The deep underground jazz scene that existed in Detroit in the 1970s has proved to be a rich mine full of hidden gems, lost classic recordings, small collectively-run cottage record labels, and spiritually aware and conscious music and artistry.

The Detroit Jazz Composers Ltd.’s ‘Hastings St. Jazz Experience’ was originally released locally in Detroit in 1976. The album has been digitally remastered here and made available on Universal Sound in a deluxe limited vinyl edition (1000 copies wordwide) as an expanded double LP (pressed at 45rpm) on super loud, super heavy 180gm audiophile vinyl. This format also comes with a free download code.

Alongside the Tribe Records musicians’ collective of Phil Ranelin, Wendell Harrison and Marcus Belgrave, Detroit was also home to Kenny Cox and Charles Moore’s Strata Records, who released music by Maulawi, Lyman Woodard and Kenny Cox. There were also many other tiny bespoke labels releasing radical and progressive music from the city’s underground scene. This album is one such classic lost deep spiritual jazz album.

Detroit jazz music connected to the city’s own musical bag, be it the soul of Motown or the proto-punk of The MC5 or The Stooges – Strata Records\’ Charles Moore played with MC5 and White Panther / MC5 manager John Sinclair was a key figure in the Detroit Artists Workshop for jazz musicians in the 1960s.

The Detroit Jazz Composers Ltd. is a one-off collective coming together of many of Detroit’s superb jazz musicians together with one of Motown’s finest soul singers, Kim Weston, alongside a full orchestra and choir – and is one of the most spiritually uplifting set of recordings you will ever hear.

In Detroit, creative musicianship, collective consciousness and African-American economic empowerment went hand in hand, and The Detroit Jazz Composers Ltd.’s ‘Hastings St. Jazz Experience’ was the only release on the bespoke Midnite Records, set up especially for this project.

‘Hastings St. Jazz Experience’ was the collective idea of Ed Nelson, Dedrick Glover and Charles Miller, a huge project involving over 50 musicians, a creative response to a decaying city harnessing the vitality and history of the black experience.