" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Douglas' reissued debut album, Dedications, on the first half of which he leads a tentet (and auxiliary percussionist), on the second half a sextet. The dedications, Douglas writes, are to his late son, Josquin Xavier Douglas, and two of his son's aunts. No more is said about that aside from the fact that his son's passing happened in 1973. He must have been young, as Douglas says the second track, "Untitled," bears the name "because I didn't know what my son would have become."

Before appraising the music, it should be noted that Dedications was released in 1985 and is being reissued on vinyl by Tidal Waves Music. The CD version is on San Francisco's Swajola Musique label. The opening "Dedications (Theme)" is more celebration than requiem, driving earnestly ahead on the wings of buoyant Latin rhythms and brash solos by flutist