Hutcherson, Bobby: Medina (Blue Note Tone Poet) LP

The late-1960s and early-1970s were a wildly creative period for Bobby Hutcherson with the vibraphonist freely exploring a wide range of stylistic possibilities from post-bop and the avant-garde to fusion and Latin Jazz. The cutting-edge 1969 session Medina—which wouldn’t be first released until 1980 as part of the LT Series—documented one of Hutcherson’s most remarkable band line-ups featuring two of his frequent collaborators - Harold Land on tenor saxophone and flute and Joe Chambers on drums - along with Stanley Cowell on piano and Reggie Johnson on bass. The set presented a pair of original compositions each by Hutcherson, Cowell, and Chambers that explored a variety of moods from the churning rhythms of “Avis” and “Medina” to the more atmospheric realms of “Comes Spring” and “Orientale.”