| The Dark Tree | |
| Type: | Live album |
| Artist: | Horace Tapscott |
| Cover: | The Dark Tree 1.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 1991 |
| Recorded: | December 14–17, 1989 at the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood, California |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Length: | 99:46 |
| Label: | Hat ART 6053 & 6083 |
| Producer: | Gunther Georg Schmid & Werner X. Uehlinger |
| Chronology: | Horace Tapscott |
| Prev Title: | Dissent or Descent |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | Aiee! The Phantom |
| Next Year: | 1996 |
The Dark Tree is a live album by pianist Horace Tapscott recorded in 1989 and released on the Hat ART label as two separate volumes in 1991.[1] The album was re-released as a double CD in 1999 and 2009[2]
The Allmusic review by Steve Loewy awarded the album 4½ stars stating "The pianist shows his feathers on piece after piece (most of which were written by him), in which he is as comfortable with post-bop runs as he is with their avant-garde implications. Through it all, you can hear his blues-drenched roots".[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album a "Crown" signifying a recording that the authors "feel a special admiration or affection for".[4] [5]
All About Jazz stated "The Dark Tree has only been sporadically available since its original, limited edition release in 1991, and the re-releases have been small runs. In the gloaming, fables have grown around the album. But as is by no means always the case with rarities, the reality here is as good as the legend: this motherlode of groove is a signature performance by a woefully neglected artist"[6]
All compositions by Horace Tapscott except as indicated
Disc One:
Disc Two:
. Richard Cook (journalist). Brian Morton . Brian Morton (Scottish writer) . The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. 1992. 9th. 2008. Penguin. New York. 978-0-141-03401-0. 1373–1374. Horace Tapscott.