JAZZIZ and Newvelle Records have partnered to bring you this exclusive Song of the Day offer. To purchase Don Friedman’s album Strength and Sanity, click here.
In 1961, the 23-year-old trumpet phenomenon Booker Little recorded two extraordinary albums: Out Front and Booker Little and Friend. Booker was a visionary musician, possessing a flawless technique, a burnished tone and a modern artistic sensibility. Although not canonical works, these two albums are known to the initiated as diamonds, and have stood for 56 years as a testament to Booker’s genius. Both albums pointed to entirely new worlds of harmonic and emotional possibility in American music. And both featured the young pianist Don Friedman.
In 2016, Friedman brought his working trio featuring Phil Palombi and Shinnosuke Takahashi to re-visit tracks by Booker Little. In the true jazz tradition, the trio used these tunes as jumping off points. The resulting album, Strength and Sanity, is a call back to one of Don’s earliest recordings, but it is also a return to form for an artist whose strength and heart were a force and an inspiration throughout his incredible career. Listening to them is a reminder that Friedman, who died in 2016, was a visionary on par with the jazz prophets of his day.
The album, recorded for Newvelle Records, was part of the label’s first season of subscription-only vinyl releases. Today, we present to you a behind-the-scenes video of Friedman and his trio recording the title track for the album, which will receive special re-release as a single on April 13 for Record Store Day. JAZZIZ is proud to partner with Newvelle to offer this exclusive link to purchase the album before anyone else. As a reader of JAZZIZ, you’ll have a rare opportunity to get advance access to a classic jazz album in the making. This exclusive offer will only be available until Friday, March 29, so act now.
