Never-issued work from Don Cherry – and a really key piece of the puzzle in the career of this legendary trumpeter! The recordings were done for Swedish Radio, with great fidelity – more than just live tracks captured in a club, and instead some really thoughtful material that marks an early pairing of Cherry's talents with the Swedish scene that he would soon call home! Don plays cornet, and the music is maybe a bit inside compared to some of his later Swedish experiments – but still pretty amazing, and a great bridge from his work with Ornette Coleman and Sonny Rollins. Players include Mogens Bollerup on tenor, Atli Bjorn on piano, Benny Nielsen on bass, and Simon Koppel on drums – and titles include the Cherry originals "Priceless", "Nigeria", and "The Ambassador From Greenland" – plus a reading of "You Took Advantage Of Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Arguably the best of Cherry's albums for Blue Note – and a real masterpiece of soulful avant playing! The group features Cherry on cornet, Gato Barbieri on tenor (and he's incredible, by the way!), Henry Grimes on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums. Grimes and Blackwell are more than just timekeepers – and deliver a lot of the melody of the session, yet still never lose their sense of swing. Barbieri's fragile raw tone proves to be a good one to work with Cherry, even if there are a few touches of Ornette in his playing. The album's divided up into 2 long suites – "Complete Communion" and "Elephantasy" – both of which are excellent. A real treat – with no sloppiness, lots of fresh ideas, and a good sense of both freedom and control! LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing music from the great Don Cherry – quite a statement, given how much fantastic sounds Cherry had already given us by this point in his career! In the years before this set, Don had worked in some very free, avant modes – and also explored a fair bit of global styles too – yet this set has this great electric vibe – one that mixes the freedom of Cherry's trumpet with spacey instrumentation and really great production – almost even funky at points! Players include Ricky Cherry on electric and acoustic piano, Charlie Haden on bass, Billy Higgins on drums, and Frank Lowe on tenor – and one cut has Bunchie Fox on electric bongos and Verna Gillis on voice. All tracks are nice and long – and titles include "Degi Degi", "Brown Rice", "Malkauns", and "Chenrezig". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic album from the great Don Cherry – and maybe one of the earliest examples of the way that he mixed together avant jazz and a globe's worth of influences on the European scene! The album features three long tracks – all seemingly improvised – very heavy on percussion, with work from Karl Berger on vibes, marimba, piano, celeste, and other percussion – and Jacques Thollot on drums and timbales – while Cherry himself plays gong, alongside his more familiar cornet, plus piano and a bit of bamboo flute. There's a huge amount going on here – almost as if Cherry is trying to invent spiritual and loft jazz modes at the same time – with a warmth, cohesion, and sense of soul that's a different than his more famous Paris recordings for the BYG label a few years later. Titles include "Infant Happiness", "Symphony For Improviser", and "Elephantasy". LP, Vinyl record album

Don Cherry really breaks out here on his classic Mu sessions from France – using the new freedoms of post-68 Paris to explore themes at a level that would set the tone for generations to come! The album's very spare, and very improvised – with Cherry on pocket trumpet, piano, and wooden flute – plus a bit of percussion too – alongside drummer Ed Blackwell, who's equally unbridled – showing a huge evolution since the time both he and Don spent in the group of Ornette Coleman! There's a few echoes of the global elements that Cherry would later embrace more strongly in the 70s – but the core energy here is mostly improvised jazz, handled at a level that really makes a lot better use of the freedom than some of Don's contemporaries. Titles on this second part include "Bamboo Night", "The Mysticism Of My Sound", "Psycho Drama", "Smiling Faces Going Places", "Teo Teo Can", and "Dollar Brand/Spontaneous Composing/Exert Man On The Moon". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare 70s work from Don Cherry, and one of the most perfect realizations of his organic music concept – a quartet session recorded for Italian broadcast, with long songs that have a very spun-out, meditative vibe! Cherry's on pocket trumpet, but is way more than a horn player – as his vocalizations and spirit really guide the whole proceedings – played by a quartet that features Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, Gian Piero Pramaggiore on guitar, and Moki on tanpura! As you can imagine from the mix of instruments, there's an earthy, organic vibe to the whole set – really special sounds that come together with a natural beauty that may well make the record one of Don's most spiritual performances of the 70s – and that's really saying a lot. Titles include "Koye", "Flute Song", "Dissolution", "Nana's Solo", "Om Shanti Om", Luna Turca", and "Chenrezig". LP, Vinyl record album

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Four slices of genius from this important German jazz festival of the 60s – one of the leading showcases for the best in avant garde and experimental music! The sounds here are as stunning as the lineup – maybe even more so, as there's some nicely-unfamiliar, surprisingly collaborative passages going on – all of which really illuminate the studio music by these groundbreaking artists! The set begins with "Andalusian Proverb" – a beautiful showcase for the dynamic vocals of Jeanne Lee, as she sings with Gunter Hampel on vibes, Albert Mangelsdorff on trombone, and Pierre Courbois on drums. "Cubis" features a sublime trio with Marion Brown on alto, Peter Kowald on bass, and John Stevens on drums – and that rhythm duo also supports "Jepa", which features Mangelsdorff on trombone and Evan Parker on soprano sax – and "Relationship", which also features Parker – as well as Don Cherry on trumpet and Buschi Niebergall on second bass. LP, Vinyl record album

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A really different take on the music of Don Cherry – but one that we're guessing Don would have really approved of himself! The "acoustronics" in the group's name slightly gives away the vibe – as there's definitely acoustic elements, but also a fair bit of electronics – of the sort that Cherry was embracing more in the mid 80s, as part of his continuing musical journey from jazz, to global realms, to territory that might resonate more with the sound of the streets! There's no trumpet at all on the record, but Vincent Thekal plays tenor and soprano, to hold on to a jazz component – amidst lots of drum machine and keyboard parts from leader Gary Gritness, plus more from Olivier Portal – both musicians who somehow manage to evoke the global currents of earlier Don Cherry music, but in a very different way. Titles include "Mahakali", "Karmapa Chenno", "Universal Mother", "I Walk", "Malkauns", and "Degi Degi". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first albums ever cut as a leader by reedman Gato Barbieri – and a very sharp-edged session that's quite different than his better-known work in the 70s! Barbieri's tenor here has an incredible tone – as deeply soulful as Pharoah Sanders or late John Coltrane, and blown with a great sense of freedom – really stretching out on the album's long tracks. Gato never lets himself get too unfocused, though – and the album's an illustration of a side of his talents that was perhaps only shown this well on his recordings with Don Cherry. Players include Calo Scott on cello, Sirone on bass, and Bobby Kapp on drums – and the album's got a vibe that easily matches other ESP sets from the time by Charles Tyler or Sonny Simmons. Titles include "In Search Of The Mystery", "Obsession No 2", "Michelle", and "Cinematheque". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool project from Karl Berger – a set that features two different groups, both hip – one with Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Tom Cora on cello, George Lewis on trombone, and Leroy Jenkins on violin – the other with Oliver Lake and Don Davis on alto and flute, Lee Konitz on alto, Tom Collins on tenor and soprano, Trilok Gurtu on tabla, and Peter Apfelbaum on drums and percussion! LP, Vinyl record album

The only album ever cut as a leader by tenor saxophonist Charles Brackeen during his early years – and a real standout in the catalog of the legendary Strata East label! The set's got an unusual history – in that it's part of the Dolphy Series, recorded before the label started by Clifford Jordan – as a way of giving a strong showcase to so many new ideas that were bursting in jazz during the late 60s! Here, Brackeen's tenor is set up with a trio of musicians most familiarly associated with Ornette Coleman – Don Cherry on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums – a unit that's completely on fire, and freer than before – yet each graced with such strong individuality, every aspect of the record is a complete delight. Brackeen is amazing (why the hell didn't he record more like this at the time?) – but the bass, trumpet, and drums are all very distinct too – the perfect power of free improvisation when it's done right. Titles include "Rhythm X", "Hour Glass", "CB Blues", and "Charles Concept". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning session by Ornette, and one that always seems to get overlooked in discussions of his albums for Atlantic! His quartet here features the amazing Scott LaFaro on bass, and a young Ed Blackwell on drums – both of whom give the tracks an amazing pulse that brings new energy out of Ornette and Don Cherry's solos – working in a modal groove that's as catchy as it is modern! All tracks are named after initials of titles of books by Sigmund Freud, including "T & T" (Totem & Taboo), "C&D"(Civilization and Discontent), "W.R.U.", and "R.P.D.D.". LP, Vinyl record album

An album that certainly lives up to the promise of its title – as it's filled with amazing instrumentation, groundbreaking compositions, and a sound in jazz that few ears could imagine at the time! The groove here is extremely modal – all instruments rolling along on the same rhythmic pulse, with drums, bass, trumpet, and alto sax incredibly intertwined! Ornette's really got an edge on his instrument – cutting even more deeply here than the clipped, punctuated cornet work of Don Cherry – and the rhythm team of Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins are simply amazing – not just keeping up with the energy of Ornette, but also really helping facilitate it as well! Titles include the haunting "Lonely Woman", plus "Peace", "Chronology", and "Focus on Sanity". LP, Vinyl record album

An album that certainly lives up to the promise of its title – as it's filled with amazing instrumentation, groundbreaking compositions, and a sound in jazz that few ears could imagine at the time! The groove here is extremely modal – all instruments rolling along on the same rhythmic pulse, with drums, bass, trumpet, and alto sax incredibly intertwined! Ornette's really got an edge on his instrument – cutting even more deeply here than the clipped, punctuated cornet work of Don Cherry – and the rhythm team of Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins are simply amazing – not just keeping up with the energy of Ornette, but also really helping facilitate it as well! Titles include the haunting "Lonely Woman", plus "Peace", "Chronology", and "Focus on Sanity". LP, Vinyl record album

A key album for any fan of classic Ornette Coleman – a 1971 Atlantic release that pulled together tracks from the late 50's and early 60's that didn't make it onto Ornette's earlier records for the label! Why these tracks weren't released at the time is a mystery to all, because the material is great, and ranks with some of his best stuff – and over the years, the value of the album has grown even more within the early Ornette oeuvre – as it contains key tracks that have come to define his edgiest moments of the early 60s . The LP includes "First Take", a 17 minute earlier version of the material the ended up on Free Jazz, plus additional quartet recordings with Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell – on titles that include "Check Up", "Little Symphony", and the wonderful "Joy Of A Toy". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the fullest, most ambitious project so far from the Fire Orchestra of reedman Mats Gustafsson – one that continues his strong legacy in avant jazz, but also reflects his deep understanding of other styles too – as the record weaves together vocal passages, noise, electronics, and even some slight global currents too! The album starts in friendly territory – almost a sing-song sort of vibe, complete with vocals from Mariam Wallentin and Sofia Jernberg, who seem to echo some of Gustafsson's work with Neneh Cherry – but as the album-long set progresses, it moves through a rich array of other sonic territory – aided by work from Susana Santos Silva and Niklas Barno on trumpets, Mats Aleklint on trombone, Jonas Kullhammar on braithophone and slide sax, Per Texas Johansson on clarinets and bartione sax, Andreas Berthling on electronics, and Mats himself on bartione and slide sax – as well as a number of others we don't have space to list here! By the end of the five-part "Ritual" suite, things move back to earth a bit more, with a return to vocals too – and our hats are off to Gustafsson for doing such a great job of putting the whole thing together! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most beautiful albums that Charlie Haden ever recorded – and if he only ever appeared on one record in his life, we'd still love him tremendously for this one! The album has a feel that's very much in keeping with both the "liberation" and "orchestra" in the title – "liberation", in that the music is filled with inspiration from South American sources, and has a strongly political feel at times; and "orchestra" because the group here is somewhat large, and filled with a tremendous array of expressive players – including Gato Barbieri on tenor, Dewey Redman on alto and tenor, Don Cherry on cornet and flutes, Michael Mantler on trumpet, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Robert Northern on French horn, Paul Motian and Andrew Cyrille on percussion, Carla Bley on piano, and Perry Robinson on clarinet. Haden leads these disparate talents through a set of tremendously focused music – filled with as many ideas as it is with a sense of humanity and soul – all to brilliantly point the way forward for the new sound of Impulse Records in the years after Coltrane's death! Titles include the classic "Song For Che", plus Ornette's "War Orphans", Carla Bley's "The Interlude", and "Song Of The United Front", by Hans Eisler, and with words by Brecht! LP, Vinyl record album

A super-hip batch of soul jazz tracks by Albert Toodie Heath of the Heath Brothers – working here on a rare session as a leader, with a sound that's right up there with the Heath Brothers' early work for Strata East!! The lineup is incredible – as Heath is joined by players that include Don Cherry, Buster Williams, Mtume, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Heath, and Ed Blackwell – all coming together for a session that's nearly lost to the history books, but which is one of the strongest spiritual jazz sessions of the late 60s! Herbie plays all acoustic piano throughout, and the tracks are long, leaping, and loping – with stretched-out spiritual solos from Jimmy Heath and Don Cherry – and a proud and righteous sound that's extremely free-spirited without going too far out! Titles include "Baraka", "Maulana", "Dunia", and "Kamili". LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful collection – an important re-investigation of the unusual mix of sounds and styles on the New York scene in the years after disco – a time when funk, punk, hip hop, and art were all colliding at once – providing a really fresh antidote to the staid sounds of Studio 54! The "disco" in the title should be taken lightly – as these cuts didn't play at the slick uptown dance spots – but were instead the soundtrack for the cool spots happening downtown, as the previous loft culture morphed into clubs, in this very special blend of the energy of CBGB and the underground soulful dancefloors. The set list is filled with classics from this time – and titles include "Cavern" by Liquid Liquid, "Tell You Today (voc)" by Loose Joints, "Walking On Thin Ice (re-edit)" by Yoko Ono, "Over & Over" by Material, "Spasticus Autisticus (version)" by Ian Dury & The Seven Seas Players, "Kiss Me Again (original edit)" by Dinosaur, "Move" by Nicky Siano, "School Bell/Tree House" by Indian Ocean, "I Walk" by Don Cherry, "Voices Inside My Head" by Common Sense, and "Wheel Me Out" by Was Not Was. LP, Vinyl record album

Both rock and soul – and features tracks by The Counts, George Washington & The Cherry Bombs, Liberty Party, The Dynamics, City Limits, Don & The Goodtimers, The Bandits, Sonics, and Mr Lucky & The Gamblers! LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic look at the righteous current of energy that swept through American music at the end of the 60s – that huge wave of knowledge and political inspiration that still stands as one of our favorite moments in jazz and soul! The Civil Rights generation had gotten some things accomplished, but not everything – and a new wave of action arose in various scenes of the underground – not just pushing the musical formats past anything that had happened before, but also doing so with a strong message of pride and empowerment! This collection surveys some of the best tracks of that moment – and also provides a great batch of historical notes to put the whole thing in context – done in collaboration with the book of the same name, but equally great as a soundtrack and document on its own. The package is overflowing with Dusty Groove classics – and titles include "Sweet Songs" by Sarah Webster Fabio, "Surtal Ihklas" by Doug Carn, "Vibes From The Tribe" by Phil Ranelin, "Desert Fairy Princess" by Horace Tapscott & The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, "Sounds From The Bush" by The Mandingo Griot Society with Don Cherry, "Is It Too Late" by Duke Edwards & The Young Ones, "Strong Men" by David McKnight, "Black Narcissus" by Joe Henderson, "Malcolm X" by Phil Cohran & The Artistic Heritage Ensemble, "Mother Of The Future" by Carlos Garnett, "Red Black & Green" by Roy Ayers, "African Rhythms" by Oneness Of Juju, and "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron. LP, Vinyl record album

The hippest funky jazz from the start of the 70s – music that takes all the pride, power, triumph, and challenge of the 60s – and focuses into a bold new energy for a young generation! The work here draws equally from jazz and soul, with lots of other global influences coming into play as well – and together, the tracks present an amazing portrait of a generation moving past the initial Civil Rights struggle – building a new culture through righteous expressions like these! Nearly every track is a classic – and all the artists are ones we've supported for years on their own reissues – and together, the tracks sound wonderful, especially when given the full sort of Soul Jazz presentation with great notes and other details. Titles include "Exchange (part 2)" by Rashied Ali & Frank Lowe, "Space Jungle Funk" by Oneness Of Juju, "Damballa" by The Pharoahs, "Whitey On The Moon" by Gil Scott Heron, "Brown Rice" by Don Cherry, "Work It Out" by Sarah Webster Fabio, "Celestial Blues" by Gary Bartz, "Beneficent" by Tribe, "Sweet Power Your Embrace" by James Mason, "Kitty Bey" by Byron Morris & Unity, "Nappy Dugout" by Funkadelic, "Theme De Yoyo" by Art Ensemble Of Chicago, and "Welcome To The Party" by Har-You Percussion Group. LP, Vinyl record album

A later effort from The Creation – that fantastic UK mod psych group from the 60s who never full got their due – but whose influence was felt strongly for generations to come! This late 80s set is a great example of that – as group members Eddie Phillips and Kenny Pickett work on lean songs that really recall the charms of The Creation at their best – done for a whole new generation of listeners and labels inspired by their groundbreaking 60s material, at a level that reminds us that sometimes the originators do it best! Titles include a remake of "Making Time" – plus "Lay The Ghost", "Psychedelic Rose", "United", "Radio Beautiful", "Spirit Called Love", and "White Night". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare gems from the vaults of Jamaican production genius Bunny Lee – material cut mostly at his home studio, in the company of some very good friends and musical associates – hence the artist listing on the set! Some of the cuts here are from rare dubplates or acetates, others are extended or unreleased tracks from back in the day – and the work is united by a warmly collaborative vibe, and that nicely gritty way that Lee had of cutting a tune – leaving all the sharp corners in place, with an especially nice crackle in the rhythms, while also letting the sweetness really flow from the singer in the lead! Titles include "The Time Has Come" by Slim Smith, "Stick By Me" by John Holt, "Give Me Love" by Cornell Campbell, "Two Ton Gulletto" by U Roy Junior, "Sentimenal Man (ext mix)" by Ernest Wilson, "Devil's Brother In Law" by I Roy & Augustus Pablo, "My Confession" by Cornell Campbell, "Man Next Door" by Horace Andy, "Cherry Oh Baby" by Eric Donaldson, and "Any Heart Can Be Broken" by Delroy Wilson. LP, Vinyl record album

The second great album by Kim Fowley's pet Runaways – the album with Lita Ford, Joan Jett and the rest of the gals cloaked in fog and straddling polls on the cover – making them look like a cross between Mott The Hoople and the headliners at that seedy club by the airport! Like the debut, the Queens Of Noise album is total ear candy – and this one is actually probably even a little bit more consistent – and might rock a little harder, too. It's not quite as notorious without the illicit wallop of the group's debut single "Cherry Bomb" – but that's probably the only reason it's not as well remembered. They were still underage at this point, too, so the front-to-back innuendo still resonates! Buy this and the debut album, then take your Donna's CDs back to the mall! Tracks include "Queens Of Noise", "Take It Or Leave It", "Midnight Music", "Born To Be Bad", "Neon Angels On The Road To Ruin", "I Love Playing With Fire", "California Paradise", "Hollywood", "Heartbeat", and "Johnny Guitar". LP, Vinyl record album

Magical music from the days when radio really mattered – an assortment of raw and raunchy singles all popularized by Pittsburgh DJ Mad Mike Metrovich in the 60s! Mad Mike had an ear that was unlike anyone else – a way of seeking out unusual tunes with a gritty edge – cuts that fell far from the charts, and included a rich array of garage, instrumental, and R&B-influenced styles! Even at the height of his popularity, Mike was dedicated to digging up little-heard singles – and would often work towards keeping them obscure by covering up the labels – a practice that was still yet to come in hip hop or Northern soul scenes. This amazing series does a great job of making Mike's music live again – combining rare singles with a few radio spots too – and packaging the whole thing will full notes on Mike, the Pittsburgh scene, and the rich array of record stores and radio stations that allowed music this great to exist! Titles on this third volume include "Firewater" by Premieres, "Strollie Bun" by Blonde Bomber, "Malanese" by Avalons, "Monkey Man" by Baby Huey & The Babysitters, "The Birds" by Motivations, "Oo Ma Liddi" by JJ Jackson & The Jackals, "Cotton" by Duvals, "Come On Back" by Big Syl Barnes, "Zebra" by Youngsters, "Done Done The Slop" by Ervin Rucker, "Cherry Juice" by Marino Choice, "The Hunch" by Mad Mike & The Maniacs, and "Uncle John" by Wild Child Gipson. LP, Vinyl record album