Fire in the hole!!!! Mythical DEEP percussive spiritual / free-jazz grail self-released by the late New Orleans drummer David Lee JR on his one-off Supernal label.
Without a doubt one of the fiercest and most radical slabs of untethered rhythmic expression of the 1970s, Evolution endures as a totemic high-watermarks of independent black jazz of America. Lee JR’s multi-instrumental free-for-all blends warbling pitch-bent drums with the heavily syncopated / polyrhythmic ‘second-line’ percussion prevalent within the marching bands of Louisiana. No point beating around the bush, this is an expensive record and one highly coveted by many bloodthirsty collectors in this competitive scene. Whereas many of these rare indie jazz records can leave us a little flat, there’s a magical, almost punk quality to these recordings - effortlessly shifting from flurries of wind chimes to the languid psychedelic spirtual piece ‘Love Parable’ and heavy mind-morphing ‘Evolution’ movement on the B-side. It captures a time, spirit and frame of mind where everyone was facing forward and anything felt possible. Lee JR’s career only yielded this solo LP but a move to New York in the late 70s would see him embedded in the legendary loft jazz scene playing alongside Charles Rouse, Leon Thomas, Lonnie Liston Smith and the likes. A genuinely rare and extraordinarily singular moment of revolutionary experimentation especially of interest for the drum freaks following Milton Graves, Louis Moholo +++. we’ll never have another! (VG++ / VG+ - record clean and plays clean with minimal interference, sleeve as seen in pic has some ageing).
Tracklist A1 Revelation 2:53 A2 Spirit Voice 2:51 A3 Cosmic Vision 1:20 A4 Wymbo-Ngoma 2:07 A5 Regeneration 1:24 A6 Freedom Bells 1:13 A7 Acknowledgement 0:33 A8 Love Parable 2:45 B1 Nova Reflex 1:27 Evolution (10:39) B2a Initiation 1:45 B2b Development 1:02 B2c Enlightenment 0:42 B2d Determination 0:48 B2e Illumination 2:24 B2f Inheritance 2:07 B2g Destiny 2:21 B3 Cosmopolitan 0:52 B4 Second Line March 1:43 B5 Constant Search 1:30 B6 I Want Our Love To Always Last 2:50 B7 Mystic Sound 1:26
