Hoagy Carmichael, an active jazz musician as early as the 1920s, will forever be regarded as one of jazz music’s originators and innovators. Carmichael had his share of classics with well known tunes like “Star Dust” and “Georgia on my Mind”, but later in his career, also had his share of lesser known songs and albums, amongst them being a 1957 collection of children’s songs including songs like “Comrades” and “Grandfather Clock”, songs hardly worth mentioning when discussing his extensive discography. Over a decade after the initial release of these songs, in 1970, at which point he was long past the pinnacle of his success, Carmichael became the host of a children’s show on the American television network PBS entitled “Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop”. The soundtrack to the television series was provided by an obscure jazz-funk band, Stark Reality and featured the little-known act covering songs from aforementioned children’s album penned by Hoagy Carmichael himself.

At this time, Stark Reality was comprised of four members and led by vibraphonist Monty Stark. The group also included guitarist John Abercrombie who would later go on to play on various notable jazz fusion cuts after his days with Stark Reality. On ” The Stark Reality Discover Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop” the band of Berklee College of Music students were able to update the dated sound of Carmichael’s original recordings to an ultra hip sound, replacing oboes and clarinets with distorted guitar and groovy baselines. While the lyrics remain the same as in the original recordings, Monty and his gang transform Carmichael’s songs into something unrecognizable, yet all the more remarkable.

Its incredibly difficult to attempt to describe the sound Stark Reality accomplished on this album. In some ways it is very similar to more common jazz fusion releases of the early 1970s but the one factor that sets the album apart is that it features vocals, something rather uncommon for jazz fusion, yet certainly a welcomed addition to the album with Monty Stark’s unique and warm style of singing. The Carmichael penned lyrics sometimes do not come into play until well over five minutes into a song following long segments of John Abercrombie managing to get the most unusual sounds possible out of his guitar and solos on what sounds like a distorted Fender Rhodes Piano. These extended jam sessions over high pitched bass lines and ride cymbals tend to have a sort of dark feel to them, making it hard to comprehend how this music appealed to children. “Comrades” has an especially spooky feel to it until two minutes in when the innocent, child-friendly lyrics kick in.

Despite the unique style of “Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop”, it is very listener friendly (probably as a result of it being geared toward children).This being one of the first jazz albums I listened to I can say with confidence it is a good album for even those who have not spent a lot of time investigating jazz music or jazz fusion. Due to it’s rarity and extensive selection of breaks, this album has become a sort of holy grail for beat-diggers and record collectors, resulting in an original copy having a price tag of $1000 + (USD) these days. The casual listener is not likely to shell out that much cash on one album, however, this album is certainly worthy of a download from amazon or iTunes made possible by Now Again Records’ 2003 re-release of this classic fusion material.

by Phil