A haunting set of solo tracks by cellist Abdul Wadud – an important, and oft-overlooked, figure in the 70s loft jazz scene! Wadud plays cello throughout, but in a style that's extremely inventive – and much more in the vein of bass improvisation by players in a tradition that includes Malachi Favors and Barre Phillips, with a bit of a nod to the violin work of Leroy Jenkins – really using the instrument in all these sorts of amazing ways, and totally breaking the role of the cello from that in more compositional music – and firmly establishing it as a tremendous instrument for improvising in jazz! The interplay between the high and low regions of the instrument is especially nice – with a tonal majesty that's breathtaking – and there's also this rhythmic quality to many numbers that's very different than more way-out bass improvisations. The whole thing's fantastic – deeply spiritual throughout – and titles include "In A Breeze", "Happiness", "Oasis", and "Kaleidoscope". LP, Vinyl record album

With Davis on piano, James Newtwon on flute, and Abdul Wadud on cello! LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful record from saxophonist Arthur Blythe – a set that features his group working through a number of tunes by Thelonious Monk – but with very different arrangements and instrumentation that change things up completely! The set came at a time when Monk was receiving a lot of new attention in the world of jazz, and at a time when Arthur's star had risen too – and the meeting of forces is wonderful – as Blythe brings all sorts of new rhythms and tonal combinations to play with familiar tunes that really transform in the process. The group is a familiar one for Blythe – and features Abdul Wadud on cello, Kelvyn Bell on guitar, Bob Stewart on tuba, and Bobby Battle on drums! And while you might scratch your head at the tuba, the instrument is often used in ways that might follow older bassline styles – but with a quality that bridges the alto and cello in a great way. Titles include "Nutty", "Coming On The Hudson", "Light Blue", "Epistrophy", and "We See". LP, Vinyl record album

Early 80s recording for Black Saint, performed in New York with a group that includes Craig Harris, Baikida Carroll, Abdul Wadud, Janette Moody, and Andrew Cyrille – among others. The pieces are all larger orchestral ones, and feature more of Abrams' complicated scoring for ensemble passages. Titles include "Heart Is Love And I Am", "Blessed Be The Heavens At 12", and "Spiral To Clarity". LP, Vinyl record album

With Davis on piano, George Lewis on trombone, Abdul Wadud on cello, JD Parran on bass clarinet and flute, Rick Rozie on bass, and Pheeroan AkLaff on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

A jam-packed issue of this mighty great magazine – one that not only features a big article on Carla Bley, pictured on the cover – but also more on reedman Azar Lawrence, pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, and improvising cellist Abdul Wadud! There's also more on John Zorn's Naked City, Amirtah Kidambi, Ruth Goller, Mette Henriette, and Francois Jeanneau – plus a look at the great spiritual jazz label Gondwana Records, and photos from the We Jazz Festival in 2023! As always, the writing is great, the photos superb, and the large publication is more like a book or journal than a magazine – kind of the Wax Poetics for those who dig jazz! Magazine

Amazing spiritual jazz treasure – the only album ever issued by this obscure avant trio from the Cleveland scene – a group that includes a young Abdul Wadud on bass and cello! The style is nicely loose and open, but also very different than the sound of the AACM at the time – almost more with the slowly building style that would dominate in the loft jazz years, even though these guys were years ahead of that moment. In addition to Wadud – then known as Ron DeVaughn – the group also features Joseph Phillips/Yusuf Mumin on alto, and Hasan Adbur Shahid on percussion. Both players are amazing – Shahid can go from full intensity to spacious sonic territory at a level that matches Sunny Murray – and Mumin's alto can cry plaintively some moments, and come on with the ferocity of a tenor the next. Wadud is wonderful, too – balancing plucked and bowed moments with the quality that we love on later recordings – already very well-formed here, at a time when he was attending Oberlin College. The album's one that really lives up to the promise of its cover and group name – and titles include "Birth Life & Death", "In Light Of Blackness", "Final Expression", "Opening Prayer", and "Al Nisa". LP, Vinyl record album

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. LP, Vinyl record album

With Anthony Davis on piano, Shem Guibbory on violin, Abdul Wadud on cello, Rick Rozie on bass, George Lewis on trombone, and Pheeroan Aklaff on drums. CD

An opera in three acts from pianist Anthony Davis – features Marty Ehrlich on reeds, Abdul Wadud on cello, Mark Dresser and Mark Helias on bass, Pheeroan akLaff on drums, Marilyn Crispell on piano, and Davis on celeste. CD

Arista Freedom release of 2 different sessions by Julius Hemphill – one from 1975, with Arthur Blythe, Hamiet Bluiett, and Abdul Wadud; the other from 1972, with Bluiett, Wadud, and Baikida Carroll. The 1972 session's a bit more interesting, and was recorded in St. Louis by Oliver Sain (of all people!). It's one long track entitled "The Hard Blues", and has an excellent mix of styles, emotions, and voices – with all the players getting in some beautiful solo moments. The 1975 session's not too bad either, but it's just a little too self-consciously out, and lacks the warmth of the other piece. LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal session from the St Louis scene of the early 70s – one that was humming nearly as much as Chicago was with the AACM at the time! As with the larger organization in the Windy City, St Louis had the Black Artists Group – of which Julius Hemphill was a key member, forming fresh new ideas in improvisatory jazz with players who went onto have an undeniable impact on the global scene as well. This album's one of the standout recordings of the Black Artists era at its best – a record produced by Hemphill, but equally balanced between his own alto and flute, the trumpet of Baikida Carroll, cello of Abdul Wadud, and drums of Phillip Wilson – plus a bit of added baritone from Haimet Bluiett. The rhythms are quite open, but there's also a nice sense of structure to the record too – a bridge between spiritual and free jazz that prefaces the impact that both Hemphill and Bluiett would have on the New York loft jazz generation. Titles include "Dogon AD", "Rites", and "The Painter". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal session from the St Louis scene of the early 70s – one that was humming nearly as much as Chicago was with the AACM at the time! As with the larger organization in the Windy City, St Louis had the Black Artists Group – of which Julius Hemphill was a key member, forming fresh new ideas in improvisatory jazz with players who went onto have an undeniable impact on the global scene as well. This album's one of the standout recordings of the Black Artists era at its best – a record produced by Hemphill, but equally balanced between his own alto and flute, the trumpet of Baikida Carroll, cello of Abdul Wadud, and drums of Phillip Wilson – plus a bit of added baritone from Haimet Bluiett. The rhythms are quite open, but there's also a nice sense of structure to the record too – a bridge between spiritual and free jazz that prefaces the impact that both Hemphill and Bluiett would have on the New York loft jazz generation. Titles include "Dogon AD", "Rites", and "The Painter". Great reissue too – in a gatefold LP-styled cover, with bonus insert notes, including the artwork from the original 1972 pressing on Hemphill's Mbari label! CD also features a bonus track – "Hard Blues" from Hemphill's Coon Business album! CD

With Oliver Lake on alto, soprano, and flute – plus Michael Gregory Jackson on guitar, Pheeroan Ak Laff on drums, Anthony Davis on piano, and Abdul Wadud on cello. LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful moment in which the loft jazz generation really got a chance to shine in the mainstream – and mostly without any sense of overdone attempts at commercialization! The album's a great summation of all the ideas that reedman Arthur Blythe was cooking up in the 70s underground – performed here with a hip group that includes Blythe on alto, Kelvyn Bell on guitar, Abdul Wadud on cello, Bobby Battle on drums, Bob Stewart on tuba, Wilbur Morris on bass, and Mohammad Abdullah on congas – some of them players who you might never have expected to be recording for Columbia Records! And yet the setting of the record doesn't interfere with their creativity at all – and instead, really seems to give Blythe and the group the sort of focus that only makes their ideas even better – on titles that include "Elaborations", "Metamorphosis", "Sister Daisy", "Shadows", and "The Lower Nile". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the boldest of Arthur Blythe's albums for Columbia Records – as the set bristles with newly creative energy right from the start, and provides a great showcase for some of the criss-crossings of styles and rhythms that were taking place on the New York scene at the time! The lineup alone announces something special – a cool combination of James Blood Ulmer on guitar, John Hicks on piano, Fred Hopkins on bass, Abdul Wadud on cello, Bob Stewart on tuba, and Steve McCall on drums – working together in some slight variations at times, often with these angular edges that are perfectly sharpened by Arthur's amazing work on alto sax. The music's never too free, but quite outside for a major label at the time – balanced out so that it's never overindulgent at all. Titles include "Bush Baby", "Miss Nancy", "My Son Ra", and "Carespin With Mamie". LP, Vinyl record album

Four great albums from reedman Arthur Blythe – all together in one collection! First up is Lenox Avenue Breakdown – a stunning Columbia Records debut from Blythe! At the time of the date, Blythe had already spent years working in the jazz undergrounds on both coasts – developing a searing sound on alto sax that's perfect for the focused structure of this album – almost a tone poem of sorts, offering up a portrait of the Harlem scene that was a key part of Arthur's life at the time. The sounds are sharp, but also have a sense of energy that really holds them together – guiding the players through long readings of well-penned tunes by Blythe that are filled with loads of energy and life! Players include James Newton on flute, James Blood Ulmer on guitar, Bob Stewart on tuba, Cecil McBee on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Guillermo Franco on percussion – and titles include "Odessa", "Slidin Through", "Down San Diego Way", and "Lenox Avenue Breakdown". In The Tradition is a gem – as the set represents the modern musician taking on a host of older jazz currents, while carving things out with his own special sort of soul! Half the tunes are familiar favorites, the other half originals – and Blythe moves far past his avant roots, to showcase his deep understanding of so many different shades of jazz – blowing alto beautifully throughout, in a very hip quartet that features Stanley Cowell on piano, Fred Hopkins on bass, and Steve McCall on drums! Titles include great takes on "Naima", "Jitterbug Waltz", "Caravan", and "In A Sentimental Mood" – plus the originals "Break Tune" and "Hip Dipper". Illusions is maybe the boldest of Arthur Blythe's albums for Columbia Records – as the set bristles with newly creative energy right from the start, and provides a great showcase for some of the criss-crossings of styles and rhythms that were taking place on the New York scene at the time! The lineup alone announces something special – a cool combination of James Blood Ulmer on guitar, John Hicks on piano, Fred Hopkins on bass, Abdul Wadud on cello, Bob Stewart on tuba, and Steve McCall on drums – working together in some slight variations at times, often with these angular edges that are perfectly sharpened by Arthur's amazing work on alto sax. The music's never too free, but quite outside for a major label at the time – balanced out so that it's never overindulgent at all. Titles include "Bush Baby", "Miss Nancy", "My Son Ra", and "Carespin With Mamie". Blythe Spirit is a set that showcases the never-ending growth and imagination of reedman Arthur Blythe during this fruitful period of his career – and his ability to effortlessly blend together different elements in his music – especially sides of the New York loft jazz scene, and the Chicago-based AACM! The tunes are beautiful – mostly originals, and showing a richer spirituality than even a year before – while still working in that compellingly rhythmic mode that Arthur was hitting during these years – in a lineup that features Blythe on alto, Abdul Wadud on cello, Kelvyn Bell on guitar, Steve McCall and Bobby Battle on drums, John Hicks on piano, Amina Claudine Myers on organ, and Fred Hopkins on bass. The mix of electric and acoustic elements is fantastic – very fresh, even all these many years later – and titles include "Misty", "Spirits In The Field", "Just A Closer Walk With Thee", "Reverence", and "Contemplation". CD

Original compositions by Bill Cole – arranged by Julius Hemphill, who also plays alto sax, soprano sax, and flute on the record – plus Abdul Wadud on cello and Joseph Daley on euphonium! CD

With James Newton and Abdul Wadud. CD

Marty Ehrlich on clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, wooden flute, and alto saxophone – accompanied by Abdul Wadud on cello, and Lindsey Horner on double bass. CD

2 different sessions by Julius Hemphill – one from 1975, with Arthur Blythe, Hamiet Bluiett, and Abdul Wadud; the other from 1972, with Bluiett, Wadud, and Baikida Carroll. The 1972 session's a bit more interesting, and was recorded in St. Louis by Oliver Sain (of all people!). It's one long track entitled "The Hard Blues", and has an excellent mix of styles, emotions, and voices – with all the players getting in some beautiful solo moments. The 1975 session's not too bad either, but it's just a little too self-consciously out, and lacks the warmth of the other piece. Other tracks include "Skin 2", "Lyric", "Reflections", and "Skin One". CD

A great early Black Saint album from trombonist George Lewis – a key example of the way the AACM spirit thrived overseas, thanks to the efforts of labels like this! The work is quite serious and experimental – almost compositional in nature, and definitely heading towards the AACM promise of "Great Black Music". Two of the songs, "Monads" and "Shadowgraph" are performed by a group that features Roscoe Mitchell on saxes, Leroy Jenkins on violin, Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, Douglas Ewart on bass clarinet and other reeds, and Abdul Wadud on cello – with Lewis himself on tenor trombone and other horns. "Triple Slow Mix" features Lewis on the sousaphone with split piano channels – Abrams on the left and Anthony Davis on the right – a very haunting sonic experience. "Cycle" has Lewis playing the Moog in addition to trombone and tuba, accompanied by Ewart on various woodwinds. LP, Vinyl record album