That's the middle finger of David Boykin on the front cover – bidding a bold farewell to the year of 2016 – with a record that offers up some of the most soul-nourishing sounds we've ever heard from the reedman! The album's got a sharper, almost funkier sound than some of Boykin's other work – a double-length performance that features David on tenor, in a group that also has James Baker on a piano that sounds electric, and which is often played in these blocky chords that fit well with the bass of Alex Wing and drums of Isaiah Spencer – all working as a cohesive trio unity, while Boykin takes off with these searing, searching solos! The mix of spiritual reeds and chunkier rhythms is almost a bit like some of the early "funk" work of Joe McPhee – but Boykin's clearly got his own agenda in the music, and comes off with a mindblowing positive sound. All tracks are long, and titles include "Coronal Mass Ejection", "Wherever You At", "Make It Count", "You Know Who You Are", and "Jaglavak". CD

A raw, live set from Chicago saxophonist David Boykin – but a great little record that really reminds us of a classic 60s session on ESP! Boykin's reeds are wonderful throughout – filled with the depth of soul we might expect from Kalaparusha or Albert Ayler – and set up here in an open-ended trio with Josh Abrams on bass and Andre Beasley on drums. The tracks are all quite longish and free – but never sloppy or overindulgent – held together with a tremendous focus and presence in Boykin's horn! Titles include "Victory Honor & Glory", "Conundrum", "Big & Fine", "The King", and "Meditation For Momma Long". CD

A great reworking of the extended Solar Suite by Chicago saxophonist David Boykin – issued many years back in a studio version, and presented here in a bold new take done at the same 63rd Street Beach House that used to host performances by Phil Cohran & The Artistic Heritage Ensemble! Boykin is tremendous here as a key soloist – and the group is led by Renee Baker as part of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project – although the ensemble here is just a septet, with work from Joshua Abrams on bass, Jim Baker on keyboards, Alex Wing on guitar, Tony Herrera on trombone, Quentin Coaxum on trumpet, and Marcus Evans on drums! The set's worth it alone for Boykin's wonderful tenor work, but the whole group is fantastic as well – soaring up with a mighty spirit that lives up the legacy of the storied space of the recording – on titles that include "Midnight & Sunrise", "Midday", "Sunset", and "Enocturnal Sun". CD

David Boykin works here in a very different guise than his usual role as a saxophonist – stepping out here with a range of different singers, in a set of tracks that showcase a whole new side of his talents! The music is a mix of modern jazz vocals and contemporary soul modes – different depending on the singers, who shift from cut to cut – at a level that sometimes echoes June Tyson or Abbey Lincoln, other times reflects more contemporary work from the underground! As always with Boykin's CDs, the notes are a bit spare, so it's hard to tell who did what in terms of the music – but we can say that the set features vocals from Abeeku, Consuela Ivy-Vaughn, Dark Mery, Liz Mputu, and Ugochi – on titles that include "Listen Up", "She Was Screaming", "What The Afrofuture Say", "Slow Sweet Burn", "Conspiracy", and "Of My Voice". CD

One of the most spiritual, most well-conceived sessions we've heard from reedman David Boykin in years – a single performance that runs for almost 30 minutes, featuring a totally hip lineup that includes Nicole Mitchell on flute, Joshua Abrams on bass, Jeff Parker on guitar, Eliel Sherman Storey on tenor, and Avreeyal Ra on drums! The key element here, though, is Lasana Kazembe – who delivers a powerful spoken passage at points – these righteous words about our fair city of Chicago, with a powerful message about the city and life within. Lawrence Jones adds congas to the proceedings, Zahra Glenda Baker sings a bit, and the whole thing resonates with a mix of jazz, spoken word, and spiritual message that takes us back to some of our favorite recordings of the 70s! CD

A magical bit of music from Chicago free spirit David Boykin – a CD ep that features one extended track, the 16 minute "Diasporadiation", a really cosmic number with a classic 70s spiritual feel! The group on the set is a quintet with Boykin on saxes, Nicole Mitchell on piccolo, and Jim Baker on piano – plus additional drums and cello – and the track builds nicely over the course of the CD, with some really great solo work from both Mitchell and Boykin! CD

A set recorded many years back by Chicago spiritualist David Boykin – but one that's finally getting its debut on record, as part of the ever-evolving rich tapestry of sounds that Boykin's been giving us since the 90s! The set here captures David at a key moment – when he was maybe turning towards even more spiritual currents from more outside performances – working with an excellent lineup that features Nicole Mitchell on flute, Josh Abrams on bass, James Baker on piano, Mike Reed on drums, Renee Baker on violin, Chinatsu Nakano on alto, and Shirazette Tinnin on congas. Both Abrams and Reed are also at key points of their development, and together with Boykin and Mitchell, they beautifully point the way forward for a new generation of Chicago expression. The piece is one long live performance, over 45 minutes in length – with segments that include "Midnight", "Sunrise", "Herukhuti", and "Enocturnal Sun". CD

We're not sure why David Boykin couldn't name the club for this performance – as the set's every bit as great as his other live recordings in other venues, and is a testament to the continuing development of this underground saxophone giant of the 21st century! The group is a quartet, with Jim Baker on piano, Alex Wing on bass, and Isaiah Spencer on drums – and at points, Baker's presence on the record is as strong as the raspy tenor of Boykin – even on one track where David vocalizes a bit too. Titles include "Despair", "Big & Fine", and "Fantasy Island". CD

The wisdom and knowledge of Sun Ra – read by saxophonist David Boykin, an artist who is definitely carrying on the spiritual legacy that Ra began on the Chicago scene! The album is all spoken word – no music at all, but instead these really well-done readings by Boykin – who clearly embraces all of the ideas in the writings of Ra, and delivers them with an understanding that really makes the words leap off the page! Selections include writings from the late 50s through the start of the 80s – with titles that include "Of Variable Universe", "The Empty Space", "Sound Silence", "The Sounds Of Planets", "The Space Age Cannot Be Avoided", "We Hold This Myth To Be Potential", "The Visitation", "Visions Out", "The Three Dimensions Of Air", and "On Solar Planes". CD

Hardly the sex tape you might expect from the title – and instead a really great ensemble performance from David Boykin – one that almost has him rising up to take on the Sun Ra legacy on the Chicago scene! The group here is full of wonderful sounds – not just tenor from Boykin, but also flute from Nicole Mitchell, alto from Matana Roberts, bass from Joshua Abrams, drums from Isaiah Spencer, Baritone from Aaron Getsung, keyboards from William Kurk, turntables from Besco, and Arp from Jim Baker – all coming together on long passages that mix rhythmic progressions with these freer flights of sound – very much the spirit of what you might have heard on a vintage Saturn Records release! And maybe as with one of the many self-issued live sets by Ra – this one features a familiar number, "47th Street Ghost", taken to an extended new height – and blended with another "untitled" composition – for one long performance recorded in concert. CD

One of the most spiritual albums we've ever heard from reedman David Boykin – a beautiful batch of long, flowing tunes that have tremendous modal energy and a very cohesive feel! We've always loved Boykin, right from the start – but here he's showing an even deeper sense of spirituality and direction – a great evolution after so many years in jazz, with a strong ability to build new ideas over a very long space – and still communicate in this universal style that transcends time and place! The package is lean – just a small cardboard sleeve – but the music is mighty, and feels like some lost underground jazz classic from the 70s. Boykin plays reeds and a bit of percussion – in a quintet with some really tremendous bass from Josh Abrams – plus piano from James Baker, guitar from Alex Wing, and drums from Marcus Evans – on the tracks "Love Power Magic", "Hyperspace", "6/10/13", and "Some Slick 8 Bar Blues". CD

One of the most spiritual albums we've ever heard from reedman David Boykin – a beautiful batch of long, flowing tunes that have tremendous modal energy and a very cohesive feel! We've always loved Boykin, right from the start – but here he's showing an even deeper sense of spirituality and direction – a great evolution after so many years in jazz, with a strong ability to build new ideas over a very long space – and still communicate in this universal style that transcends time and place! The package is lean – just a small cardboard sleeve – but the music is mighty, and feels like some lost underground jazz classic from the 70s. Boykin plays reeds and a bit of percussion – in a quintet with some really tremendous bass from Josh Abrams – plus piano from James Baker, guitar from Alex Wing, and drums from Marcus Evans – on the tracks "Love Power Magic", "Hyperspace", "6/10/13", and "Some Slick 8 Bar Blues". CD

A record that continues that journey past jazz that reedman David Boykin has given us on a few recent releases – an EP that features two surprisingly soulful cuts, yet which still have some great tenor solos as well! Manu Wise delivers some lyrics on "Calculations" – a cut that has this really wonderful slow-stepping, soulful glow –summed up wonderfully by David's tenor solo at the end! "Love In The Afternoon" is even cooler – a stepping funky number with vocals from a trio of singers and a bit of turntable work – really wonderful, and with a quality that's as if Strata East released a soul single back in the day! CD

Excellent work from Chicago reed player David Boykin – a much more straight ahead album than some of his earlier work, but done with an edge that keeps it in the ranks of the AACM tradition that has informed much of Boykin's music from the start. Boykin is on sax and clarinet – and the rest of the group includes Josh Abrams on bass, Nicole Mitchell on flutes, Jim Baker on piano, and Isaiah Spencer on drums – grooving together in an angular modern bop approach that recalls some of Roland Kirk's most adventurous work of the 60s, touched with traces of the more soulful side of the Chicago avant scene. Titles include "Niki's Bounce", "Jacuzzi", "Virgo", "Sunset", "Stalking The Cat", "Sunrise", "Antimatter", and "Jiffy Pop". CD

A great lost performance from David Boykin's Expanse group – one of the boldest forces in Chicago underground jazz a few years back! The lineup here is great – with Boykin on tenor, Nicole Mitchell on flute, Josh Abrams on bass, James Baker on piano, and Myron Cherry on drums – working together beautifully in a tribute to the late Hazel Boykin – at a level that arguably has more structure and force than even other great Boykin recordings of the time! The interplay between tenor and flute is wonderful – very complex, but also deeply soulful, and quite organic – and David's especially great, blowing with that spiritual power that really made us sit up and take notice when he first came onto the scene. Titles include "His & Hers", "1/20/03", "Eli Whitney", "Gates", and "Big & Fine". CD

"Expanse" is a mighty big name for the group that David Boykin uses on this record – especially given that the combo's only a quintet – but that's ok with us, because the sound here is more than large enough to warrant the name! Boykin's working with a great batch of players from the Chicago scene here – including frequent musical partner Nicole Mitchell on flute, sliding wonderfully alongside David's saxophones – plus Jim Baker on piano, Josh Abrams on bass, and Mike Reed on drums. The album features two longish tracks, both composed by Boykin with a vision that's freely expressive, yet never too free – a perfect balance that reigns things in wonderfully, and which shows him to be one of the key current heirs to a Chicago tradition that runs back to the early AACM and Sun Ra! Titles include "Nuance" and "47th Street Ghost". CD

"Expanse" is a mighty big name for the group that David Boykin uses on this record – especially given that the combo's only a quintet – but that's ok with us, because the sound here is more than large enough to warrant the name! Boykin's working with a great batch of players from the Chicago scene here – including frequent musical partner Nicole Mitchell on flute, sliding wonderfully alongside David's saxophones – plus Jim Baker on piano, Josh Abrams on bass, and Mike Reed on drums. The album features two longish tracks, both composed by Boykin with a vision that's freely expressive, yet never too free – a perfect balance that reigns things in wonderfully, and which shows him to be one of the key current heirs to a Chicago tradition that runs back to the early AACM and Sun Ra! Titles include "Nuance" and "47th Street Ghost". CD

A set recorded many years back by Chicago spiritualist David Boykin – but one that's finally getting its debut on record, as part of the ever-evolving rich tapestry of sounds that Boykin's been giving us since the 90s! The set here captures David at a key moment – when he was maybe turning towards even more spiritual currents from more outside performances – working with an excellent lineup that features Nicole Mitchell on flute, Josh Abrams on bass, James Baker on piano, Mike Reed on drums, Renee Baker on violin, Chinatsu Nakano on alto, and Shirazette Tinnin on congas. Both Abrams and Reed are also at key points of their development, and together with Boykin and Mitchell, they beautifully point the way forward for a new generation of Chicago expression. The piece is one long live performance, over 45 minutes in length – with segments that include "Midnight", "Sunrise", "Herukhuti", and "Enocturnal Sun". CD

Saxophonist David Boykin never fails to blow us away – but this time around, his music seems even deeper and more ambitious than ever – as he works with his Expanse group on three long tracks that have a very spiritual mix of ensemble moments and improvised individual actions! The group's a hip one – and in addition to Boykin on tenor, bass clarinet, and a bit of percussion – the record also features Nicole Mitchell on flute, Eliel Sherman Storey on tenor, Musah Hollins on trumpet, Sean Hafeli on piano, and Avreeyal Ra on drums. Glenda Baker sings a bit, and the album's got a definite loft jazz sense of collaboration at the fringes! CD

A seminal album from the great reedman David Boykin – a set recorded right at the end of the 90s, with an excellent group full of members who'd all go on to do wonderful things in years to come – Nicole Mitchell on flute, Chad Taylor on drums, and Josh Abrams on bass – plus a bit of vocals from Glenda Zarah Baker as well! The tracks are a great mixture of long and short, quiet and powerful – really marking Boykin as one of the key talents to inherit the mantle of the AACM legacy, and find a way for it to move forward strongly, and proudly, well into the 21st Century. Titles include "Hypnotic", "Portal 7", "Blue Corn Bop", "Affections Of Alienation", "Abductions & Experimentations", and "Astro Lilly". CD

One of the most ambitious sets we've heard from Nicole Mitchell – a really unique mixing of modes that features a core Chicago group coming into play with the Arche New Music Ensemble! The initial group features Nicole on flute, vocals, and electronics – with Mwata Boden on baritone and bass clarinet, David Boykin on tenor, and Renee Baker on violin – all set against the larger backdrop of Arche – which features eleven musicians led by Rafal Zapala on electronics and percussion, on piano, trumpet, cello, viola, clarinet, trombone, oboe, and more! Mitchell's still at the heart of the performance – as the tracks are all her own compositions, and she conducts the proceedings as well – with this wonderful mode that's almost a blend of AACM energy with some of the more orchestrated improvisations of the European scene. The bulk of the record features the long "Arc Of O" piece – followed by a smoking rendition of Mitchell's great "Afrika Rising", a much more freewheeling and spiritual number! CD

Mindblowing sounds from Chicago flute player Nicole Mitchell – a set of work inspired by the science fiction writings of Octavia Butler – with a striking style to match! Although the music has some arch qualities that live up to the darkness of Butler's writings, the performance here is also still mostly acoustic – in the mode we're used to from Mitchell's Black Earth group – but with odd tones and weird bits of phrasing that keep have us checking the notes to figure out the different instruments! The approach is a bit like the early cosmic visions of Sun Ra – especially when Mitchell hits more spiritual and rhythmic moments – and the well-matched ensemble of players features Nicole on flute, David Boykin on tenor and bass clarinet, David Young on trumpet and srali thom, Renee Baker on violin, Tomeka Reid on cello, Josh Abrams on bass, Jeff Parker on guitar, and Avreeayl Ra on percussion. Mankwe Ndosi sings just a bit on the record – and titles include "Dripping Matter", "Web Of Hope", "Fields Of Possibility", "Resisting Entanglement", "The Inevitable", and "The Ooli Moves". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant pairing of two generations of the AACM – as Roscoe Mitchell writes and conducts, and the group's led by Nicole Mitchell – and features a great assortment of very creative musicians! The blend of talents is key to the strength of the set – as the record avoids some of the coldness that you might find in some of Mitchell's other recent compositions – and really brings in the kind of warmth and humanity we've always loved in Nicole's recordings! In addition to Nicole Mitchell on flute, the set also features work by David Boykin on tenor, Josh Abrams on bass, Maia on harp, Tomeka Reid on cello, Greg Ward on alto, Robert Griffin on trumpet, Myra Melford on piano, and Mankwe Ndosi on voice – on titles that include "Quintet 1 For Eleven", "Cards For Orchestra", and "Quintet 9 For Eleven". CD

Features key ingredients from the Chicago scene including Chad Taylor, Jemeel Moondoc, Tom Abbs, Steve Swell, David Boykin, Rob Mazurek, and Avreeayl Ra. CD

A richly ambitious work from flautist Nicole Mitchell – an artist who gets better and better with each new album, expanding her vision and growing into a role that clearly makes her one of the most important next-generation members of Chicago's AACM! The album's a suite of tracks for Nicole's expanded Black Earth Ensemble – a group made up of a variety of players from the Chicago scene, augmented by vocals on a number of tracks – for a richly spiritual sound that takes us back to the most ambitious soul jazz recordings of the 70s. There's a wonderful interplay here between gentle moments and bolder statements – and Mitchell's flute and vocals are supported by strong sax work from David Boykin, as well as other instrumentation that includes trumpet, cello, violin, trombone, bass, and the usual wide range of percussion and added instruments you'd expect from an AACM session like this! Titles include "Time For Change", "Wondrous Birth", "Curbside Fantasee", "In The Garden", "Skating", "For Daughters Of Young Love", "Wanna Make You Smile", and "Future's Meditation". CD

Mindblowing sounds from Chicago flute player Nicole Mitchell – a set of work inspired by the science fiction writings of Octavia Butler – with a striking style to match! Although the music has some arch qualities that live up to the darkness of Butler's writings, the performance here is also still mostly acoustic – in the mode we're used to from Mitchell's Black Earth group – but with odd tones and weird bits of phrasing that keep have us checking the notes to figure out the different instruments! The approach is a bit like the early cosmic visions of Sun Ra – especially when Mitchell hits more spiritual and rhythmic moments – and the well-matched ensemble of players features Nicole on flute, David Boykin on tenor and bass clarinet, David Young on trumpet and srali thom, Renee Baker on violin, Tomeka Reid on cello, Josh Abrams on bass, Jeff Parker on guitar, and Avreeayl Ra on percussion. Mankwe Ndosi sings just a bit on the record – and titles include "Dripping Matter", "Web Of Hope", "Fields Of Possibility", "Resisting Entanglement", "The Inevitable", and "The Ooli Moves". CD