Excellent work by saxophonist John Klemmer – filled with the kind of fire and emotion that you don't get on many of his other records! The set was recorded live at two different venues – and it's a choppy slightly-funky batch of modal soul jazz tunes, with an approach that makes it feel like a lost album on Strata East! On side one, Mike Nock is on Fender Rhodes, Wilton Felder plays bass, and Eddie Marshall is on drums. Titles on that set include "Blood Of The Sun" and "How Cum Ya Got Ta Rip Off Your Brothers". Side two was recorded live at Montreux, and features more Fender Rhodes, plus backing by Cecil McBee and Alphonze Mouzon. Klemmer plays tenor with echoplex processing, and titles include "Free Love" and "Tree Of Forbidden Fruit". LP, Vinyl record album

With John Klemmer on tenor, Bob Magnusson on bass, and Carl Burnett on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Rare split jazz LP with a side each by Klemmer and Harris. Klemmer plays with Joe Sample on keys, Bob Magnusson on bass, and Alex Acuna on drums; and Harris plays with Bill Henderson on piano, Larry Gales on bass, Carl Burnett on drums, and Ray Armando on percussion, and with guest Phil Upchurch. LP, Vinyl record album

With Stanley Cowell on piano, Cecil McBee and John Heard on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

A great session from John Klemmer – a real giant on the tenor, with a sound that long deserves to be revived! Klemmer's blowing here on straight tenor and with some electronic effects on the horn – and he's working with a hip Chicago soul jazz combo that includes Phil Upchurch on bass, Morris Jennings on drums, Pete Cosey on guitar, and Richard Thompson on piano and organ. The cuts are all pretty straight for Klemmer – and have that wonderful mix of styles that you'd find in the Cadet studios of the late 60s, with bits of rock, soul, and funk working their way into the mix. Titles include "Excursion #2", "My Heart Sings", "Third Stone From The Sun", "Free Soul", and "Children Of The Earth Flames". LP, Vinyl record album

A smooth set from reedman John Klemmer, but a pretty darn soulful one too – and a great illustration of the way that Klemmer could still hold onto his roots a lot more strongly than some of his contemporaries! The backings are gentle and fusiony – often with some great keyboard work from Russell Ferrante – and Klemmer soars out wonderfully in the lead – with a depth of tone and creativity of solos that goes far beyond anything that might have been needed for the date – a real "something extra" that shows that John's still got all the deep elements of his Impulse years in place. Tracks include "Finesse", "Man & Woman", "Sometimes", "Heart", "Sun, Moon And The Stars", and "Beloved". LP, Vinyl record album

Sly and subtle soul from saxophonist John Klemmer – a set that's somewhat smooth, but still filled with a great deal of feeling – and just the right blend of Klemmer's earlier searching style with some of the more soul-inspired modes of his later years. Klemmer plays tenor, soprano sax, and flute on the album – and often uses a bit of echoplex to space out his sound nicely – creating these long, drifting lines that really sound great! The record's got a subtle blend of jazz and soul influences, all tinged with a slightly spiritual undercurrent – as you might find on the best late 70s work from Norman Connors. Players include Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour on guitar, Russell Ferrante on piano and electric piano, Steve Schaeffer and Harvey Mason on drums, and Ray Armando on percussion. Clint Holmes and Phyllis St James both sing a bit on the set – again in sweetly subtle ways that never sound too commercial – and overall, given the date of the record, the album's a really tremendous one – much more like some late 70s spiritual soul fusion outing than you might expect! Titles include "Hush", "Let's Make Love", "Life Is So Beautiful", "Magic", "Hot", "I Love You Madly", and "Feelin Free". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful early work from John Klemmer – one of the most under-rated talents of his generation, and a great player who frequently gets overlooked because of his later, smoother work. This album is Klemmer's first – recorded with a soulful Chicago tenor sound, touched with some of the freedoms of the late 60s Cadet Records scene. The approach is a bit like Eddie Harris at his best – with Klemmer rolling out soulful, stretched out notes over backing by a Harris-inspired rhythm section that includes Melvin Jackson on bass, Wilbur Cambell on drums, and Jodie Christian on piano. The groove is very solid, very in the pocket – and Klemmer blows in a tradition that includes Frank Strozier and Eric Alexander – 2 other players who've made a strong contribution to the Chicago scene. Titles include "My Blues", "Will N Jug", "Passion Food", "Stand In the Sun", and "Later With Them Woes". CD

Great later blowing from John Klemmer – clear, clean, and extremely well-focused – with nary a dull moment throughout! The album's a mostly acoustic one – save for some keyboards from Milcho Leviev – and the sound is tremendous, very much in keeping with the farther-reaching modes that Klemmer was exploring at the start of the 70s – imaginative, always-creative solos that really take off in the freedoms of the post-Coltrane years, yet which always stay focused and soulful throughout. Other players include Oscar Castro Neves on guitar, Ray Armando on percussion, and Roy McCurdy on drums – and tracks include "Tropical Snowflakes", "Love Affair", "Paradise", "Arabesque", "Touch", and "Summertime". LP, Vinyl record album

Given where Ray Manzarek's career was going in the years after the breakup of The Doors, it's hard to say the whole thing's "out of control" – but we will admit that the album's a really compelling one, with some great moments that make us tip our hat to Mr M! There's a really varied feel to the set here – but the best moments have Manzarek bringing in a strong bit of jazz – showing off the keyboard talents first honed on 60s hits, but stretching out with some hipper grooves. Guests include John Klemmer, who plays a great solo on one track, plus Joe Walsh, Flo & Eddie, and even a young Patti Smith – featured as "poetess" in the credits! Titles include the funky "Begin The World Again", the searching jazzy number "Whirling Dervish", and the tunes "I Wake Up Screaming", "Art Deco Fandango", and "Bicentennial Blues". And honestly, there's kind of an artsy playfulness here that's years beyond The Doors, and which almost prefaces some of the more experimental New York work in later years. LP, Vinyl record album

One of Oliver Nelson's hippest albums – a bold statement of righteous energy, and a fantastic summation of all the genius he'd created during the 60s as an arranger for other people's records! The record is almost at a Duke Ellington level – a complex yet soulful suite of tracks for the post-60s years – complete with some sound effects of rioting and urban strife at the beginning, and a mix of modern, modal, and compositional styles that bursts out with pride and power that we wouldn't have heard in Nelson's music a decade before! The soloists are great – and the album features wonderful reed work from John Klemmer, Frank Strozier, and Nelson himself – on great original titles that include "Self Help Is Needed", "I Hope In Time A Change Will Come", "Requiem Afterthoughts", "Lamb Of God", and "Martin Was A Man A Real Man". LP, Vinyl record album

An essential look at the spiritual jazz legacy of Impulse Records – a set that's maybe a bit overdue in this series, given that Impulse first opened the door to these modes with their recordings of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders in the 60s! For some reason, Impulse had a perfect ear for this music – able to let players stretch out and be free, but also work some of the earlier modal jazz impulses into longer-form tunes that still had a pulse of rhythm – and which were often a bit different than the freer jazz styles on a label like ESP. Make no mistake, there's plenty of improvisation going on here – but it's also part of the larger, unified spirit of the tunes – a real message in the music, on selections that include "Sister Mamie" by Yusef Lateef, "Three Flowers" by McCoy Tyner, "7th Day" by Freddie Hubbard, "Half & Half" by Elvin Jones, "Groove Waltz" by McCoy Tyner, "The Blessing Song" by Michael White, "Turiya & Ramakrishna" by Alice Coltrane, "A Taste Of Honey" by Phil Woods, "Constant Trob (part 1)" by John Klemmer, "Hum Allah Hum Allah Hum Allah" by Pharoah Sanders, "Maimoun" by Marion Brown, "Lonesome Lover" by Max Roach, "Fantszm" by Elvin Jones, "Acknowledgement" by John Coltrane, "Thembi" by Pharoah Sanders, and "Journey In Satchidananda" by Alice Coltrane. And let us say that even if you have some of these tracks on other records, there's something completely sublime about the way the whole thing is put together – and the way the tracks sound next to each other! CD

An album of explosive power and imagination from Don Ellis – a set that shows him very firmly shaking off the more academic mode of earlier years, and heading into hipper, more youth-oriented directions! The group's still a bit band on most numbers – but it's one with a lean, well-crafted sound that's not really big band jazz, and which also features some elements of later soundtrack scoring. Players on the date are all great – and include Frank Strozier, John Klemmer, and Ira Schulman on saxes – plus Pete Robinson on clavinet, piano, and electric piano! The set begins with the beautiful extended "Variations For Trumpet" – a suite-type number that has plenty of great colors from Ellis, plus loads of other horn work too. Other titles include "Indian Lady", "Pussy Wiggle Stomp", "Scratt & Fluggs", and "Child Of Ecstasy". LP, Vinyl record album

My god, what a record! This one's genius through and through – a set that sometimes gets eclipsed in the brilliance to come, but which is easily one of our favorites ever by Steely Dan! There's a beautifully focused feel here – thanks to Donald Fagan's incredible lead vocals, and a sense of songwriting that never takes any left turns – no odd forays into different styles or previous genres, just all steeped in Steely, as the group should be by this point! John Klemmer turns in some wonderful sax work that really helps shape the sound, and titles include the wonderful "Caves Of Altimira", "Kid Charlemagne", "Don't Take Me Alive", "Green Earrings", and "The Royal Scam". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool quartet from the British jazz/rock years – but one who were a lot more jazz-based than some of their contemporaries! These guys are all instrumental, and although a number of their tunes are familiar rock standards from the late 60s, they don't play them like rock tunes at all – and instead used them as freewheeling vehicles for solo exploration –r eally stretching out in a mix of acoustic and electric modes that's mighty nice! Leader Mike McNaught plays both Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano – and the group also features Daryl Runswick on bass, Mike Travis on drums and percussion, and Jim Philip on some especially great flute, tenor, and soprano sax – the last of which really soars up beautifully next to the Rhodes! The set is maybe a bit in the mode of some of John Klemmer's electrified work from the same time, but also more British too – although not without a fair degree of soul on the keyboards. Titles include "Dreams", "Rosecrans Boulevard", "Something", "Dear Prudence", and "Childhood Room". CD

A funky fusion classic from the 70s – a set put together by reedman Clive Stevens, but played by a combo that's almost an electric jazz supergroup – given that the lineup features Michael Carvin on drums, David Earl Johnson on percussion, Stu Woods on bass, John Abercrombie on guitars, and Ralph Towner on keyboards and guitar! Abercrombie and Towner are especially great here – worlds different from their work on ECM – thanks in part to hard-driving rhythms that really allow Clive to also open up with all these fantastic choppy solo lines on electric tenor, soprano sax, flute, and echoplex. The electric reeds might tie the record a bit to late 60s/early 70s projects by reedmen like John Klemmer or Steve Marcus, but Stevens has a style here that's very much his own – served up wonderfully on titles that include "Inner Spaces & Outer Space", "Un Jour Dans Le Monde", "Shifting Phases", "Voyage To Uranus", and "Electric Impulse From The Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

No sonic labyrinth here – just a great set of hard-blown grooves from saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen! The session's a well-focused effort that has Eero working in quartet formation with acoustic piano, bass, and drums – blowing beautiful tones and colors with a slightly angular approach – but always keeping things straight ahead, and working in a deeply expressive mode that mixes some of the slight freedoms of the post-Coltrane generation with sharper lines of players like John Klemmer or Eric Kloss. At times, Eero's work on soprano and sopranino remind us of the recordings by Earl & Carl Grubbs on Muse during the 70s – especially on tracks that pick up a bit of a modal pulse, and stretch out with soaring grace. Titles include "Stress", "Honky Tonky", "Arabeski", "Spring Song", and "Labyrinth". 2CD set features lots of bonus tracks – the bassy breaking "Meat & Potatoes", in two versions, plus eight more alternate takes from the sessions! CD

An essential look at the spiritual jazz legacy of Impulse Records – a set that's maybe a bit overdue in this series, given that Impulse first opened the door to these modes with their recordings of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders in the 60s! For some reason, Impulse had a perfect ear for this music – able to let players stretch out and be free, but also work some of the earlier modal jazz impulses into longer-form tunes that still had a pulse of rhythm – and which were often a bit different than the freer jazz styles on a label like ESP. Make no mistake, there's plenty of improvisation going on here – but it's also part of the larger, unified spirit of the tunes – a real message in the music, on selections that include "Sister Mamie" by Yusef Lateef, "Three Flowers" by McCoy Tyner, "7th Day" by Freddie Hubbard, "Half & Half" by Elvin Jones, "Groove Waltz" by McCoy Tyner, "The Blessing Song" by Michael White, "Turiya & Ramakrishna" by Alice Coltrane, "A Taste Of Honey" by Phil Woods, "Constant Trob (part 1)" by John Klemmer, "Hum Allah Hum Allah Hum Allah" by Pharoah Sanders, "Maimoun" by Marion Brown, "Lonesome Lover" by Max Roach, "Fantszm" by Elvin Jones, "Acknowledgement" by John Coltrane, "Thembi" by Pharoah Sanders, and "Journey In Satchidananda" by Alice Coltrane. And let us say that even if you have some of these tracks on other records, there's something completely sublime about the way the whole thing is put together – and the way the tracks sound next to each other! CD

In the wake of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme", the Impulse label was the forefront to the new mode of jazz expression – the stretched-out, spiritual style that would go onto countless players in the 70s and beyond! Patrick Forge does a great job of laying out the Impulse spiritual style on this excellent compilation – a package of 10 tunes that really pulls together some of our favorite numbers in the post-Coltrane years. The set's especially great because it pulls together groovers and soulful numbers from albums that sometimes get a bit too out – almost rescuing those tracks from albums that lean towards the avant, taking them into a new context in which they sparkle with soul! Titles include "A Prayer" by Alice Coltrane, "Greetings To Saud" by Pharoah Sanders, "Utopia: Man's Dream part 1" by John Klemmer, "Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe" by Albert Ayler, "Hum Allah Hum Allah Hum Allah Hum Allah" by Pharoah Sanders, "A Prayer" by Archie Shepp, "In The Silence Listen" by Michael White, and "Stopover Bombay" by Alice Coltrane. CD

One of Oliver Nelson's hippest albums – a bold statement of righteous energy, and a fantastic summation of all the genius he'd created during the 60s as an arranger for other people's records! The record is almost at a Duke Ellington level – a complex yet soulful suite of tracks for the post-60s years – complete with some sound effects of rioting and urban strife at the beginning, and a mix of modern, modal, and compositional styles that bursts out with pride and power that we wouldn't have heard in Nelson's music a decade before! The soloists are great – and the album features wonderful reed work from John Klemmer, Frank Strozier, and Nelson himself – on great original titles that include "Self Help Is Needed", "I Hope In Time A Change Will Come", "Requiem Afterthoughts", "Lamb Of God", and "Martin Was A Man A Real Man". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hippest records ever cut by pianist Enrique Villegas – very different than his early material, and a set that's got this strong, stretched-out, and highly spiritual vibe – thanks in very large part to his musical partner on the date, saxophonist Ara Tokatlian! In many ways, the record is clearly Ara's own – as he blows tenor, soprano sax, flute, and bandura – sometimes with processing and effects that are almost in the early mode of John Klemmer on Chess/Cadet, but with a more searing tone that's like his countryman Gato Barbieri on early Impulse records sides – sounding incredible in a lean setting that has the pair getting just a bit of additional percussion and bass from Guillermo Bordarampe. Tunes are long, soaring, and very spiritual – and titles include "Maritimaria", "A La Sombra De Los Dorados", "Camino A Samarkanda", and "En La Ola De Tus Ojos". CD