Classy gospel soul, with a drop of funk and a couple of heavy breaks.
Featuring the early-70s Fantasy gang including Bernard Purdie and Richard Tee; The Reflections doing backing vocals; ace horns; Van Gelder engineering.

His masterful 1971 production, marshalling a stunning lineup bringing jazz luminaries like Monty Alexander, Jim Hall, Freddie Hubbard, Jerome Richardson and Jaki Byard together with up and coming names like Grady Tate, Bob James, Joe Sample and Eric Gale. Highlights include a hard-swinging, show-stopping, big-band version of What’s Going On, with Valerie Simpson at the mic; a lovely Cast Your Fate To The Wind; and a couple of funky do-overs of stuff off the TV, in particular Hikky Burr, nailed down by the great Carol Kaye on bass guitar.

Half-speed mastering.

The classic 1970 debut with Beverley Martyn. Rehearsed in Woodstock, with Levon Helm guesting on a couple, Joe Boyd producing. Lovely.

One of the very greatest jazz vocal albums of all time.

‘Listeners expecting unrelenting blasts of ‘energy music’ might be surprised to find a cohesion atypical of free jazz: amidst the wild, impassioned solos, Howard weaves in Latin rhythms and fat-bottomed grooves. On the first side, Domiabra and Ole Negro sound as if they could have appeared on some of Blue Note’s proto-spiritual jazz, groove-heavy releases — evoking the likes of Horace Silver or Bobby Hutcherson — before ceding the floor to the horn players’ anarchic firepower. As John Corbett writes in the liner notes, ‘Two players stand out. Bassist Norris Jones — aka Sirone — is given ample room, largely unaccompanied; his corporal approach foreshadows later work with the Revolutionary Ensemble. But the secret weapon on The Black Ark is Arthur Doyle. Straight from basement rehearsal sessions with Milford Graves, whose ensemble he had joined and who remained a favorite of the drummer for decades, Doyle is a human flamethrower.’ Trumpeter Earl Cross’ guttural, vocal effects complement Doyle’s take-no-prisoners approach, while the estimable combination of Muhammad Ali (Rashied’s brother) on drums and Juma Sultan on congas adds an ever-shifting propulsion. The septet is rounded out by the enigmatic pianist Leslie Waldron, who anchors the group with imaginative accompaniment and occasional boppish flourishes. Every bit worthy of its reputation as an ‘out-jazz’ holy grail, The Black Ark only sounds better with age.’

‘From 1971, the first LP the altoist self-produced for his own Altsax label; recorded in the Netherlands during Howard’s second stint in Europe, with an intriguing lineup including Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink.
‘Howard’s saxophone work alternates between leading with passionate, lyrical lines and blending into the collective improvisation. The dynamic interplay, particularly between Mengelberg’s dissonant piano clusters and Bennink’s thunderous drumming, creates a vivid sound painting full of contrasting forms and colours. Patterns remains one of Howard’s most unique, visionary and celebrated recordings.’