snobb
Pete La Roca was a really interesting musician in the mid 60s, unfortunately, after releasing two strong albums, he left the music business to become an attorney for three decades.
His debut "Basra" (1965) was an excellent advanced hard bop release. On his second album, "Turkish Women at the Bath", he continued his experimentation (after some line-up changes). One newcomer on this album is Sun Ra's sax player John Gilmore, bringing a lot of Ra's freedom and cosmic energy to the sound, but possibly an even more interesting newcomer is the young and still unknown pianist Chick Corea! Corea demonstrates some attractive moments (still not on the level of what he will perform just a few years later) which show his potential as a future piano star.
Some years later Muse label re-released this album as a Chick Corea release called "Bliss!". But it's obvious that this album is La Rock's product first. It's not as great as his debut, but this recording provides valuable evidence of hard bop on the edge of post bop. It's a pity that after this album was released Pete La Rock left the music business - one can only imagine what would have been the sound of his next possible work.
