Harold Alexander
Sunshine Man
LabelSolid RecordsGenreJazz & Improvisation
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Mama Soul is the reason most people know this record. A flute line sung and played at the same time, a Rhodes groove underneath, and drums by Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. David Holmes put it on his Cornerstones compilation and it has been a DJ staple since.
The rest of Sunshine Man is worth the same attention. Harold Alexander's first album, recorded over two days in May 1971 and produced by Bob Thiele for Flying Dutchman, has Neal Creque on electric piano, Richard Davis on bass and Richard "Pablo" Landrum on congas alongside Purdie. In Sheep's Clothing places it somewhere between jazz-funk and free improvisation, with far-out moments held together by that rhythm section, and hears the title track as Alexander playing free over the keys and Purdie's doubled beat. A listener on RateYourMusic compares the flute to Eric Dolphy dropped into 1971, and notes how differently each piece is approached, from the tribal saxophone groove of Tite Rope to the slow flute waltz of Aquilla.
Alexander recorded once more for Flying Dutchman, live at Montreux, and once for Atlantic, then stopped. He is quoted as saying that the business did not kill his spirit but killed his desire to share.
Japanese CD edition from Solid's Flying Dutchman series.
