The flautist’s recording debut, originally released in 1969 on his own Asha label out of Washington DC, in an edition of five hundred copies.
LM is a poet, anthropologist and painter; a friend of Picasso from his time in Paris in 1965, who has worked with Nina Simone, Nana Vasconcelos, Ron Carter and Cecil McBee. In the 1960s he was involved in the civil rights movement.
This is deep, spiritual jazz, further nourished with the Latin, Brazilian and African rhythms learned during McNeil’s travels throughout Africa and Brazil (where he hooked up with Dom Salvador and Paulo Moura).
Lovingly presented with extensive sleeve notes, including an interview with Lloyd McNeill, besides exclusive photos. 180g vinyl, with a download code.

Nutritious jazz duets between flautist LM (who has worked with everyone from Nina Simone to Mulatu) and bassist Marshall Hawkins (who took over from Ron Carter for Miles, and played on Donny Hathaway’s Everything Is Everything, the year after this recording, in 1970). Engrossing, gorgeous, good for the soul. Warmly recommended.

The flautist with Nana Vasconceles, Dom Salvador, Portinho, Cecil McBee and co in 1980. Spiritual jazz with strong Brazilian flavours. Lovely stuff.

The founding principle of this magnificent Swiss label was to document the music of Joe McPhee. Here he is solo, more than two decades later in 1998, on reeds, pocket cornet, piano and electronics, nodding to Trane, Marilyn Crispell, Miles, Conlon Noncarrow, Ra, Gershwin… and Val Wilmer. It’s gripping, direct and evocative; brimming with body and soul; very warmly recommended.

Invigorating shots of spiritual jazz — the business, no sugar, no additives — in two versions from 1970, for tenor saxophone and space organ. Lovely artwork by Dick Higgins.
Fab.

‘Multi-track, multi-instrumental recordings — more compositional in nature than Sound On Sound — especially prized by the man himself. Over-dubbing builds and sculpts each piece, creating complete wind ensembles one track at a time. In 1974 and then again in a longer session in 1979, McPhee recorded himself in concise solo, duo, and tripartite self-communion, like a one-man-WSQ, his probing investigations and lyrical statements as incisive and insightful as those of his best-known recordings.’

‘Never-before-issued music from three very different settings in upstate New York, all recorded in the period running up to Nation Time.
‘First, from a year before, in the same hall at Vassar College, with soulful vibraphonist Ernie Bostic and a rhythm section of Tyrone Crabb and Bruce Thompson, both on Nation Time, performing a Trane-oriented set that included versions of Mongo Santamaria’s Afro Blue besides Naima, as well as McPhee-fave God Bless The Child. Deeply emotional and fiery playing with this unusual instrumentation — and it’s rare to find McPhee playing with a harmonically based instrument like vibes.
‘Also a quartet concert at a monastery in nearby New Windsor, with saxophonist Reggie Marks, playing a powerful combination of originals and the Patty Waters-associated traditional tune Black Is The Color.
‘Finally, three cuts document a more rough-and-tumble gig taped outdoors in the park at Poughkeepsie’s Lincoln Centre. A funky, bluesy, lowdown, explosive configuration, they feature vocals by one Octavius Graham, great drumming by Chico Hawkins, and Tyrone Crabb on electric bass.
‘This two-CD set has been lovingly transferred from original tapes in McPhee’s personal archives, and is augmented by newly discovered photographs of the concerts.
‘A spectacular deep dive into the pure magic of Mr. McPhee.’

‘As searching and searing as anything either of them has made, these 2008 duets live up to their explosive title. Gustafsson is known for his energy, and it’s here in droves, but there are other nuances brought out by McPhee — a supple sense of melodicism (hey now, Gustafsson is a Swede, so by birthright he’s melodic) and the love of experimental sound-making that McPhee displayed on his sound-on-sound recordings in the late ‘60s…
‘Insanely powerful. We recommend that you prepare yourself for the impact.’

‘A studio recording from 1979, previously unreleased. It is primarily structured around pairs of tunes by Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and Duke Ellington (or Billy Strayhorn), adding Ornette Coleman’s Lonely Woman for good measure. The results are stunningly intimate and show the twosome’s capacity for creative interplay at a fairly early stage in its unfolding. Pithecanthropus Erectus gets pared down to its essential walking-bass-ness, while Monk’s Evidence is taken apart, and solo spots by both men are as riveting as one would expect.’