This astonishing audio/visual box set tells the hitherto undocumented story of bass player/percussionist Juma Sultan and his Aboriginal Music Society free jazz collective. Birthed in Woodstock, New York in 1968 Sultan's AMS attracted similar minded musicians and artists into its ranks – including members of the St Louis based Black Artist's Group – together with players like AACM drummer Philip Wilson, Julius Hemphill and a pre Black Beings era Frank Lowe – all of whom added their own individual fl ourishes of genius to Sultan's free fl owing project. Before forming AMS Sultan had been a member of Jimi Hendrix's short-lived Gypsy Sun & Rainbows group (the precursor to what would eventually become the guitarist's Band Of Gypsies troupe) and there is an alluring sense of psychedelia trailing through this set that mingles with the more revolutionary free jazz gusts. Of these it is Frank Lowe, playing as part of a trio with Sultan and hand drummer Ali Abuwi, where the set really takes off, with Lowe letting the full force of his creative powers blast out of his instrument. This defining performance from Lowe is worth the price of admission alone.

Equally enthralling is the session featuring several BAG players in the line up – with Charles ‘Bobo’ Shaw on hand drums, Abdul Wadud playing cello, and Julius Hemphill on alto sax for a big band blast that is also a unification of artistic purpose and spirit. Recorded when most of the major labels had lost all interest in the free jazz movement, Sultan's AMS recordings returns to the liberated underground roots of the music to celebrate its unique message and carry it further.