A nice, if a bit obscure, recording featuring
Bluiett's compositions for a larger group, with a stellar lineup that includes Chief Bey, Michael Carvin, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Abdul Wadud, Reggie Workman, Olu Dara, Don Pullen and others. There's a strong pulse and some heavy African influence here, buoying
Bluiett's robust playing, and Dara's trumpet offers up some nice lines, which we don't hear often enough on recordings. Mining a vein that pulls from some of the other more overtly Afro-centric out jazz explorations of the time, this set stands up nicely alongside more groove and vamp oriented material like the Tribe records stuff from the same era. "Glory (Symphony For World Peace)" features a large group, "Nioka" is a duet with Don Pullen and "Oasis – The Well" is a septet side.
(Nice original pressing!)