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Early 70s greatness from Don Cherry – a double album's worth of profoundly spiritual soundscapes paired with lots of weird effects – and a very laidback groove overall! Tracks are written by Cherry, Terry Riley, Pharoah Sanders, and Nana Vasconcelos – and include performances by Don on trumpet, voice, and harmonium. Lots of cool percussion elements by the group, with some tabla and other Indian instrumentation. Titles include "Elixir", "Relativity Suite (Parts 1 & 2)", "Terry's Tune", "Hope", "The Creator Has a Master Plan", and "Resa".

Early 70s greatness from Don Cherry – a double album's worth of profoundly spiritual soundscapes paired with lots of weird effects – and a very laidback groove overall! Tracks are written by Cherry, Terry Riley, Pharoah Sanders, and Nana Vasconcelos – and include performances by Don on trumpet, voice, and harmonium. Lots of cool percussion elements by the group, with some tabla and other Indian instrumentation. Titles include "Elixir", "Relativity Suite (Parts 1 & 2)", "Terry's Tune", "Hope", "The Creator Has a Master Plan", and "Resa". In a cool, trippy gatefold, too!

A wonderful larger-concept piece from reedman Mats Gustafsson – and an important recording that really stands to only complement some of his freer, looser work of the time! The set's got a vibe that's similar to some of the best mixed composition/improvisation works of the 90s – put together with Gustafsson at the helm, conducting the actions of a nonet that also includes Barry Guy on bass, Sten Sandell on piano and prepared piano, Gunter Christmann on trombone and cello, Per-Ake Holmlander on tuba and aluminum tube, Axel Dorner on trumpet, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Fredrik Ljungkivst on tenor and baritone, Raymond Strid on drums, and Mats himself on soprano, tenor, baritone, fluteophone, and French flageolet! The tape elements are relatively minor, and most sounds really come from the improvisations directed by Gustafsson – often in the farther reaches of sound that he was exploring strongly at the time – and surprisingly subtle, especially given the size of the group. Titles include "ABC", "ABCDEFG", "ABC", "ABCDE Coda", and "Intro AB".

One of the most beautiful albums we've ever heard from bassist Red Mitchell – and a set that really shows the huge amount of growth he underwent after leaving the west coast scene and moving onto rich musical years in Sweden! The album features Mitchell completely solo – not just on bass, but a bit of piano and voice as well – used in ways that are spare, yet incredibly soulful – really showing us those rich tones that Red would sometimes shape in the background of other folks' recordings – finally brought out in the spotlight here! There's some original tunes that are especially nice – but even familiar numbers are really transformed by Mitchell's presentation here – a compelling batch of music that has a feel that's a lot more timeless than its 1985 date might imply. Titles include "Rainy Night", "Arrival", "The Genius To Compose", "Bass Suite Sweet Bass", "Body & Soul", and "Heaven's Here".

A beautiful document of the work of Sevda – a cool Swedish group from the early 70s, and one who mixed together equal parts jazz and Turkish music! First up is their Jazz I Sverige album form 1972 – a mixture of jazz and folkloric influences – a really unique album that shows the rich cross-cultural tendencies going on in the Swedish jazz scene of the 70s! The group's fronted by Maffy Falay, who plays trumpet and piano – but many of the tracks have dominant violin from Salih Baysal, a Turkish player who worked with the group, and who brought along a lot of inspiration for the tunes on the set. Bernt Rosengren's also on the album – playing tenor and soprano saxes – and the group also features Okay Temiz on drums and percussion, Gunnar Bergsten on baritone sax, and Ove Gustafsson on bass. Titles include "Oyun Havasi", "Taksim", "Kaynasma", "Ya Mustafa", "Karsilama", and "Balkan". Next up is Live At Jazzhus Montmartre – a strange mixture of jazz and folk tunes – played by a group that features guest work by violinist Salih Baysal. Side one is solo violin – all Turkish folk tunes, but not that interesting to our ears. The real charmer, though, is side two, which features medleys of other Turkish tunes, played in a way that mixes folk and fusion forms. The group that plays on that side includes Okay Temiz on percussion, Gunnar Bergsten on baritone sax, and Maffy Falay on trumpet, piano, and Darbuka – and they have a tight sound that's in keeping with some of the MPS Jazz Meets The World projects. Titles include "Karsilama", "Naciye", "Kurt Ali", "Kocekce", and "Ya Mustafa". Plus, the set also comes with a bonus DVD – featuring 1972 TV performances by this unique group – really amazing music – packaged in a box with a big booklet too.

Two sets of piano solos from Per Henrik Wallin – recorded over two decades apart, yet together showing a tremendous legacy in music! The 1982 tracks are amazingly dynamic – at times bursting forth with almost Cecil Taylor-like runs on the piano, at other times moving with a more careful modernism that you might expect from a player like Paul Bley or Steve Kuhn – yet always managing to come across with a sense of soul in the process – a warm that really makes the tracks resonate strongly with our ears. The 2003 recordings have even more of this sensibility – a balance between modernism and swing that's not unlike the sounds of Herbie Nichols or Elmo Hope in the 50s – although with a slightly freer vibe overall. In these sides, Wallin's got a great command of the keyboard – yet still always manages to find the "heart" of the piano, even when running free – a quality that many others would do well to follow. Titles include "Lullaby For Harry", "Southern Exit", "Rats Of Wisdom", "One Knife Is Enough", "Vattern", "Receptet", "People", "Fanerier Nr 8", "My Pearl Just Left", and "You Once".

Definitely a well-titled set – given that the early 50s were some real breakout years for jazz in Sweden – a time when the nation's scene rose to become one of the most compelling in Europe – and gained a fair bit of followers from the US, too! The work here is incredible – not just as European jazz, but as modern jazz in general – music that rivals all the best experiments on the American west coast of the early 50s, and which also has some of the more soulful modernism coming out of the New York and Boston scenes too. The 3CD set is filled with some of the finest Swedish jazz recordings of the time – a whopping 55 titles, packaged in a sweet slipcase with two different booklets of notes and photos. Includes work by Charles Norman, Roffe Ericsons, Bengt Hallberg, Arne Domnerus, Carl-Henrik Norins, Bertil Dahlander, Sven Sjoholms, Arne Domnerus, Hep Cats, Lars Gullin, Leif Asp, and many others.

Swedish jazz takes it to the next level – drawing on all the growth and development of the early 50s, and really finding their own voice in the latter half of the decade! Some of the work here still feels like the best Swedish stuff of a few years before – almost west coast modern, with a strong emphasis on tone and color, and a good ear for modern ideas – but other tracks really start to show the beginning of a rich Swedish voice in jazz – one that draws on other cultural sources for inspiration, and begins to make sounds strong enough to reach the rest of the world with their impact! As with other volumes, the packaging is wonderful – a large booklet filled with photos, images, and notes that are mostly in Swedish, but still include some English bits too. 3CDs features a total of 63 tracks – with work by Eje Thelin, Bengt Hallberg, Lars Gullin, Harry Arnold, Gosta Theselius, Rune Ofwerman, Sven Ake Johanssen, Monica Zetterlund, Bengt Arne Wallin, Linn-Tones, Hacke Bjorksten, Alice Babs, Carl Henrik Norins, and Putte Wickman.

Brand new, indeed – music from a time when the Swedish jazz scene was really overflowing with fresh ideas – many of them home grown, and some of them a local answer to modern trends from the US and other parts of Europe at the time! The scope of music here is really wonderful – as some musicians really stretch out, and start to carve the kind of modern edge that's made Scandinavian jazz some of the freshest of the 60s – while others refine some older Swedish ideas in jazz, but inflect them with groovier 60s touches that are definitely appreciated by our ears! As with other sets in this series, the track list is wonderful – a whopping 4CDs, with 67 titles in all – many of which we haven't seen on other reissues at all – in a handsome slipcase with a big booklet of notes and photos too. Includes work by Monica Zetterlund, Bernt Rosengren, Staffan Abeleen, Gals & Pals, Bengt Frippe Nordstrom, Eje Thelin, Thomas Fehling, Jazz Doctors, Jan Johansson, Knud Jorgensen, Lars Sjosten, Nils Lindberg, Lars Lystedt, Arne Domnerus, Swedish Modern Jazz Group, Kurt Lindgren, and many others!

A classic from the more spiritual side of the Swedish scene in the 70s – and a record that's been a favorite of ours for many years! Rena Rama have a really unique feel here – an approach that initiates in some of the more freewheeling European work of the period, but which also has a lot stronger spiritual elements too – none of the rockish fusion that you'd hear from some of their contemporaries, and instead some of the warmer undercurrents that you'd get in some of Don Cherry's experiments on the Scandinavian scene. The group's an all-star quartet – with Bobo Stenson on piano and Fender Rhodes, Lennar Aberg on soprano sax and tenor, Palle Danielsson on bass, and Bengt Berger on drums – and the album's lot more soulful than you'd expect, and with some beautiful lyrical moments. Tracks include "Test", "Just In Case", "Pow Wow", "De Fem Arstiderna", and "Batiali". CD features lots of bonus tracks from a 1979 album – "Banguana Song", "Inside Outside", "Silhuett", "Pa Hal Is", and "Lisa's Piano".

A wonderfully groovy album from Swedish reedman Bernt Rosengren – and a set that features key solo work from American players Horace Parlan on piano and Doug Raney on guitar! We'll admit that these players were what first drew us to the record – but we're honestly most impressed with Rosengren's work here – especially his amazing arrangements for the larger ensemble, which come across with the soulful styles and great mix of tones and colors you'd get in some of Quincy Jones' best big band work of the early 60s – maybe updated a bit more here with some of the modern elements that Bernt and his contemporaries are able to add. Parlan, Raney, and Rosengren all get plenty of room to solo – and one track features a nice trumpet solo from Lars Farnlof too – on titles that include "Hip Walk", "New Life", "Joe & Eye", "Naima", "The Humming Bees", "Blues Nerves", and "Sad Waltz".

The genius of Leroy Burgess knows no bounds – as you'll hear on this fantastic set of rare club tracks! Leroy first got his start in the group Black Ivory, but by the end of the 70s he'd left the ensemble to become a producer – working on their own work, as well as records by a host of excellent underground club acts on the east coast. Burgess had a wonderful approach to the music – taking enough of a groove from disco to keep things moving, but using his roots in soul to keep things real. Warm and soulful groovers throughout – with titles that include "Let's Do It" and "Sweet Thing" by Convertion, "Over Like A Fat Rat" by Fonda Rae, "Mainline" and "Hustlin" by Black Ivory, "You Dazzle Me" by Dazzle, "Summertime" by High Frequency, "Fly Girl" by Intrique, "Weekend" by Class Action, "You Can Do It" by Dino Terrell, and "100%" by Caprice.

Incredible funk from the Estonian scene of the 70s – grooves so rare, the Iron Curtain kept them locked away from most of the Western world! This excellent collection finally brings these gems to light – and showcases not only Jaan Kuman's tight talent for lead trumpet solos – on a par with some of the best Freddie Hubbard CTI work of the 70s – but also his wonderful ear for larger arrangements – jazz backdrops that mix acoustic and electric elements beautifully, often with a sense of soul and sentiment that's completely sublime! There's slight echoes of European soundtrack modes in the music – but the overall presentation is definitely jazz, and the tight work of the leader and other players make the tunes plenty damn funky throughout – like a lost MPS gem from the glory days. Titles include "Hey Boys Try Harder", "Contrasts", "Caprice", "Wheels", "Terminus", and "Globus".

Titles include "After The Shower", "Ball's Caprice", "Move Em Out", "Simone", "Pink Panther Theme 78", and "Almond Eyes".

One of the best-ever Chet Baker albums! The material is divided up into two sides – one featuring some of the last-ever work by pianist Richard Twardziak, one of Baker's best-ever accompanists, playing here in a tight little quartet with the great Jimmy Bond on bass and Peter Littman on drums. Bond returns on the second side, which features piano work by Gerard Gustin and drums by Bert Dahlander. Either side is excellent, though – and the record features some of the best no-nonsense blowing ever by Baker. Way more soulful than some of his other work, with a sound that moves past the early west coast years in a perfect way! Titles include "Rondette", "Piece Caprice", "Sad Walk", "Pomp", and "Summertime". Beautiful cover, too!