joe mcphee: nation time

First time vinyl reissue of Joe McPhee's classic CJR LP from 1970. Exact repress of the original artwork, limited to 500 copies. "What time is it?" Joe McPhee shouts at the opening of this classic LP. Time at last for a vinyl reissue of the highly sought-after, ultra-rare Nation Time. Why this wasn't done years ago is anyone's guess. Nation Time catches the exuberance of the master in his youth, playing a glorious to-the-wall mixture of R 'n' B and free jazz motifs, with a great deal more thrown into the mix. Two of these three long tracks were recorded at a concert at Vassar College on December 12, 1970: "Nation Time" and "Scorpio's Dance." Featuring the electric piano of Mike Kull and the relentless percussion of Bruce Thompson and Ernest Bostic, there is a definite hint of rock. On Nation Time McPhee also plays with a burred R 'n' B tenor tone elastic enough to blend with the searching, spaced-out solos from Kull and McPhee himself. "Shakey Jake," recorded in a studio the next day, adds an alto saxophonist, an organist, and an electric guitarist, and is far and away the full-on dancefloor cut of the LP. Free at the fringes, booty-moving at the core. Call it what you want; free jazz, free-funk, fire music, or simply great music.