Rabshakeh

Interesting. What's this like? I've seen Pat Thomas gigging around North London quite a few times and I really like his playing, but I don't know him as a leader at all.

Thank you. Good to hear it - I was getting worried that that would be it. I've been mining the last few months for new recommendations as well as listening ideas for old friends. It's a really fantastic resource that you are creating.

Mort à Credit by Kaoru Abe

Always underrated. It's got a great, very full, sound for an album from the early 80s. Pullen is good on it too.

I finally got to these today. Love them. I'm surprised (not sure why) at just how gutsy they both sound, compared to Mokujiki or other Japanese records at the time by artists who I know better like Abe or Togashi. Also, Yamashita seems, to my ears, to have quite an original piano style - less like Cecil Taylor and Don Pullen and closer to classic energy music type as played on the saxophone. That might just be me, though.

Thumbs up for Blues for Walls from me too. I like it almost as much as Red Clay.

What is this? An early version of Plus 4?

I've really been enjoying this blog. Old friends and new acquaintances.

Thanks both. Mokujiki is the only album of his with which I am familiar, so I'll definitely nose these out.

Murray? He’s technically a “Sunny” but you see it spelt with an “o” sometimes (e.g., “Sonny’s Time Now”).

I will check it out. I have been meaning to look into Yamashita.

That cover is haunting my dreams.

Thanks. I’m just a bit surprised that there’s Coltrane out there of this quality that hasn’t got a widespread release, or even much publicity.

In an old thread here, there was a reference to an album by John Coltrane called "Creation" of which I have never heard, but which is described in the thread as being something that was passed around between those in the know in the early 80s, and which influenced Marsalis and co. I've listened to a bit of the album online and it is quite something. The sound quality is iffy but it has a burning intensity to the soloing. Plus, it is Coltrane with his classic quartet. Despite all that, it seems to have almost no presence online, other than a rather uninformative wikipedia page. What it this album, and why is it referenced so little? Is it a bootleg?

And a great album

I really like it. From the late 70s but with a definite early AACM feel (lots bells / percussions etc, and good attention to dynamics). It's a double LP. I hadn't heard of Calypso's Smile but I'll check it out. The cover is... interesting.

Egwu-Anwu (Sun Song) by Joseph Jarman and Famoudou Don Moye.

I have to say, none of them were on my radar either. I've been listening to the Michael Portal which is great. Looking forward to chomping through the rest, but any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated. One strange effect of lists of "most obscure artists" like these is that they change who is actually obscure. A fair number of Thurston Moore's are now reissued (BAG, Nipples, Duo Exchange) and more easily available than some more prominent artists.

It looks like in the years since this thread was first active a few people have taken up your suggestion. Here are two: one from a blog called “The Hum” and one from an online magazine called FACT. https://blogthehum.com/2018/07/24/the-hums-top-ten-from-the-free-jazz-underground-sixteen-masterpieces-missed-by-thurston-moore/ https://www.factmag.com/2015/03/11/20-private-press-free-jazz/ The Hum one is a direct response to Thurston Moore’s list and for some reason seems at times to be attempting the same sort of Hunter S. Pseudoscenester style, although it isn't so full on. The FACT one looks like a more interesting selection, and is generally more sober and informative. There are some great records on both. Many that I didn’t know about before reading. I’d really like to hear any thoughts people on the forum have about them. Also, there was talk about people’s own lists. If anyone has one or wants to have a go at doing one I’d love to see it. Even with the luxury of a whole three lists out there on the internet, this isn’t an easy type of music to find out about. Given the depth of knowledge (and, in some cases, personal involvement at the time) of people on this forum, i think it would be really worth it.

Thanks. I'd definitely be interested in that or any other reissues of its ilk (still waiting for the Black Unity Trio reissue which is meant to be materialising).

Afro Temple by Sabu Martinez

Actually, I don't think he needed any help with puns, given album titles like Et Tu, Flute? and Great Ideas of Western Mann.

Was the title “The Descent of Mann” already taken?!

The bossa thread elsewhere on this forum mentions a Herbie Mann album that I hadn't previously picked up called "Brazil, Bossanova and the Blues". I've really enjoyed it - a mix of Brazilian styles (not really all bossa) with flute and percussion. Other than that, I have never been a huge fan, but his music has followed me around. My father and aunt both talked about him a lot for some reason and, as I used to play the flute myself, Village Gate was one of the first jazz records I bought. It seems like he might have had a much larger presence in the jazz world at the time and to have faded from prominence a bit since then.