FRANK FOSTER
THE LOUD MINORITY (1972)
SPECIAL EDITION WITH 20 PAGE BOOKLET
Release date: 12 June 2021
WWSLP49 3700604731276
FIRST OFFICIAL VINYL REISSUE OF FRANK FOSTER'S SEMINAL 1972 PROTEST JAZZ FUNK CLASSIC REISSUED IN A DELUXE FORMAT. INCLUDING NEWLY REMASTERED AUDIO, ORIGINAL GATEFOLD ARTWORK PLUS A 20 PAGE BOOKLET FULL OF BEAUTIFUL UNSEEN SESSION PHOTOS, AN INTERVIEW WITH DEE DEE AND CECIL BRIDGEWATER BY PAUL BOWLER AND A NEW ESSAY BY BRITISH JOURNALIST KEVIN LE GENDRE.
Wewantsounds it delighted to announce a deluxe reissue of Frank Foster's 'The Loud Minority' LP for RSD. Released on Bob Shad's Mainstream Records in 1972, it's a landmark album and one of the key political works of the 70s. Featuring an all-star cast of superb musicians including Elvin Jones, Stanley Clarke, Airto, Cecil Bridgewater and Marvin 'Hannibal'
Peterson, it is also Dee Dee Bridgewater's earliest full recordings. This special edition will includes a 20 page booklet featuring a selection of amazing unseen session photos recently unearthed, an introduction by Judd and Mia Apatow (Shad's grandchildren), an essay by British journalist Kevin Le Gendre and an exclusive interview of Cecil and Dee Dee Bridgewater by paul Bowler reminiscing on the making of this legendary album. The album's original artwork has been recreated from the photo negatives and the audio was newly remastered from the original tapes.
When he recorded "The Loud Minority" in 1972 for Bob Shad's Mainstream Records, Frank Foster had been a solid sax player for nearly twenty years, playing with the likes of Donald Byrd, Thelonious Monk and The Count Basie Orchestra. For this special session, he gathered a stellar line up of old fellow musicians like Elvin Jones and Harold Mabern and young turks including Stanley Clarke, 'Hannibal' Marvin Peterson, Cecil and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Cecil Bridgewater remembers: "Frank, his thing was, any group that he had he wanted to give young musicians a chance." As usual for Mainstream sessions, the studio was booked for two days and the record was cut live, supervised by Bob Shad's trusted men, arranger Ernie Wilkins and engineer Carmine Rubino.
What came out of these two days is now the stuff of legend, four long funky jams fuelled by two distinct line ups playing simultaneously augmented with a powerful 6-piece brass section led by Foster. The album kicks off with the anthemic "The Loud Minority" (sampled by United Future Organization and DJ Shadow) with its long brass introduction followed by Dee Dee Bridgewater fiery poem, a politically charged statement expressing
the fight for civil rights, before the whole group comes together for a funky explosion clocking at 14 minutes. "That was a period where we were really into our African consciousness" reminisces Dee Dee in the interview.
The album continues with the funky uptempo "Requiem for Dusty" while "J.P.'s Thing" adopts a slightly more spiritual feel, with a beautiful Fender Rhodes solo and Foster's soprano sax improvisation. The album ends with "E.W. Beautiful People", a long dreamy improvisation climaxing with Dee Dee Bridgewater's poignant vocals.
The Loud Minority is a key militant jazz manifesto and one of the landmark jazz funk albums of the 20th Century. The album was recorded in two days but its legacy lives on and still resonates loudly in the BLM days. Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue this major works with newly remastered audio and a deluxe 20 page booklet full of breathtaking unseen session photos and insightful texts telling the whole story of this superb album.