All Categories — All Formats  

One of the most tape-centric entries in this great Lost Reel series – given that the recordings here were pulled from a San Francisco rehearsal by Ra & The Arkestra – and still contain some evidence of the recorder turning on and off! But despite that technical element – which actually creates a nice little window into the way the band worked away from the stage, and focused on certain elements on their own – the music here is still plenty darn great, and offers up a rare glimpse of the group during a short SF residence. The tracks include a few "unidentified titles" – which, according to the notes, are numbers that possibly haven't appeared on other recordings – and players include Ra, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Danny Ray Thompson, and James Jackson. 2CD set features titles that include "Dance Of The Living Image", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Astro Nation", "Hard Hearted Hannah", "Passin Gas", "Sophisticated Lady", "Watusi", and a few of those unidentified titles!

One of the most legendary albums of jazz funk ever recorded! Rufus Harley was a saxophone player who also picked up the bagpipes for a few excellent 60s albums for Atlantic Records – and although those records are great, this 1972 independent album is a real mind blower! By the time of this set, Rufus had really stretched out – both creatively and spiritually – working his standard bagpipe jazz groove into a much trippier sound, one that explored the tonal and modal properties of the instrument. Not only that, Rufus got a lot funkier than ever before – working here with organist Bill Mason, a sonic contemporary of Leon Spencer and Charles Earland – and the resultant mix of organ and bagpipes creates a monstrous sound that's unlike anything we can describe! The album's a mixture of Sufi and Biblical statements – fused into long funky jazz tracks, stretching out into some incredible grooves. Includes the classic "Malika", plus the cuts "Etymology", "Hypothesis", and "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen", done in a great heavy version! CD also features a bonus 10 minute jam not on the original album!

An amazing document of the California underground scene of the 70s – four volumes worth of material from the Los Angeles Free Music Society – recorded by a range of different artists who were all invited to contribute cheaply to a series of Blorp Esette albums! The range of work here is really massive – and in a way, the whole thing comes together more as a sound collage than anything else – some highly arty music mixed with trippier rock sounds, bits of roots, avant sound experimentation, and more – all coming across with a style that's incredibly fierce, kind of post-hippie, pre-CA hardcore – a slice of the west coast that's really been lost to time. There's definitely strains here of some of the SF scene that you'll find in the Ralph Records world – but much of it is a lot more obscure too, and there's almost a west coast version of the East Village/ESP sound going down too. 4CDs worth of work, and way too much to list here – but we can say that contributors include The Doo Dooettes, Ju Suk Reet Meate, Anne Harney, Reverend Marty Nation, Smegma, Nopar King, South Pasedena Free Music Ensemble, Ace & Duce, Bix Flent, Christian Death, Dennis Duck, Henry Kaiser, Mr Foon, Electric Willy Trio, The Patients, Ed Barger, and many others.