things and time will tell.

Monty Alexander – Love And Sunshine MPS Records – G-22620 Vinyl, LP, Album, USA, 1975 info _____________________________ I recorded this album and started preparing the post almost six months ago. I intended it to be the follow up to a post talking about the Chicago elections . The punchline was that the people won, we elected a Black, progressive, union organizer as mayor and  Love And Sunshine  landed on my turntable and seemed like a good soundtrack to a hopeful moment. Before posting I realized that I had completely messed up the recording and just couldn't get around to rerecording and fixing it up again until now. My taste may typically run more to the spiritual or free jazz ends of things, but there is something I love about a straight forward set like this one by Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander. Not sure what it is- Standards, pop tunes arranged for a jazz combo, and the complete lack of pretention, maybe? Alexander cut this set for the German MPS label live in front...

Pharoah Sanders – You've Got To Have Freedom / Moon Child Dopeness Galore – DG 2 005S, Timeless Records Vinyl, 10", 33 ⅓ RPM, Sampler, Netherlands, 2007 (original tracks from 1987/1989) info It's true: You've got to have freedom. And Chicago will be getting more -or a whole lot less- in this week's election. We're electing a new mayor and it will either be a Black, progressive labor leader who has fought for our schools, safety and city ... or we'll get  the latest face of white supremacist backlash against the progress our movements have made. Want to guess which team I'm on? Go vote for Brandon Johnson if you're in Chicago. If you can, please volunteer or donate . And join the party ! ________________________________________________ ...And since a party needs music: Today, some inspiration from the recently departed Pharoah Sanders.  This is a 2007 10" released in Europe to promote a Best of Pharoah Sanders compilation that drew from his 19...

Various Artists – Absolute Beginners - The Musical (Songs From The Original Motion Picture) EMI America – SV-17182 Vinyl, LP, US, 1986 info Sade fans aren't impatient. The group's first four albums came out within about 8 years, between 1984 and 1992. After that though, they pumped the breaks and slowed their album release schedule to roughly once per decade. Their last studio release was 2010's Soldier Of Love and, although I think they're still officially an active group, I've never heard news, leaks, or promises of a new record coming despite the twelve year gap. I don't read enough interviews or music news to have a clue whether that's attributed to perfectionism, semi-retirement, writer's block or what, but they don't owe me anything and I appreciate their (very high) quality over quantity. There's been the occasional "best of" compilation or vinyl reissue, but we haven't even seen "deluxe edition" cash-ins packed wit...

  I have an enormous, almost obsessive, appetite for new music. Hunting for everything I can find featuring a musician, producer or style that caught my ear is a habit that probably keeps me from really giving half the attention and listening time deserved by records that come my way. Even so, there are albums, artists and songs that I always go back to, the records that have wound up holding special places (roles?) in my listening and life. Pharoah Sanders has been near the top of that list for a long time, since F first introduced me to the saxophone legend as teenager (by giving me a  Best Of Pharoah Sanders  double LP  that I still treasure).  Maybe it's really some COVID era awareness of mortality, but it feels like there been a shocking number of musicians that I've been moved and influenced by who have passed away in the last two or three years. It still felt especially tragic though when I heard the news that Pharoah Sanders had died last week. From his ...

Sun Ra - Mike Huckaby Bonus Beats! Mike Huckaby - Sun Ra Reel To Reel Session - Live at Amoeba Records, LA - July 13, 2017 & Sun Ra - "The Lady With The Golden Stockings" (Mike Huckaby edit) A  quick post: A few days ago I shared a couple 12"s of Sun Ra edits by Mike Huckaby . If you were feeling those all, here are a couple bonuses to keep that vibe going. I love this stuff.  The excellent UK label Strut Records has been releasing Sun Ra compilations and albums over the last ten years or so, sometimes partnered with Art Yard (who, along with the Kindred Spirits label, issued those Huckaby edit 12s back in 2011). I seems like they had been planning at some point to promote one of those compilations by reviving this idea and releasing some more "Mike Huckaby reel-to-reel edits." As far as I know, the only other track that ever made it's way into the world for us all to hear was  this edit of The Lady With The Golden Stockings  that the label posted to So...

Sun Ra – The Mike Huckaby Reel-To-Reel Edits Vol. 1 Kindred Spirits, Art Yard – KSAY-MH01 Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Netherlands, May 2011 info Sun Ra – The Mike Huckaby Reel-To-Reel Edits Vol. 2 Kindred Spirits, Art Yard – KSAY-MH02 Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, 45 RPM, Netherlands, Sep 27, 2011 info Before I had ever bumped into the word afrofuturism  (and long before I saw it  turning up in pop culture commentary ), I had gained Sun Ra in my musical vocabulary. And while it had never been my scene at the time, Detroit techno was there playing in the background, too.  I won't give a long speech, but let me say this: Neither Sun Ra nor Mike Huckaby's music proclaims itself as "political." Their records don't immediately or overtly identify themselves as reflecting the radical imagination that movements need (and that Black leaders, artists and organizers have so often provided). I'm no expert on jazz and even less so on techno. I really don't know Sun Ra or Hu...

Bobbi Humphrey ‎– Chicago, Damn Blue Note ‎– BN-XW395-W Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, US, 1973 info I think I've mentioned this before, but there aren't really enough quality flute-led funk songs in my life. Here's a favorite by flautist Bobbi Humphrey, served up on a 45 from Blue Note in 1973 in the midst of their soul jazz years. You can usually sign me up for the extended, 8 minute plus disco mix of a song I love, but I do really enjoy the shortened single edits of these two tracks from Humphrey's excellent Blacks And Blues  LP. Each has been chopped to less than half the length of their full album version, but, especially on the A side, it really does highlight the song's funk strengths. Chicago, Damn  is a classic in my book (and not just because it has one of the greatest song titles of all time). The song is written and produced by the great Larry Mizell and I'm pretty sure it features his brother Fonce on the Clavinet. Great synth and percussion, but of course...

Working Week ‎– Inner City Blues Virgin ‎– VSX 1273 Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Canada, 1985 Info I would have felt clever if I'd gotten my act together to post a Working Week record for May Day. International Workers' Day and Mothers' Day just came and I wasn't able to keep up here, but better late than never... I hope they were good for everyone. Today: The 12" single of Working Week's 1985 take on a Marvin Gaye classic. The band had it's roots in Weekend, a group fronted by singer Alison Statton after her time in Young Marble Giants. Some of YMG's quirky, minimalist, indie pop snuck through to the earliest Weekend recordings, but Weekend's lounge and jazz leanings took the lead during their brief 1981-83 run. By the time of their last record, they were joined by pianist Keith Tippett for a live album recorded at the famous London jazz club Ronnie Scott's. Weekend called it quits in 1983, but guitarist Simon Booth and saxophonist Larry Stabbins d...

One of the world's greatest drummers passed away Thursday. Tony Allen ‎– A Tribute To Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers Blue Note ‎– 574439 4 Vinyl, 10", 45 RPM, Europe, 2017 Tributes to Tony Allen  will understandably focus on his years leading Fela Kuti's Afrika 70 band, where the two Nigerian legends led the creation of afrobeat. They broke new ground in the 1970's and their influence has continued to grow far beyond Africa, funk and jazz, the last few decades bringing them deeply into hip hop, dub, electronic and more . Allen was 79 years old and remained active until the end. A  new album was released  just a month before he died this week. He avoided becoming a nostalgia act in his later years. His career revitalized in his highly visible 60s and 70s, he released a slew of new albums (both as a solo artist and in various bands), was signed to Blue Note, put out some important dance records and joined a band with a member of the Clash. If you're no...