Picks and Misc.
Music truly is the healing force.
Picks
Continuing the epic revival of Rashied Ali’s Survival Records, there are two albums coming out next Friday that I really want to make sure readers are aware of:
First up is an expanded reissue of Ali’s 1976 duo album with Leroy Jenkins, Swift Are the Winds of Life. Jenkins’s violin hasn’t sounded this crisp on a record in a long time, thanks to expert remastering by Joe Lizzi.
Second is Sidewalks In Motions from the 2002 Vision Festival, a quintet featuring Frank Lowe. The session was originally mixed and mastered by Ali himself, and really between that and the presence of Lowe, what else needs to be said about it? Ali has long been one of the most melodic and imaginative drummers, it’s incredible to hear on this session how many new ideas he brings after 30 years on the scene.
After these, I’ll be keeping an eye out for reissues of Moon Flight, which features Charles Eubanks on piano, and New Directions In Modern Music, which I’ve been wanting to hear for forever and which also features Carlos Ward! Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself, more to come if and when those ever (re)appear. Until then, enjoy what we’ve got.
Misc.
If you haven’t seen it yet, I shared some notes about how to help folks recovering from the LA wildfires. Please take a look, they need any and all help to recover.
After reading this (and recommending it to a friend?), step away from the web, close apps, maybe order pizza. We don’t have to bear witness 24/7 to know the things we know; however, we still have to live in this delicate world together.