Zaragon wrote:

My favourite Peddlers album is Birthday, which I think was their
first. More jazzy, and none of the soul influences of their other
stuff.

I have three of their albums (appropriately!):

-- The Trio (a two-CD set -- it must have originally been two lps. It
was apparently released in 1970 but I've never seen it on vinyl)
-- When Fortune Smiles (with John McLaughlin; released 1971)
-- Live at Woodstock Town Hall (released "late 70s", according to the
CD notes)

The first of these is somewhat rock-tinged jazz. The last two are
straight jazz. (Those two are available as a CD twofer called "John
Surman and Friends -- The Dawn Sessions.")

The Trio is the set that really caught my ear. Intense, moody stuff, a
bit like Santana's "Caravanserai" or Weather Report's "I Sing The Body
Electric" but darker. The Trio are Jon Surman on sax, Barre Philips
on bass and Stu Martin on drums. All three of them contribute tracks
to the album, but the ones that really haunt me are the ones Surman
wrote.

They considered themselves to be purely a jazz band, which is why they
probably aren't on our musical radars. But The Trio is an album like
no other, and well worth seeking out. There are some good bits on the
other two albums, but the magic is gone.

By 1971 Trio had broken up, and Surman had joined an all-saxophone
band called SOS. He later went on to play with the likes of Gil Evans
and Paul Bley. I have no idea what became of Philips. Martin died, I'm
not sure when.

Greg