After a successful career as a vocalist in the Charmers and Uniques vocal groups, Lloyd ‘Charmers’ Tyrell made his mark as one of Jamaica’s most influential record producers. From 1969 to 1973, he produced and released an array of local hits on his Splash Records label, featuring himself along with some of the island’s leading performers, most notably Ken Boothe, Bob Andy and BB Seaton.
In the late 1950s, the emergence of Playboy Magazine and the appearance of "nudie cutie" movies like The Immoral Mr. Teas had made burlesque seem passé in the eyes of many, and by 1962, the art of the striptease was far enough out of fashion to become a nostalgia item. In 1959, Gypsy, the musical about the life of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, was a hit on Broadway, and two years later, Ann Corio, who had been a well-known "peeler" in the '40s and '50s, launched her stage revue This Was Burlesque, which re-created the baggy-pants comedy and sexy dance numbers that were burlesque's bread and butter. The show jump-started Corio's career and was in production in New York or on the road until the early '90s; inspired by the success of the show, Roulette Records (who had released This Was Burlesque's original cast recording) teamed with Corio to produce the 1962 album How to Strip For Your Husband…
When Charles Lloyd brought his new band to Monterey in 1966, a band that included Keith Jarrett on piano, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and the inimitable - though young - Cecil McBee on bass, no one knew what to expect. But they all left floored and this LP is the document of that set. It is difficult to believe that, with players so young (and having been together under a year), Lloyd was able to muster a progressive jazz that was so far-reaching and so undeniably sophisticated, yet so rich and accessible. For starters, the opening two title tracks, which form a kind of suite (one is "Forest Flower-Sunrise," the other "Sunset"), showcased the already fully developed imagination of Jarrett as a pianist. His interplay with DeJohnette - which has continued into the 21st century in a trio with Gary Peacock - is remarkable: whispering arpeggios surrounded by large chords that plank up the drumming as DeJohnette crosses hands and cuts the time in order to fluctuate the time…