Phil Ranelin was a trombonist based in Detroit who did some session work for Motown in the late 60's before starting his own label, band and magazine (all under the name Tribe) in the early 70's. It's a familiar scenario to the indie community, but Ranelin founded his organization to support, enrich and reflect the African-American community in Detroit. Before the release of this disc, I'd never heard of the guy, and neither had my reference books, but it's clear from these Hefty reissues (which have been remixed and restored by John McEntire) that he knew how to assemble and lead a band. Prior Ranelin releases like The Time Is Now! caught the spirit of the jazz avant-garde of the late 60's, but Vibes from the Tribe, originally issued in 1976, is all about groove, playful group improvisation and, well, good vibes.

The overall positive feel is something that separates Vibes from the Tribe from Ranelin's fusion contemporaries. You can hear Miles' influence in the rhythmic conception (Lopez Leon's electric bass work owes much to Michael Henderson-- the way he finds the perfect pattern to anchor each track) but nothing here could be called dark and sinister. In word and deed, Ranelin was about uplift. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the two vocal tracks sung by Ranelin. Both "My Wife" and "For the Children" are paeans to the power of family. Ranelin's relaxed, breezy crooning rubbed me the wrong way at first, especially how he doubled his vocal melody with an overdubbed trombone playing in parallel. But the songs are so unassuming that they grew on me, to the point that they're now two of my favorites.

The title track is featured in three versions here. The first is criminally short at just under four minutes, but this is rectified later when the same take is allowed to stretch for a more natural 11:40. The bass and drums on "Vibes from the Tribe" are ten times funkier than grandpa's long drawers (god, what brilliant sample fodder-- paging Mr. Josh Davis), but the interplay between Ranelin's trombone, Marcus Belbrave's trumpet, and Wendell Harrison's tenor is what makes the tune so special. Playing in and around the beat, the three harmonize and audibly sway; it's like watching three people made of Jello slow dancing with each other. The third take of "Vibes from the Tribe" is probably unnecessary, being a seriously low fidelity demo that sounds like it has tape speed issues.

An 18-minute tribute to John Coltrane called "He the One We All Knew" finished the original album. It captures well the flavor of Coltrane circa 1961, during the time of his first Live from the Village Vanguard LP. With the Eastern zeetar and Faruk Hanif Bey on soprano sax, the piece is particular evocative of the epic, rambling journey that was "India," my favorite Coltrane piece. Here, Ranelin leaves the groove-based fusion behind and returns to a freer and more chaotic mode. While it's an excellent piece on its own, something about "He the One We All Knew" feels just a bit out of place on the album to me. Still, I'm not complaining. Thank god somebody had the ears and resources to get this thing back on the street. Who knows if it even sold 1,000 copies upon release? The important thing is that it's available now.

-Mark Richard-San