Aged 25, signing off Impulse! with a wayward flourish, Hubbard plays beautifully throughout, boldly leading an orchestra and string section, 16-piece big band, and a septet with Curtis Fuller, Eric Dolphy, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman, and Louis Hayes. Shorter is arranger and conductor. Buckle up for Dolphy flipping his wig in Clarence’s Place.
‘Verve By Request.’

Top-notch mid-seventies spiritual jazz; steeped in Trane. Championed by Jazzman.
Billy — aka William X, nowadays Khalim Zarif — was a Jazz Messenger. Around the same time as this recording, he was one of the Cosmic Brotherhood supporting Jackie McLean on his New York Calling LP, also for SteepleChase; another lost classic.
Warmly recommended.

‘Classic Vinyl’ series.

His only recording for Verve, from 1967. Check the lineup: Lonnie Liston Smith, Ronnie Boykins, and Grady Tate. This is where Kirk starts to get his groove on. Next stop, Blacknuss. Terrific version of Alfie.

Mono vinyl.

Her classic third LP, from 1971, originally released by Odeon Brazil.
‘Gems like Que Bandeira, composed by Marcos Valle, blending funk/soul and bossa/MPB; Esperar Prá Ver, co-written by her brother Renato Corrêa, with its stunning arrangement and an epic bassline that is hard to get out of your head; the archetypal samba soul of Só Quero; and vocal-driven groovy jams like Por Mera Coincidência and Rico Sem Dinheiro, spiced with celestial strings and heavy-duty drums and basslines.’

That’s Maupin on Bitches Brew, and Lee Morgan’s Live At The Lighthouse, and Head Hunters. He co-wrote Chameleon. From 1977, this is killer fusion in the same dazzling tradition — as confirmed by transformative readings of two classics by the Mwandishi sextet, Quasar and Water Torture, from the LP Crossings. We’re in the same neck of the woods as Eddie Henderson’s two deadly Blue Notes around this time — Sunburst and Heritage — and the great trumpeter is here. Also Patrice Rushen, who plays a blinder: check her out on the opener. Pat Gleeson, who introduced Herbie to synths, Head Hunters mainstay Paul Jackson, Blackbyrd McKnight, from Flood and Man-Child…