Deaf, Dumb, Blind: Summun, Bukmun, Umyun

It's got a Side A composition, and it's got a Side B composition, and that's all this album needs. This is a spiritual jazz album that cannot be ignored, not only for its place in the chronology of spiritual jazz releases (this recording helped the subgenre take root and burgeon) but also for its connections to Islam and its resulting call to action, not to be deaf, dumb, and blind to the divine reality. Africa is all over this album, but that's not a surprise to anyone with ears. In a delicious conflation of religion and politics, this is the music of a people struggling against colonialism, freeing not only the spirit but the body. The strength of these recordings is that you can dance to the music or you can meditate to it, and both are valid responses.