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Another bold step forward in the too-short career of Duke Pearson – and one of the last few records before his untimely death! The session departs from previous Pearson work by using vocals on most tracks – sometimes a solo singer, either Andy Bey or Flora Purim, and sometimes a larger... read more

Early early work by Duke Pearson – and one of his few trio sessions ever! The album's a great way to hear Pearson's lyrical soulful style at work, as he's playing in an unfettered setting with Gene Taylor on bass and Lex Humphries on drums – really stretching out on piano, in a way... read more

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A killer date from trumpeter Jeremy Pelt – a player we don't really know at all, but one who wins us over strongly with the first few notes of this set! There's a soulfully-sculpted feel to the whole record – a vibe that reminds us a bit of the best Wallace/Antoine Roney material from... read more

A jazz dance delight! This rare 1975 album is a real gem – a set of slightly funky soul jazz and modal numbers by French saxophonist Jacques Pelzer, grooving around with the warmth of our favorite sessions on MPS! The group's a quartet – with Pelzer's daughter Micheline on drums and... read more

A rare early 60s set from the Jacques Pelzer Quartet – a pivotal figure in the Belgian and European jazz scenes – a really great set that wins with both a complicated, invigorating freshness, as well as working in the tightly grooving, linear jazz sounds that were happening... read more

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Given that Pepper was on and off the LA scene a fair bit in the 50s – due to personal trouble and legal battles – this album's not so much "the return", as it is one of Pepper's many strong steps back into the studio, a place in which he demonstrated an uncanny ability to... read more

A great late live date from Art Pepper – as well-recorded and as strongly played as his best work of the time on Galaxy or Contemporary Records – and done with a similar group as well! The album's no cheapy concert for the overseas crowd – as Art's working here with George Cables... read more

Art Pepper's last concert on this planet – recorded at the Kool Jazz Festival in Washington in 1982 – well-recorded and beautifully played throughout! Art's working here with his regular rhythm section of David Williams on bass and Carl Burnett on drums – plus Roger Kellaway on... read more

A beautiful tribute to the genius of alto saxophonist Art Pepper – lovingly put together by his wife and late-life creative partner Laurie Pepper – with wonderful notes that tell the story of Art's life and struggles, as they take you through his music as well! About half the work in... read more

Well-crafted duets between Ivo Perelman and drummer Gerry Hemmingway – recorded in such a way that Perelman moves from tenor to piano on different tracks, which creates a great range of sounds and feelings! Perelman's sax work is often quite angular, and his piano lines more fluid –... read more

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Great late work from Bill Perkins – a set recorded in memory of Dino's, the Pasadena restaurant where Bill did some regular blowing for a few years! This date's a studio set, but it's got some wonderfully spontaneous energy – a freewheeling quality that almost reminds us more of the... read more

One of the most ambitious works ever by Marvin Hannibal Peterson – a larger work dedicated to the 20 African-American children murdered by a serial killer in Atlanta, performed here with a mix of choral voices and jazz instrumentation! The piece follows strongly in a legacy of that format... read more

An amazing set – the complete early Oscar Peterson recordings for Norman Granz – packaged in a format that's as lovely as the music itself! The work here is the stuff of legend – the tracks that first pushed Peterson into the limelight of American music, and which opened up a... read more

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A key 50s session from bassist Oscar Pettiford – one that really displays his best talents for unusual phrasings and arrangements! The group on the album's a great one – with Tal Farlow on guitar, Al Cohn on tenor, and Kai Winding on trombone – and the use of these three... read more

Soulful sax lines from Mike Phillips – put together with that "something extra" that always makes Hidden Beach records sound so great – in a way that nicely pushes Mike's sound past the smooth jazz mainstream! The set features guest work on nearly every cut – from... read more

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The Black Saint/Soul Note label is perhaps best remembered for its work with American avant players, but it also gave plenty of Italian players some great exposure, too – as you'll hear in this excellent collection of work from pianist Enrico Pieranunzi! The set features 6 albums for the... read more

A real lost chapter in the career of vibist Dave Pike – an obscure one-off Latin session recorded for Decca in the mid 60s! The album was done in the years between Pike's first few early jazz sides and his later tripped-out sessions for MPS and Vortex – and features Dave leading a... read more

Beautiful beautiful early work from Dave Pike – a cascading array of vibes and piano – stretched out over some longer tracks that skip with a lyrical and modal groove throughout! Dave's working here with a group that includes Bill Evans on piano, Herbie Lewis on bass, and Walter... read more

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A killer set from Italian trumpeter Guido Pistocchi – and one with a very specific old school vibe as well! Pistocchi's going for a 50s California jazz approach here, but one that's also focused on the contributions of Italian-American players Conte Candoli and Tony Fruscella – both of... read more

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A massive collection of work from Plunky – aka Plunky Nakabinde – the saxophonist who first started out in Juju, then headed Oneness Of Juju – and went onto make another 20 years of great music on his own! The package is a rich distillation of 12 different albums issued by Plunky... read more

A really dynamic set from trumpet player Verneri Pohjola – from slow building, dramatically ascending compositions to stripped, off kilter rhythmic interplay, all together adding up to one of more exciting efforts from the fertile Helsinki scene in a while! Each number has it's own unique... read more

A stone classic from New Orleans reedman Pony Poindexter – a set that's steeped in tradition, but also has a groovy feel too – and a date that features Pony on both alto and soprano sax! The latter instrument is especially nice, played with echoes of earlier Crescent City modes, but... read more

Great back-to-basics work from Jimmy Ponder – a well-crafted but laidback session that has the guitarist really opening up nicely in a hip quartet! Jimmy never tries too hard to get things back to the sound of the old days – never any of those hokey nods to the acid jazz generation you... read more

Think what you want about Jean-Luc Ponty – this early session is pretty darn hip! Ponty's not nearly as overblown as he is on other records – and he falls nicely into both a tradition of French modernism and hip European jazz violinists, recording here in the company of other French... read more

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Nothing too turbulent here, as the album's a beautifully-crafted session from reedman Michel Portal – full of unusual tones, odd sounds, and weird shapes – but all put together with a gentle quality that really holds things together! The material is still as vividly creative as Portal... read more

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A moody little set – one that features an array of great players in slightly shifting lineups, working through a good deal of original music by Brendan Romaneck, plus a handful of extra standards! There's kind of no core to the album in terms of the players, and that makes for a nicely... read more

Timeless jazzy sounds from Danish groovers Povo – who have a way of making classic club jazz & soul influences as fresh as can be and all their own – made all the more wonderful on this set, with a revolving trio of lead vocalists that includes the legendary Andy Bey! Like their... read more

Amazing work from guitarist Baden Powell – 4 incredible albums for the MPS label, each of which set a new standard for his music! The albums include Tristeza On Guitar, Poema On Guitar, Canto On Guitar, and Images On Guitar – each unique in their own way, and together an incredible... read more

Andrea Pozza's one of these players that we're kind of discovering "backwards" – after hearing him first on a vocal album with Allan Farnsworth, then finding out that he's made some great instrumental dates from years before! This album's one of them – a fluid, lyrical piano... read more

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A surprisingly wonderful little record – one of the freshest and most modern recordings we've heard from either player! The team of Previn and Johnson is a surprisingly good fit here – partially because they each keep their voices strongly enough that the tunes have this strange sort... read more

A goofy title and cover – but a really unique session of two-piano jazz, recorded with Russ Freeman and Andre Previn on the keys, plus only the drums of Shelly Manne to provide additional support! The sound is really great – and Previn's especially wonderful here, really stretching out... read more

A classic of spiritual jazz! The album is one of the few rare pairings of Sonny Simmons and Prince Lasha from the 60s – and it's arguably the greatest album they ever cut! The set was recorded for the Contemporary label in LA, but it's far far different than the cool jazz that was the label'... read more

Smooth guitar from Prince Sampson – a hollow-body player who nicely mixes up acoustic and electric tones – often set to mellow stepping rhythms, but in ways that have a lot more depth than the usual mainstream effort of this nature! There's echoes here of the older Craig T Cooper mode,... read more

A straight jazz piano trio, but a really great one – a group whose work sparkles with a sense of dynamic energy that belies their origins on the French jazz scene – home to some wonderfully freewheeling piano combos at the end of the 20th century! The work's got a balance of... read more

An excellent European album on Blue Note – played by a current French group, but with a classic sound that's very much in a 70s soul jazz mode. The group's a trio, and the tracks on the CD leap with a modal joy that reminds us of the best work of McCoy Tyner or George Cables –... read more

A completely unique slide of work from Dudu Pukwana – a side of the reedman you may never have heard before! Dudu's best known for his work in the Blue Notes – that legendary avant assemblage of South African players – and although he's also recorded in other creative settings,... read more

Sensitive solo work from Don Pullen – just the kind of record that demonstrates why he was one of the few free players of his generation who could also grab a bit slice of mainstream ears as well! Some moments on the set are quite unbridled, but never without a sense of structure –... read more

A wonderful mid 80s effort from the Don Pullen Quintet – a group that features young lion Donald Harrison on alto sax – recording in a setting that's nicely fresh, compared to some of his other work! Other players include the under-recorded trumpeter Olu Dara, and a wonderful elastic... read more

The QPSM unit have grown tremendously since their last outing – sounding really amazing here, with a vibe that takes us back to the glory days of the 70s spiritual jazz scene on Strata East! The music here is all composed by David Durrah, who's with the group for the recording on piano... read more

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Although most of the world knows Ike Quebec these days for his "comeback" recordings with Blue Note in the early 60s, back in the 40s, he recorded some totally smoking sides for the label that show him playing in a much younger, gutsier vein – nicely shifting between the camps of... read more

One of the few Blue Note albums with a bossa groove – and a great one too! The record features soulful tenor star Ike Quebec blowing in front of Brazilian-styled rhythms laid out by a combo that includes Kenny Burrell on guitar, and a duo of Latin percussionists! Willie Bobo plays drums on... read more

Nice & soulful septet work from NYC jazz drum legend Alvin Queen – working with his group on a few originals, and numbers by some of greats Queen has worked with and worked for over the years. The set recorded over a couple days in March of 2008, and has a very live and lively feel, some... read more

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Brilliant work from this acoustic jazz combo – a set that's got all the classic elements you might expect from its cover, but one that also comes across with some of the fresher jazz styles you'd find on labels like Schema or Ricky Tick! The group are more of a large combo than a full... read more

Brilliant work from the "Vice Pres" – tenorist Paul Quinichette, stepping out here in one the best of of his all-too-few sessions as a leader! Paul's tone is amazing throughout – very much on a par with that of Ben Webster or Coleman Hawkins, and proof that his admission to... read more

Sweet funky jazz with some really wonderful keyboards – a double-length set that brings together two rare albums from Argentine combo Quinteplus! The group here clearly have a love of the Cannonball Adderley style of soul jazz – particularly that Cannon groove as the 60s wore into the... read more

Amazing work from Sun Ra – record that really features a great range of sounds and styles, and a heck of a lot of soul as well! Ra plays some especially nice rocksichord on the set – that freaky, fuzzy keyboard that comes off sounding like a guitar, even though it's played with keys... read more

An expanded version of the material that originally appeared on the Nothing Is album – stretched out here into a 2CD set that features loads of extra unreleased cuts from the recordings! The core album is one of the best non-Saturn Sun Ra albums of the 60s – material recorded live on a... read more

One of the best-remembered Sun Ra albums from the 70s – a really cool little session that features Ra playing the unusual "rocksichord" all the way through! The instrument's a very weird one – kind of like a messed-up electric piano, with lots of cool broken notes and a weird... read more

If this is disco, point us in the direction of Studio 54! The album's one of Ra's greatest from the 70s – recorded in Italy in 1978, and featuring some incredibly otherworldly keyboards that are some of his most enigmatic on record! Original tracks from the album include "Disco... read more

The one and only album that Sun Ra ever cut for the Savoy label – a beautifully understated session that mixes more conventional jazz with some particularly Ra-like touches! The group on the set is extremely tight – especially the horn work of John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, and Pat... read more

An amazing live date from Sun Ra & The Arkestra – recorded in Cairo in 1971, with a very transcendent sound overall! Ra and the group are clearly inspired to be working in the shadow of the pyramids – and their music sometimes has Eastern overtones, a bit in the manner of Salah... read more

A strange little late record from Sun Ra – transpose Hours After to After Hours, and you'll get a good idea of the feel of this one – late night, soulful and bluesy, with a sound that's in keeping with the traditionalism of the late Arkestra! The group's an all-star one – Pat... read more

One of Sun Ra's best non-Saturn live sets of the 70s – a nice little record that shows the group mixing it up with equal parts avant garde and straight ahead jazz, all handled in that ever-growing large group style that made them a real force to be reckoned with in a concert setting! The... read more

A very cool Sun Ra performance from 1980 – recorded in Rome, and a wonderful summation of all the new directions the Arkestra took during the 70s! There's a wonderful balance here between intimate vocal tracks, sung by June Tyson, and some fuller ensemble numbers – mixed up in ways... read more

Rare Sun Ra – so much so, it's falling off the reel – but also fortunately nicely resurrected here by the folks at Transparency, who've been doing a great job of unearthing obscure Arkestra performances from the group's best years! This album dates from 1973, and comes from a Gibus... read more

Sun Ra's made the move here from Egyptian pyramids to Mayan temples – but the sound is every bit as cosmic and compelling as ever! The album's one of Ra's last – a studio set recorded in Italy in 1990, and one that draws strongly from the tightening of tradition the Arkestra... read more

Incredible work from one of Sun Ra's most enigmatic periods! The album was recorded in Italy in 1978, right around the same time as "Disco 2000" (and not too far off from Languidity) – and it features Ra playing around with lots of cool spacey keyboards, in a spare cosmic style... read more

Sun Ra returns to the motherland – to serve up a host of classic recordings done in Egypt in the early 70s! There's a cool exotic feel to some of the best tracks here – a vibe that's quite similar to the groove Salah Ragab was hitting at the time in Cairo, although probably a bit more... read more

Righteous Ra from the end of the 70s – one of the most soulful albums ever by the Sun Ra Arkestra, and a lost treasure that's got some nice funky moments! The vibe here is very much in the Lanquidity/Disco 3000 mode – an extrapolation of styles best known from the Space Is The Place... read more

A later classic from Sun Ra – a record that brought his music to a much wider audience in the 80s, and which bears one of his most beautiful cover shots ever! The record's got a wonderfully tight feel – a sound that's often not as out as Saturn sides, and which shows Ra's ability to... read more

One of the most soulful Sun Ra albums ever – very much on the Lanquidity tip, and done with a great mix of electric and acoustic instrumentation! The vibe here is really mellow, spiritual, and warm – and the album actually feels a lot more like a session recorded for the Strata East... read more

Beautiful rare recordings by the Sun Ra Arkestra – recorded in Chicago in the late 70s, but with a sound that takes us back to their much earlier years on Saturn! The recordings are pulled from the Waitawhile archive of Hartmut Geerken, and they're some of the most intimate, most sensitive... read more

A double-length live set from the later years of the Sun Ra Arkestra – recorded with a nice mix of bold power and personal introspection – one that showcases the changing mood of the group in later years, in a way that juxtaposes gentler moments from Ra on the keys with fuller passages... read more

Sun Ra at the end of the 60s – two rare live dates, both with a really tripped-out sound! CD 1 features the group making a rare appearance at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival – playing music so fierce, it must have blown most of the whitehairs right out of the audience! There's a... read more

The early 70s Arkestra at the height of their power – recorded in a brilliant live set from 1973, one that showcases the bold soul of the Impulse years! There's a resonance here with other spiritual jazz experiments going on in the US at the time – and Ra and the 25 members strong... read more

Doo wop era spaceways travel from Sun Ra and soulful mid 50s vocal recruits – including The Cosmic Rays, Crystals, Nu Sounds and Juanita Rogers – a motherlode of rarities and never before issued recordings! Interplanetary Melodies includes doo wop numbers of earthly concern, and space... read more

Wild and wooly Rocket Ship Rock from Sun Ra and his Arkestra – featuring shout blues vocalist Yochanan – often billed as "the man from outer space" and a cat who could give Screamin Jay Hawkins a run for his money in the excitable oddball category – jumping 60s r&b... read more

Interstellar vocal group numbers and doo wop from the Sun Ra vaults – a couple rare release and a bunch of previously unissued numbers featuring The Cosmic Rays, Crystals, Nu Sounds and Juanita Rogers – teenage vocal group numbers, bits of bebop and spacey doo wop released for the first... read more

A quartet of live performances from Sun Ra – all recorded within the span of a single week in 1983 – at a time when the Arkestra was clearly covering a fair bit of territory in Europe! As you might guess from the title, the concerts here were recorded in Milan, Zurich, West Berlin, and... read more

A beautiful recent recording from the Sun Ra Arkestra – the post-Ra ensemble working under the leadership of reedman Marshall Allen, heard here on a set of tracks that would have made his old boss plenty proud! There's perhaps a bit more focus to the music than some of the looser Arkestra... read more

A fantastic album from trombonist Phil Ranelin – best known for his groundbreaking work in the 70s Detroit Tribe Records scene, but sounding pretty darn great here too! The album's got a style that really recalls the genius of the Detroit scene back in the day – and features long soul... read more

An excellent lost classic from Detroit soul jazz powerhouse Phil Ranelin! Trombonist Ranelin was one of the key figures in the city's Tribe Records scene – and this album is one of the greatest that the label ever issued. The set features Ranelin on trombone, Marcus Belgrave on trumpet,... read more

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One of the recent comeback albums cut by Ranglin – the famous Jamaican guitarist who worked heavily early reggae sides, on Monty Alexander's 70s releases for MPS, and who's been getting quite a bit of well deserved recognition these days. The album's got a number of different grooves –... read more

Completely compelling work from trumpeter Enrico Rava – some of the boldest sounds he ever recorded, all material for the Black Saint/Soul Note labels, with an approach that's quite different than his spacier work for ECM! The package captures nearly 20 years of Rava's music over the course... read more

Almost a turn back to the music that first inspired the Re:Jazz ensemble – soulful contemporary club, originally remade by the project in a jazz-based mode – now redone again in a host of hip remixes! The tracks mostly take the core electric groove of the combo, and electrify it with... read more

A real highlight in the Black Saint catalog – killer duets between the tenor of Dewey Redman and drums of Ed Blackwell – old partners from their days with Ornette Coleman, sounding just as brilliant here on their own! The style here is looser and freer than their work with Ornette, but... read more

The album's got a bit of an odd title – as we hardly think that Redman was living on the edge at the time – but it's also a great little set, no matter what the name! Dewey's playing in a soulful and inside mode on most tracks – working in a style that recalls some of Archie... read more

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One of the boldest albums ever recorded by trumpeter Dizzy Reece – a session recorded in Paris in 1970, with some amazing tenor sax from the great John Gilmore! The pairing of Reece and Gilmore is a bit of a surprise – a strikingly avant choice for the former, and a rare date away from... read more

A damn great record from Mike Reed's Loose Assembly – exactly the kind of group that will get you excited about the jazz underground again! There's a richly creative vibe to the ensemble that draws on some of the best avant jazz traditions – 60s "new thing", early AACM... read more

Brilliant music from this Chicago collective – a group who initially turned their talents to resurrecting sounds from the Windy City underground of the postwar years, but who now make their own bold statement of identity! There's a focus here that we really love – an evolution past... read more

A record with a concept that's really after our own heart – dedicated to the lesser-known forces in the Chicago jazz scene of the late 50s – put together as a tribute of sorts to the MJT+3, tenorist Nicky Hill, altoist John Jenkins, pianist King Fleming, and The Sutherland Hotel! Mike... read more

A record with a concept that's really after our own heart – dedicated to the lesser-known forces in the Chicago jazz scene of the late 50s – put together as a tribute of sorts to the MJT+3, tenorist Nicky Hill, altoist John Jenkins, pianist King Fleming, and The Sutherland Hotel! Mike... read more