Some albums demand attention. This is one such album. Warning: Steve Tintweiss and The Purple Why, Live in Tompkins Square Park 1967 is not merely an album. It is quite a discovery — an aural snapshot of a very specific time and place, and as such we are grateful that it has been captured and shared.

Steve Tintweiss’s discography was once limited to a few 1965-70 recordings with artists like Patty Waters and Albert Ayler, but he has since expanded it via his archival label, Inky DoT Media. This effort adds depth to the works of peers such as Laurence Cook, Jacques Coursil, and Perry Robinson. Their recent release, Live in Tompkins Square Park 1967, features these musicians plus Joel Peskin, Randy Kaye, and James Duboise. The album includes 12 Tintweiss compositions, structured with brief themes and extended group improvisations that transport you to the park in the year that it was all, clearly, happening.