”Flowers for Albert” by David Murray on India Navigation IN 1026

January 29, 2025

A live avant-garde album by tenor man David Murray, recorded at The Ladies’ Fort in New York 1976. The dynamics of the music is appealing, with lots of calmer moments throughout. It never gets too intense, and I really enjoy that. It doesn’t have to be all guns blazing all the time when it comes to avant-garde/free jazz. One thing’s for sure, this bunch of musicians really thrive when the music is calmer.

Got a notice from a follower about another album I posted featuring Olu Dara, and he pointed out that it was rapper NAS’ father, which is cool. Lovely trumpeter. We also have Fred Hopkins on double bass and Phillip Wilson on drums.

India Navigation was a great label, and I’ve managed to find a handful of their albums and all of them are top notch. Will explore further, and I will also dive deeper into Murrays catalogue and see what other gems I can find.

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”New York Calling” by Jackie McLean & The Cosmic Brotherhood on Steeplechase SCS-1023

January 27, 2025

Another great one on Steeplechase, recorded in 1974. This is my latest McLean in terms of the span of his career. Have several from his 50’s and 60’s output. He’s always been a favorite. Great to hear him on this one in the 70’s. The music is some lovely post-bop played by cats of which the majority I haven’t listened to before. We have Billy Skinner on trumpet, Jackie’s son Rene who I know, Billy Gault on piano, James ”Fish” Benjamin on double bass and Michael Carvin on drums.

This is a prime example of stuff I’ve been missing out on when I was stuck in the 50’s and 60’s. I’ve found the 70’s to be one of the most interesting eras of jazz.

In terms of favorite tunes out of the five on this all-the-way-through great album, I’ll mention the oriental flavored ”Star Dancer” and the airy, uplifting ”Adrian’s Dance”, both composed by trumpeter Billy Skinner. Skinner also composed one of the other numbers and two tunes were composed by pianist Billy Gault.

Highly recommended.

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The Fringe on AP•GU•GA (AGG-001)

January 26, 2025

Avant-garde/free trio here called The Fringe. The album was recorded in 1978. Very progressive jazz. It has elements or parts of a straight beat as well with post bop vibes. The last tune is straight all the way through though, and the most accessible. The double bass is fantastic on this album. On the second tune on the first side the bass is jumping out of the speakers. It’s so loud, round, thick and powerful. Never heard anything like it. Great bassist.

The trio consist of George Garzone on tenor, Richard Appleman on double bass and Bob Gullotti on drums. I had never heard of these guys before this blind buy in a local store.

George Garzone on tenor is a beast. Appleman on double bass is killing it. And Gullotti’s playing is a joy to decipher. They are exploring and improvising on a different level here, and for me, it’s a style all of their own.

In truth, the music is hard to categorize, even if you can place it in the avant-garde idiom. But why should you really? I’ll just sit back and enjoy the sounds…

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"Flying Out" by Cecil McBee on India Navigation IN 1053

January 25, 2025

Lovely string instrumentation on this one.

The use of both bass, cello and violin makes this session by McBee, recorded in 1982, really stand out. The flavors and textures these instruments offer in a jazz setting is really dynamic and gives the music something different for sure. Feels very spiritual and beautiful and moods of classical music comes to mind. The tune ”Truth - A Path To Peace” is a great example.

The second side begins with an all string arrangement which is delightful and warms the soul without being sentimental and weepy.

But it’s the blend of the strings and the avant-garde and also blues rhythms that really elevates this album to being truly exciting for me. To have a violinist take a solo in a jazz setting, like on the bluesy ”Blues On The Bottom”, instead of something more familiar is a welcome break from the norm.

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"Us" by Byard Lancaster on Palm 8

January 24, 2025

Starts with a lovely drum statement by Steve McCall and then we’re off. Lancaster joins in on alto with some wailing oriental stuff. Sylvain Marc then starts his Fender bass masterclass. This is free jazz at it’s very best. Full of energy, virtuosic technique, furious runs but mixed with lyrical passages.

On the second tune Lancaster plays flute, and his breath between his statements is so organically present. Love it. He was a superb flautist. The tune is sparse and calming and delivers a lovely ambience.

Then we can enjoy Lancaster solo on the tenor and that’s a treat. His style and ideas are so engaging and you really get to hear his genius unfiltered and naked. Beautiful.

I can’t believe I found this one in a local store. Granted, without the 7” but I’m just happy I found it cause it’s a very rare one. Over the moon. It was recorded in November of 1973 for the French Palm label. Hoping to find more stuff on that label cause there is plenty to enjoy.

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”Folk Mond & Flower Dream” by the Albert Mangelsdorff Quintet on CBS S 63162

January 22, 2025

Will have to dive deeper into Magelsdorffs’ catalogue.

Absolutely brilliant album by German trombonist Mangelsdorff and his quintet consisting of an all German lineup. The whole band is smokin’. Recorded and released in 1967. It’s so good that I’d like to say that this is probably my favorite album that I’ve found so far this year.

I guess that Mangelsdorff was mainly a free jazz player (I’m not acquainted yet with his output), but the music on this album is not free jazz. It incorporates elements of several different styles, which makes it very compelling. Lots of lyrical statements are present and it’s composed. It’s more post-bop for me with touches of the avant-garde.

Anyhow, this is some lovely moody music and you should check it out if you’re unfamiliar. Highly recommended.

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"Thoughts" by the Leszek Zadlo Quartett on Ego 4003

January 21, 2025

Lovely avant-garde/post bop effort from Polish saxophonist and flautist Leszek Zadlo. Great sax player playing with high intensity and a beautiful, full tone on his tenor. I dig the whole band a lot. We have Joe Haider on piano, Isla Eckinger on double bass and Joe Nay on drums. They play very tight and produces a thick, steady backdrop for Zadlo to improvise over. The sound is great. Quite bass-heavy which is something I enjoy.

This title seem quite scarce. The cover often has lamination issues which is the case on my copy as well. No matter, it’s old and I can live with that.

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”Reflectativity” by New Dalta Ahkri (Wadada Leo Smith) on Kabell K-2

January 19, 2025

Mississippi-born trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith is a true artist. Haven’t explored his output fully yet, but this title is lovely. Plenty of sparseness present here and you anticipate Smith’s every note with excitement. They are quite few and far between but are chosen with imagination, expression and a deep reflective nature. It’s a beautiful journey to listen to the two tunes that comprise the album. For me, it’s an album to put on when I feel the need to get something different out of music. Something more reflective and contemplative.

Leo Smith plays trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet, indian and bamboo flutes and percussion. Then we have Anthony Davis on piano and Wes Brown on double bass and Ghanaian flute.

The album was recorded live at The Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, Connecticut in November of 1974. It was released on Smith’s own Kabell label.

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"Live at Slugs' Volume II" by Charles Tolliver Music Inc on Strata-East SES-19720

January 19, 2025

Another Music Inc album with Charles Tolliver at the helm. This one was recorded live at Slugs’ Saloon situated in the East Village, Manhattan, New York on May 1, 1970. Fantastic music from Tolliver and company as usual. This is the second volume and I’m also looking for Vol.1.

Love the ferocious ”Out Second Father”, penned by Tolliver, dedicated to the memory of John Coltrane. Tolliver plays absolutely brilliant on this tune. It’s also featured live on the ”Live at Loosdrecht” album, also on Strata-East, which I posted back in October of last year.

The personell on this date is Tolliver on trumpet, Stanley Cowell on piano, Cecil McBee on double bass and Jimmy Hopps on drums.

This original LP came in a beautiful gatefold cover, which features a lovely photograph of the band inside.

Essential.

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"Beyond the Rain" by Chico Freeman on Contemporary S7640

January 17, 2025

This a terrific album by Chico Freeman from his early career, featuring Elvin Jones. Recorded in 1977 and released 1978. The album kicks off with ”Two Over One”, which is my favorite out of the five quite varied tunes. Freeman impresses with his wonderful tone, technique and lyricism. He’s slowly growing into a favorite for me. I am continuing to explore his work and hoping to add more LP’s of his to the collection.

Bought this title today along with four others in a local store. Been diggin’ around a bit in stores the last year or so, which has been quite rare historically for me, but is so much fun. And the supply of great stuff is really good in Stockholm.

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"Now Is The Time" by Idrees Sulieman on Steeplechase SCS-1052

January 16, 2025

In between all the modal and avant-garde stuff I’ve been listening to lately it’s quite nice to put on a more straight ahead hard bop date, like this newly acquired Idrees Sulieman title on the wonderful Steeplechase label. Recorded on the 16th and 17th of February in 1976, and I was born on the 15th of February of that year, so a day after they started to record this, which is quite cool.

I haven’t got much of Sulieman’s work in the collection but he was a great trumpeter and this album is a testament to that. He’s got a really great band backing him as well in Cedar Walton, Sam Jones and Billy Higgins.

I really enjoy this one and you probably will too if you appreciate classic hard bop, albeit recorded on the mid 70’s. Recommended!

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"It's Not Up To Us" by Byard Lancaster on Vortex 2003

January 15, 2025

Love Lancaster. His stuff on Palm is great (very expensive though) and ”Exodus” on Philly Jazz. This one on Vortex is his debut. It’s a beautiful album with Lancaster playing both alto and flute. Love the change between these two instruments on each track. The session produced a very diverse set of tunes, each with it’s own special mood. Still, for some reason it feels cohesive to me.

The personell backing Lancaster are Sonny Sharrock on guitar, Jerome Hunter on bass, Eeic Gravatt on drums and Kenny Speller on congas.

Favorite picks are Sharrock’s spiritualistic ”John’s Children”, Lancaster’s take on Harold Arlen’s classic ”Over the Rainbow” and the beautifully dark ”Satan” where Sharrock’s guitar and Hunter’s bowed bass delivers the goods.

Highly recommended.

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"Impressions" by Three Motions with soloists from Chicago, New York and Vienna on Kovarik's Musikothek R.A.U. 1010

January 14, 2025

Fantastic avant-garde album that is quite accessible, recorded live in 1978 at the First International Music Workshop in the Town Hall in Krems, Austria. The concert features Anthony Braxton and Clifford Thornton among others.

The music is very dynamic with plenty of interesting passages, and the group improvisation is absolutely sublime. Lots of different instruments are featured. We have tenor, alto and soprano sax, trumpet, violin, electric piano, arabian flute, E-flat clarinet, drums, percussion and double bass.

The first side consists of two numbers which features the full band minus Thornton. Brilliant stuff that I feel is accessible even in the most fiery parts. Coltrane’s ”Impressions” kicks things off and it’s outstanding.

On the second side we have just a trio with Braxton (alto), Thornton (trumpet) and Muhammad Malli (soprano). It’s a lenghty, masterful exercise in horn improvisation. Highly enjoyable and engaging during the full 25 minutes.

The cover painting was created by Muhammad Malli.

If you appreciate the avant-garde then this is probably something you’ll enjoy a lot. It’s a clear favorite in the more adventurous part of my collection.

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"Some More Changes" by Changes on Ego 4022

January 13, 2025

Enjoyable effort from German jazz group Changes. A modal/post bop album with some really good tunes. This group was one of the leading outfits on the German jazz scene in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

The musicianship is great and I like trumpeter Uli Beckerhoff in particular. Great player. I also dig his two compositions on the second side a lot. Wolfgang Engstfeld on soprano and tenor sax is a wonderful player as well. The rhythm section consists of Ed Kröger in piano, Detlef Beier on double bass and Peter Weiss on drums and they lay a solid foundation as well as contributing to some really tasteful interplay between each other and both soloists.

Favorite pick is probably Beckerhoff’s ”Yaiza”, the last tune on the second side on which Engstfeld plays a beautiful soprano solo. Beckerhoff lays down a wonderful trumpet statement as well.

Under the radar for sure, but worth checking out.

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"Spirit Sensitive" by Chico Freeman on India Navigation IN 1045

January 12, 2025

This title on India Navigation was in that package with several albums I mentioned in a previous post being lost for several months. The package remains lost. This copy is another one from that local store I’ve mentioned, and when I saw it I just had to grab it, cause who knows if that package will turn up. I would guess it won’t so now I have at least secured this one which I’m very happy about.

Been after this one for a while. It’s a lovely serene album, recorded between 1978 and 1979, with Freeman really nailing his most lyrical approach to a tee. The set consists of mostly standards. It’s beautiful music. And the band backing him adds their magic to the proceedings. We find the outstanding Cecil McBee on double bass, John Hicks on piano, Billy Hart and Famoudou Don Moye on drums.

Chico Freeman was a superb tenor player and there are plenty of titles of his I’m aiming to acquire. There are several others also on India Navigation for example. He was definitely more adventurous during his career than on ”Spirit Sensitive”, but I think it’s a great album and it shows that he could masterfully connect with the older guard of musicians and celebrate the lyrical side of jazz.

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"Compassion" by Charles Tolliver Music Inc on Strata-East SES 8001

January 11, 2025

Anything with Tolliver on it is worth getting.

Another find from that previously unknown (to me) local store. Tolliver is always dope and I’m aiming to collect much more of his stuff. Got another one by him on it’s way as well. This album is a real treat. Post bop at is finest. An unusual combination of only trumpet and guitar besides the bass and drums creates a wonderful sound. It’s delicate and detailed. The musicians are Tolliver on trumpet, Nathan Page on guitar, Steve Novosel on double bass and Alvin Queen on drums.

We have four cuts, three of them are of the longer format which is always a plus for me. Favorite pick is the title track, which clocks in at almost 11 minutes. The closing ballad ”Truth” is amazing as well. The session was recorded in 1977. All compositions are by Tolliver.

Have some packages on their way to me next week with some very good stuff, so stay tuned.

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"Witchdoctor's Son" by Johnny Dyani with John Tchicai and Dudu Pukwana on SteepleChase SCS 1098

January 11, 2025

A great title on the SteepleChase label.

Fantastic title by Johnny Dyani with John Tchicai and Dudu Pukwana. The music is so full of life and joy. The style is a mix of different stuff. It’s very rhythmic and I think of African rhythms in particular at different points. We also have some sporadic vocals present on a couple of tunes, which is a rare occurrence on records in my collection.

Found this one and a couple of other gems in a local store which I hadn’t heard of before actually. So satisfying to buy something in a physical store rather than online, which I’ve been doing a lot through the years.

I’ve been getting in some albums on SteepleChase which is a lovely label based in Denmark. So much great stuff to discover in their catalogue. I have several albums on that label dating back to when I first started buying jazz vinyl. Will have to browse through my collection and see what pressings I have. Haven’t played them for a very long time.

Anyway, highly recommended album which is a bit different to the rest of the stuff I have.

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"Bordercrossing" by the Mike Osborne Trio on Ogun OG 300

January 9, 2025

Live album by English altoist Mike Osborne recorded in 1974 at the Peanuts Club in London. The piano-less trio format is always appealing to me with just a single horn. Really dig the sound and feeling of that kind of a stripped down setting. It’s way more primitive than having a piano in there, and I love that.

The music is avant-garde. It’s a lovely album and another one picked up at a store before I had heard it. I think I should do this more often. It’s very exciting when you take a chance and the music turns out to be great.

Osborne, who I haven’t listen to before, was a wonderful player. Really technically gifted and plays quite fiery, incorporating fast runs that produces lots of energy. I need to take a deep dive into his catalogue I reckon.

The cats backing Osborne in the trio are Harry Miller on double bass and Louise Moholo on drums. Both from South Africa. I mentioned them some time ago as well when I posted the Brötzmann album ”Opened, But Hardly Touched”. Great pair of musicians who played very well together.

The album was released on the Ogun label, which was founded 1973 in London by Miller and his wife Hazel, together with sound engineer Keith Beal. Will have to check that out to see if I can find any more good stuff.

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”Endangered Species” by Hamiet Bluiett on India Navigation IN 1025

January 8, 2025

Blind buy here on India Navigation. Very seldom do I take a chance on an artist or album I haven’t listen to before when visiting a record store. I’m happy I did cause this album is lovely. It’s the debut by baritonist Hamiet Bluiett. He was a multi-instrumentalist and besides his primary instrument he also played the bass saxophone, E-flat alto clarinet, E-flat contra-alto clarinet, and wooden flute.

The music here has both spiritual and avant-garde elements. It’s a live recording from 1976 at The Ladies’ Fort in New York. The cats playing with Bluiett are Jumma Santos on balafon, Junie Booth on double bass, Olu Dara on trumpet and Phillip Wilson on drums. All are new to me. Dara on trumpet is superb. So cool to discover these wonderful artists that are definitely not household names in jazz. At least not for me.

My explorations into the 70’s and 80’s continues and I must say I haven’t had this much fun collecting as I do now, and the journey hasn’t been quite this rewarding, on so many levels, than it is at this moment.

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"Year Of The Iron Sheep" by Ken McIntyre on United Artists UAJS 15015

January 7, 2025

The opportunity to open a sealed album from the early 60’s is a rare occasion. This one was still in it’s original loose plastic sleeve. It’s an original 1st stereo pressing, with the Plastylite ”P” in the dead wax on both sides.

Didn’t have any titles by multi-instrumentalist Ken McIntyre in the collection before this one. Haven’t explored his stuff much. He was a great player. Very accomplished on both alto and flute, which he plays on this session.

The music is beautiful. McIntyre is backed by three different groups. Some of the players include Jaki Byard, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Ron Carter and Louis Hayes.

The album was named after McIntyre’s birth year in the Tibetan calendar. Love the music, love the cover art and it’s matte surface, it’s all good.

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