1977 Milford Graves “Meditation Among Us” on Kitty Records

Hey, how often do you find a fifty-year-old Japanese record with OBI and insert that is virtually NM/NM in the bins of a tiny shop you’ve never been to before (mainly because it just opened in an ambitious/as-yet gentrified part of town) for an absurdly reasonable price that the VERY stoned proprietor knocked $50 off of because you informed him that OBI in Japanese means “belt” or “sash” which caused him to devolve into paroxysms of laughter? Well, it was a first for me. Milford is Milford, so I know I don’t need to describe the two long tracks that take up each side, although “free” “out” and “avant” would likely find their way nestled between “dissonance” if I did. Kitty is a pretty slick label that put out tons of cassettes and singles and an avalanche of City Pop before people who were briefly into Exotica discovered it, including the MIGHTY Masayoshi Takanaka, who is sort of a cross between Jerry Lewis, Aladdin Sane, and Angus Young. Milford is backed by the MONSTEROUS Mototeru Takagi, which alone made me feel that I didn’t pay enough for the record, let alone Free Vet Toshinori Kondo, Motoharu Yoshizawa on bass, “Origination”’s kit-destroyer Toshi Tsuchitori and….and…. Kaoru Abe!

​I mean, it’s as if the 12 Apostles showed up to do the Twelve Tone Roll. Graves gets credit for songwriting on both cuts, but I’d bet money they’re entirely improvised, or he threw a Stetson in the center of the room and said “This one’s about a hat” and then they all started playing. Hey, credit where credit is due. All that being said, and I’m very happy to file this document of time and history, I wish they’d found a little room for harmonic connection instead of simply trying to out-blow each other. This record is a fascinating sketch of songs we all deserve to hear at a recording date a year later.