One of the most creative albums ever from UK composer Neil Ardley – and that's saying a lot, given the complexity of his other work! The set's got a wonderful blend of jazz arrangements and some freer passages – scored by Ardley with some of his most sensitive, most beautiful music ever – almost as if the whole thing's an extended soundtrack for a passage in time – or at least a sonic journey that's filled with some wonderful twists and turns! There's definitely some jazz/rock elements in the music, but the main focus is jazz – and Ardley has that same strong sense of large charts and forward-moving rhythms that you'd find in the best early work of Mike Westbrook, particularly his albums for Deram. Players are a very familiar, and very top-shelf batch of British musicians – including Barbara Thompson, Dick Heckstall-Smith, and Don Rendell on reeds; Harry Beckett and Henry Lowther on trumpets; Derek Wadsworth on trombone, Frank Rocotti on vibes, and Stan Tracey on both piano and celeste. Ardley plays prepared piano, and Ivor Cutler makes a great guest appearance on one track – reciting "The Dong With A Luminous Nose" – and Norma Winstone sings on "Will You Walk A Little Faster". The title track – "A Symphony Of Amaranths" – is dedicated to Duke Ellington and Gil Evans – with a feel that more than lives up to both! CD features the bonus track "National Anthem & Tango". CD

A great high-concept composition from Duke Ellington – one that rivals the earlier brilliance of his Liberian Suite! Like that one, vocals are a key part of this long-form work – a special performance done for the Century Of Negro Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1963 – with an all-star cast that includes Jimmy Jones both at the piano and conductor's stand; Joya Sherrill on vocals with the Irving Bunton Singers, Jimmy Grissom, Jimmy McPhail, and Lil Greenwood; Billy Strayhorn on celeste, Juan Amalbert on conga, and other familiar Ellingtonians in the larger group! The tunes have a mix of gospel and folk roots, turned towards more modern Ellington compositional modes – and almost all numbers feature vocals, including one with narration by Ellington himself. Titles include "Will You Be There", "Come Sunday", "David Danced", "Montage", "My Mother My Father", "My People", "The Blues Ain't", and "What Color Is Virtue". CD

A real lost treasure from the legendary Michael Garrick – a set that stands strongly with all of his classic albums of the late 60s, but which is issued here for the first time ever! As the title implies, the recording is a bit of a prelude to the Heart Is A Lotus album – as it shares a few compositions and a few group members with that wonderful set – but the overall feel is different, too – in that the album's all instrumental, and stretches out with really wonderful solos over modal rhythms – a bit more like some of Garrick's mid 60s recordings! Michael himself plays piano, harpsichord, and celeste – and the album features sublime solos from Don Rendell on soprano sax, alto, and flute, plus trumpet from Ian Carr – over wonderful rhythms from Coleridge Goode on bass and Trevor Tomkins on drums and percussion. This is hardly demo material at all – as the recording quality is totally top-shelf – and beautifully remastered here. Titles include "Song By The Sea", "Temple Dancer", "Sweet & Sugary Candy", "Heart Is A Lotus", and "Little Girl". 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

Goodbye Yesterday, hello 70s – as Lucky Thompson plays wonderfully here in a mode that's quite different than his early years – working in a cool group that includes Cedar Walton on electric piano and celeste, Larry Ridley on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums! While most cuts are relatively straight, they've got an open soulful approach that's quite different from most of Lucky's other work – much more in the vein of recordings by Walton from the time, with an arch soul jazz righteousness to them, and a bit of an electric vibe when Cedar hits the keyboards. Titles include "Fillet Of Soul", "Back To The World", "Home Come'n", "Tea Time", and "Soul Lullaby". CD

You might not initially recognize the name of Trevor Tomkins, until you realize he was the drummer in the great Don Rendell/Ian Carr group of the late 60s – continuing his great run of modern jazz expressions here, in a set of never-issued work! The material here dates from years after the breakup of the Rendell/Carr combo, but it's clear that Trevor really drunk in deep from that moment in jazz – and continues the spirit of open flow and creative rhythms in his own music – working here with a great lineup of players that includes Chris Pyne on trombone, Jimmy Hastings and Brian Smith on soprano and tenor saxes, Phil Lee on guitar, John Horler on piano and electric piano, and Paul Bridge on drums. The double-length package features work recorded over the space of a few years, but has a very unified feel – and the material is mostly all original, with a number of especially wonderful tracks penned by Lee. Titles include "Your Eyes Are Love", "The Right Moment", "Chapter One", "Celeste", "Summer Night", "Three Four Peace", "Evansong", "Your Dancing Toes", "Early Spring", and "For Future Reference". CD

One of the strangest albums ever recorded for Blue Note – and one of the coolest, too! Duke Pearson recorded this set in 1969 – during the middle of his last productive period of activity, at a time when he was doing some tremendous genre-crossing jazz that really broke from his earlier styles. The set's got Duke on acoustic piano and celeste – backed by a rhythm section that includes Bob Cranshaw on bass and Mickey Roker on drums, plus Airto on percussion! The sound's more open, more free than you'd expect for a Christmas album – extremely soulful overall, in a mode that makes for some great readings of "Sleigh Ride", "Wassail Song", "Go Tell It On The Mountain", "Jingle Bells", and "Little Drummer Boy". (Holiday Music, Jazz) CD

Key Sun Ra albums for ESP records – the Heliocentrics World trifecta – in a 3CD set! The work here is a bit more intense than usual – almost cerebral at times, with very contemplative passages on percussion and reeds, offset by strong piano lines from Ra – all in a mode that marks a sharp break from earlier Saturn albums. Volume One finds the group working in an interstellar formation that holds up strongly with the Saturn sides – John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on alto, Teddy Nance on trombone, Chris Capers on trumpet, Danny Davis on flute and alto, and Ra on piano, bass marimba, and some especially nice electronic celeste! Things get quite out at points – freer almost than other Arkestra sides of the time – and titles include "Outer Nothingness", "Other Worlds", "Nebulae", "Dancing In the Sun", "The Cosmos", and "Of Heavenly Things". Volume Two has a freer feel than the first volume, and a bit more avant-oriented work overall. Ra and the group play a lot of percussion – and Ra himself is on tuned bongos, piano, and clavioline, which has a very nice spooky sound! The reed work on the album is by Robert Cummings, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, and Marshall Allen – with bass by Ronnie Boykin and percussion by Roger Blank. Tracks include "Cosmic Chaos", "House of Beauty", and "The Sun Myth". Volume Three features tracks recorded during the sessions for Volume Two, but it was lost to the sands of time for nearly 40 years! Like that previous album, this one features a smaller version of the Arkestra than usual – an octet that has Ra working with core hornmen Pat Patrick, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Walter Miller, and Robert Cummings – supported by a rhythm section that includes Ronnie Boykins on bass and Roger Blank on percussion. Apart from a lot of added percussion by various members of the group, the instrumentation overall is relatively straightforward – even if Ra's compositions are not. The set kicks off with the 17 minute "Intercosmosis" – a relatively free, stretched-out tune – then is followed by shorter numbers that travel along darker, more introspective pathways. These titles include "World Worlds", "Interplanetary Travelers", "Mythology Metamorphosis", and "Heliocentric Worlds". CD

Trombonist Clifton Anderson co-produced this record with pianist Unno Tadataka – and the set turns out to be a wonderful showcase for both players – all the strongly soulful elements we love on Anderson's own records, but a strong sense of voice from Tadataka as well! The "mojo" in the title might make you expect a bit of hoke, but there's none here – as instead the album's flowing wonderfully with original tunes that also draw plenty from the work of Eddie Allen on trumpet, Anthony Ware on tenor and alto, Danton Boller on bass, and Jerome Jennings on drums. Tadataka plays a bit of celeste – and titles include "Birdbath", "Circle", "Mr Elegant Soul", "Enjoy It While You Can", "Sequel To That Old Story", and "Time Is Not What It Used To Be". CD