Orange Peel - Orange Peel 1972

Orange Peel was one of the first Krautrock albums, standing at the edge between late 60s' psychedelia with saturated guitars, raw vocals and long organ solos, and space rock pieces in the style of the first albums by Amon Düül II, ELoy, Faust and Grobschnitt. The music played here was quite innovative for its time and could be described as "heavy organ psychedelic rock". The record contains two long epic tracks and two shorter songs, more blues-rock oriented.
The overture track, You Can't Change Them All, starts with a smooth beautiful sounding very symphonic to increase progressively on intensity and psychedelism. The song contains just a few minutes of vocals at the beginning and at the end, but the rest is instrumental. It goes faster and faster with powerful guitar and organ solos alternating accompanied by bongos. Some parts remind me a little of Santana's III. The tune has many changes and is very experimental by moments. Mindblowing ! The longest and best track of the album ! The next tracks, Faces That I Used To Know and Tobacco Road are less spacey but however pretty enjoyable with sometimes a Jimi Hendrix's feel. The disc ends with We Still Try to Change, the other masterpiece of Orange Peel. With its implacable bass introduction and its powerful ogan riff, you are immediately transported to another planet. As for the first long piece, the tune features mainly instrumental passages very spacey and experimental. Such moments announces future Krautrock sounds.

Formed during a transitionnal period, the short-lived band Orange Peel released an astonishing unique album, in par with great german progressive acts of their time. Highly recommended to krautrock and early space rock fans!

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Pheeroan ak Laff - House Of Spirit: Mirth 1979

A versatile drummer who has mostly been associated with the avant-garde, Pheeroan akLaff has appeared with some of the more adventurous musicians in jazz of the past 20 years. Early on, he played with Jay Hoggard (1975) and then in New Haven, CT, with Leo Smith's New Dalta Ahkri. In addition to a longtime association with altoist Oliver Lake (including work with the reggae group Jump Up), akLaff has worked with Henry Threadgill's Sextet, New Air (where he replaced Steve McCall forAir's last couple of recordings during 1983-1986), George Adams, Sonny Sharrock, Anthony Davis,James Newton, Cecil Taylor, and Myra Melford. akLaff has recorded as a leader for Gramavision (an obscure EP in 1983) and Mu (1989). AMG.

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Redgum - If You Don't Fight You Lose 1978

Redgum are an important band in the history of Australian music, responsible for political folk-rock that had an actual influence on the politics of the time. They are best remembered for their protest song "I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green)," which underwent something of a popular revival during Australia's participation in the second Iraq war. The band formed at Adelaide's Flinders University in 1975 while the members were attending the same politics and art class. The three students, John Schumann (vocals, guitar), Michael Atkinson (guitar, piano, vocals, mandolin), andVerity Truman (flute, saxophone, tin whistle, vocals) volunteered to submit a musical piece for their group assignment. The political songs they performed were so popular with their classmates that they found themselves immediately fielding calls to play at parties, political rallies, and pubs -- though they hadn't even decided on a name yet. Fellow Flinders University student Chris Timms joined them on violin and the then four-piece settled on the name Redgum.

Their first album, If You Don't Fight You Lose, debuted in 1978. It was recorded after a radio station told the band that approximately 200 people were requesting they make copies of the early demo recording they had been broadcasting. Each bandmember continued to work and study while performing on weekends and holidays until after the release of their popular second album, Virgin Ground, in 1981 convinced them to make the band a full-time priority. Tom Stehlik (drums) and Dave Flett (bass) joined the band, while Chris Timms left to be replaced by Hugh McDonald (violin, bass, guitar, vocals). It was their live album Caught in the Act, released in 1983, that made Redgum a national and enduring sensation. Its single, "I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green," went to number one. The song's frank depiction of the experiences of a Vietnam veteran, based on the story of Schumann's brother-in-law, made many Australians rethink their positions and within a year there was a Royal Commission into the use of Agent Orange and other chemicals by the Australian military. Royalties from the song were donated to the Vietnam Veterans of Australia Association. By 1984 Flett and Stehlik had left the band. Brian Czempinski took over for Stehlik on drums, andMichael Spicer (piano) and Stephen Cooney (didgeridoo, bass, mandolin, banjo) were added to the lineup for their next album, Frontline. In 1986, at the height of their fame, lead singer Schumann left to sign with CBS as a solo act and thereafter enter politics. The group carried on in his absence, releasing the Midnight Sun album later that year. Atkinson left in 1987 and the group disbanded permanently in 1990 without recording anything further. In 2005 Redgum's music became unexpectedly popular and relevant to a new generation when political hip-hop act the Herd began performing their own interpretation of "I Was Only 19" at their concerts, eventually recording an acoustic version featuring Schumann as a guest for the re-release of their album The Sun Never Sets. AMG.

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Young & Renshaw - This Is 1971

1967 saw Paul Young and Frank Renshaw together again under the name "The Young Brothers". The duo recorded a single for MCA, "I've Always Wanted Love" b/w "Mirror, Mirror", produced by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. This marked the beginning of a long-lasting business relationship between Young, Renshaw, Cook and Greenaway. They formed a publishing company together called "Grenyoco Music", and Young and Renshaw concentrated on songwriting, as well as doing sessions for a number of artists in the Cook & Greenaway stable.
In 1970 Paul Young and Frank Renshaw formed a new group as a vehicle to present and develop their own songs. This was called Young & Renshaw and comprised Paul Young on vocals and percussion, Frank Renshaw on vocals/guitar/harmonica, Graham Harrop from "Sponge" and "Pacific Drift" on bass, Ronnie Walker from "Sweet Marriage" on lead guitar, and Phil Keen, a former member of "Johnny Peters And The Crestas" and Wayne Fontana, on drums. They spent about a year in Germany writing, rehearsing and gigging - then returned to London and recorded an excellent country rock album with Cook & Greenaway as producers. Titled "This Is Young & Renshaw", it contained twelve Young-Renshaw originals and was released in late 1971. A few singles also saw the light of day, but sadly none of the records charted, and the group split up in 1973.

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Woody Shaw - Song Of Songs 1972

One of the most gifted and innovative jazz musicians of his generation, trumpeter Woody Shawnavigated the rapidly fluctuating jazz scene of the '70s and '80s to create a lasting body of work that extends his influence well beyond his tragic death at age 44. Born in Laurinburg, NC, on December 24, 1944, Shaw grew up in Newark, NJ. Interestingly, Shaw's father, Woody Shaw, Sr., sang in the gospel group the Diamond Jubilee Singers in the '30s and attended high school in Laurinburg with trumpeterDizzy Gillespie -- a connection that did not go unnoticed by a young musically inclined Shaw. Starting out on bugle, Shaw moved to trumpet at age 11 and continued his studies in music theory while attending an arts high school in Newark. By his teens, Shaw had gained a strong knowledge base in music and was already playing jazz. Early on, he evinced the influence of such artists as Louis Armstrong and Harry James, but quickly fell under the spell of such modern trumpeters as Gillespie,Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Booker Little, Lee Morgan, and others. Later on, Shawwould also express much interest in the advancements of saxophonist John Coltrane, whose style and harmonic approach is clearly evident in his playing.

By 1963, Shaw's steady presence on the vibrant Newark jazz scene -- which included such future stars as keyboardist Larry Young and trombonist Grachan Moncur III -- had begun to catch the attention of the greater jazz world, and Shaw found work with Latin percussionist Willie Bobo as well as progressive saxophonist Eric Dolphy. Dolphy even invited Shaw on a tour of France. Sadly, however,Dolphy died from a diabetic coma before Shaw was able to join him in Paris. Undeterred, Shaw left for France and ended up performing in several European countries with a bevy of name artists including pianist Bud Powell, drummer Kenny Clarke, saxophonist Johnny Griffin, and others. Shaw even brought his Newark pals organist Young and drummer Billy Brooks overseas to perform with him and saxophonist Nathan Davis.

In 1964, Shaw returned to the States and began a series of highly formative jobs, beginning with a stint with pianistHorace Silver and continuing with a who's who of jazz artists including pianist Chick Corea, saxophonists Jackie McLeanand Booker Ervin, pianists McCoy Tyner and Andrew Hill, and drummer Max Roach. It was during this period thatShaw appeared on several now classic recordings includingSilver's Cape Verdean Blues (1965) and The Jody Grind(1966), Larry Young's landmark Blue Note date Unity (1965), and some lesser-known but no less stellar releases like pianist Andrew Hill's Grass Roots (1968). The late '60s also found Shaw pairing with such forward-thinking and avant-garde-leaning saxophonists as Gary Bartz,Pharoah Sanders, Hank Mobley, and Archie Shepp.
The 1970s were a fruitful time both creatively and commercially for Shaw, who formed several inspired working partnerships including stints with saxophonist Joe Henderson, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, vibraphonistBobby Hutcherson, and drummer Louis Hayes. It was also during the '70s that Shaw first recorded as a leader and released several influential, forward-thinking albums featuring his by then highly individualized style that mixed harmonically complex post-bop, modal jazz, and nods toward fusion and free jazz. Included in this period are such albums as Blackstone Legacy (1970), Song of Songs (1972),Moontrane (1974), Little Red's Fantasy (1976), and The Iron Men (1977).
Capping off this decade of intense creative output, Shawsigned to Columbia Records and released several more highly acclaimed albums with Rosewood (1977), Woody III(1978) -- named after his son Woody Louis Armstrong Shaw III, who was born that year -- For Sure! (1980), and United(1981). Of the four releases, Rosewood achieved the most acclaim, earning a Grammy nomination and getting voted Best Jazz Album of 1978 in the Down Beat Reader's Poll -- the same poll in which Shaw was picked as Best Jazz Trumpeter of the Year. Although Shaw eventually parted ways with Columbia, he continued to work and record throughout the '80s, releasing a handful of compelling albums, not the least of which included his three sessions with fellow trumpet innovator Freddie Hubbard: Time Speaks (1982), Double Take (1985), and Eternal Triangle (1988) -- most of which are collected on The Complete Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw Sessions.

By this time, Shaw had been diagnosed with an incurable degenerative eye disease and was losing his eyesight. While the disease did not hamper his performing abilities, it would have obviously made the everyday functions of going about one's life, let alone a music career, difficult. Although specifics of the accident are somewhat vague, what is known is that on February 27, 1989, Shaw was struck by a subway car in Brooklyn, NY, which severed his left arm. Subsequently, Shaw suffered complications while in the hospital and died of kidney failure on May 10, 1989.

Although the late '80s had proven to be the most difficult period of Shaw's musical life, with the rise of the Young Lions -- most notably trumpeter Wynton Marsalis -- and the burgeoning renaissance of acoustic post-bop jazz, the seeds were sown for a renewed appreciation of Shaw's music. LikeShaw, Marsalis was not only a classically trained musician, but had spent time as a member of Blakey's Jazz Messengers and, like many of the younger jazz musicians of the '80s, drew much inspiration from Shaw's unique and harmonically progressive approach to improvisation. Shawrecorded with several of these younger musicians, including saxophonist Kenny Garrett on his stellar 1984 Criss Cross debut, Introducing Kenny Garrett. Shawalso brought younger musicians into his own group, including trombonist Steve Turre and pianistMulgrew Miller, as well as drummers Tony Reedus and Terri Lyne Carrington. In this way, Shawsecured his reputation alongside such icons as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, and Horace Silver as one of the great jazz innovators, bandleaders, and mentors.
This LP would be recommended if only for trumpeter Woody Shaw's autobiographical liner notes which definitively sum up both this recording and his career up to 1972. Four of Shaw's originals are interpreted by a sextet also including Emanuel Boyd on flute and tenor, keyboardist George Cables, bassist Henry Franklin, drummer Woodrow Theus II, tenorman Ramon Morris (on two songs) andBennie Maupin on tenor for "The Goat And The Archer." The music falls between hard bop, modal musings and the avant-garde. Although possessing a tone similar to Freddie Hubbard's, Woody Shaw was a more advanced player and his solos throughout the date are both original and consistently exciting. AMG.

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Power of Zeus - The Gospel According To Zeus 1970

Arguably the first hard rock album released by the Motown-owned Rare Earth imprint, 1970's The Gospel According to Zeus was also the first and last recording by Detroit heavy rockers Power of Zeus. Needless to say, these two facts were inextricably linked, as the producers and engineers responsible for fueling the Motown hit factory had little or no understanding of what it took to capture the new decade's Earth-shaking hard rock sounds in their studios. Interestingly, this wound up pushing Power of Zeus' psychedelic elements -- mostly evident in their vocal harmonies and use of the Hammond organ -- to the fore at the expense of a meatier guitar, bass, and drums foundation. Also, unlike many of the era's incredibly bloated, jam-happy behemoths (e.g., Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," Deep Purple's "Child in Time"), tough, punchy songs like "It Couldn't be Me," "No Time," and "Realization" are conspicuously short and concise -- as mandated by Motown's pop architects, no doubt. And if you're expecting distortion, forget it. The uniquely forceful "The Sorcerer of Isis (The Ritual of the Mole)" offers about the only opportunity for the band to really cut loose with some instrumental overload and actual guitar shredding (fitting that they cited it as the most representative of their live shows). More often than not, however, it was trippy acoustic guitars and harpsichords that had Baroque folk ballads like "Green Grass and Cover" and "Uncertain Destination" breaking up the pacing; and the ominous-sounding "The Death Trip" is actually a rather sleepy, almost Pink Floyd-like swirl of a song. In other words, for a band professing to love the hard psych-rock of Cream and theJimi Hendrix Experience and the proto-metal of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, The Gospel According to Zeus is obviously a sonically stunted effort. And yet ironically, what at the time doomed both the band and album's chances of success has since transformed it into a true original outside any identifiable genre. AMG.

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Oliver Lake - Heavy Spirits 1975

This will be one of the least accessible of altoist Oliver Lake's recordings for most people but repeated listenings reveal a great deal of beauty. The avant-garde master is backed by three violinists on a trio of intense pieces, takes "Lonely Blacks" unaccompanied and performs "Rocket" in an unusual trio with trombonist Joseph Bowie and drummer Bobo Shaw. The other three selections have a more conventional instrumentation (a quintet with trumpeter Olu Dara and pianist Donald Smith) but are almost as challenging. It's worth investigating but listeners will have to have patience in order to fully appreciate this music. AMG.

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Big Lost Rainbow - Big Lost Rainbow 1973

It is not hard to figure out why record labels wouldn't touch Big Lost Rainbow and why it stood no chance of gaining a widespread audience at the time of its 1973 release date. The album runs completely counter to the pompous hard rock that was plastered all over the airwaves at the time, and is far too subtle and mature for mass consumption. Although their initial gig was played before a crowd of 10,000, Big Lost Rainbow were not cut out for the arena. Their music requires a much more intimate setting and response, and their sole album is a surprising musical delight constructed out of elements of folk, jazz, and classical music, all of which expose gorgeous, supple melodies, mostly composed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ridley Pearson. The album brings to mind the best aspects of soft, early-'70s folk-pop, but unlike much of that genre, there is a genuine sorrow (as opposed to anger) threaded throughout the music; a sorrow, perhaps, brought about by the changing times but not the least bit cynical. It is, instead, a sort of celebratory sentimentality. The songs are all exceedingly strong. Big Lost Rainbow infuse the music with an uncanny emotional resonance whether they are expressing joyous or melancholy sentiments. The opening cut, "Sail" (written by Otis Read), is powered by harmonies nearly equal to those of Crosby, Stills & Nash, while "Oh! Idaho" is a lilting, upbeat tune that soars with scatty harmonies à la Seals & Crofts. Even the upbeat songs, though, are not exactly bouncy. The album is entirely drum-less, so acoustic guitar, piano, bass, and cello are all up front with Pearson's vocals, which sound like a gentler, more somnolent Jonathan Edwards orJames Taylor. When the mood is slowed down, the songs are incredibly touching. "Slow Rider" has a hint of the Bee Gees in their most heartbreakingly fragile and evocative melodic moments. And the gorgeous "Allegiance of Apathy," the one song included from the group's 1992 reunion, offers not only evidence that the members still have the magic but also a perfect, poignant closing for the album. Overall there is a tender, communal hippie vibe to the album, very sunny and optimistic without descending into silliness and entirely avoiding jadedness. There is a sense of lost innocence and the process of growing wiser, as if the band is singing a lullaby to the wistfulness of youth. From beginning to end, Big Lost Rainbow is romantic and lovely. AMG.

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Goodness And Mercy - Goodness And Mercy 1970

Goodness And Mercy consisted of Dave Talisman (lead vocals), Peter Martin (organ-piano-background vocals), Joe Bellamy (bass-background vocals), Ric Miller (drums), Elvio Ditta (percussion-cowbell), John Trombatore (guitar), Harry Kim (trumpet), Jerry Grant (alto, tenor sax), and Steve davis (trombone).

An excellent example of early seventies soul funk rock, once again drawing it’s influences from Blood, Sweat & Tears with fine vocals and superb playing. The album was produced by former West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band member Bob Markley who along with Michael Lloyd, produced several albums for MGM Records in the early seventies (among them, Tobias, Friends, and Moccasin). Markley also contributed some writing along with Shaun Harris (another WCPAEB member)

Markley was able to produce the band “Live” in the studio, utilizing two different West Coast studios, Larabee Sound on side one, and Harmony Recorders on side two. Some great tunes are featured on this lp, including “You Can’t Make Me Love You”, “The Circus Man” and a cool cover of the Lesley Gore hit “You Don’t Own Me”. Jack Dominilla

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