Releasing forward thinking jazz discs that encompassed as much of the past as the future didn’t bode well for too many folks.  Especially as the ‘70s pushed on, it seemed as if the genre was growing increasingly complacent while refusing to offer up any sort of new space for performers that had been working steadily behind the scenes to get a bit of that sought after lime light.

Performing as a session player on albums by Pucho and his Latin Soul Brothers as well as dates with Big John Patton granted saxophonist and flutist Harold Alexander the opportunity to work with better known folks as well. But regardless of his pedigree in funky jazz stuffs, the few scant dates that Alexander would wind up leading didn’t result in his acclaim, but instead a trio of albums that are as highly sought after today by aficionados as any other releases from the era.

Subsequent to those dates with Patton, Alexander went into the studio for the Flying Dutchmen imprint. At this late date, the label’s pretty much a footnote in jazz history, but it was able to issue some wide reaching genre albums that worked to incorporate everything from spoken word stuff to fusion. And while Alexander was closer to the latter, his two dates with Flying Dutchmen remained rooted in jazz.

The date leader’s 1971 effort entitled Sunshine Man is littered with highlights. The title track is a taut funk number that perhaps suffers a bit from Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie’s exacting percussion. The rhythm section’s ability to lock it down doesn’t detract from Alexander’s work, but the beat is such a draw on the attention that it’s sometimes difficult to pay attention to those sax solos.

More memorable on this first slab, though, is “Mama Africa.” Alexander’s screams between flute bursts was a trademark of his that doesn’t seem to tire over the course of Sunshine Man. And while this latter track is easily the most engaging, the work that the multi-instrumentalist would turn in the following year on Are You Ready? is just as impressive, but in a different manner.

The 1972 album was recorded live at Montreaux and features just three tracks. The first side is comprised of two covers – Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” and a ten minute soul jazz version of “High Heeled Sneakers.”

The Hancock composition is turned in so that most wouldn’t be able to readily recognize it. But even more impressive is the second effort which is transformed from a rock number into a sort of soul work out replete with jazzy guitar interludes and crashing New Orleans styled drumming at points.

Are You Ready? turns back to the taut funk of Sunshine Man for the duration of its second side and “Quick City Revisited.” The breaks are all sample ready and the solos present themselves as something deep enough to listen to while staring off into space. While this would be Alexander’s last date for Flying Dutchmen, he would go in on a single album for Atlantic called Raw Root in 1974. Try to find it…seriously.