Barney Wilen: Zodiac

In the absence of available and affordable copies, this 1966 release by respected French saxophonist Wilen garnered interest among collectors as a lesser-known stage in the development of free jazz. With this reissue it is likely to be better understood as an accessible album that for the most part leans more toward other mid-60s exploratory modern jazz sounds, such as the piano-less Out to Lunch by Eric Dolphy (largely due to the great Karl Berger’s contributions here on vibes), Paul Bley’s lyrical mid-1960s trios and quartets, and the exotic jazz of Yusef Lateef. As expected, the album has 12 tracks for the signs of the Zodiac, including an unusual double tracking of Wilen on “Gemini” and more aggressive playing on “Leo.” This quality pressing by We Are Busy Bodies is the first legitimate issue since the record’s original release and was made with the collaboration of the Wilen estate and Barney’s son Patrick. In the absence of available master tapes, this record was sourced from an original pressing, but the results suggest that great care was taken to avoid either an excessive midrange focus or the period-incorrect exaggeration of very high and low frequencies that undermine many such projects.