Jack is also on Corea’s The Sun, which is a little more concise. Is feels more like a search down various tributaries, which is interesting even if not all of those tributaries bear obvious fruit.

The Miroslav Vitous version comes to mind. There's some aggressively angular playing from John McLaughlin partway through. It's definitely in a post-Miles vein, but it threads the needle between fusion and modal/quasi-free jazz quite nicely:  And then there's this version by the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, which is squarely free funk territory. I love the surrealist solos superimposed over the (very insistent) groove:  

Yeah, Jacknife is the one I go to after the Moncur/Hutcherson groups. It's very early for DeJohnette, but his playing animates what might have otherwise been a routine session.  I like the "Is" Sessions double CD, too. The music seems to occupy a midway point between the Lost Quintet and Circle. The energy is off the charts, even if the improvisations can feel a little incoherent at times. IMO the real knock on the recording is that the music lacks a guiding voice - there's no Miles to editorialize the rambling or a Cecil or Braxton to give the freedom explicit direction. It's a transitional moment for virtually everyone involved. 

I have been listening to the original version of Eddie Harris’s “Freedom Jazz Dance” (from The In Sound) and am struck by how much its popularity in more avant-garde circles was already baked in to the original.  Yes the beat is very “soul jazz”, but the melody is pretty angular and syncopated, not your stereotypical populist pitch. I think of the Davis version and its offspring as just taking what’s implied in the original and taking it to its obvious conclusion. Did anybody ever record a version that combines an avant-garde vibe with the soul jazz (or even funk/rock) rhythmic approach?

I put together a simplified mini-discography of Stitt's recordings with organ—both leader and sideman dates, studio and live. Here's what I came up with. Please post corrections/additions. (1961-1971 is a guidepost. There might be sessions outside this decade.) Thanks!   Sonny Stitt Organ Dates 1961-1971 1.                  At The DJ Lounge                  6/--/61         Argo 2.                 ‘Nuther Fu’ther                      2/16/62         Prestige 3.                 Boss Tenors In Orbit!            2/18/62         Verve 4.                 Soul Summit                          2/19/62         Prestige 5.                 Low Flame                              4/4/62         Jazzland 6.                 Feelin’s                                   4/--/62         Roost 7.                  My Mother’s Eyes                  5/--/63         Pacific Jazz 8.                 Move On Over                        6/17/63         Argo 9.                 Soul Shack                             9/17/63         Prestige 10.               My Main Man                         3/10/64         Argo 11.                Shangri-La                             3/19/64         Prestige 12.               Soul People                            8/25/64        Prestige 13.               Night Crawler                         9/21/65         Prestige 14.               Made For Each Other            7/13/68          Delmark 15.               The Boss Men                      12/28/65         Prestige 16.               Soul In The Night                  4/15/66          Cadet 17.                Deuces Wild                           9/11/66         Atlantic 18.               What’s New!!!                             1966          Roulette 19.               Parallel-A-Stitt                            1967          Roulette 20.              Soul Electricity!                      9/23/68         Prestige 21.               Funk You!                               9/24/68         Prestige 22.              Donny Brook                          9/15/69          Prestige 23.              Brothers-4                              9/15/69         Prestige 24.              Night Letter                          10/27/69         Prestige 25.              It’s Magic                                1969              Delmark 26.              Turn It On!                             1/4/71              Prestige 27.               You Talk That Talk!               2/8/71             Prestige 28.              Just The Way It Was              3/21/71           Label M 29.              Black Vibrations                    7/9/71             Prestige   'Nuther Fu'ther was originally titled Stitt Meets Brother Jack. I left out Patterson's People because (if I'm not mistaken) the two tracks with Stitt are actually part of the Shangri-La session. Lastly, what are your favorites from this bunch?