Miroslav Vitous - Purple (1970)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Miroslav Vitous - Infinite Search (1969)

Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, & Jack DeJohnette - S/T (1979)

Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, & Jack DeJohnette - To Be Continued (1981)

Low-key, simmering fusion helmed by bassist Miroslav Vitous. I had a truly massive buildup of spam comments that I never deleted, and lo and behold, on the other side of that pile were a grip of comments from almost 4 years ago. One of them was a request for a post on this album from July 7, 2019. Better late than never?

Track listing:

1. Purple

2. Mood

3. Water Lilie

4. Dolores

5. It Came from Knowhere

Emphatic period

Also listen to:

Jasper van t' Hoff - Eye-Ball (1974)

Karin Krog, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, & Jon Christensen - We Could Be Flying (1975)

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire (1973)

Related:
John McLaughlin - Devotion (1970)

Flawless, heavy fusion led by the great John McLaughlin. Fiery peaks receding into spaced-out mellows and back again, with a band that included Billy Cobham and Jan Hammer.

Track listing:
1. Birds of Fire
2. Miles Beyond (Miles Davis)
3. Celestial Terrestrial Commuters
4. Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love
5. Thousand Island Park
6. Hope
7. One Word
8. Sanctuary
9. Open Country Joy
10. Resolution

Flappity-flap-flap

Also of interest:

Charles Earland -
Leaving This Planet (1974)

Arcana -
Arc of the Testimony (1997)

John McLaughlin - Devotion (1970)

Heavy, instrumental psych/jazz rock from the great John McLaughlin (Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Tony Williams Lifetime.) Fuzzed-out leads wailing over knotty, dissonant grooves.

Track listing:
1. Devotion
2. Dragon Song
3. Marbles
4. Siren
5. Don't Let the Dragon Eat Your Mother
6. Purpose of When

Meeting of the spirits

Miles Davis - Get Up with It (1974)

A personal favorite of mine from Miles Davis' discography, Get Up with It is a double album of material recorded at various points from 1970 to '74. Even within the context of a career as challenging and game-changing as Davis', opening an album with the 32-minute, mind dissolving, slow burning "He Loved Him Madly" was a pretty confrontational move. Wah-wah guitars, hand percussion, dissonant organ-led freakouts, half-hour-long jams -- I can practically see weed smoke pouring out of my speakers. If you don't think that Miles Davis created some of the raddest sounds in the history of life on this planet, you're wrong.

Track listing:
-Disc One-
1. He Loved Him Madly
2. Maiysha
3. Honky Tonk
4. Rated X
-Disc Two-
1. Calypso Frelimo
2. Red China Blues
3. Mtume
4. Billy Preston

Voodoo

Miroslav Vitouš - Infinite Search (1969)

First album by Czech jazz bassist Miroslav Vitouš. Energetic, playful, and heady, Infinite Search has one foot in the then-new world of jazz fusion and the other in slightly more avant-garde territory, and features a formidable cast of musicians, including Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Joe Chambers, and Jack DeJohnette.

Track listing:
1. Freedom Jazz Dance
2. Mountain in the Clouds
3. When Face Gets Pale
4. Infinite Search
5. I Will Tell Him on You
6. Epilogue

Beautiful place to

Wayne Shorter - Super Nova (1969)

Excellent, adventurous album led by saxophone great Wayne Shorter, who I was just talking about. A highly diverse set, ranging from frantically energetic fusion that borders on free jazz ("Supernova", "More Than Human") to relatively straightforward hard bop ("Water Babies") to reflective and low-key ("Sweet Pea".) Atop all of these great moments, though, rests the album's centerpiece and undeniable highlight -- "Dindi", a mind-melting journey from clattering percussion and nervous, sparse melodic elements to a gentle, acoustic-led Portuguese ballad, then back out through explosive, climactic full band improvisation. Features John McLaughlin, among others.

Track listing:
1. Supernova
2. Sweet Pea
3. Dindi
4. Water Babies
5. Capricorn
6. More Than Human

Wild flower