Tracklist

01. Latin Leitmotiv
02. Red Medium
03. Dead Slow
04. Royal Shuffle N°1
05. Royal Shuffle N°2
06. Rock 73
07. Bass In Action N°1
08. Bass In Action N°2
09: Pepper Rock

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01. Hanky’s Panky
02. Lady Madonna
03. Last Tango In Paris
04. Superstition
05. People Make The World Go Round
06. Liberation Song
07. Rainy Days And Mondays Always Get Me Down

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A totally excellent soundtrack! This is one of the maddest we’ve heard from the 70s — with a baroque mix of wah wah funk and sophisticated orchestrations, very much in the mode of work by David Axelrod or some of the backings heard on Serge Gainsbourg’s best records. No surprise it’s handled by Alain Gouraguer, a groovy Frenchman with a style that’s a mix of the late 60s baroquery of Michel Columbier, and some of the smooth sexiness of the best Italian composers of his age. Great electric piano, wah wah guitar, and soaring strings — with a sound that’s as odd as the cover! Titles include “Le Bracelet”, “Deshominisation”, “Mort De Draag”, “La Femme”, “Mira Et Ten”, and “Ten Et Medor”.

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Tracklist

01. Deshominisation (II)
02. Deshominisation (I)
03. Generique
04. Le Bracelet
05. Ten et Tiwa
06. Maquillage de Tiwa
07. Course de Ten
08. Ten et Medor
09. Ten et Tiwa Dormet
10. Ten est Assome
11. Abite
12. Conseil des Draags
13. Les Hommes – La Grande Co-existence
14. La Femme
15. Mira et Ten
16. Morte de Draag
17. L’Oiseau
18. La Cite des Hommes Libres
19. Attaque des Robots
20. La Longue Marche – Valse Des Statues
21. Les Fusees
22. Generique
23. Strip Tease
24. Meditation des Enfants
25. La Vielle Meurt

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Released in 1973 but recorded in 1972, Sextant was Herbie Hancock’s first album on Columbia Records. It was, and remains extremely complex, and a harmonically and rhythmically challenging musical statement. Hancock was no stranger to electronic music, having used synthesisers extensively during his short time with Warner Bros. Records, but Sextant took his sound to a new level, and arguably pushed the boundaries of the growing jazz-fusion movement further than any of his contemporaries.

Sextant was by far the furthest Herbie Hancock ever pushed himself musically. While a select few were collectively wowed by his new approach, Hancock alienated the bulk of his audience, who found his sound extremely inaccessible. Made up of just three tracks, the album recalls many of Hancock’s critically acclaimed Blue Note recordings, but also points toward the commercial success he would enjoy in the 80s with Future Shock and Sound-System, among others. However, with Sextant, commercial success would have seemed a long way away.

Ironically, Hancock’s first recording on Columbia would be his last recording with his Mwandishi-era group, with Sextant’s poor album sales forcing him into the mainstream with Head Hunters.

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Tracklist

01. Rain Dance
02. Hidden Shadows
03. Hornets

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Phil Ranelin’s first record as a leader is worlds away from his later 1976 offering, Vibes From the Tribe. The Time Is Now is a vanguard jazz record, full of the spirit, determination, and innovation inspired by John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, Pharoah Sanders, and Archie Shepp. Recorded in 1973 and 1974 and released at the end of 1974, the set shows Ranelin to be an imposing composer and frightfully good trombonist. The original album contained six compositions that are a deep musical brew of avant-garde improvisation, hard bop jazz esthetics, and soulful melodic ideas that were superimposed as a jump off point for both harmonic and rhythmic (read: Latin) invention. The stamp of Detroit is all over this thing. Tracks like the title and “Black Destiny” reflect the anger and vision of the era, while moving it all in a positive musical direction. Soloists on the set include the rest of the Tribe collective — Marcus Belgrave and Wendell Harrison — as well as local players who deserved far more than they received in terms of national recognitions: bassist Reggie “Shoo-Be Doo” Fields, trumpeter Charles Moore, pianist Keith Vreeland, drummer Bill Turner, and others including Ranelin himself. The arrangements on The Time Is Now were ahead of their time, clustering a rhythm section as part of the horn’s front line (“13th and Senate” and the title track) and a stylistic angularity that reflected both musical history and futurism in jazz and R&B (“Time Is Running Out” and “Times Gone By”). Tortoise drummer and mastermind has remixed and remastered the entire album (and added three bonus tracks). Its sound and fidelity have changed substantially, but not the spirit or the letter of the music — a remarkable achievement. The Time Is Now is a must for any vanguard jazz aficionado or anyone interested in the strange, rhythm-oriented evolution of Detroit music.

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Tracklist

01. The Time Is Now For Change
02. Time Is Running Out
03. Of Times Gone By
04. Black Destiny
05. 13th and Senate
06. He The One We All Knew
07. The Thime is Now For Change (Outtake)
08. Time Is Running Out (Extended)
09. He The One We All Knew (Extended)

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People living anywhere other than southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or New York in the ’70s missed the Catalyst experience. Catalyst, a four-man jazz combo from Philadelphia, played a gourmet of avant-garde, contemporary bop, soul, and funk at the dawn of the big fusion explosion. The originals were Eddie Green (keyboards, vocals), Sherman Ferguson (drums, percussion, marimba), Odean Pope (sax, flute, oboe), and Al Johnson (bass). Tyrone Brown replaced Johnson after Catalyst’s self-titled debut album on Cobblestone Records in 1972. Producer Skip Drinkwater discovered them playing at the Aqua Lounge in West Philly; this resulted in a contract with Cobblestone Records, with Drinkwater producing. Green was a disciple of the Bud Powell school of pianism, and was instructed on chord changes by Powell’s brother, Richard. Pope was tutored by Ray Bryant, Benny Golson, and others; strains of John Coltrane are revealed when the aggressive sax player expands. Ferguson was a bop drummer whose effortless tempo changes and impeccable timing kept Catalyst tight. Johnson, who joined Weather Report after Catalyst’s first album, was self-taught, but influenced by classical music.

They rehearsed hard and inspired one another to push farther into unknown territories where all the music they liked could be wrapped into a holistic sound. Jazz clubs in Philly were plentiful in the ’70s, which may account for the group’s lack of trips outside the region. The band’s eponymous funk-jazz debut, Catalyst, is highly regarded as a fusion masterpiece; many regard the set as being superior to better-known recordings from the era by Weather Report and Return to Forever. Billy Hart from Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi ensemble accompanies Catalyst on this spacy, illuminating set. A second album, Perception, was issued in 1972 on Cobblestone as well. It featured some brilliant avant-garde work that won the hearts of jazz purists and increased their cult following. This was a creative period — the recording deal was fresh, and they were eager to please and expand their already stimulating original material. In 1974, the band recorded Unity for Muse Records, which had acquired the Cobblestone label. A final album, 1975′s A Tear and a Smile, also appeared on Muse, differing yet again from those that preceded it because it was steeped in funk. Stylistically, Catalyst never made the same album twice.

Four sterling efforts with no significant sales made the group leery of the recording business. They put a lot of time into their albums; they weren’t jam sessions, but were carefully thought-out, well-rehearsed studio executions that Muse kept shelving as if they were contaminated. Disheartened and unable to get any lucrative gigs, the members of Catalyst parted ways in 1976. Green played with Pat Martino, and accompanied many of Philadelphia International Records’ biggest acts, including Billy Paul, MFSB, and the Three Degrees live; he also taught music. Pope and Brown joined Max Roach for a time. Pope was also a founder and integral member of the acclaimed Saxophone Choir. Johnson left early to play with Weather Report, and Sherman Ferguson has bopped around with Pharoah Sanders, Kenny Burrell, Bud Shank, and others.

The acquisition of the Muse catalog by the late Joel Dorn’s 32 Jazz venture and reissuing of Catalyst material on CD has rekindled interest and introduced the band to a new generation of hip-hop, dance music, soul-jazz, and funk fans. First out the box was Groove Jammy: Rare Groove Classics from the Muse Catalog in 1998, a compilation CD that features Catalyst and other Muse artists. The release created a spark and listeners demanded more of the quartet, resulting in The Funkiest Band You Never Heard in 1999, a two-disc CD containing all four Catalyst albums from the ’70s. Their individual albums have since been re-released in the 21st century on LP by Scorpio Distribution’s reissue department. The original vinyl LPs and even the 32 Jazz double-CD command high prices at auction among collectors.

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Tracklist

01. The Demon Pt. 1
02. The Demon Pt. 2
03. A Tear And A Smile
04. Fifty Second Street Boogie
05. Suite For Albeniz
06. A Prayer Dance
07. Bahia

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Tracklist

01. After Midnight
02. Expressway (To Your Heart)
03. Charisma (She’s Got)
04. Soul Roach
05. Chock-Lite Puddin’
06. Benedict Rides
07. The System
08. Lonely Avenue

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01. Au-Right
02. Love Reborn
03. Peace
04. My Soul
05. Feels So Good
06. Manya
07. Sweet Bite
08. The Followers
09. The Inner Source
10. Life
11. Some Time Ago
12. So There You Go
13. Solus
14. Nigerian Numberuma
15. Twenty-Five
16. Always Constant

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01. Unsung Heroes
02. Lay It One The Line
03. Crossfire
04. Hard Times
05. Let’s Boogie
06. Freedom Sound
07. In The Middle Of The River
08. Heavy Up (Don’t Get Light With Me)
09. Night Theme
10. Now I Lay Down To Sleep

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01. The Stop And Go
02. Getting To The Other Side
03. The Pimp Walk
04. Run It On Down Mr DJ
05. Save Their Souls
06. Singing A Song For My Mother
07. It’s Time For Peace
08. Happiness

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