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Quite possibly THE greatest Sonny Rollins album of the early years – or at least the one that has received the most accolades over the years! The record is a brilliant batch of quartet tracks that reinvents bop through Sonny's complicated, yet seemingly automatic solos – an excellent... read more

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One of Sonny's brilliant west coast sessions for Contemporary – records that shouldn't sparkle as much as they do, but which actually stand with his best work of the 50s! Sonny's blowing in front of a session of "leaders" that includes Hampton Hawes, Barney Kessel, Leroy Vinnegar,... read more

The rarest of all the Sonny Rollins Blue Note sessions – and possibly the best! The record captures Rollins at a key turning point – emerging from his firey bop years, moving into a much more complicated, introspective tenor style that was a perfect showcase for his developing genius... read more

As classic as it comes for late 50s Blue Note – and a key meeting between Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk! The group on the set features Rollins and Monk with JJ Johnson, Paul Chambers, and Art Blakey – all of whom push things more in the direction of Blue Note's sound of the time,... read more

A groundbreaking album from Sonny Rollins, largely for the extended track "Tenor Madness", which runs on for 13 minutes, and features him and Coltrane blowing head to head – redefining the sound of the tenor sax in jazz through the course of that amazing track! Backing is by the... read more

A groundbreaking album from Sonny Rollins, largely for the extended track "Tenor Madness", which runs on for 13 minutes, and features him and Coltrane blowing head to head – redefining the sound of the tenor sax in jazz through the course of that amazing track! Backing is by the... read more

A groundbreaking album from Sonny Rollins, largely for the extended track "Tenor Madness", which runs on for 13 minutes, and features him and Coltrane blowing head to head – redefining the sound of the tenor sax in jazz through the course of that amazing track! Backing is by the... read more

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One of Wallace Roney's best sessions from the time – an album with a great sense of balance and fullness, and a tremendous tribute to Roney's strength as a leader on Muse Records! The album features equally great contributions from Antoine Roney on tenor – a player who balances out... read more

Wallace Roney is one of those players who never lets us down – and here on this recent set, he's every bit as soaringly soulful as on his early albums from the 80s! The trumpeter's got a fluid groove right from the start – sweeping forward with these notes that have a beautiful balance... read more

A stone smoker from Rongetz Foundation – and a record that's even better than anything else we've heard from them! This time around, the sound is very live – recorded in the US, with help from heavyweights like Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax and Bruce Williams on alto – plus killer... read more

The Delmark debut as a leader from drummer Frank Rosaly – and a very unique little record! Rosaly's a player we've really dug on other folks' records, and his vision here at the helm is pretty darn great – a real change from some of the modes used by his avant Chicago contemporaries... read more

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One of the rarest albums by Frank Rosolino – and a surprisingly great vocal set as well! The tunes are short, but Frank manages to both sing and turn in his usual trombone solo work here – and while the latter is great, we especially love the former! Frank's vocals have a raspy,... read more

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A rare American release from British baritonist Ronnie Ross – working here in the sharp-edged company of drummer Allan Ganley! The group's got a really tight sound throughout – that best sharp-lead mode of the Brit scene of the 50s – but with a looser feel on the solos, which are... read more

The band may be riding in a carriage on the cover, but there's nothing old-timey about this set – as the record represents some of the best modern jazz on the Danish scene at the start of the 60s! The album's a rare gem from drummer Bjarne Rostvold – one of the key exponents of his... read more

A fantastic group of well-matched players – one we've heard together often on albums for other labels, but who really find a new sort of energy here in the Smalls Live series! Trumpeter Jim Rotondi's joined here by equal frontmen Eric Alexander on tenor, David Hazeltine on piano and Fender... read more

Incredible reed interplay from the Rova Sax Quartet – still an amazing ensemble after all these years, with a mixture of complex creativity and surprising soul that few other groups of this nature can touch! On a record like this, Rova remind us that there's still plenty of freshness in the... read more

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A rare Japanese-only album from trombonist Roswell Rudd – one of his few full length statements of genius from the mid 70s! The album's got a very collaborative feel overall – one that takes off from some of Rudd's better-known work of the "new thing" era, but opens things up... read more

A dreamlike flow of elemental sounds and masterful mood from Adam Rudolph & Ralph James – conceived and performed as a dialogue between multi-instrumentalists Adam Rudolph and Ralph Jones on a date at Michigan's Delta College Theatre in 2009! Rudolph works with African percussion and... read more

One of the greatest records we've ever heard from pianist Mario Rusca – a really open, fluid sort of set – and one that features electric bass in the trio, which really gives things a different sort of vibe! Mario plays acoustic piano throughout, but the use of electric bass (played by... read more

A landmark bit of indie funk from the 70s – one of the few records cut by Detroit keyboardist Eddie Russ, and easily the best! The album features Russ going to town on electric piano – working with a hip combo called The Mixed Bag, which features some wicked work on flute and soprano... read more

Sweet funky jazz from pianist Gene Russell – one of the hippest albums he ever recorded! Russell's a pianist with a wonderfully fluid touch – used here to near perfection in a small combo date that really stands out from most of his other albums – just the kind of effort we'd... read more

Some of the hippest sounds we've ever heard from pianist Gene Russell – an album that features heavy use of Fender Rhodes – and a soulful, solid, rhythmic core that comes from the basslines of Henry Franklin, guitar of Calvin Keys, and drums of Ndugu Chancler! The set's one of the... read more

A pair of modern moments from George Russell – back to back on a single CD! Stratusphunk is not "phunk", in the way you might think of "funk" – but an album that sets a whole new standard for modern jazz in the 60s – thanks to the fresh ideas of George Russell!... read more

A mindblowing moment on the Chicago avant scene of the 80s – a key flowering of the talents of Hal Russell – a musician who'd been working the Windy City since the early 60s, yet who really came into his own in these later years! Hal challenges both the AACM and the European... read more

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A pair of compelling British instrumental albums back to back – both of them with a really unique flavor! Russo In London is a rare British outing for Stan Kenton alumni Bill Russo – a date recorded at the legendary Lansdowne studios, and one that may well be one of Russo's greatest... read more

One of the few solo albums ever cut by trombonist Paul Rutherford – an important talent on the British jazz scene of the 70s, and every bit as creative a player on his instrument as Albert Mangelsdorff or George Lewis! Like those players, Rutherford has a freely inventive quality that... read more

Previously unreleased work from the important British Iskra ensemble of the 70s – and quite possibly some of the most striking we've ever heard from the group! Trombonist Paul Rutherford is at the helm – conducting a large ensemble on two of the long tracks here – and playing... read more

A brilliant collection of work from this seminal Brit avant trio of the 70s – a really striking collaboration between trombonist Paul Rutherford, guitarist Derek Bailey, and bassist Barry Guy! Both Bailey and Guy play their instruments with some amplification, which expands out their unusual... read more

An amazing second chapter from this extremely inventive trio – a marvelous matching of the talents of Paul Rutherford on trombone, Barry Guy on bass, and Phil Wachsmann on violin! All three players use a fair bit of electronics, too – very much in the best FMP mode of mixing live... read more

A strong statement from drummer Dylan Ryan and Sand – Dylan's trio with guitarist Timothy Young and bassist Devin Hoff. This is in a more paired down setting than we've heard Dylan in recently and it's damn strong stuff! Chicago-bred musician Ryan has never been one to heed stylistic... read more

Two albums from guitarist Terje Rypdal – packaged together in a single set! The first 2CDs comprise the landmark Odyssey album – a great setting for the spacey tones of Terje Rypdal's guitar – a double-length set for ECM that lets Terje stretch out in very spacious splendor! The... read more

A classic album of short hard funky grooves – put together by the legendary Oliver Sain, a genius instrumentalist/producer from St. Louis, and the man behind more soul classics than you might imagine! Oliver plays alto, organ, and piano on most cuts – and the backing is spare and hard... read more

Killer jazzy grooves from the French jazz house scene – and hands down one of our favorite albums of the 00s! St Germain take a Blue Note 70s sound as their base – with lots of sweet Hammond riffs, mellow Fender Rhodes licks, funky flute lines, and spacey percussion – then they... read more

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A tremendous live set from pianist Teru Sakamoto – a session that soars with all of the life, soul, and imagination of McCoy Tyner at his 70s best! The record's got a feel that's quite open – long tracks, with plenty of solo space for Sakamoto on the piano – but the sound is... read more

Amazing sounds from this Japanese duo – raw, raspy, and vibrant work on reeds – with a rich quality that really grabs us right from the start! Akira Sakata plays alto and clarinet, and Nobuyasu Furuya plays tenor, alto, clarinet, and flute – a real flurry of reeds that are... read more

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Sammy sings soul – not Sammy Davis Jr, but this ultra-hip Japanese singer from the early 70s – a female vocalist who works here with great backings from the Freedom Unity ensemble! The tunes are all numbers from American and British sources of the 50s and 60s – tunes you'd know... read more

Funky grooves from Jiro Inagaki and his Soul Media combo – and some cool vocals from 70s Japanese singer Sammy – a pretty enigmatic talent who really makes her mark with this record! The album's less island-styled than you might guess from the title or cover – and instead, it... read more

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The coolest music we've heard so far from this fantastic funky talent – served up here in an ultra-cool package that also offers up four different cover images over two separate pieces of music! Sammi's got a name that's a bit unwieldy, but he serves up the groove with a sound so tight, we... read more

A funky funky big band – and one that blasts away with a power that's just incredible – almost the force of some small combo from the funky 45 universe, stretched out over a wide range of heavy horns! The album's light years past the previous album from Samuel Jon Samuelsson –... read more

A beautiful little record by Pharoah Sanders – quite different than most of his other recordings of the 70s, and done in a smoothly jazzy mode that also features plenty of soul! Sanders did the set in collaboration with Norman Connors – and the style is in that same great mix of mellow... read more

A later recording from Pharoah, when he was working with Bill Laswell in the mid and late 90s. Laswell's on production, and the lineup features some of his international and funk-based crew like Foday Muso Sosa, Bernie Worrell and Aiyb Deng, plus older collaborators like Michael White, and some of... read more

If you think that Pharaoh Sanders' genius as a leader first blossomed during his post-Coltrane years on Impulse, you owe it to yourself to check out this early album for ESP – a startlingly great session that offers a whole new side of his talents! The album features 2 side-long tracks... read more

A wonderful tribute to Dizzy Gillespie – put together by trumpeter Arturo Sandoval – who can not only claim a big influence from Diz, but a number of past musical partnerships as well! The setting is great – not the simple bop mode that you'd usually get from other Diz tributes... read more

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A sublime 70s session from Moacir Santos – a set that mixes the complex grooves he forged in 60s Brazil with the warmly jazzy sound of American fusion – all in a result that's totally unique! The album's quite different than any other electric Brazilian sets recorded in the US at the... read more

Amazing 70s work from Moacir Santos – the first album the Brazilian arranger recorded for Blue Note, and a set that sparkles with warmth and soul from the very first note! The approach is a brilliant updating of the famous sound that Santos crafted in Brazil the decade before – recast... read more

One of the rare Blue Note gems from Brazilian arranger/composer Moacir Santos – an album of incredible warmth and charm, with a sound that's hardly been duplicated again! Santos is usually best known for his early bossa arrangements in the 60s, but here he's working in the US – hitting... read more

The third and best album yet from Sao Paulo Underground – formed by Chicago scene veteran and sonic adventurer Rob Mazurek – with a sound that's informed by the rhythms and creatively boundless possibilities of Tropicalia era Brazil and well beyond, along with the cosmic spirit of other... read more

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A great little set from guitarist Shungo Sawada – a player who was Japan's answer to Wes Montgomery in the 60s – and went onto cut some really nice records in later years too! This album's definitely one of that batch – and has a sparkling quality that's very much like Sawada's... read more

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A brilliant set from tenorist David Schnitter – maybe the best we've heard from him in years – and that's saying a lot, given the strength of his work! The album's got that special spark and crackle we love in the Live At Smalls series – a magic way of really letting the leader... read more

With Medeski, Martin And Wood as his band.... read more

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A great step forward for trumpeter Christian Scott – a set that really delivers all the promise we've always seen in his music – and really pushes things into rich new territory too! The title and cover look rootsy, but the rhythms are really futuristic – soaring, spiraling bass,... read more

A bold step forward for drummer Kendrick Scott – a set that bristles with way more sharp changes and soulful undercurrents than any of his previous work – and which almost feels nicely in the same vein as some of the best recent artists to step forth on Blue Note! The record is... read more

Under-exposed genius from the legendary Raymond Scott – a set of straighter jazz material from the late 40s, but all of it with Scott's undeniable sense of madness still very firmly in place! Most of the work here is small combo – played by either a quintet or sextet – and... read more

A standout early session from organist Shirley Scott – noteworthy in that it's a quintet recording, different than Shirley's mostly-trio output from the time! Here, she's working in a group that includes Oliver Nelson on tenor sax and Joe Newman on trumpet – and Nelson's edgey tone... read more

Sweet Hammond grooving from the legendary Shirley Scott – a set that brings together two of her earliest albums for the Moodsville label at Prestige, both of which are in a soulful, mellow, late nite mode! The first album in the set is The Shirley Scott Trio – a date done for the... read more

Hip soulful work from organist Shirley Scott – one of the first records that has her breaking out of the straighter soul jazz sound of her work on Prestige and Impulse – and a gem of a set that features some great funky arrangements from the great Marty Sheller! The group's all-Atlantic... read more

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Great later work from Tom Scott – an artist who cut funk records at the start of the 70s, worked on some great soundtrack jazz, and really spun things out strongly in later years too! Despite Tom's placement here on the GRP label, which was then home to a lot of smooth jazz – the Scott-... read more

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An amazing chapter in the career of reedman Tony Scott – some key late 50s recordings done on the Swedish scene, issued here together for the first time, with a rare bonus track as well! Scott made some huge waves on the European scene in the 60s – thanks to important collaborations... read more

A beautiful set of 70s soul jazz flute tracks – featuring work by flautist Adele Sebastian, with backing by a hip group that includes Billy Higgins, Ricky Kelly, and Roberto Miranda. The tracks have a nice mellow Strata East/Black Jazz kind of sound to them – and the production is... read more

A hard-driving Latin set from early 70s Japan – served up in a non-nonsense mode that's arguably more classic than most American work of the time! The group is very heavy on percussion – with Segami in the lead, but a handful of other players providing strong accompaniment too –... read more

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A beautiful second set from Seval – even more powerful and personal than the group's debut – with sublime compositions and cello by Fred Lonberg-Holm, and these fragile yet soulful vocals from Sofia Jernberg! Instrumentation is quite spare – just cello, guitar, trumpet, and bass... read more

A beautiful document of the work of Sevda – a cool Swedish group from the early 70s, and one who mixed together equal parts jazz and Turkish music! First up is their Jazz I Sverige album form 1972 – a mixture of jazz and folkloric influences – a really unique album that shows the... read more

Sublime early work from Bud Shank – one of our favorite west coast players ever – captured here away from some of his better-known work on Pacific Jazz! There's a nicely rough edge to some of the material – with Bud really blowing alto strongly on some of the leadoff tracks... read more

One of the few albums as a leader cut by pianist Ralph Sharon – a player who's best known for his years supporting singer Tony Bennett, but who sounds really wonderful here in an instrumental setting too! Sharon's got a way of coming up both with a punch and a fluid sort of groove –... read more

An interesting project from Elliott Sharp – a set that mixes his older downtown sounds with some surprising rootsy elements – all in a blend that really helps his music stretch out strongly! Sharp's guitar work is still incredible – whether arch and arty, or acoustic and bluesy... read more

Soaring spiritual soul jazz from the LA scene – a CD that features a beautiful performance by the Jesse Sharps Quintet, plus a longer extended track from Horace Tapscott's Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra! We'll be honest in saying that we'd never heard of Sharps before this CD – but he's... read more

One of the best-ever Sonny Sharrock albums – and one of the few that really captures the fresh genius of his approach! The set was recorded in New York during the period when Sonny had just come out of Herbie Mann's group with Roy Ayers – but the sound is far far different than the... read more

A late date for Woody Shaw, but a great one too – a bit more straightforward than some of his more righteous albums of the 70s, but still proof that Shaw is easily one of the greatest trumpeters of his generation! The album's got a laidback sort of feel, and features a fair bit of familiar... read more

Soulful brilliance from Woody Shaw – a searing live set that matches the power of earlier classics like Moontrane and Blackstone Legacy! The album's got Woody working with a heck of a great group – Carter Jefferson on tenor and soprano sax, Onaje Allan Gumbs on piano, Clint Houston on... read more

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A classic of spiritual, soulful jazz – and one of Archie Shepp's greatest albums! The set was recorded in New York after a few free and festive years in Paris, and it's an amazing about-face that has Archie stepping into a world of righteous, full-on, political, and funky themes – the... read more

A brilliant second volume to this classic series of live recordings from Archie Shepp – and a record that shows both ways he could really shine in the 70s! The record's got a wonderful 28 minute take on Archie's classic "Blues For Brother George Jackson" – an Attica Blues-era... read more

A fierce and full-on session from Archie Shepp – a real return to avant jamming, in a style that recalls his best French work of the late 60s, but which also has some of the soulful touches of his late 70s years! The group features Sigfried Kessler on piano, Clifford Jarvis on drums, and... read more

A seminal live set from tenorist Archie Shepp – and some of his freest, least-structured material ever! Shepp's still a righteous force here on his horn, but there also seems to be equal emphasis on the contributions of all members of the group – woven together in a really rich... read more

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