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A landmark session that gathered together just about every hip British jazz and jazz/rock musician of the time – and brought them together into one super-cool orchestra of sound! Robert Fripp produced the record, and Keith Tippett is the overall music director – but the album's got a feel that's much more in the avant side of the UK jazz spectrum – particularly the trippier side of the Deram/Decca label of the late 60s – like work by Mike Westbrook or Mike Gibbs! The lineup is huge – with Elton Dean and Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, Alan Skidmore and Gary Windo on tenor, Ian Carr and Mongesi Fesa on trumpets, Mark Charig on cornet, Nick Evans and Paul Rutherford on trombone, Keith Tippett on piano, Brian Godding on guitar, Robert Wyatt and John Marshall on drums, and Maggie Nicholls, Julie Tippett, Mike Patto, and Zoot Money on vocals – plus lots of strings as well!

This stunning live set has been hailed by many as one of the finest moments of Miles' mid 60s career – music played with a frenetic energy that even blows away the famous studio sessions of the time! The group here is a landmark lineup – young modernists Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, and Tony Williams on drums – all reaching out to really increase their craft, and work through new ideas alongside Miles' trumpet. 5LP set features material recorded on December 22 and 23, 1965.

An amazing album – one of our favorite records ever from drummer Max Roach, and a set that also features some of the best 70s work by tenorist Billy Harper too! The session's a unique date done for the Horo label – and soars even farther than other Horo classics from the time – with a one-of-a-kind energy that makes it a really special record right from the start – even better than any other Roach/Harper pairings from the time. Max has a killer quartet here – no piano at all, just himself on drums, Billy on tenor, Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet, and Reggie Workman on bass – a group that's filled with soulful spirit – and manages to stretch out without ever getting overindulgent, nor too free – that special kind of balance we're used to hearing on Harper's Japanese 70s sessions – which is carried through strongly here. The album only features two long tracks – "The Matyr" and "Six Bits Blues" – each of which strech out for both sides of a record!

Incredible work from drummer Rashied Ali – a set that really delivers on the promise of the music he first crafted with John Coltrane! The vision here is wide and expansive, yet still has a soulful, spiritual heart – a great balance of the free impulses of all players with the core unity of the group – a righteous energy that holds up strongly, even over the course of the album's two long tracks. The set's a great contrast to the work going on in the European scene at the time – and really shows how the American indie recording scene was able to capture performances in a more solid, focused sort of way. In addition to Ali's work on drums, the quartet also features excellent alto and flute from Carlos Ward, piano from Fred Simmons, and bass from Stafford James – the last of whom really ties the whole thing together with his sense of soul. Titles include "Akela" and "As Salaam Alikum".

Hypnotic Fuji music from Alhaji (Chief) Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and his Supreme Fuji Commanders! The rawly and heavily percussive sound is makes a strong sensory impact – with nicely recorded, echoey vocals out front of that thundering, though impressively rhythmic backdrop. The album features 2 longer songs on one side and a handful of shorter pieces on side two. 10 in all. Titles include "Iwa", "Alhaji Rasaq Okoya", "Late Alhaja Sidikat Abeni (Haruna Ishola Bello)", "Olabisi Ilori", "Owolabi Ilori", "Fuji Americano" and "Singing Roundabout".