Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On 1973

After brilliantly surveying the social, political, and spiritual landscape with What's Going On, Marvin Gaye turned to more intimate matters with Let's Get It On, a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy. Always a sexually charged performer, Gaye's passions reach their boiling point on tracks like the magnificent title hit (a number one smash) and "You Sure Love to Ball"; silky and shimmering, the music is seductive in the most literal sense, its fluid grooves so perfectly designed for romance as to border on parody. With each performance laced with innuendo, each lyric a come-on, and each rhythm throbbing with lust, perhaps no other record has ever achieved the kind of sheer erotic force of Let's Get It On, and it remains the blueprint for all of the slow jams to follow decades later -- much copied, but never imitated. AMG.

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Alice Coltrane - Universal Consciousness 1971

Recorded between April and June of 1971, Alice Coltrane's Universal Consciousness stands as her classic work. As a testament to the articulation of her spiritual principles, Universal Consciousness even stands above World Galaxy as a recording where the medium of music, both composed and improvised, perfectly united the realms of body (in performance), speech (in the utterance of individual instrumentalists and group interplay), and mind (absolute focus) for the listener to take into their own experience. While many regard Universal Consciousness as a "jazz" album, it transcends even free jazz by its reliance on deeply thematic harmonic material and the closely controlled sonic dynamics in its richly hued chromatic palette. The set opens with the title track, where strings engage large washes of Coltrane's harp as Jack DeJohnette's drums careen in a spirit dance around the outer edge of the maelstrom. On first listen, the string section and the harp are in counter-dictum, moving against each other in a modal cascade of sounds, but this soon proves erroneous as Coltrane's harp actually embellishes the timbral glissandos pouring forth. Likewise, Jimmy Garrison's bass seeks to ground the proceedings to DeJohnette's singing rhythms, and finally Coltrane moves the entire engagement to another dimension with her organ. Leroy Jenkins' violin, and Garrison's bottom two strings entwine one another in Ornette Coleman's transcription, as Coltrane and the other strings offer a middling bridge for exploration. It's breathtaking. On "Battle at Armageddon," the violence depicted is internal; contrapuntal rhythmic impulses whirl around each other as Coltrane's organ and harp go head to head with Rashied Ali's drums. "Oh Allah" rounds out side one with a gorgeously droning, awe-inspiring modal approach to whole-tone music that enfolds itself into the lines of organic polyphony as the strings color each intervalically. DeJohnette's brushwork lisps around the edges, and Garrison's bass underscores each chord and key change in Coltrane's constant flow of thought. On side two, "Hare Krishna" is a chant-like piece that is birthed from minor-key ascendancy with a loping string figure transcribed by Coleman from Coltrane's composition on the organ. She lies deep in the cut, offering large shimmering chords that twirl -- eventually -- around high-register ostinatos and pedal work. It's easily the most beautiful and accessible track in the set, in that it sings with a devotion that has at its base the full complement of Coltrane's compositional palette. "Sita Ram" is a piece that echoes "Hare Krishna" in that it employs Garrison and drummer Clifford Jarvis, but replaces the strings with a tambura player. Everything here moves very slowly, harp and organ drift into and out of one another like breath, and the rhythm section -- informed by the tambura's drone -- lilts on Coltrane's every line. As the single-fingered lines engage the rhythm section more fully toward the end of the tune, it feels like a soloist improvising over a chanting choir. Finally, the album ends with another duet between Ali and Coltrane. Ali uses wind chimes as well as his trap kit, and what transpires between the two is an organically erected modal architecture, where texture and timbre offer the faces of varying intervals: Dynamic, improvisational logic and tonal exploration become elemental figures in an intimate yet universal conversation that has the search itself, and the uncertain nature of our arrival, either musically or spiritually, at its very root. This ambiguity is the only way a recording like this could possibly end, with spiritual questioning and yearning in such a musically sophisticated and unpretentious way. The answers to those questions can perhaps be found in the heart of the music itself. More than likely, though, the music will make its way into the recesses of the human heart, where the question will be fully answered. This is art of the highest order, conceived by a brilliant mind, poetically presented in exquisite collaboration by divinely inspired musicians and humbly offered as a gift to listeners. AMG.

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First Aid - Nostradamus 1977

First Aid were an English symphonic-rock band that released the album Nostradamus on Decca in 1976. The album was based on prophesies of the famed seer, including his prediction that the world would end in 1986, ten years on from the album’s release. First Aid featured drummer Dave Freeman, who played in the 1969 jazz-rock one-off ‘Igginbottom with a young Allan Holdsworth. The other members of First Aid — guitarist/singer Alan Wormald, bassist Norrie Tennet, and keyboardist Keith Parkinson — were relative newcomers. Working with conceptualist and producer Jimmy Parsons, Wormald and Parkinson composed an album of material based on 16th century French seer Nostradamus.

Nostradamus was released in 1976 on Decca (UK, Portugal) and the following year on London Records (Japan). Original vinyl copies are housed in a gatefold sleeve with Dada visuals by one Paul Redway. The album was recorded at Decca Studios and engineered by Alan Leeming (Caravan, Spriguns, Wolf, Patrick Moraz) and Martin Haskell, who also worked on the 1977 children’s narration album The Sly Cormorant by Brian Patten. 

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Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic 1974

Countdown to Ecstasy wasn't half the hit that Can't Buy a Thrill was, and Steely Dan responded by trimming the lengthy instrumental jams that were scattered across Countdown and concentrating on concise songs for Pretzel Logic. While the shorter songs usually indicate a tendency toward pop conventions, that's not the case with Pretzel Logic. Instead of relying on easy hooks, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen assembled their most complex and cynical set of songs to date. Dense with harmonics, countermelodies, and bop phrasing, Pretzel Logic is vibrant with unpredictable musical juxtapositions and snide, but very funny, wordplay. Listen to how the album's hit single, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," opens with a syncopated piano line that evolves into a graceful pop melody, or how the title track winds from a blues to a jazzy chorus -- Becker and Fagen's craft has become seamless while remaining idiosyncratic and thrillingly accessible. Since the songs are now paramount, it makes sense that Pretzel Logic is less of a band-oriented album than Countdown to Ecstasy, yet it is the richest album in their catalog, one where the backhanded Dylan tribute "Barrytown" can sit comfortably next to the gorgeous "Any Major Dude Will Tell You." Steely Dan made more accomplished albums than Pretzel Logic, but they never made a better one. AMG.

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Chuck Senrick - Dreamin' 1976

Singer, Songwriter, & Pianist/Keyboardist from Minnesota. He grew up in Farmington and showed an interested towards the family piano at an early age. Learning by ear and from instructors prepared him for his first professional gig at the age of 15 where he joined forces with a local band known as John Zimmer and The C4 and performed covers of songs from The Allman Brothers Band, Blind Faith, & Cream for audiences at The Sea Girt Inn in Lake Orchard, Minnesota. After graduating from Farmington High School, Senrick moved to The Twin Cities at age 20 in order to pursue his musical career further by borrowing equipment and living in friend's apartments to record with only a Fender Rhodes Piano & Donca Matic Mini Pops drumc machine. He released his sole album, Chuck Senrick - Dreamin' independently to a mere 200 copies each which were handed out personally at live shows. Senrick's wife at the time, Lesli Senrick illustrated the cover art for the album which featured a potrait of her husband against the Minneapolis skyline. After years of playing and singing in Minessota, Chuck would move to Peoria, Illinois to perform for guests at Jim's Steak House in the early 1980s, a gig that he has held for over 4 decades until his retirement in October 2024.

He also spent a few years entertaining folks at a restaraunt in Anna Maria Island, Florida before returning to Jim's at their new location in Bloomington during the mid 1990s. He currently resides in La Vista, Nebraska and continues to create & make music.

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Joe Walsh - You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind 1976

Recorded live just before Joe Walsh joined up with the Eagles full-time, You Can't Argue with a Sick Mind contains six of Walsh's better-known songs. Things start off with his last hit with the James Gang, "Walk Away," and then the album makes its way through "Meadows" and 18 minutes of "Rocky Mountain Way." The crowd loved it. Follow all that with "Time Out," then do "Help Me Thru the Night" acoustically with future bandmates Henley, Frey, and Felder helping out, and close things up with a profound and majestic "Turn to Stone," and you've got one heck of a Joe Walsh concert souvenir. AMG.

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Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay 1970

This may be Freddie Hubbard's finest moment as a leader, in that it embodies and utilizes all of his strengths as a composer, soloist, and frontman. On Red Clay, Hubbard combines hard bop's glorious blues-out past with the soulful innovations of mainstream jazz in the 1960s, and reads them through the chunky groove innovations of '70s jazz fusion. This session places the trumpeter in the company of giants such as tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Lenny White. Hubbard's five compositions all come from deep inside blues territory; these shaded notions are grafted onto funky hard bop melodies worthy of Horace Silver's finest tunes, and are layered inside the smoothed-over cadences of shimmering, steaming soul. The 12-minute-plus title track features a 4/4 modal opening and a spare electric piano solo woven through the twin horns of Hubbard and Henderson. It is a fine example of snaky groove music. Henderson even takes his solo outside a bit without ever moving out of the rhythmatist's pocket. "Delphia" begins as a ballad with slow, clipped trumpet lines against a major-key background, and opens onto a midtempo groover, then winds back into the dark, steamy heart of bluesy melodicism. The hands-down favorite here, though, is "The Intrepid Fox," with its Miles-like opening of knotty changes and shifting modes, that are all rooted in bop's muscular architecture. It's White and Hancock who shift the track from underneath with large sevenths and triple-timed drums that land deeply inside the clamoring, ever-present riff. Where Hubbard and Henderson are playing against, as well as with one another, the rhythm section, lifted buoyantly by Carter's bridge-building bassline, carries the melody over until Hancock plays an uncharacteristically angular solo before splitting the groove in two and doubling back with a series of striking arpeggios. This is a classic, hands down. AMG.

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The Awakening - Hear, Sense and Feel 1972

The Awakening were the only "group" recorded by Black Jazz, for which they made two albums; those two releases happen to be among the most collectible in the label's entire catalogue, which, given the value Black Jazz titles command in the open market, gives one an idea just how sought-after these records are. Members of the group have impressive performing experience with name groups that include Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Eddie Harris, Milt Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones (Operation Breadbasket Band) and others.

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Geysir - Hljomsveitin 1973

Geysir was a band comprised of three Canadians living in Iceland and one Icelandic member, their only album "Hljómsveitin" was recorded in Denmark, the band played mostly relaxed and beautiful acid-folk sung in English and full of social commentary and philosiphical messages, their songs featured lots of vocal harmonies, twin guitars, beautiful flute, bass and percussion, some tracks were more dynamic and rocking but most were low key and atmospheric.

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The 31st of February - The 31st of February 1968

While there's nothing particularly objectionable about the 31st of February's sole album, there's nothing exciting or memorable about it either. It's average late-'60s pop-psychedelic/folk-rock, dominated by the songs of either Scott Boyer or David Brown, though they also cover Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Cod'ine," Jackie DeShannon's obscure "The Greener Isle," and the Dan Penn-Spooner Oldham-Chips Moman collaboration "Sandcastles." Light, reflective folk-rock is the primary color, slightly more downbeat than upbeat (heard to its best effect on "Porcelain Mirrors" and the lugubrious "Cries of Treason"), with a faint Baroque tinge to some of the arrangements and the occasional orchestration. There's a bit of California psychedelic freakout as well on "A Nickel's Worth of Benny's Help," though again this doesn't get too far out or interesting. AMG.

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Van Duren - Are You Serious 1978

Van Duren was part of the small but influential Memphis power pop scene of the '70s that produced Big Star and the Scruffs, and he was more than just a casual observer -- Duren gigged regularly with Chris Bell and auditioned for a guitar slot in Big Star but failed to get the gig. The latter is something of a surprise, as Duren was gifted songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, and in 1977 he scored a deal with Big Sound Records, a short-lived label run by fellow power pop obsessive Jon Tiven, and headed off to Connecticut to record his debut album, Are You Serious? While Duren has a passionate following among pop devotees, Are You Serious? has never quite gained the same sort of cult acclaim as Big Star and the Scruffs, and frankly that may well be because Duren was never as quirky as either of those acts. The angular melodies of Radio City and the aggressive angst of Wanna Meet the Scruffs? set those albums apart from most power pop acts of their day, but by comparison Duren sounds like a cross between Emitt Rhodes and Badfinger, and while his embrace of pop classicism is impressive, ultimately the more traditional slant of his music and the regular-guy cynicism of his lyrics make for a less interesting album than what his peers in the smart hooky stuff were known for. That's not so say Are You Serious? isn't impressive, especially given that Duren plays everything but drums on most tracks, and at a time when Beatles-influenced pop was a rare commodity, this album must have been a breath of fresh air for the few who ran across it. But for all Van Duren's strength as a songwriter and his very impressive vocal chops, Are You Serious? is an album that, rather than shaking the framework of '70s pop, selectively embraced it, and for all its tunefulness it doesn't sound as revelatory 30 years on. AMG.

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Volker Kriegel - Spectrum 1971

By 1971, when he released his second offering as a leader, guitarist Volker Kriegel was already established on Germany's jazz-rock scene as a monster player, courtesy of his membership in the Dave Pike Set. Before joining that band, Kriegel had been known as a formidable jazz talent since his teenage years with vibraphonists Fritz Hartschuh and Claudio Szenkar. Spectrum was issued by MPS, the visionary label that issued groundbreaking recordings by everyone from Oscar Peterson and Monty Alexander to George Duke and Peter Herbolzheimer. Kriegel's sidemen here include British pianist John Taylor on Rhodes, Peter Trunk on upright and electric bass and cello, Dutch percussionist Cees See, and master drummer Peter Baumeister. He wrote everything on the date. "Zoom" is a riff-tastic opener with Kriegel playing sitar as well as electric guitar, with Taylor's funky vamps, See burning on tablas and congas, and Baumeister breaking up a storm. This is jazz rock fusion at its very best. "More About D" commences with shakers, spacy Rhodes, and a pizzicato bassline. When Kriegel enters it becomes knotty, serpentine fusion, with loads of free jazz elements alternating with Eastern modes, walking and swinging post-bop, and more throughout its ten-minute duration. It features some of the guitarist's finest playing on the recording and delivers a portrait of his holistic musical vision. "Suspicious Child, Growing Up" reveals that Kriegel had heard, and apparently loved, the Allman Brothers Band. Its meld of acoustic and electric country blues, underscored by soulful, Stax-like electric piano and rumbling bass and percussion, gives a wide-angle view of its composer's lyricism. Closer "Strings Revisited" invert the solo capacities of cello and guitar as lead instruments with Trunk playing his instrument like a guitar, before he and Kriegel fluidly exchange fours and eights with some killer brushed breaks, rolls, and fills from Baumeister, as Taylor's piano impressionistically paints the frame before taking a smoking post-bop solo full of nuanced arpeggios and legato phrasing. Kriegel enjoyed a long, fruitful career with MPS and it's these records which define his legacy as a creative, restless musician who explored all types of jazz, rock, and world music on every recording he made for the label. That said, Spectrum is special for its ideas, boldness, confidence, and no-boundaries approach. As a result, it holds up generations later as a true jazz-rock classic. AMG.

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Vinicius De Moraes, Marilia Medalha, Toquinho - Como Dizia o Poeta 1971

Vinícius de Moraes was a fundamental figure in Brazilian music. As a poet, he wrote lyrics for a great number of songs that became all-time bossa nova and samba classics. As a composer, he wrote some good music, and as an interpreter, he left several important albums. From a musical family, he began very early to write poetry. At 14 he became friends with the brothers Paulo and Haroldo Tapajós. With Haroldo, he composed the fox song "Loura ou Morena," recorded by the two brothers in 1932 with success for Columbia. In 1929 de Moraes enrolled in law school in Catete, Rio. Between 1932 and 1933 he wrote lyrics for ten songs that were recorded by his partners: seven with Haroldo Tapajós, two with Paulo, and one with J. Medina (which was recorded by João Petra de Barros). In 1933 he finished his college studies and released his first book, O Caminho Para a Distância. In 1935 he had his second book (Forma e Exegese) awarded, and in the next year, he became a cinema censor for the health and education cabinet. In 1936 he wrote Ariana, a Mulher and in 1938 headed to England, with an English government scholarship to study literature at Oxford University, and wrote Novos Poemas. At that time he was married by proxy. With the development of World War I, he returned to Rio. In 1941 he began to write film reviews and critiques. Two years later he joined Brazil's diplomatic service, Itamaraty, also releasing the book Cinco Elegias. In 1946 he was sent to Los Angeles in his first diplomatic assignment as vice consul and released Poemas, Sonetos e Baladas. In 1950 he returned to Brazil due to his father's death. His first samba (with Antônio Maria) is from 1953, "Quando Tu Passas por Mim," a year in which he moved to France as Brazil's embassy second secretary. His play Orfeu da Conceição won the IV São Paulo Centennial Contest in 1954. In 1955 he wrote lyrics for some of Cláudio Santoro's chamber music pieces. That next year he staged Orfeu da Conceição, which was filmed by French writer Marcel Camus. He was then introduced to an unknown pianist, Antonio Carlos Jobim, who was commissioned with writing the music for the play. Jobim composed "Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Você," "Um Nome de Mulher," and several others, recorded by Odeon with Luiz Bonfá and others. Following a return to Paris in 1956 and another diplomatic assignment at Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1957 (when released Livro de Sonetos, followed by Novos Poemas II in 1959), he stayed there until 1960. In 1958 Elizeth Cardoso released her album, marking the beginning of bossa nova. She included on it five compositions by the duo Tom & Vinícius: "Canção do Amor Demais," "Chega de Saudade," "Outra Vez," "Luciana," and "Estrada Branca." The album also brought João Gilberto and his "different beat" onto two tracks, "Chega de Saudade" and "Outra Vez." The careers of all of them had great impetus after that record, and the songs written by Tom & Vinícius became disputed by singers. In 1959 the movie Orfeu do Carnaval, based on the play Orfeu da Conceição, was awarded with the Golden Palm at the international movie festival of Cannes, France, and, in Hollywood, as the best foreign movie. In that time, he and Jobim composed "Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar" and "Amor em Paz." In 1960 he wrote O Amor dos Homens. In 1961 he composed with Carlos Lyra "Coisa Mais Linda," "Primeira Namorada," "Nada Como Ter Amor," and "Você e Eu." In 1962 he wrote (together with Pixinguinha) the soundtrack for the movie Sol Sobre a Lama (Alex Viany), which included "Lamento"; he also met Baden Powell and wrote with him "Samba da Bênção," "Só por Amor," "Canção de Amor e Paz," "Pra Que Chorar," "Deixa," "Samba em Prelúdio," "Apelo," "Berimbau," "Consolação," and other great classics. After Powell's return from Bahia, where he dedicated himself to research the Bahian folklore, they composed the series known as the Afro-sambas: "Samba de Oxossi," "Canto de Xangô," "Canto de Ossanha," and others. With Carlos Lyra he wrote "Marcha da Quarta-Feira de Cinzas" and "Minha Namorada," included in his play Pobre Menina Rica. In August 1962, together with Jobim, João Gilberto, and Os Cariocas, he opened the show Encontro at the Au Bon Gourmet nightclub (Rio). That show represented the first audition of "Garota de Ipanema," "Insensatez," "Ela é Carioca," "Só Danço Samba," "Samba do Avião" (all with Jobim), and "Samba da Bênção." The same nightclub presented his play Pobre Menina Rica, which had music by Carlos Lyra ("Sabe Você," "Primavera," and "Pau-de-Arara"). The play launched the career of Nara Leão. He also released Para Viver um Grande Amor. In the next year he met Edu Lobo, with whom he would write "Arrastão" (which would win the I FMPB in 1965 with Elis Regina's interpretation), "Zambi," and "Canção do Amanhecer." Returning to Paris, he worked for UNESCO until 1964. Meeting Francis Hime upon returning to Brazil, they composed "Saudade de Amar," "Sem Mais Adeus," and "Eu Te Amo, Amor." Together with Dorival Caymmi he presented a show at the Zum-Zum nightclub, which was a major success. Recorded live, it was released by Elenco. Quarteto em Cy, four singing sisters he discovered, was launched at that show. At the I FMPB, "Valsa do Amor Que Não Vem" (together with Baden Powell) won second place in the interpretation of Elizeth Cardoso. He collaborated on the script of the movie Garota de Ipanema and had a second season for his show with Dorival Caymmi. Also in 1965 he released O Mergulhador. In 1966 he participated (with Maria Bethânia and Gilberto Gil) in the show Pois É at the Teatro Opinião, which presented Gil's compositions. His "Samba da Bênção" (with Baden) was included on the soundtrack of Claude Lelouch's movie Un Homme et une Femme, winner of the Cannes movie festival. He also wrote Para uma Menina com uma Flor. In 1968 he was summarily fired after 26 years of work from the Itamaraty by the discretionary powers of military dictatorship. In that year, he toured extensively through Europe (with Chico Buarque and Nara Leão) and Argentina (with Dorival Caymmi, Quarteto em Cy, Baden Powell, and Oscar Castro-Neves). In 1969 he performed at Punta del Este, Uruguay, with Maria Creuza and Dori Caymmi. In that year he also became the partner of Toquinho (de Moraes' most frequent partner and biggest friend, they would record 20 LPs together), with whom, along with Marília Medalha, he opened a show in 1970 at the Teatro Castro Alves (Salvador). Also with them, he performed at the La Fusa nightclub (Buenos Aires, Argentina); in January 1971 Toquinho and de Moraes would again perform there, this time with Maria Bethânia. Still in 1970, taking a hit by Garoto written 20 years before, he wrote (together with Chico Buarque) the lyrics for "Gente Humilde." His book Arca de Noé would yield ten years later several TV stagings with music by Toquinho, which was released on two LPs: A Arca de Noé (Ariola, 1980) and A Arca de Noé, Vol. 2 (Ariola, 1981). In 1971 an LP with his compositions (with Toquinho) "Tarde em Itapoã" and "Como Dizia o Poeta" was released by RGE with great success. It brought a great number of invitations for touring in Brazil and abroad. Always successful the duo came out with "Maria-vai-Com-as-Outras," "Testamento" (1971), "Regra Três" (1972), and others. With Toquinho and Clara Nunes, he presented the 1973 show O Poeta, a Moça e o Violão at the Teatro Castro Alves, Bahia. AMG.

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Anthony 'Reebop' Kwaku Bah - Anthony 'Reebop' Kwaku Bah 1973

The rhythms of Nigeria were brought to British rock by percussionist/singer Anthony "Reebop" Kwaku Baah. A member of Traffic during the early '70s, Baah became the only non-founding member with the group longer than Dave Mason. He subsequently worked with German rock bands CAN and Zahara, and recorded several impressive solo albums. His 1977 album Trance was a collaboration with traditional Moroccan musicians from the mystical Ganoua sect. A native of Lagos, Nigeria, Baah moved to England in the '60s. He was living in Sweden in 1971 when Steve Winwood invited him to record and tour with Traffic. Although he remained with the group for the remainder of the '70s, he balanced his involvement with solo projects. His debut solo effort Reebop, recorded with Swedish musicians and released in 1972, was followed by Anthony Reebop Kwaku Baah in 1973 and Trance in 1977. Baah died of a cerebral hemmorage in 1983 while onstage in Sweden. His final album, Melodies in a Jungle Man's Head, was never finished but found release in 1989. In addition to his work with Traffic, Baah contributed to albums by Winwood, the Rolling Stones, and Ginger Baker. AMG.

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Raices - Raices 1975

Raices was a Puerto Rican Latin-jazz/rock band that released a self-titled album on Nemperor in 1975. The band were a local supergroup comprising ex-members of Kaleidoscope, Space, and Cortijo & His Time Machine.

The members of Raice were Juan Melendez (flute, soprano saxophone, clarinet), Amaury Lopez (fender rhodes, grand piano, clavinet, moog, acoustic guitar, percussion, vocal), Carlos ‘Kiko’ Melendez (guitars, cuatro, vocal), Roberto Puras (bass), Gonchi Sifre (drums, percussion, harmonica), Rafael Cruz (manjira, [clay] drums, goblet drum, cuica, bells, berimbau, cabasa, caxixi, flexatone), Sammy Figueroa (congas, triangle, flexatone, kalimba, vocals).

Raices comprised some of the island’s most accomplished musicians. Percussionist Rafael Cruz hailed from psych-rockers Kaleidoscope, which issued an eponymous album in Mexico in 1969. Keyboardist Amaury Lopez and bassist Roberto Puras played in Latin-rockers Space, which self-released the album Music to the People in 1970. Drummer Gonchi Sifre played on the popular 1973 release Y su Maquina del Tiempo by Cortijo & His Time Machine. The band’s singular album, Raices, was released on Nemperor/Atlantic in 1975. Of the eight tracks, seven are originals, including the brisk reed-riff gallop “Lenguas,” the chirping samba whirlwind “Parata Gua Gua,” the interrupted cocktail moonlighter “Parallax,” and the clavinet/clarinet groove of “Bluegarian Funk Dance.” Writing credits are mostly divided between Lopez and bothers Juan (reeds, voice) and Carlos Melendez (guitar). A seven-minute rendition of the Oscar Castro Neves/Sebastiano Neto composition “After Sunrise” is the sole cover. Musically, the band’s hallmarks include reed/keyboard trade-offs, abrupt tempo shifts, and frequent percussive spray.

The members of Raices were all multi-instrumentalists. Cruz’s arsenal included sardarflute, manjira (finger cymbals), dumbagi, quika, berimbau, cabassa, chickera, caxixi, quedo, flexitone, and coconut shells. Raices was produced by Bruce Botnick (The Doors, Love, Ben Sidran, James Vincent, Ross, Tony Williams Lifetime) and recorded at Miami’s Criteria Recording Studios. Its cover depicts a large poinciana illustrated by Haruo Miyauchi, who’s other visual credits include covers for Utopia (Todd Rundgren’s Utopia) and Roy Ayer’s Ubiquity (Virgo Red).

Guitarist Carlos “Kiko” Melendez recorded a pair of 1976/77 albums with the Rice and Beans Orchestra. He also played on albums by Art Webb, Eladio Torres, and Celi Bee & The Buzzy Bunch. He reunited with Lopez and Puras on Titti Sotto’s 1978 album Salsisimo!, billed as T.T.S. & The Banana Boat Co. and released on one-press Banana Records.

Cruz’s list of post-Raices credits includes albums from the worlds of rock (Tommy Bolin, Ray Gomez) jazz (Don Cherry, Herbie Mann, Kenny Barron, Steve Grossman, Sonny Fortune), jazz-funk (Art Webb, Brecker Brothers, Kilimanjaro), pop (Bette Midler, Carly Simon), soul (Chaka Khan, Narada Michael Walden), and international fusion (Chris Hinze Combination, Morrissey Mullen, Passport). Cruz also partook in the jazz all-star conglomerate the Atlantic Family, which performed at the 1977 Montreux International Festival: an event chronicled on the 1978 Atlantic double-album Live at Montreux.

Sifre played on Roy Buchanan’s 1976 album A Street Called Straight. He also appeared, with Kiko and Cruz, on Art Webb’s 1977 release Mr. Flute. JazzRock Soul.

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