Pharoah Sanders

Track: "Japan" (B1)
Album: Tauhid
Format: LP
Label/info: Impulse AS-9128 stereo, 1967. Inspired by the Tokyo concert trip with Coltrane in the summer of '66.

Caught the man himself this summer at the Atlanta Jazz Fest. Still a major musical and spiritual presence.

Clifford Jordan Quartet

Track: “Dear Old Chicago” (A2)
Album: Bearcat
Format: LP
Label/info: OJC-494 reissue. Originally Jazzland LP 69 mono/969 stereo, 1962. Four city cats caught in their prime - with Jordan as the gifted, unsung composer. Clifford Jordan (ts), Cedar Walton (p), Teddy Smith (b), J.C. Moses (d).

Johnny Griffin Quintet

Track: "The Message" (A2)
Album: The Little Giant
Format: LP
Label/info: OJC-136 reissue. Originally Riverside LP 1149 (stereo), 1959.
Every now and then you need a real blowing session to shake the cobwebs from your head and woofers. Johnny Griffin (ts), Blue Mitchell (t), Julian Priester (tb), Wynton Kelly (p), Sam Jones (b), Albert Heath (d).

Archie Shepp

Track: "There is a Balm in Gilead" (B1)
Album: Blasé
Format: LP
Label/Info: BYG Actuel 529.318 - 180 Gram. Recorded in Paris in 1969 with Art Ensemble of Chicago stalwarts. Jeanne Lee on vocals. Truly sublime.

Johnny Hartman

Track: "Charade" (A1)
Album: I Just Dropped By To Say Hello
Format: LP
Label/Info: Impulse! AS-57 (Stereo) 1964. A particularly tasty track featuring guitarist Kenny Burrell. Up there with with the audiophile ear candy of Dusty Springfield's "The Look of Love."