BIRTHRIGHT Breath Of Life avant-garde Lp BEVERLY SIMMS
$
265
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Description
artist // title:
BIRTHRIGHT - "Breath Of Life"
format: vinyl LP stereo record
This is an original 1976 pressing of Freelance #FLS2. It is not a reissue. Features a local band / local musicians (Buffalo, NY) on an extemely rare privately-pressed LP. I had another LP on this label, I think it was under PAUL GRESHAM's own name; that's probably the only other LP on Freelance. I've never seen any others, I'm FROM Buffalo, and I've been a professional record dealer for 12 years.
Liner notes state: "since they learned from masters like Miles Davis and John Coltrane it is in their heritage... their Birthright....to carry on....". If I had to categorize this LP in one word in would be just JAZZ. But there's elements of free jazz, funk, soul-jazz, avant, and a spiritual / Black Consciousness vibe. Seven members include PAUL GRESHAM on tenor, Joe Ford on alto and soprano, and Nasara Abadey on drums & percussion as the core of the band. Instruments also include Fender Rhodes piano, electric guitar, electric & acoustic basses.
Some of the tracks - at least 3 - have vocals. The breezy, dreamy jazz vocals (but with some soul elements) are by Beverly Simms, who does some percussion too. Nice long tracks - eg., side 2 consists of "India" (instrumental) 6:30, "So To Speak" (vocal/instrumental) 7:41 and a closing instrumental at 7:51.
CONDITION:A note on grading: I'm a fulltime professional record seller. I've sold approximately 5000 records on eBay (almost all of them under my other account name, which I generally use for my vinyl sales). Before that I sold through Goldmine magazine. In all that time I've had only ONE sale... ONE customer... who wanted to return an item he felt was mis-graded (the Buyer agreed the record was correctly graded VISUALLY, but he felt that it played with more noise than he expected; a full refund was offered, he said he'd mail the record back- and then decided to keep it anyway!). So, when I say that I GRADE ACCURATELY and conservatively, it's simply the truth.
VINYL (visual): If I used the grade of EX, this would be EX. Since I don't, I'll give this a STRONG VG++ to solid NM-.
The VG++ is my conservative grade, for real serious nit-picking collectors (like me) who find that 95% of the stuff on eBay is over-graded. The NM- is what the typical "good" seller - not one of the greedy clowns - would give it. I say that only because everybody tells my I undergrade my stuff. Note: I spot checked it for play. I don't usually play grade but it's an expensive record.... I didn't hear any noise. It plays right in line with the visual grade.
LABELS: Near Mint.
COVER: The only major flaw is the spine- the top 5" is split but not badly seperated. Can be repaired to a much nicer appearance. Rest of spine is good with little wear. (See photo for a close-up of this). About 1" of upper seam by top corner is weak, rest is fine- no splits, almost no wear. Same for lower seam - 90% is great, but right at opening a dinged corner has a half-inch "pre-split". Semi-textured front cover is very nice with minor "ring dirt" (see photo) and a couple short creases only. Back cover has light to moderate ringwear. SO YOU'RE GETTING A GOOD COVER --- WITH GOOD SEAMS AND GOOD FRONT AND BACK - WITH ONLY THE UPPER SPINE PROBLEM TO CAUSE ANY SERIOUS AGGRAVATION.
There's no writing, stamps, labels, stickers, tears, gouges, cutouts, drillholes, moisture damage ... anywhere on this item. The last word on the grading of this item- please check our feedback before bidding!
keywords: beats, breaks, samples, Marlena Shaw, Ernestine Anderson, Dianne Reeves, Lorez Alexandria, Dakota Staton, scat singers, Eddie Jefferson, Jackie Ross, Pharoah Sanders, Shamek Farrah, Roy Ayers, Weldon Irvine, rare groove, acid jazz, Oneness of Juj, Strata-East, Black Jazz, TCB, Alice Coltrane, Stanley Cowell, Horace Silver, Gary Bartz, Art Ensemble of Chicago
Note: I usually accept PayPal under any circumstances. But for this auction only I WILL NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS, except through BidPay. If your Paypal account is set up for it you can pay me by NON-Credit Card (eCheck from your bank account, or funds from a PayPal account). I offer plenty of other payment options, so it shouldn't be a problem. I just can't afford to pay an extra fee of $10+ out of my own pocket by accepting Credit Card payments on this auction.
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Foreign Airmail is: Canada $6, Europe $12, Japan/ Asia/ Australia/ South America $13
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