The John Betsch Society - Earth Blossom (2007)

1974 album, one of the rarer records by jazz drummer John Betsch and his band. The recording of Earth Blossom seems something of an enigma nowadays. For even though Nashville is clearly one of the towns in the US with the highest number of recording studios, who would have thought that the capital of country music would give birth to one of the forgotten masterpieces of 1970s spiritual jazz. The album, recorded in one day and in one take, bears the hallmark of their generations psychedelic experiences, and in the themes and playing of the musicians we can hear a less violent form of music than the radical free jazz of New York or Chicago. Nature and environmental themes are the inspiration behind tracks touched by the spirit of Coltrane but also of Flower Power.

Billy Puett: flute / alto flute / alto & tenor sax / bass clarinet
Bob Holmes: piano / electric piano / percussion
Ed "Lump" Williams: electric bass / acoustic bass / percussion
Jim Bridges: guitar / percussion
Phil Royster: congas / percussion
John Betsch: drums / percussion

01 - The John Betsch Society - Ode to Ethiopia (4:28)
02 - The John Betsch Society - Earth Blossom (3:24)
03 - The John Betsch Society - Open Pastures (4:28)
04 - The John Betsch Society - Song for an Untitled Lady (3:49)
05 - The John Betsch Society - Ra (5:57)
06 - The John Betsch Society - Darling Doria (5:09)
07 - The John Betsch Society - Get Up and Go (6:34)