Ogun Recordings has been noteworthy in unearthing key moments in British jazz history, something for which the gods cannot be thanked enough. There might possibly be no better an item than this extremely obscure, little-known nugget, a rare meeting of horn player Charig with the inimitable keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Tippett, joined by Winter's spiritual cooing and bell playing. Recorded in a church in Bristol in 1977, Charig's sleeve notes make a point of how important a role the cathedral's ambience played in the trio's performance and subsequent recording; no electronics were used, and the improvisational nature of the sounds mutually complimented their surroundings.

Both Charig and Tippett are, of course, now legendary in Brit jazz circles, and any discussion of post-60s evolutionary Anglo modes of said expression would be remiss without the inclusion of these two exemplary practitioners. It is keen to observe that both men easily slid between the worlds of rock and jazz, specifically as their paths crossed and intertwined with Robert Fripp and King Crimson circa 1970-72, who in turn brought many a jazz and chamber jazz influence to bear on where Crimson stood in that era. Pipedream doesn't evince any flavor of prog certainly, but the ethereal nature of portions of this recording does reflect a freer sound that was still light years from acceptance by jazz aficionados. Clearly these were three musicians operating way out on the stylistic limb; Pipedream, both literally and figuratively, captured a distinct bravado of the times, when experimentalism seemed to relish a more temperate climate and freedom circumvented vast musical vacuums.

In effect, this recording sounds like little else from the period. "Bellaphon" opens with pronounced bell clangs that rattle your speaker cones, making explicit the cathedral's profound influence on the artists, before Charig's horns hauntingly etch probing lines and Tippett's organ breaches great gulfs of sepulchral air. "Ghostly Chances" is downright eerie, as is "Ode to the Ghost of an Improvised Past." Indeed, Winter's wordless vocals, in addition to the gossamer strands of sound Tippett and Charig coax from their unusual rigs, conjure mystic visions both past and present; never has free jazz sounded so moored to visions at once ectoplasmic and ephemeral. Such was the nuanced manner in which Pipedream's gothic resonances were forged so vividly.

Charig / Tippett / Winter: Pipedream Is On Sale at Squidco!