More specifically, research has gone into the Melodiya (Мелодия) record company releases and this company that monopolized record label operations in the USSR between 1964 and 1992, along with ESTICA vinyl releases all around the world.
Bringing to mind Hindu cosmology, Psühhoteek’s activities are resting on top of three elephants:
1. Psühhoteek — the record store and depository of vinyl culture
2. Psühhovisioon — activities of enlightenment, preaching about Psühhodisko, and spreading vinyl culture information in the form of music lectures, radio shows, articles, podcasts, videos, record reviews, and conferences
3. Psühhodisko — DJ sets, playlists, and radio shows
Psühhoteek has two slogans that represent what it’s all about: “Music that you did not know you liked” and “Music that Shazam does not recognize and Spotify will not play.” You can find out more about Psühhoteek by watching Taiga Film’s 2021 documentary Vinyl Whisperer / Muusika, mida ma veel ei tea, available on Vimeo with English subtitles.
But let’s get into why I’m writing here. I want to talk about a record at Psühhoteek that’s very interesting: Charles Lloyd in the Soviet Union, released by Atlantic Recording Corporation in 1970.
The Tallinn 1967 Jazz Festival was a landmark event in the history of Estonian (and Soviet) jazz and a significant moment in the cultural history of Estonia. This festival also marked a pivotal moment in the development of jazz music in the Soviet Union. Everybody who was anybody in the Soviet jazz scene was present and the event has been called the Soviet (jazz) Woodstock. Tallinn 1967 is still the primary reference point when talking about Soviet or even Eastern Block jazz music from the 1970s to the 1990s.
The festival was one of the most unlikely musical events to take place in an otherwise closed and Soviet-occupied Estonia, with 175 musicians and 28 ensembles/orchestras/jazz groups from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and the US participating. Without a doubt, the biggest stars at the festival were the renowned Charles Lloyd Quartet from the United States. Charles Lloyd himself was, later that year, voted by Down Beat magazine the “Jazzman of the Year” of 1967. The quartet also featured a then only 22 year-old Keith Jarrett on piano. The Charles Lloyd Quartet came to Tallinn from the US, via Finland, with a tourist visa and struggled throughout the festival to get permission to get on stage to perform.
The group was originally promised 20 minutes of playing time, but their manager insisted, the organizers of the festival not having knowledge of this, that they play 40 minutes minimum…
Finally, it happened. On Sunday, May 14th, 1967 at Tallinn’s Kalev Sports Hall, in front of 4,000 listeners, the quartet’s live show took place. The group was originally promised 20 minutes of playing time, but their manager insisted, the organizers of the festival not having knowledge of this, that they play 40 minutes minimum, as the show was to be recorded and the idea of releasing a live album was already formed.
What happened next was a 46-minute jazz explosion that shook the audience to the bone. When you listen to the album, you can hear listeners gasping for air and following every note of the solos. You can literally feel the tension, and you can hear the cheers of the public!
The performance ended with an eight minute and 20 second standing ovation.
The legacy of and output from the festival has been abundant. There are three LPs with live recordings of the Tallinn 1967 festival, a couple of 7” singles, three documentaries, at least one doctoral dissertation and book in English, articles, lectures, podcasts/videocasts in Estonian, Latvian, Russian, Azerbaijani, and English.
… there’s a photo of the band on the back sleeve taken in Moscow’s Red Square. Ironically, this photo is encircled with a blue-black-and-white ribbon, probably a reference to Estonia.
Side note: the layout of the Charles Lloyd in the Soviet Union LP is very red, in more ways than one, from the title of the album to the overall colour used, and record cover features such as red banners and stars. On top of it all, there’s a photo of the band on the back sleeve taken in Moscow’s Red Square. Ironically, this photo is encircled with a blue-black-and-white ribbon, probably a reference to Estonia.
It’s not the same as listening on vinyl, but you can find this record on YouTube. And also two LPs of assorted performances at Tallinn 1967 released by the Melodiya label, Tallinn Jazz Festival 1967, volume 1 and volume 2.
