Bleep

Vassar College, December 1970. 31-year-old multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee took to a stage with his saxophone and backing band before an audience of students — and proceeded to blow their minds. He was an astounding player, yes — but longstanding became the bandleader’s refrain: “it’s nation time!” Recorded shortly after, and released the following year, Nation Time is a fireball of post-Coltrane spiritualism, brilliantly roughened around the edges by the incongruous presence of a heavy organ and McPhee’s unmatched freewheeling.