Steve Kuhn - Steve Kuhn (1971)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Steve Kuhn Trio - Three Waves (1966)

Steve Kun - Trance (1975)

Karin Krog, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, & Jon Christensen - We Could Be Flying (1975)

By request, here's pianist/keyboardist Steve Kuhn's 1971 self-titled solo outing. Simmering, lightly funky vocal-jazz fleshed out by a super solid band (Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira), lovely string arrangements, and understated vocals by Kuhn himself. It's played mostly straight, but Kuhn throws down the weirdo gauntlet with "Pearlie's Swine", which blazes through over four minutes of clattering instrumental jazz-funk before he comes in with lines like "Ham / How I love to eat ham / Vultures don't give a damn" and "Meat / Monkeys eat with their feet."

Track listing:

1. Pearlie's Swine

2. Silver

3. Time to Go

4. The Heat of the Moment

5. The Baby

6. Hold Out Your Hand

7. The Meaning of Love

8. Ulla

So when I'm alone

Left with only a bone

On top of the sky

Birds are wondering why

You should also hear:

Astrud Gilberto - I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do (1969)

Michel Herr, Bill Frisell, Vinton Johnson, Kermit Driscoll - Good Buddies (1978)

Wayne Shorter - Odyssey of Iska (1970)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Wayne Shorter - Super Nova (1969)

I'm a little late but: R.I.P. to one of the greatest jazz musicians to have ever lived. A brilliant piece of amorphous, simmering avant-garde jazz, Odyssey of Iska capped off a positively ridiculous 8-album run that rivals pretty much any other in music history. (Not that the albums before or after are bad by any means, but Night Music through Odyssey is, to me, just about as good as it gets.)

Track listing:

1. Wind

2. Storm

3. Calm

4. De Pois do Amor, O Vazio (After Love, Emptiness)

5. Joy

Old is magic growing

If you like this, listen to:

The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Fanfare for the Warriors (1974)

Miles Davis - Get Up with It (1974)

Gato Barbieri - Fenix (1971)

An excellent, high-energy record of percussion-heavy, groove-based, vaguely Latin jazz led by Argentinian tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri. His playing here is phenomenal -- informed by both the forceful, improvisational melodicism of hard bop and the shrieking abandon of free jazz -- and he's backed up by a stellar cast of musicians, including bassist Ron Carter and pianist Lonnie Liston Smith. I understand that from here Barbieri quickly moved on to the bland, unintentionally comical world of smooth jazz, so I'd like to assure those familiar with only his later work that this is quite far from that shite, and worthy of your attention.

Track listing:
1. Tupac Amaru
2. Carnavalito
3. Falsa Bahiana
4. El Dia Que Me Quieras
5. El Arriero
6. Bahia

Under fire

Freddie Hubbard - First Light (1971)

A masterpiece of cushiony, lush, ornate, spaced-out jazz fusion. Of the many, many great records Hubbard put out, First Light might be the most satisfying.  Virtually any and every music nerd needs to know about this album.

Track listing:
1. First Light
2. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey
3. Moment to Moment
4. Yesterday's Dreams
5. Lonely Town

True colors

Sam Rivers - Contours (1965)

Contours served as my introduction to avant-garde jazz, and years later, it remains one of my favorite jazz records. Rivers plays sax and flute like he's out of his goddamn mind, seamlessly shifting back and forth between cohesive melodic themes to complete atonal chaos, and his excellent backing musicians (Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Joe Chambers) follow him down the rabbit hole. Through this record, I came to understand that there is no key to 'getting' jazz -- you just listen attentively, allow yourself to be responsive, and keep in mind that actual human beings and physical instruments are producing the otherworldly sounds that you're hearing.

Track listing:
1. Point of Many Returns
2. Dance of the Tripedal
3. Euterpe
4. Mellifluous Cacophony
5. Mellifluous Cacophony (Alternate Take) [bonus]

Bursts