ando here

I’m a big fan. Not hardcore, but fairly knowledgeable about most of his output. Don’t think I’d want to hang out with him, necessarily, but I would love to have had a jam session with him. As far as all the unreleased material goes I concur with his longtime friend and collaborator, Sheila E. who said, “Whatever’s in the vault should stay in the vault”. He generally released whatever he wanted the public to hear. And he was notoriously possessive of his work. No one could sample or copy his songs without expressed permission. There’s a lot of his formative music out here for people to enjoy but the profusion of his early output can’t compare to the great musicianship he displayed in his later years, imo. He matured and evolved. You see it mostly in the playing during live performances. Those late live gigs are often more interesting than the last few studio albums he released. Had he lived who knows where his creativity might have taken him? Many say his most profound period came during the late 80s but I think he stayed creative all his life. Every phase has something interesting to consider as I’m sure you’ll discover. Good luck!

__________________