Beautiful 70s work from the great Frank Foster – material from that time when he'd split with the Count Basie group to go into a completely different direction – cutting spiritual records like this, and his better-known Loud Minority album for Mainstream records! The session was only ever issued in Japan – and it's got Foster really hitting new heights – picking up some of the spiritualism of his experience with Elvin Jones, but working his own sort of magic – with a personal charm that's echoed by the image on the cover. Frank blows saxes and arranged the set with a warmly angular group – in a larger group that also includes Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet, Thad Jones on flugelhorn, Jerry Dodgion on alto and flute, Walter Norris on piano, George Mraz on bass, and Mel Lewis on drums. Titles include "Shitsu Mon", "Tan Kyu", "Cecilia Is Love", and "Now That She's Away". CD

A bold new frontier for use of the harp in experimental music – and that's saying a lot, given that Ayako Shinozaki recorded this album during the generation of Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby! Shinokazi takes the instrument a bit back towards its use in more serious music, but with definite avant leanings, and certainly a sound that's inspired by the bold frontiers of free improvisation – as she opens up the harp in ways that are very different than some of the sweeter, softer styles that were often used in the 20th century – and instead uses it with a really keen ear for experimental tones and sharper-edged sounds! Two pieces are solo – readings of Toru Takemitsu's "Stanza II" and Katsuhiro Tsubono's "Poem Of Rim" – and the second half features a duet with violinist Takehisa Kosugi on "Heterodyne". (Out Sound, Jazz) CD