The Second Coming by Rudolph Johnson

Reissue

It’s impossible to keep up with every development in music, that’s why we love reissues, they give you a chance to “catch up” with your listening. 

Rudolph Johnson’s The Second Coming originally came out in 1973 and that makes it slightly older than your reviewer and thus, I missed it. 

However, this criminally under-rated saxophonist has been given a new lease of life this year and his second release on Black Jazz has been repressed on vinyl.

It’s a big departure from the previous release, Spring Rain, because he opted to work with a new set of musicians on this including Kent Brinkley on bass, Doug Sides on drums and Kirk Lightsey on Piano and each of them is truly world class.

If you like your jazz, direct and confident with a heavy undertone of John Coltrane then you’re going to love the sound here. 

The Highest Pleasure is the stand out track here but really? This is an album that’s meant to be consumed as an album, everything flows together just perfectly.

Nicholas Barang

The first time Nicholas went to a live gig, 31 years ago, it turned out to be an Iron Maiden secret gig and he became hooked on the music scene. He was one of the founding writers for Astro Zombie a heavy metal and new world techno-inspired zine and his interview with Rob Caggiano of Anthrax brought in over 300,000 readers. He’s based out of Southeast Asia now, but his love of music is as strong and diverse as ever.