Hutcherson, Bobby: San Francisco (w/Harold Land) (Blue Note Classic) LP

The musical partnership between vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson – a Blue Note stalwart since his arrival on the New York jazz scene in 1963 – and tenor saxophonist Harold Land fully blossomed on the 1970 album San Francisco, though the musicians had already been exploring the far reaches of post-bop going back to 1968 on albums including Total Eclipse, Spiral, and Medina. On San Francisco they joined forces with pianist Joe Sample, bassist John Williams, and drummer Mickey Roker to form a band with a muscular sound that set a foot firmly in fusion on relentlessly grooving tunes like "Goin' Down South" and "Ummh," while indulging a wide range of other influences which gave the group its distinctive flavor, from the Latin-tinged numbers "Jazz" and "A Night In Barcelona" to exploratory pieces like the mesmerizing "Prints Tie" and transcendent "Procession."