We use cookies on our website to provide you with the best experience. Most of these are essential and already present.
We do require your explicit consent to save your cart and browsing history between visits. Read about cookies we use here.
Your cart and preferences will not be saved if you leave the site.
play
1
2

Harold Alexander

Sunshine Man

Label: Solid Records

Format: CD

Genre: Jazz

In process of stocking

€16.40
VAT exempt
+
-
Two days in May 1971, produced by Bob Thiele for Flying Dutchman. Harold Alexander on flute and soprano over Neal Creque's electric piano, Richard Davis's bass, Pretty Purdie's drums and Richard Landrum's congas. Contains Mama Soul, the scat-flute track that got him into DJ sets decades later.

Mama Soul is the reason most people know this record. A flute line sung and played at the same time, a Rhodes groove underneath, and drums by Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. David Holmes put it on his Cornerstones compilation and it has been a DJ staple since.

The rest of Sunshine Man is worth the same attention. Harold Alexander's first album, recorded over two days in May 1971 and produced by Bob Thiele for Flying Dutchman, has Neal Creque on electric piano, Richard Davis on bass and Richard "Pablo" Landrum on congas alongside Purdie. In Sheep's Clothing places it somewhere between jazz-funk and free improvisation, with far-out moments held together by that rhythm section, and hears the title track as Alexander playing free over the keys and Purdie's doubled beat. A listener on RateYourMusic compares the flute to Eric Dolphy dropped into 1971, and notes how differently each piece is approached, from the tribal saxophone groove of Tite Rope to the slow flute waltz of Aquilla.

Alexander recorded once more for Flying Dutchman, live at Montreux, and once for Atlantic, then stopped. He is quoted as saying that the business did not kill his spirit but killed his desire to share.

Japanese CD edition from Solid's Flying Dutchman series.

Details
Cat. number: CDNP-1040
Year: 2025

More by Harold Alexander