Oliver Nelson - Skull Session (1975)

Bone-rattling jazz and jazz-funk led by saxophonist Oliver Nelson, and featuring OPIUM HUM fave Lonnie Liston Smith. Some of you might recognize the opening synth riff on the title track as the main sample from Big Lurch's "Texas Boy".

Track listing:
1. Skull Session
2. Reuben's Rondo
3. 125th St. and 7th Avenue
4. One for Duke
5. Dumpy Mama
6. Baja Bossa
7. In a Japanese Garden
8. Flight for Freedom

Define a transparent dream

You should also check out:

Bob James -
Two (1975)

Herbie Hancock -
Secrets (1976)

Gato Barbieri - Bolivia (1973)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Gato Barbieri - Fenix (1971)

Sadly, saxophonist Gato Barbieri is one of many legendary musicians whose lives have been taken by the beast that is the year 2016; he died of pneumonia earlier this month. With that in mind, let's have a listen to one of his best and most beloved LPs, 1973's Bolivia, a collaboration with jazz-funk great Lonnie Liston Smith.

Track listing:
1. Merceditas
2. Eclypse/Michellina
3. Bolivia
4. Ninos
5. Vidala Triste

Into the unknowable

You may also enjoy:

Jan Garbarek -
Esoteric Circle (1969)

Doug Hammond -
Spaces (1982)

Lonnie Liston Smith - Exotic Mysteries (1978) + Loveland (1978)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes - Astral Traveling (1973)
Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes - Reflections of a Golden Dream (1976)

Having released a string of bulletproof records with the Cosmic Echoes, Lonnie Liston Smith went solo and dove into far more accessible territory. Exotic Mysteries and Loveland are both jazz-funk records, for sure, but the harder-edges and free-form psychedelia that popped up on earlier efforts have been replaced by a smoother, more composed feel. If you, as am I, are getting impatient waiting for summer to come, these make for excellent summer night simulators.

Track listing:
-Exotic Mysteries-
1. Space Princess
2. Quiet Moments
3. Magic Journey
4. Exotic Mysteries
5. Singing for Love
6. Mystical Dreamer
7. Twilight
8. Night Flower
-Loveland-
1. Sunburst
2. Journey into Love
3. Floating Through Love
4. Bright Moments
5. We Can Dream
6. Springtime Magic
7. Loveland
8. Explorations

Midsummer magic

Gato Barbieri - Fenix (1971)

An excellent, high-energy record of percussion-heavy, groove-based, vaguely Latin jazz led by Argentinian tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri. His playing here is phenomenal -- informed by both the forceful, improvisational melodicism of hard bop and the shrieking abandon of free jazz -- and he's backed up by a stellar cast of musicians, including bassist Ron Carter and pianist Lonnie Liston Smith. I understand that from here Barbieri quickly moved on to the bland, unintentionally comical world of smooth jazz, so I'd like to assure those familiar with only his later work that this is quite far from that shite, and worthy of your attention.

Track listing:
1. Tupac Amaru
2. Carnavalito
3. Falsa Bahiana
4. El Dia Que Me Quieras
5. El Arriero
6. Bahia

Under fire

Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes - Reflections of a Golden Dream (1976)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes - Astral Traveling (1973)

Hippy-dippy, world-uniting desires as expressed through funk grooves, saxophone, wah-wah guitar, reverberating flute, shimmering piano, hand percussion, and lulling vibraphone ambience. Chill summertime vibes.

Track listing:
1. Get Down Everybody (It's Time for World Peace)
2. Quiet Dawn
3. Sunbeams
4. Meditations
5. Peace and Love
6. Beautiful Woman
7. Goddess of Love
8. Inner Beauty
9. Golden Dreams
10. Journey into Space

In search of truth

Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes - Astral Traveling (1973)

Hazy, lush, mind-expanding jazz-funk from one of the greats.

Track listing:
1. Astral Traveling
2. Let Us Go into the House of the Lord
3. Rejuvenation
4. I Mani (Faith)
5. In Search of Truth
6. Aspirations
7. Astral Traveling (Alternate Take)
8. Rejuvenation (Alternate Take)
9. I Mani (Faith) (Alternate Take)
10. In Search of Truth (Alternate Take)

Reflections of a golden dream