Don Cherry, Latif Ahmed Khan – Music / Sangam

Finally available again as a vinyl LP in 2025: the re-release of the rare spiritual jazz / world classic by US jazz trumpeter Don Cherry in duo with Indian tabla player Latif Khan on Heavenly Sweetness.

The American jazz trumpeter Don Cherry (1936 - 1995) is one of the great musical innovators of the genre and played together with legends such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp and Gato Barbieri during his career. In addition to his standard-setting releases in the free jazz field, the multi-instrumentalist was one of the first musicians to dedicate himself to the fusion of jazz and world music and was also active in rock productions.

"Music / Sangam", recorded in Paris in 1978 together with the Indian tabla virtuoso Latif Khan, was only released in France in 1981 in an edition of 1,000 copies, although it is certainly one of the artist's best works. Produced by Martin Meissonnier (Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Khaled), the two musicians create a virtuoso mix of spiritual jazz and traditional Indian sounds, the visionary improvisational power of Cherry meets the intricately refined tabla rhythms of Khan, with dreamlike confidence in their interplay.