Pete La Roca - Turkish Women at the Bath (1967)

Pete La Roca (d)

Chick Corea (p)

John Gilmore (ts)

Walter Booker (b)

Recorded May 25, 1967, produced by rock/jazz maverick Alan Douglas and originally released on Muse records; also released as Bliss under Chick Corea's name. La Roca (an attorney when not playing jazz) sued Muse and won, so the Corea-credited records were removed from the shelves, thus banishing this record to OOP status until 32 Jazz re-released it on CD in 1997. These FLACs are from 1997 32 Jazz re-release.

This recording is not to be missed. Chick Corea's harmonically rich textures hammered out on what sounds like a poorly-tuned upright, a fiery but all-too-rare performance by Sun Ra sax man John Gilmore, and La Roca's adventurous compositions all make for a wholly unique listening experience. The record has an eerie vibe to it, an ambiance that suggests that if we didn't know better, the music could be as old as the Ingres painting that inspired it. Dig in folks, and enjoy, and when you decide that you want more (and I know you will), then go looking for La Roca's Blue Note recording Basra. You won't find it on the shelves in the US (La Roca had it pulled just as it was slated for release as an RVG a few years ago because he thought the title was "inappropriate" at the height of all the Iraq brouhaha - yeah, I know, give me a frickin' break!); the best bet is the Blue Note Japanese import (the UK Blue Note is copy-protected and will play havoc with your PeeCee). It's absolutely on par with Turkish Women at the Bath, and has one of Joe Henderson's finest performances, to boot.



Sorry folks, but me have no scanner, so you have no covers! You'll find that obtaining art for this one is next to impossible. No sweat - this baby's all about the music, anyway.