Various Artists

2013 release. Two of the things most often associated with ESP-Disk' are free jazz and balls-to-the-wall saxophone improvisations. Go with your strengths, people say, so as part of the label's first batch of physical releases in its 50th anniversary year (2013), it presents producer Michael D. Anderson's compilation Fire Music. The saxophonists on these tracks are Albert Ayler, Charles Tyler, Frank Wright, Arthur Jones, Jack Graham, Byard Lancaster, Joe Phillips, John Tchicai, Marshall Allen (twice), Gato Barbieri, Sonny Simmons, Pat Patrick, and John Gilmore. Obviously, the compilation doesn't just include obvious choices, because ESP-Disk' is not that kind of label. Thrill to the sounds of saxophone legends so obscure, they're almost mythical - alongside, of course, giants such as Ayler, Wright, Barbieri, and Sun Ra's trio of decades-faithful saxmasters. Leaders as above; featured soloists include Archie Shepp, Charles Tyler, Arthur Jones, Jack Graham, Byard Lancaster, Joe Phillips, John Tchicai, Marshall Allen, Gato Barbieri, Pat Patrick, and John Gilmore. RIYL: John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Charles Gayle, Sun Ra.