1964 Harold McNair “Up In The Air” on Bahamian Rhythms Ltd

Well, even by ’64 Harold had come a long way from Freddie Munnings & His Silver Slipper Orchestra, blazing his own path via the not-widely-beloved Jamaican Flute genre (plus alto and tenor) into headliner status very much like his lifelong pal Joe Harriott. Along with the Caribbean Explosion wave of Harry Beckett and Dizzy Reece, he soon crashed on London’s shores, and in about 8 seconds was touring with Quincy Jones. McNair is ALL OVER the obscure but fantastic John Cameron “Off Centre” and also the soundtrack to Sean Connery’s “Dr. No”, a sentence that likely has never been typed before in human history. He’s mostly known for making Donovan’s barefoot hippie shuffling and moaning listenable, a musical truth so undeniable that both John Martyn (“The Tumbler”) and Davy Graham (“Large as Life and Twice as Natural”) hired him on the spot. A quick spin of this disc reveals a prodigious creativity and talent that would progress into serious free/out blowing on later releases, particularly “Affectionate Fink”. Aside from an unfortunate penchant for bad puns, McNair is a great player and this record stomps. Oh yeah.