condition (record/cover): NM / NM

Obi included.

A bass player from Portland assembles the guest list of his life and somehow makes a coherent record out of it. David Friesen cut Amber Skies at the Mad Hatter in Los Angeles across two sessions in 1983 with Chick Corea on piano, Joe Henderson on tenor, Paul Horn on flute, Paul Motian on drums and Airto Moreira on percussion. The title track rides a fast bass ostinato into a modal groove with Henderson blowing hard over the top; "Blue In Green" becomes a flute feature of real delicacy; "Underlying" is a trio piece with an unmistakably Ornette-shaped melody. Friesen's own tone is huge and woody and he never once gets out of the way of his guests.

Japanese pressing on Palo Alto Jazz, manufactured by Victor. Superb pressing quality and a considerably better record than its obscurity suggests.