Tripping Through The Life Cycle: The Earth Disciples

The Earth Disciples: Life Cycle and Bitter End Part 1
From: Getaway Train [Solid State, 1969]

So how do you follow up a post like Kevin's Anatomy Of A Sample pt 2? Well, the simple answer is I can't really. So instead I've opted for a change of pace and a journey once more into the raer.......

The Earth Disciples are a group veiled in the mystery of time, allowing their music to speak for them. Which is to say that, despite my best googling efforts, I can find absolutely squat about the band behind this release.
What I can tell you is that the album is one of the rarest records on Solid State but still seems to turn up reasonably often on Ebay. You could describe the music as Soul-Jazz, Jazz-Fusion,Rock-Fusion or a number of other relatively meaningless terms but at the end of the day all that really matters is the music and I love this album to pieces.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I had a momentary face melt the first time I heard Life Cycle. Starting with a funky rock riff the track seems to be settling into a groove before it breaks down into the first of many sublime tempo changes. Building on a piano led theme the band develop the mood with layer upon layer, reverb taking the listener off on a journey before the groove brings them back down to earth. This track is absolutely fantastic by any measure.

Bitter End Pt 1 is a more straightforward jazzy number featuring some nice breakdowns and excellent playing from the band once again.

As I mentioned, despite it's rarity, I've seen this LP pop up a number of times on ebay so if you like what you hear it's worth keeping an eye out for it. I'm off to celebrate my birthday now but should be back next week with some more breakface related gems. Have a good week.