Other than a 1974 set for Strata-East, this post-bop effort was bassist Cecil McBee's earliest recording as a leader. With Chico Freeman (heard on tenor and flute) as the most impressive soloist, McBee performs two originals and a piece by Hal Galper in a sextet that also includes trumpeter Joe Gardner, pianist Dennis Moorman, drummer Steve McCall and Don Moye on conga. The music is spiritual in nature, sometimes quite modal and in the adventurous genre of John Coltrane without being derivative. A fine live set, one of two recorded within a two-day period at New York's Sweet Basil. - Scott Yanow
Tracks
1. Agnez (Cecil McBee)
2. God Spirit (Cecil McBee)
3. First Song In The Day (Hal Galloper)
CECIL McBEE bass
CHICO FREEMAN flute, tenor saxophone
JOE GARDNER trumpet, flugelhorn
DENNIS MOORMAN piano
STEVE McCALL drums
DON MOYE percussion
Recorded "live" at Sweet Basil, N.Y.C., August 2, 1977
Enja Records - ENJA CD 3019-2. Germany