orgyinrhythmredux

 Hiroshi Matumoto & Hideo Ichikawa Quartet for Victor Japan from 1969. Hideo Ichikawa(p), Hiroshi Matsumoto(vib), Kunimitsu Inaba(b), Motohiko Hino(ds). First time out in blogland for this superb all killer piano and vibes led set from Japan. Think Hutch-think MJQ-think again...this is just sublime.

 Jon Lee & Gerry Brown for Keytone from 1973. Gerry Brown (drums, percussion)John Lee (bass, Fender bass, percussion)Gary Bartz (alto & soprano saxophones, slidewhistle, percussion)Chris Hinze (flute, alto & bass flute, piccolo, bamboo flute)Henny Vonk (vocals, percussion)Howard King (percussion)Rob van de Broek (piano, electric piano)Hubert Eaves (piano, electric piano, percussion)Jasper Van 't Hof (piano)Wim Stolwijk (piano, voice) Forget all the dross that Lee & Brown knocked out during the 70's this was their first lp a slammin' slab of spiritual fusion which blows the shit out of their later output. Michael Cuscuna (no less) wrote these excellent sleeve notes: Infinite Jones is an outstanding recording from two outstanding musicians, John Lee and Gerry Brown. They have totally absorbed the various vocabularies of every musical idiom of the day and added their own fiercely creative energies to that knowledge. This album will prove that beyond doubt. John...

A few years ago Konishi Yasuharu pulled together a reissue series of 9 rare 70's Japanese jazz-rock albums from Columbia Japan to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Columbia.I posted the first of the series Count Buffalo's Soul & Rock here and following this was contacted by Bongohito,a reader of this blog,who kindly sent me rips of two more albums from the series. I have ripped my copy of Keito Miho's Sachio:Sound Poesy to make a triple whammy of Japanese "Jazz Rock".Don't take the genre title too seriously and expect a lot more bossa/now sound than jazz rock on most of these tracks! Thanks to chipple.net whose reviews I have plundered for these posts-read the rest of his musings on the series at his blog .

This album features Maeda Norio (Hammond organ) and Inagaki Jirō (tenor sax), accompanied by trumpet, guitar (Sugimoto Kiyoshi also on Count Buffalo's album above), bass, drums and latin percussions. It seems like these two are still making music together to this day! The presence of the two lead instruments is felt throughout the album, which is mostly rock but with a touch of jazzy solos (far from being as radical as Count Buffalo's Soul & Rock [a previous OIR post]). Review from chipple.net Big thanks to bongohito who contributed this post.

The black jacket showing a hippie sitting in the dark didn't particularly attract me, but I was pleased with the music. The liner notes don't tell us much about the members other than leader Iiyoshi Kaoru (piano/organ), but he's accompanied by guitar, bass, drums, flute/horns and sometimes strings. Not much of a jazz feel here. Review from chipple.net Big thanks to bongohito who contributed this post.

Les McCann & The Jazz Crusaders for Pacific Jazz from 1963. Les McCann (piano, electric piano, organ)Wilton Felder (tenor sax)Wayne Henderson (trombone)Joe Sample (piano, organ)Robert Haynes (bass)Stix Hooper (drums) The funky piano of Les McCann hooks up with the raw soul jazz of the early Crusaders for this excellent set of short, sharp swinging cuts."Damascus" and "Spanish Castles" hit a marvelous modal mode but the whole album is a cracker. Unbelievably never reissued and this is the first time it's been posted in blogland - All Killer No Filler. Edited Sleeve Notes by Joel Dorn: We should all be thankful that in the past when World Pacific or Pacific Jazz brought musicians of stature into the studio to record together, the pairings were not based upon name value alone. Rather empathy and adaptability were used as criteria. Some memorable Pacific Jazz combinations have been Richard "Groove" Holmes and Gene Ammons ("Groovin' With Jug...

Mal Waldron & Terumasa Hino for Victor Japan from 1972. Terumasa Hino (tp) Takao Uematsu (ts) Mal Waldron (p) Isao Suzuki (b) Motohiko Hino (d) Yuhji Imamura (per) Waldron sits in with Terumasa Hino's 72 quintet (taking the piano chair of Mikio Masuda) for this magnificent recording featuring two epic cuts spanning a side a piece with composing credits split between Waldron and Hino.Something of an obscurity even to Waldron fans this has never seen a vinyl or cd reissue even in Japan which is a great pity as its a phenomenal lp. "Reminicent Suite" is by Waldron and opens with a typical hammered down solo piano theme rapidly picked up by the rest of the quintet which is then comprehensively shredded,mangled and spat out until around 15 minutes when the vamp slides into a beautiful coda creating a more reflective mood for some lyrical work by Hino, Uematsu and Waldron who then bring the track to a close with a brief restatement of the theme. "Black Forest" is ...

Roy Porter Sound Machine for Chelan USA from 1974. Roy Porter: Drums - Jimmy Holloway, Leslie Hargrove: Guitar - Tollie Moore: Electric Piano - Bob Davis: Organ - Charles Jones: Fender Bass - Oscar Dye: Congas - Hense Powell, James Smith: Trumpet, Flugelhorn - Lester Robertson: Trombone - Jack H. Fulks: Tenor Sax, flute - Sone' Campbell: Tenor Sax. Ridiculously hard to find private pressing out of LA from drummer Roy Porter and his Sound Machine. Every cut a stone cold killer on this fully loaded breaks and beats bomb - shufflin' beats and drums all over ""Funky Twitch" fucked up funky latin madness on "Wow" while "Drums for Darryl" is a scrambler and drums duet and of course the organ grinder groove of "OOh La La". All Killer No Filler No Doubt Whatsoever.

George Gruntz for Saba from 1967. Piano, Conductor, Composed By - George Gruntz ; Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Tambourine - Sahib Shihab ; Bass - Eberhard Weber ; Drums - Daniel Humair ; Violin - Jean Luc Ponty ; Goblet Drum [Darbouka] - Hattab Jouini , Salah El Mahdi ; Ney - Salah El Mahdi ; Oboe [Zoukra] - Moktar Slama ; Percussion [Bendire] - Hattab Jouini , Jelloul Osman , Moktar Slama , Salah El Mahdi ; Tabla - Hattab Jouini , Jelloul Osman ; Bagpipes [Mezoued] - Jelloul Osman. Producer - Joachim Ernst Berendt George Gruntz organized this studio recording as an opportunity for blending the worlds of jazz and Arabian music, though utilizing original music of his own. With Sahib Shihab (soprano sax, flute, and tambourine), violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, bassist Eberhard Weber, and drummer Daniel Humair, plus four Bedouin musicians playing traditional Arabian reed, string, and percussion instruments, Gruntz conceived the nearly 31-minute six-part "Maghreb Cantata" as the centerpie...

 Naosuke Miyamoto Sextet for Three Blind Mice Japan from 1973. Kunji Shigi - trumpet & fluegelhorn; Takashi Furya - alto sax; Takeshi Goto - soprano sax & tenor sax; Masayoshi Yoneda - piano; Naosuke Miyamoto - bass; Shoji Nakayama  drums Those of you with long memories may remember a comp I put together and posted here back in 2006 entitled "The Mood Is Modal" which opened with Naosuke Miyamoto's sublime modal masterpiece "One For Trane".Now and only 5 years later(!!!) here's the whole lp for the first time in blogland and it's a bomb. Miyamoto had been recording since 1960 with the likes of Sadao Watanabe and George Kawaguchi (more from him in a future post) and was something of an old pro when he assembled this sextet using players from both the new generation of young lions and more established musicians.Two Harold Land compositions (check the storming version of "Step Right Up To The Bottom" ) and three originals from Goto,Yoneda a...

Francisco Mora Catlett for AACE(Americas Authority Creative Experience)from 1986. Francisco Mora Catlett-Drums & Percussion;Kenny Cox-Piano;Rodney Whitaker-Contrabass;Vincent Bowens-Tenor,Flute;Emile Borde-Steel Drums & Percussion;Alberto Nacif-Quinto,Congas & Percussion;Jerome Le Duff-Berimbau & Percussion;Teresa Mora-Vocal & Percussion. Heavy duty private press business out of Detroit with this rare afro-cuban jazz banger. Words won't do it justice so let the music do the talking...... All Killer No Filler!

Valerie Capers for Atlantic from 1966. Valerie Capers - Piano;Vincent McEwan - Trumpet;Robin Kenyatta - Alto Sax;Frank Perowsky - Tenor Sax;John Daley Bass;Charlie Hawkins - Drums;Richard Landrum - Latin Percussion First time out in blogland for this terrific obscurity from the blind pianist who has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Ray Brown, Paquito D'Rivera, Tito Puente but is still probably best known for her time with Mongo Santamaria. Five self penned originals plus one standard which range in diverse styles from the rousing opener of the Billy Taylor influenced "Little David Swing" to the modal "Odyssey" to the sublime latin serenity of " Subrosa" to the hip swingin' groover "Hey Stuff" and the rousing soul jazz sound of "Kenne's Soul". All Killer No Filler.

Bobby Jaspar for Barclay France from 1958. MICHEL HAUSER (vibes and xylophone), FATS SADI (vibes) PAUL ROVERE & JIMMY MERRIT (bass), HUMBERTO CANTO (bongos), KENNY CLARKE (drums) Staying in Europe but from a few years earlier here's a cracking flute tootling bongo bopping finger snappin head nodding all killer session for the flute freaks led by Bobby Jaspar .The European connection comes full circle with this album which features Fats Sadi & Kenny Clarke who would go on to work with Sahib Shihab in both the illustrious Clarke Boland Band and his solo projects.Also of note is the appearance of Jimmy Merrit who would go on to anchor so many Jazz Messengers LPs of the 60s and in later years form an integral part of Lee Morgan's ensemble.

Sahib Shihab for Debut Denmark from 1963. Sahib Shihab - Alto Sax,Baritone Sax,Flute; Allan Botschinsky - Flugelhorn; Ole Molin - Guitar ; Niels -Henning Orsted Pederson - Bass; Alex Riel - Drums; Bjarne Rostovold - Snare Drum All killer modal to bossa to blues business from this terrific super rarity recorded during Mr. Gregory's long sojourn in Scandinavia supported by a veritable who's who of then emerging Danish talent. I've ripped it from the oop Japanese cd reissue but used the original lp format for this post. I couldn't stretch to the wallet pounding price of an original lp !

As you will all know from my previous post Impressed 3 was good to go until Universal pulled the plug on it. Compiled single handedly as a labour of love by Tony Higgins (who had previously put together Impressed 1 & 2 with G.Peterson) this third volume was shelved by Universal and nobody would have been any the wiser ...if Tony hadn't left a comment at my Stan Tracey post mentioning this fact. So I posted up the track listing and Don Rendell's notes courtesy of Tony and got a stack of comments and a lot of interest. So now here's the good news - Tony Higgins has sent me a CDR of Impressed 3 pulled together from his original vinyl and given the go ahead for it to be made available here at Orgy In Rhythm ! Tony has also sent me two collages which he put together to be used for the artwork on the intended release along with a superb set of copius sleeve notes about each featured track and Don Rendell's previously posted intro essay. I have included all of these in the...

If you trawled the comments on Stan Tracey's Latin American Caper you will no doubt have been intrigued to see this from Ramu: Hi, I tried to get Windmill Tilter reissued years ago as part of the Impressed Re-pressed series (I helped compile the Impressed comps with Gilles P). Manged to get a first batch of reissues out (Mike Taylor, Neil Ardely, Amancio D'Silva etc..) but Universal, as ever lost faith, let it all slip iaway to labels like BGO and Vocalion. Had a killer hitlist of all the Lansdowne stuff - Rendell Carr, Hum Dono etc... they couldn't care less. Treat their catalogue - and music fans - with contempt. Impressed 3 has been ready to go for about 6 years - and Universal??? What do you think, not awhiff of interest. Shame, as it has top stuff from Dick Morrissey, Kenny Wheeler, Quincicasm, Don Rendell etc on it. Don even wrote an introductory piece for my notes... maybe you could post it on here!! True to his word Ramu has sent over what would have been track list...

Stan Tracey, his Piano, Big Brass & Woodwinds for Columbia UK from 1969. Stan Tracey - Piano & Musical Director ;Kenny Baker, Derek Watkins, Eddie Blair, Les Condon - Trumpets ;Keith Christie, Maurice Pratt, Bobby Lambe - Trombones ;Chris Taylor, Roy Willox, Ray Swinfield - Flutes ;Ronnie Chamberlain, Don Rendell, Derek Collins - Clarinets ;Barry Morgan - Drums & LA Percussion ;Dennis Lopez, Stuart Gordon - LA Percussion ;Lennie Bush or Dave Green - Bass ;Alan Branscombe -Vibraphone & Marimba Recorded at Lansdowne Studios in London on July 16/17 1968 Supervision - Denis Preston;Sleevenote - Peter Clayton;Engineer - Adrian Kerridge Here's Peter Clayton's excellent sleeve notes : Stan Tracey is one of those people who could go to a fancy dress ball in full klu klux clan regalia and still be instantly recognisable. I'm speaking figuratively, of course: for him to appear physically outlandish is unthinkable. You could set him down on London Bridge Station any we...

Mal Waldron for JVC/ECM Japan from 1971. Mal Waldron (p) Isla Eckinger (b) Fred Brasful (d) Ludwigsburg, West Germany, September 18, 1970 This has been on my "most wanted" list for some time so I was bowled over to receive the actual LP through the post last week purchased from Japan (at considerable cost it should be said) and sent as a thankyou gift from one of the followers of this blog. So stand up and take a bow Munnnnnph !!! Thanks a million - what a guy! Recorded and produced by Manfred Eicher this is only the second recording for ECM (the first being Waldron's Free At Last).Recorded prior to Eicher setting up his own label both albums were picked up and issued only for the Japanese market by JVC's Globe subsidiary . Despite it's historic importance "Spanish Bitch" has never seen a reissue in either cd or vinyl format thus making it extremely hard to track down. So here it is - 3 long Waldron compositions plus a comprehensive shredding of "E...

Michael Cochrane Quintet for Soul Note Italy from 1985. Michael Cochrane, Piano; Tom Harrell, Trumpet ; Bob Malach, Tenor Saxophone, Flute; Dennis Irwin, Bass; James Madison, Drums What a cracker - dont let anyone tell you that the 80s were a total wasteland for jazz. Chock full of Modal, Waltz, Bossa, Bop, Jazz Dancers .... it's all here and it's all good ! All Killer No Filler.

Terumasa Hino & Masabumi Kikuchi Quintet for Tact/Columbia Japan from 1968. Terumasa Hino (tp)Masabumi Kikuchi (p)Takeru Muraoka (ts)Kunimitsu Inaba (b)Motohiko Hino (ds) Terrific modal - hard bop session from the two leaders who would go on to blaze the electric jazz trail in Japan.This session sounds heavily influenced by the classic Miles Davis Quintet of the mid sixties although the four compositions are all originals by Kikuchi.Great heads and arrangements open up leaving plenty of space for exploratory soloing from Hino,Kikuchi and Muraoka supported by the supple rhythm section of Motohiko Hino and Kunimitsu Inaba. All Killer No Filler!

Sadao Watanabe Quartet for CBS Sony Japan from 1975. Sadao Watanabe (as,fl,sn) , Takehiro Honda(p) , Osamu Kawakami (b) , Shinji Mori (ds) Recorded at Montreux this powerful acoustic quartet session continues to reflects the African influences prevalent in Watanabes mid 70s sets "Mabali Africa" & "Kenya Ya Africa ". Over 5 original compositions Watanabe blows long and hard his playing a million miles from the fusion fluff he was to churn out in later years while Takehiro Honda nearly steals the show with his thunderous piano runs and vamps. 全キラー無フィラー

Sansara Music Band for Sonet Sweden from 1977. Bernt Rosengren , Bronislav Suchanek , Fredrik Norén , Jojje Wadenius , Lars Färnlöf , Staffan Abeleen , Willy Ekwe. Excellent set of Swedish jazz recorded at Fasching Jazz Club in Stockholm featuring three extended live interpretations of the wonderful compositions of Lars Farnlof. "Birthcry" and "Cameleont" first saw life as part of Farnlof's rare 1969 "Chameleon" soundtrack and the former was also featured on the 1976 "Sansara Music Band Plays The Music Of Lars Farnlof" on which "Boutique Sandham" also appeared. All Killer No Filler. I have put a new RShare link in the comments as there appears to be a problem with Mediafire.

Joe Henderson for Fontana Japan from 1971. Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone Terumasa Hino - trumpet Kousuke Mine - alto and soprano saxophones Masabumi Kikuchi - piano, electric piano Yoshio Suzuki - bass Hiroshi Murakami & Yoshiyuki Nakamura - drums Recorded at the Tokyo Toshi Center Hall, Tokyo, Japan, on August 5, 1971, this live set features Henderson with an incredible line up of Japanese young lions.The session took place the day after Henderson's appearance at the Junk Club, Tokyo, for the recording of 'Joe Henderson In Japan' on the Milestone label and is something of a different beast. "Sunrise In Tokyo" kicks us off with a terrific head and solos from the three major protagonists while "So What" is taken at a rapid tempo and again showcases the big three from the lp title."Get Magic Again" is a more abstract piece moving into New Thing territory with great piano from Kikuchi who penned the title. 全キラー無フィラー

Rainer Pusch Quartet for Software Music Germany from 1981. Rainer Pusch saxophone ;Klaus Wagenleiter piano Thomas Stabenow bass ;Mickey Kersting drums An interesting acoustic session from Germany lead by Rainer Pusch with an electric energy to the rhythms that's somewhere between American soul jazz of the 70s, and some of the German fusion of the period particularly that inspired by Brazilian jazz. Best known for the version of Pascoal's "Mixing" which was a ballroom banger for Paul Murphy back in the day.A couple of cuts were also featured on Rainer Truby's Glucklich compilations. A tough one to track down in vinyl format this was reissued by Creole Stream Japan for a blink and miss it CD reissue some years ago. Aller Killer Kein Füller.

Martial Solal plays Michel Magne for Ducretet Thomson France from 1968. Composer - Michel Magne ;Piano - Martial Solal;Double Bass - Gilbert Rovère;Drums - Charles Bellonzi; Arrangements - Jean-Claude Vannier Magne had been working on film soundtracks for years when a Pathe Marconi producer named Jaques Poisson suggested to Martial Solal that it might be interesting to put together an album based on Magne's compositions.Solal,himself a brilliant soundtrack composer,agreed.Magne brought to the project two critical parts - his compositions and a young arranger bubbling over with unusual ideas by the name of Jean-Claude Vannier who would go on to a creative partnership with Serge Gainsbourg and record "L'enfant Assassin Des Mouches". in 1972 Vannier discussed the "Solal Joue Magne" session before recording commenced and Magne gave hin carte blanche with it and to take a direction that was "dazzling and unhinged".Magne knew that Vannier's taste for...

Namaz for Software Germany from 1980. Bass - Alfred Henning Drums - Ralph D. Dietze Guitar - Werner Goos Keyboards - Joachim Essig Percussion - Ralf Moufang Vocals - Rachel Gould Does what it says on the tin - 300mph latin bangers spliced up with a few funky cuts and one stinker.Big at the Electric Ballroom for Mr.Murphy back in the day where we threw ourselves around to "Mystic Latin" to the utter disdain of the decent dancers.Amazing the mess you could get yourself into at that shithole with the watered down lager,smuggled in vodka and a few spliffs. If you think you recognise some of this a couple of tunes were comped on Glucklich 1 & 2 years ago. Another wallet basher if you fancy a copy - check out the eye watering prices at popsike.com. All killer no filler not quite!

Takeshi Inomata & Sound L.t.d. for King Records Japan from 1971. Takeshi Inomata(drums)Shunzou Ohno (trumpet/flugelhorn) Shigehito Ohhara (elec.piano/ Hammond Organ /piano)J.F.Conception(sop.alt.ten.sax/flute)Jun Suzuki (elec.base/pianica/whistle solo)Takehisa Suzuki (trumpet/piccolo trumpet/flugelhorn)Shigemichi Dohmoto (trombone/vib.)Osamu Nakajima (percussion)Kimio MIzitani　(elec.guitar/fork guitar/sitar)Toshiaki Yokota (flute/bass/alto flute/blockflute/piccolo)Noriaki Kanoh (narration) This one's been on heavy rotation at Bacoso's Big Top for weeks a mad mix of psyche jazz fusion and whistling(!)...totally bonkers stuff from Inomata and his Sound of Sound crew. Here's a review lifted from a thread on Japanese progressive rock over at ProgArchives.com put together by DamoX(Jap.Psych Specialist) which really captures the essence of the album: A borderless creation by borderless musicians. One of the matchlessly eccentric sound kaleidoscopes - even in Japan every ...

Lloyd McNeill for Baobab Record Co. from 1978. Acoustic Guitar - Amaury Tristao,John La Barbera/Bass - Buster Williams/Flute - Lloyd McNeill/Drums - Victor Lewis/Percussion - Dom Um Romao/Piano - Dom Salvador Tuba - Howard Johnson/Vocals, Percussion - Nana Vasconcelos Beautiful Brazilian influenced spiritual jazz from flautist Lloyd McNeill with his a top crack line up assembled from his days playing at The Tin Palace in NYC. All Killer No Filler! McNeill's superb first lp "Asha" has just been reissued by Universal Sound and is a very highly recommended purchase - check it out at Sounds Of The Universe. Read more about Mr McNeill at lloydmcneill.com

Jorge Lopez Ruiz for Chango Argentina from 1980. LEW SOLOFF (trp), FRED LIPSIUS (sax), JEREMY STEIG (fl), EDDIE GOMEZ (bass), ANTHONY JACKSON (el.bass), RAY BARRETO (congas), JORGE DALTO (p), "POCHO" LAPOUBLE (dr), JORGE LOPEZ RUIZ (bass) Another first in blogland from OIR with this quality slab of latin fusion from Jorge Lopez Ruiz who also arranged and produced the album.A glittering all star line up produce a somewhat understated set of tunes three of which are penned by Ruiz and one each by Franzetti and Lapouble."El Candombe De Bolita" is a funky clavinet driven work out but overall the lp has a quietly exhilarating subtlety that provides a rich framework for the soloists. This album is a real grower so give it a few listens and your patience will be well rewarded. All Killer No Filler !

St Tropez Jazz Octet aka Johnny Dover Octet for Europa from 1969. First time out in blogland for this great Belgian lp of swinging big band tunes. Similar in style to the Clarke-Boland sound and interesting to also note that this was apparently Marc Moulin's first recording session. Here's an excellent write up from Blast Kid's well researched series "Focus on European Jazz" over at Laid Back . Check more of his writing out here . ‘Jazz Goes Swinging’ is the title of a late sixties record by the St. Tropez Jazz Octet, a different name for the Belgian Johnny Dover Octet. Their sound is often compared to the Clarke-Boland Big Band style, which I can understand, but certain record dealers want to make you believe that Sahib Shihab played on it to raise the price, but that’s not the fact. Information on who the players were is hard to find, and a lot of speculations have been made. I know for sure that Johnny Dover, Alex Scorier, Freddy Rottier and Marc Moulin are on...

Mike Taylor Trio for Columbia Lansdowne from 1967. Mike Taylor - Piano ; Jack Bruce / Ron Rubin - Bass ; John Hiseman - Drums. This was reissued as part of the Impressed Repressed series on cd and is now well out of print with the only one on Amazon for sale at £140.The original lp still goes for a wallet pounding £3-600 due to it's rarity and of course it's one of Denis Preston's stellar productions for the famous Lansdowne series so you know that's a real seal of quality.Certainly one of the most challenging and powerful jazz recordings of it's time. Here's a review from John Fordham: Mike Taylor died, probably by his own hand, at age 31 in 1969, having realised a fraction of his potential as a composer and player, and written for the New Jazz Orchestra, singer Norma Winstone and the rock band Cream. Cream's singer and bassist Jack Bruce and Ron Rubin (occasionally) are on acoustic bass here, with Jon Hiseman on drums, a line-up that highlights the close l...

London Jazz Four for Polydor from 1967. Mike McNaught-Piano,Harpsichord ;Ron Forbes-Vibes; Brian Moore -Bass; Len Clarke-Drums . I never could and still can't stomach The Beatles but this is a real corker of an album that somehow transcends the original songs to the extent that many of the tracks don't sound like Beatles covers at all! Here's a write up from AllAboutJazz: This Brit quartet made the songs of the Fab Four their own, taking a lot of risk in reinterpreting many timeless classics but also approaching lesser-known Lennon-McCartney tunes (sadly, there are no Harrison compositions on the album). The result is a collection of songs that sound almost if they were completely new. For instance, "I Feel Fine" receives a Bach-like harpsichord riff that repeats itself throughout the track, the rest of the instruments basically improvising around the song's original melody. John Lennon's Dylan-esque "Rain gives a lot of space for vibes pla...

Ginger Johnson and his African Messengers for Masquerade UK from 1967. The last one in this series of latin/afro/percussion posts and it's a monster proto AfroBeat /Highlife session featuring Ginger Johnnson with his African Messengers recorded at Sound Techniques in London in the midst of the swingin' sixties. "Talking Drum" was the bomb back in the day but its all just as good... All Killer No Filler! Born Folorunso Johnson in Lagos, Nigeria, Ginger got his nickname because the hot sun turned his hair red and brought out his freckles. Possibly there is some Celtic blood in him, but he only admits to African and Brazilian heritage. Leaving home during World War II, Ginger became a sailor and his roaming took him to most jazz clubs of note in the world. Finally he came to England, and during the 1950's played with such names as Paul Adam, Harry Parry and Edmundo Ros. Forming his own Afro-Cuban band was the next step , and so the African Messengers were born. ...

Sabu and his Jungle Percussionists for Clarity from 196?. This is a library(for want of a better word)lp from the UK label Clarity and not a record by Sabu Martinez."The ultimate in high fidelity recordings designed for your listening pleasure" is the header on the rear sleeve followed by a load of technical balls about full frequency,three track ampex recorders and Scotch 3M magnetic tape.Apparently the Sabu in the title is inspired by The Jungle Book but god knows who played on this session.I've researched it as far as possible and only know that price wise it ranges from the fiver I paid for mine some years ago to an eye watering £200 I spotted it for in some chancers list! Sound wise it's one for the percussion beat heads - the lp seems switches between afro and latin styled percussion work outs plus chants on some.If you like the drums and chants albums from Tito,Mongo et al and you're not too bothered about authenticity you'll enjoy this one.

Wali and The Afro Caravan for Solid State from 1970. Congas, Bongos, Vocals - Wali King / Congas - Robert Moore / Flute - Ray Lewis / Recorder [Tenor, Alto]- Jim Murray ,Vocals / Bass- Ronald Nance All Killer No Filler Afro Jazz Percussion bomb via Texas from Wali King and the Afro Caravan. Here's an excellent piece on this wonderful lp from Sonobeat Records : In the mid '60s, the Afro-Caravan, formed and lead by 22-year-old Wali King, brought a new kind of percussion-based jazz to Central Texas. As comfortable and accepted at Austin's downtown hippy haven, the Vulcan Gas Company, as at the predominantly Black Austin east-side nightclub, The Afro, the hip ethnic jazz group garnered a following that crossed age and racial lines. Sonobeat's relationship with the Afro-Caravan began in August 1968, after Sonobeat Records owners Bill Josey Sr. and Rim Kelley (Bill Jr.) heard the group perform at the Vulcan. The Austin-based Afro-Caravan were Wali King (congas and bongos), Ro...