McCoy Tyner And Joe Henderson’s ‘Forces Of Nature: Live At Slugs’ To Receive Release

Blue Note Records has announced the November 22 release of Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’, a never-before-issued live recording of jazz legends McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson leading a stellar quartet with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Jack DeJohnette at the hallowed lost NYC jazz shrine, Slugs’ Saloon, in 1966.

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The release was produced by Zev Feldman, Jack DeJohnette, and Lydia DeJohnette, and is available for pre-order now as a 2-LP set, 2-CD set, and digital download.

Tyner and Henderson had been forging a strong musical bond on Blue Note through the mid-60s with Tyner appearing on Henderson’s 1963 debut Page One as well as his 1964 albums In ‘N Out and Inner Urge, while Henderson would appear on Tyner’s own Blue Note debut The Real McCoy in 1967.

The Slugs set list included two Henderson compositions that were originally recorded on his Blue Note albums: a blistering half-hour exploration of “In ‘N Out” and a joyous romp through “Isotope” which is available to stream or download today (check it out below).

Forces of Nature includes an elaborate booklet with rare photos by Francis Wolff, Raymond Ross, and Robert Polillo; plus liner notes by esteemed author and critic Nate Chinen, and interviews and statements with DeJohnette, Jason Moran, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Nasheet Waits, and Terri Lyne Carrington.

Originally recorded by the legendary engineer Orville O’Brien — who recorded classic 1960s jazz albums such as Freddie Hubbard’s The Night of the Cookers, Charles Tolliver’s Music Inc. and Alice Coltrane’s Journey to Satchidananda — the tape has been in DeJohnette’s personal archives for nearly 60 years.

The 2-LP 180g vinyl set is transferred from the original tape reel and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, who also mastered the 2-CD and digital.

DeJohnette reflected on the recording, and said: “…as it happened, the opportunity came to play at Slugs’ with this combination. There was some anticipation that this would really be great. And sure enough, everybody really played like there was no tomorrow. Luckily, we have this document from that week with this incredible personnel making this incredible music with this intensity and commitment. That is rare… This recording represents a time and period where musicians were really playing, intensely searching and experimenting with new things. It was a highly creative time then. Musicians were trying things and of course, there were venues like Slugs’ where people could actually play and develop their craft. There were bands that people could play in and develop. At that time, things were shifting in music; shifting over to a more, shall we say, exploratory music. And so that environment encouraged those explorations.”

Order McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson’s Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’.