Jeff Parker
Forfolks

Conversations marks a relatively rare studio appearance and a first-time collaboration with the Ritual Trio by tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp, a fabled instigator of the ’60s avant-garde.Prior to this album, Shepp has made only three recordings this decade, and just one under his own name. This album celebrates the vitality and accomplishments of bassist Fred Hopklns who died in January of 1999 and left an important legacy. Perhaps it is that overriding concern with a fallen warrior that accounts for the saxist’s piquant invocation of hidden spirits and faded aurae.A recording of unusual depth and spiritual power by Shepp and The Ritual TrioPERSONNEL:Archie Shepp - tenor saxAri Brown - pianoMalachi Favors - bassKahil El'Zabar - drumsArchie Shepp Meets Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio – Conversations

Limited edition blue vinyl.

The band’s revelatory and electrifying debut LP, recorded in a single blistering session with J.B.’s trombonist Fred Wesley. This 2021 West Coast Boogaloo remaster is pressed on black vinyl.When The Greyboy Allstars convened in 1994, the legendary California jazz-funk revivalists flaunted the carefree essence of their collective youth. Their fabled residency at San Diego’s Green Circle Bar spiraled into a series of concerts that stretched toward dawn, as they triangulated their take on the revolutionary funk of Grant Green and Idris Muhammad, Leon Spencer and, of course, James Brown’s infamous J.B.’s. In subsequent years, they played hundreds of shows, becoming a tireless party syndicate that delivered a new brand of spirited instrumental exploration.When The Greyboy Allstars self-released West Coast Boogaloo in 1994, its eight tunes felt both anachronistic and urgent. This was the golden era of hip-hop crate diggers, after all, with DJs plundering rare groove records to shape the perfect beat. Here was a band who had dug into those same crates and returned with anthems of their own.They floss their old-school knowledge with dope versions of Rusty Bryant's classic "Fire Eater," Leon Spencer's "Miss Riverside," and Kool & The Gang's "Let The Music Take Your Mind," inspired by Grant Green's cover of the same cut. They are no slouches with the pen, as the orginals are as dope, if not doper, than the covers. Standouts are the soulful acid-jazzy "Soul Dream," the brisk, Tower of Power-esque "Fried Grease," and the angular groover "Gravee" all featuring guest shots from the legendary Fred Wesley.

Don Cherry and the Organic Music Society super hi-quality audio, recorded by RAI (Italian public broadcasting company) in 1976 for TV. Don Cherry and his family-community’s musical belief emerges in its simplicity, with the desire to merge the knowledge and stimuli gained during numerous travels across the world in a single sound experience!Don Cherry's pocket-trumpet + the great Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos + the Italian guitar of Gian Piero Pramaggiore + the tanpura drone of Moki.In the Organic Music everything becomes an act of devotion and love, an ecstatic dwell in the dimension of a sacred free-rejoice." Indeed!This is the bomb!An amazing document of the life experiment that was the Organic Music Society. This super quality audio, recorded by RAI (the italian public broadcasting company) in 1976 for television, documents a quartet concert focused on vocals compositions and improvisations. Here, Don Cherry and his family-community’s musical belief emerges in its simplicity, with the desire to merge the knowledge and stimuli gained during numerous travels across the World in a single sound experience. Don's pocket-trumpet is melted with the beats of the great Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, the Italian guitar of Gian Piero Pramaggiore, and the tanpura drone of Moki. A pure hippie aesthetic, like in an intimate ceremony, filters a magical encounter between Eastern and Western civiliziations, offering different suggestions of sound mysticism: natural acoustics in which individual instruments and voices are part of a wider pan-tribal consciousness. A desert Western landscape marries Asian and Latin atmospheres. Indigenous contributions with berimbau explorations find fossil sounds of rattles and clap-hands invocations. Influences of Indian mantra singing are combined with eternal African voices or with folkish-Latin guitar rhythms , while flute and drums evoke distant dances. In the Organic Music everything becomes an act of devotion and love, an ecstatic dwell in the dimension of a sacred free-rejoice.

Herbert started his now cult domestic house album series back in 1998. Around The House was the first one, then came Bodily Functions in 2001 which was made from, well, recordings of internal noises generated in Herbert's own body. The maverick British producer now continues the series ahead of the much anticipated summer premier of his decade-in the making Symphony of Noise documentary. Musca finds the producer collaborating with eight singers to make for both intimate late night sound and club ready tunes that are lush, sophisticated and seductive. Word is, making this album was solace for Herbert, and is surely going to provide just as good a place to retreat for those of us listening in.