New York City, 1969
THIS IS THE FIRST AND ONLY UK PRESSING, HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER AND A BIT OF A 'HOLY GRAIL' FOR COLLECTORS
IN SENSATIONAL CONDITION THROUGHOUT - DELIVERING PRACTICALLY FLAWLESS SOUND (please see detailed audio assessment below)
* FROM A SMALL COLLECTION OF JAZZ LPs I RECENTLY ACQUIRED (and will be listing over the coming days) - FROM A SINGLE OWNER WHO TAPED THEM ONTO REEL-TO-REEL - SO ONLY PLAYED ONCE OR TWICE - AND THEN CAREFULLY STORED IN PLASTIC SLEEVES (so all the covers are practically like-new) - I GUARANTEE YOU WON'T FIND BETTER COPIES
MARTIX: 2383 093 A//1 ? 420 11 04 / 2383 093 B//1 ? 420 11 1
THE RECORD IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL FULLY TEXTURED (inside and out) 'EJ DAY' PRINTED GATEFOLD SLEEVE WHICH CARRIES THE ORIGINAL FREEDOM RECORDS LOGO AND CATALOGUE NUMBER (FLP 40105)
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL POLYDOR POLY-LINED INNER SLEEVE WITH ALL TEXT PRINTED IN BLUE AND DATED '1271' (December, 1971)
Like "rarely performed" operas, "hard to find" recordings are often obscure for a prosaic reason: they're no good. Here's a monumental exception to the rule. The Black Ark—released in small numbers on the Freedom label in 1969, out of print almost overnight, and a holy grail for collectors practically ever since—is forty minutes of passionate and thrilling music, new-thing free jazz as great as practically any that came out of the late 1960s without saxophonist John Coltrane's name on it.
Seventeen years younger than Coltrane, alto saxophonist Noah Howard arrived in New York in 1965, aged 22. He formed a quartet, made a couple of albums for ESP, and—before moving to Europe in 1970—put together the septet which made The Black Ark. By 1969, Howard was terrifyingly good: as a player, composer and bandleader.
The four originals which make up The Black Ark—a mutant blues, a free jive samba, a cod-Japanese "ying-tong" melody and a wonderfully lyrical ballad—are catchy and hummable, at a time when most free jazz rejected tunes and structures (or was too untutored to create them). Howard brings a similar degree of form to his band: theme statements bookend each track, solos are taken individually ("Mount Fuji" contains the only section of extended collective improvisation), and the length of each player's solo is precisely pre-determined, with Howard taking the longest spots.
As an alto player, Howard is often tagged with Ornette Coleman. In fact, he sounds more like a tenor saxophonist, bringing to his smaller instrument much of the tenor's weight and booting force. He's a hefty player. The closest contemporary comparison is perhaps with tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, another musician balancing ferocity with trippy melodicism, to their mutual advantage.
For unrelenting screaming banshee saxophone, the septet includes tenor player Arthur Doyle. As the original album's liner notes have it, in words that can't be bettered, Doyle is "propelled throughout by an almost incoherent rage, a chaotic and murderous sound." Howard's deft trick as leader is to keep Doyle's eruptions strictly time-constrained—a couple of choruses of sonic excess per solo, and out. Trumpeter Earl Cross, another furiously intense soloist, though a less tonally monolithic one, is similarly under manners. The result: neither player outstays his welcome and you don't have to be a smack head to enjoy them.
The rest of the band is a blast too, particularly the agile, powerhouse bassist Norris Jones and drummer Muhammad Ali (the younger brother of Coltrane's post-Elvin Jones drummer Rashied).
Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock conga player, Juma, doesn't just add colour, but working with Ali brings real propulsion to the music (the duo's interaction on "Mount Fuji" is a delight)
Noah Howard - Alto Saxophone
Arthur Doyle - Tenor Saxophone
Earl Cross - Trumpet
Leslie Waldron - Piano
Norris Jones - Bass
Mohammed Ali - Drums
Juma Sultan - Congas
Side One: Domiabra / Ole Negro
Side Two: Mount Fuji / Queen Anne
LABELS: NEAR MINT
Clean, bright and unmarked labels with only light spindle rash
VINYL Visual: MINT-
Both surfaces retain their original deep glossy sheen and appear unmarked in normal light with just wispy hairlines visible under bright light (very hard to spot)
VINYL Audio: NEAR MINT
Sensational copy which plays beautifully throughout with no major audio major issues of note - just two (impossibly minor) 'pops' noted - one on each side otherwise, the sound performance is flawless - crystal clear, clean, fresh and incredibly immediate and these two 'pops' are the only thing preventing a full MINT audio grading - fantastic copy of this wonderful record
SLEEVE: EXCELLENT++/NEAR MINT
Apart from one or two tiny spots of loss to the black colour and a light crease to the spine the sleeve is like-new and practically untouched
INNER SLEEVE: EXCELLENT++
The original inner is clean and unmarked with no seam splits - just a crease to the bottom corner (which no doubt happened when the vinyl was inserted into the sleeve at the factory)
ALL RECORDS ARE PACKAGED WITH THE VINYL OUTSIDE OF THE SLEEVE TO PREVENT ANY 'KNIFING' DURING TRANSIT
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, NEW INNER SLEEVE WITH ANTI-STATIC LINER, QUALITY BOX (NOT ENVELOPE) MAILER AND AMPLE STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY
POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (recorded delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £6.00 or £11.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £10.00 or £15.00 (International Signed For delivery)
***Any record (or combination of records) which sells for more than £40 must be sent by a trackable method ie INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR outside of the UK (please wait for invoice)
PAYMENT IS BY PAYPAL ONLY SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PAY BY SOME OTHER METHOD PLEASE CONTACT ME FIRST
I will combine postage (normally £1 or £2 per extra record) for items purchased within any 10 day period.
However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you.
Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period.
I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Guarantee: The record is unconditionally guaranteed and I will offer a complete, no quibble refund (through Paypal) upon return of the item should you not be pleased with it in any way
I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Any problems please email me. Thanks
454 (GS 6.3 (454))
price rating
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