Amnesty
Free Your Mind
(Now Again)
One of the coolest currents in the first decade of the 21st century is the intensified activity in the lost-or-forgotten-recording-retrieval business. Seventies heavy-funk supremacists Amnesty’s Free Your Mind—700 West Sessions is a fine example. Hailing from Indianapolis, the band mixes deep, progressive grooves with the sweet sensibility of today’s R&B and social and political comment. The playing is solid. Check the Donald Byrd-like trumpet intro—a perfect jazz-funk balance—on the opener “Can I Help You?” or the bassline that brings to mind Rage Against the Machine (where they got some of their licks). A fine record.
—Sean Flinn
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
