Various – Spiritual Jazz 19, West Coast U.S.A.: Part II : 50s & 60s (2xLP)

Various Artists' Spiritual Jazz 19 - West Coast USA Part 2: 70s & 80s maps a side of California jazz history that often sits outside the usual cool-jazz story. Drawn from the 1970s and 1980s, it follows the spiritual, modal and Afrocentric currents that grew across the U.S. West Coast as counterculture, Black political movements and alternative religious practices reshaped the scene.

What makes this volume especially appealing is its focus on independent and private-press activity: the small labels and local communities that gave musicians room to work beyond the mainstream. Jazzman frames the set as part of its long-running Spiritual Jazz series, and the selection reflects that curatorial approach, moving from meditative modal pieces to music touched by gospel feeling and African rhythmic ideas. The presence of artists such as Pharoah Sanders, Buddy Collette and Billy Higgins alongside far less familiar names gives the compilation both depth and discovery value.

Rather than presenting West Coast jazz as a single sound, this collection shows how searching, politically aware and spiritually minded the region's music could be. For anyone interested in overlooked jazz histories, it offers a concise survey of the labels, scenes and musicians who kept exploratory jazz alive on the West Coast during two transformative decades.

Features

• 2xLP