CCMusic.com

It’s hard to pick the winner out of the estimable Black Jazz catalog, but this 1972 LP by bass player Henry "The Skipper" Franklin would have to be a contender. The Three Sounds/Hugh Masekela bassist tapped horn players and other musicians who’d played with everyone from Masekela to Donny Hathaway to Pharoah Sanders here. The music conjures up the spirit of late-’60s Miles, with elements of funk and fusion; Henry’s writing and the production are beautiful on "Little Miss Laurie," "Plastic Creek Stomp," "Outbreak," the title cut and more. A must-have, on CD or first-time vinyl reissue! Real Gone Music.