Raphael - Stop, Look, Listen '1971; 2020

Tracks list

       Delving into the story of the American pianist and composer Phil
Raphaël reveals more questions than answers. He was born in New York where he
played with Charlie Parker, Jon Eardley and Howard McGhee, but a 1951 recording
with Red Rodney for Prestige Records is the single remaining trace of his bebop
days. Raphaël appeared under unknown circumstances in Belgium in the 1960s,
playing among others at the 1966 Jazz Bilzen festival, and he eventually settled
in Brussels. A multifaceted musician, he did not limit himself to jazz and also
worked in pop groups, directed the music for the spectacle Hair, and even had a
brief residency at Pol’s Jazz Club where he played the music of Johann
Sebastian Bach four nights per week.

His album ‘Stop, Look, Listen’, which was recorded with the rhythm
section of Babs Robert’s group, consists of four long genre-defying
tracks colored by the dreamlike vocals of opera singer Rose Thompson. A surreal
blend of genres, hard to pin down. It’s highly imaginative jazz, that
much is sure. Raphaël shifts from serene late night piano jazz to more free
or even spiritual passages, magnificently paired with the otherworldly vocals of
Rose Thompson. The LP was put out by Selection Records, a label that primarily
issued library music at the time, and thus went largely unnoticed upon release.
The recording makes clear that Phil Raphaël was a highly gifted artist whose
talent will forever remain undervalued, since it was his only effort as a
leader. Raphaël’s passage through the Belgian nightlife was just as
mysterious as his music, and few people seem to remember him. Drummer Bruno
Castellucci describes him as remarkable, both as a musician and as a person:
“He was a hippie before there were hippies. He wasn’t part of the
system but he had a system of his own.” 

Tracklist:
1 01. Raphael - Archangelo (12:49)
1 02. Raphael - Hommage A Kabylie (06:50)
1 03. Raphael - Dead Sea Scrolls (12:52)
1 04. Raphael - Night Crawler (08:25) 

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