Cal Massey - 1987 - Blues To Coltrane

Cal Massey

1987

Blues To Coltrane

01. Blues To Coltrane 9:01
02. What'S Wrong 3:39
03. Bakai 8:07
04. These Are Soulful Days 8:10
05. Father And Son 11:15

Bass – Jimmy Garrison
Drums – G. T. Hogan
French Horn – Julius Watkins
Piano – Patti Bown
Tenor Saxophone – Hugh Brodie
Trumpet – Cal Massey

Recorded At Nola Penthouse Sound Studio, New York City, January 13th 1961

This is a really special album that deserves much more attention and I rank it among my favorite Jazz recordings. Not only for the bluesy and moody compositions by Massey but also for the musical realisation. One of the highlights is the piano playing of Patti Bown that comes in a very distinct style. Its mesmerizing to listen to her solos and I have no idea why she's not more widely known...

Cal Massey (1927-1972) was a trumpet player, composer and arranger whose only LP as a leader was released posthumously in the late 1980s. As this set reveals, he wasn't particularly exceptional on his instrument - but he was extremely gifted as a writer, which saw many of his compositions recorded by the leading figures in jazz, such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp and Freddie Hubbard. There is a pensive, soulful quality to many of Massey's compositions and though 1961's 'Blues To Coltrane' is low on direction and focus on the odd occasion, it's a very honest session with real depth and a rewarding listen.

This is the only recording by the luckless, quasi-legendary trumpeter-composer Cal Massey, whose elliptical, often anonymous career can be a challenge to piece together. Some close followers of the music are aware of the late musician, at least by name, because of "These Are Soulful Days," a composition programmed by trumpeter Lee Morgan (Lee-Way, Blue Note, 1960) and subsequently recorded by pianist Benny Green and organists Don Patterson and Joey DeFrancesco. For others, the name registers because of pianist Stanley Cowell's composition "Cal Massey," one of the tracks on saxophonist Clifford Jordan's scintillating and indispensable Glass Bead Games (Harvest Song 1973, 2006).

The present recording appears to have been made in 1961 for Nat Hentoff's Candid Records, when Massey was 32. It was immediately lost and forgotten, then rediscovered and released for the first time, posthumously, in 1987. As for Massey, he died of a heart attack in 1972 at the age of 43, the night after he had seen the preview performance of Lady Day: A Musical Tragedy, to which he had contributed several songs.

Listening to this new edition is an experience of great ambivalence. The music is as original as it is conventional and accessible. It's as well played as it is occasionally somewhat ragged and amateurish in its construction and execution. Jimmy Garrison's bass on "Blues to Coltrane" gets the proceedings off to a strong, reassuring start, but his resonant sound subsequently gets lost in the audio mix until a second unaccompanied walking bass solo later in the program. Massey's trumpet at times reveals a minimalist quality reminiscent of Miles Davis' seminal Walkin' session (Prestige 1954). Julius Watkins' French horn proves a gratuitous solo instrument, limiting the already brief playing time of the leader. Patti Bown, despite her impressive credits, is on this occasion a "dabbling" pianist (on an out-of-tune piano at that), her feathery touch making it difficult to appreciate her contributions or even to distinguish her comping from her soloing.

The revelation on the date is a tenor player by the name of Hugh Brodie, who sounds closer to John Coltrane than any number of players who have provoked the comparison. In fact, on "These Are Soulful Days," it's likely many listeners would guess Coltrane in a blindfolded heartbeat—he's that close to the legendary tenor giant in terms of his technique, harmonic-melodic conceptions and, above all, intense, gripping sound.

Blues to Coltrane will strike many as a dismissible album, though it's very likely a touchstone to the music and life of Cal Massey—undeniably sad yet intermittently satisfying—delicate, frail, vulnerable yet possessing unmistakable honesty and self-candor (twice during his solos he quotes "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen," and he can be heard scolding himself when he misses a note).

If nothing else, the recording helps keep alive the name "Cal Massey," even if the man himself remains a shadowy and inscrutable figure, forever inviting questions that seem to go to the heart of the jazz life itself.

Imagine bassist Jimmy Garrison on his first working day with John Coltrane in late 1961. “By the way, John, I did this record with your old friend Cal Massey back in January, they gonna call it Blues To Coltrane, dig?” What is there to answer when people start honoring you when you have only been present on the planet for about thirty-four years? No telling if Coltrane ever heard the tapes from his pal Cal.

Blues To Coltrane is the only album by trumpeter and composer Cal Massey. I remember, back in the day, that I discovered the records of Lee Morgan, chief among them Leeway which included the wonderful and to my ear pretty immortal melody These Are Soulful Days. It was written by Cal Massey and I remember thinking that this must be a hip musical mind. I soon after enjoyed the killer version by organist Don Patterson.

Cal Massey was a great composer. Massey, from Philadelphia, where Garrison and Coltrane were raised and Morgan was born, led a band in the mid-50s that included McCoy Tyner, Garrison and Albert “Tootie” Heath and occasionally featured Coltrane and Donald Byrd. Having relocated to New York, Massey eventually shunned live performances altogether and focused on work as arranger and composer. Notably, Bakai and Nakatani Suite were recorded by Coltrane. Morgan recorded six tunes by Massey and Archie Shepp (who was from Philly and lured Massey out of hiding and formed a group from 1969 till ’72) no less than nine Massey compositions. Jackie McLean recorded Message From Trane and Charlie Parker put Fiesta on wax as early as 1951.

You know Massey. There’s the tune Cal Massey on Clifford Jordan’s eponymous Glass Bead Games.

Massey’s Black Liberation Movement Suite from 1970 was recently brought to life by Fred Ho (and Quincy Saul), who has provided most of Massey’s biographical details over the years. It is suggested by Ho that Massey’s affiliation with the militant Black Panthers prevented the release of Blues To Coltrane on Nat Hentoff’s Candid label. This may or may not be true. Massey supported Eldridge Cleaver but also wrote Dr. King, The Peaceful Warrior. It is more likely that Hentoff and Massey were not completely satisfied with the results of their session.

Blues To Coltrane ain’t bad and saying this perhaps says it all. Sometimes it’s hard to put a finger on slightly disappointing listening experiences. Lack of purpose is the best explanation I can give. Besides, another explanation, it’s hard to deny, is a horribly out-of-tune piano, which ruins the playing of the fine female pianist Patti Bown.

The fast rendition of Massey’s classic These Are Soulful Days is not without bite but feels a bit hurried. To be sure, Massey’s tunes are marvelous, excluding the tepid 12 bar blues Blues To Coltrane. Particularly Bakai, What’s Wrong and Father And Son are challenging and varying playgrounds for all concerned and the session’s rabbit in the hat, tenor saxophonist Hugh Brodie, wrestles with them with zest and Coltranesque flair. Garrison and G.T. Hogan form a crisp rhythm section. Massey may seem a bit unfocused at times but plays with a lot of space and a lovely tart tone. He was mentored by Freddie Webster, who tellingly was an example for Miles Davis as well.

Malachi Thompson - 1980 - The Seventh Son

Malachi Thompson

1980

The Seventh Son

01. Two Nights In Malakal 9:47
02. Street Dance 5:14
03. West Side Stomp 4:35
04. The Quest 6:46
05. Denise 9:24
06. Kirk's Tune 4:35

Bass – Curtis Robinson, Jr.
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Malachi Thompson
Drums – Billy Salter
Piano, Electric Piano – Kirk Brown
Tenor Saxophone – Jesse Taylor

with:
Electric Piano – Harold Barney (1, 5)
Tuba – Aaron Dodd (2, 6)
Drums – Bob Crowder (3,4)
Guitar – John Thomas (3,4)
Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Seals (3,4)
Vocals – Penny Jeffries (4)

Malachi Thompson moved to Chicago as a child and credited his interest in the trumpet when he was 11 years old. Malachi worked in the rhythm and blues scene on Chicago’s South Side as a teen. In 1968, he joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), spending some time in the AACM big band.

Thompson worked with saxophonists Joe Henderson, Jackie McLean, Frank Foster, and Archie Shepp among other musicians while living in New York City. He formed his Freebop band in 1978, and eventually relocated to Washington, D.C. Thompson also worked with Lester Bowie's Hot Trumpets Repertory Company and formed Africa Brass, a group inspired by traditional New Orleans brass bands.

With a goal of preserving the Sutherland Theater on Chicago's South Side, Thompson founded the Sutherland Community Arts Initiative, a non-profit corporation, in 1991. He also wrote incidental music for a play about the theater.

Informed in 1989 that he suffered from T-cell lymphoma and had one year to live, Thompson claimed he was healed by radiation and reading about jazz. He died in Chicago, Illinois from a relapse of his cancer in 2006.

The first album from Chicago trumpeter Malachi Thomspon – and the hippest, too! The set was recorded in 1974 – much earlier than anything we've seen from Malachi on record – and it's got a vibe that would be right at home in the Strata East universe – especially in the way the rhythms come together with some really unusual instrumental phrasings!

Alceu Valenca - 1974 - Molhado de Suor

Alceu Valenca

1974 

Molhado de Suor

01. Borboleta 03:12
02. Punhal De Prata 03:13
03. Dia Branco 02:47
04. Cabelos Longos 03:27
05. Chutando Pedras 04:43
06. Molhado De Suor 03:10
07. Mensageira Dos Anjos 02:47
08. Papagaio Do Futuro 02:02
09. Dente Do Ocidente 03:38
10. Pedras De Sal 01:23

Alceu Valenca - violao e vocal
Geraldo Azevedo - viola e craviola
Lula Cortes - citara popular
Cassio - guitarra, baixo e viola
Piri - craviola e bandolim
Ronaldo - flauta
Joao Cortez - bateria e percussao
Hermes - percussao

Sought-after Brazilian classic originally released in 1974, “Molhado De Suor” is the first solo effort by Alceu Valença, mixing traditional northeastern Brazilian music and rhythms with folk rock and psychedelia. Aided by Lula Cortes and Geraldo Azevedo, Valença's rich vocals combine with driving guitar work, moody arrangements and unusual trips.

In the early '70s Tropicalia was going strong, a challenge to both the music establishment and the state. Música Popular Brasileira (or MPB) was firmly established. Up in the northeastern corner of Brazil, centered in Recife, was another exciting strain of Brazilian culture called Udigrudi. Molhado De Suor is the first solo effort by Alceu Valença, mixing traditional northeastern Brazilian music and rhythms with folk rock and psychedelia. Aided by Lula Cortes and Geraldo Azevedo, Valença's rich vocals combine with driving guitar work, moody arrangements and unusual trips, successfully integrating the sounds of his native region, Pernambuco. Sought-after Brazilian classic Molhado De Suor was originally released in 1974 on Som Livre. Valença followed its release with many albums, each one establishing him as not only superstar.

Lula Côrtes e Zé Ramalho - 1975 - Paêbirú

Lula Côrtes e Zé Ramalho

1975

Paêbirú

Terra
01. Trilha De Sumé 6:30
02. Culto À Terra 2:11
03. Bailado Das Muscarias 4:32
Air
04. Harpa Dos Ares 4:01
05. Não Existe Molhado Igual Ao Pranto 7:30
06. Omm 6:01
Fogo
07. Raga Dos Raios 2:30
08. Nas Paredes Da Pedra Encantada 7:33
09. Marácas De Fogo 2:32
Água
10. Louvação A Iemanjá 1:53
11. Regato Da Montanha 3:24
12. Beira Mar 1:39
13. Pedra Templo Animal 4:15
14. Trilha De Sumé 2:04

Acoustic Guitar – Ivinho (tracks: C3)
Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals, Voice – Geraldinho* (tracks: B1 to B3)
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Dikê (tracks: A1a, B2, B3)
Backing Vocals – Fred (tracks: A1b), Lailson (tracks: C3), Preto (2)
Backing Vocals, Percussion – Israel (tracks: C3, D4), Marconi (tracks: C3, D1, D4)
Backing Vocals, Voice – Katia (tracks: A1b, B1, D1, D4)
Bass – Paulo Raphael (tracks: D4)
Berimbau – Jarbas Selenita (tracks: B2)
Congas – Jorge (tracks: A1b)
Congas, Backing Vocals – Marcelo (tracks: A1a, A1b, B1)
Drums – Carmelo Guedes (tracks: C2, C3)
Electric Guitar – Don Tronxo
Electric Guitar, Bass, Ukulele, Congas, Afoxé, Percussion, Piano, Effects, Vocals – Zé Ramalho
Flute [Flauta Doce] – Jonathas (tracks: A1a)
Flute [Flautas Em Sol E Dó] – Ronaldo (tracks: A1a, A1c to B2)
Mandolin, Sitar, Guitar, Bass, Harp, Congas, Bongos, Vocals – Lula Côrtes
Organ [Farfisa] – Huguinho (tracks: C2, C3)
Percussion – Agricio (tracks: C3, D4)
Percussion [Pente], Voice – Alceu (tracks: A1a, B2, C3, D4)
Piano, Acoustic Guitar – Toni Torres (2) (tracks: A1c)
Soprano Saxophone – Zé Da Flauta (tracks: C2)
Voice – Inácia (tracks: D4)
Voice, Drum [Elflu] – Zé de Torubamba (tracks: D1)
Whistle [Aves Do Céu] – Fernando Lira (tracks: B1)


Recorded at Rozenblit Studios between October and December 1974

Paêbirú is an album by Brazilian artists Lula Côrtes and Zé Ramalho. The album was originally released in 1975 on Solar Records then reissued a few years ago on Mr. Bongo Records. It is one of the most sought after by collectors but also one of the most interesting records to come out of the 70’s Psychedelic music era.

According to the legend 700 copies from 1000 made were destroyed in a huge flood leaving us only 300 ones. 40 years later, it is now considered the most expensive Brazilian record, selling for up to 4,000 British Pounds for a Mint copy. The album is a collaboration between Brazilian artists Lula Côrtes and Zé Ramalho, with each of its original four sides named after the legendary four elements (earth, air, fire, water). A wonderfully off-kilter record full of fantastic hooky and strange tunes that range from full-on freakouts.

Zé Ramalho doesn’t consider it as a work by him, so much that he is celebrating 35 years of career in 2012 (which marks 35 years of the release of his first solo album), and not in 2010. Since its reissue, it has been widely acknowledged as a lost gem of the Brazilian psychedelic movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

This is one of my favorite records of all time and I'll say that it took me a time to review it since It's my first review but lets see how it turned out to be.

The Legendary Paêbirú... Amazing Psychedelic Folk / Freak Folk Album by Lula Cortês, Zé Ramalho and many other musicians.

An Album that really shows Lula's and Zé's Hability.

Paêbirú is an album that was an Idea from a Mushroom Trip on Pedra do Ingá, and both were on Mushroom efects while Producing, Recording and Composing the Songs from Paêbirú.

The Idea of Paêbirú was to make a double album on which every side of the record was one of the 4 lements, the songs from on every side were supposed to sound like the elements of the side, Making this album sounds really different on each side, with songs that have anger and also peaceful songs.

Paêbirú is very inspired by other Psychedelic Folk albums, Indian Music, Tribal Music e etc, being a mix of it all.

Description of Every Side:

Earth.

Earth is ocupied by 3 continus songs, much like a Suite, Suite being type of song that is splitted in some parts, every part with it own name.

This Side starts with "Trilha de Sumé", a Psychedelic Rock Song mixed with various tribal elements. It tells the story of a legend that was told by the Indians of the Cariri Tribe in Ingá, the story is about a mythical creature called Sumé, a creature that supposedly got down from the sky, taught teachings to the Cariri Tribe, Told them his name, drew symbols on a big rock that is today known as Pedra do Ingá, the symbols' meaning is still unknown to this date and were a big inspiration to the creation of this album.

This Part ends with a Saxophone Solo that is the Transition to the other part of the Continuous song, this one being named "Culto à Terra", a very tribal rhythm driven part (kind of ritualistic) that is paired with a very psychedelic guitar improvisation on the background of the song. After some time, the guitar stops and then comes a brass instrument later followed by a piano that becomes the transition to the next part of the song.

This part is sort of a little break of what we had since the first track, its a much more peaceful track and is called "Bailado das Muscarias".

In this part, the voice is given to a flute while on the background, a piano and a guitar make a guitar accompany the beautiful flute work. Later on comes another instrument to the background an Electric bass, and Lula's Tricórdio that becomes the voice of the song, an instrument that has a bit of an Indian sound to it.

After this 3 part continuous track end, it's time to another side of the album.

Air.

Air side is also a very peaceful, much like the last part of the Earth Side, Bailado das Muscarias, but can be considered the most calm side of this album, serving as a break from all that is still to come. It is a side on which most on most of the songs, there will be more focus on the Air instruments and String Instruments.

It starts with a Track named "Harpa dos Ares" on which there will be a Guitar doing a progression for the most part of the song on the background, the voice on this song goes to the Tricórdio, Flute and also another Guitar following Lula's Tricórdio. Through the song there will be some reproductions of sounds of some animals, most being Birds and a Monkey.

Second song is named "Não Existem Molhado Igual ao Pranto" and is probably my favorite song of this album, a choice that was very hard to do and I'm still not sure of it. There is lots of Various instruments here that make a beatiful sound together with a the voices of Zé, Lula and their friends that also were part of the project, a beatiful sound that I can not even explain, it can only be understanded when listened to. The Instruments Consists of:

Berimbau, 6 Strings Guitar, 10 Strings Guitar, Tricórdio, Saxophone, 12 Strings Guitar, Bass, Flute and Percussion.

The Third and Last Song of the Air Side is "Omm" that is a song that Lula said to be inspired by the sounds of frogs. The Song was improvised by Lula, who did Tricórdio and Harp, And Zé, that did Ukulele, Piano and the Vocal effect that sometimes appear on the song. Aside from that Instruments, a 10 String Guitar and a Baritone Sax also play on the track, from around 3:40 the song changes to a a par have the focus on the Harp and Piano, from there, the song stays on a improvisation with that instruments till the end of the song and of the side.

Fire.

As you already can Imagine this is the most aggressive and fast side of the album, this side makes a lot of use of distortion on the Guitar, it's a very fast side on which you can almost feel the fire on the songs with the crazy psychedelic guitar solos and electric organ.

The First song is "Raga dos Raios", on this song, that was also improvised, there will be a very fast and Psychedelic Eletric Guitar with Distortion making Crazy Solos during the whole song while and Ukulele and a Tricórdio play some chords.

The Second Song is "Nas Paredes da Pedra Encantada" and it is another song that talks about the Myth of Sumé. It is the First song on which a Drum Set is used. It's a Crazy song that got the vocal melody from a very old folk song by an Unknown author. It's the heaviest song from the album and can be headbanged to even not being a metal song. On this song is used an Electric Organ, Drums as previously stated, Soprano Sax, Electric Bass, and Vocals by Zé Ramalho.

At last but not least Important there is "Maracás de Fogo" a song on which the focus is on the almost ritualistic Vocals of many of the members of this project, a guitar that switches trought the music between clean and distorted, and there is also a great tribal inspired percussion on the song that ends the Fire side to take us to the last side of this Record.

Water.

Entering on the last side of this record we have another two part continuous song, Starting with a praise song to an African-Brazilian Religion Saint, called Iemanjá which on that religion is a Saint that haves relation with Water. The name of the Song is "Louvação a Iemanjá" and it consists of a group of people singing this Praise song sung on a language that was used by Brazil Native Indians called Nagô, and tribal percussion, simple as that. The Second part of this Track is also another improvisation and is Called "Regato da Montanha", on which is a mostly done with acoustic instruments only with a fuzzy electric guitar on the background contribuiting to the ambient of the song and also doing some solos. During the song there will be some recordings water falling.

Here is a short totally acoustic track that is also a more happy song than the previous ones, here is "Beira Mar". It was also improvised and oh man, this guys really know how to do great improvisations, damn. It Starts with the sound of water falling that fades away and at the end comes back to finish the song.

Third song is called "Pedra Templo Animal" and it's a song on which the focus and on the voice and lyrics sung by Zé Ramalho. There will be a bass riff that will repeat a lot during the song but don't worry, it doesn't get tiring. On the background, there will be Percussion and a Guitar and Tricórdio that will be doing chords.

The Last song of this album is a very calm song and a great way to finish the album. This song that was improvised just haves 2 Instruments, Guitar that remembers me a bit of the playing style of Nick Drake and Lula's Tricórdio. The Song also haves a bit of a melancholic sound to it, very nice to end an album like that.

Thanks to cult-creating stories about how nearly all original copies of this Brazilian double-album effort from 1975 were lost in a fire, Paebiru is one of those records that has to overcome a reputation -- it has to actually be good because it's good, not because it's rare. The 2005 re-release on Shadoks gave a chance for that concern to be addressed, and it must be said: Paebiru really is a fantastic album. With each of its original four sides named after the legendary four elements (earth, air, fire, water), Paebiru looks to aim high and does so pretty well, but the more telling thing about the album is how well Lula Côrtes and Zé Ramalho's work fits in the present day. Thanks to the continually reviving psych/freak/acid folk/jam scene, one could play most of this album next to the Sunburned Hand of the Man and Animal Collective discs with nobody blinking -- but the key difference is probably that Cortes and Ramalho, plus their many collaborators, are really sharp musicians and arrangers. There's a talented, easy fluidity about Ramalho's singing that, if rougher, isn't far removed from classic Brazilian pop singers of his time, while the most intense moments, such as the building multi-percussive/feedback freakout of "Culto a Terra," stand up readily now as they did then. Elsewhere, the beautiful, almost serene compositions interspersed throughout ("Bailado das Muscarias," which definitely is a dance tune regardless of lack of percussion; the blending of harp, flute, sax, and more on "Omm") create something pastoral and with a romantic late-night lounge feeling. The resultant blend of approaches and the variety throughout the album become more apparent even while each song is simply captivating on its own, and when they decide to conventionally rock out on "Nas Paredes da Pedra Encantada," the result is almost Can-like.

Marconi Notaro - 1973 - No Sub Reino Dos Metazoários

Marconi Notaro

1973

No Sub Reino Dos Metazoários

01. Desmantelado 1:40
02. Áh Vida Ávida 3:50
03. Fidelidade 3:15
04. Maracatú 0:50
05. Made In PB 2:33
06. Antropológica N°1 2:40
07. Antropológica N°2 4:45
08. Sinfonia Em Ré 5:40
09. Não Tenho Imaginação Pra Mudar De Mulher 2:35
10. Ode A Satwa 4:55

Lula Côrtes: tricordio, Sitar, French horn, effects
Marconi Notaro: vocals, ganzá, acoustic guitar, cabasa, effects
Robertinho de Recife: ukelele, viola, tambor alegre, guitar
Icinho: percussion, drums
Geraldo: bass, rattle, percussion
Zé Ramalho: coustic guitar, viola, whistle, effects
Kátia: Bells, effects
Escola de Samba do Xié: surdo, percussion

With all of those who started shouting “private press only” after Shadow named an album after those American self-starters who took their recorded destiny into their own hands, consider this: as hard as it might have been to record, press and distribute your very own wax capsule in America in the early ’70s (and as rare, and good, many of them are), doing the same under Brasil’s military dictatorship was markedly more difficult. And releasing a psychedelic, fuzz and effects drenched opus with revolutionary musings disguised within double entendres? Next to impossible.

You’d want this one in your collection if it contained just one good track within its beautifully packaged gatefold cover. That this album screams perfection from start to finish just adds to its legendary status. The brainchild of poet Márconi Notaro, alongside his friends and compatriots Lula Cortes and Ze Ramalho (the men behind perhaps the most legendary of Brasil’s private-pressed albums, 1975’s awesome Paebiru), this album contains what can only be described as Brasilian ragas played with the Portuguese guitar and Lula’s own invention, the Tricordio; improvised passages so fluid you’d swear they were scored; psychedelic-funk jams about staying true to one’s origins; and, throughout, Notaro’s complex yet approachable poetry, sung by the poet himself.

The highlight of the album, if there is just one: Notaro’s improvised “Nao Tenho Imaginacao Pra Mudar De Mulher (I Don’t Have The Imagination to Change Wives),” a gorgeously melancholic piece that, when one sees it transcribed (gotta thank my lovely girlfriend for that), is nearly impossible to imagine as having flowed directly from the mind of one of the most underrated Brasilian poet/composers.

No Sub Reino dos Metazoários is the first and only record by musician and poet Marconi Notaro, out of Pernambuco, Brazil. For years it was known that the master tape of No Sub Reino dos Metazoários had been lost during two floods that wrecked the Rozenblit Studios. Lots of equipment were damaged and plenty of material gone. However, what no one expected was that the tapes were kept on the highest shelves in the studio where the water did not reach with the thought of "equipment can be replaced, master tapes are unique." Notaro's daughters inherited and rescued the tape and made it available so that Fatiado Discos could release the first and remastered version from the original tapes since 1973. The lysergic highest moments come with nature elements textures as water and wind mixing together with the unmistaken sound of the Tricórdio Acústico -- which is a very unique instrument that Lula Côrtes brought himself from India and then adapted it with the help of a local luthier to the regional sound of the Brazilian northeast. The gatefold designed by Lula Côrtes is portrayed in this release and it also has its inner side designed by Cátia Mezel, apart from an extra insert with unpublished photos of Marconi provided by the musician's family. The album features Lula Côrtes, Zé Ramalho, and Robertinho de Recife is part of the holy trilogy of Psicodelia Nordestina amongst the equally mind-blowing Paebiru (1975) and Satwa (1973).

Lula E Lailson - 1973 - Satwa

Lula E Lailson

1973

Satwa

01. Satwa (7:15)
02. Can I Be Satwa (2:58)
03. Alegro Piradíssimo (2:59)
04. Lia A Rainha Da Noite (3:48)
05. Apacidonata (4:11)
06. Amigo (3:30)
07. Atom (3:48)
08. Blue Do Cachorro Muito Louco (5:12)
09. Valsa Dos Cogumelos (5:10)
10. Alegria Do Povo (3:36)

Lula Cortes / Morocco Sitar
Lailson / Twelve-String Guitar, Voice
Robertinho De Recife / Guitar

Brazilian 70's dreamlike, acid-folk guitar project. It's largely an acoustic guitar orientated "trip". Their eponymous album (a private press LP originally released in 1973) provides emotional, luminous Latin psych vibes with omnipresent "raga" harmonies. The duet is composed by Lula Cortes (on guitar and popular Morocco sitar) and Lailson de Holanda Cavalcanti (12 strings guitar, voice). One composition feature Robertinho Do Recife on electric guitar. Constantly imaginative with dense buzzing ragas, this one is definitely essential for fans of progressive folk, eastern sonorites and peaceful ambiences. Another highway to Heaven!

Written, recorded and released just as Brazil's military dictatorship reached the climax of its long black arc, the one and only album by Satwa is a divinely subtle protest. Now issued for the first time in America through the venerable Time-Lag Records in Maine and the stewardship of freeform fixture Erika Elder, Satwa, often cited as Brazil's first independent record, is a mellow starburst of acoustic jangle.

Formed after the return of Lula Côrtes and Lailson from their respective foreign excursions – the former a beardo home after the requisite Moroccan sojourn, the latter a young long-hair back from the States – Satwa lasted only a year, perhaps due to their differing stripes. Lailson was from the verdant former Dutch colony of Pernanbuco, while Côrtes hailed from the wild badlands of Paraiba. But for 11 days in January 1973 the pair jammed cross-legged and produced the folk trance gems that adorn this self-titled debut.

At a time when censors caused newspapers to run cake recipes on their front pages in place of rejected news stories, Lailson only lets the occasional throat drone slip through his lips. Largely void of voice and word, the songs – Côrtes plucking steely leads from his sitar while Lailson's 12-string thrums crystalline chords – are loose and lovely. The sole interference in these glistening arabesques is the hoary electric fretwork of one Robertinho on "Blues do Cachorro Muito Louco," the most explicitly fried track. Otherwise, Côrtes and Lailson are left to experiment in musty silence. Seemingly taped live, each track is a dry documentation of the duo's gently rambling improvisations. Far from the recombinant psychedelia of tropicalismo that reigned over the pre-hippie underground in Brazil's bustling metropolises five years earlier, Satwa play bed peace bards. In double-mono, or fake stereo, Satwa is raw, untreated mentalism translated into pure songflow. At times exhausted and dusty – "Atom" – or archaically splendorous – "Valse Dos Cogumelos" – the duo's spiraling scrolls etched in rustic timbres unfurl gracefully.

Côrtes, now a graying painter, would go on to record the more explicitly weird Paêbirú (also recently reissued) with Zé Ramalho. A concept album about extraterrestrials in Paraiba's arid backwoods, it had long been anointed a masterpiece of the era. After dabbling in rock outfits, Lailson broke into the mainstream as a newspaper cartoonist, a job he has kept to this day. Neither were or will probably ever be Satwa again, but during those few days and from now on, Satwa is a quiet triumph.

Far East Family Band - 1977 - Tenkujin

Far East Family Band

1977

Tenkujin

01. Descension (2:05)
02. Tenkujin (5:11)
03. Timeless Phase (6:53)
04. Nagare (7:21)
05. From Far east (8:43)
06. Ascension (4:11)

Fumio Miyashita / lead vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, synths, bamboo flute,  mixing
Hirohito Fukushima / electric guitar, koto, vocals
Akira Fukakusa / bass
Yujin Harada / drums, percussion

With:
Mitsuo Miyamoto / string arrangements

The last hurrah for the Far East Family Band, a Japanese space/symphonic rock prog group active for a short period of a few years in the early to late Seventies, `Tenkujin' from 1977 was their fourth and final disc sung in both Japanese and English, and while the three works that came before it are far superior, it remains a very respectable and lovely LP with much to recommend it. Even though future new-age keyboard icon Kitaro had departed the band by this point, `Tenkujin' still offered plenty of the lengthy flowing keyboard-heavy spacey atmospheres, dreamy Pink Floyd-like guitar reaches and gentle ethnic elements the group was known for.

After an sedate yet experimental sound-collage of twitching electronics to introduce the album, the title-track `Tenkujin' launches straight into reaching glissando-like strains, skittering drumming over quickening programmed beats, chiming guitar shimmers and placid washes of deep-space synths wrapping around a plaintive lead vocal. The mellow `Timeless Phase' rather shamelessly borrows the chords and melodies of Pink Floyd's `Brain Damage', but there's also a pleasantly plodding quality that reminds of the similar Floydian laid-back moments of German band Jane throughout.

The second side's `Nagare' marries Sensations' Fix-like bleeding and whirring synth caresses over aching Camel-esque phasing guitar wisps, sweetly murmuring bass and a steady beat that turns frantic and racing in the final moments. `From Far East' is a softly bouncing and pleasing chill-out tune that grooves gently with swallowing bass and brisk drumming, slowly drifting into unhurried and softly stormy deep-space instrumental floating that reveals little traces of German group Novalis seeping out, in the way that the Far East Family Band always did so well. Gentle trilling Kitaro-like synth prettiness and dignified Mellotron choirs close the album on `Ascension', but some overly swooning orchestration that eventually enters the piece is completely unnecessary and overbearing.

The Far East Family Band are like groups such as Fruupp and Finch, bands that retain a nice compact run of consistently good albums from the vintage progressive rock era, some of which approach true greatness and are very special, much-loved works. They arrived and left before the rot of disco, punk and the over-commercialisation of so many progressive rock-related bands fully set in, which ensures the Far East Family Band have a perfectly satisfying and untarnished legacy, nicely wrapped up with the constantly lovely and humble `Tenkujin'.

Far East Family Band - 1976 - Parallel World

Far East Family Band

1976

Parallel World

01. Metempsychosis (4:47)
02. Entering / Times (15:54)
03. Kokoro (9:11)
04. Parallel World (30:08)
    - i. Amanezcan
    - ii. Origin
    - iii. Zen
    - iv. Reality
    - v. New Lights
    - vi. In the Year 2000

Fumio Miyashita / lead vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, flute, producer
Hirohito Fukushima / electric & slide guitars, electric sitar, mini-harp, percussion
Akira Ito / Hammond organ, Mellotron, electric piano, synths
Masanori Takahashi aka "Kitaro" / organs, Mellotron, synths, electric piano
Akira Fukakusa / bass
Shizuo Takasaki / drums, gong

With:
- Klaus Schulze / mixing

Like Vangelis, Kitaro had been involved in prog rock bands, in this case, Far East Family Band. At that time he was going by his real name, Masanori Takahashi. Parallel World was also produced by Klaus Schulze, as was their previous album, Nipponjin (which was mainly an English language remake of The Cave - Down to the Earth, and two songs removed for a version of a song off the Far Out album that now includes additional synths and Mellotron). Parallel World finds the band moving its furthest into electronic territory, it seems like Schulze's influence was undeniable. And even if you shy away from Kitaro thinking he's pretty much a lightweight, you'll be surprised how much this album will remind you of what Schulze was doing at the time, with extra guitar and drums. This was recorded in Oxfordshire, England, at Richard Branson's Manor Studios, in hopes for a contract with Virgin (since Schulze was recording for that label, which makes sense). For some reason, the label didn't like the length of the recording and didn't release it, at least it was released at home in Japan on MU Land, first with the boat cover, then later with the peering doll eyes cover. The original version came with a giant poster (the peering doll eyes cover comes with an insert), with a ton of stuff written in Japanese (not knowing Japanese, I'm unable to get much use of it). Naturally, this came with an Obi, as with just about everything made in Japan. I have noticed that "Entering" was to have lyrics (thanks to the poster that included what few lyrics there are on the album), but in reality it didn't. Instead those lyrics were used on "Timeless Phase" on their next (and final) album Tenkujin.

"Metempsychosis" is largely a percussion-dominated piece with lots of electronic effects. "Entering/Times" is very much in Schulze territory, starting off slowly, with lots of electronic effects, before things start kicking in with drums and guitars. "Kokoro" could easily fit on their earlier releases, more of a ballad, with singing in Japanese. The side-length title track really blows me away! A great jam dominated by synthesizers, but about halfway, the drumming fades and left with lots of electronic effects, some Buddhist chanting, and a wonderful synth solo that I am certain has to be from Kitaro himself. Of the four albums they done, this is without a doubt my favorite from them.

Far East Family Band - 1975 - Nipponjin (Join Our Mental Phase Sound)

Far East Family Band

1975

Nipponjin (Join Our Mental Phase Sound)

01. Nipponjin (16:51)
02. The Cave (8:37)
03. Undiscovered Northern Land (2:54)
04. Timeless (4:26)
05. The God of Water (2:06)
06. River of Soul (8:28)
07. The God of Wind (2:33)
08. Movin' Lookin' (1:39)
09. Yamato (0:48)
10. Mystery of Northern Space (5:57)

Hirohito Fukushima / vocals, guitar
Fumio Miyashita / guitar, electric sitar, keyboards, vocals, producer
Akira Ito / keyboards
Masanori Takahashi aka "Kitaro" / keyboards, percussion
Akira Fukakusa / bass
Shizuo Takasaki / drums

With:
Mitsuo Miyamoto / string arrangements
Klaus Schulze / mixing

It's plain to see that Far East Family Band wanted international exposure. They knew the all-Japanese language debut, The Cave - Down to the Earth wasn't going to cut it. So they rerecorded most of these songs in English for the international market, and have Klaus Schulze participate in the production. They also took an old Far Out song (Far Out being guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Fumio Miyashita's previous band, who released one album in 1973), "Nihonjin" (retitled "Nipponjin") and have additional aynths and Mellotron added on (it simply sounded like they used the original recording and have Masanori Takahashi aka the future Kitaro, as well as Akira Ito add on keyboards). Vertigo Records in Germany had it released over there. I am certain more people might be familiar with Nipponjin than the original The Cave. The title track is typical FEFB in a nutshell, although there's a short passage with some singing in Japanese, the rest is in English. Japanese influences show up from time to time on the album, especially the use of shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). "Movin' Lookin'" tends to have a more '60s feel for some strange reason. Akira Ito plays organ in a more '60s style. "Mystery of Northern Space" is a Pink Floyd-like number, although I could live without those strings (given they had a Mellotron). If you've heard the original The Cave, it's not all that different, aside from the language the music is sung in. Oh yeah, two songs from The Cave, "Four Minds" and "Transmigration" were removed to make room for the title track, as I mentioned, the synth and Mellotron doctored version of the Far Out song. And since I'm familiar with the Far Out album, I can tell you the original works fine even without the synths and Mellotron, this version is basically what I call icing on the cake. It may not be as electronic as their following effort, Parallel World, but it's still one of the great Japanese prog albums.

When I first heard this album I wasn't sure what I was listening to. Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd were my first guesses at the band's identity but somehow there was something else there that just didn't fit in. Thus I discovered the Far East Family Band and the very talented keyboardist (and future new age composer) Kitaro. I am glad I did!

This album contains re-mastered and re-recorded tracks of their eponymous previous (1973) album under the name of Far Out (without Kitaro) and the ambience and serenity that fills the atmosphere makes it really remarkable. Not much in the vocals department but I doubt if this will upset anyone at all. The long title track "Nipponjin" and the following "The Cave" are probably the highlights of the album without this going to say that the remaining tracks are by any means inferior of fillers. Frankly I think it would be difficult to select a favourite track on this album, all the tracks have a beauty of their own and as far as musicians go, these guys are an example of talent personified. Not surprisingly, both Fumio Miyashita and Kitaro went on to well-deserved stardom.

Highly recommended!

Far East Family Band - 1974 - The Cave Down to the Earth

Far East Family Band

1974

The Cave Down to the Earth

01. Undiscovered Northern Land (2:53)
02. Birds Flying To The Cave (4:33)
03. The God Of Water (1:53)
04. Saying To The Land (8:22)
05. The God Of Wind (2:21)
06. Moving, Looking, Trying, Jumping (1:40)
07. Wa, Wa (0:48)
08. Mystery Of Northern Space (5:56)
09. The Cave, Down To The Earth (8:18)
10. Four Minds (5:55)
11. Transmigration (11:03)

Hirohito Fukushima / vocals, guitar
Fumio Miyashita / guitar, keyboards, producer
Akira Ito / keyboards
Masanori Takahashi aka "Kitaro" / keyboards, percussion
Akira Fukakusa / bass
Shizuo Takasaki / drums

With:
Mitsuo Miyamoto / string arrangements

The true debut from Far East Family Band. Far Out is often thought of as a FEFB album, but in reality was a totally different band with only Fumio Miyashita in common. The Cave is their actual debut, released in 1975. The original LP came with a gimmick cut-out cover (both front and back) as well as an insert showing the band members and their equipment (obviously inspired by the back photo of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma, I noticed Austrian prog band Eela Craig did a similar photo shoot on their 1976 album One Niter on the back cover). The Cave was their only all-Japanese language album, and if you've heard Nipponjin, you'll learn real quickly that album was largely an English language version for the international market when The Cave was strictly for the Japanese market. Of course, "Four Minds" and "Transmigration" was removed on Nipponjin to make room with "Nihonjin" from the Far Out album with extra electronic and Mellotron treatment.

I noticed the band hadn't really honed their electronic skills at this stage of their career. The way it seems is that Akira Ito stuck with organ, while Kitaro stuck with synth effects. Fumio Miyashita apparently included lead synth, but he was mainly a guitarist and vocalist (Hirohito Fukushima also provided extra guitar). It seemed their encounter with Klaus Schulze was the big reason why their next album of all-original material, Parallel World, took a much stronger electronic approach. They apparently had some American named "Bob (USA)" playing flutes, including a shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) giving it that nice Japanese feel, particularly "Saying to the Land".

Much of The Cave, with the different in language is basically the same. Of course, "Four Minds", not on Nipponjin was more of a ballad, maybe the kind of ballad that might not appeal to everyone, while "Transmigration" is more in prog territory. So if you enjoy Nipponjin and want to hear these songs in their original Japanese language, then go for this album.

The album is a concept album as "The Cave" is arriving onto our planet, and the group is generally celebrating the beauties of nature. Obviously heavily influenced by Floyd (From AHM to DSOTM era), the group lays down some very credible ambiances that even Floyd could've pulled off. Of course, the similarities are no accident, because the guitars often sound like Gilmour's, while some keyboards layers could easily have been from Wright. The album glides smoothly, but not unnoticed, because they are enough delightful moments to make you forgive them for their too-obvious influences. And as if to prove me wrong the closing track, the 11-min Transmigration shows more Moody Blues vocal harmonies over a pedestrian Floyd soundscape, the whole thing underlined by a Mellotron and ending on newborn's crying before picking up again (hey Nick Mason is on drums, right?) only to have a siren warn us that the album is over.

This album will draw Klaus Schulze's attention and he will collaborate with FEFB on their next album (a rehash of the first two albums' highlights for the European market) Nipponjin and again for Parallel World. In the meantime, this album often gets overlooked, but it fully deserves the proghead's attention, as much as their Far Out release. I rounded this album to a fourth star, for I always liked this one, even if it is far from perfect.

Far Out - 1973 - 日本人 (Nihonjin)

Far Out

1973

日本人 (Nihonjin)

01. Too Many People (17:55)
02. Nihonjin (19:52)

Bonus tracks on 2000 CD release:
03. Birds Flying To The Cave (4:32)
04. Saying To The Land (8:21)
05. Moving, Looking, Trying, Jumping (1:39)
06. Wa Wa (0:48)
07. The Cave Down To The Earth (8:17)
08. Four Minds (5:53)
09. Transmigration (11:01)

Fumio Miyashita / vocals, nihon-bue, acoustic guitar, harmonica, Moog
Eiichi Sayu / lead guitar, Hammond organ, chorus vocals
Kei Ishikawa / bass guitar, electric sitar, vocals
Manami Arai / drums, nihon-daiko, chorus vocals

This early 70's psychedelic Japanese quartet were more or less the precursors of The FAR EAST FAMILY BAND, guitarist/vocalist Fumio Miyashita being the only link between the two. Miyashita would later join other musicians on FEFB which included among their ranks Masanori Takahashi, better known as "Kitaro". Under the name FAR OUT, they released one album in 1973.

Although « Nihonjin » is definitely a spacey album, the keyboards are only prominent on the opening notes and the synths are used sparingly throughout, for the occasional sound effect. The psychedelic atmosphere comes mostly from the guitars, electric sitar and drums, resulting in a sound somewhat reminiscent of PINK FLOYD's "A Saucerful of Secrets". The original LP, replete with weird sound effects, consisted of two epic tracks clocking in at 18 and 20 minutes respectively. The 7 bonus tracks of the CD edition are actually taken from The FAR EAST FAMILY BAND's first album "The Cave Down to the Earth" and feature some Japanese vocals that turn out in English on "The Cave" album. These tracks also lack the spacey synths of the latter.

While most of the psychedelic music of the 60s and 70s was a European and American affair oozing out of every nook and cranny of those continents, it's easy to forget that other nations like Japan had their own local scenes making an impact. FAR OUT was one of the many Japanese bands that took the influences of the English and American psychedelic scenes and added a new slant to them. FAR OUT only released one album "日本人 (Nihonjin)" (which means Japanese people), but continued on afterwards as Far East Family Band and not only released four more albums but was where Masanori Takahashi or better known as Kitaro got his start, so in effect FAR OUT is a pretty important band in the historical development of Japanese psychedelia and ambient music. The sole album of FAR OUT originally only contained two long sprawling tracks indicative of the excessive prog scene of the year 1973 when "日本人 (Nihonjin)" was released with ties not only to the heavy psych of the 60s but found themselves heavily smitten with the likes of Pink Floyd and other more progressive psychedelic and Indo-raga bands. While many of these bands were going for the jugular in terms of complexity was concerned FAR OUT took a much gentler approach and composed two lengthy tracks that utilized serene melodies as their vehicle of compositional style. The result was much like Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" which came out the very same year as the melodic development of "日本人 (Nihonjin)" isn't complex it all but it displays its magic in the ever changing dynamics that surround it.

"Too Many People" begins with a simple percussive beat sounding somewhat like a heartbeat and then gives way to a gusty wind as if the steady succession of rhythmic sounds were supplicating the gods to grant us an escapist's relief from the warmongering dimension called planet Earth. After a couple minutes a beautiful acoustic guitar slowly fades in as the atmospheric turbulence drifts away into the nether worlds. A beautiful chord progression builds slowly in a repetitive but highly melodic manner in a gentle nonchalant series of arpeggios. Finally after four minutes the vocalist joins in bringing melancholy and lament in the form of lyrics and then finally the tempo picks up ever so slightly. While vocals are utilized at different stages, the long 17 minute and 56 second track is mostly composed of instrumental passages that begin soft and easy and slowly ratchet up to staccato rock chords also including twangy Eastern influenced scales for enhancing the melody. In fact the mid-section reminds me a lot of "Icky Thump" by The White Stripes but of course this was 1973 long before Jack Black had music on his his horizons and never in the context of psychedelic rock . Close to the eleven minute mark the track becomes Indo-raga rock with a sitar twanging away as the lead instrument while the rock chords and tom-tom drum call continues to beckon the higher forces of the universe in some sort of ritualistic practice that induces a trance like state. At the twelve and a half minute mark it all comes crashing down and appears that the track has completed, but the acoustic guitar has different ideas and reverts to the opening arpeggios in slow speed while a Pink Floyd inspired guitar solo slowly eggs the track on to pick up steam again. The vocalist makes a reprise repeating the earlier lyrics and then the music plays for a while before the Floydian influences really take off towards the end as female vocalists do the oooo and aaah thing and ends with a huge power chord banter abruptly.

"日本人 (Nihonjin)" begins with gongs calling out as if a meditation practice were commencing in some Bhuddist temple in the Himalayas. This track sounds much more like German Krautrock as it begins with a hazy flurry of light drum activity and musical noodlings without form but a lone sitar steps in and steers the chaos into order as a tribal drum beat joins in and the two dominate the soundscape. As these two continue it sounds more like a classical Indian raga than anything related to psychedelic rock but they suddenly disappear, a guitar begins to strum a melodic chord progression and then power chords usher in the vocalist's English lyrics as the acoustic guitars gently rock back and forth building intensity slowly and surely until the Floydian guitar solos fly into the scene. Around seven minutes the Floydian influences suddenly acquiesce to a more jittery duet of guitars that transition the track into a slightly heavier feel with the tempo increasing a bit as well. A melodic solo carries the track on for a while but there is tension in the air as everything feels unresolved for quite some time keeping a very effective transitional stage on life support for a lengthy period but then at ten and a half minutes suddenly ends and is replaced by a more Japanese traditional sound which reminds me of a samisen type of sound but is obviously a sitar. Around thirteen minutes it suddenly ends the melodic dance and becomes drony. Then the vocalist starts to deliver a chant like vocal performance as the sitar becomes subordinate to his charismatic spell. The rock guitar and bass join in and add power to the chants as does backing drone-like vocalizations. The language is now in Japanese (previous English) and this musical style carries the track to its conclusion. The chants are repeated as if we have been transported to a bizarre cult ritual and are then suddenly in the middle of a rock concert as well. As all becomes a hypnotic trance of repeating lyrics that go from subdued to shouted, the guitar solos also flair up as do the back ground call and response type vocalizations. The intensity continues the 16:30 mark and then abruptly ends. This is where my CD ends but other earlier albums include an extra three minutes of unrelated music that sounds like a flute, a Hammond organ in a traditional Japanese musical fashion as if it's some outro. The impression with the abrupt ending version is that the gods have granted the praying beings their wish to be portaled up and away from the war ravaged Earth and allowed to spend their days in a more peaceful sector of the universe.

This album has been released many times. While the original release and some remastered versions such as the one i own contain only the two long epic tracks, there are some versions that contain seven bonus tracks. I have listened to these and they are of much inferior quality as the Pink Floyd influences are far too obvious and none of these tracks have the sublimeness of spirituality as do the two original lengthy tracks, so after having listened to all possible versions of this album, i have come to the conclusion that my 2010 Phoenix Records version is the best as it eliminates the extra three minutes from the title track and simple jettisons the inferior bonus tracks leaving the listener with the proper experience however if you're a purist go for the original. The bonus tracks are nice to hear but hardly essential. The two epic tracks IMHO indeed are.

This is the first chapter (or prologue if you wish) to the Far East Family Band group, one of the Japanese prog precursors. The album was released under this name, but has the same line-up than FEFB's Cave Down To Earth album. The TRC semi-legit reissue of this album present a glove hanging from a clothesline and even manages to misspell the name of the group (For Out ;-) and even forget the album's name, avoids staring the tracks and the line-up, but the transcription was rather good as the sound is quite satisfying (even though I never saw or heard the original vinyl). The line-up includes future new age stars Kitaro, Myi[&*!#]a and Akira Ito, so this album also has its historical importance.

Just two sidelong tracks on this album, but both are excellent and not holding any lengths or are not indulging in themselves. Both are a bit influenced by Pink's psychedelic Floyd influences as well as a good dose of early 70's UK proto-prog sound, but there is an undeniable personal feel as well, lying in an Indian music influence. Definitely lying in the last rays of the hippy culture, this album radiates a contagious happiness much the same way that Sweet Smoke was doing in their short discography.

Definitely worthy of investigation, even essential, especially in regards with the Japanese prog scene, this album deploys its charms to the listener and despite some obvious inspiration that are not concealed enough, the charms are operating an aural seduction to your brains. Recommended for those enjoying the early 70's pastoral hippy ambiances.

This sounds so much like Krautrock, and we get two side long suites of psychedelic bliss !

"Too Many People" is quiet for about a minute, when you can start to hear what sounds like the wind blowing. This sound actually becomes quite harsh on the ears. Then the sounds of acoustic guitar slowly rise out of the wind storm until that is all you hear. Vocals 4 minutes in are in English and suit the music pefectly. We get some absolutely blistering guitar 7 minutes in, as a dark BLACK SABBATH like riff comes and goes.The drums are great as is the sitar. What a heavy, hypnotic melody ! The song pretty much stops and starts over again as vocals come back along with some ear piercing guitar melodies played slowly. The drumming is incredible.

"Nihonjin" features some sitar and methodical drumming before the song kicks in after 3 minutes with vocals. This is such a mellow, drifting song. Some killer guitar after 8 minutes. Vocals are back.

My re-issue cd has 7 bonus tracks. "Birds Flying to the Cave" has organ and Japanese vocals. The guitar is outstanding ! "Saying To The Land" is mellow with flute, organ and vocals. Drums and guitar come in at 4 minutes, but it's still a laid back tune. "Moving,Looking, Trying, Jumping" and "Wa Wa" blend together. Waves of synths flow as vocals are spoken in Japanese. "The Cave Down to the Earth" sounds so much like a PINK FLOYD song from after 3 minutes to the end of the song. Especially the organ play. "Four Minds" is a spacey, slow moving song. "Transmigration" is the longest bonus track. It is another dreamy tune with vocals. The sound of a baby crying can be heard as drums, organ and synths create the melody.

I highly recommend this album to both Krautrock and Psychedelic fans.This was a real find for me. I really like the aggressive guitar that is often played on this record, but there are too many highlights to mention that make this a must have.

Good God - 1972 - Good God

Good God

1972

Good God

01. A Murder Of Crows (6:24)
02. Galorna Gavorna (5:11)
03. King Kong (8:53)
04. Dragon Song (4:20)
05. Zaragoza (6:31)
06. Fish Eye (8:37)

Larry Cardarelli / guitar, vocals
Cotton Kent / piano, e-piano, clavinet, soprano saxophone, marimba, vocals
Greg Scott / soprano, alto & tenor saxophones
John Ransome / bass
Hank Ransome / drums, vocals

With:
- Johnny Almond / tenor saxophone
- Bruce Solomon / trombone
- Bob Martin / French horn
- Bob Shemenek / trumpet
- Larry Washington / congas

Good God was a jazz/rock fusion band based is Philadelphia in the early 1970s. The group was led by guirist Larry Cardarelli on guitar and Cotton Kent on keyboards. Filling out the band were Greg Scott on saxophones, John Ransome on bass and Hank Ransome on drums. They released one album in 1972 on Atlantic Records (with the catalog number right before Close To The Edge - thanks to Dick Heath for that tidbit).

Rumor has it that band got it's name when they, huge Captain Beefheart fans, called Don Van Vliet out of the blue, and asked what they should call themselves. Good God! was his reported reply.

Whether or not that story is true, their album, as rare as it is, is highly regarded among fusion enthusiasts.

GOOD GOD released this one album back in 1972. We get two sax players although the one also plays the keyboards, plus we get four guests playing a variety of horns. Love the electric piano that is quite prominent and the guitar. Legend says they were huge CAPTAIN BEEFHEART fans, so when they were trying to decide on a band name they phoned him up and yes they got their band name by his sarcastic response. These guys cover a Frank Zappa song and a John McLaughlin tune on this album.

"A Murder Of Crows" is a pretty good rocking track with bass, guitar and drums leading the way. The horns after 1 1/2 minutes change the flavour though and we get keyboards as well. So impressive. Electric piano to the fore after 3 minutes as the horns stop. The guitar takes the spotlight a minute later. Vocals 5 1/2 minutes in but by the 6 minute mark the horns have replaced them. This is probably my favourite one from their original material. "Galorna Gavorna" is such a catchy tune, it's hard not to move. The vocals and sound bring GENTLE GIANT to my mind but that changes when the vocals stop and the horns start to lead the way. The guitar replaces the horns 2 1/2 minutes in as they continue to jam. Electric piano to the fore after 3 1/2 minutes. There's a bit of a "Continental Circus"(GONG) vibe with the rhythm section. "King Kong" is a Zappa cover and a top three for me. This is a jazzy, horn and electric piano led piece where once again it feels like a jam. I really like this one.

"Dragon Song" is my other top three and a John McLaughlin cover. This is a powerful Jazz/ Fusion song with plenty of horns and busy drum work. The guitar starts to light it up before 2 1/2 minutes. "Zaragoza" is the first time I feel like it mellows out and that's just at the start of this one as we get piano melodies and lazy horn expressions. It does start to build even by the first minute as things start to get adventerous especially the horns. This lasts for about a minute then the electric piano leads the way with bass and drums. The horns are back and then we get a brief drum solo 3 1/2 minutes in. A calm returns after 5 1/2 minutes. Good song. "Fish Eye" is different as we get a bluesy CAPTAIN BEEFHEART inspired tune. The horns blast to start before it settles right down a minute in as these bluesy vocals join in. I can just imagine seeing these guys in a smoke filled bar at this point. The horns will come and go along with bluesy guitar melodies. We get a lazy prolonged horn solo late followed by a passionate ending.

This is a really good album that keeps me interested all the way through.

Led Zeppelin - 2022 - Live In Odense (EVSD)

Led Zeppelin
2022
Live In Odense
(Empress Valley Supreme Disk)

01. Immigrant Song
02. Heartbreaker
03. Since I've Been Loving You
04. Dazed And Confused
05. Black Dog
06. Stairway To Heaven
07. Going to California
08. That's The Way
09. What Is And What Should Never Be
10. Four Sticks
11. Gallows Pole
12. Whole Lotta Love
        Boogie mama
        That's alright mama
        My baby left me
        Mess 'o' the blues
        Honey bee
        Sugar mama
        Gee baby, i ain't good to you
        Kind hearted woman blues
13. Communication Breakdown (cut)

Recorded live on May 4, 1971 at the Fyns Forum, Odense, Denmark

Rikki Ililonga & Musi-O-Tunya - 2010 - Dark Sunrise

Rikki Ililonga & Musi-O-Tunya

2010

Dark Sunrise

101. Musi-O-Tuny Tsegulani 6:24
102. Musi Mpondolo 7:57
103. Musi-O-Tunya Walk And Fight 7:53
104. Musi-O-Tunya The Sun 5:11
105. Musi-O-Tunya Dark Sunrise 8:26
106. Musi-O-Tunya One Reply 5:41
107. Musi-O-Tunya The Wings Of Africa 7:05
108. Musi-O-Tunya Jekete Yamankowa Part1 2:43
109. Musi-O-Tunya Jekete Yamankowa Part2 2:43
110. Musi-O-Tunya Chalo Chawama 3:45
111. Musi-O-Tunya Ng'ombe Shala 3:47
112. Musi-O-Tunya Mpulula 3:37
113. Musi-O-Tunya Smoke 4:21

201. Rikki Ililonga Sansa Kuwa 4:35
202. Rikki Ililonga Sheebeen Queen 4:53
203. Rikki Ililonga Stop Dreaming Mr. D 3:33
204. Rikki Ililonga The Hole 4:42
205. Rikki Ililonga Hot Fingers 4:09
206. Rikki Ililonga Se Keel Me Queek 4:56
207. Rikki Ililonga The Nature Of Man 3:54
208. Rikki Ililonga Musamuseka 3:01
209. Rikki Ililonga Zambia 3:18
210. Rikki Ililonga The Queen Blues 4:46
211. Rikki Ililonga Love Is The Way 4:15
212. Rikki Ililonga Lovely Woman 4:03
213. Rikki Ililonga Munzi Wa Kangawana 2:36
214. Rikki Ililonga Working On The Wrong Thing 3:45
215. Rikki Ililonga Ulemu 1:50
216. Rikki Ililonga Sunshine Love 3:15
217. Rikki Ililonga Take It Light 4:15
218. Rikki Ililonga Angel Black 3:22

Bass – Peter Giraudo (tracks: 2-11 to 2-18)
Bass Guitar – Ndara "Derreck" Mbao (tracks: 1-1 to 1-13)
Drums – Sparky Behrens (tracks: 2-11 to 2-18)
Instruments [All Instruments] – Rikki Ililonga
Lead Guitar – Riketzo Makuyu "Rikki" Ililonga (tracks: 1-2 to 1-13)
Lead Vocals – Ndara "Derreck" Mbao (tracks: 1-1 to 1-3, 1-6 to 1-13)
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Bass, Drums – Rikki Ililonga (tracks: 2-11 to 2-18)
Percussion [African Drums], Vocals – Siliya Lungu (tracks: 1-1 to 1-13)
Percussion [Western Drums] – Brian Chengala (tracks: 1-1, 1-8 to 1-13)
Percussion [Western Drums], Vocals – Aliki Kunda (tracks: 1-2 to 1-7)
Rhythm Guitar – John Bobby Otieno (tracks: 1-1 to 1-13)
Soprano Saxophone – Kenny Chernoff (tracks: 1-1 to 1-13)
Trumpet – Charlie Sekano (tracks: 2-1 to 2-10), Brother Njenga racks: 1-1 to 2-10)
Vocals – Rikki Ililonga (tracks: 1-1 to 1-13)

Mui-O-Tunya "Wings Of Africa" album (tracks 1-2 to 1-7), recorded at Sapra Studio, Nairobi, Kenya on January 24th, 1975. Originally released on MOT Records LMOT 1017.

Tracks 1 assumed to be recorded at Sapra Studio, Nairobi, Kenya in 1975. Originally released on MOT Records MOT 101. Other singles (tracks 1-8 to 1-13) assumed to be recorded in Kenya in 1973. originally released on Pathe East Africa.

"Zambia" album (tracks 2-1 to 2-10) recorded at Sapra Studio, Nairobi, Kenya between June 9th and 25th 1975. Originally released on Zambia Music Parlour Records ZMPL 10.

"Sunshine Love" album (tracks 2-11 to 2-18) recorded at Sapra and Phonogram Studios, Nairobi, Kenya 1976. Originally released on Sepiso Records RILP2.

Recording of Zambia and Sunshine Love albums courtesy Richard "Heavyfuzz" Leckie, "Tsegulani" 7" single courtesy Miles Cleret and other Mui-O-Tunya singles courtesy db Applications, Lusaka.

"Musi-o-tunya" means "the smoke that thunders," the original name for Victoria Falls.

Singer-guitarist Rikki Ililonga may have lived in Denmark for 30 years, but he’s also an originator and ongoing steward of Zamrock. In the early 1970s, Zambia enjoyed, if that’s the right word, a set of circumstances finely tuned to instigate a rock and roll subculture. The landlocked central African country had been independent of English rule for about a decade, long enough for the first president to become the first dictator and to pick an economy-throttling fight with major trading partner Rhodesia … but not long enough for the white, English commercial class to pack up and leave. Since they had the money, the foreign-born folk exerted inordinate influence over what records made it into the shops and what got played on the radio. Take a legacy of hope, confront it with impending economic collapse, mix in an influx of international pop sounds in a newly emergent urban metropolis with strongly rooted rural cultural practices, cut off easy transit in and out of the country, then let it all simmer in the hot tropical sun — the result was a small circle of interrelated, mutually supportive psychedelic combos that included Witch, Amanaz, and Ililonga’s Musi-O-Tunya.

Collectively they displayed a penchant for fuzz guitar and heavy beats inspired by Cream and Hendrix, but there are also differences. At least on record, Witch and Amanaz could have been from anywhere where the guitars were loud and the tape decks cheap; Musi-O-Tunya’s singles and one album sound very much like music of Africa. The band’s burning guitar freakouts often took off from a foundation of skipping beats that could have originated in neighboring Congo or further west in Nigeria and Ghana, and even though English is Zambia’s official language, they sang a lot in Benba, Chinyanja, and Silozi. They also used an indigenous name; Musi-O-Tunya is the pre-British name of Victoria Falls and translates as “The Smoke That Thunders,” which isn’t a bad name for a band that aspires toward heaviness. Musi-O-Tunya’s earliest recordings date from a sojourn in Kenya in 1973, and while the drum-chant-whistle workout “Ng’ombe Shala” on one of its early singles displays the band’s roots, the flip side “Mpulala” shows that rock ‘n’ roll was part of the equation from the beginning. The crisp guitar sounds fresh out of the garage, the drumming and the song’s structure owe a lot to Mersey Beat, and the guitar and bass duel in the middle sounds like some kids trying to realize their favorite Yardbirds jam and not quite succeeding.

The recording quality on Wings Of Africa, Musi-O-Tunya’s sole album and the source of most of Dark Sunrise’s first CD, is a huge leap ahead of the one-take murk of the singles, and the music keeps pace. “The Sun” is lithe and lively; Canadian Kenny Chernoff’s soprano saxophone and Ililonga’s tart guitar fills snake in and out of the massed vocals and dynamic percussion. It’d sound just right next to your favorite tracks on the Nigeria Special and Ghana Soundz compilations. But it’s the tunes where Ililonga pushes his rock influences to the front that mark Musi-O-Tunya as a band apart. “Dark Sunrise” totally rocks, with a towering backbeat and big, fat guitar leads that’d bring a tear of jealousy to a nascent pedal-hopper’s eyes. The riff of “One Reply” sounds stunningly similar to Lou Reed’s “Charley’s Girl”; since it was recorded in 1974, two years before Reed debuted his tune on Coney Island Baby, one wonders if he could possibly have heard Musi-O-Tunya’s song first? Probably not, but in any case, the Zambians kick more ass than Lou did in his “playing football for the coach” phase, especially when Ililonga’s guitar tries to muscle to the front of the mix.

Is there any scenario more typical of ’70s rock than the talented guy saying “I don’t need these jerks” and going it alone? That’s just what Ililonga did in 1975, the year he recorded the first of the two LPs that make up Dark Sunrise’s second CD. The set comes packaged in a swanky hardcover book, and most of its pages are given over to Ililonga’s very specific remembrances of Zamrock’s circumstances and personalities. According to his telling, the rest of the band didn’t want to keep learning new songs, so he ditched them; certainly his solo LPs are powered by a hunger to play in a myriad of ways that Musi-O-Tunya did not. “Hot Fingers” is a shameless and aptly named bit of guitar flash; “Stop Dreaming Mr. D” memorializes his old band to the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar and harmonica that could have been played by Richie Havens; “The Nature Of Man” could be early Traffic mixed with a little Buffalo Springfield; “The Hole” is brazenly explicit get-it-on funk; and “Working On The Wrong Thing,” with its sparse groove and rude synth, would fit right in on that Shuggie Otis record. Whether the songs muse on the travails of Zambian urban life or Ililonga’s love life, they articulate a first person singer-songwriter stance that foregrounds the “I” (as opposed to the voice that represents or describes the community) in a way rarely heard beforehand in African pop.

Ililonga’s willingness and inclination to operate as a man apart has served him well. He left Zambia in 1980, around the time that the economy completely tanked but before AIDS wiped out his generation (to this day, 10 percent of the population is infected). He’s sustained his music career around Europe, and also facilitated the dissemination of Witch and Amanaz’s music in recent years alongside his own. One of Dark Sunrise’s chief pleasures is reading his reminiscences about his old mates and the scene they briefly inhabited.

Listening to the first five or so tracks on this, I thought of Funkadelic and Sonny Sharrock. It's a funky dark slab of heavy jams. Fantastic stuff, really phenomenal music. The rest of the tracks are a mix of garage rock, acoustic bluesy stuff and funk. Not every piece is amazing, but as a career body of work this is very impressive and deserves the highest rating.

Rikki Ililonga - 1978 - Soweto

Rikki Ililonga

1978

Soweto

01. Love Is So Strange
02. You Got The Fire
03. My Destiny
04. Soweto
    a) Pray For Soweto
    b) Soweto
    c) Blow Your Mind
    d) Soweto Explosion
05. Shebeen King
06. Fire High
07. Sunshine Queen
08. Afri-Koko

Bass Guitar, Synthesizer [ARP 2600] – Peter Giraudo
Chorus – Tutuga Yeni (tracks: A4a)
Drums – Franco Otieno
Synthesizer [ARP], Organ – Francis Njorege
Vocals, Guitar, Percussion, Engineer

"PS: This record should be played at speaker shattering volume, especially if you're doing the deep shaft horizontal mambo. Have fun !" - Rikki Ililonga

Enjoying massive popularity, Rikki added a third album titled Soweto in 1977. With a full colour cover depicting him behind bars, the album was dedicated to the 1976 Soweto Uprising in South Africa. The title track was divided into four segments; a South African hymn, the song, a chorus and explosions. Rikki was at his poetic best.

My best guess of this album's release date is 1977, based on the evolution of his synthesiser and guitar tones and song style from his first two albums. It's really not a good evolution, as seems to be the case with the majority of every other musicians' evolution towards the 80s. He's softened up considerably with only two zam-rock tracks out of 8 (both of which include the word "Fire" for some reason), and this time the rock tracks are far more funky than the zam-rock of the mid-70s. Which isn't a bad thing at all; it's just that they're the only listenable tracks on the album. The only other track that caught my attention was "Shebeen King". The music is boring, but the lyrics which brag about his sexual prowess are really entertaining: "All the women they call me: The population maker / The men they call me: The marriage breaker / The mothers call me: The statutory raper / The fathers call me: The cherry breaker"

Rikki Ililonga - 1975 - Zambia

Rikki Ililonga

1975

Zambia

01. The Hole
02. Shebeen Queen
03. Zambia
04. Hot Fingers
05. Musamuseke
06. The Nature Of Man
07. Sansa Kuwa
08. Stop Dreaming Mr. D.
09. The Queen Blues
10. Se-Keel-Me-Kweek

The realm of Western-influenced African music is consistently dominated by such powerhouse names as Fela Kuti, Victor Uwaifo and other West African legends whose 60s and 70s recordings have been reissued by companies like Soundway, Strut and Analog Africa. One can't possibly hope even to scratch the surface of the continent, however, without giving mention to Zambia's Zamrock scene which, alongside the music that arose in Ethiopia in the late 60s and early 70s, is leagues deep and largely misunderstood.

In the same vein,the genius of multi-instrumentalist Rikki Ililonga, and the famed Musi-O-Tunya band he helped found, have been afforded little international light. Ililonga's charismatic presence and unparrelled musicality - coupled with his ability to pen deeper lyrics than most in the genre - and Musi-O-Tunya's transcendent ability to deal in difficult traditional Zambian rhythms, deep funk and unrestrained fuzz rock in equal measure, have made for some amazing albums.

Rikki Ililonga started playing the guitar at the age of 18. Has played with almost every band in Zambia. Travelled extesively in Africa and abroad in search of musical knowledge. Founder member of Musi-O-Tunya who are know based in Nairobi – Kenya. In this, his first album, Rikki composed and arranged all the numbers. He switches from electric guitar to acoustic and slide guitars, bass, drums, congas and harmonicas with ease. He played all the instruments and does all the vocals himself. If you want to listen to African sound with a difference, this is the one. The sound of Rikki Ililonga of Zambia.

There’s a little more polish to this stuff (and a lot of acoustic guitar-based singer/songwriter stuff), as opposed to the wildass in-studio jams of the Musi-O-Tunya album, but Ililonga doesn’t restrain himself that much — he takes one of his scorching guitar solos through the entirety of “Sansa Kuwa,” and the funk groove of “The Hole” is unstoppable. Ililonga’s English-language lyrics are frequently dark, dealing with depression and social problems in Zambia, as opposed to the party anthems many other African groups were recording at the time, and his voice is weirdly compelling, more reminiscent of Damo Suzuki than peers like Fela or Sir Victor Uwaifo.

A solo album that is more literally solo than usual in that every instrument and vocal is done by Rikki Ililonga, with the exception of a couple brass riffs (the one type of instrument he apparently couldn't master). The downside is that he's not much of a rhytm section, so you get really basic drum-and-bass backings that are more utilitarian than musical. And he's focusing a lot more on fairly uninteresting singer-songwriter material. Yet there's still enough of the classic acidic zam-rock to keep it from getting boring, which he curiously distributed very evenly so that you never go more than two songs without it.