If you are born an orphan, life starts uphill. In a sense, Mad, by Trevor Watts’ Amalgam, was born with a similar handicap, seemingly destined for limited discographic fortune: it had no cover. The Dutch label Synton released it in 1974 in the most spartan fashion imaginable. The album only acquired its own – and rather unattractive – sleeve in 2008, when Future Music Records (FMR) organised a reissue, perhaps transferring an untouched vinyl source, much as it did when issuing another CD-R reprint of Deep, also by Watts’ band. Another fine record whose traces, like those of Mad, have largely vanished. Lost objects – not only the original editions but also the phantom reissues. And yet Amalgam was a substantial chapter both in the history of the York-born saxophonist and in the broader story of British and European jazz. The group’s discography remains in fragile condition. Complete availability is […]