The late 60s, at least in terms of music, were funky times. It was almost the second coming of the horn section, with trumpets and such regularly added to the beat. Think Isaac Hayes and the "Shaft" theme. A memorable tune? You're damn right. It was supremely important to be cool, and if it took a Hammond B-3 and Muscle Shoals to make it work, well, so be it. The jazz world, of course, was no exception. While Jimi was wowing the crowd at Woodstock, Miles was creating "Bitches Brew." A period of seminal jazz music, to be sure. All this led to hopes for "Flying Groove: Rare Grooves and Jazz Classics From Bluebird and Flying Dutchman," a compilation from Bluebird of various recordings from the jazz extreme in the years 1963-1975.

Remember Gil Scott-Heron? Quite the angry young man. Here he performs "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," a lengthy rant about corporate America and its evil advertisers. You could make the argument that Gil was an early rapper. If you remember John Mitchell's role in the Nixon White House, you might like it. Some 30-odd years later, it's more of a timepiece. The beat may be righteous, but the message is definitely militant. At the risk of sounding trite, Gil, two words: try decaf.

I had high expectations for the Gato Barbieri number "El Pampero." In the end, this sounds more like Gato doing scales than anything else. Again, it's got rhythm, but the front man definitely isn't pushing it. High hopes, but no payoff.

Even Count Basie makes an appearance. With help from Oliver Nelson, the Basie band delivers on "Afrique," the single best track on the disc. It's got color and imagery, and who knows why, but the sound reminded me of Herbie Mann.

The recording of these tunes, as you might imagine, is fairly basic. It was a two-channel world in those days, and that's what you got. Disc packaging is ultra-low budget, with relatively little in the way of liner notes or artwork. Nothing revolutionary. Oops, there's the "R" word again. This is a challenging, quixotic (to use a fancy word) disc. If you're into esoteric jazz, think about it. I don't know, this disc doesn't seem to fall into the "free" jazz category, it's more of a short trip down Funky Lane.

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Various Artists

Flying Groove

Released: February 18, 2003
Origination Year: 2003
Time: 52:43
Tracks: 14
Produced by: Steve Morse
Engineered by: ??
Mastered by: Jim Brick at Absolute Audio
Style: Studio
Format: CD
Enhancement: None Remastering
Label: RCA Records
Website:
N/A

Crosstown Traffic - Gil Evans
Mama Soul - Harald Alexander
Baby, That's What I Need (Walk Tall) - Esther Marrow
I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes - Diedre Wilson
Yeh-Yeh - Lambert, Hendricks and Bavan
Hit the Road - Wild Bill Davis
Head Start - Tom Scott
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scott-Heron
Skull Session - Oliver Nelson
Afrique - Count Basie/Oliver Nelson
Messiah - David Axelrod
El Pampero - Gato Barbieri
Night Thing - Spontaneous Combustion
The Creator Has a Master Plan - Leon Thomas