Rahsaan Roland Kirk-The Inflated Tear (Atlantic)

Release date: June 1968

Released in 1968, The Inflated Tear stands as Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s masterpiece and one of the most original jazz albums of the decade. The album captures Kirk at the height of his creative powers, blending blues, gospel, post-bop, spirituals, and avant-garde elements into a deeply personal artistic statement. The title track remains one of the most remarkable performances in jazz history, featuring Kirk’s famous ability to play multiple horns simultaneously while never losing sight of emotional expression. Throughout the album, compositions such as “The Black and Crazy Blues,” “Fingers in the Wind,” and “A Laugh for Rory” reveal a musician equally capable of tenderness, humor, and innovation. The album’s impact has only grown with time. Once admired primarily for Kirk’s technical brilliance, it is now recognized as a landmark recording that challenged traditional ideas about jazz performance and composition. The Inflated Tear helped cement Kirk’s legacy as one of the most visionary artists of the 1960s and remains an enduring influence on jazz, experimental music, and creative improvisation. (S5-Ep22)

Gracinha Leporace (The Sergio Mendes Band)

For more than five decades, Gracinha Leporace was far more than a vocalist in Sergio Mendes’ bands—she was his musical partner, collaborator, and eventually his wife. Born in Brazil, Leporace joined Mendes’ musical world after being discovered as a young singer at age 18 and officially became part of his group by 1970. Her warm voice became an essential part of the Sergio Mendes sound, helping carry forward the blend of Brazilian rhythms, jazz sophistication, and pop accessibility that made the band internationally famous. She and Mendes married in 1974 and remained together for fifty years, building both a family and a remarkable musical legacy.

Today, Leporace continues that legacy with the Sergio Mendes Band, featuring many musicians who performed with Mendes during the final decade of his career. New Jersey audiences will have the opportunity to celebrate the music of Brasil ’66 and beyond when the group performs at Mayo Performing Arts Center on June 11 and at Bergen Performing Arts Center on June 14. These performances honor the 60th anniversary of Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, one of the most influential crossover albums of the 1960s.

https://www.sergiomendesmusic.com/

Sly and The Family Stone- Life (Epic Records)

Released September 1968

Sly & The Family Stone’s Life (1968) is one of the great overlooked transitional albums of the late 1960s. Released between the commercial breakthrough of Dance to the Music and the landmark success of Stand!, the album captures the group expanding beyond catchy psychedelic soul into deeper funk experimentation, social commentary, and more adventurous songwriting. The racially and gender-integrated band—still a radical concept in popular music at the time—blended soul, rock, funk, gospel, and psychedelia into a sound unlike anything else on radio. Larry Graham’s developing slap bass technique became a major part of the album’s identity and would later revolutionize funk bass playing. Tracks like “Fun,” “Life,” and “Love City” showcase the band’s infectious grooves, layered vocals, and optimistic messages of individuality and unity. Although the album performed poorly on the charts upon release, it has since become recognized as an important bridge toward the socially conscious brilliance of Stand! and later funk innovations. (S5-EP21)