Joy

Joy were beating a new path at the time of the recording and their album sounds remarkably fresh today. — Financial Times, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 26th May 2023
Catalogue No: SGCLP022
Label: Cadillac Records

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Side A - Martini Sweet / Koko-v-Dank / Do you know the way /Spirals

Side B - P.M. / Jak's Travels / Forbidden Flight (extended session) / Tribute (extended session) / Hidden Spirits

Alto Saxophone – Chris Francis

Trumpet – James Dvorak

Piano – Frank Roberts

Bass – Ernest Mothle

Drums – Keith Bailey

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Recording of the Week, Joy - Joy (1976)

26th May 2023

Our featured recording this week is a reissue of the sole album from Joy, a post-bop outfit that exemplified the vibrant musical cross-pollination taking place during the mid-70s British jazz scene.

Rare 1970s British jazz from Joy: Chris Francis, James Dvorak, Frank Roberts, Ernest Mothle, Keith Bailey, featuring 2 extended tracks, new texts and photos. Remastered from the original tapes by Keith Bailey and Lawrence Czoka. With insert featuring new pics by acclaimed photographer Jak Kilby, it's the first ever reissue of this cult British jazz LP.

The mid-70s should be seen as a vibrant and fecund period for British jazz including Spear, Molongo, The Brotherhood of Breath, Keith Tippett and Elton Dean's groups and and others were bands such asThe Quintet (Joy's direct precursor), Keith Bailey's Orbit, Chris Francis' Naima, Maggie Nichols' Voice, Dave Defries' Lemonspiel, Gary Windo's I Dogu featuring Frank Roberts, Quincicasm, Landscape, Harry Becket's Joy Unlimited, Isotope - all working with the punk ethic and generating a special scene. Joy were part of this: there was undoubtedly a buzz around this hip young multi-cultural band featuring London musicians from South Africa, The Caribbean, The US and UK. The LP that came out in 1976 only increased the buzz: one of the best of the bands playing in the contemporary post-bop style but with their own material.

Reviews

Joy were beating a new path at the time of the recording and their album sounds remarkably fresh today.

This is an often overlooked but essential fragment of the burgeoning jazz scene in Britain in the later 1970s and is an essential purchase for any devotee of the music of this period.

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Recording of the Week, Joy - Joy (1976)

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Joy

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