In many ways, Blackstone Legacy, Woody Shaw’s debut release [In The Beginnng, recorded in 1965, wasn’t issued until 1983], is the younger, snottier, rebellious brother of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew; it’s rough around the edges, untutored, all grazed knees and bruises. It’s raw in comparison with its famous big brother’s sleek bombast and, in my view, all the better for it.

This may be because Legacy sounds like a record its creator wanted, needed, to make, rather than trying to court a new (rock and funk) audience, as Davis did with Brew. Profoundly moved by by the political sensibilities of many creative artists during the latter part of the 1960s and early 70s, Shaw’s message on this record attempted to speak to the social and political ills of his time, as evidenced by his passionate liner notes, reproduced on this superb (and glorious-sounding) all analogue new edition – reissued on vinyl for the very first time since its initial release.

Interestingly, only one tune, keyboardist George Cables’ side-long, hyper-funky ‘New World’ sounds like it could be on Bitches Brew; everything else is the unique product of a very singular musical imagination and some highly simpatico collaborators. This is jazz, not jazz-rock, but jazz dragged into a new place, informed by both the avant-garde but also the greats of the past (as on ‘A Deed For Dolphy’, Shaw’s touching tribute to his mentor). The title track’s clarion trumpet sounds like a call to arms, White’s driving drums providing the motive power, as they do throughout the album. ‘Lost and Found’ is an acme of free bop, while ‘Think On Me’ and the twisty-turny, stop-start ‘Boo-Ann’s Grand’ are both possessed of unstoppable, incandescent energy.

It’s all breathtaking stuff, with everyone at the top of their game, no-one more than Shaw, who pushes himself and his band to the limit and beyond. As a legacy for a talent lost to the music too soon, Blackstone is unimpeachable. An essential reissue.