Black Unity is a composition and album by jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, recorded and released in late 1971. The whole album consists of a single thirty-seven-minute track, which was described by critic Joe S. Harrington as "an exercise in sustained harmonic groove that cannot be beaten" when he listed it at #38 on his Top 100 Albums. The compact disc reissue of 1997 unites the two parts as a single track, timed at 37:21.
Philly Jazz was a small jazz record label in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Byard Lancaster was an avant-garde jazz saxophonist and flutist.
Odean Pope is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
James Roland "J. R." Mitchell was an American jazz drummer and educator who sought to promote awareness of the African American music experience. In the early 1980s, jazz journalist and Washington Post music critic W. Royal Stokes wrote, "J. R. Mitchell is the renaissance man of jazz."
Khan Jamal, born Warren Robert Cheeseboro, was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. He founded the band Sounds of Liberation in 1970. He was described by Ron Wynn as "a proficient soloist when playing free material, jazz-rock and fusion, hard bop, or bluesy fare."
Relativity Suite is a free-jazz LP by Don Cherry on Jazz Composer's Orchestra Records which was released in 1973.
Monnette Sudler was an American jazz guitarist from Philadelphia.
Trance is an album by American jazz pianist and composer Steve Kuhn recorded in 1974 and released on the ECM label.
It's Not Up to Us is the debut album by saxophonist/flautist Byard Lancaster released in 1968 on the Vortex label, an Atlantic subsidiary.
Live at Macalester College is a live album by saxophonist/flautist Byard Lancaster and drummer J. R. Mitchell originally released in 1972 on the Dogtown label and rereleased in 2008 on CD by Porter Records.
Sounds of Liberation was an American jazz collective formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the early 1970s. They got their start in the progressive neighborhood of Germantown, Philadelphia. The band had close ties to the Black Arts Movement of the time, using their music to help spark social activism, with tremendous impact on the African American and jazz community in Philadelphia.
An Even Break (Never Give a Sucker) is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in November 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is joined by saxophonists Byard Lancaster and Kenneth Terroade, and bassist Malachi Favors.
Live at Vision Festival is a live album by the Stone Quartet: bassist Joëlle Léandre, trumpeter Roy Campbell, pianist Marilyn Crispell, and violist Mat Maneri. It was recorded in June 2010 at the Vision Festival held at the Abrons Arts Center in New York City, and was released in 2011 by Ayler Records.
Cherry Jam is a four-track extended play by trumpeter Don Cherry. It was recorded in October 1965 in Copenhagen for radio broadcast by Danmarks Radio, and was released by Gearbox Records as part of Record Store Day 2020. On the album, Cherry is joined by four local musicians: saxophonist Mogens Bollerup, pianist Atli Bjørn, bassist Benny Nielsen, and drummer Simon Koppel. Cherry Jam helps to document the gap between Togetherness, recorded in the spring and summer of 1965 and released in 1966, and Complete Communion, recorded in December 1965 and released in 1966, and shows him in the midst of a transition from a sideman in the free jazz scene to a leader of his own bands.
Om Shanti Om is a live album by multi-instrumentalist Don Cherry. It was recorded in 1976 at RAI Studios in Rome, Italy, for television broadcast, and was released in 2020 by Black Sweat Records. On the album, Cherry is heard on pocket trumpet, ngoni, kora, and flute, and is joined by Naná Vasconcelos on berimbau, Gian Piero Pramaggiore on guitar, and his wife Moki Cherry on tambura.
Drum Dance to the Motherland is a live album by jazz vibraphonist and marimba player Khan Jamal, his debut as a leader. It was recorded on October 7, 1972, at the Catacombs Club in Philadelphia, and was initially released on LP by Dogtown Records in 1973. It was reissued on CD in remastered form by Eremite Records in 2006, and on LP in 2017. On the album, Jamal is joined by members of his Creative Art Ensemble: guitarist Monnette Sudler, bassist Billy Mills, percussionists Dwight James and Alex Ellison, and electronic musician Mario Falgna.
Muntu Recordings is a three-CD box-set compilation album by alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc and the ensemble known as Muntu. Disc 1 restores to circulation the group's debut album First Feeding, recorded in a New York City studio in 1977, and originally issued on vinyl that year by Moondoc's Muntu Records as the label's inaugural release. On First Feeding, Moondoc is joined by trumpeter Arthur Williams, pianist Mark Hennen, double bassist William Parker, and drummer Rashid Bakr. Disc 2 is a reissue of Muntu's second recording The Evening of the Blue Men, recorded live at St. Mark's Church in New York City in 1979, and originally issued on vinyl that year as the Muntu label's second and final release. On this recording, Moondoc is accompanied by trumpeter Roy Campbell, double bassist Parker, and drummer Bakr. Disc 3 is a previously unissued 1975 live recording from Ali's Alley in New York City featuring Moondoc, Parker, and Bakr. Muntu Recordings, released in 2009 by NoBusiness Records, also includes a 115-page book containing essays, photographs, and a complete Muntu sessionography.
Music Delivery/Percussion is a solo album by percussionist Andrew Cyrille. It was recorded on January 17 and 18, 2022, at Sound On Sound Recording in Montclair, New Jersey, and was released in 2023 by Intakt Records.
Unreleased is a live album by the Philadelphia-based jazz collective Sounds of Liberation. It was recorded during 1973 at Columbia University in New York City, and was initially released in 2018 in very limited quantities by Dogtown Records in conjunction with the Brewerytown Beats record store, after which it was made available with broader distribution the following year by both Dogtown and the Corbett vs. Dempsey label. The recording, which was thought to have been lost, features vibraphonist and band leader Khan Jamal, saxophonist Byard Lancaster, guitarist Monnette Sudler, electric bassist Billy Mills, drummer Dwight James, conga player Rashid Salim, and percussionist Omar Hill.
