Jothan Callins & The Sounds of Togetherness - 1975 - Winds of Change

Jothan Callins & The Sounds of Togetherness

1975

Winds of Change

01. Prayer For Love and Peace
02. Winds Of Change
03. Sons And Daughters of The Sun
04. Triumph

Cecil McBee, bass
Jothan Callins, trumpet, bells
Roland Duval, congas, percussion
Norman Cooners, drums, percussion
Joseph Booner, piano, tambourine

A lost spiritual jazz treasure from the 70s – one of the only records we've ever seen to feature trumpeter Jothan Callins in the lead – a musician who's best known for his work in the Sun Ra Arkestra during the 70s! Here, the vibe is very different – as Callins blows alongside a very Strata East-like group – with Joe Bonner on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Norman Connors on bass – all playing percussion as well, with more work on percussion from Roland Duval! The set is superb – all original material by Callins, at a level that makes us wonder why he never gave us another record like this at all.

The four page insert that came with the original (and the reissue) of this fabulous lost album of energetic spiritual jazz declares that this is music of hope, music that "does to people things they need". It is music meant to uplift, and it certainly accomplishes that. The cover and even insert are all classic mid seventies independent album stuff, and the sound sure could be Strata-East (perhaps it should've been?), but somehow Triumph Records appears to be a real thing, not just a private press label. There was once a Triumph Records in the US and the UK, but this clearly isn't either one of those, and good luck finding out more information on what they released. What we know is that this was the sixth release, and that Callins, who made his living as a teacher in Birmingham, AL, can really play the trumpet. Somehow, he even got a very busy at the time Cecil McBee on bass and Norman Connors on drums. How he got to a place of recording and releasing this goes unexplained in the booklet, which prefers to wax philosophical about spiritual matters and the unfortunate history of slavery but doesn't describe much about the recording.

And truthfully, the music speaks for itself, easily revealing its inner workings, its hope, its searching for the spirit in its sounds. Yes, there's a good degree of Charles Tolliver here, but just how many trumpet virtuosos were there at this point? Callins embraces the idea of Coltrane on the trumpet, and he concocts his own sound. Just listen to his command of the horn on "Sons and Daughters of the Sun". It is fully confident and never lets down a note, blending into the perfect rhythm section (especially McBee, who is on fire all through here). The tracks, starting with the bells and slow entrance of "Prayer for Love and Peace", are all energizing and apt to start a smile creeping across the face. The deepest track for such theatrics is definitely the title track, which rides out a crazy rhythm for fifteen minutes without losing its audience even once.

One of the greatest frustrations to collectors, clearly more so than people at the time, was how great musicians could just vanish in the seventies. What happened to Callins after this? It's known that he started a choir in Alabama and presumably continued to teach there, but why weren't there more recordings? Was balancing this too difficult with home life? We'll never know. Callins is lost to the annals of time and has left only this timeless document to remember him by. There's no follow ups, no guest spots on other records, nothing. But what is here is enough.

The approach greatly changes for the last song, "Triumph", which is in two parts. The first introduces some soul balladry and a very different direction. It's lovely, and Callins holds his tones well, never slipping once. The build to the second part earns a release, and Callins is happy to give it to the listener, though the tropical sounding piece may come is as surprising as it is breezy and likable. And then, it ratchets up again, moving into double time and showcasing the great band all over again. Altogether, this album should've made a dent, should've catapulted Callins up the loft scene and got him a follow up on a significant label. But it didn't. It vanished, and only collectors of the scene have kept it alive all these years. But alive it is.