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

One of Don Cherry's most spiritual, far-reaching projects – a wonderful record that builds both on his key avant work of the 60s, and some of the globally-inspired sounds he was cutting overseas! This date was done in close collaboration with the New York underground of the time – and the large group features work from a rich array of great musicians – including Charles Brackeen on soprano and alto sax, Carlos Ward on alto, Frank Lowe and Dewey Redman on tenors, Charlie Haden on bass, Carla Bley on piano, and Ed Blackwell on drums – working with additional string and percussion players in a sound that's completely sublime! There's a great ear here for unusual sonic twists and turns, yet these are mixed with some deeper organic tones, and some freer jazz passages – all to really ignite a great fire as the set rolls on. Titles include "March Of The Hobbits", "Tantra", "Desireless", "Infinite Gentleness", and "Trans-Love Airways". LP, Vinyl record album

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

The third meeting of this world jazz ensemble, with Colin Walcott of Oregon on sitar, tabla and hammered dulcimer, Don Cherry on trumpet, organ and doussn'gouni and Nana Vasconcelos on berimbau and percussion. All three players have always had a very wide reaching approach to playing, even incorporating international elements in their less overtly "world music" projects, and this set finds them once again vibing well off each other. The tunes feature a wide open approach with improvised excursions on traditional and contemporary themes, with 7 tracks in all: "Goshakabuchi", "Hey Da Ba Doom", "Travel By Night", "Lullaby", "Trayra Boia", "Clicky Clacky" and "Inner Organs". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful meeting of two major talents from the left end of jazz – recorded in the early 60's when both were working for Atlantic! Despite the "avant garde" title, this set is straighter than you'd expect – very much in the spirit of Coltrane's work for the label, but with perhaps some of the more angular styles that Cherry was laying down with Ornette Coleman at the time. The session has Coltrane joining Ornette's group of Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell – save for a few numbers that feature Percy Heath on bass instead of Haden. The set includes great readings of Ornette's "The Blessing", "The Invisible", and "Focus On Sanity", and Coltrane plays both soprano sax and tenor! LP, Vinyl record album

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

A fantastic all-star quartet – performing here in a concert that's full of surprises, and which really opens up the best aspects of all the musicians at this point in their career! There's definitely some of the freer improv you might expect, but the music also has some more rhythmic, swinging passages too – very much part of that legacy that Don Cherry explored in the 70s, and always with the wider ears for different sounds that he brought into the mix – served up in part by the very creative work on drums and percussion by Masahiko Togashi! Togashi can be free one minute, swing the next – and both the bass of Dave Holland and pocket of Don Cherry really respond to the changes – with the soprano sax of Steve Lacy maybe holding its own in a very special space. Cherry also plays a bit of piano, and titles include "Mopti", "Quakes", "Luna Turk", "The Crust", and "I Speak To The Star Last Night". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal ESP work from Albert Ayler – a unique session done as a soundtrack to a short (and weird!) film from experimental director Michael Snow! The lineup is a bit different than some of Ayler's other ESP albums – and features Don Cherry on trumpet and cornet, John Tchicai on alto, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums. At times, the record's got a bit of a "new thing" vibe – a bit more spacious and sonic than some of Ayler's other material – but at other times, it burns with an intensity that's almost harder and freer than any of Albert's trio dates of the 60s. The album features 2 long tracks – "AY" and "ITT" – plus the shorter "Don's Dawn". 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

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 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

Second ECM recording of Ornette Coleman alums, once again playing a handful of newer tunes as well as Coleman repertoire. Don Cherry's on trumpet and piano, Dewey Redman on tenor sax & musette, Charlie Haden on bass and Ed Blackwell on drums. While Coleman was delving into full-on electric ensemble playing with Prime Time at the time of this recording, this group maintains the spirit of th eoriginal harmelodic quartet. 6 tracks in all: "HappyHouse", "Mopti", "New Dream", "Rushour", "Broken Shadows" and "Playing". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Sonny Rollins' best albums ever, and a totally inspired, totally non-stop freewheeling live set, recorded with Don Cherry, Bob Cranshaw, and Billy Higgins! Working on long tracks in an unfettered setting, Rollins' hits one of those rare moments of genius where he can turn his solo over and over again – never losing interest, and always opening up new territory – at a level that easily matches the oft-made claim that he's one of the greatest tenor talents ever on the tenor sax! The album features only 3 long tracks, all dominated by masterful work by Rollins – and titles include "Oleo", "Dearly Beloved", and "Doxy". LP, Vinyl record album

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith in his best sort of setting – working in an openly creative space for improvisation, one that has Smith not only shaping things majestically with his lines on trumpet – but also making some nice shifts to other instrumentation too! Drummer Sabu Toyozumi is a fantastic partner on the set – a sometimes-strong instrumentalist, but one who's also nicely focused too – so that he really finds a way to match all the many shifts and steps that Wadada makes over the course of the album's long, live, improvised performance. Smith also handles a bit of koto, bamboo flute, and percussion – and titles include "Don Cherry – A Silver Flute Song", "Lines", "Burning Meditation/Uprising", "There Are Human Rights Blues", and "Creative Music 1 – Red Mountain Garden Wild Arises & Glacier". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful early work from Eddie Cleanhead Vinson and Jimmy Witherspoon – both singers who had a strong connection to jazz over the years, but who work here in a nicely raw mode that befits the album's King Records placement! Vinson's a genius – a really overlooked singer who can effortlessly skirt jazz and blues, with a sophistication that was a huge precursor to the soul generation to come – and Witherspoon here is at the rawest side of his spectrum, with a vibe that's more LA postwar scene than some of his later material. Vinson sings "Featherbed Mama", "No Good Woman", "Ashes On My Pillow", "I Trusted You Baby", and "Somebody Done Stole My Cherry Red" – and Witherspoon sings "Sad Life", "Don't Tell Me Now", "The Last Mile", "24 Sad Hours", and "Highway To Happiness". 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

An obscure album of uptempo funk – with a pretty straight dancefloor groove, and lots of bass pedal and keyboard work. The record's not as p-funky as the group's first, but it's not without some nice moments – as the record's got work by some good funky jazz players like Paul Jackson, Dorothy Ashby, Bobby Bryant, and Donald Myrick. Titles include "Color Blind", "Cherry", "Pearl", "Have A Good Time", and "Smokin On The One". 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