Lloyd McNeill Quartet - Asha (1969 USA).
Lloyd McNeill Quartet - Asha 3: Washington Suite (1970 USA). “Asha” is a super jazz flute album, that is very spiritual and psychedelic. I can feel the 1969 Howard University vibe coming through. “Washington Suite”, McNeill’s third, continues in this path. His albums have a subdued intensity, an understated anger that never quite climax, and is mitigated by frequent displays of beautiful melodicism. I suspect that the McNeill albums will be big growers for me over time. I have “Asha 2: Tanner Suite” here as well, but haven’t heard it yet. I should also mention that McNeill has 3 fine albums from 1976 to 1980: Treasures (1976), Tori (1978) and Elegia (1980). And none of them are on CD, which hopefully will be attended to one day.
Tullio de Piscopo Revolt Group - Sotto e ‘ncoppa (1975 Italy).
Tullio de Piscopo - Vol. 2 (1977 Italy). De Piscopo is a well known jazz percussionist (to this day), who ventured into progressive fusion in the mid 1970s. First he played with The New Trolls, then he released these two fusion albums with some excellent Fender Rhodes, sax and guitar action. De Piscopo reminds me most of Toni Esposito’s albums from the same era. “Sotto e ‘ncoppa” features Sante Palumbo who was also on the Sway album mentioned here earlier. “Vol. 2″ is more diverse, mixing in period disco, acoustic folk, tight fusion, and rock versions of traditional Italian sing-a-longs. I felt this was the stronger of the two releases. Neither of these have been reissued on CD, and aren’t even mentioned on Tullio de Piscopo’s own website.