Frank Zappa
Chunga's Revenge

Chicago-born composer, producer and arranger Charles Stepney is known to some for his work with Earth, Wind & Fire, Deniece Williams, and Ramsey Lewis, or for his work with Chess Records in the 1960s, where he was an essential creative force behind seminal recordings by Rotary Connection, Minnie Riperton, Marlena Shaw, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Terry Callier, The Dells, The Emotions, and many many more. In the decades since his untimely death in 1976, the presence of his name in liner notes and on vinyl labels has become a seal of quality for record collectors, music historians, and aficionados, while his sound has been used by countless samplers in the hip-hop world including Kanye West, A Tribe Called Quest, The Fugees, MF Doom, and Madlib. But in comparison to the post-mortem renown of his sound, or the music he created and the artists he supported while he was alive, Stepney is a greatly under-appreciated figure... a genius relegated to the shadows.

Seikatsu K?jy? Iinkai's self titled long player documents the unique moment when the thriving NYC free jazz scene met the equally fertile Japanese free music scene. It was an exciting time in the 70s when a second wave of talented players began to emerge after the red hot 60s sound and brought plenty of fresh thinking to the traditional template. There are just three pieces on this record but they convey the magic of the outfit with the full-range of the keyboard, hitting hard bass keys and dancing rhythms. This reissued version of the record comes with linear notes and rare photographs from actor Alan Cummings.