Blue Note Records has unlocked a time capsule of jazz brilliance with the release of Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’, a never-before-heard live recording featuring the towering talents of McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson. Backed by bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Jack DeJohnette, this quartet’s 1966 performance at New York City's iconic yet now-vanished Slugs’ Saloon captures an era when jazz was boldly pushing its boundaries.

This treasure trove, preserved in DeJohnette's personal archives for nearly six decades, was originally captured by Orville O’Brien, the engineer behind seminal albums like Alice Coltrane’s Journey to Satchidananda. Produced for release by celebrated jazz producer and archivist Zev Feldman alongside Jack and Lydia DeJohnette, the album is available as a 2LP set, 2CD set, and digital download.

The recording offers listeners a front-row seat to a pivotal moment in jazz history. Tyner and Henderson, already Blue Note stalwarts, share a musical rapport honed on Henderson’s Page One and Inner Urge, as well as Tyner’s The Real McCoy. The Slugs’ setlist includes expanded takes on Henderson’s compositions “In ‘N Out” and “Isotope,” with the former stretching into a 30-minute odyssey of dynamic interplay.

Accompanying the music is an elaborate booklet featuring rare photographs by Francis Wolff, Raymond Ross, and Robert Polillo, alongside insightful liner notes by jazz critic Nate Chinen. Contributions from luminaries like Jason Moran, Joe Lovano, and Christian McBride further enrich the narrative.

DeJohnette reflects on the night with reverence, “Everybody played like there was no tomorrow. This recording represents a time when musicians were intensely searching and experimenting. Slugs’ was a place that encouraged that creative exploration.” Feldman echoes the sentiment, “This Joe Henderson-McCoy Tyner album has been one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever been involved with. On this recording, we hear four legendary jazz masters in peak form during an exciting time in their careers, captured at one of the most hallowed and long-lost jazz shrines, Slugs’ Saloon.'