"Song For Tracie Dixon Summers" moves along similar lines, though a little healthy tension is built up front as Buster Williams opens with a long bass solo that the group suddenly leaps upon. Later, as phrases are extended, the entire group drops back allowing enough space for fragmentary piano figures to provide a path to the next group statement. There's a great Downbeat magazine quote about this album — "A more selfless album is hard to imagine" — yes, that's exactly right.
Given the high-powered lineup, it would have been a little disappointing if Maupin had never let the group run free. Thankfully, "Mappo" shows a more driven and free side of this group. Featuring trumpeter Charles Sullivan early on and then switching to Hancock later, this long suite fits a maximum hunk of percussion beneath, under, and on top of each melodic segment. It's very reminiscent of Pharoah Sanders' "Astral Traveling," with the group's free play first implying and then finally constructing a theme. For a short while, it seemed like coherence would never be attained as the music was allowed to devolve into chaos. Not quite!
Again, why was this record out of print?
Honestly, it doesn't matter. The wrong has been righted, and now the world (minus those lucky vinyl affcionados) can finally hear the truth: that Miles was (almost!) never wrong.
Article comments
1 - Pico
100% agree. Maupin fold in his stints with Sanders, Miles and Mwandishi into something entirely his own. Sadly, he didn't follow up on this uniquely oblique style, The Jewel In The Lotus remains a one-of-a-kind release. I was reminded of that missed opportunity just the other day listening to "Palm Grease." He was destined for so much better than that (although he might argue he had bills to pay).
2 - Mark Saleski
i remember liking some of his more recent stuff...Penumbra being one of them.
3 - Pico
Oh yes, he has other good records, they just don't quite reach the artistic heights of Lotus, IMO. Although Driving While Black sounds like the closest thing to a latter-day Mwandishi album out there.