Music Monday: India Navigation

Last week, for essentially random reasons, I posted some music from the Japanese post-bop label Whynot, and did a little bit to situate it in the “post-Blue Note” era of jazz recording. 

One of the other labels that emerged in the 1970s was called India Navigation. I don’t know why that was its name. It seemed to be affiliated or perhaps served as a distributor for music from Whynot.

Whereas most of the Whynot label is available on CD and streaming, a good bit of its catalogue is not available on CD or major streaming services. YouTubers have partly filled the gaps by making such classics available as:

David Murray’s Flowers for Albert (1976):

The Revolutionary Ensembles haunting Manhattan Cycles (1973). This album is so austere and tonal that I am drawn into the space rather than the music. 

Hamiet Bluiett, Endangered Species (1976):

as well as Arthur Blythe’s first album The Grip (1977):

I enjoy this group of albums which have a kind of mid-1970s free jazzy-avant gardey 1970s vibe. There’s something about Chico Freeman’s sound and sensibilities that draw me in.

I have to admit that the spirited moments in his Kings of Mali (1977) intrigue me and appeal to my love of rambunctious and intense saxophone jazz:

His duet with Cecil McBee on the album Chico from 1977 (which I can’t find to share) is simply brilliant. It’s a conversation between two close friends. 

He embraces even an more mellow vibe on his recording of ballads on Spirit Sensitive (1979):

I promise that I’ll relax my deep dives into obscure (and not so obscure record labels) next week. There’s some amazing new music that arrived in the first weeks of 2023 and next week, I’ll do something to celebrate it.