Jazz — In Stock — CDs  

A beautiful title for a beautiful little record – one that really does have Weather Report spinning out musical tales in sound – with a free-flowing and soulful sense of energy! The groove's definitely tighter than the earlier years, but it's never slick – and Joe Zawinul handled... read more

One of the all-time great ones by Ben Webster! The album was recorded near the end of Webster's all-too-short time on this planet – at a point when he had really perfected a sorrowful tone on tenor, and a strangely sinister approach to ballads – one that gave even familiar tunes an... read more

A solid swinger from tenorist Cory Weeds – and a record that features beautiful interplay between his horn and the guitar of Bill Coon – both trading lines back and forth, in ways that unlock a rich array of tones and colors! The chromatic palette of the record is mighty wide –... read more

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A beautiful follow-up to the Snowing On My Piano album from pianist Bugge Wesseltoft and violinist Henning Kraggerud – and a really unique little album that strongly echoes some of Bugge's own solo work in recent years! Wesseltoft has really developed an even stronger sense of space as he's... read more

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Tremendous comeback work from Randy Weston – arguably the series of albums that set the tone for his great return to fame in the 90s! The 3CD set features Weston's albums Caravan, Well You Needn't, and The Last Day – tributes to Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and his own work on... read more

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There's a very cool trio in the wheelhouse for this sweet little set – a combo that features alto and baritone sax from Dave Rempis, bass from Nate McBride, and vibes from the always-incredible Jason Adasiewicz! The players come together with a sound that's completely sublime – almost... read more

Sweet jazzy flute and lots of warm vocals from Ragan Whiteside – a real up-and-comer from the soulful underground, and an artist who's almost a 21st Century answer to Bobbi Humphrey! This album may well be Ragan's best so far – and it features some rock-solid keyboards from Bob Baldwin... read more

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A smoker from this hip Chicago trumpeter – quite possibly his best album to date, and a record that sparkles with original compositions from Whitted! All tracks are by Pharez, and they're warmly presented by a great group that also included Eddie Bayard on tenor and soprano sax, Bobby Broom... read more

A fantastic early recording from the great French tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen! The session's a monster – cut with rhythmic backing by Milt Jackson on piano (!?), Percy Heath on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums – and two cuts feature additional percussion by Gana M'Bow, which gives... read more

Amazing music from the legendary Barney Wilen – previously unreleased African recordings, done around the same time as his classic Moshi album! Although Wilen was best known as a hardbop giant in both his later and early years, the late 60s also marked a period of really rich experimentation... read more

It's no secret that some of the greatest jazz soundtracks ever were recorded in Paris – and this CD contains 2 of them! First up is the landmark Un Temoin Dans La Ville – recorded under the leadership of tenor sax player Barney Wilen, who had made such a huge contribution to Miles... read more

A landmark record – and most likely the best of the late 60s Jazz Meets The World series on MPS! The album features a unique ensemble comprised of a few core parts – The Indian Trio of Dewan Mothihar on sitar and vocal, Keshave Sathe on tabla, and Kusum Thakur on tambura; the Irene... read more

One of the rarest albums by this great Texas tenor player – and the kind of album we're very happy to see reissued! This heavy little gem was one of the few sides that Wilkerson cut under his own name – and it was the only one recorded away from Blue Note, as part of Cannonball... read more

A gem of a record from the Cali scene of the 70s – a set that brings together all the best soulful elements of the LA indie scene of the time – but with an edge that's a lot more forceful than any bigger label jazz of the time! There's a solid punch to the record right from the start... read more

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A brilliant session of modernist hardbop – one of the few records ever cut as a leader by trumpeter Richard Williams! Williams was a key part of the Charles Mingus group for a few years – and his soulful approach ranks with Ted Curson as some of the most compelling underground trumpet... read more

A seminal jazz rock statement from drummer Tony Williams – one that has him stepping out quite far from his original "new thing" recordings of the mid 60s! The album's got a genre-forming sound that's incredibly fierce – a power trio churning of Williams drums, John... read more

Sublime work from pianist Spike Wilner – a player who's really becoming one of our favorite contemporary talents these days! We've really grown to love Spike for his work on the Live At Smalls series – both for his tireless energy as one of the best live jazz engineers around, and for... read more

A great album recorded in 1963 for Atlantic – one of our favorite ever! Jack Wilson's one of our favorite piano players, and we rave about him all the time on these pages – and one of the reasons why we love him so much is that he was often accompanied by Roy Ayers, who started out his... read more

A cool quintet session from the great trombonists JJ Johnson and Kai Winding – one that really lets their twin horns soar free together – with only a bit of light backing to spur them on! The group's got a great rhythm section – with Dick Katz on piano, Al Harewood on drums, and... read more

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An excellent album of funky electric jazz – and possibly the best one that Phil Woods cut with his European group! The quartet's a very hip group that's way hipper than its clunky name – with Gordon Beck on electric piano and organ, Daniel Humair on percussion and drums, and Henri... read more

A killer set of funky jazz from veteran vibes man Billy Wooten – backed by mod funk masters Speedometer – live at the London's Jazz Café! The hour + set was captured back in 2003, and the players are in fantastic form, sounding like they've worked together for years. They totally... read more

Genius work from the World Sax Quartet – a really unique ensemble who not only set the tone for a generation of jazz musicians to come, but also gave focus to some richly expressive talents from the 70s underground! The quartet is something of a supergroup right from the start – graced... read more

A masterpiece of smooth jazzy funk – and super-hip session headed up by the young keyboardist Bernard Wright! Wright's working here with an insider crowd of jazz funk players that includes Bobby Broom, Dave Grusin, Marcus Miller, and Don Blackman, whose funky style is very similar to Wright's... read more

A beautiful record, and one of the few albums ever cut as a leader by alto player Leo Wright! At the time of the set, Wright was really making some excellent records with Lalo Schifrin and in Dizzy Gillespie's group (where they both were working at the time) – and this set is a perfect... read more

A rare soul jazz session from alto saxophonist Leo Wright – a player that we mostly know from his bossa work of the early 60s! The session's extremely noteworthy as being one of the few to feature female organist Gloria Coleman – a player with whom Wright worked on her classic 1963... read more

A record of incredible beauty from the great Leo Wright – and one that we'd never part with at all! Wright's one of those excellent players from the 60s who never really gets his due – largely because he was always hiding behind larger groups, and because he left the US in the decade... read more

Way more than just a sweet beat – because everything about these grooves is great – a rich array of jazzy tracks from Polish reedman Jan Ptasyn Wroblewski, cut in a style that rivals the best European jazz sides of the late 60s – but also done with an occasional soundtrack vibe as... read more

A beautiful little album – not just for the core contribution of Craig Wuepper – but also for excellent work by the whole group – a lineup that includes Jim Rotondi on trumpet, David Scnitter on tenor, and David Hazeltine on piano! Although a drummer, Wuepper actually wrote most... read more

Later work from trombonist Albert Wynn – sides cut after a 33 year absence from the recording studio – as part of the excellent Chicago Living Legends series on Riverside! The work has a tight trad jazz feel – but with a bit more space than you might find for solo expression in... read more

Great 70s work from Japanese pianist Masao Yagui – a set that's got some fusion elements, but which also holds onto some of his earlier modern energies as well! The lineup here is relatively large – with Yagui on piano and keyboards, plus Akira Miyazawa on tenor, Shigeo Suziki on alto,... read more

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Solo piano from one of Japan's most inventive talents on the keyboard – really stretching out here in a warmly acoustic setting, in a style that's quite freewheeling and open, yet without some of the more avant moments of later years too! There's a sense of balance here that's really... read more

A really unique little record – and a wonderful cross-section of the Japanese scene at the start of the 70s! The album features work by three trios – hence the title – some avant, some straight, and all if it pretty great! First up are the Yosuke Yamashita trio – who... read more

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Bluesy piano, but with plenty of jazz roots too – vintage material recorded in Chicago during the early years of Atlantic Records, at a time when the label was almost more dedicated to preserving old styles than pushing new ones! Yancey's piano is sublime – recorded better here than on... read more

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A great title, and a great little album to match – one that features two guitars, plus bass and drums – in an open-ended style that's mighty nice on the ears! The set's got a lean kind of sound – as you might expect from the lineup – and Japanese players Shoji Yokouchi and... read more

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A classic session of mellow magic from Lester Young and Teddy Wilson – working here in a laidback, relaxed setting that really seems to bring out the best in both players! Wilson's trio features Gene Ramey on bass and Joe Jones on drums – working in an economical post-swing mode that... read more

A fantastic self-released album by the enigmatic Roland Young – an unusual blend of organic sounds and slight electronics – all put together with the careful creativity of older albums by members of the AACM! Roland plays all the instruments here himself – in a set of tracks that... read more

Recent recordings from Roland Young – the reedman who made some amazing indie records a few decades back – still committed to richly organic sounds all these many years later! Roland's working here totally by himself, but overdubs instruments to create a cool layered sound – one... read more

A compelling little record with a very unusual sound – a set that features lots of horns from this large ensemble, and some key guest work on reeds from Willem Breuker! The album moves way past the usual German ensemble outing – as some cuts are straight, but some are quite outside... read more

One of the grooviest sets ever recorded by Swedish singer Monica Zetterlund – a cool late 60s album that has some really wonderful songs! At some level, Monica's still very firmly in jazz vocal territory – but she's also letting in strands of hipper 60s pop work, in a mode that's... read more

One of John Zorn's best-known "game" pieces – served up here in both a studio and live performance! Zorn doesn't play anything on the recordings, but acts as the "prompter" – a conductor of sorts, encouraging improvisations from a variety of players that include Jim... read more

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A really wonderful little record – one headed up by John Zorn, but actually featuring instrumentation from the trio of Bill Frisell on guitar, Kenny Wollesen on vibes, and Carol Emanuel on harp! The mix of instruments is wonderful – and rings out here with gentle progressions that... read more

A great follow-up to the initial News For Lulu project – a late 80s reinvention of the sound of Blue Note, handled by this trio of key modernists from the time! As proven by recordings like this over the years, John Zorn's a player who – despite his own very modern and avant tendencies... read more

Includes tracks by Hugh Masekela, Oliver Mtukudzi, Louis Mhlanga, the Society Vibes, Pahul Hanmer, Lakim, Ernie Smith, Zim Ngqawana, and more.... read more

The best in modern jazz in Japan in the mid 50s – a smoking little record that features two different groups! Side one really cooks – thanks to work from Akira Miyazawa on tenor, Sadao Watanabe on alto, and Masao Yagi on piano – all great players who are really at the top of... read more

In the tradition of the excellent other compilations on the Cosmic Sounds label – this set features some killer jazz and funk gems from Yugoslavia, the kinds of tunes that we might have missed otherwise, thanks to the Iron Curtain! Finding the set's like discovering a pile of great records... read more

Not so much an introduction to Latin jazz, as it a wonderful collection of Latin-tinged tunes from the mighty catalog of Blue Note Records – and not just New York and Cuban Latin grooves, but also a fair bit of bossa nova and Brazilian sounds too! The 3CD package is overflowing with goodness... read more

They might well call this a Beginners Guide To Blue Note Jazz Funk – given that most of the tracks here are from the hip 70s run at Blue Note Records! The vibe is wonderful – funky and soulful, but definitely with jazz at the forefront – as older soloists were finding new ways to... read more

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A heavy dose of funky jazz – and one that goes way past the obvious too – to include some real gems from the 70s that even we'd passed up! The package is filled with stellar jazz from the Fantasy Records family – Prestige, Pablo, Galaxy and Fantasy proper – choice numbers... read more

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Blue Note Now – and Blue Note Then – a cool little set that mixes contemporary grooves from the Blue Note catalog with some of the older gems that made the label great back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s! In truth, some of the contemporary cuts go back more than a few years – but come... read more

Beautifully spiritual jazz from the post-Coltrane generation – a wealth of righteous grooves from the early 70s – brought together in one mighty collection! If you dig the work of Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, and other giants on Impulse Records, this is a great way to dig even... read more

Groovy jazz from 2 very cool labels – the related Skye and Gryphon companies of the late 60s and mid 70s, respectively – home to some very very cool bits! Skye's best known as the home of Cal Tjader and Gary McFarland in their post-Verve years – and the label's got a feel that's... read more

An incredible document of a key genre in 50s jazz on record – the jam session tradition, recorded beautifully for Verve records by the legendary Norman Granz! The idea of a jam session was nothing new at the time, of course, but it was mostly a live phenomenon – known to players from... read more

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Rare grooves in many flavors – a wonderful collection of rare gems from the American 70s underground – and a set that's overflowing with cuts from some of the most valuable albums of the period! The core vibe here is jazz, but there's also a lot more going on too – bits of funk,... read more

DJ Mitsu takes on the legendary Black Jazz label from the 70s – and serves up a sublime mix of spiritual and funky jazz classics from some of the company's greatest records! Mitsu's one of the few cats we could trust with a project like this – and as with his Fender Rhodes mixes from a... read more

Trippy grooves from the 1960s and early 70s! This groovy little set brings together 11 tracks – mostly from the vaults of Atlantic Records – all of them featuring the sort of exotic-inflected jazz stylings that were cropping up in a lot of work during the 60s. Many of the tracks have... read more

The latest volume in one of our favorite series of soul jazz tracks! This one opens the scope way past previous volumes, and features a rollicking party of tasty little groovers – most of them with a raw, uptempo, funky 45 jukebox kind of feel! Tracks are from the Chess, Fantasy, Jewel,... read more

Funky soul, righteous jazz, and hip production made the Flying Dutchman label one of the greatest imprints of the early 70s! The label was the brainchild of producer Bob Thiele, and was a post-60s project to bring together unheard voices in African American culture – recording heavily in a... read more

Revolutionary jazz from the era of the Civil Rights Movement and beyond – soulful and spiritual jazz as important as any of the era – an impeccably well chosen compilation of Freedom, Rhythm & Sound from Soul Jazz Records! The set is a tie-in with Soul Jazz's essential Freedom,... read more

Tracks by The Howard Alden Trio, The Gene Harris Quartet, The Marian McPartland Trio with Scott Hamilton and Chris Potter.... read more

Very cool compilation featuring a whole mess of great lost funk tracks from the legendary Westbound label – including a few unreleased cuts! There's a number of tracks on here that we just about never see, and some more that you'll only find on rare funky 45s. Tracks include "Getting... read more

Gilles Peterson takes on the Black Jazz catalog – and the results are completely sublime! The set features Gilles P selecting and mixing his favorite cuts from the legendary label – and the package is a great reminder that, in the years before he dedicated himself more strongly to 21st... read more

A very groovy selection of tracks from the New York scene of the 60s – mostly tunes pulled from the Prestige and Milestone labels, and a mixture of soul jazz, modal jazz, and early funky jazz! The package features 13 tracks in all – with plenty rare numbers – and titles that... read more

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Soulful sounds from 70s Japan – a host of tracks that offer up fresh versions of American soul tunes – mostly done as instrumental numbers with lots of funky touches! There's a fair bit of Stevie Wonder tunes on the collection – as well as other Motown moments and Atlantic... read more

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A fantastic package that explores the full range of genius on the legendary avant label BYG/Actuel – one of the most important European imprints at the end of the 60s! Actuel was home to some of the best avant garde jazz coming out of Paris in the late 60s and early 70s – an especially... read more

A heavy serving of jazz from Amiga Records – the East German stalwart who did plenty to keep the music going on their side of the Iron Curtain! Some of the work here is in a trad mode – and shows that after the war, the older style found a great home in Eastern Europe – but as... read more

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The American take on the sound of bossa nova – a mode that started almost as soon as the first sounds headed north from Rio, and which grew to become a very important contribution to the music in the 60s! We love the originals by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luis Bonfa, Joao Gilberto, and others... read more

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An astounding collection of Japanese jazz from the end of the 60s – some of the hippest, most vibrant music in the Tokyo scene – and some of the most far-reaching too! The tracks here rival the best Impulse or ESP Records work of the time – really stretching out to find a new... read more

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Probably our favorite entry in this excellent series of classic "jazz meets world music" recordings from MPS. This CD compiles material from 3 rare recordings from the 60's – Djanger Bali by Tony Scott, Sakura Sakura by Hideo Shiraki, and the various artists comp called Jazz Meets... read more

A jazz message from late 50s Tokyo – loud, proud, and proof that the Japanese scene was really coming into its own! The set's awash in great bop and swing performances from the postwar years – exclusive tracks to this set, played by four different groups that include Akira Miyazawa on... read more

A great illustration of the recent growth of the Jazzland label from Norway – home to some of the most freest-thinking jazz and instrumental music of the past decade or so, and definitely a place of great experimentation in the last few years! The sound of Jazzland is never overdone –... read more