Nate Morgan

Journey Into Nigritia, released in 1983 on Tom Albach's Nimbus West, was a declaration of arrival. Morgan assembled a quartet built for spiritual exploration: firebreathing reedsman Dadisi Komolafe on alto saxophone, Jeff Littleton on bass, Fritz Wise on drums. The rhythm section would become Morgan's anchor - Littleton and Wise appear on all three of his Nimbus recordings.

Six compositions. The album opens with "Mrafu," John Coltrane's influence immediately apparent - Komolafe gets right to work while Morgan's modal chords recall McCoy Tyner, though a percussive attack distinguishes his own voice. "Morning Prayer" arrives perfumed with Alice Coltrane incense, Morgan's devoted sincerity and personal expression finding their purest form. "Mother" features the trio in a memorable composition, Littleton's deep-note sustain contrasting Wise's shimmering cymbals while Morgan tells heart-wrenching truth. The title track pushes deeper into the modal territory. "He Left Us A Song" - a dedication to Coltrane - regularly bursts through its solemn theme into straight-ahead fast-break sprints. Then the unexpected closer: "Study In C.T.," an homage to Cecil Taylor that finds Morgan exploring free improvisations on a dense, spiky theme, slinging jagged bass chords halfway through with a wink.

This was music that fell between the cracks. The early 1980s weren't friendly to jazz musicians unwilling to bend toward fusion or smooth jazz. Had Journey Into Nigritia come out on Strata-East in the 1970s, it might have maintained a devoted following from the start. Instead it remained one of the most obscure releases in the Nimbus catalog until reissues began surfacing decades later.

Morgan would follow this with Retribution, Reparation one year later, then disappear from recording until 1998. A musician's musician, one of the most woefully under-recorded greats of our time. He died in 2013. This debut offers precious insight into his artistic evolution - surging, spiritualized modal jazz from the Los Angeles underground, a crucial recording by an unsung legend.