The late ’60s were an explosive time in America. Flower power was blooming, civil rights were in full swing, and while American soldiers were fighting in Vietnam, American musicians were creating several brands of rebellious music back home. One such musician, a trombonist/conga player from Pontiac, Michigan, had grown weary of his nation’s volatile political climate. While evading the draft, Price traveled a well-worn path overseas where he toured Europe with a set of congas on his back. Eventually, he befriended a young Swedish girl with whom he would return to the States. Their stay, however, would be brief. With the birth of Melvyn’s first child on the horizon and social tensions mounting, the two longed to return to a country more befitting for a young family.
In the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Price set sail for Sweden where he immediately began gigging with Scandinavia’s jet-set jazz musicians. Although Price had cut his teeth in Motown, the folk explosion of the mid-’60s and Afro-Cuban music’s increasing visibility were both making major impacts on Price’s musical leanings. In 1974, after a pair of primarily percussive albums intended to aid dance instruction, Price composed and recorded his masterpiece,
Rhythm and Blues, released on his own Meldor label. The music was simple, yet inspiring, pairing Sweden’s disciplined session players with imported Latin-American percussionists.
Rhythm and Blues was never widely distributed abroad, and has, in recent years, fetched top dollar at auction.
1. Voodoo Love Dance
2. Toward Brazil
3. Behind Kungstradgarden
4. Happiness Is ...
5. Five O'Clock Traffic
6. Last Train
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This live LP mostly features Hampton Haweson electric piano, performing at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival in a trio with electric bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Kenny Clarke. Hawes interprets three of his originals, Sonny Rollins' catchy "Playin' In the Yard," and "Stella By Starlight." Although well-played, little memorable occurs, and Hawes never did sound as distinctive on keyboards as he did on acoustic piano.
