Every day or two at work I close myself in a giant freezer and put on some music while I move boxes around. I like to play jazz when I do this, because it helps me feel active and happy. One album that’s been really doing it for me in this situation is Harold Land’s Damisi. Land was a stalwart sax player who played on numerous classics such as Clifford Brown & Max Roach (1954), and later many Bobby Hutcherson records including personal favorites Now! (1969) and San Francisco (1970). Take a look at one of Land’s first album covers, El Tigre (1958), which is an almost unbelievably 50s-jazz-LP cover (“STEREO-PACT!”):

Needless to say, the guy was doing his thing for years, and around the time of his involvement with Hutcherson’s band in the early 70s he began recording LPs as a bandleader for Mainstream Records. I’m currently interested in Mainstream’s 300-series records, which have a distinct pattern in their album covers. I call this the Shapes Series, and you can view the covers on jazzlists. Scroll down to 350+ and note the similarities; Damisi is #367.

Damisi features a fantastic lineup including bassist Buster Williams of Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band (responsible for some of my all-time favorite albums). Oscar Brashear plays trumpet and flugelhorn and William Henderson plays piano – both recorded alongside Land for Bobby Hutcherson’s Head On (1971). Rounding out the quintet is drummer Ndugu, who also played on Mwandishi as well as two of my favorite George Duke albums. So this is a tight group!

Damisi is a deep session that verges on fusion with some chunky tracks (most stretch beyond the six-minute mark). Most songs have a groovy theme with both horns playing the melody before Land or another band member solos. “Pakistan” stands out with Land’s fantastic oboe playing, a relative rarity in the saxophonist’s discography. Ndugu’s composition “Chocolate Mess” (all other tracks are credited to Land) captures a magic that Miles Davis’s second great quintet had discovered a few years earlier on Miles in the Sky. The electric piano work, soaring bass and frenetic drumming lay the rhythm for excellent solos from Land and Brashear in that order. A stellar track, it’s one of two on Damisi‘s original second side, along with the title track. “Damisi” begins with fanfare before a mellow, multi-part theme begins. Then Land gives perhaps his best solo of the album, really blowing. A piano solo toward the end of the track suggests a delicate resolve to this album.

The reissued version of Damisi released in 1991 is the one on streaming services. Though its new cover doesn’t fit in with the Shapes Series, two bonus tracks from other recording dates are added, and both feature Bobby Hutcherson! “Dark Mood” is from the A New Shade of Blue sessions and has Billy Hart (Mwandishi, On the Corner) ripping on drums. “Up and Down” is from Land’s previous Mainstream release, Choma (Burn), which includes two drummers as well as Harold Land’s son Jr. on piano. At nearly 11 minutes and with extra percussive elements, this track feels like a lot to tack-on to the original Damisi, but I suppose CD buyers in the 90s could claim their moneys-worth.

Listen to Damisi here.