An overlooked 1976 session led by Marion Brown on alto sax with a rhythmically driven ensemble including Ambrose Jackson, Billy Patterson, Rene Arlain, Fred Hopkins, Ed Blackwell, Jumma Santos, and Chris Henderson, merging funk and Afro-Caribbean grooves with free jazz principles through layered rhythms, collective improvisation, and Brown's distinctive, lyrical tone.

Gathering key 1965-66 New York sessions, this 2-CD set traces alto saxophonist Marion Brown's emergence in the free jazz vanguard through Capricorn Moon, Why Not? and Burton Greene quartet recordings, with Alan Shorter, Bennie Maupin, Stanley Cowell, Henry Grimes, Sirone, Rashied Ali and others shaping music of lyrical urgency, open-form momentum and evolving collective freedom.

Remastering and restoring Marion Brown's 1967 Impulse! album with Grachan Moncure III, Dave Burrel, Stanley Cowell, Sirone, Beaver Harris & Bobby Capp, and his 1968 album on the Calig label with Gunter Hampel, Steve McCall, Ambrosa Jackson & Buschi Niedergall; two albums of essential "New Thing" work through fascinating composed forms by Brown, plus Archie Shepps' "Delicado"; essential.

Archie Shepp's second album for Impulse! merges the fire of free jazz with an incredibly eclectic set of styles, his inclusive approach to composition integrating a vast source of styles from Ellington to Ipanema; this is paired with Shepp's octet release, including an epic 20 minute work for American artist Robert Thompson reflecting his paintings in powerful thematic and abstract expression.

Merging and remastering two essential albums from free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown: his 1966 ESP album "Marion Brown Quartet" with trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Johnson and percussionist Rahied Ali; and his 1967 Fontana album "Juba-Lee" in a septet with Reggie Johnson, drummer Beaver Harris, pianist Dave Burrell, trombonist Grachan Moncur III & saxophonist Bennie Maupin.

A previously unreleased concert recording from 1986 of a group of leading out jazz artists (Billy Bang, Fred Hopkins, Andrew Cyrille, &c.) playing original compositions as well as a cover of Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat".