Secret Sauce

Album review

Even hardcore jazzheads can be forgiven for not being aware of Secret Sauce, one of only two privately pressed albums credited to flutist/composer Eric Ghost (born Richard Barth Sanders). He was a counterculture figure who played jazz, Eastern, and psychedelic music and is credited with inventing blotter acid. He was close friends with jazz flute master Jeremy Steig, who talked Ghost into recording.
His first album was 1974's solo Ghost Plays for Mr. S. dedicated to a locked-up pal. He began cutting Secret Sauce in March 1974 and completed it in May 1975. It was issued by tiny Vancouver independent label Gramophone. Two years after its release, Ghost was arrested in upstate New York for making and distributing LSD (a million doses a month). Convicted, he spent seven years in prison, then vanished. Secret Sauce disappeared. Until this glorious reissue from DJ Paul Murphy and London's Jazz Room label, it had been unavailable for more than 47 years; the few original copies fetch large sums.
Secret Sauce appears here for the first time with its track list in proper sequence. Ghost's sidemen were all industry professionals. They included upright bassist Lincoln Goines (Dave Valentin, Tania Maria, Gato Barbieri), electric bassist Tom Hazlitt (Paul Horn, Ferron), drummer Jim McGilvray (Skywalk, Metallica), and pianist Bob Murphy (Joani Taylor, Mike Allen).
The six selections on Secret Sauce were recorded in different configurations. Opener "Orangeland" and the proceeding "Pakakrakatoa" are played by a quartet. They stand in sharp contrast to one another musically and claim half the album's length. The former balances funky soul-jazz with modal inquiries thanks to Goines' roiling double bass. McGilvray pops and shuffles as the band weds hard bop to modal jazz. Ghost's solo ranges around, showcasing excellent technique with a deep grasp of soul. Murphy's bracing piano break channels everyone from Horace Silver to Duke Pearson to McCoy Tyner. The latter tune offers inquisitive, lyric flute runs, sparse upright bass, and skeletal pianism. Two minutes in, the rhythm section increases the tempo and Ghost delivers a dazzling, intricate solo atop Murphy's fat chords, joining Eastern and Western harmonies as McGilvray adds funky breaks. "Oliver Snagnasty" is a burning duet with the drummer. Ghost's complex, intricate solo is polyrhythmic, dancing atop the drumkit, as the pair range from dirty jazz to funky rock. The title track is a stone killer. Played in trio with Hazlitt it's a greasy fingerpopper with furious flute and vocal runs from Ghost, matched by a complex backbeat. Closer "Bizarre Bazaar," a trio jam with Goines, pulls out all the stops as it swings angularly in what can only be referenced as early post-bop.
This handsome, excellent sounding re-release of Secret Sauce is timely. It fits aesthetically with diverse modern jazz approaches from London, Los Angeles, and Chicago, despite being nearly 50 years old. Further, it is one of those rare, recorded obscurities that lives up to, and surpasses the hype.

© Thom Jurek /TiVo