Soft Machine - Seven (1973)

One of my favourite free jazz-exploring prog-rock bands, Soft Machine made many great albums, and 'Seven', like their most enduring efforts, has loads of stimulating "catch the wave" passages.

With hardly a trace of facile fusion — the exquisitely atmospheric keyboard-bass piece 'Carol Ann', which induced many a contemplative moment in my younger years, is the closest thing to smooth jazz here — this is unadulterated jazz-rock for the head and heart.