Pianist-composer-bandleader Tapscott was an iconic figure in west coast jazz who significantly paved the way for the likes of Dwight Trible and, more recently, Kamasi Washington. Though Tapscott made fine small group recordings he excelled leading big bands and these two 1970s sessions by the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, which had an obvious parallel with AACM insofar as it was also borne of a not-for-profit vision, are thoroughly deserving of these handsomely packaged and pristinely re-mastered new vinyl editions. Drawing on the whole history of orchestral black music, from Henderson and Ellington to Ra, Evans and Gillespie, Tapscott carved his own vocabulary from those role models, adding a stark Afro-centricity and interesting configurations of instruments that had a mighty low register (three double-bass, cello) and a mostly dark horn section with no trumpets. The group played at the Immanuel United Church Of Christ in LA every last Sunday of the month for some five years, creating a community where the ethos was ‘contributive, rather than competitive’.