Sounds of Liberation - Sounds of Liberation (1972) [Reissue 2010]

This album, which spent much of its life gathering dust in the "lost classics" category, was for many years the sort of sought-after item that would have hardcore collectors salivating as they scoured eBay with one hand at the ready on their credit cards. Fortunately for the rest of us, the lone, self-titled 1972 LP by Philadelphia-based band Sounds of Liberation was finally given a new lease on life with a reissue nearly four decades after its initial release. The driving force in the band seems to have been saxophonist Byard Lancaster, who today has a reputation as a vital part of the ‘60s/'70s avant-jazz scene, having played with everyone from Archie Shepp to Sun Ra. Lancaster emerges as the strongest voice here, but guitarist Monnette Sudler and vibraphonist Khan Jamal get their licks in as well. Between Jamal, drummer Omar Hill, and conga player Rashid Salim, there's a forceful forward motion to most of the cuts; a funky, percolating groove prevails here, but it's the loose-limbed, open-ended funk of a band schooled in the boundary-breaking jazz of the ‘60s, not the turn-on-a-dime, in-the-pocket funk of, say, the J.B.'s. Billy Mills' basslines have plenty of melodic motion in them, not just rhythmic thrust, and the extended-improv format employed on a number of tracks demands a rhythmic base that can fluctuate according to the mood and the moment. A couple of tunes -- "Billie One" and "New Life" are short, melodic bursts of jazzy funk that one could imagine early-‘70s Philly clubgoers dancing to, but the three ten-minutes-plus tracks trade off between abstract, Art Ensemble of Chicago-style splatters of sound and groove-driven jams that give both the rhythm section and the front line a workout. ©2015 AllMusic