The Purple Principles, No.#5

The Soul Experience
Friday, August 26, 2011
For W, Diff & for Dad (R.I.P.)

The latest addition to the ongoing BWBW Purple Principles series. A total of 10 volumes in all --- 5 focusing on Prince's rock oriented material called 'The Power Experience,' and 5 very sweet collections of his 'slow jams' appropriately entitled 'The Soul Experience.'
His Purpleness has done a very good job of confusing much of his fan base over the years with his chameleon-like persona, while alternately alienating others with his erratic behaviour and eccentricities. The remainder of us are merely overwhelmed by the seemingly endless reservoir of material that finds its way out of Paisley Park in Minneapolis. As a result, Prince's on-going brilliance has often been lost on those who haven't had the patience to stand by their man. But there's no denying that his talent remains unabated and as powerful as ever. There also remain many reasons why Prince should still be considered as a leading member of the Royal Family. Several of them are contained in the set below and the others can be found here within the Purple Principles.

The Soul Experience, Vol.2 of 5

1) NPG Operator
2) La La La (Means I Love U)
3) Courtin' Time
4) Sarah
5) One Kiss At A Time
6) NPG Operator
7) When The Lights Go Down
8) Extraordinary
9) Soul Sanctuary
10) Saviour
11) NPG Operator
12) I Hate U
13) NPG Operator
14) Sign 'O' The Times
15) Slow Love
16) Come
17) NPG Operator
18) The Plan
19) I Love U, But I Don't Trust U Anymore

The Consumate Sideman

Here's another one from the past. May 2009 in fact. Why all the reruns? Well, it's not because I'm lazy or anything. It's just that... uh... mmm... O.K., I'm lazy. I admit it. But it's summertime here in the Northern Hemisphere, so give me a break. Who really wants to spend the summer months sitting in front of a computer? Not me. Besides, this gives you an opportunity to explore the BWBW archives without having to do any of the work. So don't say I never did you any favors.

This re-post concerns a talented musician and educator who's been vital and long time mainstay of the Bay Area jazz scene. He's also a gentleman to boot and he deserves your attention. Read on my friend...

The Remarkable Drumming Of
Eddie Marshall
Friday, August 19, 2011

Update: Eddie sadly passed away on September 07, 2011

Eddie Marshall is perhaps one of the most talented, yet under recorded artists in the jazz idiom today. As both a drummer and a composer, his tasteful rhythmic support and compositional skills have been criminally underutilized on disc, leaving him adrift in a medium that could sorely benefit from having a complete musician of his caliber and refined taste. His standing may be a result of his own modest, laid back personality which shows no use for 'stardom,' but perhaps more so because of his insistence on remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area where despite the presence of Fantasy Studios, is not presently a recording center for the industry. But this is not to imply that Marshall is necessarily underemployed mind you. Not by any stretch of the imagination. He continues to lend his talents to many diverse and far reaching projects, while also spreading the wealth by teaching jazz music to a new generation of young adults and children, a passion he's embraced from early on in his career. Yet when it comes to a recorded legacy, his footprint while impressive, remains a relatively negligible one.

For nearly fifty years now, Marshall has done his bit to keep the jazz flame alive west of the Mississippi River. One of the true guardians of Bay Area jazz, Eddie has not only been a consistent force, but a welcomed presence in the local scene despite his self-effacing claim that he's "just a drummer who has played with quite a lot of jazz celebrities." Humility aside, there is a certain amount of truth in that statement however. For instance, in the 1970's when he was the house drummer at the defunct, Keystone Korner, he supplied tasteful accompaniment for the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Dexter Gordon, Charlie Mariano, Sam Rivers, Eddie Harris, and many, many others. He's also held a long standing musical camaraderie with Toshiko Akiyoshi, as well as a more than satisfying working relationship with Bobby Hutcherson, Bobby McFerrin, and the late, Stan Getz. On disc, he can be heard with diverse artists such as John Handy, Kenny Burrell, Archie Shepp, Ahmad Jamal, John Klemmer, and even The Pointer Sisters. It's an impressive resume all around, yet the mention of his name outside of jazz circles just might raise a question mark in the form of a blank stare.

Outside of the late Billy Higgins, Marshall is easily among the most tasteful drummers that any band leader could ever desire. Never a showman, Eddie is a presence that is almost felt rather than heard. His subtle rhythmic propulsion is the glue that holds the music together, there to support the soloists with a solid foundation of swing without ever stepping on their toes. Yet when he is called into the spotlight, he is more than capable of delivering the goods, sending it Federal Express and wrapped with a stylish bow on top. Any band player can tell you that if the drummer is off, the entire feel is lost and muddled. Eddie Marshall is never off. He is a consummate sideman, there when you need him with encouragement and support like he's your best friend in the world. It's no wonder then that he is in continual demand by many of the greatest players in jazz today from Marlena Shaw to Cedar Walton, Charles Llyod, Julian Priester, and others.

Among his finest recorded moments in my opinion, are those with vibraphonist, Bobby Hutcherson. Marshall was a member of Hutcherson's working and recording band through a particularly rewarding period in the latter's career, and Hutch in turn lent his talents to Eddie's first of only two recordings as a leader, the delightful 'Dance Of The Sun,' which was released in 1979. Before this fruitful association, Marshall was perhaps best known as a co-founder of the seminal fusion group, The Fourth Way along with Mike Nock, Michael White, and Ron McClure, an underrated band that never attained the commercial success of their electrified counterparts. Both ensembles represent the most enduring and best documented of Marshall's recorded output, and both are featured extensively in the mixes below with each set showcasing the two bands separately. But the centerpiece (in addition to his most excellent playing) is really Marshall's own compositions. It's unusual for a drummer to compose pieces of such sophistication, yet Marshall (who possesses formal training) is an accomplished writer whose works are simply superb, and truly deserving of greater acclaim. These pieces are marked with an asterisk for easy identification. The tracks in the first set are all from Marshall's work with Hutcherson, both as a leader and as a sideman. The second set features Marshall's contributions to The Mike Nock Underground and to The Fourth Way when he was a member of that band. It should be noted that Eddie also recorded Almanac with Nock, along with Bennie Maupin and Cecil McBee, but the recording is currently out of print, and unfortunately not in my collection. In time, Marshall eventually released his second date as a leader in 1999, a mere 20 years after the first with 'Holy Mischief.' Although I don't possess a copy of this either, I have heard it and can testify to it's greatness, and I would highly recommend your seeking it out. Copies can be purchased directly from Eddie at his website.

In writing this, it has brought to mind for me just how much of a likable and deserving guy Eddie Marshall really is. And upon listening once again to the conversation that we recorded many years ago, I am also reminded of his openness, as well as his taste for adventure by placing himself in new musical situations and surroundings. To keep himself fresh, Marshall has involved himself over the years in desperate projects from funk to theater, classical to rhythm and blues, and even a stab at punk rock as he comically describes in the interview below. One of the tastiest drummers in music today, allow me to present to you the many talents of Eddie Marshall.

Eddie Marshall I

1.) The High Priestess Of Gone*
2.) The Stroll*
3.) Dannielle*
4.) But I Refuse To Come Down*
5.) Andre*
Taken from 'Dance Of The Sun' with Eddie Marshall as leader

6.) Why Not
7.) Little B's Poem
8.) 'Til Then
9.) Houston St., Thursday Afternoon
10.) Waiting

Taken from Bobby Hutcherson dates with Bobby as leader and featuring Eddie Marshall


Eddie Marshall II

1.) Every Man's Your Brother
2.) Sparky
3.) Bucklehuggin'
4.) Openings
5.) Gemini
Taken from Fourth Way dates, a collective with Mike Nock, Michael White, Ron McClure and Eddie Marshall

6.) Mechanical Man
7.) The Sybil
8.) Sun And Moon Have Come Together
9.) Blues My Mind
10.) Farewell, Goodbye
11) Skiffling
12) Strange Love
13) Wax Planet
14) Hobgoblin

Taken from The Mike Nock Underground featuring Eddie Marshall

The Eddie Marshall Interview



Source material for 'Eddie Marshall I' comes from the following:
Dance Of The Sun/Eddie Marshall (1979)
Knucklebean/Bobby Hutcherson (1978)
The View From The Inside/Bobby Hutcherson (1977)
Waiting/Bobby Hutcherson (1976)

Source material for 'Eddie Marshall II' comes from the followings:
The Fourth Way/The Fourth Way (1969)
Sun And Moon Have Come Together/The Fourth Way (1970)
Between Or Beyond/The Mike Nock Underground (1970)


For more info on Eddie Marshall, please visit his website.

The Doctor Feels Your Groove

This one from the archives goes way back in time. It concerns a guy whose music and intellect I hold in high regard, and I'd would suggest your become familiar with him, if you're not already. The music in the mix comes from several of his earlier recordings. After these gems, he kinda' slipped into 'smooth jazz' territory, a neighborhood where you'd be hard pressed to ever find me. But even those recordings offer intelligence and solid song craft, unfortunately they're just dressed up a little too slick for my tastes. But these tunes, from these LP's... they're simply top drawer.


The Deceptively Casual Music Of
Ben Sidran
Friday, August 12, 2011


Ben Sidran, like Joe Boyd and Todd Rundgren, both of whom have previously been featured in these pages is another artist who possesses a long and impressive resume of accomplishments and successes. Of the three, Rundgren stands out as the most visible, largely due to his status as a 'rock star.' Producer Boyd on the other hand, places a solid second in this hierarchy. Although his work has largely been carried out behind the scenes and out of the limelight, the stature of that handy work has made him appear very much like a 'rock star.' And then there is Ben Sidran who like Rundgren, straddles both arenas -- the performer who graces the stage, and the mysterious man behind curtain who pulls the strings to make magic for others. The difference between them is that Sidran works in the less glamorous jazz idiom, making him relatively invisible to the public at large, though no less masterful. All three are Renaissance men, each and every one. And if they were of a corporate mind set rather than creative, I'm certain they could easily add 'Captain of Industry' to their CV's as well. Fortunately however, their hearts do lay in the art of making music over the quest for making money -- the redeeming quality that humanizes them all and keeps them real. So as one who has always considered himself an underachiever, why am I then so drawn to these three men and their work, particularly when their paths have been so different from my own? Well, number one -- they're fascinating individuals. Intelligent, articulate, forward thinking men with interesting ideas and much to share. Number two -- I applaud their accomplishments. Each is multi-talented and has successfully managed to carve out a personal niche for themselves within an industry that is notoriously cutthroat and underhanded. In my encounters with all three, I marvel at how differently we see the world and perceive our places within it. I admire their talent, drive and tenacity, despite my not taking anything away from those encounters that I would ever risk applying to my own life (which is precisely why I'm an underachiever!). Number three -- I like their music. Boyd, as a friend recently said, has produced some of the "most revered recordings in my collection," a sentiment I strongly echo. Rundgren, for whom I additionally hold in high esteem, created a particular suite of music that touched me so deeply on a visceral level that it actually felt as though he had been reading my mail. As for Sidran? Well, he's an enigma, a riddle that intrigues me. He's the 'thinking mans' jazz musician. A University of Sussex scholar who despite his extraordinary intellect is still able get down to the real nitty gritty and make some genuinely soulful and funky music. And you know what? He also happens to be an extremely nice, down-to-earth guy.

So who is Ben Sidran? Or perhaps more precisely, what is Ben Sidran? Well, he's a singer, a songwriter, a record producer and a session player. He's also an educator and an author having written several books. He holds a PhD. in Philosophy, and is a Minerva Award winner from the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. He has been a NPR Radio host, a television host and television producer, the latter of which won him a Peabody Award. Remarkably, he's also been married to the same woman for over 45 years, and happens to be one hell of a piano player too! Wow! Ben Sidran is in many ways the 21st Century personification of the well rounded individual. A multi-talented man with a thirst for new experiences, and who from an early age consciously decided to take control of his destiny and live life to it's fullest, seizing opportunities along the way and running with them.

Of course, a certain degree of self-confidence and drive are necessary to successfully negotiate a career that reads like a road map. "Host a radio show? Yeah, why not?" "Sit in with the Stones next Thursday night? Well, let's see, I have a lecture to attend that evening. Oh, they don't need me until midnight! Well then, yeah sure, why not!?" But these opportunities didn't just drop into his lap. No one's life rolls that easy. Many are a result of his determination and charming personality, but many more come from his proven track record for tasteful results in the projects with which he's been involved. Those projects include producing the likes of Paul Pena, The Steve Miller Band, Tony Williams, Jon Hendricks, Richie Cole, Sylvester, Mose Allison, Van Morrison, Diana Ross, Chico Hamilton, Johnny Griffin, and Georgie Fame (a partial list). He's also contributed his musical talents to records by Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Jesse Ed Davis, Gene Clark, Boz Scaggs, and most extensively, Steve Miller, his once frequent collaborator (during Miller's earlier, more rewarding recordings). Sidran has additionally hosted two popular NPR Radio programs, 'Jazz Alive' and 'Sidran on Record,' another award winner. There was also his 3 year run on VH-1 with 'New Visions.' In perhaps his most unusual television gig, he hosted a local late night 'Creature Feature' program with a twist. He screened only Bogart and Cagney movies with no commercial interruption. But before hand, he conducted interviews with a variety of guests from McCoy Tyner and Dan Hicks, to Jane Fonda and Swami Rama. And do you know what makes all of these accomplishments that much more remarkable? He has effectively managed to balance all of the aforementioned roles from the most unlikely of localities, Madison, Wisconsin! Wow, again!

Madison is hardly the center of the world and as a result, Sidran remains far from being a household name. But Wisconsin is home for Sidran and his family, and it serves him well in his desire to remain a low-key but influential figure in the music industry. His recordings are not big sellers, but they are testament to his stature among his peers. Check out the roster of players who have contributed their talents to his discography:

Drummers
Tony Williams, Charlie Watts, Peter Erskine, Clyde Stubblefield,
Jim Keltner, Steve Gadd and John Guerin
Bassists
Richard Davis, Phil Upchurch, Eddie Gomez, Chuck Domanico,
Marcus Miller and Abe Laboriel
Guitarists
Larry Carlton, Steve Khan, Peter Frampton, Curley Cooke, Jesse Ed Davis,
Steve Miller, Lee Ritenour and Boz Scaggs
Horn Players
Blue Mitchell, Joe Henderson, Pepper Adams, Frank Rosolino, Richie Cole,
Phil Woods, Michael Brecker,Woody Shaw, David 'Fathead' Newman,
Pete Christlieb, Tom Harrell, Roscoe Mitchell, Bobby Malach,
Frank Morgan and Randy Brecker
Misc
Richard Tee, Mike Mainieri, Mac Rebennack,
and various former members of The Steve Miller Band

And his music? Well, much like his personality, it's casual, but deceptively so. It's melodic, unhurried and relaxed for the most part, but it's not what you'd call 'laid-back' either because it does swing, and it does shuffle but it never shrieks. His songs are built around easygoing grooves that are simultaneously funky and lowdown, vacillating between the upbeat and the bopish, aptly reflecting his positive energy and optimistic outlook. But to add balance, Sidran injects some wonderful medium tempo numbers into the mix, which are quite clearly where his strengths lay --- where he truly delivers --- not only as a songwriter, but also as a conveyor. Harboring a talent for rueful saloon tunes and unrequested songs of unrequited love, he sings melancholic hard luck tales of woe, busted hearts, and 'if only' scenarios. But rather than presenting the stories as though seen through the bottom of a shot glass, he imparts them with just a dash of self deprecating humor, redirecting the outlook to something less cynical and more hopeful. Laughing at the bad in order to see the good, as it were. It's an effective manipulation of form, and one at which he excels. It's also very clever because it warms you to him as a trusted ally. Once you're drawn in, you can't help but like him because despite his intellect, despite his achievements, despite his charisma, in the end you accept him as just a regular guy, not so different from the stranger sitting next to you at the bar.

The recordings from which I drew for this music mix are all out-of-print domestically, although they are available as Japanese imports. The remainder of Sidran's catalog however, can still be readily found through the usual sources.

The Doctor Feels Your Groove

1) Walkin' With The Blues
2) Full Compass
3) Play The Piano
4) Think Twice
5) Have You Heard The News
6) Broad Daylight
7) Nobody's Fool
8) Charlie's Blues
9) Set Yourself Free
10) Let's Make A Deal
11) Minority
12) Lust
13) Back Down On State St.
14) It Don't Pay To Worry Like That
15) When A Woman Says She's Ready
16) That's Life, I Guess
17) Doin' You
18) House Of Blue Lites
19) Ben Sidran's Midnight Tango
20) The Chicken Glide
21) She's Funny That Way

I've also condensed an hour long interview that I conducted with Sidran for the KRE program, 'The Sound Of The Bay' which I've previously described in the 'The Jazz/Rock Fusion And Burning Soul Of Brian Auger.' It's been whittled down to a more manageable length, eliminating my questions and leaving Ben to speak for himself. I can briefly be heard at one point, sounding all of 14 years old. People often say it's embarrassing to hear their recorded voices. Try hearing it with roughly 33 years of bad road between then and now.

'Sidran Speaks'

For more information on Ben, his history and his music, visit his website

4 x 1 (From 3)

In The Long Form
Marion Brown/Red Clay And Cottonwood

Friday, August 05, 2011


'Four by One' by Jackson Pollack

No.#7 in a series

It's been awhile since the last entry in 'The Long Form' series. Twenty one months to be exact. Nearly two years. With that in mind, I thought now might be a good time to revive it and in doing so, also pay tribute to one of America's most neglected jazz musicians of the 20th Century, the late Marion Brown (1931-2010).

I only just became aware of Brown's death in recent weeks when in fact, he passed away nearly a year ago in October of 2010 after a long illness. But if you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll recall that I had some major distractions in my life around that time that no doubt prevented me from learning the news when it happened. That saddens me because I always admired Brown's work, and it just goes to show that even in death, many deserving souls continue to get passed over, and Brown was one of them. Apparently his demise didn't warrant a mention in the questionable newspapers that I was reading at the time.

To lend credence to this oversight, here's what writer John J. Emerson says about him, augmented by revisions of my own (in parentheses):

"Marion Brown (was perhaps) the most overlooked musician of our time, (and it's a crime that) some of his very best work remains out of print and almost completely unavailable today.

As a person, Brown (was) reserved and undramatic, and (throughout the years) all the trends have worked against him. He (first) made a name for himself in the most extreme 1960s avant-garde music community (playing alongside Archie Shepp and on John Coltrane's 'Ascension'), but he never (gained the same level of recognition of his contemporaries). (Unlike them, Brown was more understated, relying on the carefully chosen phrase, on clear motivic development rather than the pure sound/smear/scream tactic.) After ('The New Thing') collapsed in the 1970's, his avant-garde reputation (seemingly) did him more harm than good. Furthermore, his bucolic 'Georgia Trilogy' (tone poems based on the poetry of Jean Toomer),* weren't a good fit with the urban avant-garde scene that did survive. He (was) able to continue playing and recording in Europe and elsewhere, as well as teaching music at the college level, but he never received (the acknowledgment he so justly deserved). Although the first in his trilogy, 'Afternoon Of A Georgia Fawn' is now back print, the other two thirds (controlled by Impulse/Verve) have not only been long out of print, but were never even re-released digitally for the CD age."

*The trilogy includes 'Afternoon Of A Georgia Fawn,' 'Geechee Recollections' and 'Sweet Earth Flying.' Brown's 'November Cotton Flower' released in 1980 might also be considered as part of the 'trilogy' since it too is based on Georgian memories, but it is not generally considered a element in the trilogy. Brian Olewnick of AMG however does call the recording the "concluding volume." But then it would be a 'quartet,' wouldn't it?

Author Aldon Lynne Nielson discusses Brown's 'Georgia Trilogy' in his 1977 book, 'Black Chant: Languages of African-American Postmodernism':

"Marion Brown's best-known and most significant work is a series of recordings made between 1970 and 1974 and collectively known as the 'Georgia Trilogy.' Jean Toomer's 'Cane' is the central impetus for the trilogy and is directly invoked in the second of the works ('Geechee Recollections'), but the 'Georgia Trilogy' is not, strictly speaking, about Toomer and his work, nor is it limited to an aural tour of Georgia. As J.B. Fiji puts it, "Georgia is Marion's corridor to Africa." For Toomer, the Georgia turnpike that runs as a symbol through the locale of his stories and poems grows out of a goat path in Africa. For Brown, Toomer's poetic text was a path into his own past and into the cultural past of his race. Following an extended period in Europe, Brown and his wife spent a season in Atlanta, and the music of the 'Georgia Trilogy' grew out of Brown's return to the ground of his childhood and his meditations upon Toomer's poems of Georgia past.

Appropriately enough, the only overt reference to Toomer and 'Cane' appears in the centerpiece of the 'Georgia Trilogy,' 'Geechee Recollections.' The first record of the trilogy, 'Afternoon Of A Georgia Fawn' make no specific allusions to Toomer at all, and yet is motivated from start to finish by Brown's ongoing conversation with his literary and musical modernist predecessors. Like the works of such late nineteenth-century composers as Debussy, Brown's 'Afternoon Of A Georgia Fawn' is a "tone poem," as Brown says in his own description that accompanies the recording. With the use percussion on traditional instruments of the Akan peoples of Ghana, "It depicts nature and the environment in Atlanta. The vocalists sing wordless syllables. The composition begins with a percussion section that suggests rain drops --- wooden rain drops. The second section is after the rain --- metallic sounds that suggest night."

Like so many of his contemporaries, (Brown) uncovered the Africanity of modernist art and at the same time reasserted the modernity of black Americans."

David Grundy from EarTrip Magazine weighs in further from his essay, 'A Man Walking Into The Future Backwards: Marion Brown, The American South, And 'Afternoon Of A Georgia Fawn':

"It’s worth examining ‘Faun’ in depth: the most experimental of Brown’s works, it is also one of the richest in terms of its conceptual underpinnings. Indeed, an entire book, entitled ‘Afternoon of a Georgia Faun – Views and Reviews’, was dedicated to the album and published in 1973. Brown was not simply ‘making a record’, ‘laying down a few tunes’ for jukebox airplay: these were lengthy soundscapes for which the term ‘jazz’ seemed out-dated. They might not have existed without jazz, but they could not be constrained by the word, by the label ‘jazz’, or, at least, by the way in which critics and listeners sought to use that label in order to enforce and constraint a certain fixed idea of the music. Instead, things mix and merge, like the ‘eight-hour dialogues’ Brown remembers having with his fellow musicians, in which “stories go in and out of each other like Bach’s counterpoint.” Dialogue and the sounded voice turn out to be particularly apposite on ‘Faun’ – while the spoken word itself would not appear until Bill Hasson’s recitations (featured only briefly) on the following two albums in the ‘Georgia Trilogy’, the vocalizations of Jeanne Lee and Gayle Palmoré do function as a kind of wordless prelude to those recitations; once more that merging, that suggestive blurring of boundaries, between voice and instrument, between speech and music. Between ‘professional’ and ‘amateur’ musicians too: The main band of six instrumentalists is supplemented by a team of three ‘assistants’ who use various percussive devices and implements, some of them invented by Brown. While Andrew Cyrille, Anthony Braxton, Bennie Maupin, Chick Corea and Jack Gregg, can all be considered virtuoso practitioners of their respective instruments, here their sonic status is often the same as that of performers who might not even be considered ‘musicians’ in the normal sense: a democratic, if not communistic, openness. For Brown, this is an affirmation of the value of improvisation as the equal of composition: unlike composition, it allows anyone to communicate and jointly participate in a musical experience. Furthermore, as Brown hints when he talks about “mutual cooperation at a folk level,” the ‘open’ approach finds ‘avant-garde’ music coming to resemble a kind of imagined folk-music, very different in sound to the traditional folk melodies heard in West Africa, or Georgia, or New York City, where the album was recorded, but possessing a similarly radical means of making. From the liner notes: “Although I am responsible for initiating the music, I take no credit for the results. Whatever they may be, it goes to the musicians collectively.”

'Afternoon of a Georgia Fawn' by Michael Kelly Williams

As for 'The Long Form,' here's a short reminder of its simple premise --- to feature extended musical performances from any number of genres that all exceed 10 minutes in length while remaining relevant, focused and engaging. Sounds simple enough, but unfortunately that isn't always the case. No.#7 in this series features four individual suites composed and performed by Marion Brown which were taken from each of the 'Georgia Trilogy' recordings, hence the title --- '4 x 1 (From 3) In The Long Form.'

4 x 1 (From 3) In The Long Form

1) The Tokalokaloka Suite
(from 'Geechee Recollections'/Impulse Records/1973)
a) Introduction (Solo Improvisation By Marion Brown)
b) Tokalokaloka, Part One
c) Tokalokaloka, Part Two
d) Tokalokaloka, Part Three
e) Ending (Solo Improvisation By Leo Smith)

Marion Brown (as, ss, cl, per) Leo Smith (brass, strings, per)
William Malone (thumb p, autoharp) James Jefferson (b, cello, per)
Steve McCall (d, per) A. Kobena Adzenyah (d, African per)
Jumma Santos (cga, misc. inst.) Bill Hasson (per)

2) Afternoon Of A Georgia Fawn
(from 'Afternoon Of A Georgia Fawn'/ECM Records/1970)

Marion Brown (as, zomari, per) Anthony Braxton (as, ss, cl, cbcl, Chinese musette, fl, per)
Bennie Maupin (ts, afl, bcl, acorn, bells, wooden fl, per) Chick Corea (p, bells, gong, per)
Jack Gregg (b, per) Billy Malone (African d) Larry Curtis, Andrew Cyrille (per)
William Green (top o'lin, per) Gayle Palmore (voice, p, per) Jeanne Lee (voice, per)

3) Eleven Light City Suite
(from 'Sweet Earth Flying'/Impulse Records/1974)
a) Part One
b) Part Two
c) Part Three
d) Part Four

4) Sweet Earth Flying Suite
(from 'Sweet Earth Flying'/Impulse Records/1974)
a) Part One
b) Part Three
c) Part Four: Prince Willie
d) Part Five
(FYI: Part Two was never issued)

Marion Brown (as, ss) Paul Bley (p, el-p, org) Muhal Richard Abrahms (el-p, org)
James Jefferson (b, el-b) Steve McCall (d) Bill Hasson (per)

Bonus Track

Sweet Earth Flying*
*(A reworked version taken from
'November Cotton Flower'/Baystate Records/1980
offered just for the hell of it)

Marion Brown (ss) Paul Bley (p, el-p, org) Muhal Richard Abrahms (el-p, org)
James Jefferson (b, el-b) Steve McCall (d) Bill Hasson (per)