Deeply spiritual stuff here, recorded in 1975, by Alabama born trumpeter, bassist, composer and arranger Jothan Callins. He only cut this album as a leader, which is a damn shame cause this is absolutely stellar music. Top notch trumpet playing by the leader. Very impressive. So full of soul and spirit. Callins performed with Sun Ra, Lionel Hampton and Stevie Wonder etc. He formed The Sounds of Togetherness in 1968. He was a school and university teacher, director, consultant (building cultural programs) and performed and lectured across North America and the West Indies.
A lovely recording. The sound is so naturally crisp, clear and very well balanced. One of my best sounding records, which is quite amazing considering it’s a private press. The drums and percussion are recorded beautifully. As an old drummer myself I’m very intuitive to that. The percussion elements are very nice throughout, and are also superbly recorded.
All the tunes are composed and arranged by Callins. All are outstanding and it’s impossible to choose a favorite.
The band consists of Callins on trumpet/bells, Joe Bonner on piano/tambourine, Cecil McBee on bass, Roland Duval on conga/various percussion and Norman Conners on drums. Fantastic group. Such a pity they didn’t record more together.
Thrilled to place this one on the shelf. Probably my favorite addition so far this year and one of my favorite records in the entire collection.
