William S. Fischer – Circles LP (Ltd Black Ice Vinyl)

Description

1970 was a time for heady experimentation in popular music, but very few recordsand even fewer on major labelscome close to matching the stylistic ground covered by William S. Fischers album Circles. African-American composer/arranger/keyboardist/saxophonist Fischer grew up woodshedding with the likes of Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Muddy Waters, and Percy Mayfieldand then took a sudden left turn by studying electronic music in Vienna during the mid-60s. There, he met Joe Zawinul, and ended up penning five of the six tunes on Zawinuls groundbreaking 1968 album The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream. Fischer went on to arrange for Herbie Mann, who signed him to his Embryo imprint for Atlantic Records; Circles was Fischers one and only release for the label. And he didnt waste the opportunity; an utterly mindblowing mix of Sly Stone funk, heavy Hendrix-y metal, Southern soul, jazz fusion, and Stockhausen-esque explorations on the Moog synthesizer, Circles enlisted the same band (bassist Ron Carter, guitarists Eric Weissberg and Hugh McCracken) that Fischer had worked with while acting as Musical Director on Eugene McDaniels underground classic Outlaw, complemented by drummer Billy Cobham and a five-piece cello section. With a line-up like that, its little wonder that the artistic reach of Circles is breathtaking, but it somehow manages to cohere according to its own internal, crazy logic; it remains one of the most adventuresome and collectible releases of its day. For this, its first-ever vinyl reissue, weve pressed 2000 copies in black ice vinyl, preserved the original circle cut-out stencil cover, and added liner notes by Peter Relic that feature quotes from Fischer himself. For the intrepid listener!