condition (record/cover): NM / EX

A Vietnam veteran who came back, sold his gun, bought a violin and rebuilt the instrument's place in the music from the ground up. Sweet Space is an early leader date by Billy Bang, cut for the small Anima Productions imprint during the New York loft years, and it has all the qualities that made him irreplaceable: a scratching, digging attack that owes as much to Appalachian fiddle as to Stuff Smith, tunes built on stubbornly singable riffs, and an approach to free playing that never loses sight of the dance. The string writing is sharp and the ensemble sounds genuinely delighted to be in the room.

Original pressing on Anima Productions. Private-press loft jazz of the best kind, and getting seriously scarce.