One - One [1969]

One of the first

This is superb and hard to track down. I got my copy somewhere in London at around the time it was released, one of my earliest purchases. I can only imagine I bought a copy - my memory is from a stall - because it was inexpensive and looked interesting. I knew nothing of the band then and very little now. I've read they were session players. Norman Leppard [flute, tenor saxophone] is one player I could find a little about on the net, having performed with Aynsley Retaliation Dunbar on 'Blue Whale', and Conrad Isidore, drums, has an impressive recording cv.

It's a funky album with driving rhythms provided by organ and bass. There are 3 Richie Havens covers. There is brass on the opener 'Don't Listen To Me'. The second track 'Cautiously' is a lifelong favourite, the slowest track with a sustained flute line at a time when flute was cool. It builds and builds, notably with a dissonant spiral of violins. The final track, Richie's 'Run, Shaker Run', is a 17 minute jam and I'm grooving to it now because no one is watching.