A beautiful little record from Sun Ra and the orchestra – and a set that really lives up to its evocative cover and title! The album features Ra on "intergalactic space organ" – an instrument that may well be a conventional version of the organ, but which is handled with some haunting, very spacey solos that spin out beautifully often setting the scene while the rest of the Arkestra comes in and adds in great solos over the extended reading of the title tune. The lineup includes John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on alto and flute, Danny Thompson on baritone and flute, Pat Patrick on baritone, and Kwami Hadi on trumpet – and June Tyson sings a bit on the record as well. Titles include "Black Man", "In A Blue Mood", and "Universe In Blue" (parts 1 & 2). CD

A beautiful little record from Sun Ra and the orchestra – and a set that really lives up to its evocative cover and title! The album features Ra on "intergalactic space organ" – an instrument that may well be a conventional version of the organ, but which is handled with some haunting, very spacey solos that spin out beautifully often setting the scene while the rest of the Arkestra comes in and adds in great solos over the extended reading of the title tune. The lineup includes John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on alto and flute, Danny Thompson on baritone and flute, Pat Patrick on baritone, and Kwami Hadi on trumpet – and June Tyson sings a bit on the record as well. Titles include "Black Man", "In A Blue Mood", and "Universe In Blue" (parts 1 & 2). LP, Vinyl record album

2 lost classics by Sun Ra on one CD! Visits Planet Earth features music that was recorded by The Arkestra in Chicago in 1957 and 1958. Some of the tracks are from the same session as the Sound Of Joy LP, and a few others were from sessions later in the year. Ra plays piano and "solar piano", and the group's got some added percussion and tympani. Along with the usual suspects, James Spaulding also sits in with the group on a few tracks, playing both alto and flute. Titles include "Eve", "Overtones Of China", "Two Tones", and "El Viktor". Interstellar Low Ways is a record that features material was recorded in 1959 and 1960, but unissued until the mid 60's. Ra plays piano, chimes, and gong, and the tracks have a nice laid back spacey feel, with some ensemble vocals chanted by the group. Ronnie Boykins also plays the space gong on one cut, which sounds very nice. Cuts include "Somewhere In Space", "Space Loneliness", "Space Aura", and "Interplanetary Music". CD

Really wonderful work from Sun Ra – a host of recordings cut at the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Fest in the early 70s – always a very welcoming audience for the Arkestra at the time! We're not sure what was in the water, but it always seems like the group really hit their stride at the festival – opening up with a force and intensity that really goes past some of their other recordings! It's almost as if the enthusiastic mix of ages and cultures present really ignited the best energies in the Arkestra – having them hit the kind of righteous crescendo of their best Space Is The Place identity – and even some of the more avant, outside moments have a focus that the group hardly seems to reach this well! The material is from the John Sinclair archives – originally issued on the CDs Life Is Splendid, Outer Space Employment Agency, and It Is Forbidden – but somehow sounding even more amazing in a tight package like this – with loads of amazing keyboards from Ra, soulful vocals from June Tyson, Cheryl Banks, and Judith Holton, and wonderful supporting reeds from the Arkestra. Titles include "Space Is The Place", "Enlightenment", "What Planet Is This", "Immeasurable", "Love In Outer Space", "Watusi", "Images", and some great untitled improvisations. CD

A set of varied moods and settings – yet one that really does a wonderful job of fleshing out the Sun Ra aesthetic during these crucial years when Ra dubbed himself the "King Of The Sub Underground"! That humorous title is a reference to the fact that Ra and the Arkestra were still working with largely little mainstream exposure – despite the big growth of avant jazz at the time – and were instead working on beautiful recordings like these, often made without any thought of a larger market at all! The CD brings together material from albums originally issued with Sub-Underground in the title – also under other names as well, including Temple U – and the tracks represent the Arkestra really hitting some of their creative heights in a mix of live, studio, and rehearsal recordings. Titles include the brilliant "World Of Africa", recorded in 1968, but with a chunky groove and weird piano that almost feel like a precursor to Fela Kuti; the sublime "Love Is Always" and "Song Of Drums", recorded live with a spare group in a beautifully echoey setting; surprisingly great takes on "What's New" and "Autumn In New York", played by a small group with Ra on a slightly off-tune upright piano; the long "Cosmo Earth Fantasy" suite, with some very fierce sounds; and a nice live take on "Space Is The Place/We Roam The Cosmos", which jumps right into the groove at the start – with a pretty offbeat feel, and lots of cool vocal interplay! CD

One of Ra's last recordings – and a great one – caught live at a festival in Germany, with a group that includes Marshall Allen, Ahmed Abdullah, Jothan Callins, Tyrone Hill, Stanley Morgan, and Michael Ray. The set has that Ellingtonish flourish that crept into much of Ra's work after the mid 80s – handled with an edge that still keeps the sound all his own, but which shows an increasing preoccupation for straighter jazz expression, and well crafted large group arrangements – peppered with a few numbers that are more in the older space-spirit of the group. Ray sings vocals on a few numbers with Abdullah and Allen, and titles include "Satellites Are Scanning", "Calling Planet Earth", "Theme Of The Stargazers", "We Travel The Spaceways", and "Carefree". CD

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

Really unique material from Sun Ra – a pair of recordings that were initially circulated much more strongly than some of his Saturn Records material, thanks to the power of the BYG/Actuel label in the early 70s – but tracks that actually come from a variety of different sessions that Ra himself did with the Arkestra in the late 60s! Tracks are shortish, but very inventive – a well-chosen snapshot of all the new ideas that the group were cooking up during the end of the 60s in New York, with an increased mission to explore the outer reaches of space, and use more electronics than ever before! Ra plays some killer keyboards – moog, spacemaster, and acoustic piano – often with these really eerie tones – and other players include Kwame Hadi on trumpet, Akh Tal Ebah on space dimension mellophone, Ali Hassan on trombone, Marshal Allen and Danny Davis on alto and flute, John Gilmore on tenor, and Pat Patrick on baritone – and the whole group vocalizes at points, joined by other singers who include June Tyson and Art Jenkins. There's also some great use of "strange strings" on the sessions, not to mention a bit of reverb – and tracks titles include "Spectrum", "The Satellites Are Spinning", "Seen III Took 4", "Adventures Of Bugs Hunter", "Legend", "The Realm Of Lightning", "The Utter Nots", "Outer Spaceways Inc", "Scene 1 Take 1", "Strange Worlds", "Ancient Ethiopia", "Pyramids", and "Interpretation". CD

Really unique material from Sun Ra – a pair of recordings that were initially circulated much more strongly than some of his Saturn Records material, thanks to the power of the BYG/Actuel label in the early 70s – but tracks that actually come from a variety of different sessions that Ra himself did with the Arkestra in the late 60s! Tracks are shortish, but very inventive – a well-chosen snapshot of all the new ideas that the group were cooking up during the end of the 60s in New York, with an increased mission to explore the outer reaches of space, and use more electronics than ever before! Ra plays some killer keyboards – moog, spacemaster, and acoustic piano – often with these really eerie tones – and other players include Kwame Hadi on trumpet, Akh Tal Ebah on space dimension mellophone, Ali Hassan on trombone, Marshal Allen and Danny Davis on alto and flute, John Gilmore on tenor, and Pat Patrick on baritone – and the whole group vocalizes at points, joined by other singers who include June Tyson and Art Jenkins. There's also some great use of "strange strings" on the sessions, not to mention a bit of reverb – and tracks titles include "Spectrum", "The Satellites Are Spinning", "Seen III Took 4", "Adventures Of Bugs Hunter", "Legend", "The Realm Of Lightning", "The Utter Nots", "Outer Spaceways Inc", "Scene 1 Take 1", "Strange Worlds", "Ancient Ethiopia", "Pyramids", and "Interpretation". CD

Really unique material from Sun Ra – a pair of recordings that were initially circulated much more strongly than some of his Saturn Records material, thanks to the power of the BYG/Actuel label in the early 70s – but tracks that actually come from a variety of different sessions that Ra himself did with the Arkestra in the late 60s! Tracks are shortish, but very inventive – a well-chosen snapshot of all the new ideas that the group were cooking up during the end of the 60s in New York, with an increased mission to explore the outer reaches of space, and use more electronics than ever before! Ra plays some killer keyboards – moog, spacemaster, and acoustic piano – often with these really eerie tones – and other players include Kwame Hadi on trumpet, Akh Tal Ebah on space dimension mellophone, Ali Hassan on trombone, Marshal Allen and Danny Davis on alto and flute, John Gilmore on tenor, and Pat Patrick on baritone – and the whole group vocalizes at points, joined by other singers who include June Tyson and Art Jenkins. There's also some great use of "strange strings" on the sessions, not to mention a bit of reverb – and tracks titles include "Spectrum", "The Satellites Are Spinning", "Seen III Took 4", "Adventures Of Bugs Hunter", "Legend", "The Realm Of Lightning", "The Utter Nots", "Outer Spaceways Inc", "Scene 1 Take 1", "Strange Worlds", "Ancient Ethiopia", "Pyramids", and "Interpretation". CD

A whole new side of the talents of Sun Ra – especially if you only know the longer-style jams on some of his albums from the 60s and 70s! From the very start of his career, Ra was every bit as interested in issuing music on 45s as he was on albums – and in fact, at some of the more desperate times, the 7" single turned out to be a very affordable format to try out new ideas – including some great projects with other artists! The array of work presented here is stunning – as the set includes some very up-close and personal moments with Ra on record, plus some tight jazzy tracks from the Arkestra, surprising vocal group material designed to crack the R&B market, and some especially cool projects with other singers too. The package is put together with very detailed notes on all the singles – and while the bulk of this material comes from the key Arkestra years of the late 50s through the early 80s, there's also a few tracks from other dates too – including a handful of songs that were only issued as 45s in later years. This limited part 2 of the vinyl set features wonderful tracks from later years – including "The Blue Set", "Space Loneliness", "State Street", "Love In Outer Space", "Mayan Temple", "Quest", "Rough House Blues", "Journey To Saturn", "Blues On Planet Mars", "The Bridge", "Rocket #9", "The Perfect Man", "Outer Space Plateau", "Extensions", "Orbitration In Blue", "A Blue One", "Big City Blue", "I'm Gonna Unmask The Batman", "Saturn Moon", "Disco 2021", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "I Am The Instrument", "Cosmic Drama", "Nuclear War", "Hell #1", and "Cosmo-Extensions" – plus the tracks "Tell Her To Come On Home" and "I'm Making Believe" by Little Mack. LP, Vinyl record album

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 Paris – all during the last week of October and first day of November – in a whirlwind series of sets that also included Montreux material that ended up on the Hiroshima album (not included in this package.) Ra's at the start of his key 80s growth here – able to open up to new audiences in a range of styles, from freely experimental to more traditionally jazzy – all in ways that link together many traditions in a single set, and show that his talents were rooted in a deep tradition of musical expression. The 5CD set features a huge amount of material – and apart from Ra on piano and keyboards, other "all star" players include Lester Bowie and Don Cherry on trumpets, John Gilmore on tenor, Archie Shepp on tenor and soprano sax, Marshall Allen on alto and flute, Richard Davis on bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums, and Don Moye on percussion. CD

A classic Arkestra live set from the end of the 80s – beautifully recorded, and put together with a lot more dynamic energy than some of the less professional Sun Ra live dates from the time! The set runs for nearly an hour in length, and tracks are long, but often quite focused – served up with a good deal of soulfulness in both the rhythms and horn work, as well as some of that Ellington-inspired tightness that marked Ra's best later years. Players include Michael Ray, John Gilmore, Tyrone Hill, Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, and Ahmed Abdullah – and titles include "Astro Black", "If You Came From Nowhere Here", "Can You Take It", "Angel Race/I Will Wait For You", "Cosmo Approach Prelude", and "Interstellar Lo-Ways". CD

A classic Arkestra live set from the end of the 80s – beautifully recorded, and put together with a lot more dynamic energy than some of the less professional Sun Ra live dates from the time! The set runs for nearly an hour in length, and tracks are long, but often quite focused – served up with a good deal of soulfulness in both the rhythms and horn work, as well as some of that Ellington-inspired tightness that marked Ra's best later years. Players include Michael Ray, John Gilmore, Tyrone Hill, Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, and Ahmed Abdullah – and titles include "Astro Black", "If You Came From Nowhere Here", "Can You Take It", "Angel Race/I Will Wait For You", "Cosmo Approach Prelude", and "Interstellar Lo-Ways". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic Arkestra live set from the end of the 80s – beautifully recorded, and put together with a lot more dynamic energy than some of the less professional Sun Ra live dates from the time! The set runs for nearly an hour in length, and tracks are long, but often quite focused – served up with a good deal of soulfulness in both the rhythms and horn work, as well as some of that Ellington-inspired tightness that marked Ra's best later years. Players include Michael Ray, John Gilmore, Tyrone Hill, Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, and Ahmed Abdullah – and titles include "Astro Black", "If You Came From Nowhere Here", "Can You Take It", "Angel Race/I Will Wait For You", "Cosmo Approach Prelude", and "Interstellar Lo-Ways". CD

Really fantastic work from the continuing version of Sun Ra's Arkestra led by Marshall Allen – and an album of rich sophistication that definitely shows the mature version of the group really finding their own sense of voice and spirit! There's a laidback take to the music that partly recalls some of the modes that the Arkestra had in their earlier days, when they were exploring some exotica currents mixed with more avant jazz inclinations – although the expression of the sound here is more focused and majestic, with slight string touches blending in with instrumentation of a more jazz-based mode – handled by Marshall Allen on alto and kora, Knoel Scott on tenor and baritone, Michael Ray and Cecil Brooks on trumpets, Dave Davis on trombone, Farid Barron on piano, Dave Hotep on guitar, and Tara Middleton on some mighty nice flute and violin. There's a richness to the sound that comes from all the other players involved in the proceedings – and titles include "Day Of The Living Sky", "Firefly", "Wish Upon A Star", "Chopin", "Marshall's Groove", and "Somebody Else's Idea". CD

Really fantastic work from the continuing version of Sun Ra's Arkestra led by Marshall Allen – and an album of rich sophistication that definitely shows the mature version of the group really finding their own sense of voice and spirit! There's a laidback take to the music that partly recalls some of the modes that the Arkestra had in their earlier days, when they were exploring some exotica currents mixed with more avant jazz inclinations – although the expression of the sound here is more focused and majestic, with slight string touches blending in with instrumentation of a more jazz-based mode – handled by Marshall Allen on alto and kora, Knoel Scott on tenor and baritone, Michael Ray and Cecil Brooks on trumpets, Dave Davis on trombone, Farid Barron on piano, Dave Hotep on guitar, and Tara Middleton on some mighty nice flute and violin. There's a richness to the sound that comes from all the other players involved in the proceedings – and titles include "Day Of The Living Sky", "Firefly", "Wish Upon A Star", "Chopin", "Marshall's Groove", and "Somebody Else's Idea". LP, Vinyl record album

Sun Ra left the planet a few decades ago, but his Arkestra has been going strong – really carrying the torch that the great one kept burning – and stepping out here in their first studio album in 20 years! The record is really something special – that core Sun Ra spirit, but taken in righteous territory that shows just how much the group has evolved in his absence – still with alto saxophonist Marshall Allen as the leader, but a combination of classic Arkestra members and younger musicians who have really helped continue that legacy of mentorship and spiritual exploration that was always the greater mission of the ensemble. The production is great – never too commercial, and handled brilliantly to capture the spirit of the group at their most expressive – with a lineup that also features Knoel Scott on alto, James Stewart on tenor and flute, Michael Ray and Cecil Brooks on trumpets, Vincent Chancey on French horn, Farid Barron on piano, Dave Hotep on guitar, Akatunde and Elso Nascimento on percussion, and Tara Middleton on vocals and violin. Titles include "Sea Of Darkness/Darkness", "Swirling", "Seductive Fantasy", "Sunology", "Door Of The Cosmos/Shy", "Satellites Are Spinning/Lights On A Satellite", "Infinity/I'll Wait For You", and "Angels & Demons At Play". CD

A classic set from this legendary Detroit festival – a mighty assemblage of roots and jazz performers that was put together by John Sinclair! The event was legendary at the time – and has lived on strongly via this great recording by Atlantic – one that really gets at the special fire of all the performers, and their very enthusiastic welcome by the audience too! Most of the material here is blues – but the set features a key track from Sun Ra & His Solar Myth Arkestra – a performance of "Live Is Splendid" from the Space Is The Place Suite. Other tracks include "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" by Dr John, "Road Runner" by Jr Walker, "Wang Dang Doodle" by Koko Taylor, "Gambler's Blues" by Otis Rush, "Ain't That Loving You" by Bobby Blue Bland, "Honey Bee" by Muddy Waters, "Form Kinetic" by CJQ, "Dust My Broom" by Johnny Shines, and "Goin Down" by Freddie King. LP, Vinyl record album

Really unique recordings from the Sun Ra Arkestra – material recorded in Egypt in 1983 – juxtaposed with sessions from percussionist Salah Ragab and the Cairo Jazz Band! The work here has much more of a "jazz meets world" sound than some of Ra's other recordings – and most tracks are extremely melodic and rhythmic – in a way that mixes Eastern instrumentation and themes with some of the more familiar Arkestra modes – a sound that takes the Sun Ra groove one step further, and which sounds totally sublime! Highlights include the groover "Egypt Strut", the flute-heavy "Oriental Mood", and beautiful "Dawn". Really great stuff – and a key glimpse at this rare slice of Ra's career! LP, Vinyl record album

The music of Sun Ra, taken into very different territory – every bit as cosmic as before, but maybe also a bit more down to earth in its presentation! Sun Ra classics are reworked here by a mix of different Brazilian musicians, with contributions from a few key American artists who really enrich the soulful qualities of the proceedings – with results that are tremendous, and which make the record one of the real standout projects in the long legacy of Red Hot recordings! The sounds here are all original, created for the project – and the Brazilian artists include some of our favorite underground talents of the past decade, mixed with a few who are more well-established, yet still very much on the left side of the spectrum! Titles include "Astroblack Orunmila" with Jazzmeia Horn & Orquestra Afrosinfonica, "Interstellar Low Ways" with Hamilton De Holanda Trio, "When There Is No Sun (Intergalactic version)" with Xenia Franca & Tigana Santana, "Eu Sou Um Instrumento" with Fabricio Boliveira & Jazzmeia Horn, "O Codigo" with Fabricio Boliveira & Edbrass Brasil, "Nature's God" with Meshell Ndegeocello & Munir Hossn, and "Nine Rocket For The Planet" with Meta Meta & Edgar. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most unique books to ever look at the music of Sun Ra – and one that's very near and dear to our hearts, given that the role of Chicago is seen as vital to the development of the music! The book digs very deep into Ra's early years – time that isn't covered in as much details as in other projects – and the book paints a picture of the city that's as vivid as the jazz legend himself – showing how postwar Chicago did a lot to shape the early sounds and ideas of Ra – which were then shaped the man himself. William Sites comes at the project from a different perspective than most music writers – which makes for a very fresh volume that may well open up whole new territory in the exploration of jazz and community. 313 pages, softcover, with black and white images. Book

A very nice little album – and one that moves way past the gimmicky nature that you might guess from the title! The Sun Ra influence is obvious – as it seems natural for the Chicago-based players to show a bit of respect to what's gone before them in the city. The Funkadelic twist might seem a bit more odd, though – but not if you consider the fact that Vandermark's played a heck of a lot with funky jazz combos over the past 10 years, and that Drake can really kick it on the set when he wants to! In fact, the two of them go so full-out on the Funkadelic tunes that you'll be hard-pressed to believe that there's actually only a trio of sax, drums, and bass playing the music! The Ra tunes seem a bit restrained next to the Funkadelic ones – but that also makes for a nice mix of styles on the CD. Titles include "Tapestry From An Asteroid", "Cosmic Slop", "Future", "Super Stupid", "You & Your Folks, Me & My Folks", "El Is A Sound Of Joy", and "Street Named Hell". CD

A wonderful biography of one of the most colorful and significant figures in modern music. There's no need for us to go into the impact Sun Ra's music has made in the realm of the sort of records our pages are filled with – in spite of the mainstream musical audience's ignorance of his vast and important oeuvre – and the story of his life is equally as engrossing, filled with as much mystery and imagination as the sounds he left behind on record! Until this book, so much of the story of Ra was just legend, and difficult to penetrate in the veil between fact and fantasy – but author John Szwed did a landmark job of getting to the real story, unearthing an insane amount of details, and doing a fair bit of interviews for the project – which took many years to put together. This edition of the book is huge – with a new forward, a discography in the back, and a section of photos in the middle. 476 pages, softcover. Book

A great book that looks not just at the music of Sun Ra, but also the theory behind it – the special take on reality, and interstellar philosophy that made Ra as important a thinker as he was a musician! The music is approached from a theoretical framework that's extremely illuminating – especially if you only know some of the Arkestra records at face value, and not in the larger context of Sun Ra's ideas – and the author includes plenty of history to illuminate the ideas, but in ways that are nicely different than some of the previous books on the subject. The whole thing is a really great look at the transformative power of the music of Ra – that quality that's always made him far more than just another avant jazz musician, and instead a figure of inspiration and social change to decades of listeners who have followed his sound. Very well researched, with copious notes. Paperback, 372 pages. Book

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An amazing package – a pair of rare avant jazz albums, presented here together! The first album is Peace In The World – maybe the only album issued under the name of Michael Cosmic – but a set that's part of a key legacy with his brother, reedman Phill Musra! The set has Cosmic in very heady territory – sounds that come from his young tenure in the AACM, his brief time with Cecil Taylor, and his budding reputation on the 70s Boston scene – where the set was recorded, and almost stands as a precursor to the rich legacy of improvisational jazz that would emerge on the New England scene for decades to come! Tracks are long and very free, but have spiritual currents too – and Cosmic is mostly on piano, with Musra on soprano sax and tenor, Leonard Brown on soprano and tenor, John Jamyll Jones on bass, Huseyin Ertunc on drums, and Eric Jackson on percussion. Titles include "We Love You Malcolm X", "Peace In The World", "Sapce On Space", and "Arabia". Next is the related album Creator Spaces, by Phill Musra – recorded at the time when he was part of the very underground Boston avant scene – a world that had a slightly different vibe than music coming from Chicago, Detroit, or New York! The album's got a spiritual avant bent – soulful at the core, with lots of references to outer space as well – and an approach that feels a lot like a classic Saturn Records session by Sun Ra, both in sound and spirit! Musra plays reeds, chimes, and percussion – and the group features some incredible sax work by Michael Cosmic, who also plays a bit of organ, again in a tripped-out, Ra-type way. Huseyin Ertunc plays percussion – very free and loose, in ways that are a great balance to the more angular lines of the reeds – and tracks include "The Creator Is So Far Out", "The Creator Spaces", "Egypt", and "Arabia". Also features unreleased tracks "The Creator Is So Far Out (unreleased version)" and "Phyllis". Added to the set is a really special bonus third CD – an unreleased long live performance of "The Prayer" by Worlds Experience Orchestra – a group from the same scene at the time – with Shaddu Jones on piano, Stan Strickland on tenor and soprano, Frank Peterson on alto, John Jamyll Jones on bass, Robert Ruff on cello, Larry Lerner on drums, and John Klein on amplified violin. CD

An amazing piece of work from Angel Bat Dawid – music that's light years ahead from her recordings of just a few years back – and that's really saying a lot, given the strength of that material! The album features music from a large stage performance put together by Angel – partly inspired by the legendary film The Cry Of Jazz – done by director Edward Bland at the end of the 50s, with music by Sun Ra, and groundbreaking testament on the nature of jazz and black expression in America. The film has been a touchstone for us for decades – yet somehow, Angel finds a way to to channel all its power and explode its meaning and message into something even more powerful – directing a larger group of musicians and singers with a stunningly majestic quality – one that is sure to elevate Dawid into the upper reaches of jazz for years to come. An instant masterpiece, and a record that will become a touchstone for both jazz and contemporary music in general – with titles that include "Introit", "Dias Ire", "Rex Tremendae", "Recordare", "Confutatis", "Lacrimosa", "Kyrie Eleison", "Agnus Dei", and "Lux Aeterna". CD

An amazing piece of work from Angel Bat Dawid – music that's light years ahead from her recordings of just a few years back – and that's really saying a lot, given the strength of that material! The album features music from a large stage performance put together by Angel – partly inspired by the legendary film The Cry Of Jazz – done by director Edward Bland at the end of the 50s, with music by Sun Ra, and groundbreaking testament on the nature of jazz and black expression in America. The film has been a touchstone for us for decades – yet somehow, Angel finds a way to to channel all its power and explode its meaning and message into something even more powerful – directing a larger group of musicians and singers with a stunningly majestic quality – one that is sure to elevate Dawid into the upper reaches of jazz for years to come. An instant masterpiece, and a record that will become a touchstone for both jazz and contemporary music in general – with titles that include "Introit", "Dias Ire", "Rex Tremendae", "Recordare", "Confutatis", "Lacrimosa", "Kyrie Eleison", "Agnus Dei", and "Lux Aeterna". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing piece of work from Angel Bat Dawid – music that's light years ahead from her recordings of just a few years back – and that's really saying a lot, given the strength of that material! The album features music from a large stage performance put together by Angel – partly inspired by the legendary film The Cry Of Jazz – done by director Edward Bland at the end of the 50s, with music by Sun Ra, and groundbreaking testament on the nature of jazz and black expression in America. The film has been a touchstone for us for decades – yet somehow, Angel finds a way to to channel all its power and explode its meaning and message into something even more powerful – directing a larger group of musicians and singers with a stunningly majestic quality – one that is sure to elevate Dawid into the upper reaches of jazz for years to come. An instant masterpiece, and a record that will become a touchstone for both jazz and contemporary music in general – with titles that include "Introit", "Dias Ire", "Rex Tremendae", "Recordare", "Confutatis", "Lacrimosa", "Kyrie Eleison", "Agnus Dei", and "Lux Aeterna". LP, Vinyl record album

Angel Bat Dawid is a completely mesmerizing artist on record, but she's even more mindblowing in a live setting – where she seems to channel the energy of the skies and the planet into her music – brimming over with righteous energy that guides the rest of the group with a hell of a lot of power! Angel plays clarinet, keyboards, and sings throughout – effortlessly shifting between those elements in a group that includes tenor, keyboards, electronics, bass, and lots of drums and percussion – bursting out with an effortless blend of larger conception and improvisation – at a level that may well have Dawid emerging as one of the few folks from Chicago that could ever hope to match the legacy of Sun Ra! That's not saying that Angel is anything like Ra at all – but in a similar way, she immediately comes across as a true visionary, a deeply spiritual talent, and an artist who's following a path that's completely her own. Features material recorded live in Chicago and Berlin – and titles include "Capetown", "Black Family", "What Shall I Tell My Children Who Are Black", "The Wicked Shall Not Prevail", "Melo Deez From Heab'N", "VIKTORious Return", and "Enlightenment". CD

Angel Bat Dawid is a completely mesmerizing artist on record, but she's even more mindblowing in a live setting – where she seems to channel the energy of the skies and the planet into her music – brimming over with righteous energy that guides the rest of the group with a hell of a lot of power! Angel plays clarinet, keyboards, and sings throughout – effortlessly shifting between those elements in a group that includes tenor, keyboards, electronics, bass, and lots of drums and percussion – bursting out with an effortless blend of larger conception and improvisation – at a level that may well have Dawid emerging as one of the few folks from Chicago that could ever hope to match the legacy of Sun Ra! That's not saying that Angel is anything like Ra at all – but in a similar way, she immediately comes across as a true visionary, a deeply spiritual talent, and an artist who's following a path that's completely her own. Features material recorded live in Chicago and Berlin – and titles include "Capetown", "Black Family", "What Shall I Tell My Children Who Are Black", "The Wicked Shall Not Prevail", "Melo Deez From Heab'N", "VIKTORious Return", and "Enlightenment". LP, Vinyl record album

The 3rd album by The Dining Rooms – and the best so far! These guys have really matured from earlier outings – moving into a sophisticated realm of downtempo soundscapes crafted with a great deal of care, and which are put together with a lot more than simple tricks and gimmicks. There's loads of really solid tunes in here – sly numbers that sneak up on you with a subtle approach to the craft, gently burrowing in and taking root – somehow making the album that much more compelling overall. A number of tracks have some wonderfully languid vocals, some male and some female – and these tunes fall nicely next to instrumental numbers with a very evocative approach. Titles include "Anima Per Amarti", "Tunnel", "La Citta Nuda", "Fluxus", "Flamenco Sketches", "Dreamy Smiles", "You", "African Loungesters", and a nice cover of Sun Ra's "Astro Black"! CD

Guitarist Pierre Dorge has been giving us amazing music for many years – but he sounds especially amazing here in the company of a really great group – the excellent Kirk Knuffke on cornet, plus Stephen Riley on tenor, Conrad Herwig on trombone, Jay Anderson on bass, and Adam Nussbaum on drums – all very dynamic players who seem to make Dorge sound even fresher than ever! There's an especially strong sense of phrasing on the record – no surprise, especially with Knuffke in the mix – and while Pierre can sometimes use his instrument in more abstract ways, that quality is really balanced by all the other members of the lineup. Anderson's bass is great – nicely pointed at the best moments, and a great contrast to Dorge's strings – and all tracks are originals, with titles that include "Lullaby For Sun Ra", "Mingus' Birthday Party", "Afrikaa Mbizo Dyani", "Sim Sim Ba", and "Alligator In Paradise". CD

A nice, moody hip hop/funk album from one of the deepest talents on the Stones Throw roster! Dudley came to underground hip hop fame as Declaime, but really stepped forward as a durable, innovative artist with the Dudley Perkins singles that have dropped thus far – and A Lil Light soundly delivers on that promise. It's all about mood – this may be the murkiest, most muddily funky thing Madlib has ever produced, with crackly, hissing beats, bass and samples. Dudley's vocals are about as far from the crooning NuSoul sound as you can get. He's grooves along with an improvised feel to the lyrics, loosely scatting in both a rolling deep bass and a soulful, nearly crying falsetto. The sound falls somewhere between the denser parts of D'Angelo's Voodoo and the spacier aspects of 70s soul and funk. Totally unique and satisfying – would you expect any less of Stones Throw? Tracks include "Money", the Sun Ra-inspired "Gotta Go", "You Really Know Me?", "Washedbrainsyndrome", "Flowers", "Just Think", "Yo' Soul", "Momma", "Lil' Black Boy" and more. CD

Earth, Wind & Fire's first album – recorded at a time when the group recently had ties to the Chicago soul and jazz scenes, and a range of experience that ran the gamut from work with Sun Ra, the Artistic Heritage Ensemble, The Pharoahs, Ramsey Lewis, and countless other influential groups. Headed up by Maurice White on drums and percussion, the group forged an amazing blend of all these influences, creating a future soul sound that pushed black music to the next level – taking a wealth of previously underground modes of expression, and fusing them into a soaring sound that would soon put them at the top of the charts. This album's a lot looser and freer than their Columbia albums – with plenty of raw funk and some nice off-beat jazz soling. Includes the classic break track "C'Mon Children", plus "Fan The Fire", "Bad Tune", and "Moment Of Truth". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of spiritual soul classics – the rare early Warner Brothers albums from Earth Wind & Fire – back to back on a single CD! Earth, Wind & Fire's first album was recorded at a time when the group recently had ties to the Chicago soul and jazz scenes, and a range of experience that ran the gamut from work with Sun Ra, the Artistic Heritage Ensemble, The Pharoahs, Ramsey Lewis, and countless other influential groups. Headed up by Maurice White on drums and percussion, the group forged an amazing blend of all these influences, creating a future soul sound that pushed black music to the next level – taking a wealth of previously underground modes of expression, and fusing them into a soaring sound that would soon put them at the top of the charts. This album's a lot looser and freer than their Columbia albums – with plenty of raw funk and some nice off-beat jazz soling. Includes the classic break track "C'Mon Children", plus "Fan The Fire", "Bad Tune", and "Moment Of Truth". Need Of Love is one of the two early Earth Wind & Fire LPs recorded for Warner – and the one that shows their amazing roots in the avant-garde jazz scene in Chicago! At the forefront, the record's a righteous soul album with an ensemble funk sound – but deeper in, there's a lot of jazz-based playing, and a number of moments that almost get "out" in the solos! Surely this one couldn't have been made without the spiritual advancements in jazz made by the AACM – and EWF couldn't have helped rubbing shoulders with those players, considering that they all often gigged together in the Chicago studio scene, and that they'd also shared some time together in groups like The Pharoahs and Phil Cohran's Artistic Heritage Ensemble. Titles include "Energy", "Beauty", and a nice remake of Donny Hathaway's "Everything is Everything". CD

A pair of spiritual soul classics – the rare early Warner Brothers albums from Earth Wind & Fire – back to back on a single CD! Earth, Wind & Fire's first album was recorded at a time when the group recently had ties to the Chicago soul and jazz scenes, and a range of experience that ran the gamut from work with Sun Ra, the Artistic Heritage Ensemble, The Pharoahs, Ramsey Lewis, and countless other influential groups. Headed up by Maurice White on drums and percussion, the group forged an amazing blend of all these influences, creating a future soul sound that pushed black music to the next level – taking a wealth of previously underground modes of expression, and fusing them into a soaring sound that would soon put them at the top of the charts. This album's a lot looser and freer than their Columbia albums – with plenty of raw funk and some nice off-beat jazz soling. Includes the classic break track "C'Mon Children", plus "Fan The Fire", "Bad Tune", and "Moment Of Truth". Need Of Love is one of the two early Earth Wind & Fire LPs recorded for Warner – and the one that shows their amazing roots in the avant-garde jazz scene in Chicago! At the forefront, the record's a righteous soul album with an ensemble funk sound – but deeper in, there's a lot of jazz-based playing, and a number of moments that almost get "out" in the solos! Surely this one couldn't have been made without the spiritual advancements in jazz made by the AACM – and EWF couldn't have helped rubbing shoulders with those players, considering that they all often gigged together in the Chicago studio scene, and that they'd also shared some time together in groups like The Pharoahs and Phil Cohran's Artistic Heritage Ensemble. Titles include "Energy", "Beauty", and a nice remake of Donny Hathaway's "Everything is Everything". CD

A really well-titled set – as it offers up some more intimate takes on the Duke Ellington sound of the cusp of the 70s – with some especially nice trio and solo numbers that are well worth the price of the whole collection! The album starts with the amazing "Moon Maiden" – a track that has Ellington playing celeste, and reciting this weird little cosmic poem – almost in a Sun Ra-type aesthetic, and key proof that Duke was still stretching out a lot in his later years! There's also some excellent trio tracks that really get at that highly modern mode that Ellington hit at his Live At The Whitney session – mixed with a few more larger group numbers that, while not exactly intimate, still have a nicely laid back feel. In addition to "Moon Maiden", other tracks include "Tenz", "Eulb", "Layin On Mellow", "Edward The First", "Symphonette", and "Some Summer Fun". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost Duke Ellington gem from the late 50s – a session that has a decidedly different look than some of his other records of the time! We don't know if the Duke was into Sun Ra – but it almost seems like he was copping his thunder with this title and band name – a fair bit more flashy than the usual presentation for the Ellington group! The record's not nearly as trippy as you'd expect – but it's still a prime set of Ellingtonia from those key late 50s years – material played by a smaller group of "Spacemen" than Duke's fuller orchestra – with a bit more room for small group interaction, almost in a Verve mode. Players include Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet, Clark Terry on trumpet, Paul Gonzalves on tenor, Quentin Jackson on trombone, and Jimmy Woode on bass – and titles include "Avalon", "Midnight Sun", "Spacemen", "Bass-ment", "Early Autumn", and "Jones". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost Duke Ellington gem from the late 50s – a session that has a decidedly different look than some of his other records of the time! We don't know if the Duke was into Sun Ra – but it almost seems like he was copping his thunder with this title and band name – a fair bit more flashy than the usual presentation for the Ellington group! The record's not nearly as trippy as you'd expect – but it's still a prime set of Ellingtonia from those key late 50s years – material played by a smaller group of "Spacemen" than Duke's fuller orchestra – with a bit more room for small group interaction, almost in a Verve mode. Players include Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet, Clark Terry on trumpet, Paul Gonzalves on tenor, Quentin Jackson on trombone, and Jimmy Woode on bass – and titles include "Avalon", "Midnight Sun", "Spacemen", "Bass-ment", "Early Autumn", and "Jones". CD also features a bonus alternate take of "Jones". CD

A stunning start to the 80s from Fela Kuti – and a record that has the Egypt 80 band cooking every bit as strongly as Africa 70! The album's got this massively cooking vibe right from the start – fast-running, fast-riffing rhythms that are peppered with horns at the beginning of "Original Sufferhead", which then lay back for a nicely weird tenor solo, and some great keyboards too! "Power Show" is great too – with more other-worldly energy, and a vibe that almost makes it feel like Sun Ra has joined the band – and decided to deliver a solo on one of those weird keyboards of his! The arrangements are amazingly tight, and a bit more sophisticated than usual – and the whole thing grooves wonderfully. LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning start to the 80s from Fela Kuti – and a record that has the Egypt 80 band cooking every bit as strongly as Africa 70! The album's got this massively cooking vibe right from the start – fast-running, fast-riffing rhythms that are peppered with horns at the beginning of "Original Sufferhead", which then lay back for a nicely weird tenor solo, and some great keyboards too! "Power Show" is great too – with more other-worldly energy, and a vibe that almost makes it feel like Sun Ra has joined the band – and decided to deliver a solo on one of those weird keyboards of his! The arrangements are amazingly tight, and a bit more sophisticated than usual – and the whole thing grooves wonderfully. LP, Vinyl record album

There's some pretty nice moments on Jerry Goldsmith's great score for the film A Patch of Blue (so many, in fact, that the score was later re-cast by Sun Ra and Walt Dickerson). The overall approach is orchestral – but there's a lot of moments when the instrumentation gets odd, and when the instruments fall out and recombine in interesting ways. Nice titles include "Bead Party", "Help Me", and "Selina's Walk". CD

Quite possibly our favorite album ever from pianist Andrew Hill – a really unique outing that features the vibes of Bobby Hutcherson and a rare non-Sun Ra appearance by tenorist John Gilmore! The presence of Hutcherson brings a real "new thing" energy to the album – a feel that's similar to Bobby's classic Dialogue album, of which Hill was such an important part. But the searching tenor of Gilmore also brings a striking new level to the session as well – and his solos open up with a raw, earthy quality that really shades in the album with a great deal of feeling. Gilmore's role here is a bit like that of Joe Henderson on his freer Blue Note material – but his sound still undeniably unique, at a level that really makes us wish he'd recorded more albums like this at the time. The tracks are all originals by Hill, and include the titles "Duplicity", "Black Monday", "The Griots", and "Le Serpent Qui Danse". CD features 2 bonus alternate takes too! CD

A beautiful album that we'd rank as one of Freddie Hubbard's greatest recordings ever – a truly sublime set that's quite different than his Blue Note work of the 60s, and which really shows him emerging as a major talent on the trumpet! The set features a core sextet of key players – the legendary John Gilmore on tenor sax, making a rare appearance here away from the Sun Ra Arkestra – plus Curtis Fuller on trombone, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Art Davis on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – the last three of whom provide a soulful, almost spiritual rhythm to the record – elevating Freddie's horn to tremendous heights, possibly for the first time in his career. All tracks are nice and long – and titles include the Hubbard originals "Bob's Place", "Happy Times", and "The 7th Day", all of which roll along on a groove that's not what you'd expect – plus versions of "Summertime" and "Caravan". CD

Pivotal work from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard – eleven full albums recorded by the young jazzman as a leader, together showing a really incredible scope of his talents in just a few short years in the studio! The Blue Note albums here already show an incredible evolution – from initial hardbop crackle at the best level of the label, to a slight shift into new thing territory that marks a more experimental side of Freddie's work that would take off later in the 60s. There's also two Impulse Records releases in the package – the completely sublime sextet outing of The Artistry Of Freddie Hubbard – a great date with Curtis Fuller on trombone, Tommy Flanagan on piano, and John Gilmore on tenor – making a rare appearance in the studio away from the Sun Ra Arkestra! The other Impulse album is titled Body & Soul – and has Hubbard amidst a larger group of modernists on most tracks, with these incredible Wayne Shorter arrangements – then in a small group with shorter on tenor and Eric Dolphy on alto and flute. Blue Note albums include Breaking Point, Blue Spirits, Open Sesame, Going Up, Hub Cap, Ready For Freddie, Hub Tones, and Here To Stay – with players who include Tina Brooks, Jimmy Heath, and Wayne Shorter on tenors; McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton, and Herbie Hancock on pianos; Paul Chambers, Sam Jones, and Reggie Workman on basses; and James Spaulding making a key early appearance on alto and flute. 70 long tracks in all – and a very detailed booklet of notes with rare photos! CD

Beautiful sounds from Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – a group who've matured tremendously in the time that they've been giving us music – and who almost seem ready here to take on the legacy of their musical father – the late Kelan Phil Cohran! There's a complexity to the horn work here that's even deeper than before – amazing tones and textures from trumpets, trombones, euphonium, and sousaphone – all balanced with these sonic currents on guitar, bass, and electronics – instruments used in subtle ways, but to strongly shape the brass elements with maybe more spiritual overtones than in previous years – almost as if the group is growing, and getting even more serious about their message – with echoes that stretch back to the work of Cohran, and maybe Sun Ra's Arkestra, the world of Strata East, and even the tonal colors of Oliver Nelson at his best. Titles include "Heaven & Earth", "Midnight", "Now", "Morning Prayer", "Purple Afternoon", "Lead The Way", "Synapsis", "Royalty", "Solstice", and "Sri Neroti". LP, Vinyl record album

Not the first album from this fantastic group, but a set that's their initial outing for Impulse Records – the old home to John Coltrane, Sun Ra, and Pharoah Sanders – and a very fitting place for their boundless sense of expression! The group really seem to have upped their game for this album – finding a way to move into darker, deeper territory that really blows us away – really layering their sound with a richness that's almost weaponized at times, especially given the message in their songs – as if these guys have drunk deep of the complexity of ESP Albert Ayler material, the fused it to a spaceship towards the cosmos! Moor Mother delivers some spoken passages of knowledge on the album – alongside the saxes of Keir Nueringer, trumpet of Aquiles Navarro, bass of Luke Stewart, and drums of Tcheser Holmes. Titles include "Our Land Back", "Free Love", "Celestial Pathways", and "Root Branch". CD

Not the first album from this fantastic group, but a set that's their initial outing for Impulse Records – the old home to John Coltrane, Sun Ra, and Pharoah Sanders – and a very fitting place for their boundless sense of expression! The group really seem to have upped their game for this album – finding a way to move into darker, deeper territory that really blows us away – really layering their sound with a richness that's almost weaponized at times, especially given the message in their songs – as if these guys have drunk deep of the complexity of ESP Albert Ayler material, the fused it to a spaceship towards the cosmos! Moor Mother delivers some spoken passages of knowledge on the album – alongside the saxes of Keir Nueringer, trumpet of Aquiles Navarro, bass of Luke Stewart, and drums of Tcheser Holmes. Titles include "Our Land Back", "Free Love", "Celestial Pathways", and "Root Branch". LP, Vinyl record album

Four important albums from Jade Warrior – all brought together here in a single set! Floating World is the first album in Jade Warrior's mid-70s run for Island Records – and a set that marks a key shift for the group – a moment when they leaned even more heavily into their interest in global sounds, dropped most of their vocals, and used their impeccable instrumentation to take off in really amazing ways! The core duo of Tony Duhig's guitar and Jon Field's flute serve up most of the instrumentation here – and both players handle plenty of percussion too – yet there's a richness to the record that's undeniable too, which is a great testament to the way the pair make really special music together! Martha Mdenge serves up some guest vocals on the final track "Quba", the group take on the legendary "Monkey Chant" of Balinese music, and other titles include "Red Lotus", "Clouds", "Mountain Of Fruit & Flowers", "Waterfall", and "Easty". Kites is one of the most ambitious records ever from Jade Warrior – a set that expands their core sound in a wonderful way, with all sorts of great guests who really add a lot to the music! As before, the duo of Tony Duhig and Jon Field are at the core – guitar, flute, and plenty of percussion – but augmented here with all sorts of cool contributions by guests who include Fred Frith on violin, Gowan Turnball on saxes, and Jeff Westley on electric piano – plus Clodagh Simonds on a bit of vocals – all really bringing a new sort of majesty to the sort of music that the group delivered on their previous record – but without losing the sense of intimacy either. Titles include "Towards The Mountains", "Wind Song", "The Emperor", "Songs Of The Forest", "Quietly By The River Bank", and "The Last Question". Waves is a key moment in the continuing evolution of Jade Warrior – and a set that nicely moves the group from the prog styles of their roots, into leaner territory that's almost jazz-based at times! Some of the group's contemporaries were making such shifts, but usually in a way that was more heavy handed – where the lightness that Jade Warrior had on previous records really guides the music here – as they work with their core combination of keyboards, flute, guitar, and plenty of percussion – with additional work from Dave Duhig on lead guitar, Maggie Thomas on alto recorder, and Steve Winwood on moog, piano, and keyboards! There's a bit of vocals on the record from a female singer – but most of the tracks just have this gentle instrumental flowering – moving through an album-length suite that includes the tracks "Caves", "Groover", "River To The Sea", "Song Of The Last Whale", "The Sea", and "Wave Birth". Way Of The Sun is a set that's got a few sharper edges than some of the previous records by Jade Warrior – yet one that still hangs nicely in that Eastern-inspired blend of jazz and prog that made their Island Records years so great! As before, the album works as a unified whole – each track crucial to the overall feel of the set – with plenty of excellent work on flute from Jon Field, amidst more conventional guitar, keyboard, and percussion. There's some occasional nice guest moments on flugelhorn, harp, and saxes – and titles include "Sun Ra", "Dance Of The Sun", "Heaven Stone", "Moontears", "Sun Child", "Carnival", and "Death Of Ra". CD

A rare early session from vibist Khan Jamal – recorded with his Philly-based Creative Arts Ensemble collective! The group follows strongly in the spirit of similar combos from Chicago and St Louis – particularly the latter – and Jamal's group is working here in a mode that's initiated by the original sonic experiments of the AACM, but taken to deeper, more organic levels. Given Khan's later work, the thing that's most surprising here is the sound texture of the record – because although seemingly improvised, there's also a greater feel towards a whole here – a spacey, ethereal quality that reminds us of some of Sun Ra's most creative moments. Jamal plays vibes, marimba, and clarinet – and the rest of the group includes Monette Sudler on guitar and percussion, Alex Ellison on drums, Dwight James on drums and clarinet, and Billy Mills on both electric and acoustic bass. Although not overly electric, there's a shimmering quality to the music here – as if the production abstracted the original acoustic sound with weird echo and other techniques! Titles include "Inner Peace", "Drum Dance", "Cosmic Echoes", and "Breath Of Life". LP, Vinyl record album

Strong solo work from saxophonist Darius Jones – a set that really lives up to both the "raw" and the "lone operation" in the title – as Jones blows here in a space that's very much all his own – with raw emotionality in the spotlight all the way through! Yet the work also draws key inspiration from earlier giants – as many of the tunes are reworkings of older compositions, from artists who include Roscoe Mitchell, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, and Georgia Anne Muldrow – taken to very personal territory by the performance. There's a strong sense of space to the recording – one that reminds us of hearing Mitchell play solo in a cathedral many years back – and titles include "Nonaah", "Love In Outer Space", "Figure No 2", "Sadness", and "Beautiful Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark session that features two of the greatest tenor talents to emerge from the rich Chicago scene of the 50s! Jordan was well-known to jazz fans, or would be within a few years – but Gilmore's rarely heard in this sort of setting, as most of his recording career was spent in the company of Sun Ra's Arkestra. The record features the duo in a twin-tenor frontline, with backing by Horace Silver, Curly Russell, and Art Blakey. Ostensibly a blowing session, but much tighter than you'd expect – and with a hard heavy Blue Note groove. Titles include "Evil Eye", "Status Quo", "Bo-Till", and "Blue Lights". CD features the bonus track "Let It Stand". CD

A landmark session that features two of the greatest tenor talents to emerge from the rich Chicago scene of the 50s! Jordan was well-known to jazz fans, or would be within a few years – but Gilmore's rarely heard in this sort of setting, as most of his recording career was spent in the company of Sun Ra's Arkestra. The record features the duo in a twin-tenor frontline, with backing by Horace Silver, Curly Russell, and Art Blakey. Ostensibly a blowing session, but much tighter than you'd expect – and with a hard heavy Blue Note groove. Titles include "Evil Eye", "Status Quo", "Bo-Till", and "Blue Lights". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark session that features two of the greatest tenor talents to emerge from the rich Chicago scene of the 50s! Jordan was well-known to jazz fans, or would be within a few years – but Gilmore's rarely heard in this sort of setting, as most of his recording career was spent in the company of Sun Ra's Arkestra. The record features the duo in a twin-tenor frontline, with backing by Horace Silver, Curly Russell, and Art Blakey. Ostensibly a blowing session, but much tighter than you'd expect – and with a hard heavy Blue Note groove. Titles include "Evil Eye", "Status Quo", "Bo-Till", and "Blue Lights". CD features the bonus track "Let It Stand". CD

Wonderful late 50s work by Yusef Lateef – played in that "jazz exotic" style he was using to perfect form at the time, a mixture of the lyrical hard bop of the Horace Silver group, with some of the more spare and eastern styles used by groups like the early Sun Ra Arkestra. The drummer, Frank Gant, makes ample use of brushes and mallets to keep the rhythms in a mode that works with the overall sound – and other players include trumpeter Lonnie Hillyer and pianist Hugh Lawson, both of whom were part of the super-hip Detroit scene that spawned Lateef. Titles include "Cry Tender", "Butter's Blues", "Dopolous", "Sea Breeze", and "The Snow Is Green". LP, Vinyl record album

Incredible early work from Yusef Lateef – some of his best! On these early Savoy side, Lateef is drawing from the wealth of influences that were running through the Detroit jazz underground of the 50s that spawned him – and apart from a strongly-conceived bop-influenced sound, you'll also hear Lateef experimenting a lot with jazz exoticism, using different reed instruments and odd small-group arrangements in a manner that's sort of a more "inside" version of similar work done at the time by Sun Ra and group. Lateef's work at this point is a key link in a tradition of exploratory Afro-centric jazz that runs through Roland Kirk's "Black Classical Music" of the 60s, and the underground output of labels like Tribe or Strata East during the 70s. About half the cuts on here are fairly straight, and still pretty nice, but those that aren't will open your eyes to Lateef's genius! Includes titles from The Fabric Of Jazz, The Dreamer, Jazz & The Sounds Of Nature, and Prayer To The East – with 19 numbers that include "Arjuna", "Valse Bouk", "Check Blues", "Gypsy Arab", "Sram", "Lover Man", and "8540 Twelfth Street". CD

Cosmic jazzy genius from Bubbha Thomas & The Lightmen – the kind of a record that sounds like it should have come out of Detroit or Chicago in the early 70s – and not the Texas scene from which the group hailed! The Lightmen have a vibe that reminds us a lot of The Pharoahs or some of the Tribe Records collective – a willingness to mix free-thinking jazz expression with tighter grooves and funkier rhythms – stepping out in an instrumental vibe that still has plenty of funky 45 touches, but which also sits nicely alongside the most cosmic work coming out from Impulse at the time! The title cut "Energy Control Center" has an electric spacey quality that reminds us of Sun Ra at his best – and other tunes soar out with a brilliant post-Coltrane sense of freedom evident in work on saxes, flute, and piano. Titles include "Wench", "Cold Bair", "Leo", "Jupiter's Child", and "The Phantom". This amazing expanded version features loads of bonus tracks, unreleased material, singles, and the great spiritual number "All Praises To Allah". CD

Beautiful images from the legendary Ann Arbor Blues Festival – a long-running even that's pulled together an amazing range of talent over the years – a good number of whom are featured here! The festival probably hit its biggest fame in the early 70s – when recordings documented work by Sun Ra, Art Ensemble, and many blues musicians – and most of the images here even predate those years, as almost all the photographs appear to be from 1969 and 1970 – huge appearances for still-living blues legends! The quality of the images is great – and the book features images of John Lee Hooker, Son House, Sippie Wallace, Sunnyland Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, Fred McDowell, Little Brother Montgomery, Willie Dixon, Robert Lockwood, Buddy Guy, Lowell Fulson, and many others – all in crisp, vintage black and white. 128 pages, softcover, with images throughout. Book