Free Your Mind: The 700 West Sessions

Rare funk from the Indianapolis scene of the early 70s, the long-overdue release of material recorded by a really hard-jamming, horn-heavy combo! Amnesty have a sound that's awash in the best large group influences of the time, a bit of Earth Wind & Fire, a bit of Parliament/Funkadelic, but also a grittier, more guitar-based groove at times too, one that rumbles heavily at the bottom of the rhythms, with a sound that's like Norman Whitfield-era Motown, taken to much greater extremes! There's actually a lot more Detroit going on in the work than Indy, but the horns also have a jazzier, more open-ended quality too, not just parts penned for simple funky rhythms, but ones that show some influence from the more righteous side of the jazz spectrum. The material was all recorded on two dates in 1973, but only issued two years ago for the first time, and together, the tracks are a great example of a hip group from the underground, really letting loose with a great sense of freedom.