Rashied Ali - Rashied Ali Quintet (1973)

This second release for the Survival label is an exciting effort, and a significant one as well, being an early free-jazz recording by James Blood Ulmer. Ulmer has lots of solo space on the two-side-long flights, and he sounds surprisingly harmolodic prior to his studies with Ornette Coleman. The music is potentially off-putting to listeners unfamiliar with Ulmer's dissonant chord comping and the ebbs and flows of Rashied Ali's sound/time keeping. However, the exuberant improvisations and seamlessly structured arrangements make this a truly invigorating set.