Stanley Cowell, Billy Harper, Reggie Workman, Billy Hart - Such Great Friends 1983

A spiritual soul jazz supergroup – featuring some of our favorite players of the Strata East 70s scene! This obscure recording was made in the mid 80s, but it's got the feel of the best 70s work by Harper, Fortune, and Cowell – a richly expressive session built around original compositions, and long modal playing in a Love Supreme tradition! The group's a quintet featuring Sonny Fortune on alto, Billy Harper on tenor, Stanley Cowell on piano, Billy Hart on drums, and Reggie Workman on bass – most of whom, minus Fortune, played together on a similar session (called Such Great Friends – not to be confused with this one!) a few years earlier. The feel of the album's like some of Harper's best from the 70s – very open, but never too free, with lots of stretching, yearning passages from the rhythm section – making for a perfect platform for the solos of Harper and Fortune. Titles include "Equipoise", "East Harlem Nostalgia", "Insight", "Awakening", and "Is It Not True Simply Because You Cannot Believe It".

1. Sweet Song
2. Destiny Is Yours
3. Layla Joy
4. East Harlem Nostalgia



Stanley Cowell - piano
Billy Harper - tenor sax
Reggie Workman - bass
Billy Hart - drums