The tussling vegetables in Mal Dean’s cover-sketch somehow befit perfectly this extraordinary duo of Bailey and the great Dutch drummer Han Bennink. Recorded in London in 1972, Incus 9 was their second record (after an ICP in 1969), becoming a blueprint and inspiration for generations of free-improvisers. It is paired here with a brilliant session from the following year, with the same power and friendly combativeness, and oodles of creativity, technique and humour. It’s obvious how much they loved playing together.
His heady sophomore Blue Note, from 1969. Elvin Jones and Jimmy Lyons pick up where Ghetto Music left off. Funky grooves injected with a gospel street choir and late-sixties free-form freakery.
‘Classic Vinyl.’
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The one-hundredth Trilogy!
Hats off to an amazing, uncompromising run of killer music and lavishly brilliant artwork. Bangers and magic like dirt.
21 gun salute.
Reviewing Ellis Taylor’s Kansas City imprint — from prime Marva Whitney all the way through to Sharon Revoal’s ace, slinky, early-eighties disco-funk.
‘Venomous Tex-Mex R&B and early rock n’roll from San Antonio’s West Side scene. From 1961-67, Bexar county kingmaker Abe Epstein cut every teen combo to grace the Patio Andaluz stage, launching the careers of Doug Sahm, The Royal Jesters, Sonny Ace, The Dreamliners, and hundreds more throughout the decade.’
DJ Richard, Galcher Lustwerk, Young Male and Morgan Louis (not necessarily in that running order).
Twin detournements of Lieber & Stoller.
Hugh Godfrey coolly channels Love Potion No. 9 into a rude boy anthem, with tasty riding-east piano and full-steam-ahead saxophone.
On the flip, Norma Fraser switches the roles of the Big Mama Thornton classic. An erstwhile dawg is played by the singer. The raucous, sexually dismissive wordplay of the original — ‘You can wag your tail / But I ain’t gonna feed you no more’ — is replaced by dignified verses about female independence and resilience.
Killer 45.