Archive for the Jazz Category
Clifford Jordan Quartet “Glass Bead Games” (Pure Pleasure)
Fifth part of the Strata-East Dolphy Series, Glass Bead Games is arguably the crown jewel of the Strata East movement, an amorphous genre that treads an unusual path between post-bop, 70’s avant-garde and spiritual jazz, with a groove. Glass Bead Games is full of revelations at many levels. First, the […]
Charles Tolliver “All Stars” (Pure Pleasure)
This was Charles Tolliver’s first album as a leader. The setting is unique only because his second Freedom-Black Lion album “The Ringer” and all of his subsequent albums on Strata-East featured his quartet Music Inc. with pianist Stanley Cowell. Here he is surrounded in quartet and quintet formats with a […]
Pharoah Sanders & Idris Muhammad “Africa” (Tidal Waves)
Pharoah ‘Farrell’ Sanders (born 1940) is a leading figure in the world of jazz and one of the last living legends with connections to players like Sun Ra and John Coltrane. His tenor saxophone playing has earned him royal status amongst free jazz players, critics and collectors. Originally Sanders was […]
Chiekh Tidiane “Diom Futa” (Komos)
Spiritual afro-jazz sessions from the Parisian underground. Originally released in 1979 – now back on vinyl, remastered from the original master tapes.
Takeo Moriyama “East Plants” (BBE)
A genuine ‘under the radar’ album known only to a handful of Japanese jazz collectors, ‘East Plants’ is now available once more, reissued for the first time as a double 180g LP, with exact reproductions of the original artwork, obi strip and insert. It also comes with the original notes […]
Roy Ayers “Silver Vibrations” (BBE)
The first ever reissue for this classic 1983 Roy Ayers EP.
Jesse Sharps Quintet & P.A.P.A. “Sharps And Flats” (Outernational)
Re-issue of the sole release from the Jesse Sharps Quintet – modal jazz harking back to jazz greats of the 60’s and 70’s. The last 16-minutes is a spiritual jazz journey, reminiscent of Sun-Ra, from the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra project. Re-issued on vinyl for the first time.
Shankar Jaikishan “Raga Jazz Style” (Outernational)
Indian classical raga meets cool swinging jazz in charming fashion at the hands of Shankar Jaikishan and Rais Khan, 1968; reissued on vinyl for the first time in nearly 50 years Expect something familiar, but totally not, and quite different – more playful and light – when compared to the […]
Jeff Resnick “SAC” (Outernational)
There have been some fantastic re-issues this year but this late comer has to be one the best. Jeff Resnick’s ‘Glass’ first came to our attention when Jake Behnan (a good friend who we sadly lost this year) included it on his brilliant ‘Jazz Bizniz 4’ compilation and it’s been […]
Creative Arts Ensemble “One Step Out” (Outernational)
“Sounds from the Great House! Outernational Sounds proudly presents a Nimbus West spirit jazz essential: the Creative Arts Ensemble’s classic debut One Step Out. Mastered at 45rpm on double vinyl for enhanced sound, this release features all tracks at full length for the first time on wax. One of the […]
Duke Pearson “I Don’t Care Who Knows It” (Blue Note)
This collection of performances, previously unissued in their entirety, drawn from five recording sessions from 24 June , 1968 to Duke’s second-to-last Blue Note session on February 13, 1970, shows both sides of his musical nature. On one hand, Andy Bey is belting out a backbeat-driven Buddy Johnson tune. On […]
Abdullah Sami “Peace Of Time” (Spirit Muse)
In recent years, in the world of esoteric, deep, spiritual jazz, the phrase ‘holy grail’ has often been over-used and applied to a myriad of jazz re-issues irrespective of merit. Once in a while though the phrase is truly justified and the first time re-issue of Abdullah Sami – “Peace […]
Herbie Hancock “Crossings” (Antarctica Starts Here)
Crossings was the second release by the Herbie Hancock Sextet lineup known as the Mwandishi Band, following 1971’s Mwandishi which stretched Hancock’s already-adventurous writing and expanded the music through post-production. This approach would play an even larger role on Crossings, the pianist’s final album for Warner Bros. For two of Crossings’ […]
Jeff Parker “The New Breed” (International Anthem)
Best known as a multi-instrumental member of Tortoise and a pillar of the Chicago jazz and experimental music scene, Jeff Parker has been incomparably prolific over the last 20+ years while merely producing 5 albums as a “lead artist” (just 2 since 2005, including 2016’s duo recording with Rob Mazurek […]
Ben Lamar Gay “Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun” (International Anthem)
“Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun” is as much a ‘greatest hits’ as it is a ‘debut album’ for Ben LaMar Gay. It’s a collection of music composed, performed & produced by the anomalous Southside Chicago-born, sometimes Brazil-residing artist, compiled from 7 albums he made over the last 7 […]
Herbie Hancock “Fat Albert Rotunda” (Antarctica Starts Here)
If Fat Albert Rotunda sounds like the most fun Herbie Hancock had in his early years as a band leader, it should. He composed the music for the pilot of the children’s television show Fat Albert, redirecting the post-bop jazz he honed in a five-year stint with the Miles Davis […]
Herbie Hancock “Mwandishi”(Antarctica Starts Here)
After releasing their Warner Bros. debut, the Herbie Hancock Sextet underwent a major transformation in the early ’70s. Over the course of a year, every member was replaced (except Herbie Hancock himself and bassist Buster Williams) and each adopted Swahili names. (Williams even led the group in occasional sessions of […]
Jacky Giordano “Pop In…Devil’s Train” (Le Tres Groove Club)
Le Très Groove Club present a reissue of Jacky Giordano’s Pop-In Devil’s Train, originally released on Mantparnasse 2000 in 1976. After launching Le Très Jazz Club, Fuzati (Klub des Loosers) and Modulor are now starting Le Très Groove Club, their new label dedicated to vinyl reissues of groove masterpieces. The […]
Dustin Laurenzi “Snaketime: The Music Of Moondog” (Feeding Tube)
Chicago saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi, a touring member of Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver and one-third of the inventive Chicago improvising collective Twin Talk, first encountered the music of Moondog a decade ago, while studying at Indiana University. “Initially, I liked the quirkiness of the music and the lore surrounding him,” he […]
Wojciech Karolak “Easy!” (Warner)
Wojciech Karolak’s superb 1974 album, which offers a brilliant mixture of psychedelic rock and jazz. Though ‘Easy’ was no part of the original ‘Polish Jazz’ series, this edition is presented as if it was.
Gabor Szabo “1969” (Modern Harmonic)
Masterful ‘60s pop by a jazz guitar guru! Not many jazz artists were interpreting popular songs in the late ‘60s, but Hungarian-born Gabor Szabo looked past the oft-covered standards to put his trademark jazz transformations on a set of fashionable tunes on 1969, including major hits for the Left Banke, […]
Cab Calloway “Cab Calloway” (Pure Pleasure)
From 1932 to the late 1940’s the period covered by this set, Cab had an orchestra that was about as swinging a band of solid senders as you’d find on the big-band circuit. Cab projects, in his singing on records, something of the vital magic of his stage presence, a […]
John Hicks “Hells Bells” (Pure Pleasure)
John Hicks (1941-2006) gave much to jazz over several decades but never really received the appreciation he so richly deserved. As a pianist, he proved himself in the Art Blakey and Betty Carter universities. He was also the prototypical musician’s musician, a first-call pianist for many jazz greats and a […]
Janko Nilovic “Rythmes Contemporains” (Broc)
Rythmes Contemporains is a masterpiece of Janko Nilovic’s work, recorded in 1972 with about forty musicians composing the cream of the studio orchestras of the time. First released as an album under the title Giant, it was later renamed under the current title to become a legendary Sound Illustration. This […]