Within the last year or two, a legitimately licensed vinyl reissue of the self-titled 1972 Cobblestone Records debut from Philly jazz funk legends Catalyst has been showing up on the internet and in better independent record stores. Its price ranges from 9 to 12 dollars all over the globe. This album is merely the introduction to the group’s story — you can fill in the blanks by reading the bio here. They recorded three more albums — Perception, Unity, and After a Tear and a Smile — before disbanding in 1976.

Jump to the late ’90s: The late producer Joel Dorn had become a label entrepreneur near the beginning of the CD era; he acquired the rights to the Muse Records imprint and in 1999 released a double-disc package called The Funkiest Band You Never Heard that contained all four albums and their entire range from vanguard, spiritual soul jazz to funk and fusion. 32 Jazz eventually mutated into another label and the Muse releases all fell out of print. This one has been off the shelves for nearly a decade — the last copy we saw at auction went for over $200. Here is a copy of the original CD review and track samples from the package.

Ain’t It The Truth
East
Mail Order
A Country Song
Fifty Second Street Boogie Down
The Demon, Pt. 1
Uzuri
Ife Ife
Got to Be There