Instrumental
International relevance: **
Born in Pontiac, MI, Melvyn Price left
the U.S.A. following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr as
the political situation in his native country grew increasingly
worse. Upon his arrival in Sweden, trombonist and conga player Price
found his way onto the vital jazz scene and was often seen sitting in
with notable musicians.
He set up his own record label Meldor
and released two early 70's albums of jazz and Latin rhythms meant
for use in dance classes, ”Jazzbalettrytmer” and ”Rytmer II”.
In 1974, he released his first 'proper' LP, ”Rhythm and Blues”,
also on Meldor, featuring renowned performers such as drummer Fredrik
Norén and bassist Björn Alke. A couple of tracks have congas and
percussion only, but the lion's share is pretty straight, i.e. not
very adventurous late 60's/early 70's jazz with faint traces of afro
funk.
More or less a 'lost' album for
decades, its reputation eventually began to grow and had a reissue on
Wax Poetics Records in 2008. It's not bad but kind of pedestrian. Swedish jazz from the same time had more exciting things to offer.
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