THING

In 2016, Cultures of Soul Records released Boston?Creative Jazz Scene 1970-1983, a groundbreaking?compilation spotlighting the often-overlooked?progressive jazz environment that thrived in Beantown?through the seventies into the eighties. Now, following?up on this groundbreaking work, Cultures of Soul is?proud to present a crisp reissue of the eponymous (and?sole) album by the Boston jazz-fusion outfit THING.?Formed by confederates who met at the Berklee School?of Music and led by the creatively restless saxophonist?and jazz educator Arni Cheatham, Thing were a regular?fixture in Boston clubs in the seventies, as comfortable?plying the rock and funk idioms as they were in?jazz. Their 1972 LP documents two of their live sets,?showcasing their simmering, funky and spiritual?freeform jazz, very much in the vein of early seventies?jazz-rock experiments by Miles Davis, Weather Report?and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.?The two suites featured on the album are fully?improvised, featuring the musicians spontaneously?generating and developing musical motifs in real time,?bouncing ideas off each other in a communion that?is equally suitable for meditating...or dancing like?tomorrow will never arrive.?THING is a worthy glimpse into the experimentation and?adventurousness that made the seemingly uptight city?of Boston a magnet for musical mavericks.??A. Sketch (22:47)?B. Road Through Wall (22:09)