Breathtakingly organic sounds from Jon Hassell – performing here live, and at a level that's a nice evolution from his studio modes in the earlier part of the 80s – with all sorts of long-blown lines, and nicely complex elements in the sound! Hassell handles both his famous electrified trumpet and keyboards, with a group that includes keyboards, guitar, bass, and percussion samples – all mixed live by Brian Eno, who definitely adds a darkness to the whole proceedings – recalling the Fourth World experiments that he and Hassell had done about a decade before, but with a quality that really respects all the growth that Jon went through as an artist in the intervening years. Titles include "Ituri", "Alchemistry", "Mashujaa", "Paradise Now", "Nightsky", and "Adedara Rising". (Rock, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Later work from reedman Wendell Harrison and the Tribe Records scene – a set that's got a slightly tighter feel than some of his earlier work, but still a relatively soulful vibe overall! Harrison leads the group on tenor, flute, and clarinet – but there's definitely a collective vibe to the music – which also features Harold McKinney on piano, Phil Ranelin on trombone, and Ralph Jones on soprano sax – part of a shifting lineup of artists who change from track to track – including Leon Thomas and Pamela Wise, who each sing a bit on the record. Thomas appears on the great tracks "Where Am I" and "Love Dream", both of which have a great mellow soul jazz vibe – and other cuts get a bit more out, and have more of the soaring spiritualism that got the Tribe scene going in the early 70s. Other titles include "Tons & Tons Of BS", "Winter", and "He's The One We All Knew". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic album that brings together all of the European winners of the recent Downbeat polls – like Karin Krog, John Surman, Albert Mangelsdorff, Francy Boland, Daniel Humair, and Niels Henning Orsted-Pedersen. The sextet is a lively batch of free-swinging European jazz stylists, with touches of modernism that keep the whole session on edge throughout – in a way that's right up there with the best of the classic MPS sessions! The highlight of the set is Karin Krog's beautiful vocal version of "Maiden Voyage", but there's loads of other nice bits – like "Winter Song", "Ryoan-Ji", "Open Space", and "Hello Thursday". A great one, and darn tough to find! LP, Vinyl record album

A really fierce blend of avant jazz and post-punk energy – served up here by a group that effortlessly mix complicated reed lines with more driving drums and electric bass – all peppered with vocal contributions from singer Sofia Jernberg! Mats Gustafsson is one of the key forces here – playing flutes, baritone, and live electronics – and really reminding us that his ear for sonic activity is boundless, and open to interactions in just about any sphere – no surprise, given his other records – but still emphasized very strongly with the freshness of this album! Other group members include Borge Fjordheim on drums, Anders Hana on baritone and bass guitars, and Kjetil Moster on clarinet, tenor, and electronics. Titles include "Snow", "Wasted Blame", "Smokey Black", "Whose Face", "Winter Doesn't End", and "Black Vivaldi Sonata". LP, Vinyl record album

Four Christmas classics in one package – two from Verve, two from Chess Records! First up is the album Ella Fitzgerald Wishes You A Swinging Christmas – a wonderful Holiday album that's stayed fresh for years! Ella's got a perfect style to interpret these numbers – working with Frank DeVol and Russ Garcia in a set of lightly jazzy versions of Christmas favorites like "Sleigh Ride", "Jingle Bells", "Winter Wonderland", "White Christmas", "Frosty The Snowman", and one of the best versions of "What Are You Doing New Years Eve" ever recorded! The Sound Of Christmas album by Ramsey Lewis is a classic – and probably one of the best-selling Christmas jazz albums of all time! Ramsey and his classic trio with Redd Holt and Eldee Young serve up a tight set of grooves based around Holiday favorites like "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Winter Wonderland", "Here Comes Santa Claus", "The Christmas Song", and "Sleigh Ride" – and also carve out a few nice originals like "Christmas Blues" and "The Sound Of Christmas". Side one features the trio on its own, and side two features added arrangements by Riley Hampton – swirling around to expand the groove even more! Christmas 64 – also issued as Christmas Cookin – is as cookin a Christmas album as you'll ever find! Jazz organ giant Jimmy Smith works with Billy Byers to craft some sublime instrumentals that have his Hammond interpreting Christmas classics like "We Three Kings", "White Christmas", "Silent Night", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". If you know Jimmy from the time, you know that he can really make tracks like these groove nicely – and take them to places you never expected! Last up is the album Have Yourself A Soulful Little Christmas, from guitarist Kenny Burrell – on which he grooves nicely and gently over arrangements by Richard Evans, perfectly crafted in that soul jazz mode of his 60s work for Chess – not Kenny's most challenging format, to be sure, but proof that he often works better in a more structured environment than a freer one. Titles include "Away In A Manger", "My Favorite Things", "Little Drummer Boy", "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", "Merry Christmas Baby", and "Go Where I Send Thee". (Holiday Music, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a staid sort of cover, one that hides all the great funky energy underneath – as the set's a killer album from Japanese drummer Takeshi Inomata, working here with his Sound Ltd group in a wonderful blend of jazz, funk, and psychedelic mode! There's a fantastic swirling of elements going on here – including guitar from a young Ryo Kawasaki, plus trumpet from Shunzo Ohno, flute from Toshiako Yokota, and tenor from Takao Uematsu – as well as trombone from Takashi Imai, who handled the arrangements with Inomata and Norio Maeda. The record is a key evolution of the late 60s Japanese way of serving up new jazz takes on American hits – as the record is funky, yet filled with original material that really pushes the boundaries – on titles that include "It Better End Soon", "Sometimes In Winter", "South California Purples", "Tell All The People", "Tag 5 Tune", and "Pacific C55". LP, Vinyl record album

The music of Chip Wickham just seems to get deeper and deeper with each new release – the kind of "instant classic" territory that few jazz musicians seem to hit so effortlessly – and exactly the kind of record that's had us loving Chip's music from the very first record! The groove is mostly modal, and the group has this great blend of bass, drums, and percussion that rolls along with a wonderfully fluid quality – almost in the nascent spirituality of a player like Yusef Lateef in the early 60s, but with a lot more contemporary understanding too – especially as Wickham adds in elements from the harp of Amanda Whiting, trumpet of Eoin Grace, and vibes of Ton Risco! Phil Wilkonson handles the piano with a majestic sort of grace – and Chip blows both flutes and tenor, on titles that include "Dark Eyes", "Tubby Chaser", "Winter", "Lower East Side", "Stratospheric", and "The Hit". LP, Vinyl record album

A jazzy Christmas, but a vocal one too – as the set mixes together instrumental jazz with cuts from key singers of the postwar years – all in a package that makes for a mighty nice take on the sounds of the season! Titles include "Blue Xmas" by Miles Davis with Bob Dorough, "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" by Julie London, "Jingle Bells" by Count Basie, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" by Dave Brubeck, "May Everyday Be Christmas" by Louis Jordan, "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" by Lionel Hampton, "That's What I Want For Christmas" by Nancy Wilson, "Winter Wonderland" by Chet Baker, "Greensleeves" by John Coltrane, "Silent Night" by Dinah Washington, and "Jingle Bells" by Duke Ellington. (Holiday Music, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

The "shellac dust" in the title will let you know what sort of territory you're in here – Christmas songs that go way way back, to the glory days of the 78rpm single, served up in a host of jazz and vocal modes! The set features a fair bit of tracks from the prewar years, and although some of the song titles are familiar, the choice of cuts is unique – so that you'll hear a fair bit of unusual readings of Christmas classics – all of which makes for a package that really lives up to other Bear Family Holiday sets that we've been digging for years! LP version features 14 tracks in all – and titles include "Snow Ball" by Louis Armstrong, "Peace Sister Peace" by Monette Moore & The Ebonaires, "Jingle Bells" by Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke, "And The Angels Sing" by Count Basie with Helen Humes, "What Will Santa Claus Say" by Louis Prima, "Blow Blow Thou Winter Winds" by Bob Crosby with Marion Mann, "Let It Snow" by The Ramblers Orchestra, "Santa's Secret" by Johnny Guarnieri with Slam Stewart, "Ring Dem Bells" by Charlie Barnet, "Christmas Night In Harlem" by Paul Whiteman with Jack Teagarden, "There's Frost On The Moon" by Chick Webb with Ella Fitzgerald, "Bells Of Auld Lang Syne" by Joel Cowan & Thornel Swartz, and "Santa Claus Came In The Spring" by Putney Dandridge. (Holiday Music, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A crucial album from that moment when British jazz was colliding with progressive rock – in key ways that were really elevated past their roots on records like this! By the time of the record, trumpeter Ian Carr already had a great run on the left side of the UK jazz spectrum – and here, with his group Nucleus, he embraces all sorts of amazing sounds and styles – using plenty of electric piano from Soft Machine's Karl Jenkins, guitar from Chris Spedding, and a VCS3 synth from Keith Winter – alongside more familiar jazz elements on tenor from Tony Roberts, soprano and flute from Brian Smith, and additional trumpets from Kenny Wheeler and Harry Beckett! The great John Marshall plays drums next to bass from Jeff Clyne and Ron Matthewson – and the album's got a mighty sense of experimentation and power, on titles that include "Torso", "Snakehips' Dream", "Changing Time", "Spirit Level", and "Bedrock Deadlock". LP, Vinyl record album

A totally fantastic record, and one we'd put right up there next to some of the best soulful hardbop albums on bigger labels of the 60s – even though the set hardly ever saw much circulation back in the day! As you can guess from the cover, the quintet hails from San Francisco – and they work here with a boldly creative vibe that really reflects the energy they were bringing to their club dates in the Bay Area – leadership by pianist Al Tanner, with smoking tenor from Roy Henderson, and a mix of flute and trumpet from George Alexander – both done in these really great ways. Edwar Williams handles bass, and perhaps the biggest name here is drummer Smiley Winters, who would later go on to more avant fame – yet it's the group together as a whole who work so well, often with the cohesive energy and individual voices of the Horace Silver quintet at its best. Titles include the massive modal number "Kuba" – plus "Rolon's Groove", "Bronson's Blues", "The Magi", "Poor Me", and "Zaltanica" – most nice and long. LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked gem of spiritual jazz from the South African scene – a group led by pianist Tete Mbambisa, but one that also features some of the best work we've ever heard from legendary reedman Basil Coetzee! The album features four long tracks, all nice and long – modal numbers that really stretch out, and which give Coetzee plenty of space to create these mindblowing solos on tenor and flute – long lines that are full of spirit and soul, and which slide into some great solo work from Mbambisa too! The group also features Monty Weber on drums and Zulu Bidi on bass – and titles include "Wintertime", "Trane Ride", "Past Time", and "Irene" – the last of which features Tete on Fender Rhodes. LP, Vinyl record album