The Lithuanian free jazz label NoBusiness have really outdone themselves with this stunning archival set. Ensemble Muntu were one of the key ‘forgotten’ free jazz groups that sprung up in the space between the original fire music explosion of the late 60s and its comparative rehabilitation sometime in the 90s. Muntu relied on the NY loft scene (as documented on the Wildflowers set) for survival, regularly gigging at Rashied Ali’s Ali’s Alley and Sam and Bea Rivers’ Studio Rivbea. Muntu are also remarkable for providing an early rallying point for a bunch of players whose profiles would effectively rocket in the decades to come, with William Parker on bass, Rashid Bakr on drums  and Arthur Williams and Roy Campbell Jr trading the trumpet stool alongside guest players like violinist Billy Bang. Muntu’s sound is approximately post-Ornette, the same post-boppy parallel lines and fleet horns, but it’s cut with a primitive, guerrilla elan that is extremely persuasive. Bakr’s drumming is great throughout, riding the rhythm one minute before dropping out into loose tonal stomps the next. But Moondoc is the focus, with a facility on the alto that would combine flights of overtone violence with fat, bluesy phrasing and an unusual melodic sense. The whole package is housed in a slipcase and comes with a triple fold-out wallet that bundles both the original private press albums that Muntu released – 1977’s First Feeding and 1979’s The Evening Of The Blue Men – as well as a third unreleased disc that features a trio Moondoc/Parker/Bakr gig from Ali’s Alley from 1975 and a 114 page book that features a ton of posters from the time, a map of the NY loft scene, period snaps and extensive in-depth historical essays. Easily one of the best archival collections of the guerrilla spirit of free jazz’s loft years. Highly recommended.