Exploring The Future

Exploring The Future

The Boplicity label was one of the earliest entries into the jazz reissue market in the mid 1980s. In 2013 we are re-launching the label as the home for our small but distinct catalogue of 1950s and 1960s 'modern jazz'. Each of the releases will strive for the highest quality in sound reproduction, mastered from fresh transfers from first generation mastertapes, and featuring bonus tracks where relevant. Our first selections come from the small but distinctive catalogue of Dootsie William's Dootone label. All have been remastered from source tapes, have fresh sleeve notes and are packaged in a digipack.<p>Counce is best known for four albums released on Contemporary Records, recorded between 1956 and 1958. His quintet featured saxophonist Harold Land and pianist Carl Perkins and was one of the finest interpreters of hard bop on the West Coast. Yet it was his final album <b>Exploring The Future</b> - made with Perkins' replacement Elmo Hope - that is a masterpiece. Eight tracks of incendiary jazz, edited down to fit the LP format, and an extravagant period piece album cover showing Curtis in a space suit.<p>Sadly this was to be the bassist's last album as a leader before his untimely death in 1963. For our reisssue we have uncovered several of the full length versions of the tracks that were edited down to make the album. We have also added three tracks from the session that turned up on one side of the hideously rare <b>Jazz On The Bounce</b> album, released on the tiny Bel Canto label, that coupled out-takes from this album with some by Buddy Collette.