Recorded during a 1983 stint teaching at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, northern Nigeria. ‘Lateef leads a nonet of African musicians in seven compositions that fuse his deep blues and jazz roots with native Nigerian instruments, drums and chants. The sounds stretch from meditative and melancholic to urgent and unrelenting.’
Warmly recommended.

Ace, vibesing, early seventies new-jazz album by this New Orleans drummer by way of the NYC loft scene, and musical cohorts there like Leon Thomas, Lonnie Liston Smith and Strata East.

Recently described by Vijay Iyer as ‘one of the greatest recorded works of all time.’ ‘His sound has strong resemblances to that of Miles Davis,’ noted the five-star Guardian review, back in 1978, ‘but Smith has absorbed the approaches of all the bebop trumpet heroes and redeployed them within a bold, vital and often ritualistic setting.’
With Charlie Haden, Lester Bowie, Kenny Wheeler…

Characteristically brilliant ebullience from the Art Ensemble trumpeter in 1974, with John Hicks (doing Hello Dolly as a duet), John Stubblefield, bro Joseph Bowie from Defunkt, Julius Hemphill (on Ornette’s Lonely Woman), Bob Stewart, Cecil McBee, Jerome Cooper, Charles Shaw and Phillip Wilson.

Hot 1969 lineup — Phil Upchurch, Cleveland Eaton and Maurice White, supervised by Charles Stepney. Do What You Wanna is an irresistible funk failsafe, Opus 5 is Stepney reaching, RL and Upchurch sock it to em on Bold And Black, and there are a couple of soul-jazz Eddie Harris jams… but the sucker punch — ask Gary Bartz — is Uhuru, with White blazing a path on kalimba, and Eaton shocking out.

Terrific stuff from the 1978 Antico Adagio sessions.

With celebrated socialist protest singer Maria Farantouri, and CL’s quartet featuring Jason Moran augmented by a lyra player and second pianist: Theodorakis, traditional Greek music, Eleni Karaindrou, Dream Weaver…

Duets covering Gershwin, the Duke, Strayhorn, a Billie Holiday, a Beach Boys… I Shall Be Released by Bob Dylan via The Band… The title suite is a deeply moving CL original, about his great-great-grandmother.