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This reissues a 1972 coffeehouse concert originally released on a tiny Philadelphia label called Dogtown. Good move! In recent years, vibraphonist KHAN JAMAL (also heard on marimba here, which annotator ED HAZELL astutely points out sounds like its African ancestor, the balaphon) has concentrated on freebop, but this is an engrossing set of spacey free improvisation, as much psychedelia as jazz, as African as it is Philadelphian.
Everybody plays percussion at some point except bassist BILLY MILLS (switching between Fender and acoustic); other members are drummer DWIGHT JAMES (still recording with Jamal three decades later), guitarist MONNETTE SUDLER, whose main axe isn’t prominent until the grooving third track, “Inner Peace,” and percussionist ALEX ELLISON. (Jamal and James are credited with doubling on clarinets, but the horn heard wailing on “Inner Peace” sounds more like a soprano sax.)
The engineer at the gig, MARIO FALANA, often adds heavy reverb, which especially magnifies and multiplies the sounds of the drums and Jamal’s vibraphone (which comes out sounding like a Fender Rhodes piano). This is perfect for the mood and tone of this music, most notably giving the opening “Cosmic Echoes” an aptly unearthly vibe.
The psych-tinged folk albums of the same period have found a new generation of admirers after being recategorized as “freak folk”; call this “freak jazz” and much of that audience would probably dig it. It deserves to be dug. One of my favorite reissues of 2006.
