(Soul-Jazz, Spiritual Jazz, Jazz-Funk) [WEB] Raphael - Stop, Look, Listen - 1972 (2011), FLAC (tracks), lossless

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Record lovers who spend their time trawling record shops and websites are familiar with that ecstatic feeling of stumbling accidentally upon a treasure: a record forgotten or unknown to the musical community but perfectly matched to their inner musical landscape. This near-mystical experience then further unfolds as a first listen to the album and a careful read of the liner notes combine to form a passionate moment that justifies the long hours spent in a vain and obsessive quest to the exclusion of all social obligations.
This was the rare sensation I felt on discovering Raphael’s album ‘Stop, Look, Listen’ in the mid-nineties in Paris. Fifteen years later, repeated listening has in no way diminished the record’s magic and it still nourishes my soul like few other albums do. Still, the mystery surrounding the origins of this album and its creator, Raphael, lingers on.
I was too late, unfortunately, to find the original Brussels-born producer, Pierre Pletinckx, for this re-edition. This militant jazzman, who produced a great number of albums for various different labels, passed away in the early 2000s and his widow, despite her willingness, was unable to turn up any information about the enigmatic pianist, whose sole album was ‘Stop, Look, Listen’. According to the original liner notes and the meagre details I could glean, the pianist and composer Phil Raphael was born in New York in 1930 and an active member of the capital of bop’s music scene during the 1950s, occasionally playing with Charlie Parker and saxophonist John Eardley. The only recorded trace of his activities is a session he did with the legendary trumpet player Red Rodney for the Prestige label in 1951.
According to the liner notes, Phil Raphael also played in Tommy Dorsey and Stan Kenton’s big bands – although there is no recorded proof of this – and moved to Las Vegas for a while. It is unknown exactly when he appeared on the Belgian scene, nor when he disappeared from the musical life of Brussels, but he did play at the Pol’s club where his wife worked as a cloakroom assistant during the 1970s.
The recording session for ‘Stop, Look, Listen’ took place on 3rd June 1972 and although the character and story of the leader remain a mystery, his Belgian accompanists were well-known figures on the Brussels scene. Drummer Robert Pernet, vibraphone player and percussionist Johnny Perret and double bass player Paul Dubois played and recorded with Toots Thielemans, Bobby Jaspar and many others for thirty years or so. Unfortunately, Paul Dubois, the only surviving member of the rhythm section, who played just this once with the pianist, has no memory of Raphael or of the opera singer Rose Thompson, whose voice lights up the arrangements.
However, the real mystery surrounding this album – even more than the circumstances in which it came into existence – is the magical nature of the compositions. Raphael manages to create a unique alchemy on every track, a harmonious blend of very different musical styles: be-bop, opera, free jazz, and rock. Many musicians tried their hand at fusion around that time, but this album is unequalled in its lyrical, poetic chemistry. Stop, look, listen…