French modern meets French traditional – in a really unique set of recordings that pair soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet and pianist Martial Solal! The CD features work from 2 different 1957 sessions recorded in Paris – both of which perfectly illustrate the way in which Bechet's tone and phrasing on his instrument could have a huge influence on later modernists like Steve Lacy and Albert Ayler. The work is straight, and often based around standards – but Solal's work on piano sets up the tunes in a way that allows Bechet to really play with his sound – and the record's made even better by the stark production technique, which brings out Bechet's tone better than many other French recordings we've heard. Kenny Clarke drums on about half the CD's 14 tracks, and titles include "Once In A While", "I Only Have Eyes For You", "The Man I Love", "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams", "Embraceable You", "Rose Room", "I Never Knew", and "These Foolish Things". CD

A really unusual album – one that was also issued under the title Reunion A Paris – and which features work from a mixed combo of French, British, and American players in the postwar years! The combo is a sextet – with Jimmy Deuchar on trumpet, Billy Byers on trombone, Allan Eager on tenor, Martial Solal on piano, Benoit Quersin on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums – and they all come together in a spirit that's strongly like some of the late 50s Tempo recordings in the UK – especially some of Deuchar's material! LP, Vinyl record album

A very unusual meeting of two hip pianists! Titles include "Key For Two", "Bag's Groove", "Lover Come Back To Me", "Godchild", "Three For Two", "Fly Me To The Moon", and "The Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes original titles "Bossatina", "Groenland", "Fanfari Dondaine", and "7 + 4 = X". LP, Vinyl record album

A trio session featuring Marc Johnson on bass, Paul Motian on drums, and Martial Solal on piano. Tracks are a mix of standards and compositions by Solal and Motian. CD

An Italian set of solo work by this legendary French modernist – with titles that include "Ah Non", "Claudiana", "Bla Bla Bla", "Corcovado", and "Rue Maurice Ravel". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare set from French keyboardist Martial Solal – and one of his few funky records! The set features Solal on electric and acoustic piano, playing in a trio that includes Bernard Lubat on drums and Henri Texier on bass – and the tunes on the set have a rolling funky feel that's great all the way through. A number of tracks seem to blend the acoustic and electric piano using overdubs, creating a nice counterpoint on the keys – one that fills out the sound a lot more than a typical trio album, and which puts Solal at the head of some very tasty grooves! Titles include "Est Il Espiegle", "Les 24 Heures Dementes", "Locomotion", "Un Drole D'Escalier Roulant", and "Peage Ingrat". LP, Vinyl record album

With Solal on piano, Guy Pedersen on bass, and Daniel Humair on drums – on titles that include "Let's Waltz", "Under Paris Skies", "Billie's Bounce", "Jordu", "Vice Versa", and "Aigue Marine". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic duets between saxophonist Dave Liebman and pianist Martial Solal – a very intimate, but very powerful – almost as if both musicians are getting to the heart of their strengths, showing them in the best possible light as they come together with a strong sense of imagination and improvisational creativity! All the tunes are familiar standards, but they really sparkle – filled with lots of little twists and turns, and angular surprises that go way past familiar melody – at a level that's even more powerful than the previous set of duets the pair recorded. Titles include "Night & Day", "Small One", "In & Out", "Stella By Starlight", "A Night In Tunisia", and "Summertime". CD

Martial Solal on piano, Marc Johnson on double bass, and Peter Erskine on drums. CD

A complete classic from British pianist Howard Riley – exactly the sort of record that made him as important a new voice on the piano as Cecil Taylor in the US or Alexander Schlippenbach and Martial Solal on the European scene! The set's got the free, fiery vibe of some of Taylor's best work – but with even more inventive sounds from the whole trio – which also includes Barry Guy on bass and Tony Oxley on drums and amplified percussion – a tremendous lineup that's equally matched, and brilliant throughout! Riley is as wonderful as on his solo sessions – but he's almost even more incredible here for the way he balances things between all the players, and gives both Oxley and Guy some key space to make themselves known. Titles include "Cirrus", "Motion", "Flight", "For Lesley/For Sue", and "Forgotten Game". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful celebration of the long-running Ecoutez Le Cinema series – a book-styled package that brings together dozens of rare and classic soundtrack tunes, plus a big booklet of notes! The CDs feature titles from across the series – 2CDs' worth of music from dozens of films, handled by top-shelf composers who include Lalo Shifrin, Quincy Jones, Michel Magne, Antoine Duhamel, Georges Delerue, Alain Goraguer, Martial Solal, Michel Legrand, Eric Demarsan, Francois De Roubaix, Krzystof Komeda, Jimmy Smith, Jean Claude-Vannier, and many others – with the strong focus on French film score artists that we've always loved in the series. The book is 90 pages, in full color, with lots of images of films and composers –and essays that bring together two different talents – Martial Solal on Jean Luc Godard, Alain Goraguer on Serge Gainsbourg, Costa Gavras on Michel Magne, Lalo Schifrin on Rene Clement, and so on. All these essays are in French, but the other contents are very enjoyable from a language-less perspective! CD

5CDs' worth of great music from the Nouvelle Vague – the French New Wave of Cinema that emerged at the end of the 50s – and which often featured a fair bit of jazz in the mix for its soundtracks! CD1 features the Paul Misraki score for Et Dieu Crea La Femme – And God Created Woman – an early Brigitte Bardot film directed by Roger Vadim, full of jazzy numbers by Misraki, presented here without the Bardot narration on other versions of the soundtrack. The CD features 23 tracks in all – with bonus material too! CD2 features great work from tenorist Barney Wilen – his full soundtrack to the film Un Temoin Dans La Ville, plus his own jazz album Jazz Sur Seine! CD3 features the Michel Legrand music for Eva – a perfect blend of Legrand's earlier straighter jazz work, with some of his later talent for groovy orchestrations. The overall feel is quite dark – with the kind of jazz-based soundscapes that were showing up in some other French soundtracks at the time, and sweet little noirish feel. CD4 features three scores by Georges Delerue – all for films directed by Francois Truffaut – Jules Et Jim, Tires Sur Le Pianiste, and Le Mepris – all sounding great together. CD5 features Martial Solal's score for A Bout De Souffle – a film best known as Breathless around the world, and an early movie by Jean Luc Godard that perhaps gave Martial Solal his biggest early global exposure! Solal's sharp, modern tones on the piano are very firmly in place here – but there's also lots of more dynamic jazz instrumentation too – of the sort that rivals other French new wave soundtracks by artists like Miles Davis, Barney Wilen, or Art Blakey. Yet Solal, like Godard, is perhaps a bit more sophisticated in his musical approach – and often breaks out into these little paintings in jazz, a bit like some of Elmer Bernstein on our favorite jazzy late 50s soundtracks. CD