Pharoah Sanders -Black Unity That a vinyl LP is essentially one long, continuous groove is probably nowhere more evident than listening to Pharoah Sanders’ Black Unity. This album was recorded and released during the peak of his creative power with a cast of ensemble players that are notable for their work in the avant-garde/free jazz space. There’s a whole lotta music packed into these grooves and trying to make sense of this album is not to listen in studied fashion—better to absorb it as a whole than to concentrate on its parts or look for some over-arching theme. The music is... Read More

Muriel Grossmann Devotion I’m a fan of Muriel Grossmann, though I have yet to meet her. She lives and works in Ibiza, which sounds like a constant party, but this woman is always working, striving, and challenging herself. Her newest release is another notch in her ascent as an important artist committed to modern spiritual jazz. The album, pressed at Third Man Records (nice clean, well-made wax), played flawlessly. This is the first album with Abel Boquera on Hammond B3. Side I “Absolute Truth”— takes the entirety of side one, some spacy sounds which are soon joined by a regular... Read More

  Sorry I’ve been absent. I’ve done some interesting research into music commissioned for the earliest days of television, and just resumed teaching again. I’m also thinking of going back to school to learn archival  practices and preservation among other things. I’m reading about the history of Dead Can Dance, and it is fascinating. More soon on that and other things. You should go out and buy: Katanga! Tone Poet Bobby Hamilton -Dream Queen- cut from tape and mastered by the notorious Bernie G. More soon, Bill  ... Read More

Those of us who have been spinning records for a while have had an interesting ride in the last few decades: first was the Death of Vinyl™ as record stores cleared out LP inventory to be replaced with racks of CDs. Many of us learned more about older records at that point, including pressings, plants and source material. Although a few labels kept the candle lit, more and more records were being sourced from digital files; in the reissue market, a lot of those, to the extent they were even marketed in the US, sounded markedly different than their analog predecessors. With the resurgence... Read More

 Listening- A Longer (and Wider) View This site does not attempt to capture the latest LP releases and reissues; I think the legacy press and audiophile sites do a more than adequate job on those fronts. Although we have sifted through some labels of historic significance (Island “Pink”; Vertigo “Swirl” and Warner “Green”), most of the music-related pieces here are more random and driven largely by my own interests—from early “heavy” rock (now recategorized as “proto-metal”) to spiritual and soul jazz.  Yes, there have been a few deep dives into things like blues... Read More

DRIFTGLASS by Seed Ensemble There is something very special about Driftglass by Seed Ensemble. For starters, it’s a hell of a lot of fun to listen to; when did you last experience that?  The album and ensemble are the brainchild of Cassie Kinoshi, a gifted performer, composer and arranger who leads a big band with a big sound and an eclectic, and sometimes unexpected, array of influences. What starts as a thrumming bass solo soon morphs into a stage full of instruments that mixes the avant-garde with something that resembles a James Bond film theme from the ‘60s—it’s cool stuff,... Read More

Fuzzy Duck- self titled (Be With Reissue)   Fuzzy Duck’s eponymous album is relatively obscure- it didn’t sell much at the time of release, with a limited pressing run and the group disbanded. But instead of fading into complete obscurity, the album enjoys a cult following with prices to match. Be With Records, the same outfit that did such a good job reissuing the Air album with Googie Coppola, just released this reissue, attainable by mere mortals for the cost of 4 lattes.  It’s well worth the cost. What you’ll hear is a UK psych hard rock band in top form circa 1971, with... Read More

Alice Coltrane, Ptah, the El Daoud and the Coltrane Home Studio (Part I) Alice Coltrane’s Ptah, the El Daoud, has an inner luminosity that transcends its performances and composition; it is the rare album that captures not just brief moments of brilliance, but entire passages that transport the listener. The album is all the more remarkable for being out of print on vinyl since 1974. It was recorded in a studio built by the Coltranes in their Dix Hills home that was slated for demolition until a group of preservationists and family members stepped in to rescue it. This is the story of an... Read More

 In the Court- Steve Wilson’s 50th Anniversary Remix on Vinyl  In the Court of the Crimson King was not just foundational to the emergence of “prog rock” but has endured long after many other influential and important early bands who tapped that vein fell into disfavor. I’ve had a number of copies of this record over the years, and settled on an early UK pink label (A3/B3) and a somewhat later UK pink rim (4u). The 2010 reissue of In the Court on vinyl, which drew from newly discovered source material was fine as far as it went but sounded a little clinical to my ears compared... Read More