Basra (album)

1965 studio album by Pete La Roca

Basra

Studio album by

Pete La Roca

Released| October 1965[1]
Recorded| May 19, 1965
Studio| Van Gelder (Englewood Cliffs)
Genre| Jazz
Length| 40:43
Label| Blue Note
BST 84205
Producer| Alfred Lion
Pete La Roca chronology
|  | Basra
(1965)  | Turkish Women at the Bath
(1967)

|
|

Basra is the debut album by drummer Pete La Roca, recorded in 1965 and released on the Blue Note label.[2]

## Background and recording

[edit]

Bassist Steve Swallow recounted that he and La Roca had taken LSD prior to traveling to recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio for the session.[3] He also said that Van Gelder threatened to end the session after pianist Steve Kuhn started manually plucking the piano strings.[3]

## Reception

[edit]

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow stated: "It is strange to realize that drummer Pete La Roca only led two albums during the prime years of his career, for this CD reissue of his initial date is a classic".[4]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Allmusic| [4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings| [5]
Down Beat| [6]

## Track listing

[edit]

All compositions by Pete La Roca except as noted

Basra track listingNo.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Malagueña" (originally performed by Ernesto Lecuona)| 9:01
2.| "Candu"| 6:45
3.| "Tears Come from Heaven"| 5:00
4.| "Basra"| 9:58
5.| "Lazy Afternoon" (originally performed by John La Touche and Jerome Moross)| 5:31
6.| "Eiderdown" (originally performed by Steve Swallow)| 4:28

## Personnel

[edit]

* Pete La Roca \- drums
* Joe Henderson \- tenor saxophone
* Steve Kuhn \- piano
* Steve Swallow \- bass

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Billboard Oct 2, 1965
2. ^ Blue Note Records discography accessed November 23, 2010
3. ^ a b Iverson, Ethan (April 7, 2021). "Chronology: Steve Swallow Remembers Pete La Roca". JazzTimes. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
4. ^ a b Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed November 23, 2010
5. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1302\. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
6. ^ Down Beat: December 30, 1965 vol. 32, no. 27

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

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*[No.]: Number