A brilliant showcase for the best of the London scene in recent years – a special live recording done in Studio Two at Abbey Road – put together by the Jazz Refreshed label, and featuring some of its best artists in a set of exclusive recordings! The work here bristles with the kind of new energy that's made the London scene so amazing in recent years – and the live performance means that these cuts have less of programmed elements of some of their studio recordings – just fresh, spontaneous performances on titles that include "This Too" by Doom Cannon, "Ekpe" by Camilla George, These Days" by Daniel Casimir & Tess Hirst, "Panda Village"b y Theon Cross, "Red" by Noya Rao, and "Helsinki Trio" by Richard Spaven. LP, Vinyl record album

Possibly the best of the rare few albums that Richard Davis cut as a leader during the 70s, and a very soulful batch of tracks that has Davis on lead bass, with additional backing by Bill Lee, and a group that includes Chick Corea, Sam Brown, and Frankie Dunlop. The overall sound is nice and warm, with a good mellow groove, over near the left end of the soul jazz spectrum. Titles include "Juan Valdez", "Baby Sweets", "The Rabbi", and "Oh My God". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer of an album from one of the best hardbop trombonists of the 50s! This original's always been wickedly hard to find, and it comes from that later period when the Bethlehem label was cutting records that had a lot more of a soulful groove than earlier years. Bennie's playing with a hip group of underground players that includes Jimmy Forrest on tenor, Lem Davis on alto, and Skip Hall on organ – and although the tracks are short, they've got a fire that gets the job done in double-time, and which makes you think you're hearing some session on Prestige. Titles include "Catwalk", "Dee Dee", "Dibblin & Dabblin", and "Groove One". LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing work from pianist Andrew Hill – one of the key records during that short initial run when Blue Note was really giving him a special showcase for his talents – and when the label was dabbling in more avant jazz as part of the "new thing" moment on the scene! The group here is really the stuff of legends – as the set features a very late performance from Eric Dolphy on alto, plus Joe Henderson on tenor, Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Richard Davis on bass, and Tony Williams on drums – all players at the prime of their young talents, soaring to the skies under the leadership of Hill – skittishly working their way into territory that's never truly free, but wonderfully expressive and exploratory – a clear summation of the sense of "modern" in modern jazz! All tracks are originals by the pianist, too – and titles include "New Monastery", "Flight 19", "Spectrum", "Dedication", and "Refuge". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the hippest Max Roach work of the 60s! This album features one half of the set that was issued on Affinity as a double LP. This first side is made up of 3 tracks featuring Clifford Jordan on tenor, Coleridge Parkinson on piano, and Abbey Lincoln on some vocals – all recorded at an unknown location in 1961: "Long As You're Living", "Who Will Buy", and "Love For Sale". The second side has 2 tracks from a concert in Paris, with Max's group that included Tommy & Stanley Turrentine, as well as Julian Priester. The tracks are long and open-ended – with an approach that you wouldn't find on the group's Mercury sides from the time – both Roach originals: "Kardouba" and "Stop Motion", with the Turrentines stretching out in a soul jazz searching mode that's quite different than their Blue Note work. LP, Vinyl record album

Max Roach's masterpiece! This record is one of his most perfectly realized visions – and it's a marvelous album that combines politics and modern jazz, yet still manages to swing! The players are some of the hippest that Roach ever worked with – and include Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, Clifford Jordan, and Julian Priester – and the record features some of the best-ever singing from Abbey Lincoln! Abbey's incredible on the track "Mendacity", an incredibly haunting Civil Rights-era number that should go right up there with "Strange Fruit", and which features wonderful alto work from Dolphy! She also sings wordlessly on the track "Garvey's Ghost" – and then sits out the rest of the set so that Max and the group can wail on the tracks "Praise For A Martyr", "Man From South Africa", and "Tender Warriors". Incredibly hip – and a perfect blend of soul, jazz, politics, and pure righteous spirit! LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of gems from the Riverside years of Cannonball Adderley! First up is Cannonball Adderley Quintet In San Francisco – one of the greatest Cannonball Adderley albums from the Riverside years – a completely smoking live date recorded in San Francisco, often with long tracks that really let the group open up and do their thing! The lineup here is that classic one that first grabbed attention – the group with brother Nat on cornet, Sam Jones on bass, Louis Hayes on drums – and a young Bobby Timmons on piano, really cooking things up with tremendous drive, energy, and a sense of the groove! Titles include a great workout on Timmons' classic "This Here", plus originals "You Got It" and Spontaneous Combustion", and a great version of "Hi Fly". Soul jazz at its best, by one of the groups who gave the genre its name in the first place! Next is Cannonball Adderley Sextet In New York – rock-solid live material from the classic Cannonball Adderley Sextet – a combo who could usually groove even better on a concert date then they could in the studio! The album's one of a number of key live sides from Cannon in the 60s – and although it pre-dates his work on Capitol, it's done in a similar spacious mode – with plenty of longish tracks that build upon the core groove set down by Joe Zawinul's piano, Sam Jones' bass, and Louis Hayes' drums – a perfect backdrop for the creative and complicated solos of Cannon on alto, Nat Adderley on cornet, and Yusef Lateef on tenor, flute, and oboe! The date was recorded live at the Village Vanguard in 1962 – and titles include "Gemini", "Planet Earth", "Dizzy's Business", "Syn-anthesia", "Scotch & Water", and "Cannon's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

Percussionist Andrea Centazzo really rises to the occasion here – as one might when meeting with the legendary Derek Bailey at a time when he was really at the height of his powers! Bailey works on both acoustic and electric guitars here – and has a way of creating all these amazing sounds and moments on his instruments – that famous style of improvisation he first unleased on the world at the end of the 60s, honed during the early part of the 70s, and which is in full bloom here! Centazzo is nicely respectful, and really finds a way to match the best of Bailey's impulses – playing a range of percussion instruments big and small. Titles include "Drop Three", "Tutti Cantabile", "Recapitulation Reiteration & Rabbits", "How Long Has This Been Going On", "Jim Never Seems To Send Me Pretty Flowers", and "Drop Two". LP, Vinyl record album

Never-issued work from this legendary fusion group – a 1971 live performance recorded in Rotterdam, and a set of tracks that's a perfect complement to the legendary Nucleus albums issued by Vertigo at the time! Leader Ian Carr is upfront on trumpet – but as with the best Nucleus recordings, this is definitely an all-out group affair – driven by very strong work from John Marshall on drums and Roy Babbington on bass – and filled with work from two different simultaneous electric pianos, handled by both Hywel Thomas and Karl Jenkins, the latter of whom also blows a bit of oboe. Other reeds are from Brian Smith on tenor, soprano sax, and flute – and all tracks are nice and long, and often quite funky – with titles that include "Snakehips Dream", "We'll Talk About It Later", "Song For The Bearded Lady", "Exit Interlude 1", "Persephone's Jive", "Exit Interlude 2", and "Oasis". LP, Vinyl record album

A Heavy Hitter from tenorist Eddie Lockjaw Davis – recorded a bit late in his career, but with a sound that's mighty nice – and every bit as great as some of his 60s recordings for Prestige! The combo's small, swinging, and soulful – Albert Dailey on piano, George Duvivier on bass, and Victor Lewis on drums – coming together with a perfect punch that makes Davis sound better than he'd sounded in years – blowing with that raspy, human tone that nobody else did so well – grabbing us from the get-go, even on familiar tunes! Titles include "Comin Home Baby", "Jim Dog", "Just One Of Those Things", and "When Your Lover Has Gone". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent album that features late 30s recordings by some of Duke Ellington's most famous sidemen! The groups on most of these are fairly similar – mostly small group sessions from the larger Ellington outfit – pulled out in ways that give a strong focus on the solo talents of the session leader – and as with other packages in this series, the fidelity is much better than the original singles, and accompanied with full notes on the music! Titles include "Rexatious" and "Lazy Man's Shuffle" by Rex Stewart; "Echoes Of Harlem", "Swing Pan Alley", and "I Can't Believe You're In Love With Me" by Cootie Williams; "The Rabbit's Jump", "Pyramid", and "Jitterbug's Lullaby" by Johnny Hodges; and "Caravan" and "Stompy Jones" by Barney Bigard. LP, Vinyl record album

A great Latin twist for Bobby Watson – an album that has the alto sax genius joining the Space Station combo of percussionist Ray Mantilla – for a session that's easily one of the most memorable moments of the time from both players! Watson has a depth of soul in his horn here that's really incredible – a way of grabbing us right from the start of a tune, and bringing things home strongly even with a bit of electric bass in the lineup, which might otherwise mar the acoustic vibe of the group. Dick Oatts handles tenor, flute, and soprano sax on the record – but Bobby's clearly the main horn star – and other members include Eddie Martinez on piano, Ruben Rodriguez on bass, and Steve Berrios on drums and percussion. Titles include "Hostage", "Curve Ball", "Dark Powers", "Catch Me If You Can", "The Things You Do", and "Rostro De Ti". LP, Vinyl record album

A very groovy album from pianist Les McCann – one that adds some great guitar work from Vincent Corrao to the usual trio – which features the great Paul Humphrey on drums and Victor Gaskin on bass! The guitar opens the tunes up a bit more than usual, and lets Les and crew move from hard and soulful, to mellow and bluesy with one easy sweep of the strings on the guitar. Titles include two vocal numbers – "The Great City" and "Green Green Rocky Road" – plus "The Grabber", "Les McNasty", "Beaux J Pooboo", "Bat Man", and "Send Me Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic early 60s session for Candid Records – put together by a group that includes Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and a host of other musicians who were working here as "Newport Rebels" – by setting up the Jazz Artists Guild Festival as a protest against the increasingly commercialized Newport date! And for the record, the group definitely live up to their name – really shaking off the easier modes popularized at the Newport festival, and coming across with a style that's much more modern, firey, and righteous! Other artists include Abbey Lincoln on vocals, Booker Little on trumpet, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Eric Dolphy on saxophone, and Jimmy Knepper on trombone – and titles include a great rendition of "Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do" – plus 2 other great originals, "Cliff Walk" by Booker Little and "Mysterious Blues" by Mingus. LP, Vinyl record album

Wild Raymond Scott orchestrations – on titles that include "Coming Down To Earth", "Jackrabbit", "Rub Dub", "Tired Teddy Bear", and "Two Guitars". LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure album by pianist Cedar Walton – and an incredibly groovy record! The title track features Cedar playing electric piano, and is a nice stretched out groove that also has Blue Mitchell on trumpet and Clifford Jordan on tenor – both adding brilliant solos to the record, driven by rhythm from Bob Cranshaw on bass and Mickey Roker on drums. The rest of the album grooves equally hard – even though Cedar moves to acoustic piano – with a funky fire that's usually missing from his other albums. Cuts include "Electric Boogaloo Song", "Ugetsu", "Sabbatical", and "Impressions of Scandinavia". LP, Vinyl record album

A New York performance by the legendary pianist Yosuke Yamashita, but one that burns every bit as strongly as his famous albums from Japan – thanks in part to some really incredible work from Akira Sakata on alto and clarinet! There's few folks who could ever hope to match the Cecil Taylor-like energy of Yamashita on the piano, but Sakata always seems to rise to the challenge wonderfully – and with the drums of Shota Koyama along for the ride, the trio must have left the New York audience with their jaws on the floor – especially as most of the US had not been able to get access to Yosuke's records at the time. The set features three very long tracks – "Rabbit Dance", "Mina's Second Theme", and "Sunayama". LP, Vinyl record album