Trinity (1971)
Trinity Represents The Second Installation In The Unheard Music Series Efforts To Resurrect Joe Mcphee's Early '70's Work On The Cjr Label, Soon To Be Completed With Underground Railroad And Pieces Of Light. This Brilliant Trio Recording Of Blues Inflected Out-Soul From '73 Follows Up On Hugely Successful Nation Time, Recorded A Year Later. Originally Issued In '73 In An Edition Of 1000, Trinity Has Not Available Since. Trinity Is Mcphee's Favorite Of His Cjr Recordings, Claiming It Was A Not Only A Turning Point In His Music- But With The Tenor Saxophone As Well: ""With Trinity, I Began To Feel More Comfortable With The Instrument. Not Having A Bassist Also Removed Me From A Normal ""Jazz"" Context, Let The Music Just Be What It Was ...The Larger Space Provided By The Trio Gave Me More Time To Explore The Instrument, The Colors Became More Clear, The Area I Wanted To Work Became More Defined."" The Ums Reissue Features Original Artwork, Plus A Previously Unseen Cover Photo Originally Designed For A Solo Record By Mike Kull (Keyboardist On This Outing) That Was Never Recorded. John Corbett Has Remastered Trinity From Original Tapes; The Lp Had To Be Severely Compressed To Squeeze All The Music On To It, But In The Digital Realm Restoration Of All The Sweet Space Was Possible. Hence, Trinity Has Never Sounded So Fantastic! Featured Are A Long Drum And Tenor Duet Section (With Mcphee Breaking New Ground On The Horn), And A Fantastic Piece Dedicated To Albert Ayler, With Mcphee Overdubbed On Soprano Sax And Pocket Cornet. Utterly Spellbinding.