Though it was recorded in 1969, this Sanders album stayed on the shelf until 1973, finally emerging on the small Strata-East label rather than Impulse!, so it often falls through the cracks, but it’s a gem. The band includes vocalist Leon Thomas, pianist Lonnie Liston Smith, guitarist Sonny Sharrock, two bassists (Cecil McBee and Sirone), drummer Billy Hart, and multiple percussionists, and the music fuses gospel and African rhythms with the screaming intensity of his work with John Coltrane.

– Phil Freeman