In his liner notes, producer
Joe Boyd almost glibly claims that he doesn't know exactly why this session by pianist
Chris McGregor's transnational septet initially went unreleased. He claims he was on poor terms with Polydor at the time, and that
Chris Blackwell's Island Records was "not exactly a jazz label." With due respect to
Boyd and his many accomplishments, this flimsy excuse is almost tragic considering that among
the Blue Notes -- the exiled South African jazz pioneers who initially landed on British shores and four of whom appear here -- only
Louis Moholo is still alive. It's also underscored by the fact that so much of
the Blue Notes' and
McGregor's music is only making its way onto the shelves in the 21st century. Thankfully, the tiny but important Fled'ling imprint run by
David Suff is helping to correct that injustice. These sessions were recorded over two days in 1969 in London with saxophonist
Dudu Pukwana, trumpeter
Mongezi Feza, drummer
Moholo, and pianist
McGregor from
the Blue Notes, with then-young Brit saxophonists
Evan Parker and
John Surman, and either
Barre Phillips or
Pentangle's
Danny Thompson on bass. Like a lot of the
McGregor/
Blue Notes music, these four tracks certainly walk on the outside edge of jazz and more than flirt with plenty of free playing. That said, there is also great structure to the music found here, inspired arrangements that allow a maximum of freedom without an ounce of self-indulgence.
Boyd credits much of this to the authority
McGregor commanded as both a pianist and composer. He may well be right given the sheer quality of his posthumously released projects.