CECIL MCBEE SEXTET Vinyl & CDs

Review: Cecil McBee, Chico Freeman, Dennis Moorman, Famoudou Don Moye, Joe Gardner and Steve McCall form this short lived but vital sextet. They put out just two albums, one in 1978 and a second the year after, but both remain mini classics. The ensemble mix up free jazz and avant-hard styles on a blistering record that rarely allows you to take a breath. The clatter of cymbals, the scribbling wind instruments, the manic bass all dance around each other in thrillingly dynamic fashion. It is a release of tension and expression of self unlike much else you will hear from a jazz record.