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One of the most beautiful albums ever recorded by this legendary AACM pianist! The album was a rare Japanese-only session from 1975, but recorded in Chicago – and it features Muhal playing solo – in beautifully warm spiritual tones that are very different from his playing on many other albums from the time. The work is wonderfully introspective, showing a whole new side to Abrams' genius – the sensitive, contemplative keyboardist who occasionally emerges during some of Abrams' larger group sessions, but who usually gets pushed back in the fray of larger instrumental interplay. The whole album's extremely beautiful, and it's darn near impossible to find in the original! Tracks include "Afrisong", "The Infinitive Flow", "Hymn To The East", "Roots", and "The New People".

Some of our favorite albums ever from pianist Muhal Richard Abrams – an amazing run of eight records for the Black Saint/Soul Note label – rich in fresh colors, tones, and new musical ideas! There's a sensitivity to some of these records that you don't always get with Abrams – a personal feeling that brings in a much-needed warmth to his complex compositional forms – often in collaboration with other players on the Chicago scene, but also with a wider range of avant players, especially from New York – where Abrams would have a great influence in the 80s. The lineup of musicians here is wonderful – a virtual who's-who of the jazz left at the time, at least from an American perspective – with performances from George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell, Amina Myers, Thurman Barker, Baikida Carroll, Andrew Cyrille, Craig Harris, Stanton Davis, Marty Erlich, Dick Griffin, Cecil Bridgewater, Fred Hopkins, Dierdre Murray, and so many others. The set features 8 full albums, each in a tiny LP-styled sleeve – and titles include Siphumonesty, Mama & Daddy, Blues Forever, Rejoicing With The Light, View From Within, Hearinga Suite, Blu Blu Blu, and Think All Focus One.

A wonderful album from Muhal – with all the soulful spiritualness of his best 70s work, more stripped down than later orchestrated efforts, and with a gentler more intimate approach than earlier work. The set is mostly solo piano – although Abrams also plays some occasional percussion – and features some wonderfully introspective playing, as free as that of Cecil Taylor or other 70s avant contemporaries, but always rhythmic, and never losing a sense of soul and meaning. Titles include "D Song", "String Song", and "Voice Song" – all long.

A tremendous step forward for the young Muhal Richard Abrams – a set that still shows his early roots in the AACM, but which also blossoms with some of his more serious compositional efforts to come! There's a sensitivity here that really stands out – even among Abrams' contemporaries – a striving for a wider range of expression – some as bold as before, some much more deeply personal and intimate. The tracks feature a shifting array of players – working alongside Abrams piano, and building up the sound in a number of different ways. Players include Wallace McMillan on flute and sax, Edwin Daugherty on sax, Richard Brown on sax, Emanuel Cranshaw on vibes, Rufus Reid on bass, and Steve McCall and Wilbur Campbell on drums. Ella Jackson provides vocals on "How Are You?" – and other titles include "Ballad For New Souls", "Things To Come From Those Now Gone", "In Retrospect", "Ballad For Old Souls", "1 & 4 Plus 2 & 7", and "March Of The Transients".

A tremendous step forward for the young Muhal Richard Abrams – a set that still shows his early roots in the AACM, but which also blossoms with some of his more serious compositional efforts to come! There's a sensitivity here that really stands out – even among Abrams' contemporaries – a striving for a wider range of expression – some as bold as before, some much more deeply personal and intimate. The tracks feature a shifting array of players – working alongside Abrams piano, and building up the sound in a number of different ways. Players include Wallace McMillan on flute and sax, Edwin Daugherty on sax, Richard Brown on sax, Emanuel Cranshaw on vibes, Rufus Reid on bass, and Steve McCall and Wilbur Campbell on drums. Ella Jackson provides vocals on "How Are You?" – and other titles include "Ballad For New Souls", "Things To Come From Those Now Gone", "In Retrospect", "Ballad For Old Souls", "1 & 4 Plus 2 & 7", and "March Of The Transients".

Fantastic early stuff from Muhal – and one of his most beautiful albums! Side one of the LP, and first up on the CD is an extended performance of Sinatra's big hit "Young At Heart" – but the track's played solo by Abrams, and it's completely transformed into a long contemplative work of beauty. Truly georgeous – and a piece that utilizes open spaces in a way that's nearly unequaled! "Wise In Time" is a heavier work done by quintet with Leo Smith on trumpet and fluegalhorn, Henry Threadgill on alto sax, Lester Lashley on bass, and Thurman Barker on percussion – totally brilliant work!

A rare treasure from the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – recorded as a supposed third album for Atlantic records in 1974, but unissued for years until the group released it on their own! The session is a live one, recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival – and features the unique addition of Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, making for the group's first session ever with the instrument! Muhal's work nicely colors in the spare spaces on the set – giving a soaring, lyrical quality to a few of the numbers – and really standing in stark contrast to the freer solo work of the other players. At times, Abrams is playing these longer lines that almost have a McCoy Tyner sort of energy – directing the set with a tremendous searching vibe – and at other times, he joins the group in their sparer exploration of sound and space – in a mode that's similar to some of their Parisian recordings. Titles include "Sun Precondition One", "Kabalaba", "Kaba Song", "Mal's Delight", and "Improvization A2".

Even at an early age, Anthony Braxton was already experimenting with new forms of jazz composition – and this 1968 debut as a leader is filled with the imaginative approaches to music that would make him a key shaper of jazz in the next decade! The tracks here are all quite long, and although free-sounding, still have an intrisic logic dictated by Braxton's compositional ideals – played by himself on alto, soprano sax, clarinet, flute, and a variety of other instruments – in a quartet that features Leo Smith on trumpet and mellophone, Muhal Richard Abrams on piano and cello, and Leroy Jenkins on violin and viola. In true AACM fashion, all players pick up other instruments as the tunes roll on – percussion bits, kazoo, slide whistle, bells, and more – almost more Art Ensemble-like than some of Braxton's more tightly-controlled environments on later records. Titles include two pieces titled in Braxton's equation-like style – plus "The Bell".

An amazing moment in 70s jazz – the real rise of reedman Anthony Braxton, yet on a label that was also known mostly for pop, rock, and soul recordings! Braxton on Arista should have been a disaster – but instead, the label gave Anthony a huge amount of freedom – and, if anything, really allowed him to stretch out and explore all the rich range of ideas that were percolating in his genius – not just important small group recordings, solo sounds, and especially creative pairings – but also some large ensemble material that no tiny jazz label would have ever been able to support. Braxton really breaks out of the box on these sides – moving through an insane amount of new ideas and fresh sounds in the short space of five years – working with players that include Kenny Wheeler on trumpet, George Lewis on trombone, Henry Threadgill and Roscoe Mitchell on reeds, Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, Richard Teitelbaum on moog, Julius Hemphill on alto, Oliver Lake on tenor, and many other key 70s avant figures throughout these recordings. This limited package features a full book of notes – and includes the albums New York Fall 1974, Five Pieces 1975, Creative Orchestra Music 1976, Duets 1976, For Trio, Montreux/Berlin Concerts, Alto Saxophone Improvisations 1979, For Four Orchestras, and For Two Pianos. Most albums on CD for the first time ever!

One of the oddest Eddie Harris records for Vee Jay! One side's got a very young Muhal Richard Abrams doing the arrangements and playing piano, and features two great original tracks "Half & Half" and the extended "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah", which features chanting & percussion. The other side's an attempt to recap the success of "Exodus", with Eddie's tenor cutting it over some soundtrack stuff with a vocal group. Eddie's tone holds the whole thing together, though – and the album's nicer than you'd think!

Amazing music from trombonist George Lewis – five different albums that each show a different side of his talents! First up is Shadowgraph 5 – a great early Black Saint, and a key example of the way the AACM spirit thrived overseas, thanks to the efforts of labels like this! The work is quite serious and experimental – almost compositional in nature, and definitely heading towards the AACM promise of "Great Black Music" – and other players include Roscoe Mitchell on saxes, Leroy Jenkins on violin, Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, Douglas Ewart on bass clarinet and other reeds, and Abdul Wadud on cello. One track even has Lewis playing the Moog in addition to trombone and tuba! Imaginary Suite is a duet with Douglas Ewart – and features Lewis both on trombone and electronics – and even his trombone at times is "electronically modified", making it a really cool-sounding instrument. Ewart plays a bit of percussion – plus bass clarinet and flute – and often hits some electronically-sensitive sounds with his reeds, making the album a really compelling interplay between acoustic and electric elements. Homage to Charlie Parker is hardly the bebop outing you might expect from the title, and instead a set of complicated work that's heavily in the AACM tradition! Side one features "Blues" – an investigation of older blues harmonics, but done in a very freeform, experimental way – with tenor trombone from Lewis, piano from Anthony Davis, bass clarinet from Doug Ewart, and moog from Richard Teitelbaum. Change Of Season is a killer tribute to the music of Herbie Nichols – played by a committed batch of modernists who are clearly inspired by his genius – including Misha Mengelberg on piano, Steve Lacy on soprano sax, and Han Bennink on drums. The set's completed by Dutch Masters – Lewis' last album for the label, done with a compelling lineup that includes Misha Mengelberg on piano, Steve Lacy on soprano sax, Ernst Reyseger on bass, and Han Bennink on drums – but in a style that's very different than the previous Change Of Season album.

One of Roscoe Mitchell's greatest albums from the 70s – a record that easily matches, if not beats, his classic recordings for Delmark and Nessa! Like those sets, there's a perfect sense of clarity here – the best essence of the AACM scene, taken to its most adventurous level by Roscoe – who's working way beyond music here, and is into a rich array of tones, textures, and sonic shapes – really amazing elements to come from a familiar alto, soprano, or tenor saxophone! He's got some great creative help on the project too – Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, George Lewis on trombone, and Spencer Barefield on guitar – the last of whom is darker here than on most of his later recordings. Obviously, the sensitivity that Lewis and Abrams bring to the record is a perfect match for Mitchell's direction – and the long tracks draw much from the spontaneous interplay between the three players. Titles include "Tnoona", "Music For Trombone & B Flat Soprano", "Cards", and "Olobo". Plus, this amazing new version features 4 great unissued tracks – including a beautiful version of "Naima", plus "Prelude To Naima", "Dastura", and "Nonaah".

Shaw and Braxton are an unlikely pair of fronliners – as one's got a soulful modal style, and the other's a colder modernist – but they work surprisingly well together on this album, which mixes players throughout the album, by adding in Muhal Richard Abrams, Cecil McBee, Arthur Blythe, and Joe Chambers. Titles include "Diversion Two", "Song Of Songs", "Iron Man", and a haunting version of "Jitterbug Waltz".

An oft-overlooked, but very nice record from Sonny Stitt – recorded in Chicago in the early 70s, and with two different types of groups that show off both sides of the city's jazz scene at the time! O the first 4 numbers, the group is a bit on the larger side – giving the material a nice Cadet Studios touch to it – with Richard Evans on bass, Morris Jennings on drums, Tennyson Stephens on piano, a bit of strings, and vocalizing by Kitty Hayward. The remaining tracks are done in a smaller setting – and they feature a rare appearance by Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, who plays straight stuff here – in a quartet with Wilbur Campell and Cleveland Eaton. A rare record from Sonny – but it's an entirely worthy one! Includes "Got To Get Over", "Soul Girl", "Jeep Blues" and "I Know That You Know" with the larger group, plus the quartet pieces "I Should Care", "Eight Track Blues" and "Gone With The Wind".

An oft-overlooked, but very nice record from Sonny Stitt – recorded in Chicago in the early 70s, and with two different types of groups that show off both sides of the city's jazz scene at the time! On the first 4 numbers, the group is a bit on the larger side – giving the material a nice Cadet Studios touch to it – with Richard Evans on bass, Morris Jennings on drums, Tennyson Stephens on piano, a bit of strings, and vocalizing by Kitty Hayward. The remaining tracks are done in a smaller setting – and they feature a rare appearance by Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, who plays straight stuff here – in a quartet with Wilbur Campell and Cleveland Eaton. A rare record from Sonny – but it's an entirely worthy one! Includes "Got To Get Over", "Soul Girl", "Jeep Blues" and "I Know That You Know" with the larger group, plus the quartet pieces "I Should Care", "Eight Track Blues" and "Gone With The Wind".

Beautiful record by the Art Ensemble, and one of the few truly great records that they made after returning from Paris. Recorded in Chicago in 1973, the record features a guest appearance by Muhal Richard Abrams, who brings his excellent piano playing to the session, and adds another level to the ensemble's sound. The set includes the usual mix of reeds, percussion, vocals, and the beautiful bass work of Malachi Favors. Tracks include "Nonaah", "The Key", "Tnoona", and "Fanfare For The Warriors".

A super-long batch of messed-up funky jazz from Eddie Harris! The record's got Eddie working all aspects of the electric sax – in a similar style to some of his other work on the best Atlantic albums of the 70s (like Instant Death of Plug It In) – and the group features a shifting cast of hip players that even includes Muhal Richard Abrams on electric piano! Eddie's nice and tripped out here – yet still undeniably funky – and the record is proof that the move to Atlantic let him really open up his concept. Titles include "Renovated Rhythm", "Turbulence", "Recess", "Drunk Man", "Listen Here Goes Funky", "Hey Wado", and "Fragmentary Apparitions".