Revisiting A&M Records No. 40
Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson: ‘Israel’ (Summer ’68)
If stuffy jazzbos will forgive the comparison, this storied duo was to the late ‘60s what Silk Sonic is now: a much-heralded unification of esteemed forces.
Certainly they aren’t equivalent in terms of platinum popularity and award-winning output. And of course the contemporary (if also throwback) soul music made by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak is markedly different, not to mention geared toward the mainstream — whereas Kai & J.J.’s silken sound during this period of CTI-on-A&M history is situated somewhere between Blue Note cool and easy-listening smooth, with occasional forays into chamber pieces.
Yet, in their respective circles, the very notion of these teams was enough to spark buzzing excitement.
Granted, unlike Mars and Paak, Winding and Johnson already shared considerable history, two decades’ worth, dating back to time spent serving in ‘40s all-star revues, combos led by Dizzy Gillespie, and their own two-‘bone quintet in ’54-’56. They’d often crossed paths at sessions, swapped spots in groups. Interesting detail about this LP’s title tune: Penned for the new nation in ’48, it was recorded by Miles Davis’s nonet a year later, with Johnson, who had just replaced Winding in that ensemble.
So, ok, maybe the Silk Sonic parallel would work better if this were 2035 and Bruno & Andy were about to headline Coachella on the back of a reunion record. But on a much smaller scale, this return of Kai & J.J. was just as hotly anticipated by jazz cognoscenti and fellow sophisticates seeking refuge from so much psychedelia after the Summer of Love.
That it also features Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter is icing.
That such a paradigm of an uncommon tonality — elegantly entangled trombones — lasted a few more is our good fortune.