The first time I heard this record it immediately changed my perception of what jazz could be. It’s free jazz, but instead of throwing structure to the wind it bends style to its will.
The label, Strata East, was founded by two jazz artists and became known as a spiritual jazz institution. They built a home where artists could forget about album sales and industry metrics. The result is the true sound of the artists. Their truth. And it’s beautiful.
The first track, “Prince of Peace,” is one of my all-time favorite songs and it sets the stage for the album perfectly. It starts structured, with a clear message Prince of peace, won’t you hear our pleas? Ring your bells of peace, let loving never cease and from there, Leon Thomas takes the vocals into a scat of tongues that are the natural and inevitable progression of the track. With something this free, nothing can be wrong, and so everything is right.
Revisiting the album after Pharoah Sanders passed away made me sit with it differently. I kept wondering about the sessions that became these recordings. How did he feel to be invited to simply be himself at a place like that? What was it like to take part in the musical rituals that conjured this album into existence?
If you see this one, it’s a must-have.
• Released 1973 on Strata East
Review by: Def Wax
Def Wax 