For the Record: Vinyl Picks of the Month

In addition to local releases dropping on Record Store Day this year, here are a few more pieces of vinyl to add to your shopping bag on Saturday.

Sister Rosetta Tharp (Jackpot Records)
By Robert Ham

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Live in France: The 1966 Concert in Limoges

Tharpe stood well apart from the blues and gospel fray during her life, primarily for her embrace of the electric guitar as the instrument for her musical proselytizing. The then-51-year-old wields her axe with a righteous joy on this never-before-heard recording made in Western France. Performing all by her lonesome, she brings a stomping energy and a mighty roar to her renditions of gospel standards like “Down by the Riverside” and “When My Life Work Is Ended.”

Sun Ra

Sun Ra at the Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976-1977

Another live one—a wonderful recording of cosmic jazz artist Sun Ra and his always evolving Arkestra, remastered with great care. The tracks are a tasting flight of the group’s various moods and modes, including Space Age synth freakouts, avant-garde explosions, unhinged bop, and tunes inspired by the ferocious energy of the Pentecostal church. Dazzling stuff remastered beautifully by engineer Joe Lizzi.

Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers

Yaina

Reissued on vinyl for the first time in 28 years, this 1971 Latin soul classic has long been a favorite of crate diggers and producers like J. Dilla who mined the album for samples. It’s not hard to understand the pull of material like the group’s languid take on John Coltrane’s “Naima” and their exquisitely funky rendition of the Ray Rivera Orchestra classic “Hard Hats.” There’s a timeliness to be found here too. Pucho may have chosen “Cease the Bombing” as a comment on the Vietnam War, but its anti-war sentiment applies just as well to the conflicts happening in multiple regions of the world.

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