Candid reissues rare albums from the Why Not label

Earlier this spring, I was excited to stumble upon a CD reissue of Air's first record Air Song in my local record shop. Previously this was only available as a Japanese import here in the US. If you are a fan of Air, Henry Threadgill, or any of the music coming out of the AACM and haven't heard this, do yourself a favor and pick it up. What a fantastic recording it is.

Next time I went back I was even more surprised to find this Chico Freeman CD reissue called Morning Prayer, from the same series. I had read about this one online (I think I found it through a search for Douglas Ewart, who plays on this) and I really wanted to hear it. This disc is really growing on me the more I play it. It's got a great vibe to it, somewhere between the freeness of the AACM and the soulfulness of Strata-East. The selection of tunes is diverse and the playing from everyone is outstanding. I was only slightly familiar with Freeman's playing, from a stunning India Navigation CD of ballads called Spirit Sensitive. This one is completely different, but extremely rewarding. Freeman is an interesting writer (all of the compositions here are his) and a dynamic player. And what a supporting cast! Henry Threadgill on saxophones, flute & percussion, Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, Cecil McBee on bass & cello, Steve McCall on percussion, Ben Montgomery on drums & percussion, and Douglas Ewart on flutes & percussion.

Some of the highlights here for me are Freeman's muscular tenor playing on "The In Between" and the quirky melody of "Conversations," which, as offbeat as it is, is incredibly catchy and will get stuck in your head after a few listens. Threadgill delivers an epic bari sax solo on this tune as well. The title track "Morning Prayer" is beautifully meditative and leads nicely into the upbeat closer "Pepe's Samba," and we also get an additional extended, previously unreleased version of this last one as well.

At this point there are two more reissues available in the Why Not series, Walt Dickerson's Tell Us Only the Beautiful Things and George Cables' Why Not?. I'm going to keep my eye out for these, particularly the Walt Dickerson as he is a personal favorite. More info on this series from Candid records can be found here.