Forget To Remember (Live Vol. ​2): 1970

Fantastic live sextet from the British guitar legend. Trumpeter Harry Beckett fills in a lot of the sweeter passages but the action here is all Russell. Somewhere between Jon McLaughlin and Sonny Sharrock and possibly a Jeff Beck, Russell is all melody and texture and string-loving lifeforce. If Derek Bailey had decided to keep playing trad and working over changes, he might have been Russell. Especial love for “Triple Goddess,” a quieter track that finds Russell butterfly picking his strings into a sort of cloud, and “Rites & Rituals,” the title track from his monster solo album. A perfect swirl of inside and outside playing, your dream of what you want when you walk into a jazz club, not knowing what you’ll find.