Acquired this one today actually from a local shop. It was Sonny Fortune’s first session as the sole leader. Recorded for Strata-East in 1974 and released the same year. It features a diverse bunch of tunes all penned by Fortune. We have percussion heavy latin stuff, a beautiful ballad, a spiritual excursion, bluesy funkiness and some post-bop. One thing that is very apparent is that Fortune is on fire. What a player. He plays alto, soprano and flute on this session. The band otherwise consists of Charles Sullivan on trumpet, Stanley Cowell on electric piano/acoustic piano, Wayne Dockery on double bass, Chip Lyle on drums and Angel Allende, Mario Muñoz, Richie Pablo Landrum all on assorted percussion.
Favourite pick has to be the spiritual ”Sound of Silents”, which features brilliant solos from both Fortune and Sullivan.
I’m soon into double figures when it comes to Strata-East titles in the collection, with 9 so far. A superb label which I’ll continue to explore. So much great stuff with plenty of variety. Hopefully I’ll be able to add some more titles going forward.