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From the New World Order LP.

An amazing run of music – and key sounds from a time when the Chicago avant garde was finally getting its due in the mainstream! The set features all Novus and Columbia recordings from both the Air trio of Henry Threagill, Fred Hopkins, and Steve McCall – a seminal group from the AACM in the Windy City – and the later recordings made by Threadgill as a leader – featuring even more expansive ideas, and an impressive ear for larger compositions in jazz! The set spans nearly 20 years, and features material from 11 different albums, including some unreleased music too – titles that include the Air albums Open Air Suit, Montreux Suisse Air, and Air Lore – and Threadgill sessions X 75 Vol 1, You Know The Number, Easily Slip Into Another World, Rag Bush & All, Carry The Day, Makin A Move, and Where's Your Cup – plus the previously unissued Vol 2 for X 75. The Air sessions are very earthy and spontaneous – that wonderful creative interplay that marked the AACM legacy at the time. And the Threadgill records start the same way, but show lots of new ideas coming into play – with contributions from Joseph Jarman on reeds, Amina Claudine Myers on voice, Frank Lacy on trombone, Ted Daniel on trumpet, Deirdre Murray on cello, Fred Hopkins on bass, Pheeroan AkLaff on drums, Myra Melford on piano, and a host of other important musicians, all coming together under the leadership of Threadgill. Notes are great, and the 8 CD set features 52 tracks in all – most of them quite long in length!

A wonderful album from Muhal – with all the soulful spiritualness of his best 70s work, more stripped down than later orchestrated efforts, and with a gentler more intimate approach than earlier work. The set is mostly solo piano – although Abrams also plays some occasional percussion – and features some wonderfully introspective playing, as free as that of Cecil Taylor or other 70s avant contemporaries, but always rhythmic, and never losing a sense of soul and meaning. Titles include "D Song", "String Song", and "Voice Song" – all long.

A pretty darn nice record that is one of the best that both Pharoah and Norman cut around this time! The album features Connors in the lead, playing with a warm jazzy groove that returns to his spiritual soul jazz recordings of the early 70s. Sanders is the main soloist on 3 tracks, and Bobby Lyle plays acoustic piano in a very lovely way. Tracks include "Casino Latino", "End Of The Beginning", "Babylon", and "Beyond A Dream". Recorded live at the Montreux festival in 1978.

Marvelous work from Mostly Other People Do The Killing – and a record that's quite different from its cheesy looking cover! The quartet never fail to amaze us with their creative energy – and this time around, they're paying homage to that moment in 80s jazz when the underground was brimming up in the mainstream – that great point when creative musicians were finding wider exposure on labels like Columbia, Novus, or Blue Note – yet still serving up sounds that were true to their roots. The cheesy packaging is a nod to the visual aesthetics of the time – and the music is a great contrast, which was not uncommon for the period – lots of sharp reeds from Jon Irabagon, percolatedly soulful trumpet riffs from Peter Evans, snapping percussion from Kevin Shea, and these warm, round, deep lines on acoustic bass from Moppa Elliott – who also wrote and produced the set. Titles include "Sayre", "President Polk", "Can't Tell Shipp From Shohola", "Hearts Content", "Jersey Shore", and "Dexter, Wayne, & Mobley".