Dance of Magic/Dark of Light

by Norman Connors

Overview

This highly recommended two-fer includes drummer Norman Connors' earliest and most rewarding dates as a leader. Recorded with a who's who of fusion titans including trumpeter Eddie Henderson, bassist Stanley Clarke, and keyboardist Herbie Hancock, Dance of Magic channels the lessons drummer Norman Connors learned in the employ of Pharoah Sanders, Sam Rivers, and Sun Ra, marshaling Latin rhythms, electronic textures, and cosmic mysticism to create nondenominational yet deeply spiritual funk-jazz. The sprawling 21-minute title cut spans the entirety of the record's first half, capturing a monumental jam session that explores the outer edges of free improvisation but never steps past the point of no return. Connors' furious drumming is like a trail of bread crumbs that leads his collaborators back home. The remaining three tracks are smaller in scale but no less epic in scope, culminating with the blistering "Give the Drummer Some." The follow-up, Dark of Light, returns most of the same personnel but pushes further into the unknown, pursuing even more abstract ideas and darker impulses to create music as free yet unified as a flock of birds in flight. ~ Jason Ankeny

Product Details

Release Date:	04/12/2019
Label:	Funky Town Grooves
UPC:	0810736020391
Rank:	57201

Tracks

1. Dance of Magic
2. Morning Change
3. Blue
4. Give the Drummer Some
5. Dark of Light
6. Butterfly Dreams
7. Laughter
8. Black Lightnin'
9. Twilight Zone
10. Song for Rosa

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Norman Connors   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Neville Potter   Composer
Grant Clarke   Composer
Tony Calvert   Reissue Producer
Sean Brennan   Mastering
Wallace Create   Package Design
Matt Murphy   Production Manager
Onaje Allan Gumbs   Composer
Cecil McBee   Composer
Stanley Clarke   Composer
Norman Connors   Composer
Alex Henderson   Liner Notes