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Doo wop era spaceways travel from Sun Ra and soulful mid 50s vocal recruits -- including The Cosmic Rays, Crystals, Nu Sounds and Juanita Rogers -- a motherlode of rarities and never before issued recordings! Interplanetary Melodies includes doo wop numbers of earthly concern, and space theme ...

Interstaller vocal group numbers and doo wop from the Sun Ra vaults -- a couple rare release and a bunch of previously unissued numbers featuring The Cosmic Rays, Crystals, Nu Sounds and Juanita Rogers -- teenage vocal group numbers, bits of bebop and spacey doo wop released for the first time ever! ...

Wild and wooly Rocket Ship Rock from Sun Ra and his Arkestra -- featuring shout blues vocalist Yochanan -- often billed as "the man from outer space" and a cat who could give Screamin Jay Hawkins a run for his money in the excitable oddball category -- jumping 60s r&b with an ...

A pivotal record for Patrice Rushen -- a set that has her really tightening up the groove from previous albums on Prestige -- heading much more towards the focused soul-drenched grooves of her Elektra Records years! The set's a stunner -- still very much with the hip, west coast funky fusion vibe ...

A stellar second album from UK jazz trumpet talent Matthew Halsall -- with a soulful depth that pushes him to the forefront of the contemporary British scene! There's an easygoing, but wholly passionate feel on his own solos, and to his players that really hits us deep -- which include Gavin ...

Classic material by McGregor, recorded in the post-Blue Notes years, but featuring old bandmates Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza, and Louis Moholo. The group also includes some great Brit avant players -- like Evan Parker, Radu Malfatti, Harry Miller, and Harry Beckett -- and the whole performance was ...

Righteous soul from David Murray -- a set that's way more than just straight jazz, and which features lots of extra percussion and some very hip vocals! The album's possibly his most focused Gwo Ka Masters project -- and is almost a date that Murray might have recorded in the late 70s, had he been ...

An incredibly spiritual session from percussionist Louis Moholo and his ensemble Viva La Black -- recorded on the occasion of a series of concerts in Moholo's homeland of South Africa -- and done in a way that's as much a document of the group's trip as it is a recording of the music in the ...

An amazing chapter in the career of British saxophonist Lol Coxhill -- two completely wonderful albums recorded for the Ogun label in the mid 70s! The feel here is similar to Coxhill's seminal albums for Virgin a few years before -- jazz that's free, but never too "out" -- working in a ...

Fantastic stuff -- one of Mary Lou Williams' hippest albums, and one of the few in which she blended in funk with her spiritual jazz piano musings! The record's got a larger group arranged by Mary -- grooving in a post-Hair kind of funky ensemble way -- a bit spiritual at times, but nicely ...

A triple length set of work from the team of Evan Parker and John Stevens -- presented here as a 2CD set! The first part of the package features both volumes 1 and 2 of the Longest Night sessions from 1976 -- very free duets between these two ex-partners in the Spontaneous Music Ensemble -- a ...

A wide-angled snapshot of work by the trio of organist Joey DeFrancesco -- his core unit for well over a decade, playing together here with a near-perfect sense of energy! Joey's Hammond lines are certainly at the front of the set, but they're propelled forward strongly by the guitar of Paul ...

Massive work from one of the funkiest drummers of all time -- the legendary Bernard Pretty Purdie, stepping out here in a batch of instrumentals that may well be his greatest album ever! Bernard's drums are right up front in the mix -- leading off all tunes with a full, funky, echoey sort of ...

The second album from Chicago vibist Jason Adasiewicz and his Rolldown group -- giving us some of the best vibes-led jazz in years! The group features players from the Chicago scene that are truly at the forefront of an exciting wave of modern jazz in the city, and anywhere else on the planet -- ...

Warm, laidback work from drummer Jimmy Cobb -- an album that features the famous drummer working with a mellow group that includes Roy Hargrove on trumpet and Russell Malone on guitar! Bassist John Webber is also in the quartet -- greatly understated, compared to other albums -- and the main ...

An excellent modern jazz set from tenor sax titan Eric Alexander -- who has truly grown into one of the best players of his generation -- and a killer set for the High Note label! There's always these, "whoa," moments on Alexander's records, where he's rolling along with an effective ...

A long-overdue look at one of the most important groups to grace the British jazz scene of the 60s and 70s -- the legendary Blue Notes, a group of South African expatriates with an undeniably huge influence on the music of their new homeland! The ensemble featured key players who went onto do some ...

Rich, vibrant work from Louis Moholo & his Unit -- with resonant emotion in the overall mood, but also an improvisational approach that balances the sound very deftly! Moholo's work of the 00s has been pretty visionary, and this one's no exception -- don't go expecting sentimentalism, given ...

An excellent bit of spiritual soul jazz on Horace Tapscott's Nimbus label -- featuring a group led by pianist Kaeef Rauzadun that includes Henry Franklin on bass, George Bohannon on trombone, Wilbert Hemsley on tenor, and Gary Bias on alto and soprano sax. The album's also got some beautiful ...

A lost spiritual soul jazz classic -- recorded in the early 80s, but with the feel of 70s independent work on labels like Strata East or Black Jazz! Pianist Nate Morgan's got a widely expansive vision -- working here in a style that incorporates lots of blocky chords and modal grooves, set in ...

One of the best Horace Tapscott albums on Nimbus -- and one that features him playing with the Pan-African Peoples Arkestra, who give the session a much fuller feel than some of Horace's other sparer sets. The group's made up of some strong hip players from the LA underground -- and in a way, the ...

A lost treasure from pianist Horace Tapscott -- material recorded live at the legendary Lighthouse club, done with a very hip group of players from the Nimbus Records scene! The tracks are quite long throughout -- and often start with Tapscott musing into the groove with solo piano, soon joined by ...

A soul jazz treasure from the LA scene of the early 80s -- a fantastic record that we'd rank with the best Strata East sides of the time! The group's led by alto saxophonist Dadisi Komolafe, and features vibes by Ricky Kelly, piano by Eric Tillman, bass by Roberto Miranda, and drums by Sunship ...

A spiritual jazz classic from the hip LA scene of the late 70s -- led by saxophonist Billie Harris, and featuring a group that includes Horace Tapscott on piano! We don't know much about Harris, but he's got a freewheeling spiritual sound that's very much in the Coltrane-inspired mode, yet also ...

A brilliant reworking of the ideas of Wes Montgomery -- taken into some really fresh territory by guitarist Havard Stubo, but in ways that still retain all the best sense of tone, color, and space that made Montgomery's music so great! The group here is a trio -- with Daniel Franck on bass and ...

A beautiful double-length package of work from drummer Louis Moholo -- a 2CD set that features one record from recent years, and a key classic from the 70s! Spirits Rejoice is one of the strongest 70s statements from ex-Blue Notes drummer Moholo -- recorded in the company of fellow expatriots and ...

Nothing primitif about this jazz, because the music has a really haunting feel -- one that's filled with sophisticated changes and compelling instrumentation -- served up in ways that are unlike anything else we can think of! Side one of the record features the combo of percussionist Rupert ...

One of the grooviest projects we've heard from John Zorn in years -- a cool collection of tunes that draw heavily from older exotica, surf music, and soundtracks! The style's not a simple copycat of retro modes from the 50s and 60s -- and instead, it uses that era as inspiration to take off in a ...

Quite an unusual project from pianist Keith Tippett -- a group that works in sparing, sensitive sounds -- all at a level much gentler than other Tippett recordings of the time! There's a meditative, contemplative feel to the record -- but one that's also inflected with some of the more ...

A second unearthed gem from pianist Horace Tapscott at the Lighthouse club in 1979 -- very sharp stuff featuring a solid group of Nimbus players! Volume 2 was recorded on October 11, appropriately the night after the set featured on Lighthouse 79 Vol 1, with Tapscott leading the way, and setting ...

Soaring spiritual soul jazz from the LA scene -- a CD that features a beautiful performance by the Jesse Sharps Quintet, plus a longer extended track from Horace Tapscott's Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra! We'll be honest in saying that we'd never heard of Sharps before this CD -- but he's a heck of ...

Great work from an overlooked period of Keith Tippett's career -- a mid 80s stretch when he was working with a great lineup of players! The performance features some especially great saxophone work from Larry Stabbins on tenor and soprano, and Elton Dean on saxello and a bit of alto -- two ...

One of our favorite sides of the British avant scene in the 70s -- a body of work that's out, but never too out -- soaring on spiritual wings one moment, and working in playful blocks of sound the next! All three artists play saxes on the album, and Skidmore throws in a bit of drums and percussion ...

Amazing 70s work from British altoist Mike Osborne -- working here with a razor sharp trio that includes Harry Miller on bass and Louis Moholo on drums. Osborne's tone is already tremendous at the start -- but the added rhythmic pressure of Miller and Moholo really make the album cook -- burning ...

A rough-edged batch of spiritual jazz tracks from trumpeter Charles "Cha Cha" Shaw (not to be confused with Charles "Bo Bo" Shaw) -- recorded in an open-ended loft jazz mode with a really open, echoey feel! The album's a rare 70s jazz date on the Folkways label, and it's almost ...

Dramatic duets between Stan Tracey and Louis Moholo -- a rare meeting of two different talents from the UK scene, coming together here with surprisingly wonderful results! Although Tracey and Moholo have both topped our list as some of the key players to have kept jazz interesting in the UK over ...

One of the most off-beat albums we've ever heard from saxophonist James Carter -- a really unusual album done in collaboration with organist John Medeski! Although Carter's groove is usually traditional, Medeski's presence gives the album lots of fresh twists and turns -- kind of a reworked ...

Wicked work from the legendary Melvin Sparks -- 2 of his rare post-Prestige sides for the short-lived Eastbound jazz label! Texas Twister is one of Melvin's funkiest albums ever -- done in a style that's even harder and rawer than his work for Prestige! The sound is lean and often a bit rough ...

Way more than just a James Bond cash-in record -- and instead an ultra-hip jazz session from the west coast scene of the 60s! The James Bond at the helm of the record is actually Jimmy Bond -- the great bassist who worked on some key sessions of the late 50s and early 60s as a sideman, and who ...

One of Doc Severinsen's sweet funky sets from the 70s -- an album that features some great arrangements from Tom Scott, who really knows how to make things groove! The sound's a bit like some of the Maynard Ferguson albums on Columbia from the decade, but a bit warmer overall -- fuller clubby ...

A nice return to form for Gato Barbieri -- still somewhat smooth, as in his later years -- but with some great Latin backings on a number of the tracks! Barbieri's tenor still has those sharp edges we love, and even when things get a bit more soul-based on some of the cuts here, the feel is still ...

A collection of Concord Records cuts from pianist Gene Harris -- a great overview of his time at a label who really let him come back into his own! At Concord, Harris really redefined the way he hit the piano -- going back to an all-acoustic mode that recalled his roots in the Three Sounds, but ...

A jazz guitar double-header -- two older albums from the classic Great Guitars series packaged in a single set! First up is Great Guitars At The Winery -- a date that has a sweet trio of guitarists -- Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel, and Herb Ellis -- swinging in easygoing, open-ended formation that ...

An unusual set for organist Joey De Francesco -- because he not only plays his usual Hammond, but also sings a bit as well! Joey's vocal style is surprisingly great -- kind of that honest male mode that came up in the farther reaches of the 50s -- the way a musician might croon in a small club, ...

Forget the weird cover image -- because the CD sounds a lot better than it looks! The album features a very unusual performance from Hartmut Geerken and Famoudou Don Moye -- kind of a live, improvised jam, originally broadcast in Germany during the mid 90s! The set's billed as a "radio ...

A fantastic mid-60s album from Grant Green, but one that never got its due originally, because it was unreleased at the time -- and didn't come out until a Japanese issue during the 70s. This nice nice CD reissue finally issues the session in the US, and it adds one extra extended cut that wasn't ...

A lyrical masterpiece from the mid-60's. Freddie Hubbard and Herbie trade lines on extended compositions, as Herbie shows the world that he's more than just a soul jazz player by coming up with some of the most spiritual work of his career. Of course, that doesn't displace the treasure that is ...

Great great stuff -- and for some folks, THE album by Kenny Burrell! This classic set features the guitarist in a quintet with Stanley Turrentine on tenor, Major Holly on bass, Bill English on drums, and the great Ray Barretto on conga -- a really great lineup that sparkles with soulful ...

Brilliant music from this Chicago collective -- a group who initially turned their talents to resurrecting sounds from the Windy City underground of the postwar years, but who now make their own bold statement of identity! There's a focus here that we really love -- an evolution past free jazz ...

A very spiritual jazz session -- recorded by a hip group that includes Byard Lancaster on sax and Khan Jamal on vibes! The group's kind of a mixed vocal/instrumental one -- an ensemble that features equal emphasis on vocal harmonies and instrumental musings -- all with a sound that's quite unique! ...