Amazing sounds from British pianist Keith Tippett – a startling crossroads of musical scenes that beautifully brings together the best jazz, rock, and jazz rock impulses on the UK scene at the time – still with a freshness and clarity that the work would never reach a few years later! The sound here is brilliant – often a bit funky at the bottom, and definitely stretching out to freer jazz ideas on the solos, yet always managing a sense of soul and swing that really gives the record a rock solid core – so that even loopy lines seem to land back on the ground, and set the group on fire with a whole new energy. In addition to Tippett's work on electric and acoustic piano, the set also features Elton Dean on alto and saxello, Marc Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone, and Robert Wyatt on drums – on titles that include "Gridal Suite", "Five After Dawn", "This Is What Happens", "Thoughts To Geoff", and "Black Horse". CD

Never-issued work from pianist Keith Tippett – live studio recordings from 1970, and cuts that really capture Tippett at the height of his young brilliance! There's a vibe here that's often a bit different than some of his famous albums of the period – more modal in the rhythms overall, with long-spun cuts that sparkle with a beautifully spiritual sense of energy! The package features three tracks each from two different sessions in 1970 – both of which feature Elton Dean on saxes, Marc Charig on cornet, and Nick Evans on trombone – all sounding every bit as special and soulful as Tippett on the recordings. The first date also features Jeff Clyne on bass and Trevor Tomkins on drums – the second has Roy Babbington on bass and Bryan Spring on drums – and titles include "In A Vacant Mood", "Thoughts To Geoff", "How Long This Time", "Five After Dawn", and "Green & Orange Night Park". CD

A stunning large-concept work from pianist Keith Tippett – done with help from a variety of singers, who really help elevate the music to a new level! Julie Tippetts, as you might expect, is a key part of the group – a sextet of singers who group together, then solo – while Tippett conducts a larger ensemble that features improvisations from Paul Dunmall on soprano sax, Kevin Figes on alto, and Ben Waghorn on tenor – plus additional contributions from the Apollo Saxophone Quartet, and what must be a larger organ – given that the work was recorded in a cathedral in England! Julie speaks a few text passages, but mostly sings – and the BBC Singers provide some larger backdrop for the soloists. CD

Keith Tippett on piano. CD

A seminal recording from Keith Tippett's Ark – a large ensemble of British avant players that coexisted with (and shared members from) Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath! The set was recorded at a time when many on the scene where exploring territory that could only be reached with a larger group – pushing the boundaries of British jazz with a forcefulness borrowed from more progressive experiments – yet still at the best moments (such as this recording), keeping things restrained enough to let even the smallest voices and ideas be heard. Both Keith Tippett & Stan Tracey are on piano – and other players include Elton Dean, Trevor Watts, Harry Miller, Peter Kowald, Phil Wachsman and Louis Moholo – plus vocals from Julie Tippetts and Maggie Nichols. The expanded set features 4 side-long compositions – and although the degree to which they were "composed" isn't explicit, because there's a lot of fiery free playing and interplay, the album's not without focus or direction, and never descends into a din, as a group this large might verge upon. Titles include "Frames", parts 1 to 4. CD

With Tony Levin on drums. CD

Keith Tippett on piano, wood blocks, pan pipes, and percussion – with Paul Dunmall on saxophones, Paul Rogers on bass, and Tony Levin on drums and percussion. CD

A groundbreaking set from British pianist Keith Tippett – an album of completely improvised material, all-acoustic – and performed with a group that includes Julie Tippett on voice and guitar, Frank Perry on percussion, and Roy Babbington on bass. The album's got a really organic feel – not nearly as free as you might guess from the improvised nature of the work – and more with a fluid, earthy approach that's heavily concerned with sound and spirit, and which reminds us a lot of some of the more challenging early 70s work on Impulse Records. Instrumentation is all acoustic (although the set was oddly produced by Robert Fripp!) – and titles include "Song", "Dance", "Blues I", and "Woodcut". CD

Amazing sounds from British pianist Keith Tippett – a startling crossroads of musical scenes that beautifully brings together the best jazz, rock, and jazz rock impulses on the UK scene at the time – still with a freshness and clarity that the work would never reach a few years later! The sound here is brilliant – often a bit funky at the bottom, and definitely stretching out to freer jazz ideas on the solos, yet always managing a sense of soul and swing that really gives the record a rock solid core – so that even loopy lines seem to land back on the ground, and set the group on fire with a whole new energy. In addition to Tippett's work on electric and acoustic piano, the set also features Elton Dean on alto and saxello, Marc Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone, and Robert Wyatt on drums – on titles that include "Gridal Suite", "Five After Dawn", "This Is What Happens", "Thoughts To Geoff", and "Black Horse". CD

An early stunner from keyboardist Keith Tippett – served up with a punch and power that's missing from a lot of his later work! The music's a perfect blend of free-thinking jazz and some of the more progressive rock ideas of the time – not exactly jazz rock, not exactly avant jazz – but a really unique blend that flourished briefly in the UK for a handful years, under the guidance of Tippett and some of his key contemporaries! Deeper ideas are given a great sense of shape on the set – as Keith plays both acoustic and electric piano – in a cool combo that also includes Elton Dean on alto, Nick Evans on trombone, Mark Charig on cornet, and Alan Jackson on drums. The tracks have a nice little groove at the best moments – not really funky, but not that far off too – almost an echo of some of the MPS or other European styles. Titles include "This Evening Was Like Last Year", "I Wish There Was A Nowhere", "Violence", "Three Minutes From An Afternoon In July", and "Stately Dance For Miss Primm". CD

Keith Tippett and Matthew Bourne on piano –performing together in the studio and live in concert. CD

" A rerelease of two CDs in a budget box". Gold disc copies of "Mujicain: The Bristol Concert" and " Couple in Spirit II". CD

Julie Driscoll's come a long way from her years with Brian Auger here – stepping out in a freer sound that marks the shift in the British scene from beat group grooving to jazz-rock jamming. The session features a host of likely suspects from that hip side of the scene where avant jazz and rock merge – a lineup that includes Keith Tippett on piano, Elton Dean on saxes, Chris Spedding and Brian Godding on guitars, and Nick Evans on trombone – and Julie's vocal style is finely tuned to match the craft of the players on the set, with with fantastically deft twist and turns! She's a lot more open-ended in her singing, with less of the R&B inspired approaches of the late 60s, and more of the expansive vocalizations that were showing up in the work of other European vocalists of the 70s. Titles include "Leaving It All Behind", "Break-Out", "A New Awakening", "Walk Down", and "I Nearly Forgot – But I Went Back". CD

A landmark session that gathered together just about every hip British jazz and jazz/rock musician of the time – and brought them together into one super-cool orchestra of sound! Robert Fripp produced the record, and Keith Tippett is the overall music director – but the album's got a feel that's much more in the avant side of the UK jazz spectrum – particularly the trippier side of the Deram/Decca label of the late 60s – like work by Mike Westbrook or Mike Gibbs! The lineup is huge – with Elton Dean and Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, Alan Skidmore and Gary Windo on tenor, Ian Carr and Mongesi Fesa on trumpets, Mark Charig on cornet, Nick Evans and Paul Rutherford on trombone, Keith Tippett on piano, Brian Godding on guitar, Robert Wyatt and John Marshall on drums, and Maggie Nicholls, Julie Tippett, Mike Patto, and Zoot Money on vocals – plus lots of strings as well! Great 2CD version – remastered from the original tapes, with much better sound than previous versions. CD

A really surprising step forward for two members of the legendary group Blossom Toes – guitarist Brian Godding and bassist Brian Belshaw – both musicians who were already blowing the scene away in their previous group, but who here expand their sound with a whole range of influences they'd just picked up! One of those is the voice of Julie Driscoll, who sings on a few tracks here with Godding – and another is some jazz elements they'd absorbed in the Centipede group of Keith Tippett – carried off here by guest work from Mark Charig on trumpet, Nick Evans on trombone, and even some piano from Brian Auger! Yet it's clear that Belshaw and Godding are having more than enough fun experimenting on their own with drummer Kevin Westlake – and there's an open, creative style to the record that really keeps things interesting throughout – and moves past the guitar-based modes that were the Blossom Toes stock in trade. Titles include "Rocky Yagbag", "Seed", "Moondance", "Rise", "Lost Horizons", "You're So Young", "Sticky Living", and "New Day". 2CD version features loads of bonus tracks and rare material – including "Square Dance", "Snippet With Tippett", "Come On Eyes", "Black Crow's Nest", "Freedom", "When I was In The Country", "Backstreet", "Waltz", "Earache", and "Hard Day's Night" – plus BBC live recordings of "Sticky Living" and "Go Have Yourself A Good Time". CD

A landmark session that gathered together just about every hip British jazz and jazz/rock musician of the time – and brought them together into one super-cool orchestra of sound! Robert Fripp produced the record, and Keith Tippett is the overall music director – but the album's got a feel that's much more in the avant side of the UK jazz spectrum – particularly the trippier side of the Deram/Decca label of the late 60s – like work by Mike Westbrook or Mike Gibbs! The lineup is huge – with Elton Dean and Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, Alan Skidmore and Gary Windo on tenor, Ian Carr and Mongesi Fesa on trumpets, Mark Charig on cornet, Nick Evans and Paul Rutherford on trombone, Keith Tippett on piano, Brian Godding on guitar, Robert Wyatt and John Marshall on drums, and Maggie Nicholls, Julie Tippett, Mike Patto, and Zoot Money on vocals – plus lots of strings as well! CD

A large version of the Company concept – and one that continues all the experiments of their recorded legacy in a really great way! As with the others, guitarist Derek Bailey is at the core here – working sonic magic on both acoustic and electric guitar – in a lineup that also features Fred Frith on guitar and electronics, George Lewis on trombone, Anne Le Baron on harp, Keith Tippett on piano, Phil Wachsmann on violin and electronics, Julie Tippetts on guitar and voice, Ursula Oppens on piano, Moto Yoshizawa on bass, and Akio Suziki on glass harmonica and gongs! There's a great sense of opportunity and discovery here – as improvising heavyweights mix with less familiar names – and acoustic elements find a way to come into play with more electric sources. The first album features "Epiphany" – a large group improvisation with the entire ensemble – with beautiful interplay at a very sensitive level – hardly the sonic onslaught you might expect – followed by the second album, "Epiphanies", which has the group breaking out into smaller ensembles – with even more sonic and musical variety. CD

Maybe the most striking work we've heard from all the players in the group – and that's really saying a lot, given how many stunning records they gave us back in the 70s! The music here is wonderfully free and improvised, but also has a way of focusing on a specific element too – sometimes the piano pulsations of Keith Tippett, sometimes the very organic bass work of Chris Laurence, or the soulful alto sax work of Elton Dean, or intuitive percussion of Louis Moholo! The qualities are a bit hard to describe in words, but there's a vibe to the set that really shows why key players of the British 70s scene were often so different than their European counterparts – this mix of humanism and instrumental progressivism, sometimes a bit warmer than at other points – but balanced with freer flights of creativity. Titles include "Naima", "Dede Bup Bup", "Overdoing It", "Not Too Much", and "Nancy". CD features in four unissued bonus tracks, the most striking of the bunch – "Edeeupub", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Attic", and "Echoes". CD

Julie Driscoll's come a long way from her years with Brian Auger here – stepping out in a freer sound that marks the shift in the British scene from beat group grooving to jazz-rock jamming. The session features a host of likely suspects from that hip side of the scene where avant jazz and rock merge – a lineup that includes Keith Tippett on piano, Elton Dean on saxes, Chris Spedding and Brian Godding on guitars, and Nick Evans on trombone – and Julie's vocal style is finely tuned to match the craft of the players on the set, with with fantastically deft twist and turns! She's a lot more open-ended in her singing, with less of the R&B inspired approaches of the late 60s, and more of the expansive vocalizations that were showing up in the work of other European vocalists of the 70s. Titles include "Leaving It All Behind", "Break-Out", "A New Awakening", "Walk Down", and "I Nearly Forgot – But I Went Back". CD

Really mind-expanding work from British singer Julie Tippetts – an artist who's come a long way from the straighter soul sounds she was doing with Brian Auger in the late 60s! The album shows the same evolution expressed by many of Julie's British jazz rock contemporaries – a progressive, expanded sound that's brought in influences from different 70s strands in jazz and rock, and which exhibits a penchant for longer tunes that have a free interplay – yet one that's still pretty dedicated to rhythmic progression – ala mid 70s Soft Machine or solo work by Robert Wyatt! Keith Tippet plays piano on the session – which also has work from Elton Dean on reeds, Brian Godding on guitar, and Louis Moholo on drums – on tracks that include "Sunset Glow", "Mind Of A Child", "Lilies", and "What Is Living". CD

Really mind-expanding work from British singer Julie Tippetts – an artist who's come a long way from the straighter soul sounds she was doing with Brian Auger in the late 60s! The album shows the same evolution expressed by many of Julie's British jazz rock contemporaries – a progressive, expanded sound that's brought in influences from different 70s strands in jazz and rock, and which exhibits a penchant for longer tunes that have a free interplay – yet one that's still pretty dedicated to rhythmic progression – ala mid 70s Soft Machine or solo work by Robert Wyatt! Keith Tippet plays piano on the session – which also has work from Elton Dean on reeds, Brian Godding on guitar, and Louis Moholo on drums – on tracks that include "Sunset Glow", "Mind Of A Child", "Lilies", and "What Is Living". CD