Steve Kuhn - Steve Kuhn (1971)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Steve Kuhn Trio - Three Waves (1966)

Steve Kun - Trance (1975)

Karin Krog, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, & Jon Christensen - We Could Be Flying (1975)

By request, here's pianist/keyboardist Steve Kuhn's 1971 self-titled solo outing. Simmering, lightly funky vocal-jazz fleshed out by a super solid band (Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira), lovely string arrangements, and understated vocals by Kuhn himself. It's played mostly straight, but Kuhn throws down the weirdo gauntlet with "Pearlie's Swine", which blazes through over four minutes of clattering instrumental jazz-funk before he comes in with lines like "Ham / How I love to eat ham / Vultures don't give a damn" and "Meat / Monkeys eat with their feet."

Track listing:

1. Pearlie's Swine

2. Silver

3. Time to Go

4. The Heat of the Moment

5. The Baby

6. Hold Out Your Hand

7. The Meaning of Love

8. Ulla

So when I'm alone

Left with only a bone

On top of the sky

Birds are wondering why

You should also hear:

Astrud Gilberto - I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do (1969)

Michel Herr, Bill Frisell, Vinton Johnson, Kermit Driscoll - Good Buddies (1978)

Miroslav Vitous - Purple (1970)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Miroslav Vitous - Infinite Search (1969)

Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, & Jack DeJohnette - S/T (1979)

Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, & Jack DeJohnette - To Be Continued (1981)

Low-key, simmering fusion helmed by bassist Miroslav Vitous. I had a truly massive buildup of spam comments that I never deleted, and lo and behold, on the other side of that pile were a grip of comments from almost 4 years ago. One of them was a request for a post on this album from July 7, 2019. Better late than never?

Track listing:

1. Purple

2. Mood

3. Water Lilie

4. Dolores

5. It Came from Knowhere

Emphatic period

Also listen to:

Jasper van t' Hoff - Eye-Ball (1974)

Karin Krog, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, & Jon Christensen - We Could Be Flying (1975)

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire (1973)

Related:
John McLaughlin - Devotion (1970)

Flawless, heavy fusion led by the great John McLaughlin. Fiery peaks receding into spaced-out mellows and back again, with a band that included Billy Cobham and Jan Hammer.

Track listing:
1. Birds of Fire
2. Miles Beyond (Miles Davis)
3. Celestial Terrestrial Commuters
4. Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love
5. Thousand Island Park
6. Hope
7. One Word
8. Sanctuary
9. Open Country Joy
10. Resolution

Flappity-flap-flap

Also of interest:

Charles Earland -
Leaving This Planet (1974)

Arcana -
Arc of the Testimony (1997)

Milt Jackson - Sunflower (1972)

Gorgeous, sprawling, laid-back pieces led by vibraphonist Milt Jackson (a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet) and filled out by a small orchestra's worth of supporting musicians, including the always-phenomenal Herbie Hancock.

Track listing:
1. For Someone I Love
2. What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life
3. People Make the World Go 'Round
4. Sunflower
5. SKJ

A sky filled with feathers

You might also like:

Freddie Hubbard -
First Light (1971)

Bennie Maupin -
The Jewel in the Lotus (1974)

Billy Cobham - Total Eclipse (1974)

Here's some super sweet fusion, led by one of the all-time greatest fusion drummers, to get you over the hump or just make your high better. Band includes guitar great John Abercrombie.

Track listing:
1. Solarization
2. Lunarputians
3. Total Eclipse
4. Bandits
5. Moon Germs
6. The Moon Ain't Made of Green Cheese
7. Sea of Tranquility
8. Last Frontier

Spectrum

For more like this, try:

Eddie Henderson - Sunburst (1975)

Charles Earland - Leaving This Planet (1974)

Miles Davis - Get Up with It (1974)

A personal favorite of mine from Miles Davis' discography, Get Up with It is a double album of material recorded at various points from 1970 to '74. Even within the context of a career as challenging and game-changing as Davis', opening an album with the 32-minute, mind dissolving, slow burning "He Loved Him Madly" was a pretty confrontational move. Wah-wah guitars, hand percussion, dissonant organ-led freakouts, half-hour-long jams -- I can practically see weed smoke pouring out of my speakers. If you don't think that Miles Davis created some of the raddest sounds in the history of life on this planet, you're wrong.

Track listing:
-Disc One-
1. He Loved Him Madly
2. Maiysha
3. Honky Tonk
4. Rated X
-Disc Two-
1. Calypso Frelimo
2. Red China Blues
3. Mtume
4. Billy Preston

Voodoo