Mushroom with Eddie Gale, Joint Happening (Hyena Records)

The title and ’60s concert poster art suggest a vital component you’re to bring to the listening experience—one I passed on, which worked a little to Joint Happening’s disadvantage. Stoned, I might have overlooked the lack of memorable starting places for the jams by this San Francisco-based jazz-rock outfit. There’s more to each piece than a key and a groove, but I can’t remember how or where anything starts.

Then again, psychedelic music is about the experience, and on that level, Joint Happening works beautifully. The sound is luxurious, with instruments moving in and out of the mix subtly, creating an attractive haze of synthesizers, vibes, a Fender Rhodes and Eddie Gale’s muted trumpet. While you’re in the haze, you’re in a comfortable moment-to-moment place where the start and finish don’t matter and the now is cool.

Some pieces have more definition than others. The opener, “Peace,” has the vibe of one of Pharoah Sanders’ gentler Impulse! tracks, and the two longest pieces—each clocking in at over 15 minutes—have bass and drum underpinnings that give recall Can more than any jazz tracks. Eddie Gale may be the nominal star, having a background with Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor, but the album presents full-band improvisation where the musicians meet as equals, and the extended tracks make all of that clear.