Fantastic material from Sun Ra – a never-heard 1972 performance at Slugs, and one that captures the group at their most spiritual point! The core of the set is the track "I Roam The Cosmos" – one of the more obscure Ra compositions, and a title that appears here for the first time on any record – folded together with bits of "Astro Black" and "Discipline 27 II" – in a wonderfully extended single musical performance – stretching for 51 minutes long, and filled with righteous vocal moments alongside some great solos too! The groove is great – kind of a slow dipping and turning rhythm – showcasing recitations by June Tyson and Sun Ra – with lots of room for soulful work from Marshall Allen on flute and alto, Danny Davis on alto, John Gilmore on tenor, Kwame Hadi and Akh Tal Ebah on trumpets, and Danny Ray Thompson on baritone – plus lots of drums and percussion. Really beautiful stuff – as deeply spiritual as the best of the Impulse Records artists, circa 1972 – and appearing here for the first time ever! CD

A wild little record – one that was issued under the name of Flying Dutchman label headman Bob Thiele – but which actually features work from some of the grooviest artists on the label at the time – including Tom Scott, Ornette Coleman, Jon Appleton, John Carter, Horace Tapscott, and Bobby Bradford! The package has a very different feel on each of the album's four sides – and side one is a tremendous showcase for the young reedman Tom Scott – working here in a cool mix of electric and acoustic instrumentation that's similar to his other records of the time – including organ, vibes, and some nice funky touches as well. Side two features an exploration of the history of jazz – but one that progresses quickly from early modes to hipper ones – showcasing the talents of John Carter on tenor, Bobby Bradford on trumpet, and Horace Tapscott on piano! Side three is a mighty dedication to the late John Coltrane – played at first by a trio with Joe Farrell on flute, Wilbur Ware on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – then moving into a mix of Farrell's flute and narration by Rosko – then a performance by the Ornette Coleman quartet. And side four is especially mindblowing, as it's comprised of lone long piece by Jon Appleton's Syntonic Menagerie – a mix of sound samples, tape tricks, and jazz – as a commentary on The American Indian, JFK, and Martin Luther King. The whole thing's a great illustration of the Flying Dutchman label at its most revolutionary – and titles include "Head Start", "Freaky Zeke", "Lanoola Goes Limp", "Swing Era", "In The Vineyard/Avant Garde", "Love Supreme", "Lament For John Coltrane", and "A Few Thoughts For The Day". CD also features a rare bonus track – "The Flying Dutchman". CD

Quite possibly the greatest record that Don Ellis ever recorded – and his hippest too! The trumpeter's playing here with a quartet that includes Jaki Byard on alto and piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Charlie Persip on drums – coming together perfectly in that arch-modern style that you'd find on the best Candid albums from the time. Ellis tone is skittish and fragile – and sounds here almost like he's working in a Mingus-y mode, quite possibly because Byard's influence on the session is pretty strong. Titles include "Waste", "A Simplex One", and "Sallie" – and an extended "Improvisational Suite #1". CD

Rare small group work from the great Johnny Hodges – an unissued live set from the start of the 60s, and one that has Johnny working with key Ellington sidemen in a very Ellington-like setting! Solo Hodges could usually take one of two forms – more soulful small group material that has less of the arrangements of his longtime leader, the Duke – and more Ellington-based performances, of which this set is definitely one – as Hodges leads a hip combo with Ray Nance on trumpet, Lawrence Brown on trombone, Harry Carney on baritone, Al Williams on piano, Aaron Bell on bass, and Sam Woodyard on drums. Tunes are almost all numbers by Ellington or Billy Strayhorn, but done in a nice lean style, with key solo performances throughout – and titles include "Rocking In Rhythm", "Jeep Is Jumpin", "Things Ain't What They Used To Be", "Sophisticated Lady", "Mood Indigo", and "Solitude" – plus "Good Queen Bess", "Perdido", and "Autumn Leaves". The sound quality is great – very clear, with a nicely crisp tone on the horn parts, especially Hodges and Carney! CD

Sun Ra's really moving forward with this classic set – refining the sound of his Chicago-based Arkestra, and reaching for new territory that moves him way past familiar jazz modes! The cover bills the group as playing "music from tomorrow's world" – and you can definitely hear that on some titles here, including one number that features Ra on some really haunting celeste, and another that features Marshall Allen making weird noises with his mouthpiece! The group is all greats from the old days – John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on flute, Pat Patrick on baritone and flute, James Spaulding on alto and flute, Hobart Dotson on trumpet, Charles Davis on baritone, and Ronnie Boykins on bass – and titles include "Hours After", "Saturn", "Ancient Ethiopia", and "Blues At Midnight". This fantastic expanded reissue includes bonus material – some tracks that appeared on the album Sun Sound Pleasure, and other recordings too – titles that include "Hour Of Parting", "Round Midnight", "Hours After", "Velvet", "Enlightenment", "Hours After (single version)", "Great Balls Of Fire (single version)", "Back In Your Own Backyard", and the unreleased tunes "Blues For Saturn", "State Street (alternate)", and "Horoscope (incomplete)". CD

One of the greatest modern moments on Blue Note – ever! From the cover, to the compositions, to the playing on the set – the whole album crackles with an unbelievable fire that was hardly ever matched again. A young Sam Rivers leads a quartet that includes Jaki Byard on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Anthony Williams on drums – coming together in a sound that's got lots of sharp edges, yet which also beats with an undeniably swinging heart. Rivers blows incredibly on the session – held in check by the rhythm section, and never getting too free (or sloppy, as on some later sides) – and instead hitting these hard tones that really push the envelope of 60s jazz without rewriting the rules entirely. Brilliant all the way through, with tracks that include "Beatrice", "Ellipsis", "Cyclic Episode", and "Downstairs Blues Upstairs". CD

A set that features music from three different sessions recorded by trumpeter Bill Dixon in the mid 60s – all pretty groundbreaking work, even all these many years later! First up is a quartet co-led by Archie Shepp and Bill Dixon – easily one of the greatest modern jazz pairings of the 60s! If you only know Shepp from his later work, you'll hear something very different here – as his tenor's often brought into tight focus with the trumpet of Dixon – in a blend of arrangement and freedom that's like that of Ted Curson and Bill Barron, but a lot more powerful overall! The tunes still have a sense of structure – and get great help from the bass of Don Moore and drums of Paul Cohen – but there's also some tremendously unbridled energy from the leaders, especially Dixon, who might not have sounded this great ever again. Titles include "Quartet" and "Trio". Next up is one side of an album that Dixon split with Shepp for Savoy – and Dixon's material here features a septet, with a great lineup that includes Ken McIntyre on alto and oboe, George Barrow on tenor, and both Hal Dodson and David Izenzon on basses. Titles include "Winter Song 1964" and "The 12th December". Last up is the seminal Intents & Purposes record – one of the few rare records cut by Bill Dixon during the 60s, and a perfect example of "new thing" jazz in action. Trumpeter Dixon plays in 3 different ensembles – a nonet, a quintet, and a duet – with players like Byard Lancaster, Reggie Workman, Robert Pozar, and Jimmy Garrison. The tracks are long, with an approach that begins with compositional structures, but which also showcases the avant solo talents of the players – in a manner that's similar to some of the Blue Note work by Anthony Williams or Grachan Moncur III. A darn tough record to find – and with the tracks "Voices", "Nightfall Pieces I & II", and "Metamorphosis". CD

Ella Fitzgerald recorded famously in Berlin for Verve Records at the start of the 60s – but this set's from later on in the decade, and shows just how much Ella had grown as a singer! There's less of the easygoing good vibes of that previous album, and a much more mature, intimate quality at times – mixed with a few of the groovier styles that Fitzgerald was picking up in the second half of the 60s! Throughout it all, backing is just by a trio, but one who rock things with plenty of soul – Jimmy Jones on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Sam Woodyard on drums – on titles that include "So Danca Samba", "Summertime", "You've Changed", "Misty", "Midnight Sun", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Don't Be That Way", "These Boots Are Made For Walking", and "Oh Lady Be Good". Great 2CD package – with 20 tracks in all! (Vocalists, Jazz) CD

One of the greatest modern moments on Blue Note – ever! From the cover, to the compositions, to the playing on the set – the whole album crackles with an unbelievable fire that was hardly ever matched again. A young Sam Rivers leads a quartet that includes Jaki Byard on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Anthony Williams on drums – coming together in a sound that's got lots of sharp edges, yet which also beats with an undeniably swinging heart. Rivers blows incredibly on the session – held in check by the rhythm section, and never getting too free (or sloppy, as on some later sides) – and instead hitting these hard tones that really push the envelope of 60s jazz without rewriting the rules entirely. Brilliant all the way through, with tracks that include "Beatrice", "Ellipsis", "Cyclic Episode", and "Downstairs Blues Upstairs". Plus, the original album is expanded by 4 bonus tracks – alternate takes of "Downstairs Blues Upstairs" and "Luminous Monolith". CD

The first far-reaching collection of vocal tracks recorded by Sun Ra and his Arkestra over the years – perfectly put together, and featuring a number of previously-unissued tracks as well! The Space Age Is Here To Stay covers a wide range of the cosmic jazz styles Ra traveled (and pretty much invented) from the late 50s to early 80s – from the immediate post-doo wop underground sound he worked in the late 50s, to the impeccable mix of free jazz and subtle, soulful tones a decade later, to the searching spiritualism that came later still. For all that's going here stylistically, the vocals and thematic lyricism hold it all together aesthetically, with Ra himself on chants and spoken passages, June Tyson and Hattie Randolph bringing an angelic quality on some numbers, and all around excellent Arkestra ensemble vocals throughout! The incredible opener "Along Came Ra/The Living Myth" is a live recording from Paris in 1983 that sets the creative bar quite high with feverish percussion, the sweetly soulful voice of June Tyson, and spacey spoken word by Ra. That said, the quality soars high throughout – and other titles include "Interplanetary Music No. 1", "Back In Your Own Back Yard", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Space Is The Place", "Forest Of No Return", "Truth About Planet Earth", "Space Chant (Third Heaven)", "Antique Blacks", "Enlightenment" and more. CD