All Categories — LPs  

Amazing work from Gato Barbieri's legendary exploration of Latin American sounds for Impulse Records – a set that's heavy on Cuban influences, thanks to arrangements from the mighty Chico O'Farrill! The sound is sublime – a bit fuller than some of Gato's other albums in the run, but... read more

Stripped-down Count Basie from the start of the 60s – a great little set that has the Count working with some of the best players from his larger group, in a session of even more intimate small combo material! The sounds here echo the Basie groove of the earlier years, but the overall... read more

Art Blakey, without any Jazz Messengers – but still coming through loud and clear, thanks to help from a unique group that features Sonny Stitt on tenor, McCoy Tyner on piano, and Art Davis on bass! The album's still got all the hardbop charm of Blakey's best Blue Note dates, but also feels... read more

One of the bluesiest of Mel Brown's funky guitar records for Impulse. The album includes some very stripped-down performances that highlight Mel's deep soulful guitar style, and the nice groovy keyboards of Clifford Coulter. Mel sings a bit, but not much, and the best tracks are the long trippy... read more

An overlooked gem from the revival years of Impulse Records – a set recorded in the mid 80s, but one that easily matches the soul and spirituality of the label's best work from the late 60s and early 70s! Pianist Henry Butler steps out here with a strong musical vision – one colored by... read more

Beautifully high concept work from Alice Coltrane – the kind of record you'd use to announce the arrival of a new king – or lord, for that matter! The record features Coltrane at the head of a large group of string players – creating a full, rich sound that serves as the backdrop... read more

A perennial favorite in the John Coltrane catalog – a beautiful set of standards, handled in a warm laidback style – one that shows that Trane's groundbreaking group with Jimmy Garrison on bass, Elvin Jones on drums, and McCoy Tyner on piano could still express themselves with even more... read more

One of a nuber of repackagings and collections of Coltrane's work for Impulse. Loads of great players are involved on some of the better recordings of his later career, for Impulse, including McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Archie Shepp and... read more

A mellow set of ballads, taken mostly from Trane's first few years at Impulse – in various formations that have him working with his classic quartet, plus guests like Johnny Hartman, Eric Dolphy, or Duke Ellington. Titles include "Soul Eyes", "What's New", "Dear... read more

Modal Coltrane at its finest – a record that almost returns the great one to the territory explored at the end of his years at Atlantic Records, but which still incorporates all of the new ideas learned afterwards! The album's actually one of the straightest that John Coltrane cut after 1964... read more

One of our favorite albums ever from John Coltrane – but a record that's sometimes eclipsed by the genius of A Love Supreme! The feel here is very similar to that one – long tracks that introduce a new mode of searching, spiritual jazz for the 60s – one that's performed by a core... read more

John Coltrane returns to the Village Vanguard – but his sound here is a lot more far-reaching than a few years before! The album's a great counterpart to the first Vanguard session – as it takes all of the bold, soaring energy of that date, and balances it with the newly introspective... read more

A pure statement of being and essence – and one of John Coltrane's spiritual masterpieces from the 60s! The 1965 recording was one of Trane's most adventurous so far – as it featured just one album-length track, building up out of relatively free expressions from Coltrane in the studio... read more

Soaring work from the legendary John Coltrane Quartet – a session that was incredibly far-reaching for the time, and which originally was unissued until after the time of Coltrane's death! The record's got the group really pushing forward strongly – hitting a Love Supreme mode, but... read more

A landmark album of vocal jazz – and one of the few sessions that John Coltrane ever cut with a singer! In a way, the album's more Hartman's than it is Coltrane's – given that Johnny's warm, mellow style of singing isn't as free and open as Trane at his most adventurous – but at... read more

Live material from a Village Gate performance that included the leading lights of the East Village free scene in the 60s – John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Grachan Moncur, and Archie Shepp! The set's a great counterpart to some of the full artist releases on Impulse at the time – and... read more

A seminal meeting of the old and new generations of jazz in the 60s – put together in perfect Impulse fashion! At some level, this is actually an early 60s John Coltrane Quartet album – with Duke Ellington sitting in for McCoy Tyner on piano, as that's the lineup on about half of the... read more

Amazing, simply amazing – and light years ahead of the staid sounds that Chico Hamilton was cutting in the 50s! Hamilton's one of those players who has an amazing range to his music – almost all of it really incredible, as Chico always shifts things up over time – continually... read more

Massively groovy work from Chico Hamilton – one of his standout swingers for Impulse Records in the 60s, and a set that really showcases all the changes in music he'd made for the decade! The set features some wonderful reed work from Jerome Richardson and Charlie Mariano, plus some... read more

A beautiful album of dark-hued vocals – sung by Johnny Hartman with a quality that's as smokey as the image of him with a cigarette on the cover! The album set a whole new standard for male vocal jazz in the 60s – and is a distillation and refinement of earlier ideas in music by Billy... read more

The Hawk, in prime late form, lays down some beautiful tenor solos over gentle bossa nova accompaniment – working in a mode that's much more satisfying than just a "classic player meets bossa" session, angularly crafting the solos with that dark edge that he had in all of his later... read more

Great later Coleman Hawkins on Impulse – just the sort of deep-toned, soulfully-blown record that makes all his sessions for the label so great! Hawk's very firmly in the lead on that classic tenor of his – but the rest of the lineup keeps things swinging too – with Snooky Young... read more

A nice little 60s album by Johnny Hodges – one of the few post-Verve sessions that has him still playing in the hard swinging Ellingtonia small combo mode of the 50s! Players are all strong – and include Jimmy Jones, Cat Anderson, Ray Nance, Harry Carney, and Paul Gonsalves – and... read more

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A beautiful album that we'd rank as one of Freddie Hubbard's greatest recordings ever – a truly sublime set that's quite different than his Blue Note work of the 60s, and which really shows him emerging as a major talent on the trumpet! The set features a core sextet of key players –... read more

An excellent collection of Hubbard's work for the Impulse label, mostly from Hubbard's two excellent albums: Body & Soul and The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard. Body & Soul features large group arrangements by Wayne Shorter that are completely sublime, and some of the most compelling large... read more

At the end of the 60s, Milt Jackson and Ray Brown cut some very groovy records together – teamed up in a great pairing of styles that pushed both of them way past the more standard sounds of earlier years! This album's one of the best of the bunch – as it features pianist Monty... read more

Pre-electric Jamal, but with the spiralling spiritual lyricism that he would later bring to his Fender Rhodes recordings. Tracks are very open-ended – a continuing growth of the lyrical exploration he first forged in the late 50s, expanding out to embrace the new freedom of the 70s, but... read more

A live set that features Ahmad on acoustic and electric piano, and which contains two long tracks – "Bogota" and "Extensions". The groove is fairly lively, with lots of long flowing solos from Ahmad, and nary a dull moment from Jamil Sulieman on bass and Frank Gant on... read more

Wonderful open-ended Ahmad Jamal music from the end of the 60s – and a set that really shows his growth as a player at the time! The "revisited" in the title refers to Jamal's earlier success on Argo records with a recording of "Poinciana" – one that forever made... read more

Prime Keith Jarrett on Impulse Records – and a still-wonderful session that features work by Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian! The sound here is a bit more focused than on some of Jarrett's earlier Impulse sides – but still has that rich and organic sound overall –... read more

Dark and moody work from Keith Jarrett – a record that builds strongly off his ensemble feeling of the Impulse years, but which also seems to carry a bit more of the introspective vibe he was building up in some of his more stripped down solo recordings! The group's still a great one here... read more

Most of the tracks on this 2 LP set are not from Jones' solo records but rather songs under the direction of others, mainly John Coltrane but also Frank Foster and Sonny Rollins. Some of the Coltrane titles are the drum solo from "Pursuance", "Impressions", "Your Lady"... read more

Excellent work by Klemmer – filled with the kind of fire and emotion that you don't get on many of his other records! The set was recorded live at two different venues – and it's a choppy slightly-funky batch of modal soul jazz tunes, with an approach that makes it feel like a lost... read more

Haunting set of stripped down tracks by the brilliant Yusef Lateef, who not only plays his usual assortment of reeds here – tenor, alto, flute, and oboe – but also lays down a bit of theremin! He's accompanied by Hugh Lawson on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Roy Brooks on drums... read more

One of Yusef Lateef's most fantastic records, and an album that grooves in a way that few of his other ones do. Recorded live in 1964, this material was part of the same session that comprised the classic Club Date LP, which included the track "Brother John" (not on this album). This... read more

Sweet electric funk from Blue – recorded in a warm, largely arranged style that's reminiscent of the best Freddie Hubbard fusion work from the 70s – but which has an even tighter sound overall! The groove is great – kind of a Kudu Records vibe, and Blue's actually quite good in... read more

One of the all-time classics of early 60s mainstream jazz – and a beautiful record that showcases writing and arranging talents of Oliver Nelson! Nelson had been bumping around a variety of sessions before this one – as a leader, sideman, and arranger – but it was with this album... read more

Oliver Nelson's follow-up to his classic Blues & The Abstract Truth session for Impulse – and like that one, a tremendous little album – filled with deep tones and wonderful colors in sound! The group here's a bit larger than before – an ensemble that includes Phil Woods on... read more

Very groovy stuff! Although the bulk of the material on this album is "pops meet jazz", in the hands of Oliver Nelson, it's transformed into something wonderful – with just the right blend of jazz to keep things lively. The arrangements have a nice off-kilter sound that works well... read more

Very groovy work from Chico – still very Latin at the core, but with lots of light 60s touches on top, ala the work of Gary McFarland, or some of the other groove-conscious arrangers for Verve and Impulse! Players on the set include Art Farmer, Clark Terry, JJ Johnson, Seldon Powell, and Pat... read more

One of the great albums that Pee Wee Russell recorded for Impulse during the late 60's, when they brought him back for some great comeback LPs in a number of different settings. This one has him playing as the main soloist with Oliver Nelson's orchestra. As with most of Nelson's work from the 60's... read more

A righteous cover, a righteous title, and a righteous little session that features one long song that spans the entire length of the album! "Black Unity" may well be Pharoah Sanders' freest expression on record to date – but it's also still got all the hallmarks of his best moments... read more

A fantastic album by Pharoah Sanders – one of his later albums for Impulse, but one of his best! The record has Pharoah grooving in a strongly modal style – working up long passages of rhythm, piano, and percussion that really build on the promise delivered in earlier tunes on records... read more

Quite possibly the best-remembered album from Pharoah Sanders' legendary run at Impulse Records – a set that crossed over big, and sold to countless folks who might not have bought a jazz album this hip otherwise! The record was Sanders' first in the wake of Coltrane's passing – and it'... read more

One of the most spiritual albums recorded by Pharoah Sanders for Impulse – an open-ended and free-thinking exploration of ideas, all very much in the late John Coltrane mode! The group's a largeish one – filled with spiritual soul jazz luminaries who include Hannibal Marvin Peterson on... read more

A tremendously joyous album from Pharoah Sanders – his last record for Impulse, and a rare thing of beauty! The album only features 2 long tracks, both of them great, and both of them showing Pharoah as more expressive, more imaginative, and more openly soulful than heard on his earlier... read more

One of the first moments of genius from a young Pharoah Sanders – a set that builds on the energy of John Coltrane's Love Supreme generation – but takes it in a much more expansive direction! The album's got a sense of majesty that's years ahead of its time – righteous, positive,... read more

A great album from Shirley Scott – with some excellent arrangements by Gary McFarland! We've always felt that Shirley plays best when she's not leading the group – when someone else is handling the arrangements, so that she can groove mightily on her own – and this album is a... read more

Classic Shirley Scott – in her best mode of the 60s! Here's the reasons: 1. The group features husband Stanley Turrentine on tenor, adding in some nice extra tones to Shirley's usual trio! 2. The rhythm section is Bob Cranshaw and Otis Finch – surely one of Shirley's best. 3. The... read more

Despite a title that might make you think otherwise, this is actually a pretty darn groovy session, one that features Shirley wailing away on the organ, with big Oliver Nelson arrangements behind her – in a style that's similar to Nelson's work on Verve with Jimmy Smith. The set list... read more

A sweet 60s session from the team of Shirley Scott and Clark Terry – musicians who never played together regularly, but who really work wonders on this unique record! Shirley's got that perfect tone on Hammond she hit during her Impulse Records years – a groove that's leaner and... read more

A brilliant little album from Archie Shepp – material recorded on a variety of dates at the end of the 60s, but packaged together as an extremely soulful set in the mid 70s! There's a feel here that rivals some of the best moments of the Attica Blues years – a mix of spiritual soul... read more

Growing brilliance from the young Archie Shepp – a record that's not just about Archie's own amazing work on the tenor, but also his keen modern vision as a leader! The combo here is an ensemble that features some of the hippest modernists of the 60s – Roswell Rudd and Grachan Moncur... read more

One of the best Shepp records ever, and one of his most successful blends of the disparate influences that comprised his style. The group is a bit smaller than usual – which gives good focus to players like Bobby Hutcherson, Henry Grimes, and Joe Chambers. Shepp contributed some of his most... read more

Head to head blowing from Sonny Sitt and Paul Gonsalves – just the kind of twin-horn performance that Stitt was famous for in his live battle days, and one that also reminds us that Gonsalves can be a very loose swinger when he wants to be! The tracks are all long, and played with the sort... read more

A great record that's sort of a follow-up to Gabor's excellent Sorcerer LP – and like that one, features long tracks that have a spiralling modal feel that's much more serious, much more grooving, and a lot less campish than some of his other albums of the time. The album features a two-guita... read more

Excellent trippy pop-psychedelia from Gabor Szabo! The record's a bit less jazz than some of his other efforts, with more of that faked-out "eastern"production that you'd get on efforts like these – with occasional voices behind his guitar. Titles include "The End Of... read more

A really great little album – one that really gets at the bright, joyous feel that Clark Terry brings to his music! Despite the "happy" in the title – which might make you think this one would be a bit silly – the album's a pretty great record! Terry plays both trumpet... read more

Great stuff! Phils Woods plays reeds over a cool crazy band of Greek players who are trying to do a "jazz meets Zorba the Greek" thing here. Sounds crazy, but the record's actually great, and has a mix of styles that comes together in an amazing way. We always used to pass this up, but... read more

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A classic compilation of material from the hip later years of Impulse – put together with a title that's a bit misleading, given that some of this stuff was clearly getting some play on underground FM radio! There's some key righteous classics here – like "Attica Blues" and... read more