#71: The Way Ahead
Essential Jazz Reissues | Wet Tuna | Drew Gardner of Elkhorn | Guranfoe
Hey folks. It’s getting cold. So the prog and jazz records are coming out more and more. The seasonal nature of my listening has really become pronounced in the last 5 years, with these colder months ALWAYS bringing up more swing and complexity than the freewheeling days of spring and summer.
Paid tier subs will be getting the latest Trailhead archive any moment but here’s the latest playlist:
The Trailhead 192 Playlist:
1. Natasha Pirard - La Tristesse Insoutenable - Fernande, Cecile (DEEWEE, 2025) 00:00
2. Saapato - Port Snettisham - In Alaska (AKP Recordings, 2025) 04:20
3. Funcionário - renascer - Horizonte (Holuzam, 2025) 11:49
4. Michael Malis & Zara Teicher - Realign - Retreat (Low Versions, 2025) 17:18
5. Landon Caldwell - No Caves Here - Strategic Light (Medium Sound, 2025) 28:27
6. jakub kasperkiewicz - castle bravo - sunflowers (Mabui Music, 2025) 31:51
7. Papir - IX.IIIIIII - IX (Stickman, 2025) 1:00:58
8. Amon Düül II – Restless Skylight-Transistor-Child - Tanz Der Lemminge (Liberty, 1971) 1:22:08
9. Fysiikka & Kemia - Rantaan Uponnut Soutuvene - Biologia (Ultraääni Records, 2025) 1:41:34
Got wind of this amazing new archival release coming from Finland this week and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m unsure how I got into Charlie Mariano but his late 60s/early 70s fusion era hits hard for me, especially the stuff he recorded in Scandanavia. So it was with great pleasure when I came across the Jazzaggression label’s release of Jyvaskyla Workshop Band 1970. Featuring Mariano in a large group with Eero Kovistoinen, Pekka Poyry, Paroni Paakkunainen, Heikki Sarmanto on Arild Andresen, Edward Vesala and Matti Koskiala, the live recording from the Finnish festival has never been released. I’m only familiar with Mariano, Andresen (check his amazing 70s ECM output), and Vesala but this crew hit a beautiful, improvisational cosmic thread. I can only find it on Apple Music but there is a 2xLP version that Dusty Groove is carrying at a really good price considering its an import. Preview below.
Also on the reissue horizon is this slightly younger 1975 LP from saxophonist Charles Tyler and his ensemble. Reissued digitally today (12/5/25) by Frederiksberg Records (with the involvement of Tyler’s estate) with a vinyl version due in early 2026, Voyage From Jericho was originally issued (in miniscule quantities, I’m sure) by Tyler’s AK-BA Records. Not that I could ever afford any, but I saw a lot of rare, private press jazz records as a NYC-based record fiend for 20 years but I never ogled one of these so it’s a really exciting release. The sessions for the album were done in 1974 and feature Arthur Blythe (saxophone), Ronnie Boykins (bass), Steve Reid (drums) and Earl Cross (trumpet). It’s soulful and exciting music that feels free but it never becomes a challenge to follow.
As the world’s biggest Matt Valentine fan, I, of course, must joyously relate to all that there is a new Wet Tuna LP around the corner. Vast arrives February 13th via Three Lobed Records and it continues the Vermont cow funk unit’s explorations of space and groove. When we accept it’s the 21st Century and that dub, mixups, plunderphonics and waves of slush and vapor are extensions of folk tradition we may start to understand where MV & Co. channel their flows from. In typical Child of Microtones fan-service fashion, there’s a new EP out now featuring two non-LP tracks and the album’s first,ascendant single “Epic View.” Completists should note there are different mixes on some tunes on the LP (once again,mastered by the genius Carl Saff), making a physical grip 100 percent necessary.
Check the Epic View EP below and order the new album here.
The greatest English psychedelic rock band of the last 40 years, Guranfoe, return today with the 15th (?!) installment in their all-improv series. This go-round the core quartet of James Burns, Ollie Snell, Robin G. Breeze and Joe Burns are joined by Ryan Stevenson on keyboards and Josh Read on third guitar. Clocking in over 60 minutes, Guranjam #15 was recorded just last month and covers all sorts of progressive and enveloping ground in its four extended pieces. Fans of Zappa, Phish, Hawkwind, Gong and all the great 70s Swedish psych need this band in their lives.
One of the most dependable acts in the American underground are the acoustic/electric guitar duo of Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner who record and perform as Elkhorn. Both guitarists stay busy on the outside with Gardner really seeming to ramp things up the last couple of years.
Today, Gardner returns with the announcement of Wave Field, a new “solo” album on the legendary VHF label. Featuring Garcia Peoples’ Tom Malach (guitar) and Andy Cush (bass) along with percussionist Ryan Jewell, the album is out February 20. If the first released track is any indication, Wave Field is going to be a favorite among the deep psych heads for years to come.