Follow
SERVICES
BROWSE
Shari-Vari Records
State Buildings
Cnr St Georges Terrace & Barrack St
Perth 6000, WA
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © CG
Closed today
1 / 0
Catno
BBE414ALPb none none
Formats
2x Vinyl LP Album Reissue
Country
Release date
Jan 1, 2023
Genres
Styles
Jewel of the Strata Records crown gets a deluxe reissue from BBE with unreleased takes! Heavyweight jazz-funk-fusion classic from 1975! KILLER.
Jewel of the Strata Records crown gets a deluxe reissue from BBE. Heavyweight jazz-funk-fusion classic from 1975! KILLER.
In association with DJ Amir’s 180 Proof Records, BBE is honoured to present another gem from the small yet significant Strata catalogue. A precursor to New York’s Strata East, Detroit’s Strata Records was founded in the late 1960s by former Blue Note artist Kenny Cox. Starting life as a music-led community organisation, coffee shop studio and venue, Strata released only a few titles as a record label, gaining the imprint a cult following among record collectors and jazz lovers across the globe.
Possibly the best known of Strata’s releases, The Lyman Woodard Organization’s ‘Saturday Night Special’ is rightly heralded as a jazz fusion classic. Recorded in 1975, ‘Saturday Night Special’ features organ, electric piano and Mellotron by bandleader Lyman Woodard alongside guitar and bass by Ron English, with drums and percussion by Leonard King, Bud Spangler & Lorenzo “Mr. Rhythm” Brown respectively. Despite the fairly sparse instrumentation, ‘Saturday Night Special’ lays down an impressive wall of sound, powerfully atmospheric in its almost low-fi aesthetic. Hinting at more traditional jazz, rhythm & blues, afro-cuban styles and more, the uniqueness of this album is surely in its feel: summoning up images of a vast industrial landscape, assembly lines and urban decay. In other words, this record sounds like Detroit.
No great album artwork is complete without a good story to match, and ‘Saturday Night Special’ does not disappoint. Snapped by photographer and political activist Leni Sinclair (responsible for seminal pictures of Miles Davis, Fela Kuti and John Coltrane and many others), the cover image shows the contents of Lyman Woodard’s pockets placed on the hotel bed after a show: cigarette papers, cash and a pistol.
Following Woodard’s death in 2009, this incredible album was reissued in highly limited numbers by Wax Poetics; now just as hard to come by as the original pressings. It’s our pleasure to make this important and influential chapter in the story of contemporary jazz available on vinyl once again.
*Taxes included, shipping price excluded
A1
Saturday Night Special
7:07
A2
Joy Road
5:00
B1
Belle Isle Daze
7:30
B2
Creative Musicians
2:38
B3
Saturday Night Special (Alternate Take)
6:56
C1
Cheeba
5:28
C2
Allen Barnes
4:29
C3
On Your Mind
2:44
D1
Help Me Get Away
7:42
D2
Saturday Night Special (Lost Alternative Mix)
3:25
D3
Belle Isle Daze (Lost Alternative Mix)
4:24