Hasaan Ibn Ali - Retrospect in Retirement of Delay: The Solo Recordings (2021) [Hi-Res]

21 previously unissued solo tracks recorded between 1962–1965
Pianist Hasaan Ibn Ali was a local Philadelphia legend who had an impact on John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner and many others. He took the larger jazz world by storm in 1965 when was released on Atlantic Records. The label was so impressed, they set Ibn Ali up to record his own album later that year, but it was never mixed or released. Thirteen years later, the tapes went up in flames in a New Jersey warehouse. While the sessions were thought lost forever, copies were believed to exist. And they did! Once located and the audio restored, the acclaimed 2021 release of Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album finally saw the light of day.

But Ibn Ali’s story has a side not documented on either of those releases. Alan Sukoenig and saxophonist David Shrier were students at the University of Pennsylvania in 1962, when Shrier told Sukoenig about an incredible pianist he had just heard at a club. It wasn’t long before the three became friends. Over the next four years, Shrier and Sukoenig captured their soon-to-be legend friend on tape, playing standards and a few originals.