An excellent session from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, with trombone and electronics by George Lewis, and alto sax by John Zorn! It's got the jagged, freely experimental vibe you'd expect from such a trio, but it moves with a deliberate sonic flow, hence the title, albeit with some sharp edges. Plenty of muscular interplay amongst the trio, with Lewis's occasional electronic flourishes serving as an exciting wild card element, but there's a roominess and an overall sense of restraint here that works really well. Great stuff! Includes "Cecil Taylor", "The Art Of Counterpoint", "North", "South", "East", "West", "Screaming Grass" and "The Culture Of Gun Violence In The US". CD

Great duets between Wadada Leo Smith and Jack DeJohnette – two artists who both share roots in Chicago, united here for one of their most powerful recordings in recent years! DeJohnette's drums are really set free here – as melodic as they are rhythmic, and providing great counterpoint to Smith's well-blown lines on trumpet and flugelhorn – very focused and evocative, with a proud, full sound that really lives up to the title of the record. All tunes are originals by Smith, and titles include "America (parts 1, 2, & 3)", "Rabia's Unconditional Love", "Ed Blackwell The Blue Mountain Sun Drummer", "John Brown's Fort", and "Red Trumpet". CD

A fantastic trio of talents – coming together in the best ECM mode that always seems to make a really special sort of magic out of very individual talents! The album's led by drummer Andrew Cyrille, but is equally balanced between the talents of Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and Bill Frisell on guitar – both players who seem somehow more vibrant than usual in the setting – which is often quite free, freer than most of Frisell's recent work – but also maybe more focused than usual for Smith, whose presence here is completely magnificent! If anything, the record's the sort that will make you go – "Wow, these guys? I love them already – but they sound especially great here!" Cyrille is fantastic, too – very loose and open on the kit, but never sloppy – and always playing with that sensitive, thoughtful approach that's set him apart from the rest. Titles include "Worried Woman", "Lebroba", "TGD", "Pretty Beauty", and "Turiya – Alice Coltrane Meditations & Dreams – Love". CD

One of the best new recordings in years from Brazilian reedman Leo Gandelman – a set that's got a lean, mean groove that's just right for the album's mix of samba, bossa, and jazz! Leo's right out front in the arrangements on saxes – but there's also a really unified groove on the set too – that old school bossa nova way of packing all the instruments together on the rhythms, creating this soaring sound that seems to unlock some of the most expressive solos we've heard from Gandelman in awhile. Some points have a slight dose of soul jazz energy too – as you might guess from the look of the cover – and the set also comes packaged with bonus video footage of most tracks too. Titles include "Luz Azul", "Sinal Vermelho", "Nego Ta Sabendo", "Vip Vop", "Reza" and "Camisa 7". (Brazil, Jazz) CD

Open, expressive sounds from the team of Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and Vijay Iyer on piano, Fender Rhodes, and electronics – all served up in a mode that's quite different from recent records by either musician! The "rhythm" in the title here might be a bit misplaced – as the tunes have very little groove, and instead allow both Smith and Iyer to stretch out boldly in space – Leo on a mix of muted and fully-blown modes, Iyer maybe taking some of his previous ECM lines into even freer territory. The use of electric elements next to Smith's horn is especially nice – and titles include "Marian Anderson", "Passage", and the long title suite "A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke". CD

... CD

The earliest days of a legendary jazz label – some of the first 78rpm material recorded by Prestige Records, all of it pretty darn great! The first half of the set features work by the group of tenorist Don Lanphere – a great player we don't really know at all, but one who's got Fats Navarro blowing trumpet on most of the tracks on the set! Piano is by Duke Jordan on the first two tracks, and Al Haig on all the rest – and titles include "Spider's Web", "Strike Up The Band", "Wailing Wall", "Go", "Stop", and "Infatuation". Next are some rare sides from saxophonist Leo Parker – playing alto here in addition to his usual baritone – in a group with Al Haig on piano, Oscar Pettiford on bass, and Max Roach on drums – on tunes that include "Mad Lad Returns", "Who's Mad", "Mona Lisa", "Darn That Dream", and "I Cross My Fingers". Last are some sweet bop sides from a trio with Al Haig on piano, Tommy Potter on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums – on the titles "Liza", "Stars Fell On Alabama", "Opus Caprice", and "Stairway To The Stars". CD

A righteously powerful piece from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith – a tribute to the political power of Rosa Parks, and her lasting legacy in American history – served up as an oratorio of seven songs, performed with a nicely shifting lineup! The album is one of the most ambitious we've heard from Smith in years – and in addition to participation from the Red Koral string quartet, the set also features the Blue Trumpet quartet, the Diamond Voices vocal group, and other solo performances as well! Amidst the changing instrumentation and focus of each passage, Smith also finds space to add in excerpts from older avant jazz recordings too – the somewhat surprising appearance of Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, and Steve McCall amidst the performances that create the album. The whole thing's a bit difficult to describe in words, but it definitely lives up to any promise you might expect for a project like this from Wadada Leo Smith – with selections that include "The Truth", "No Fear", "Pure Love", "Resistance & Unity", and "The First Light Gold". CD

Fantastic work from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith – maybe one of the few musicians who could hold us completely rapt throughout a 3CD presentation of completely solo material! The work was all recorded over the space of a few short days, in a church in Finland – and Smith uses his many years of sonic understanding to really open up in the space – with a quality that reminds us that although Wadada is a fantastic group player, he's also a musician who, maybe like Marion Brown, also has such a sense of self-composure that he can be equally captivating on his own – building castles of imagination throughout his effortless improvisations. The work here moves through so many different shades and currents, it never gets stale at all – and the 3CD set features over 120 minutes of music, with a big booklet of notes and images as well! CD

Some of the most beautiful, personal work we've heard from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith in many years – a wonderful set of duets with bassist John Lindberg – done at a level that recalls some of Smith's most organic, most spiritual sounds of the 70s! There's a real back to basics vibe here – a return to the initial spirit of the AACM, something we possibly infer from the album's long tribute to Malachi Favors, but which we can also feel in the spirit of collaboration between Smith and Lindberg – a way of coming together that never overwhelms the individual, yet also never allows one individual to ever upstage the other – as the duo reach out brilliantly for a breathtaking range of sounds, on titles that include "Malachi Favors Maghostut A Monarch Of Creative Music", "Celestial Weather Suite", and "Feathers & Earth". CD

Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn, Anthony Davis on piano and synthesizer, Malachi Favors Maghostut on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums and synthesizer. CD

Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet, Susie Ibarra on drums, and John Zorn on alto sax. CD

Three giants of the Chicago improvised scene, coming together here in an album that recalls the best early recordings from the AACM! There's this open, collaborative spirit going on here – music that moves between structure and freedom, and which stands as a testament to the instant rapport between all three players – trumpet from Wadada Leo Smith, reeds from Douglas Ewart, and drums and percussion from Mike Reed – the last of whom often seems to let his elders set the tone, then find a way to make his own special contributions – at that level that continues to make Reed such a vital part of any group he engages with. Had Delmark issued this album in 1971, it would have gone on to become a classic – but it's an even greater feather in the cap of Astral Spirits – who do a great job here with presentation. Titles include "Super Moon Rising", "Unknown Forces", "Dark Tango", "Constellations & Conjunctional Spaces", and "Sun Beans Of Shimmering Light" LP, Vinyl record album

Three giants of the Chicago improvised scene, coming together here in an album that recalls the best early recordings from the AACM! There's this open, collaborative spirit going on here – music that moves between structure and freedom, and which stands as a testament to the instant rapport between all three players – trumpet from Wadada Leo Smith, reeds from Douglas Ewart, and drums and percussion from Mike Reed – the last of whom often seems to let his elders set the tone, then find a way to make his own special contributions – at that level that continues to make Reed such a vital part of any group he engages with. Had Delmark issued this album in 1971, it would have gone on to become a classic – but it's an even greater feather in the cap of Astral Spirits – who do a great job here with presentation. Titles include "Super Moon Rising", "Unknown Forces", "Dark Tango", "Constellations & Conjunctional Spaces", and "Sun Beans Of Shimmering Light" CD

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 date Soul Sisters, and who returns here in a very similar hard-wailing sax-and-organ mode! Wright's work on alto is incredibly deep – with a sharper bite than much of his other 60s sessions, and a gutsy down-n-dirty quality that makes the record feel like one of the best organ jazz albums at the time from Prestige. Coleman's approach to the Hammond is great too – freely skipping around with a liberated sense of rhythm, in a way that matches Wright's every twist and turn with ease – and throws a few of its own into the mix as well! The group's completed by Kenny Burrell on guitar (also sounding harder here than usual!) and Frankie Dunlop on drums – and titles include some fresh originals "Poopsie's Minor", "State Trooper", "Blue Leo", "Blues Fanfare", and "Soul Talk". CD

The second volume in this seminal series from the mid 70s – one that did a great job of documenting some of the formative underground playing that was happening in the New York loft scene, almost more creative work than in previous generations, thanks to a lack of commercial venues, and hence, commercial constraints on the music. Tracks include "And Then They Danced" by Marion Brown, "Locomotif" by Leo Smith, "Naomi" by Ken McIntyre, and "The Need To Smile" by a group with Byard Lancaster, Sonelius Smith, Don Moye, and Olu Dara. LP, Vinyl record album

A collection of recordings from three different sessions and three different years featuring the likes of Teddy Edwards and Dextor Gordon. The first session is from 1947 and features Edwards and Gordon on tenor sax, Jimmy Rowles on piano, Red Callender on bass and Roy Porter on drums. Some of their tracks are "Blues In Teddy's Flat" and "The Duel". The next session was recorded in 1950 and features Lee Parker on baritone sax, Henry Durant on tenor sax, James Robertson on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Curley Russell on bass and Eddie Bourne on drums for three takes of "On the House" and "Rollin' With Leo" among others. The final session was recorded in 1955 and features "Wardell Gray on tenor sax, Tate Houston on baritone sax, Gene Phipps on trumpet, Norman Simmons on piano, Victor Sproles on bass and Vernell Fournier on drums for "Hey There" and "Dat's It' among others. LP, Vinyl record album

Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn, Damage Edson Mbaisa on saxophone, percussion and vocals, Zivanai Wilberforce Masanga on trumpet, vocals, and keyboards, William Roper on tuba, David Philipson on bansuri, Henry Kaiser, Joshua Dube, Woody and Lee Aplanalp on guitar, Chakaipa Mhembere, Ngoni Makombe, and Zivai Guveya on mbira, Christopher Muchabaiwa and Ollie Elder on bass, Gordin Mapika and Sonship Theus on drums, William Mapfumo on percussion, and Lancelot Mapfumo on congas and vocals, with vocals from Memory Makuri, Rosa Sande, and Thomas Mapfumo. CD

One of those great "never was" Blue Note sessions – recorded in the 60s, but never issued until years later – even though the label had assigned it a cover, title, and catalog number! The album was the last session by baritone sax player Leo Parker – a bop and R&B legend who sadly passed along at the young age of 36, but left a really rich legacy of music. Parker has a way with the baritone that's almost as lean as a tenorist – blowing the horn with sharp, well-placed notes that really make this session cook – somewhere in the R&B-influenced territory of Don Wilkerson's work on Blue Note. Other players include the great Dave Burns on trumpet – always a welcome presence on any date – plus Bill Swindell on tenor sax, Johnny Acea on piano, Al Lucas or Stan Conover on bass, and Wilbert Hogan or Purnell Rice on drums. Tracks include "The Lion's Roar", "Rollin With Leo", "Jumpin Leo", "Talkin The Blues", "Mad Lad Returns", and Illinois Jacquet's "Music Hall Beat". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those great "never was" Blue Note sessions – recorded in the 60s, but never issued until years later – even though the label had assigned it a cover, title, and catalog number! The album was the last session by baritone sax player Leo Parker – a bop and R&B legend who sadly passed along at the young age of 36, but left a really rich legacy of music. Parker has a way with the baritone that's almost as lean as a tenorist – blowing the horn with sharp, well-placed notes that really make this session cook – somewhere in the R&B-influenced territory of Don Wilkerson's work on Blue Note. Other players include the great Dave Burns on trumpet – always a welcome presence on any date – plus Bill Swindell on tenor sax, Johnny Acea on piano, Al Lucas or Stan Conover on bass, and Wilbert Hogan or Purnell Rice on drums. Tracks include "The Lion's Roar", "Rollin With Leo", "Jumpin Leo", "Talkin The Blues", "Mad Lad Returns", and Illinois Jacquet's "Music Hall Beat". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those great "never was" Blue Note sessions – recorded in the 60s, but never issued until years later – even though the label had assigned it a cover, title, and catalog number! The album was the last session by baritone sax player Leo Parker – a bop and R&B legend who sadly passed along at the young age of 36, but left a really rich legacy of music. Parker has a way with the baritone that's almost as lean as a tenorist – blowing the horn with sharp, well-placed notes that really make this session cook – somewhere in the R&B-influenced territory of Don Wilkerson's work on Blue Note. Other players include the great Dave Burns on trumpet – always a welcome presence on any date – plus Bill Swindell on tenor sax, Johnny Acea on piano, Al Lucas or Stan Conover on bass, and Wilbert Hogan or Purnell Rice on drums. Tracks include "The Lion's Roar", "Rollin With Leo", "Jumpin Leo", "Talkin The Blues", "Mad Lad Returns", and Illinois Jacquet's "Music Hall Beat". CD

A really unique lineup, coming together in a really unique performance – one that definitely pushes the boundaries of all artists involved, and makes for music that's beyond any expectations you might have for the players! The tracks are long, and the music is often quite free and improvised at times – loose, open, and wonderfully experimental – yet still filled with the individual strengths and souls of each of the players – Wayne Shorter on tenor and soprano, Leo Genovese on piano, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, and Esperanda Spaulding on bass and vocals – the latter of which are nicely different here than on her own albums. There's definitely some of the darker currents that Shorter has brought to his music in the past two decades – and titles include "Someplace Called Where", "Endangered Species", "Encontros E Despedidas", "Drummers Song", and "Midnight In Carlotta's Hair". CD

Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn, Malachi Favors Magoustous on bass, Anthony Davis on piano, and Jack DeJohnette on drums! CD

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith works here with a hell of a lineup – Henry Threadgill on alto and flutes, John Lindberg on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums – all soaring free on a double-length set of work dedicated to the great lakes! Despite the "suite" in the title, the work feels very loose and free – much more improvised than compositional – which is an especially nice setting for the reedwork of Threadgill, who somehow seems even more expressive than usual. DeJohnette is great too – and the album's a great reminder that he can still play with a hell of an edge, but in ways that also can have the soulfulness of his roots – and maybe not some of the more "arch" styles of some of his other recent work. Smith adds an extra lake to the lineup for the recording – and titles include "Lake Michigan", "Lake Ontario", "Lake Superior", "Lake Huron", "Lake Erie", and "Lake St Clair". CD

An evocative live performance from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith – etherel one minute, bombastic the next – and put together with as much sense of freedom and imagination as Smith's music from earlier years! The group is his Golden Quartet – a combo that features great drums from Shannon Jackson, keyboards by Vijay Iyer, and bass from John Lindberg – plus Smith's majestic trumpet lines, which are often muted on the record, but blown with a sense of presence that comes through beautifully. The recording's a live one, and all tracks are quite long – and the CD features 4 titles that include "Rosa Parks", "DeJohnette", "Caravan Of Winter", and "Tabligh". CD

A window into a near-lost side of American avant jazz of the 70s – the self-produced albums issued by Leo Smith on his Kabell label – presented here as a beautiful 4CD set, complete with over 2 hours of previously unreleased material! The original albums have always been incredibly hard to find, and they show a side of Smith that is one of the purest on record from the time – displaying him as a key innovator in the tradition of Chicago musicians of the AACM, and the New York players of the loft scene – both of whom Smith interacted with freely. Players on the set include Oliver Lake, Anthony Davis, and Pheerokan Ak Laff – and the set features music from the albums Creative Music 1, Song Of Humanity, Reflectativity, and Akhreanvention – as well as unreleased tracks from those sessions! CD

Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and Barry Schrader on electronics CD

One of the boldest albums we've heard from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith in years – a set that takes us right back to his key contributions of the 70s! The recent performance has Smith's trumpet in the company of an Italian quartet – with tenor and sopranino sax from Edoardo Marraffa, piano from Alberto Braida, bass from Antonio Borghini, and drums from Fabrizio Spera – all players who are never entirely free, and instead have the cohesion of some of the best New York groups from the loft jazz years – right drown to the overall conception of each track, and even the way the material was recorded. Smith sounds brilliant in the setting – still attuned to the textural experiments that have made other recent records great, but playing with a power that's definitely old school, and wonderfully soulful too. Titles include "Red Earth", "The Zebra Goes Wild", "Decision Says The Source", "Full Moon", and "Above The Tree Line". CD

Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet, flugelhorn, flute, and nohkan, David Philipson on bansuri and tambura, Glenn Horiuchi on piano and shamisen, William Roper on tuba, and Sonship Theus on drums and percussion, with poetry from Harumi Makino Smith. CD

A fantastic package from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith – one that's billed as "symphonies" in the title, but which instead features quartet jazz performances throughout – as you've maybe guessed by the name of the group! There's maybe a more compositional structure here than on some of Smith's other recent albums, but there's also plenty of improvisation too – served up by a fantastic group that features Henry Threadgill on alto and flute, John Lindberg on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums – with saxophonist Jonathon Haffner stepping in for Threadgill on one of the four CDs in the package! Each longer piece has a slightly different vibe – and together, the music is a stunning statement of the continuing genius of Leo Smith in recent years – a masterful statement of his importance in jazz, but also a personal message that's filled with urgent intensity. Titles include "Gold Symphony", "Diamond Symphony", "Pearl Symphony", and "Sapphire Symphony". CD

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 for an extended stint in Europe. Still he cut some fantastic early work with both Dizzy Gillespie and Lalo Schifrin – and this album captures him right during the peak of that early period! The record features light lively backing from a quartet that includes Kenny Burrell on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, and Rudy Collins on drums – and some tracks have a beautifully groovy sound that's slightly bossa, slightly soul jazz. One of the best of these is Wright's great cover of "A Felicidade", but the record contains many other great moments, like "The Wiggler", "Tali", "Sassy Lady", and "Dionysis". LP, Vinyl record album

Pianist Vijay Iyer has left his own very strong mark on the world of jazz in the past decade or so – but here, he's in a completely different setting, and a surprisingly strong fit for the sort of spirit we're used to hearing from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith! The set also features drummer Jack DeJohnette – and there's a sense of dynamic interaction and sympathetic creativity that graces the entire album from the start – that special spirit that Smith always seems to bring to a recording, which really opens up Iyer on piano, Hammond, and Fender Rhodes – while DeJohnette explores the farther reaches of his spectrum as well. Titles include "Song For World Forgiveness", "Rocket", "Deep Time 1", and "The AD Opera" – a long piece dedicated to Anthony Davis. CD

An early moment of brilliance from Vincent Herring – and just the sort of set to make him one of the strongest young talents to emerge in jazz during the 90s! There's a rock-solid feel to the set – an approach that's steeped in classic hardbop modes, but which has traces of modernism too – never too overstated, but some sharper undercurrents that mark Herring's playing nicely as a bit deeper than the usual altoist. The rest of the group should get a good deal of credit, too – as players like Wallace Roney on trumpet and Mulgrew Miller on piano really share this sensibility with Herring. Titles include "I Sing A Song", "Never Forget", "Soul Leo", "Mr Wizard", "Voyage", and "Evidence". CD also features the bonus track "Hindsight". CD

One of our favorite albums of all times – and a legendary testament to the greatness of the Chicago music scene in the late 60s! Melvin Jackson was the bassist in Eddie Harris' very successful group of the time – and his playing on Eddie's trippy and funky records for Atlantic is one of the factors that made them so great. Here, he's working with an acoustic bass, amplified with electronics like a Varitone sax – and this strange-sounding instrument is set up in a hip group that mixes Cadet funky studio players (Phil Upchurch, Morris Jennings, Jody Christian) with some of the brighter young players of the AACM (Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, and Leo Smith.) Jackson's bass is looped through all sorts of crazy effects, and the result is this amazing blend of avant garde playing and groovy rhythms that is beyond compare! The album includes great reworkings of two Eddie Harris funk tracks – "Bold and Black" and "Cold Duck Time" – plus monster originals like "Funky Doo", "Say What", "Dance Of The Dervish", and "Funky Skull (parts 1 & 2)". CD

One of our favorite albums of all time – and a legendary testament to the greatness of the Chicago music scene in the late 60s! Melvin Jackson was the bassist in Eddie Harris' very successful group of the time – and his playing on Eddie's trippy and funky records for Atlantic is one of the factors that made them so great. Here, he's working with an acoustic bass, amplified with electronics like a Varitone sax – and this strange-sounding instrument is set up in a hip group that mixes Cadet funky studio players (Phil Upchurch, Morris Jennings, Jody Christian) with some of the brighter young players of the AACM (Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, and Leo Smith.) Jackson's bass is looped through all sorts of crazy effects, and the result is this amazing blend of avant garde playing and groovy rhythms that is beyond compare! The album includes great reworkings of two Eddie Harris funk tracks – "Bold and Black" and "Cold Duck Time" – plus monster originals like "Funky Doo", "Say What", "Dance Of The Dervish", and "Funky Skull (parts 1 & 2)". LP, Vinyl record album

With Sir Charles Thompson, Emmett Berry, Bill Doggett, Joe Newman, Fats Navaro, Leo Parker, and JJ Johnson. CD

A collection of recordings pulled from mid-40s sessions – with personnel including Charles Mingus, Bill Doggett, Trummy Uoung, Freddie Green, Leo Parker, Joe Newman, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

Illinois Jacquet on tenor saxophone, John Brown and Ray Perry on alto saxophone, Arthur Dennis and Leo Parker on baritone saxophone, Trummy Young on trombone, Joe Newman on trumpet, Russell Jacquet on trumpet and vocals, Wynonie Harris on vocals, Freddie Green and Ulysses Livingston on guitar, Bill Doggett and Sir Charles Thompson on piano, Al Lucas, Charles Mingus, and John Simmons on bass, and Al Wichard, Denzil Best, and Shadow Wilson on drums. CD

A really amazing bit of free jazz – hardly the set of solos you might guess from the title, and instead a performance of live improvisation by a larger group – done at the famous Leo Castelli Gallery, an important locale for avant activity on the downtown scene in New York in the 70s! There's more of a European free jazz vibe going on here than some of the loft work of the city at the time – with searing work from leader Richard Landry on tenor, soprano sax, and electric piano – alongside Richard Peck on tenor, Robert Prado on trumpet, Jon Smith on tenor, Allan Brafman on alto, and David Lee on drums – all captured on tape by Kurt Munkacsi, the sonic force known for some more important avant classical sides of the time. The set features seven selections in all – some pushing well past the 15 minute mark! LP, Vinyl record album

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

Two rare albums from Dutch reedman Theo Loevendie – both amazing little records that sound beautiful here on a single CD! Mandela features complicated lines from a hip Netherlands combo of the late 60s – one headed up by Theo Loevendie on alto sax, but which acts a lot more like a collective of modernists working together – Hans Dulfer on tenor and bamboo flute, Willem Van Manen on trombone, Nedly Elstak on trumpet, Joop Mastenbroek on baritone and clarinet, Maarten Altena on bass, and Martin Van Dunhoven and John Engels on drums. The tunes all have a nice sense of structure – energy that's more like the early 60s modernism of the European scene – particularly some of the more rhythmic styles – than the looser freedoms that some of Loevendie's contemporaries were hitting at the same time. There's definitely plenty of offbeat sounds in the mix – but the group also knows how to swing, too – on titles that include "Trombomanie", "Mr Brook", "Timbuktu", "Trompedly", and "Pepy". Chess is a really playful outing from a very cool Dutch combo – one with lead alto from Theo Loevendie, but a rich array of sounds from the other members too! The reeds are especially nice – often coming together with a complexity that goes back to older European modern traditions, yet with a swinging sensibility that's still plenty jazz, too – kind of a mix of composition, arrangement, and inherent swinging – with standout work from Hans Dulfer on tenor, Leon Van Oostrom on baritone, Leo Cuypers on piano, and Willem Van Manen on trombone – a player we barely know at all, but whose bold tones really bring a lot to the record. Titles include "Lapsang Souchong", "Scratch", "Brasilia", and "Tremolo". CD

Rare material from one of our favorite jazz musicians of all time – legendary Hammond hero Jack McDuff, heard here in a really wonderful setting! McDuff in the 60s was already great – an organist who played in ways that really stood out, with a sense of rhythm that was completely unique – and which only took off even more strongly as the 70s approached. Here, McDuff is in a very fruitful part of that decade – playing live in a way that really echoes his classic Heatin System album, recorded in the same year for Chess Records – really long, exploratory tracks that also feature strong solo work from Dave Young on tenor and soprano sax, Leo Johnson on tenor and flute, and Vinnie Corrado on guitar. There's an unknown trumpeter on two tracks too – and the combination of Young and Johnson is great, with all these sharp soulful edges that really highlight the new groove that McDuff was laying out in the 70s! Titles include "Ain't No Sunshine", "Blues 1 & 8", "6:30 In The Morning", "Middle Class Folk Song", "Jolly Black Giant", and the killer "Theme From Electric Surfboard". CD