Free As You Want To Be (1970) is a spiritual jazz and funk release from The Lightmen Plus One, built around deep grooves, electric keyboards, and improvisational interplay
Combines soul-jazz rhythms with psychedelic and cosmic jazz influences, reflecting the fertile Houston jazz scene of the era
For fans of: The Blackbyrds, Lonnie Liston Smith, Donald Byrd
Drummer, bandleader and activist Bubbha Thomas had toured America with R&B revues, served as a session musician for peacock and back beat records, and played straight ahead jazz with legends before the political and social upheaval of the late 1960s led him to a path first charted by Coltrane. Free As You Wanna Be, his first album with his band The Lightmen, predates the deep-set, maverick jazz issued by the likes of Tribe and Strata East: this album is a harbinger of the collective voice of resistance to the musical and cultural status quo that emerged in the 1970s jazz underground. Most of the tracks remain strongly groove-based with a clear sense of cohesion, but a few of the performances push further out than you might expect from later Lightmen releases, revealing the band's deep roots in avant-jazz. This lineup includes a very young Ronnie Laws sounding noticeably removed from the jazz-fusion style he'd adopt in the late '70s. Alongside Thomas on drums, the ensemble is rounded out by Doug Harris on tenor sax, Carl Adams on trumpet, Kenny Abair on guitar, and Joe Singleton on trombone.
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