Eddie Gale - Black Rhythm Happening (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series)

Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series 180 Gram Stereo LP

This edition of Black Rhythm Happening belongs to Blue Note's Classic Vinyl Series: an all-analog stereo reissue, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. Cem Kurosman curates the series, and Blue Note scheduled this title in the same September 2026 slot as The Three Sounds' Soul Symphony.

Trumpeter and composer Eddie Gale recorded the album in 1969 at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. It followed his 1968 Blue Note debut, Ghetto Music, and was his last album as a leader for the label. All eight pieces are Gale originals; "The Gleeker" is credited to Gale with Joann Gale Stevens.

Gale fronted two ensembles on the date. The Noble Gale Musicians included Russell Lyle on saxophone and flute and Judah Samuel and Henry Pearson on bass, and the Noble Gale Singers included Joann Gale Stevens and Fulumi Prince. The guests were alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons and drummer Elvin Jones. Blue Note's notes point to the declarative refrain of the title track and to "Song Of Will," and describe the eight tunes as a continuation of Gale's search for truth and justice in music.

Born in Brooklyn in 1941, Gale studied trumpet with Kenny Dorham and had already played on Cecil Taylor's 1966 Blue Note album Unit Structures. He toured and recorded with Sun Ra across the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1969 he also played on Larry Young's Of Love and Peace. After a year as artist in residence at Stanford University he moved to San Jose, California, in 1972, and later worked with the Oakland hip-hop group The Coup. He died in 2020.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Black Rhythm Happening
2. The Gleeker
3. Song Of Will
4. Ghetto Love Night
5. Mexico Thing

Side B

6. Ghetto Summertime
7. It Must Be You
8. Look At Teyonda