London Odense Ensemble 
The El Paraiso catalog has served as a wellspring of psych and jazz favorites over the last few years. As the label has expanded the latter arm of that dynamic, it’s yielded some of the most vibrant cosmic jazz records year over year. Last year was certainly no exception. London Odense Ensemble grew out of the already formidible Rude Skøtt Osborn Trio with the addition of Al MacSween on keys. The band’s debut, Jaiyede Sessions Vol.1 found them deep in the heady ‘70s electric ozone of Sanders, Miles, Cherry, and Hancock’s prime, and they quickly followed on the record’s heft with a second volume earlier this year.
The second offering was just as heady as the first, digging deep into production ideas, layering performances and dousing the results in Munk’s effects-laden workups in the editing process. The label adds to a recent wave of live recordings among their stable, following up on this year’s already essential set from Edena Gardens recorded at Jaiyede Jazz Festival in Odense, Denmark in 2022. The LOE also graced the the festival, though the year prior. and now a document now is pressed and positioned by El Paraiso for entry into the halls of meditative mind expansion. The set finds the band at their most exploratory, opening and closing with improvs that exemplify their ability to plumb wells of organic flow. The mid-section finds them working on the groove of Vol. 1’s “Sojourner,” turning it into a completely new venture with heavy lifting from MacSween’s keys. Both of the band’s studio records were carved out of this kind of improvisation and malleability and it’s an indispensable artifact of the band working out that momentum live prior to crafting those works. London Odense Ensemble: Live at Jaiyede Jazz Festival is in short supply, so I’d recommend nabbing one where you can and getting in on the speakers loud and looped.