Mike Nock Almanac, 1967

Mike Nock - Almanac (24/48 vinyl rip)
Improvisational Artists 1967

1) Specific Gravity One
2) Symbiosis
3) Emovations
4) Almanac
5) Hallucinogen
6) Double Split
7) J.C. Dudley

Mike Nock Piano, Cecil McBee bass, Bennie Maupin tenor sax, flutes, Eddie Marshall drums

If there is an earlier Mike Nock album, I am unaware of it. Even here this was a Band that used the name Almanac, so this may be better described as their eponymous first album rather than Mike's first as a leader. My first exposure to Nock was with Yusef Lateef and Cannonball Adderley and then the magnificent Fourth Way. This album slides right in between, on the eve of the Fourth Way, it was likely the only record on Improvisational Artists that wasn't free jazz.

The record is a modal magic carpet ride, an album boldly pointing the way to the new music of the 70's....three years earlier. The core of Nock, Cecil and Eddie is nothing short of breathtaking, As remarkable and sensitive a three-way conversation as you will ever hear. They clearly inspire young Bennie Maupin to some of his best pre-Mwandishi sextet work on record. All of the album is original and memorable music. This stuff is still fresh and exciting even 46 years later, don't miss it. 
 

Mike Nock Almanac 1967 [24/48 vinyl rip]

When you consider that this little post-bop miracle was recorded in 1967, you can't help but be impressed with how modern this music sounds. Perhaps that is why Improvising Artists, a label thoroughly devoted to free jazz, would have bought an already finished album that did not fit their profile at all. Nock and Marshall would soon be 1/2 of The Forth Way, Bennie would soon be with Miles and Herbie, and Cecil would soon be making countless superior recordings at Strata East, ECM and more. This album serves as a lovely snap-shot of a Bay Area jazz scene in the period just months before the Summer of Love.

I came across an near mint copy of this one a couple weeks ago!