An Evening With The Devil

Tribe co-founder and saxophone legend Wendell Harrison’s 1973 leader debut! Following the 1972 release of Message From The Tribe, the second release from vaunted spiritual jazz label Tribe, was co-founder Wendell Harrison’s solo debut, An Evening With The Devil. Originally included on the A-side of Message From The Tribe’s first version (the edition featuring a photo of a quay on the cover), the release of An Evening With The Devil in 1973 saw the suite fully realised, with two additional songs and studio knowhow making the album a true spiritual jazz masterpiece. “Angry Young Men”, originally recorded on Message From The Tribe, is now split into two parts and placed at the end of the A-side and opening of the B-side, physically and musically bridging the original suite with the new compositions. A horn line that could only be described as angry descends over an aggressive drum pattern, and as Tribe regulars Marcus Belgrave, Phil Ranelin, Charles Moore, and William Austin take turns soloing, the rhythm section seems to get more aggressive, undulating under these solos that take the song’s message and express it through simple notes. But it’s Harrison’s extended solo on the B-side that truly makes the song. He starts out almost subdued, playing fairly standard hard-bop lines over minimal accompaniment. But he quickly picks up, letting his horn honk and screech, with flurries of notes that almost sound like screams. The rhythm section matches him, building and building until Harrison plays the head once more - finally allowing the band to return to normalcy.