''Unity'' is an album by jazz organist Larry Young, released on the Blue Note label in August, 1966. The album features trumpeter

Woody Shaw Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpet ...

, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson and drummer

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebra ...

. While not

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians dur ...

, the album features experimentation that was innovative for the time. Young chose the title because, "although everybody on the date was very much an individualist, they were all in the same frame of mood. It was evident from the start that everything was fitting together."Original liner notes by Nat Hentoff The album was Young's second for Blue Note, and is widely considered a "post-bop" classic.

Music

Three of the six tracks were composed by

. The first, "Zoltan", starts with part of a march from the Háry János suite of

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music ed ...

and continues in the

Lydian mode The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone musical scale formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. : Because of the importance of the major scale in modern music ...

. The second, "The Moontrane", is dedicated to

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and rai ...

, "as can be heard in the harmonic cycles in it", explained Shaw. The third, "Beyond All Limits", has a difficult harmonic progression, but, in Shaw's words, "once the inherent difficulties of the tune are solved, there are no limits as to where you can go with it". "If" is a 12-bar Joe Henderson composition; "Monk's Dream" (played only by Young and drummer

) is by

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

; and "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" is a Hammerstein & Romberg composition. Elvin Jones played "a standard 4-piece drum kit with two cymbals and hi-hat".

Reception

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles a ...

states that ''Unity'' "is considered Larry Young's finest recording".

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

called the album "a sureshot for jazz fans".

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled ...

included the album in its suggested “core collection”, and awarded it a rare crown and four-star rating, describing it as "Quite simply a masterpiece."Cook, Richard and Morton, Brian (2008) ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' (9th ed.), Penguin, p. 1534. Also, saxophonist

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of ...

referred to the album as a favourite of his. The album's cover art, by Reid Miles, has also become well known. In 2008, graphic designer

Mike Dempsey Michael Dempsey (born 1958) is a British musician who played with The Cure and Associates. Michael Dempsey may also refer to: *Michael Dempsey (bishop) (1918–1974), American Catholic bishop *Mick Dempsey (Gaelic footballer), Gaelic football playe ...

picked it as one of his favorite album covers, stating that it shows "Ultimate simplicity ..Put in an album rack today it would still raise an eyebrow as it looks remarkably fresh"."Album Cover Design: Art on the sleeve" (October 16, 2008) ''Design Week'', Vol. 23, Issue 42.

Track listing

Original CD

2014 Blue Note SHM-CD Remaster Edition (Japan Release)

Personnel

Musicians

* Larry Young –

Hammond B-3 The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

organ *

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...

* Joe Henderson –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Production

* Alfred Lion – production *

Rudy Van Gelder Rudolph Van Gelder (November 2, 1924 – August 25, 2016) was an American recording engineer who specialized in jazz. Over more than half a century, he recorded several thousand sessions, with musicians including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelon ...

– recording engineering; CD remastering (1998) * Michael Cuscuna – reissue production * Reid Miles – cover design *

Francis Wolff Francis Wolff (April 5, 1907 – March 8, 1971) was a record company executive, photographer and record producer. Wolff's skills, as an executive and a photographer, were important contributions to the success of the Blue Note record label. Car ...

– photography * Nat Hentoff – liner notes *Bob Blumenthal – CD reissue liner notes (1999)

References

{{Authority control 1966 albums Blue Note Records albums Larry Young (musician) albums Albums produced by Alfred Lion Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio