The Free Spirits

The Free Spirits
The Free Spirits in 1966
Background information
Origin	New York City, United States
Genres	Jazz-rock
Years active	1965–1968
Labels	Sunbeam Records, ABC Music
Past members	Larry Coryell Jim Pepper Bob Moses Chris Hills Columbus "Chip" Baker

The Free Spirits were an American band who have been credited for being the first ever jazz-rock group. The band also incorporated elements of pop and garage rock.

The band formed in New York as a jazz outfit and each member of the band (excluding rhythm guitar player Columbus "Chip" Baker) had a background in the music. According to the band's drummer, Bob Moses, it was the band's lead guitar player, Larry Coryell, who helped turn the group on to more rock-oriented music.

The band played several times in a New York club called 'The Scene', but made very little money from the shows, getting paid only ten dollars as a group per night. The band also got to perform shows with such acts as Mitch Ryder and The Rascals.

By 1967, Coryell left the band to play with Gary Burton. Moses also left the band to join Burton since he "knew that it wasn't going to be the same without Coryell". Original members Pepper, Hills and Baker, along with Lee Reinoehl on Hammand C-3, and both John Waller and Jim Zitro on drums, formed a new group called Everything Is Everything and released a self-titled album on Vanguard which included Pepper's composition, "Witchi Tai To". Moses later recorded with jazz artists such as Jack DeJohnette, Steve Swallow, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, and Coryell.