Drummer, bandleader and activist Bubbha Thomas had toured America with R&B revues, served as a session musician for peacock and back beat records, and played straight ahead jazz with legends before the political and social upheaval of the late 1960s led him to a path first charted by Coltrane.<\/p>\n
\u201cFree As You Wanna Be\u201d, his first album with his band The Lightmen, predates the deep-set, maverick jazz issued by the likes of Tribe and Strata East: This album is a harbinger of the collective voice of resistance to the musical and cultural status quo that emerged in the 1970s jazz underground. <\/p>\n
Most of the tracks remain strongly groove-based with a clear sense of cohesion, but a few of the performances push further out than you might expect from later Lightmen releases, revealing the band\u2019s deep roots in avant-jazz. This lineup includes a very young Ronnie Laws sounding noticeably removed from the jazz-fusion style he\u2019d adopt in the late \u201970s. Alongside Thomas on drums, the ensemble is rounded out by Doug Harris on tenor sax, Carl Adams on trumpet, Kenny Abair on guitar, and Joe Singleton on trombone. <\/p>\n
We are now reissuing \u201cFree As You Wanna Be\u201d once again thanks to our collaboration with Now-Again Records.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cFree As You Wanna Be\u201d, the first album by drummer Bubbha Thomas and his band The Lightmen, predates the deep-set, maverick jazz issued by the likes of Tribe and Strata East: This album is a harbinger of the collective voice of resistance to the musical and cultural status quo that emerged in the 1970s jazz underground. <\/strong><\/p>\n