"Harold Land was one of the major contributors in the history of the jazz saxophone..." says Kenny Burrell, renowned jazz guitarist and head of the UCLA Jazz Studies Program, of which he gave Land a position teaching one of his instrumental jazz combo classes in 1996. And there you have it; one legend speaking about another with reverence and humility, but most importantly truth. Harold Land was another one of the many "figures in the shadows" of jazz that never fully got their due.
Land made an album under his own name for a 1949 Savoy session that now seem to be lost to eternity; his earliest recordings to gain notoriety (as well as survive) were with the Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet (he preceded a more famous sax player in Sonny Rollins) and was featured prominently on their first three records. He then left to explore some other things with Curtis Counce, Red Mitchell and releasing records as a leader himself, but he wouldn't find a true creative equal until he started making music (actually, some of the best jazz albums of the late 1960's) with the one and only Mr. Bobby Hutcherson. They would make 11 records together in an eight-year span, from 1968 on through until the mid-70's.
So this record, Choma (Burn) would feature only one Hutcherson composition, and would lean towards a more fusion-y direction- which would of course mean funky and accessible. This was never released as a CD, so you're gonna have to hunt this down at your favorite local record store...
