One Hand Clapping, a set of 1974 live recordings by Paul McCartney and Wings, charmed me upon its release last month. Having adored Wings’ Band on the Run as a child in 1973, I figured One Hand Clapping would be my favorite archival recording of the year. Then I heard WEBO. Recorded at the New York City venue Webo in 1991, the 121-minute document documents the third performance by saxophonist Charles Gayle, bassist William Parker and drummer Milford Graves. The incendiary free jazz might have inflicted irrevocable psychological damage on me in 1973. The direction of my life almost certainly would have been altered had I been in attendance at Webo in 1991. In 2024, I’m all in.
