TJR Song of the Day: Eastern Rebellion "Bolivia"
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Listen to “Bolivia” by Eastern Rebellion:
The debut eponymous release by Eastern Rebellion in 1976 might have been destined to be one of those near-classic modern jazz recordings beloved by only a small cult audience of die-hard fans, but between the internet’s wide reach, digital streaming and the explosion of jazz vinyl collecting it seems to have found a wider audience and finally achieved it’s rightful status as a late period jazz masterpiece.
It’s not surprising that a straight-ahead jazz album released on the small Dutch label Timeless - at time when this style of jazz had mostly fallen out of favor in America - would slip through the cracks for many years, even if it did feature four giants of modern jazz at the time: Cedar Walton on piano (pictured above), George Coleman on tenor, Sam Jones on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. All four of those would have been known to any seasoned jazz fans in 1975, they were by then legendary veterans of the golden age of jazz in the 1960s, in particular the hard bop and post bop styles that dominated that scene for so many years.
This version of “Bolivia” might just be the classic take of Cedar Walton’s most famous composition, with it’s snappy upbeat theme leading into absolutely inspired solos by Coleman, Walton and Jones. Higgins on the drums is beyond stellar: check out his subtle yet emotional fills as his bandmates do their thing and you’ll hear a true genius at the peak of his powers. Loyal readers know that I’m a sucker for great modern jazz piano, and Walton doesn’t disappoint on that front here, when his turn to solo comes he bursts in with an energy and passion that jumps off the grooves.
Eastern Rebellion would go on to release a few more albums over the next decade, with Walton the constant while the rest of the line-up would vary slightly, but it is their debut album that holds up the best and “Bolivia” shows off just about every reason why it belongs it any great modern jazz collection.
Leave any thoughts you might have in the comments below, and - most importantly - enjoy the music!
For the vinyl nerds: “Bolivia” was ripped from my copy of Eastern Rebellion, which is the 2021 45th Anniversary re-issue of the album from Tidal Waves Music. Mine is the 180 gram Clear Vinyl version limited to 200 copies. I always wanted a copy and couldn’t resist grabbing one of these when it was released. They did a great job and it sounds fantastic (it retains an amazingly warm analogue sound!), and will certainly be a suitable substitute until I can track down an original copy.
