" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Tapscott had some advantages that any other iconoclastic, idealistic, idiosyncratic jazz bandleader would greatly desire. For one, he was approached by a socially minded professional gambler named Tom Albach about starting a label (Nimbus West) devoted to Tapscott's music, allowing complete creative control, never expecting to make a dime of profit, and providing living money to keep the band going. Another was a steady gig in the only area in the nation that Tapscott truly cared about, the Watts district of Los Angeles. This was at the Immanuel United Church of Christ, and he played the fourth Sunday of every month for many years.

All this provided immense stability to Tapscott, who had run his dynamic orchestra, dubbed The Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (or PAPA), since 1962. Up until Albach, paying the rent was a real issue, and Tapscott had released only about four recordings, all but one (from 1969) in the last two years. Tapscott also had some incredible challenges in November of 1978, the most significant being that he had suffered through a massive aneurysm in the summer of that year and very nearly died. Another was that he was about to lose his music director, frequent arranger, multiple saxophonist and, in Tapscott's absence, de facto band leader