OOP Vinyl Curiosities: Kittyhawk - Kittyhawk (1980) - Unique jazz/rock band

OOP Vinyl Curiosities: 

Kittyhawk - Kittyhawk (1980)

(Released on EMI America)

Unique Jazz/Rock band featuring great compositions played on the Chapman Stick

MP3 @ 320 kbps

Today I have a real forgotten gem of an album, utterly fantastic, but apparently left to gather dust on the shelf. As I was looking for the next album to feature as part of this OOP (Out of Print) Vinyl Curiosities series and was finding that alot of the ones I was thinking about have been recently re-issued or re-released, I ran across this one, and was absolutely shocked that this stunning album was never re-issued or released on CD. I loved this album when it came out way back in the day, and still love it today. What we have here is the band Kittyhawk, and their self-titled debut album from 1980. Kittyhawk played what might be categorized as light jazz, smooth jazz, jazz/rock, fusion or whatever, a very melodic jazz style that focuses more on composition than improvisation. One of the features of the band was that it consisted of two musicians that primarily played the Chapman Stick. Now, the Chapman Stick is an electric string instrument, related to a guitar, but decidedly different, as it consists of 10 strings on a fretboard, 5 bass strings and 5 melody strings, and is played by tapping the strings rather than strumming or picking. It was developed by Emmett Chapman and first became publicly available in 1974. It has a unique sound, somewhere between that of a guitar and a piano, and because of its unique design, is played with both hands, playing both bass and chords or melody at the same time. Kittyhawk was formed after a couple of Chapman Stick players, Daniel Bortz and Paul Edwards, met at the L.A. home of Emmett Chapman in 1977, and got together to start jamming. They began playing as a duet around SoCal clubs, and wanted to further explore and expand their songs in a full band. So, they recruited drummer Michael Jochum and saxophonist Richard Elliot to join them and fill out their sound and unique style. Their first album, Kittyhawk (1980), was mostly instrumental (with one vocal track and additional wordless vocals from Edwards), featured a breezy jazz/rock style, strong compositions, melodies and arrangements, and the unique combination of Chapman Stick and Sax on all songs. But the Stick was not used as a gimmick or novelty, just an extremely versatile instrument well-integrated into the songs. I don't remember how I first heard about the band, but I got their album and just loved it, certainly one of the best releases of the year, and still a classic album. I just have to say that this is a truly great album that deserves to be heard, and not forgotten as some relic of history. If you are at all interested in a melodic jazz-rock style, you will enjoy this album. It is just a joy to listen to from beginning to end. For comparison, it is in a somewhat similar vein to some of Pat Metheny's stuff, particularly the Pat Metheny Group albums from the 70's and 80's. Kittyhawk released two subsequent albums, Race for the Oasis (1981) and Fanfare (1984), which are also quite good (but not as good as the debut). They received some notoriety and acclaim in the day, and there was a Public Television music special titled 'First Flight' that featured a concert performance by Kittyhawk (and some videos from it are available on Youtube to see what they looked and sounded like in concert). But then, that was it, and Kittyhawk subsequently faded into oblivion. Richard Elliot went on to play with the Tower of Power Horns before starting a successful solo career, releasing over 20 albums (many on his own label). Michael Jochum went on to do session work for film and TV, as well as stints with Jackson Browne, Boy Meets Girl, Korn, and Jonathan Davis. Bortz and Edwards went their own ways and continued playing the Stick and other touch style instruments. As for other contemporary musicians that use the Chapman Stick, probably the most famous is Tony Levin, who has played the Stick throughout the years with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, and Liquid Tension Experiment. Levin even has his own band that features multiple Chapman Sticks, called The Stickmen. But again, the strength of this Kittyhawk album is in the compositions, arrangements, and performance, with all four members contributing and featured prominently throughout, and which is only enhanced by the unique sound of the Chapman Stick. Be sure to check this one out.               

This needle-drop recording was made directly from my 40-yr old vinyl copy of the album (EMI America ‎– SW-17029) using Audacity. Thus may contain various vinyl clicks and pops.  

Tracklist:
1. Islands 4:47
2. Never Once 4:03
3. Chinese Firedrill 4:14
4. Once Upon A Time 6:33
5. Big City 6:00
6. Wooed But Not Wed 6:35
7. Piper's Romp 3:36
8. Aerial View 5:11

Musicians:
Daniel Bortz - Chapman Stick, Guitar, Guitar [Fretless], Cello
Paul Edwards - Chapman Stick, Vocals
Michael Jochum - Drums, Percussion
Richard Elliot - Lyricon, Saxophone

Kittyhawk - Kittyhawk_1980_vinylrec.rar

Note: There was another band, an indie pop-rock band from Chicago, active around 2011-2016, that also had the name Kittyhawk (and has a Wikipedia page), but this is not THAT Kittyhawk. This is the 1980's jazz-rock band Kittyhawk.