A pretty great and very strange album by avant pianist Dave Burrell! Side one features an extended tune called "West Side Story", which is basically a medley of tunes from the musical, played with a nice dark edge by Burrell and a trio, plus additional tambourine work by Pharoah Sanders! Side three features "East Side Colors", a great track in the ESP avant mode – and one that features killer drum work by Sonny Murray, and some fierce piano by Burrell. The set closes with the jaunty "Margy Pargy", a short straight tune with almost an old-timey feel to it. Weird, but one of Burrell's more compelling albums. Other tracks include "Theme Stream", "Bittersweet Reminiscence", and "Dave Blue". LP, Vinyl record album

Burrell plays with The Jazz Guitar Band, with Rodney Jones and Bobby Broom on guitar, plus Dave Jackson on bass and Kenny Washington on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Hardly any ragtime here – despite the title – and instead, the album's one of the greatest ever from drummer Beaver Harris – cut with his ultra-hip 360 Degree Music Experience group! The title is somewhat accurate in that the record brings together a long history of jazz-based expression – almost a century's worth of music, served up by Harris and the group members with the same fluid sensibility as Jaki Byard in his best work, although Byard was never this ambitious! The ensemble is somewhat large, but really comes together well – with an impressive range of artists who include Doc Cheatham on trumpet, Marshall Brown on trombone, Dave Burrell on piano, Keith Marks on flute, Cecil McBee and Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Maxine Sullivan and Bill Willingham on vocals. The album's sort of a mini-history of jazz, but one that's hardly hokey at all – and which usually veers towards Harris' more righteous modes of the 70s, even when hitting older styles. Sullivan is especially great – singing here as a sophisticated soul jazz diva of the 70s, and hardly the older-styled singer we might expect. A few moments are stripped down and percussive – and other odd instrumentation includes a bit of sitar and steel drums. Titles include "It's Hard To But We Do", "I Wish I Knew", "Can There Be Peace?", "Down In Brazil", "African Drums", and "Round Trip". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first moments of genius from a young Pharoah Sanders – a set that builds on the energy of John Coltrane's Love Supreme generation – but takes it in a much more expansive direction! The album's got a sense of majesty that's years ahead of its time – righteous, positive, spiritual jazz that flows out with a timeless power, and a quality that almost out-Coltrane's Coltrane! All tracks are long, expressive, and freely flowing – building with a very organic sense of energy – totally free from any gimmicks or cliche. Players include Dave Burrell on piano, Henry Grimes on bass, and Sonny Sharrock on guitar – and Pharoah plays alto, tenor, and piccolo – and even vocalizes a bit. The album begins with the amazing "Upper & Lower Egypt" – which is a perfect illustration of the two sides of Pharoah's genius – free/out & spiritual/modal – and other titles include "Japan", and "Capricorn Rising". LP, Vinyl record album

Great live material from Shepp – not out or crazy, but also not spiritual or hippy dippy, either. The record's kind of a perfectly soulful straight ahead set – in a mode that hints at the traditional direction Shepp would take at the time, but with a lot more interesting moments. The group's a quartet with Charles Greenlee on trombone, Dave Burrell on piano, Cameron Brown on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums – and the tracks feature Shepp soloing with a lot of soul, and criss crossing styles from track to track. "U-jamaa" is a strong straight number – and the 3 other titles are "Lush Life", "Crucificado" and "Miss Toni". LP, Vinyl record album

There might be a trumpet in Archie Shepp's soul, but the album features him on tenor and soprano sax – working in a wonderfully spiritual vein that's almost in the same mode as his early 70s work on Impulse! The album features some very long, drawn out tracks – but ones that build nicely with Shepp's soulful styles of the 70s – that groove he explored a bit on the Black Saint label, with a bold sense of majesty and power, presented with more control than the BYG/Actuel years. The album features some great vocals – again recalling Archie's later Impulse years – and players include Walter Davis Jr on electric piano, Dave Burrell on acoustic piano, Charles Greenlee on trombone, Ray Draper on tuba, and Beaver Harris on drums. Titles include "There's A Trumpet In My Soul", "Zaid", "Down In Brazil", and "It Is The Year Of The Rabbit". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare gem from Archie Shepp – really wonderful, and still pretty darn spiritual! The record features 2 long tracks – "Lybia" and "My Heart Cries Out To Africa" – each a side long, and each with a soulful fire missing from many of Shepp's other recordings from the time (save for a few gems, like Sea Of Faces). The group is a quintet, and features Charles Greenlee on trombone, Dave Burrell on piano, David Williams on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums. Very nice stuff! LP, Vinyl record album

A rare live set – recorded in Algiers during the Panafrican Festival in 1969, featuring a set of work that is some of Shepp's rootsiest of the 60s! The recording features a core group of Shepp, Grachan Moncur, Clifford Thorton, and Dave Burrell – all joined by a host of Algerian and Touareg musicians – playing percussion in a way that creates a heavy drone-like quality to the record, expanding Shepp's jazz sound with a spacious ethnographic vision. The sound is haunting, and the record really stands apart from Shepp's other work of the time. Features the extended tracks "We Have Come Back" (Pts 1 & 2) and "Brotherhood at Ketchaoua". LP, Vinyl record album