Different Perspectives In My Room...!

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Label: CBS – 64071

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: UK / Released: 1970

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded on February 7, 1970 and released on LP by CBS that year.

Liner Notes – Michael Walters

Engineer by – Mike FitzHenry

All compositions by Tony Oxley

A1 - Saturnalia .............................................................................10:09

A2 - Scintilla ...................................................................................8:56

B1 - Amass ................................................................................... 13:00

B2 - Megaera ................................................................................. 6:09

Personnel:

Tony Oxley – drums

Evan Parker – tenor sax

Kenny Wheeler – trumpet, flugelhorn

Paul Rutherford – trombone

Derek Bailey – guitar

Jeff Clyne – bass

Released in 1970, 4 Compositions for Sextet was one of a pair of records drummer Tony Oxley recorded for CBS, which, at that time, seemed to be very interested in British free jazz -- the label also recorded at least three LPs by avant guitarist Ray Russell and a pair by Evan Parker.

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Oxley's band for this outing was a dream group of Brit outsiders: Derek Bailey on guitars, Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flügelhorn, Evan Parker on saxophones, Oxley on drums of course (the only British drummer besides Robert Wyatt who could play pop or free jazz with equal enthusiasm), Paul Rutherford on trombone, and Jeff Clyne on bass. The four tunes are all outer-limits numbers; all methadrine takes on what were happening improvisations. It's true that there are loose structures imposed on all four tracks, but they quickly dissolve under the barrage of sonic whackery. At times, dynamic tensions present themselves, such as on the beautiful "Scintilla," where Bailey shows what made him Derek Bailey in the first place: his willingness to take even preconceived notions of free improvisation apart. There are also puzzling questions that the sextet cannot resolve (e.g., how far to take harmonic investigation). It's clear not even Parker wants it to completely disintegrate into the ether; he holds forth with Wheeler that some semblance of order, no matter how tenuous, be kept. And while it's true these selections all sound dated by today's standards, and by how far each man has come in terms of musical growth, there is still something compelling here in the chopped-out framework of "Amass" or Parker's attempt to blow Oxley from the room with outrageously long lines that seem to come from the mouthpiece of the horn rather than its bell in "Megaera." There is also a stalwart "anti-Americanism in all of it," an anger directed at the Yankee jazzers who were now moving toward fusion or even the avant cats who relied too heavily on tradition. In any case, this is a fine record historically, for seeing where the Brit free music movement came from.

_ Review by Thom Jurek

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A year on from The Baptised Traveller, Tony Oxley's debut recording as a composer, this LP from 1970 is perhaps even more indicative of how the experimental music of the time ended up in the jazz bin seemingly by default. That said, all the essential attributes which are needed to add to the impetus of jazz are still here in abundance--the extraordinary empathy between the players, the clarity of thinking as to where the music needs to go and the continuing search for fresh and revitalising ideas to help it get there--but Oxley's diverse musical background (which even by this time had ranged from duties as housedrummer at Ronnie Scott's club to military band drumming, classical studies, working with John McLaughlin and forging an increasing commitment to freely improvised music) and natural self-discipline invests these compositions with a more wide-ranging sensibility. Oxley's lucid notes guide the listener through the structural bones of the compositions to which the musicians add improvised flesh and, while the results are no more likely to appeal to staunch traditionalists than they were all those years ago, the sheer vision of these works makes them compulsive listening.

_ Review by Roger Thomas

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: Gramavision – GR-8303

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1983

Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz

Recorded at Vanguard Studios, New York City in July 1983.

Mixed at Gramavision Studio, New York City in August 1983.

Cover – Francesco Clemente

Photography By [Photo By] – Robert Mapplethorpe

Design [Album Design] – Peter Corriston

Engineer – David Baker

Mastered By – Bob Ludwig

Mixed By – David Baker

Producer – Anthony Davis, Jonathan F. P. Rose

A1- Mvt I: Esu At The Crossroads....................................................... 4:52

A2- Mvt II: Little Richard's New Wave................................................. 8:31

A3- Mvt III: Ifa: The Oracle, Esu The Trickster .................................... 4:46

B1 - Mvt IV: A Walk Through The Shadows ....................................... 13:26

B2 - Mvt V: Clonetics............................................................................ 7:06

Composed By – Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis – piano

Dwight Andrews – flute

J.D. Parran – clarinet

Leo Smith – trumpet

George Lewis – trombone

David Samuels – vibraphone

Shem Guibbory – violin

Eugene Friesen – cello

Rick Rozie – bass

Pheeroan AkLaff – drums, percussion

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Written as music to accompany the choreography of Molissa Fenley, Anthony Davis followed the huge artistic (if not commercial) success of his albums Episteme and Variations in Dreamtime with yet another wonderful recording along similar lines. Using many of the same musicians and, in fact, recycling some of the same thematic material (as he was to do often in his career), Davis once again finds enormous richness and power in a territory straddling advanced jazz and contemporary minimalism, here even enjoining the services of Steve Reich's violinist of choice, Shem Guibbory. The compositions combine propulsive, oddly metered rhythms with fascinating and often gorgeous melodies including, especially his bitterly beautiful "A Walk in the Shadows," here given arguably its finest, most intense performance with Guibbory doing gut-wrenching work. The ensemble is incredibly tight and features superb playing by, among others, trumpeter Leo Smith and trombonist George Lewis. The cover painting by Francesco Clemente and the portrait photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe indicate how closely Davis was becoming involved with the New York avant-garde in the early '80s. This would lead to an increased "classicalization" of his work, largely to its detriment, in oncoming years, and Hemispheres would prove to be perhaps his last unqualified success. Very highly recommended.

_ Review by Brian Olewnick

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It would be nice to read this:

Commissioned by Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival

Molissa Fenley and Company/ANTHONY DAVIS and EPISTEME

HEMISPHERES - An evening length dance work with live music

http://molissafenley.com/view_works.php?id=51

Note:

THIS MONTH – ALBUMS THAT YOU REQUEST !!!

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: Impulse! – IA-9352/2

Series: The Dedication Series – Vol. XII

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP / Country: US / Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Liner Notes – Robert Palmer

Mixed By – Al Schmitt Jr. (tracks: A, B), Baker Bigsby (tracks: C1 to D2), Ed Michel (tracks: C1 to D2), Michael Cuscuna (tracks: A, B)

Producer – Ed Michel

Design by – Vartan/Rod Dyer Inc.

Photography by – Charles Stewaet

A - Hues Of Melanin - Part One (Soprano Saxophone Section)................................. 15:30

B - Hues Of Melanin - Part Two (Flute And Vocal Section)........................................ 18:47

C1 - Hues Of Melanin - Part Three (Ivory Black - The Piano Section)........................... 4:13

C2 - Hues Of Melanin - Part Four (Violet - The Tenor Saxophone Section).................. 5:38

C3 - Encore ..................................................................................................................... 3:05

C4- Mauve ..................................................................................................................... 4:17

C5- Indigo ...................................................................................................................... 1:28

D1 - Suite For Molde - Part One ..................................................................................... 8:06

a. Onyx - The Soprano Saxophone Section

b. Topaz - The Flute Section

D2 - Suite For Molde - Part Two (The Tenor Saxophone Section) ............................... 11:27

Tracks A-C2 recorded live on November 10, 1973 at the Battel Chapel, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Track C3 recorded live on July 6, 1973 at The Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland.

Tracks C4, C5 recorded live on October 27, 1972 at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan.

Tracks D1-D2 recorded live on August 3, 1973, at the Molde Jazz Festival, Molde, Norway.

Sam Rivers – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, piano, vocals

Cecil McBee (tracks: A1 to C3) – bass

Richard Davis (tracks: C4, C5) – bass

Arild Andersen (tracks: D1, D2) – bass

Barry Altschul (tracks: A1 to C2, D1, D2) – drums, percussion

Norman Connors (tracks: C3) – drums, percussion

Warren Smith (tracks: C4, C5) – drums, percussion

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Recorded live at concerts in Molde, Norway, Yale University, the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival and at Rochester, Michigan, this long-out-of-print double LP has all of Sam Rivers' recordings from the 1972-73 period. The music "Hues of Melanin" (here divided into four parts) lasts 47 minutes. In addition to three much briefer pieces, the two-part "Suite for Molde" is over 19 minutes long. On these numbers Rivers is joined by either Cecil McBee, Richard Davis or Arlid Anderson on bass and Barry Altschul, Norman Connors or Warren Smith on drums. There is surprisingly little tenor playing from Rivers during the performances (including just 5½ minutes of "Hues of Melanin"); he does stretch out more on soprano, flute, piano and even a little eccentric vocalizing. The passionate music is quite adventurous and outside, as close as Rivers came to free jazz. Excellent, but definitely not for all tastes.

_ Review by Scott Yanow

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Excerpt from the Liner Notes by Robert Palmer:

...this is a part of the ambitious program Backer and Michel effected during their Impulse tenure. The exceptions are „Onyx“ and „Topaz“, recorded at the Molde Festival in Norway; and „Ivory Black“ and „Violet“, recorded at Yale. These performances were included in „Hues“, an Impulse album of short excerpts from long trio performances, while most of the rest of the present album was scattered over „The Saxophone, Impulse! Artists on Tour, No Energy Crisis“ and „The Drums“. Michael Cuscuna has gone back and restored the integrity of the original sessions, so that the remarkable „Hues of Melanin“ from Yale, with the rhythm section of Cecil McBee and Barry Altschul that Rivers prefers today, and the „Suite for Molde“ are heard complete for the first time.

Rivers may have begun the Yale and Molde performances with an empty stage, but the stage did not remain empty for long, for these are remarkably rich and cohesive examples of group improvisation. Like any discipline that is practiced long enough, Rivers's trio performances have developed their own conventions–the uptempo and midtempo swing sections, the vaguely Eastern sounding drone sections, and so on–but it's remarkable how little convention and how many new sound and new ideas are present here. One could point to the overwhelming momentum of the Yale concert or to the alchemy that occurs between Rivers's flute and Arild Andersen's bowed bass on the second part of „Suite for Molde“ as particular highlights, but in fact, everything here is exceptional. And since Rivers has really recorded very little of his free-form trio music–most of his later trio dates, such as the brilliant „The Quest“ with Holland and Altschul, bring compositional elements into play–the addition of this album to his discography is particulary welcome...

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...Rivers's feelings about this music make the album doubly welcome. „Trio performances are the only thing I like to leave completely free“, he said in 1974. „That's really my style of playing, and I've been doing it long enough to be very conscious of developing forms. I start to build into some kind of form and set it up so that there's a rise and fall throughout. I didn't really feel that „Streams“ was one of my best trio performances. I flew over to make the gig in Montreux, and it was kind of hectic. The selections which they put on „No Energy Crisis“ and „Impulse! Artists on Tour“ [these were excerpts from the Yale and Molde concerts] „were better performances; they showed more emotion than „Streams“.“

That should tell you something about the way Rivers evaluates his own music. „Streams“ is a marvel of inventiveness and stamina but it is, perhaps, a little icy. Rivers at his best, as he was at Yale and Molde, is warm and expressive as well as technically formidable. In the end, both these attributes are equally important. „You can't survive in his business on just your intuitive thing“, he said when I interviewed him again in1978. „You can come out here and be an intuitive musician and be really happening, but your dreams and visions won't last forever. If you don't get into the books and get this technical thing together while your intuitive thing is happening, it's over.“ Rivers's great strength is that he has so much of both, the technical and the intuitive. He isn't in the music for one short, apocalyptic instant, he's in it for the long haul. His work, which he considers American classical music, is intended to last, and it's fortunate that these performances, restored to their original length, are going to last along with the rest of his recordings.

Enjoy!

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Label: Impulse! – AS-9162

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo / Country: US / Released: 1969

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at the Both/And Club in San Francisco on February 19th, 1966.

Issued in a gatefold sleeve

Design [Cover] – Byron Goto, Henry Epstein

Engineer – Wally Heider

Liner Notes – Nat Hentoff

Producer – Bob Thiele

A - Three For A Quarter ....................................................... 17:27

B - One For A Dime ............................................................. 15:26

Personnel:

ARCHIE SHEPP – tenor sax and piano

ROSWELL RUDD – trombone

LEWIS WORRELL – bass

DONALD GARRETT – bass

BEAVER HARRIS – drums, percussion

Shepp and his regular quintet of 1966, which also includes trombonist Roswell Rudd, drummer Beaver Harris, and bassists Donald Garrett and Lewis Worrell, really stretch out on this live blowout, there is some solo space for his sidemen, but Shepp dominates the performance, and his emotional style and endurance are in peak form. Intense and rewarding music.

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Although “Three for a Quarter One for a Dime” was not released until 1969, it was actually recorded in 1966 at the same show that made up the album “Live in San Francisco”. Only available in the original vinyl format, the 33 minute piece is divided into 17 ½ minutes on side one, and 15 ½ on side two. “This LP is in the massive gatefold packaging generously supplied by the Impulse! label is a work of art in itself.

Almost any musical genre seems to enjoy its best years when that style is being invented. The excitement of discovery seems to push a musician’s physical limits beyond their usual capabilities. You can hear this in late 20s jazz and early 40s be-bop, and you can also hear it in the ‘free jazz’ of the 60s. Despite all the attention given to Coltrane and Ornette during this freedom era, quite possibly Archie Shepp, along with Albert Alyer and John Gilmore, were the ones who took the emotional frenzy of this music to its highest level, and “Three for a Quarter” provides an excellent example of Shepp doing just that.

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This album opens with Shepp and tromobonist Roswell Rudd leap-frogging an odd melody that’s part bop, part circus music and completely ‘out to lunch’, there is no doubt that we are in for a wild ride. As the band digs in, Rudd and Shepp do some quick exchanges before Rudd backs off and gives Shepp the floor. Archie responds with one of the most intense sax solos you will ever hear anywhere, no shrieks or screams, just an endless assault of notes played with a very gnarly expressive guttural sound. Towards the end of side one, Rudd re-enters and the two soloists raise a wonderful chaos that sounds much bigger than just two. On side two, Rudd takes a solo ride while Shepp backs him on the piano before picking up his horn for one more double solo to close things out. Throughout the precedings, Beaver Harris keeps up a steady roar on the trap set while the two bassists rumble around in the background, although not always particularly distinctively.

Archie Shepp is a restless spirit who has played many styles of music in his career, “Three for a Quarter One for a Dime” is an excellent example of how much furious energy he brought to the ‘new thing’ of the sixties before he moved on to other things.

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: Arista ‎– AL 1012, Freedom ‎– AL 1012

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1975

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Side A - Recorded on January 29,1975 at C.I. Studios, New York City.

Side B - Recorded in February 1972 at Archway Studios, St. Louis, Missouri.

Art Direction – Bob Heimall

Artwork [Cover Art] – Bill Hoffman

Engineer – Elvin Campbell (tracks: A1 to A4), Oliver Sain (track: B)

Liner Notes – Michael Cuscuna

Liner Notes [Poem On Sleeve] – Julius Hemphill, Wilma Moses

Photography By – Ron Warwell

Producer – Julius Hemphill (track: B), Michael Cuscuna (tracks: A1 to A4)

A1 - Reflections ..........................................................................2:30

A2 - Lyric ....................................................................................7:24

A3- Skin 1 ................................................................................ 10:07

A4- Skin 2 .................................................................................. 2:28

Julius Hemphill / alto saxophone

'Black' Arthur Blythe / alto saxophone

Hamiet Bluiett / baritone saxophone

Abdul Wadud / cello

Barry Altschul / drums, percussion

Daniel Ben Zebulan / congas

B - The Hard Blues .................................................................. 20:07

Julius Hemphill / alto saxophone

Hamiet Bluiett / baritone saxophone

Baikida E. J. Carroll / trumpet

Abdul Wadud / cello

Philip Wilson / drums, percussion

This historic LP includes a 20-minute performance with altoist Julius Hemphill, trumpeter Baikida Carroll, baritonist Hamiet Bluiett, cellist Abdul Wadud and drummer Philip Wilson ("The Hard Blues") taken from the same session that resulted in Dogon A.D. In addition, there are four briefer tracks that feature Hemphill, Bluiett, Wadud, altoist Arthur Blythe, drummer Barry Altschul and the congas of Daniel Zebulon. The music throughout is quite avant-garde but differs from the high-energy jams of the 1960s due to its emphasis on building improvisations as a logical outgrowth from advanced compositions. It's well worth several listens.

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Julius Hemphill is a composer and an improviser: a composer in the tradition of Ellington, Mingus, and Ra, and an improviser with deep roots in the blues.

Side one of ‘Coon Bid’Ness (four tracks) works as a single composition. The opening piece, “Reflections,” begins with a slow lament, the three horns and cello creating dark, rich harmonies and utilizing a subtle vibrato to underline the music’s pathos. “Lyric” continues in this vein; then the space begins to open up. Hemphill, it seems, likes to work with several layers of sound, to slowly take them apart – to the point of near dissolution – then to put them back together again (though not necessarily the same as they were before). This is what happens during “Lyric” and also during “Skin 1.” The latter piece especially works its way into some very free space. Then “Skin 2” offers alternate choices as to the side’s resolution; yet there is no real resolution, only lingering afterthoughts. (Review: Henry Kuntz, 1975)

In ancient times, when the preferred form of recorded musical conveyance was a grooved vinyl disc called the "LP," there was a thing called the "side-length track" a single piece of music that took up an entire side of a 2-sided disc. "The Hard Blues" is one of those: 20 minutes of raw, grooving, R&B-drenched free jazz (with a small dose of bebop) that makes up Side Two of saxophonist Julius Hemphill's classic album 'Coon Bid'ness (the acerbic title is the African-American Hemphill's deliberate co-optation of a racial slur). Free jazz was ideal for the side-length track; the better for the improvisers to stretch out ... which is, after all, what free jazz musicians are wont to do. The musicians on "The Hard Blues" pack every possible ounce of content into their allotted 20 minutes, imbuing leader Julius Hemphill's avant-soul composition with enough energy to light up Motown on Devil's Night. Other free jazz guys worked from an R&B perspective, both before and after, but few adopted as gritty an approach as Hemphill and Co. take here. Especially notable are the hyper-agile cellist Abdul Wadud, whose trebly bassline twangs and grooves simultaneously, and Hemphill himself, who puts his experience in Ike Turner's band to good use. Trumpeter Baikida Carroll is terrific as well; his almost Dolphy-esque flights are a revelation. This is rare and raw stuff of a kind seldom heard, then or now. (Review: Chris Kelsey)

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In the U.S., it seems, the Seventies have been more a period of consolidation rather than of innovation (as if the advances of the last decade had to be justified before being built upon). In the process, however, some highly original and beautiful music has been made, bringing together various (and sometimes diverse) stylistic elements. Hard to say exactly where this music will lead, but much of it will easily survive the moment of its own creation and is well worth appreciating. Julius Hemphill’s album offers music of this sort, and it’s recommended.

Excellent stuff, comes highly recommended for anyone interested in avant-garde jazz.

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: Shandar ‎– SR 10 000, Shandar ‎– 83 503

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album & Country: France & Released: 1970/72

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at Saint-Paul de Vence, July 25 and 27, 1970.

Engineer [Sound] – Claude Jauvert

Liner Notes – Daniel Caux

Photography By [1-4] – Philippe Gras, [2-3] – Jacques Robert

Cover, Artwork – Patrick Sabatier

Matrix / Runout (A): SR 10000 A

Matrix / Runout (B): SR 10000 B

A1- In Heart Only .......................................................................... 5:10

A2- Spirits ................................................................................... 15:00

B1- Holy Family ........................................................................... 11:40

B2- Spirits Rejoice ........................................................................ 7:25

Composed By – Albert Ayler

Albert Ayler – saxophone [tenor, soprano]

Call Cobbs – piano

Steve Tintweiss – bass

Allen Blairman – drums, percussion

Mary Maria – vocals, saxophone [soprano]

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Albert Ayler was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1936. In 1952, on alto saxophone, he joined the band of blues singer and harmonica-player Little Walter. A few years later he switched to tenor, and met Cecil Taylor, who had preceded him to Scandinavia, in 1962. In the following year he formed a trio with Gary Peacock on bass and Sunny Murray on drums. With this group, plus Don Cherry on trumpet, he toured Denmark, Sweden and Holland. In 1963 he played at Town Hall with his brother, trumpeter Don Ayler, altoist Charles Tyler, bassist Lewis Worrell and Sunny Murray. The arrival of Albert Ayler on the jazz scene has provoked great enthusiasm but also great rage and sarcasm. His first journey to Paris, in 1966, as the final act in a programme which aimed to trace the history of jazz, unleashed a scandal gave rise to a great deal of controversy. Such a reception had the effect of making his eventual return to this country unlikely for a long time to come, until the announcement of his participation in the Nuits de la Fondation Maeght in 1970. He came to St-Paul de Vence, with pianist Call Cobbs, bassist Steve Tintweiss, drummer Allen Blairman and singer Mary Maria, and made a huge impact. He was called back on stage for encores six times, eight times, ten times, and it was the first great triumph in his career.

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It might seem astonishing, that someone previously regarded as the champion of anti-jazz is now promoted to the rank of an innovator whose art is the most deeply rooted. The reason is that Ayler’s stance is precisely to wed the very foundations of Negro-American music (“swing”, the atmosphere of spirituals or blues, for example) to the strengths of this music, even the most vertiginous, the most “irrational”… Certainly at first hearing, the multiphonics, the huge vibrato, the growling, the wheezing and other effects can take the listener aback. Something else which can cause amazement is the contrast between the improvisation and the themes on which it is based.. These can be marches, fanfares or blatant repetition. This apparent naivete should not, however, mislead anyone, since Albert Ayler “vampirises” everything he plays in a treacherous derailing of the senses, thanks to the extremity of an expressiveness which masks subtle rhythmic and melodic displacements, while making them more effective. Contrary to popular belief, what is most striking about Ayler is that in spite of the great spontaneity which, according to all the evidence, characterises the arrangements of the pieces he creates, almost all of them appears as a perfectly articulated, coherent and definitive ”whole”. Albert Ayler finds himself in a musical universe which it is customary to call the “New Thing” just as it was natural for Charlie Parker to find himself categorised as be-bop. It seems to us that his contribution has to be acknowledged like an outpouring of indescribable lightning.. On this basis, no jazz improviser apart from Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker can be compared to him.
(by Daniel CAUX)

ALBERT AYLER – Nuits De La Fondation Maeght Volume 2 (LP-1970)

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Label: Shandar – SR 10 004

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: France / Released: 1970/72

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at Saint-Paul de Vence, July 27, 1970.

Engineer [Sound] – Claude Jauvert

Liner Notes – Daniel Caux

Photography By [1-4] – Philippe Gras, [2-3] – Jacques Robert

Cover, Artwork – Patrick Sabatier

Matrix / Runout (Runout Side A): SR 10004 A

Matrix / Runout (Runout Side B): SR 10004 B

Composed By – Albert Ayler

A1 - Truth Is Marching In ................................................................... 7:55

A2 - Universal Message ..................................................................... 8:15

B1 - Spiritual Reunion ........................................................................7:20

B2 - Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe ..........................10:30

(Written-By – Mary Parks)

Albert Ayler – saxophone [tenor, soprano]

Call Cobbs – piano

Steve Tintweiss – bass

Allen Blairman – drums, percussion

Mary Maria – vocals, saxophone [soprano]

By the end of the year 1970, the musician who was thought of as being the strongest personality of the free jazz died in mysterious circumstances.

Albert Ayler had disappeared from his New York City home since November 6. His body was found in the East River three weeks later. His funeral was held discreetly on December 4 in his native Cleveland. Members of his family and several friends attended the funeral. He was 34.

After having scored his first major triumph at the Nights of the Maeght Foundation, he was scheduled to come back to France at the start of 1971 and was eagerly expected there.

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LeRoi Jones said several years ago “Albert Ayler is a master of stupefying dimensions and it is frustrating to think that many people might take a long time to be aware of it”. As a matter of fact, there were few of us to acknowledge the importance of this exceptional innovator who was thought of as being a weird musician, one that would be listened to out of curiosity or as a scandalous impostor. However one can wonder if there has ever been a purer and more sincere artist in the jazz field than Albert Ayler. It is true that what he played was both very simple and also very subtly complex, a situation that puzzled listeners who had to revise their usual criteria.

The music of Albert Ayler was as distanced from the intellectual ghetto in which for a time free jazz was confined as from the entertaining without consequences it was later reduced to so as to lessen its impact while ignoring its most radical aspects. Simplicity does not mean simplism and there was no demagogy in the words of Albert Ayler when he spoke of a music from the people for the people. He was perfectly aware of its objectives: “I want to play the melodies I sang when I was a kid. Folk melodies that every one could understand. I would use these melodies as starting points and several simple melodies that move inside the same tune. From a simple melody to complex textures, then back to simplicity and the more complex sounds and more dense ones.”

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People tended to see in the triumphant joy that is expressed in the music of Albert Ayler and in its ironic humour a will leaning on destruction through derision, an idea that is alien to us and one that would be at the very least too limitative. Albert Ayler stated on several occasions that what he was playing was essentially a love cry and that can be taken for granted. A universal love that is expressed with a frightening conviction and one that would attach in a single swoop the numerous contradictions that usually tear the human. Love meaning joy, supreme happiness but also happiness in danger. Out of this probably comes the ineffable emotion that is never absent from his music and which constitutes one of its specific elements.

The album we present gathers on one side the start and on the other one the last two numbers from the second concert given by Albert Ayler at the Maeght Foundation. A fervour-laden “Truth is marching in” reminds one of the New Orleans funerals and we know it was played by Ayler at the funeral of John Coltrane. A high level of expressive intensity was to be maintained during the concert. One notes the interventions of pianist Cal Cobbs who was once one of Billie Holiday’s accompanists and whose poetic playing matches happily Ayler’s. Taken at a very slow tempo “Music is the healing force of the Universe” which was the last tune played by Albert Ayler at Saint Paul de Vence seems to mark a will to retain the passing of time. Mary Maria sings with ‘soul’ while Albert Ayler accompanies her with countermelodies of dramatic lyricism that can only raise singular resonances today. (by Daniel CAUX)

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Label: Liberty – LBS 83172, Liberty – LBS 83172E

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: Dec 1968

Style: Blues Rock, Avantgarde

Recorded April 25th - May 2nd, 1968 at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California.

Art Direction – Tom Wilkes

Photography By – Guy Webster

Arranged By, Written-By – Don Van Vliet

Engineer – Bill Lazerus, Gene Shiveley

Producer – Bob Krasnow

Matrix / Runout (Side A stamped runout): LBS 83172 A//1 420

Matrix / Runout (Side B stamped runout): LBS 83172 B//1 420

LBS 83172 is the catalog number on the spine and labels while LBS 83172E is the catalog number on the back cover.

A1- Ah Feel Like Ahcid ...................................................................3:05

A2- Safe As Milk .............................................................................5:20

A3- Trust Us ....................................................................................8:05

A4- Son Of Mirror Man - Mere Man ................................................5:20

B1 - On Tomorrow ........................................................................... 3:25

B2 - Beatle Bones N' Smokin Stones ............................................... 3:15

B3 - Gimme Dat Harp Boy ............................................................... 5:00

B4 - Kandy Korn ............................................................................... 5:05

Don Van Vliet – lead vocals, blues harp [mouthharp]

Alex St. Claire – guitar

Jeff Cotton – guitar

Jerry Handley – bass

John French – drums, percussion

"Strictly Personal" is the follow-up to "Safe As Milk" and the band's 2nd official album, recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders between 25th April & 2nd May 1968 and released on the "Blue Thumb" label in October of that year.

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After the production of "Safe As Milk" Ry Cooder departed, resulting from an incident at a warm-up 'Magic Mountain' gig at Mount Tamalpas prior to their booking at Monterey. The band thus failed to capitalize on airing the tracks at the all-important Monterey Festival in June '67. Problems further plagued Vliet's new-formed line up of Snouffer, Handley, French and Cotton when they began their European gigs in January '68. Their appearances at the UK's "Middle Earth" and "Speakeasy" clubs were jeopardized by problems at Immigration, where they were accompanied by event organizer (and "The Who" manager) Pete Meaden. This 'lack of UK work permit' fiasco soured UK deals between Meaden, Buddah management and Pye - perhaps beginning the rot that would lead Krasnow, and the band, to depart from Buddah. However, the band completed gigs in Hanover on the 16th, London's two club dates on the 20th & 21st, "The John Peel Sessions" on the 24th, the MIDEM performance on the beach at Cannes on the 27th and the Casino le Croisette with "The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown" on the 28th. They then returned to the US in February, appearing at the Whisky-A-Go-Go from the 1st to the 4th.

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By late April a number of compositions, rehearsals and tapes were begun by the band for a second album on Buddah - broadly conceptualized as a double vinyl entitled "It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper". The core of this work took on a new shape when Vliet teamed the band up to an agreement with producer Bob Krasnow. Vliet had considered renaming the band "Blue Thumb", but this became the name of the new label which Krasnow formed. The material was pared-down to a single album and, whilst The Magic Band were appearing and performing this material back in the UK in May '68, Krasnow assembled the album under his own initiative. Much of the work had been created under the Buddah aegis, which may have been one of the reasons the work was reduced to a single album. Phasing and effects were added by Krasnow to the mix and the "Strictly Personal" album emerged as the first release on "Blue Thumb" as BTS 1. The album has also been manufactured & distributed by Liberty, United Artists and EMI.

The band began and ended their European "Strictly Personal" tour at UK's "Middle Earth" on 3rd & 25th May 1968. In between they appeared in Rome, along with UK bands such as "The Trinity" with Auger & Driscoll, "Ten Years After", "Donovan" and "Fairport Convention", plus another "John Peel Session". Dates also encompassed UK colleges, pubs and clubs, including "Frank Freeman's" in Kidderminster on the 19th - some of which can be found on record.

In retrospect, there has been much controversy among Beefheart followers over the merits of Krasnow's additions to the "Strictly Personal" work. 'Un-phazed' material and sessions can be found on such releases as "I May Be Hungry But I Sure Ain't Weird" or "The Mirror Man Sessions", which provide an overview on the birth and existence of "Strictly Personal". The album "It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper", on the 'Sundazed' label, also plugs gaps in the band's "Strictly Personal" history- onwards to the release of the fifth official album "Mirror Man".

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Considered by many to be a substandard effort due to the circumstances of its release (producer Bob Krasnow, the owner of Blue Thumb, the label which debuted with this album, remixed the album while Don Van Vliet and crew were off on a European tour, adding extraneous sound effects like heartbeats and excessive use of psychedelic-era clichés like out-of-phase stereo panning and flanging), 1968's Strictly Personal is actually a terrific album, every bit the equal of Safe As Milk and Trout Mask Replica. Opening with "Ah Feel Like Ahcid," an a cappella blues workout with its roots in Son House's "Death Letter," the brief (barely 35 minutes) album is at the same time simpler and weirder than Safe As Milk had been. Working without another songwriter or arranger for the first time, Captain Beefheart strips his idiosyncratic blues down to the bone, with several of the songs (especially "Son of Mirror Man/Mere Man") having little in the way of lyrics or chords beyond the most primeval stomp. Krasnow's unfortunate sound effects and phasing do detract from the album at points, but the strength of the performances, especially those of drummer John French, make his efforts little more than superfluous window dressing. Strictly Personal is a fascinating, underrated release.

(Review by Stewart Mason)

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Label: Warner Bros. Records – WS 1830

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold / Country: UK / Released: 1969

Style: Psychedelic Rock, Free Improvisation

Recorded live on Jan. 26 show at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom and Feb. 27 and March 2 1969, shows from the same city’s at the Fillmore West.

Art Direction – Ed Thrasher

Cover – R.D. Thomas

Engineer [Consulting] – Owsley “Bear” Stanley, Ron Wickersham

Photography By [Liner Photos] – Florence Nathan, Herb Greene, Jim Marshall (3)

Producer – The Grateful Dead

Producer, Engineer – Betty Cantor

Producer, Engineer [Executive] – Bob Matthews

Technician [Sound] – Bear

A - Dark Star ...................................................................................23:15

B1- St. Stephen ................................................................................. 6:45

B2- The Eleven.................................................................................. 9:39

C - Turn On Your Love Light ........................................................... 15:30

D1 - Death Don't Have No Mercy..................................................... 10:30

D2 - Feedback.................................................................................... 8:52

D3 - And We Bid You Goodnight ........................................................ 0:36

Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals

Bob Weir – guitar, vocals

Tom Constanten – organ

Phil Lesh – electric bass, vocals

Mickey Hart – drums, percussion

Bill Kreutzmann – drums, percussion

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan – vocals, congas, organ on "Death Don't Have No Mercy"

Live/Dead is the first official live album released by the San Francisco-based band Grateful Dead. Three concerts were recorded for the double album: a Jan. 26 show at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom and Feb. 27 and March 2 shows from the same city’s Fillmore West and released later in the year on November 10. Seven songs ended up on the 75-minute LP, and one of them — the closing ‘And We Bid You Goodnight’ — clocks in at 35 seconds. Doing the math, that leaves some really long songs, which would become an integral part of the band’s history. At the time of its release, Robert Christgau wrote that side two of the double album "contains the finest rock improvisation ever recorded."

The Grateful Dead legend begins here.

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This double live album capped off The Dead’s initial phase of their career, characterised by their electric acid jugband blues as it curled at the corners into freaky experimentation. And at this point, the band’s live performances began to mutate into sinewy effortlessness incarnate. And on a good night such as this, their vibing skills were honed to such a point it enabled them to subsume themselves into ‘group brain’ telepathy: producing music that would roll on powered only by the highest, reflective and ever-striving improvisation they ever got down on record. The first three-quarters of the album was a single, massive, run-on jam of four songs’ duration, interrupted only by fade outs and fade ins as dictated by the strictures of album length...

“Dark Star” takes up side one in its entirety with a slow fade-in into its quiet paces. It’s an interplanetary, interplaying synaptic ZAP; one that doesn’t meander so much as ebb and flow within the locked multi-tiered levels of consciousness of the players -- who all improvise responsibly as an ensemble giving each other tremendous tracts of open space to demarcate their individual rhythms while absorbing the always becoming-ness of where they were, and where they were going. The lyrics enter sung sweetly and strongly by Jerry Garcia, his yearning inflections casting through the nether reaches of emotional shadow-land as he reigns and regroups the piece time and time again, but it’s by no means his exploration alone. The kicking of Bill Kreutzmann’s bass drums (remarkably picked up by the expert ambient miking of Betty Cantor and Bob Matthews) and hand held percussion devices are shaken, stirred and struck as snatches of keyboards, bass extrapolations and skinny Bob Weir rhythm guitar are all constantly manifesting into what the song already is -- a deep and wordless joy that reawakens shades of existence that go passing by in a mindscape where nothing is preordained and flow is all. The drums cease completely at one point, but it’s not noticeable in the least as the group extends a track originally cut as a single A-side into an album side’s worth of consciousness mapping penetrations. You can listen to this track a thousand times and still hear something previously unrevealed. It’s beautiful.

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The side ends into a fade, catching the first chords of “St. Stephen” which gently awakens side 2; a place where things start to get far more raucous and complex. The lyrics are cryptic as hell, yet evoke a “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”-type life and death cycle, as hints of the strictest gnosis blossom and start to fragment into mythic imagery and suggestion in a waking dream that soon gets even more raucous and complex for, oh about eight minutes, and it’s about as precariously balanced as an overloaded chicken truck you see in old-tymey movies about to collide at a train crossing. The collision never occurs, but it’s running over everything: a stop sign, a cop, upsets a grocery-carrying grandmother, straddles half the sidewalk but it never, ever slows for any twist or turn. Before anyone can feel it, they’re already home free and well into “The Eleven” as they only brake lightly for Bob Weir’s out of tune vocals singing more oblique lyrics. But the rolling double drumming re-ensues and Lesh’s bass parts are busy distilling an intuitive beaker of alchemical rhythms as the music sallies through life as the group consciousness gets poured through into eternal grokking and bopping through life with a grinning soul, thumbing a ride on the great cosmic wheel. They realign rhythms to the less complex and far more traditional and loose as hell R&B framework of “Turn On Your Love Light” where Pigpen steps up to the mike with hollering, badgering and generally hell-bent-for-mojo pleading. The Spartan latticework of Kreutzmann and Hart’s double drumming breaks down to expertly handled snare rattlings from Kreutzmann as the stomping continues to rapturous psychedelic ballroom audience response. Pigpen starts rapping up a storm, cajoling everybody and yet the music continues all bouncy and teasing, with many stops and starts along the way -- for an entire album’s side, no less. They bring it on home with all guitarists backing on vocals and Weir’s shrieking background vocals are plain hair curling cracking...

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The final side sees The Reverend Gary Davis honoured with a cover of his blues, “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” Garcia regains the spotlight vocal while all other lights are down for this mournful, subdued and heartfelt rendition, turning in a pure Sam Andrews/Quicksilver solo accented with soaring feedback controls, but instilled with the eccentric lyricism of Celtic arabesques that could only emanate from his nine-fingered dexterity in the prime of his fabulous Gibson SG phase. “Feedback” sees the Grateful Dead re-emerge as the seven-headed feedback monster of improvised noise and overall gong abuse, but in a far more refined manner than their deafening live ’67 freak-outs from “Anthem Of The Sun”: Which is not to say it doesn’t get discordant as hell with the volume pedal fucking around but Tom Constanten’s near-invisible spookoid organ lightly sweetens it all with graceful hovering. The piece treads many times into ultimate fried-out freeform when tones start to sway and undulate and threaten to swoop and collect both band and audience and banish them to bad trip land forever until it simmers to a halt until all falls away but soft and lyrical passages. It finally hushes and spills directly into an excerpt of the traditional vocal, “And We Bid You Goodnight,” a sweetened lullaby in the dark as the final lingering wisps of smoldering hash vanish...

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The band would release several live albums during their run, most notably 1971’s self-titled LP, better known as ‘Skull & Roses’ among fans. By the early ’90s, with their reputation as one of the planet’s most popular live groups now firmly set, the Dead began releasing vintage concert recordings from their expansive archives. Of course, Deadheads were long on to all this, recording, collecting and trading tapes over a vast network of likeminded fans, a practice the group fully supported. But none of these recordings — bootlegs or otherwise — match ‘Live/Dead”s significance and thrills. They played better shows, and they found new, more exciting ways to spread out the songs onstage. But they never sounded more together than they do on this record.

The text is taken from the "Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage" and adapted for this post:

https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth/grateful-dead-live-dead

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Label: CBS – S 65299, CBS – KC 31610

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold, Tubepak Cover / Country: UK / Released: 1972

Style: Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Jazz-Rock, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Columbia Studios, San Francisco, Ca. March, April, & May 1972.

Artwork [Album Art] – Joan Chase

Engineer – Glen Kolotkin, Mike Larner

Liner Notes [Excerpt From "Metaphysical Meditations"] – Paramahansa Yogananda

Producer – Carlos Santana, Mike Shrieve

Matrix / Runout (Label side A): S 65299 A

Matrix / Runout (Label side B): S 65299 B

A1 - Eternal Caravan Of Reincarnation ................................................ 4:28

A2 - Waves Within................................................................................ 3:54

A3 - Look Up (To See What's Coming Down) ...................................... 2:57

A4 - Just In Time To See The Sun........................................................ 2:16

A5- Song Of The Wind ........................................................................6:03

A6- All The Love Of The Universe .......................................................7:37

B1 - Future Primitive ............................................................................. 4:15

B2 - Stone Flower................................................................................. 6:09

B3 - La Fuente Del Ritmo ..................................................................... 4:33

B4- Every Step Of The Way .................................................................9:05

Personnel:

Carlos Santana – lead guitar, guitar, vocals, percussion

Neal Schon – guitar

Gregg Rolie – organ, electric piano, vocals, piano

Douglas Rauch – bass, guitar

Douglas Rodrigues – guitar

Wendy Haas – piano

Tom Rutley – acoustic bass

Michael Shrieve – drums, percussion

José "Chepito" Areas – percussion, congas, timbales, bongos

James Mingo Lewis – percussion, congas, bongos, vocals, acoustic piano

Armando Peraza – percussion, bongos

Hadley Caliman – saxophone intro, flute

Rico Reyes – vocals

Lenny White – castanets

Tom Coster – electric piano

Tom Harrell – orchestra arrangement

Caravanserai is the fourth studio album by Santana released in October 1972. It marked a major turning point in Carlos Santana's career as it was a sharp departure from his critically acclaimed first three albums. Original bassist David Brown left the group in 1971 and was replaced by Doug Rauch and Tom Rutley, while original percussionist Michael Carabello left and was replaced by Armando Peraza. Keyboardist/vocalist Gregg Rolie, who was having a falling-out with Santana, was replaced by Tom Coster on a few songs. Caravanserai reached number eight in the Billboard 200 chart and number six in the R&B Albums chart in 1972.

The sound contrasted greatly with Santana's trademark fusion of salsa, rock, and jazz, and concentrated mostly on jazz-like instrumental passages. All but three tracks were instrumentals, and consequently the album yielded no hit singles. The album is the first among a series of Santana albums that were known for their increasing musical complexity, marking a move away from the popular rock format of the early Santana albums towards a more contemplative and experimental jazz sound. Caravanserai is regarded as an artistic success.

This album has been mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic.

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Well, hardly any words can describe just how fantastic this album. Only one of a handful albums that reach perfection, this stunning chef d'oeuvre, even with this site's vast choice of albums, I cannot think of five albums ahead of it. The peak in Santana's career (Carlos' solo career was not really started yet, either) comes rather early, and unfortunately will not be equalled again, although they will come close with Borboletta. By now, the classic Santana group was becoming a loose aggregation of great musicians, this album marks also the turning point between the first and second era of the group. The first departure woula happen after this album, while some future members made their apparition. While the previous albums were just collection of songs and I would not call this album a full-blown concept album, there is definetely a theme all the way through (outside stunning musical beauty that is): every song flow from each other so naturally that you will actually feel that there are just one track per album.
As opposed to their previous three albums, the feeling is drastically different and you know that there will be many adventures from the extatic exhilaration to the stunning and reflective introspection. With a solidly almost-atonal opening track telling you that your musical trip will be as wonderfully strange as a Touareg caravan crossing the Sahara, the album gets a kickstart with Waves Within and segues into the majestic Look Up where the band is in full stride and now compleyely unleashed. And by now you have barely just left the banks of the Nile River heading for the Atlantic Coast, so you can imagine the amazing trip still laying ahead. Just In Time In See The Sun is one of two sung tracks and although short is yet another highlight of the album. The first side closes on the lengthier Song Of The Wind (where Carlos delivers some of his most delightful guitar lines) and All The Love In The Universe (the other sung track), this is one of the most perfect type of jazz-rock with many ecstatic moments.

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Leaving Lake Tchad (the halfway mark and watering hole in your trip) behind you, you are heading straight for the forbidden city: Mali's Timbuktu with still quite a few marvels laying before your path. The sun-drenched (more like sun-baked) Future Primitive is evocative of all the traps laying in the desertic and arid lanscapes and is a fitting almost free improv. The mildly Arabian scales in the intro of Stone Flowers (probably referring to the sandroses) indicates that the trip is not always easy for the occidental youth, but the ultimate goal is at hand reaching the fabbled oasis. Clearly another peak is reached with Fuente Del Ritmo as you attack the lasdt quarter of the desert trek on your way to Dakar. This track sets aén incredible tension in the music with its 100 MPH cruising speed, the album reaching its apex: this track shows just how superb and awesome the band could be, and presenting for the first time Tom coster on the electric piano. The only flaw of the album comes from the fade-out of the track failing to create a real link with the apotheosis of the album, the closing 9-min Every Step Of The Way. I have a hard time thinking of a track that tops the musical tension created on this track: after a slowly increasing crescendo, the track suddendly jumps to a cosmic speed and some of the wildest musical landscapes ever: from the saturated flute solo, to the first guitar solo, solemnly underlined by a superb brass section for increased dramatic effects, you are just waiting to see if the orgasm will come when that one note will deliver your intellectual wad. And it does come (and so will you) in the form of a single guitar note (but the one you waited your whole life for), it releases all the built-up tensions and Dakar is in sight. Surely you have succeded in your internal quest for freedom of the mind and cannot be anything else but completely happy.....
I certainly believe that in the genre, no other albums comes even close to the mastery of this album, at least in the evocational power of the music. A true trip into the meanders of your brain, this album is more essential than anything that the prog big five have made. And I am hardly exagerating... :-)

Uuuuhhh, Max!?!? About creating that sixth star rating, I asked you for.................

Review by Sean Trane (Progarchives)

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Label: Columbia – KC 32034

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold / Country: US / Released: Jul 1973

Style: Jazz-Rock, Fusion, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Columbia Records CBS Inc., New York in October 1972 / March 1973.

Design [Album], Photography By [Cover] – Ashok

Photography By [Other Photographs] – Pranavananda

Liner Notes – Sri Chinmoy

Engineer – Glen Kolotkin

Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Santa Maria

Matrix / Runout (Side A Label): AL 32034

Matrix / Runout (Side B Label): BL 32034

A1 - A Love Supreme (John Coltrane) ........................................................ 7:48

A2 - Naima (Coltrane) ................................................................................. 3:09

A3 - The Life Divine (John McLaughlin) ...................................................... 9:30

B1 - Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord (Traditional) ............................ 15:45

B2 - Meditation (McLaughlin) ...................................................................... 2:45

Mahavishnu John McLaughlin – guitar, piano

Carlos Santana – guitar

Doug Rauch – bass guitar

Larry Young – organ

Jan Hammer – drums, percussion

Billy Cobham – drums, percussion

Don Alias – drums, percussion

Mike Shrieve – drums, percussion

James Mingo Lewis – percussion

Armando Peraza – congas, percussion, vocals

Love Devotion Surrender is an album released in 1973 by guitarists Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin, with the backing of their respective bands, Santana and The Mahavishnu Orchestra. The album was inspired by the teachings of Sri Chinmoy and intended as a tribute to John Coltrane. It contains two Coltrane compositions, two McLaughlin songs, and a traditional gospel song arranged by Santana and McLaughlin.

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A hopelessly misunderstood record in its time by Santana fans -- they were still reeling from the radical direction shift toward jazz on Caravanserai and praying it was an aberration -- it was greeted by Santana devotees with hostility, contrasted with kindness from major-league critics like Robert Palmer. To hear this recording in the context of not only Carlos Santana's development as a guitarist, but as the logical extension of the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis influencing rock musicians -- McLaughlin, of course, was a former Davis sideman -- this extension makes perfect sense in the post-Sonic Youth, post-rock era. With the exception of Coltrane's "Naima" and McLaughlin's "Meditation," this album consists of merely three extended guitar jams played on the spiritual ecstasy tip -- both men were devotees of guru Shri Chinmoy at the time. The assembled band included members of Santana's band and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in Michael Shrieve, Billy Cobham, Doug Rauch, Armando Peraza, Jan Hammer (playing drums!), and Don Alias. But it is the presence of the revolutionary jazz organist Larry Young -- a colleague of McLaughlin's in Tony Williams' Lifetime band -- that makes the entire project gel. He stands as the great communicator harmonically between the two very different guitarists whose ideas contrasted enough to complement one another in the context of Young's aggressive approach to keep the entire proceeding in the air.

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In the acknowledgement section of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," which opens the album, Young creates a channel between Santana's riotous, transcendent, melodic runs and McLaughlin's rapid-fire machine-gun riffing. Young' double-handed striated chord voicings offered enough for both men to chew on, leaving free-ranging territory for percussive effects to drive the tracks from underneath. Check "Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord," which was musically inspired by Bobby Womack's "Breezing" and dynamically foreshadowed by Pharoah Sanders' read of it, or the insanely knotty yet intervallically transcendent "The Life Divine," for the manner in which Young's organ actually speaks both languages simultaneously. Young is the person who makes the room for the deep spirituality inherent in these sessions to be grasped for what it is: the interplay of two men who were not merely paying tribute to Coltrane, but trying to take his ideas about going beyond the realm of Western music to communicate with the language of the heart as it united with the cosmos. After four decades, Love Devotion Surrender still sounds completely radical and stunningly, movingly beautiful.

(Review by Thom Jurek)

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ANTHONY BRAXTON QUARTET – Live At Moers Festival (2LP-1974)

Vinyl Rip / 2LP's - four lines + Artwork

New FLAC Rip and complete remastered recordings.

See:

http://differentperspectivesinmyroom.blogspot.ba/2013/04/anthony-braxton-quartet-live-at-moers.html

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Label: Lovely Music, Ltd. – VR 4904

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: US / Released: 1980

Style: Minimal, Improvisation

Recorded at Right Track Recording/ Lovely Music/ Vital Records, 1979.

Arranged By [Chorus Parts, Orchestrations] – Peter Gordon, Robert Ashley

Arranged By [Chorus Parts, Orchestrations], Co-producer – "Blue" Gene Tyranny

Mixed By – Joshua Harris, Peter Gordon, Robert Ashley

Producer – Peter Gordon

A - The Bar I ..............................................................................15:23

B - The Bar II (continued) ..........................................................12:44

Robert Ashley – voice

"Blue" Gene Tyranny – keyboards, piano, organ, clavinet

David Van Tieghem – percussion, chorus

Jill Kroesen – chorus

Note:

Perfect Lives - An opera in seven episodes

"The Bar" is episode four:

Rodney, the bartender, meets Buddy, the piano player.

This performance of "The Bar" was composed and produced in collaboration with "Blue" Gene Tyranny and Peter Gordon.

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Robert Ashley (March 28, 1930 – March 3, 2014)was an American composer, who was best known for his operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques.

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“Perfect Lives is generally accepted as Robert Ashley’s masterpiece, and is also a wonderful introduction to his work. This seven-part television opera had a long gestation period, and Ashley made a few attempts at recording it. In 1977, Private Parts (The Record) was released. It was a simple recording that consisted of Ashley’s voice, “Blue” Gene Tyranny’s piano, and a tabla player, credited only as “Kris”. This album contained “The Park” and “The Backyard”, which became the first and last sections, respectively, of Perfect Lives. By 1983, Ashley was performing a version of the piece with a group of like-minded musicians including Peter Gordon, David van Tieghem, and Jill Kroesen, many of whom were his former composition students at Mills College in Oakland, CA. This group recorded a complete version of all seven parts of Perfect Lives and released it on cassette (and eventually CD). “Perfect Lives (Private Parts): The Bar”, is a fascinating document of Ashley’s process. It represents a midpoint in the development of this piece. Released in 1980, “The Bar” is the exact center of Perfect Lives – part 4 of 7. It’s title is a combination of the two other versions. It was recorded just as Ashley was beginning to perform with his new group (Gordon, van Tieghem, and Kroesen), and allows us to hear another wonderful perspective on this genius work.”

(by Adam P. - ghostcapital)

Enjoy!

Here you can learn all about "An Opera For Television" by Robert Ashley and of course buy the CD (Lovely Music, Ltd. ‎– LCD 4917.3 / 3CD box):

http://www.lovely.com/artists/a-ashley.html

http://www.robertashley.org/productions/1977-83-perfectlives.htm

http://www.lovely.com/titles/cd4917.html

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Lives-Robert-Ashley/dp/B00000IOA9

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: ESP Disk – ESP-1009, ESP Disk – ESP-1009

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo / Country: US / Released: 1965/66 ?

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded At Bell Sound Studios, New York City, May, 1965.

Art Direction – Paul Frick

Cover – Bob James

Engineer – Art Crist

Matrix / Runout (Runout stamp side A): ESPS 1009A

Matrix / Runout (Runout stamp side B): ESPS 1009B

This version has BOB JAMES as artist on cover, and BOB JAMES TRIO as artist on labels. Black & white print cover, and orange labels with black print.

A1 - Explosions......................................................................................... 5:42

Written-By – Bob James

A2 - Untitled Mixes.................................................................................... 5:17

Written-By – Bob James, Bob Ashley

A3 - Peasant Boy ........................................................................................ 8:30

Written-By – Bob James, Gordon Mumma

B1 - An On ................................................................................................8:54

Written-By – Barre Phillips

B2 - Wolfman .............................................................................................6:07

Written-By – Bob James, Bob Ashley

Bob James – piano

Barre Phillips – bass

Robert Pozar – drums, percussion

Robert Ashley / Gordon Mumma – electronics [electronic tape collage]

Bob James is more known for his break-filled fusion sides for Tappan Zee and Columbia and his production for CTI than as a curious figure in the avant-garde jazz milieu of the 1960s. In fact, his two dates as a leader from this period have pretty much slipped under the radar. His first, Bold Conceptions (Mercury, 1962) was produced under the aegis of Quincy Jones upon the trio's winning of the Collegiate Jazz Festival. Featuring drummer Bob Pozar and bassist Ron Brooks, it combined post-Bill Evans textures with a hefty dose of shifting meters, plucked and prepared piano strings, magnetic tape, chance operations and unconventional sounds.

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Explosions, recorded in 1965 in New York with Barre Phillips replacing Brooks on bass, jumps with both feet into the electro-acoustic improvisation field, with significant assistance from Robert Ashley and Gordon Mumma of Sonic Arts Union. Their contributions are especially notable in a version of Ashley's multi-channel tape composition "Wolfman" and Mumma's assault on Barre Phillips'"Anon" (here titled "An On").

James more than acquits himself as a free player, coaxing dense clusters at both the high and low end, beginning "Peasant Boy" in glassy arpeggios that mate with the fluid, all-over lines of Phillips and Pozar. Affinity for Ran Blake and Don Friedman enter into James' approach to a sparse canvas, at once plaintive and rustling both at the keyboard and in the "guts," in conversation with knitting needles and high bass harmonics. It's not clear whether the tape manipulations were added to the first track in real time, but they flesh out the shadowy, lower-register group improvisation as it reaches a brief crescendo.

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A comparison might be made to Burton Greene (a Moog and piano-string jazz pioneer), but unlike his emotionalism and folksy melodies, the Bob James Trio seems more academic in its investigations, with deliberateness in the combinations of sounds. That's not a slight—rare indeed is a successful pairing of electronic and acoustic audio collage, much less in a mid-1960s jazz setting. Whirring feedback and tape manipulation are part of the instrumental palette, alongside temple blocks, bells and chimes, ping-pong balls on piano strings, and a florid approach to "conventional" free playing.

Couple this with the fact that this is one of the most cleanly recorded items in ESP's catalog, and Explosions is a weighty historical artifact not to be missed.

(by Clifford Allen / AAJ)

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: CECMA Records – CECMA 1009

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Italy / Released: Apr 1988

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded at Passport Recording Studios, New York, NY USA.

Producer [Album] – Francesco Maino

Producer [Session] – Kunle Mwanga

Engineer by – Gennaro Carone

Illustration, Cover Art and Layout by – Giovanni Fanelli

A1- Booty Butt Baboon Breakdown ..................................................... 5:18

A2- Thanks ......................................................................................... 10:19

A3- Mingus Eyes .................................................................................. 8:55

B1- Kahil's Turnaround ........................................................................ 8:24

B2- Capetown Strut / Kwelli: Dyani?.................................................. 10:50

David Murray – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

Hugh Ragin – trumpet, flugelhorn

Abdul Wadud – cello

Fred Hopkins – contrabass

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".....if I die tomorrow, I would be happy with my (recorded) legacy, give or take one or two, three or four. I've made some albums that'll stand the test of time."

David Murray

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David Murray has created one of his masterpieces, in the press CECMA Records, the stunning "The People's Choice" with "Chamber Jazz Quartet". Hugh Ragin plays the trumpet and flugelhorn, Fred Hopkins is on the contrabass, often played with a bow, and great Abdul Wadud on cello.

Marvelously!

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: Victor – SMJ-6225

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Japan / Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz, Post Bop

Recorded in Lausanne, Switzerland, October 1976.

Mixed at Long View Farm - North Brookfield, Massachusetts.

Composed By – Jymie Merritt

Design [Album] – Hirohito Fukutomi

Photography By – Tadayuki Naitoh

Liner Notes [Cover Notes] – Bill Hasson

Engineer – Jesse Henderson

Producer – Underground, Inc.

Victor Record Label, Catalog# MAX-6003 A-B

A - Nommo .......................................................................................25:40

B - Nommo (Continued) ...................................................................24:25

Max Roach – drums, percussion

Cecil Bridgewater – trumpet

Billy Harper – tenor saxophone

Reggie Workman – bass

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Recorded for Swiss Radio in Lausanne, Switzerland, in October of 1976. This is an original 1978 release from Japan. Includes an insert with notes in Japanese! First press on Victor.

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Recorded in 1976, but not released until 1978 and only in Japan. This record is astonishingly good. Truly a beast of a free jazz-post bop session that features Max Roach on Drums, Billy Harper on Tenor (who's solo at the beginning of side two reaffirms my belief that he is one of the greatest Tenor players of all time), Cecil Bridgewater on Trumpet and Reggie Workman on Bass.

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: Denon Jazz – YX-7508-ND

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Japan / Released: 1977

Style: Free Jazz, Post Bop, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at Yubin Chokin Hall, Tokyo, January 21, 1977.

Cover Design – SIGN. Satoshi Saitoh

Cover Photo – Tadayuki Naitoh

Engineer by – Kaoru Iida

PCM Operator – Hideki Kaukizaki, Kaoro Yamamoto

Produced by – Tsutomu Ueno and Yoshiharu Kawaguchi

A - Calvary.................................................................................... 18:40

B1 - 'Round Midnight ......................................................................11:42

B2 - It's Time ....................................................................................8:50

Max Roach – drums, percussion

Cecil Bridgewater – trumpet

Billy Harper – tenor saxophone

Reggie Workman – bass

Beautiful sounds from the ultra-hip Max Roach Quartet of the mid 70s. Tracks are long – very much in the Harper style of the time – and titles include "It's Time", "Calvary", and "Round Midnight".

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Product Description:

MAX ROACH QUARTET Live In Tokyo Vol. 1 (1977 Japanese, 3-track Denon Jazz label, vinyl LP featuring a great live recording from the Yubin Chokin Hall in Tokyo Japan recorded on the 21st January 1977 featuring Cecil Bridgewater, Billy Harper, Reggie Workman with Max Roach. Housed in a picture sleeve complete with the original Japanese insert and wide obi-strip, YX-7508-ND)

MAX ROACH QUARTET – Live In Tokyo Vol.2
(LP-DenonJazz-1977)

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Label: Denon Jazz – YX-7509-ND

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Japan / Released: 1977

Style: Free Jazz, Post Bop, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at Yubin Chokin Hall, Tokyo, January 21, 1977.

Cover Ilustration – Atsushi Yoshioka

Cover Design – SIGN. Satoshi Saitoh

Cover Photo – Tadayuki Naitoh

Engineer by – Kaoru Iida

PCM Operator – Hideki Kaukizaki, Kaoro Yamamoto

Produced by – Tsutomu Ueno and Yoshiharu Kawaguchi

A1 - Mr. Papa Jo ............................................................................... 3:05

A2 - Scott Free Part 1 ..................................................................... 16:22

B - Scott Free Part 2 .....................................................................17:10

Max Roach – drums, percussion

Cecil Bridgewater – trumpet

Billy Harper – tenor saxophone

Reggie Workman – bass

Product Description:

MAX ROACH QUARTET Live In Tokyo Vol. 2 (1977 Japanese, 3-track live Denon Jazz label, vinyl LP, starring Cecil Bridgewater [trumpet], Billy Harper [tenor sax] & Reggie Workman [bass] recorded at the Yubin Chokin Hall that year. Pasted picture sleeve with Japanese insert & picture obi, YX-7509-ND).

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Note:

Nearly all Japanese LPs were issued with an ‘obi’ - literally translated this means ‘sash’ and is derived from the obi (sash) worn around the traditional kimono dress. This delicate paper strip, usually wrapped around the left side of the album cover, often contains marketing information and album content details, all printed in Japanese kanji and ~kana script. Obi designs can be as varied as the LPs they adorn, and some series’ of obi designs can be as collectable as the artists’ albums they decorate. However, not all promotional LPs were issued with the obi - the LP was often distributed before the obi was produced - it is rarer to find a promo with an obi than it is without one, especially on first pressings. They are more common on promo copies of reissue albums as the timing is not quite so important as for a brand new release so there was more time to put the whole package together. The rarest Japanese promotional LPs are those designed with exclusive custom picture sleeves, often compilations of previously released tracks issued to the media as a reminder of back catalogue success prior to the launch of new material, or an impending Japanese tour. These retrospective LPs can be the crowning glory of any collection and they rarely come up for sale. They are often some of the most expensive LPs to obtain, with prices ranging from £50 to £1500 for the extreme rarities...!

If you find them, buy these albums!

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Label: ECM Records ‎– ECM 1013 ST

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Germany / Released: 1971

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded live at the Little Theater Club, London, January 1971.

Cover Design by – Dave Holland

Layout – B & B Wojirsch

Liner Notes [Poem] – E. E. Cummings

Music published by ECM-Verlag

Matrix / Runout (Side A Runout): ST-ECM 1013-A

Matrix / Runout (Side B Runout): ST-ECM 1013-B

A - Improvised Piece III ........................................................... 20:04

B1- Improvised Piece IV ............................................................. 8:16

B2- Improvised Piece V ............................................................ 10:08

All compositions by Dave Holland and Derek Bailey

David Holland — cello

Derek Bailey — guitar

Improvisations for Cello and Guitar is an album by cellist David Holland and guitarist Derek Bailey recorded in 1971 and released on the ECM label.

''One’s not half two. Its two are halves of one… All lose, whole find.''

(by–E. E. Cummings)

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If you’ve ever picked up a guitar and played those short strings between the end of the neck and the pegs and wondered if one could make viable music with that kind of sound, then look no further, for that is precisely the pinpoint aesthetic captured on this rare recording. These improvisations are miniscule and entomological, whispering with the nocturnal regularity of a cricket. Holland and Bailey shift from pops and plucks to more sustained tones at the drop of a hat, but always with an ear keenly tuned to the other player. The two take full advantage of extended techniques to create a wide palette of sounds. These are delicate pieces, but no less full of verve and character for their utter precision. Sometimes the music is incredibly expansive. Other times it seems to implode, by turns galactic and subterranean. Because both musicians are so skillful at what they do, one can truly appreciate the spontaneous dynamics of their playing, the ways in which they react and prompt each other into action. They are never afraid to take separate paths, for they always seem to rejoin, and in doing so they add seemingly endless variety as the energy flows and ebbs. It’s always fascinating to hear Dave Holland’s earlier work, and this meeting with Bailey is certainly an archival treat.

Todd S. Jenkins called the album "a dark resonant masterwork".

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: Blue Note – BN-LA472-H2

Series: The Blue Note Re-Issue Series –

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1975

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Art Direction, Design – Bob Cato

Engineer – Tony May

Liner Notes – Stanley Crouch

Producer [Original Sessions] – Sonny Lester

Reissue Produced For Release By – Michael Cuscuna

Supervised By [Project Director Blue Note Re-issue Series] – Charlie Lourie

Matrix / Runout (Side 1 runouts): BN-LA472-1- UA

Matrix / Runout (Side 2 runouts): BN-LA472-2 UA

Matrix / Runout (Side 3 runouts): BN-LA472-3- UA

Matrix / Runout (Side 4 runouts): BN-LA472-4-X UA

Tracklist:

A1 - Bossa .......................................................................................... 4:45

A2 - Gemini ........................................................................................ 4:17

A3 - My One And Only Love .............................................................. 3:33

A4 - Fragments ................................................................................... 4:01

A5 - Windows ..................................................................................... 3:08

B1 - Samba Yanta.............................................................................. 2:40

B2 - I Don't Know............................................................................... 2:39

B3 - Pannonica................................................................................... 2:58

B4- Blues Connotation ...................................................................... 7:17

B5 - Duet For Bass And Piano No.1 .................................................. 3:28

B6 - Duet For Bass And Piano No.2 .................................................. 1:40

C1- Starp ........................................................................................... 5:20

C2- 73º-A.Kelvin ................................................................................ 9:09

C3- Ballad .......................................................................................... 6:41

D1 - Danse For Clarinet And Piano No.1 ........................................... 2:14

D2 - Danse For Clarinet And Piano No.2 ...........................................2:32

D3 - Chimes Part 1 ........................................................................... 10:20

D4 - Chimes Part 2 .............................................................................6:40

Written-By – A. Braxton (tracks: C2 to D4), C. Corea (tracks: A1, A2, A4 to B2, B5, B6, C3 to D4), D. Holland (tracks: B5 to C1, C3, D3, D4)

Tracks A1 to B3 recorded in New York in May, 1968.

Track B4 recorded in New York on April 7, 1970.

Tracks B5, B6, D1 to D4 recorded in New York on Oct 13, 1970.

Tracks C1 to C3 recorded in New York on Oct. 19, 1970.

Personnel:

Chick Corea – piano (all tracks); celeste, vibes, percussion (tracks: B5, B6, D1 to D4)

Miroslav Vitous – bass (tracks: A1 to B3)

Dave Holland – bass (tracks: B4 to D4); cello, guitar (tracks: B5 to D4)

Anthony Braxton – clarinet, alto saxophone (tracks: B5 to D4);

contrabass clarinet (tracks: B5, B6, D1 to D4); flute (tracks: C1 to C3)

Roy Haynes – drums, percussion (tracks: A1 to B3)

Barry Altschul – drums, percussion (tracks: B4, C1 to C3)

Notes:

This version has 'Chick Corea' written in bright yellow on the front cover, as opposed to the green writing on Chick Corea - Circling In. Label variation with white "b".

Circling In is a double LP by jazz pianist Chick Corea featuring performances recorded between 1968 and 1970, including the first recordings by the group Circle, which was first released on the Blue Note label in 1975. It contains trio performances by Corea with Miroslav Vitous, and Roy Haynes recorded in March 1968, and performances by permutations of the band Circle recorded in April and October 1970 some of which were later released as Early Circle.

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This out-of-print double LP, all of the contents, gives one a clear picture into the evolution of pianist Chick Corea during the 1968-70 period. The first eight tracks, trio music with bassist Miroslav Vitous and drummer Roy Haynes from 1968, finds Corea stretching the boundaries of straightahead jazz, taking advanced solos that hint at the avant-garde and displaying his early distinctive style. Much of the rest of this two-fer features the rather radical group Circle with Corea joined by the masterful reed player Anthony Braxton, bassist Dave Holland and, on some tracks, drummer Barry Altschul for some very advanced group improvising. Music strictly for those with open ears.

(Review by Scott Yanow)

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“Circling In” is one of those thrown together albums made up of different recording sessions, and because of that it doesn’t get a lot of attention, which is a real shame because this is actually one of the better Chick Corea LPs out there. Chick has stated that sometime in the early 70s he decided to change his approach to the piano in an attempt to ‘communicate’ better with the audience. Fortunately, all of the recordings on “Circling In” come from that time before his conscious change and feature the young fiery Chick Corea who combined elements of Monk, Cecil Taylor, Eddie Palmieri and Bill Evans into one of the most notable piano styles of the late 60s. Certainly Corea continued to be a great player for the rest of his career, but his early playing will always be his best.

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Side one opens this double LP set with recordings recorded in New York in May, 1968 with Roy Haynes on drums and Mirsolav Vitous on bass. Generally these tunes are of the modern post bop variety that move in and out of free sections. The material ranges from an imaginative reading of “My One and Only Love”, to the more fragmented and dissonant “Gemini”. Side two continues with the same trio until we hit “Blues Connotation”, a fierce outside hard bop number with Dave Holland on bass and Barry Altschul on drums. The rest of side two, as well as sides three and four are filled with recordings by Corea’s short lived avant-garde group, Circle recorded in New York on October, 13. and 19. 1970.

In keeping with the spirit of this album being an overlooked gem, the group Circle is one of the more under appreciated ensembles to ever play improvised music. The music they present on this album ranges from blistering free jazz assaults, to carefully constructed pieces that recall leading 60s concert hall composers such as Berio, Boulez and Stockhausen. Having the multi-talented Anthony Braxton on board doesn’t hurt as he and Corea both are able to easily move from the bar-room world of jazz to the highest of academia without any loss of integrity. Every track by Circle has its own unique flavor and vision, and often their performance carries a sense of de-constructive humor as well.

This was one of the first jazz albums I ever bought and still gladly listen, I love this Blue Note series, has a special charm. Chick was just a different pianist at this time, and after he decided to change his approach, I eventually lost interest in his playing. Because “Circling In” is a mixed bag, it does not command a high price. I would imagine some might prefer the post bop styled cuts with Roy Haynes, while others might prefer the more avant-garde Circle, but really, every track on here is excellent.

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: JG-Records – JG 010

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Germany & Released: 1970

Style: Experimental Jazz, Avant-garde

Recorded in June 1970.

Producer – Jan Huydts Trio

Engineer – Karlheinz Klüter

Manufactured By – JG-Records

A1 – Protuberans ......................................................................... 2:50

A2 - Brown Taste I ...................................................................... 15:00

A3 – Protuberans ......................................................................... 2:50

B1 - 3 x 4 ..................................................................................... 3:20

B2 - Brown Taste II ...................................................................... 4:45

B3 - Struggle For Life .................................................................. 2:00

B4 - Brown Taste III..................................................................... 7:30

B5 - 3 x 4 II .................................................................................. 2:00

Jan Huydts – electric piano [hohner pianett], piano, harp [handharp], vocals, bass

Leo de Ruiter – drums, tabla, instruments [azuri, garden tube], harp [handharp], shawm [Chines shawm]

Alfred Haurand – double bass, violin, flute [woodflute], instruments [garden tube], rattle,

percussion

Avantgarde/experimental jazz from 1970. Released on the tiny JG label. Very, very rare recording.

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German jazz label established in 1969 by a collection of jazz friends involved in the "Aktion jazz69" festival. The initials JG stand for "Jazz Grooves". The label was owned and run by one Karlheinz Klüter during the 1970s.

Amongst its early releases were documents of the Internationales New Jazz Meeting Auf Burg Altena festivals, and later the famous Balver Höhle concerts.

Ulrich Balss, producer with JG-Records in their later years, went on to establish the related JA&RO records and then Jaro.

If you find it, buy this album!

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Label: JG-Records – JG 018

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Germany / Released: 1970

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded live January 10, 1970, Altena, Germany

Photos – Jörg Rahmede (side 2), K. Klüter (side 1)

Engineer – Karlheinz Klüter

The author notes the album has been released with three different covers on two different labels.

Issued with three different sleeve designs: the first and second (plain red with a sticker) were limited editions with red labels printed in black; the third sleeve was red with white printing (black labels printed in silver).

A – side 1 ......................................................................................... 25:00

a1 - Billie The Kid (Martin)

a2 - Tallness (Surman)

a3 - Dee Tune (Surman)

B – side 2 ......................................................................................... 18:30

b1 - In Between (Surman)

b2 - Spikenard (Phillips)

John Surman – baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet

Barre Phillips – bass

Stu Martin – drums, percussion

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Ultra rare free jazz album from 1970 with John Surman, Barre Phillips and Stu Martin released on small private German label. This is the 2nd edition with blood red cover, labels are red. Exclusively issued for Germany / Limited Edition.

If you find it, buy this album!

TONY OXLEY – 4 Compositions For Sextet (LP-1970)

ANTHONY DAVIS – Hemispheres (LP-1983)

SAM RIVERS – The Live Trio Sessions (2LP-1978)

ARCHIE SHEPP – Three For A Quarter One For A Dime (LP-1969)

JULIUS HEMPHILL – 'Coon Bid'ness (LP-1975)

ALBERT AYLER – Nuits De La Fondation Maeght Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (LPs-1970)

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND – Strictly Personal (LP-1968)

GRATEFUL DEAD – Live-Dead (2LP-1969)

SANTANA – Caravanserai (LP-1972)

CARLOS SANTANA / MAHAVISHNU JOHN McLAUGHLIN – Love Devotion Surrender (LP-1973)

TEMPORARILY NOTICE:

ROBERT ASHLEY – Perfect Lives (Private Parts) - The Bar (LP-1980)

BOB JAMES TRIO – Explosions (LP-ESP Disk-1965)

DAVID MURRAY CHAMBER JAZZ QUARTET – The People's Choice (LP-1988)

MAX ROACH QUARTET – Nommo (LP-Victor-1978)

MAX ROACH QUARTET – Live In Tokyo Vol.1 and Vol.2 (LPs-DenonJazz-1977)

DAVID HOLLAND / DEREK BAILEY – Improvisations For Cello And Guitar (LP-ECM-1971)

CHICK COREA – Circling In (2LP-1975)

JAN HUYDTS TRIO – Brown Taste (LP-1970-JG 010)

JOHN SURMAN TRIO – Life In Altena (LP-1970- JG 018)