Charles McPherson on alto saxophone, Randy Porter on piano, Jeff Littleton on bass, and Charles McPherson Jr. on drums. CD

Charles McPherson on alto saxophone – with Mulgrew Miller on piano, Santi Debriano on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums. CD

Beautiful work from one of our favorite vibes players – a return to basic hardbop from Dave Pike, recorded in conjunction with soulful altoist Charles McPherson! Given the title, and the tunes, the set's ostensibly a tribute to Charlie Parker – but the tunes themselves are played in more open, introspective versions than Bird might have done, especially considering the use of the vibes! In fact, McPherson drops out for a number of tracks on the set, letting Pike take the main solos on some of the tunes, and even stepping aside for one piano trio-only number as well. Titles include "Old Folks", "Anthropology", "Ornithology", and "Bluebird". CD

Bebop is alive and well in this classic 60s set by McPherson – blowing hard here in a Bird-esque mode on alto, but also with some of the soulfulness of Jackie McLean during the 50s. The group features Carmell Jones on trumpet, Barry Harris on piano, Nelson Boyd on bass, and Al Heath on drums – and titles include "Variations On A Blues By Bird", "Wail", "Hot House", and "Nostalgia". CD

Mingus live is always a treat – especially in these later years, when the fire seemed to go out of most of his studio recordings. Live, though, he always managed to kick it hard - with the sort of emotion that graced his strong early albums. And despite the fact that this one's conducted by Teo Macero, and features some remarks from Bill Cosby – the affair's still pretty hip, and the soloists go to town nicely – with those stretched-out performances that always made for the best individual moments in a Mingus record! The record features great work from Gene Ammons and Bobby Jones on tenor, Lee Konitz and Charles McPherson on alto, James Moody on flute, Randy Weston on piano, Lonnie Hillyer on trumpet, and Eddie Bert on trombone – and Honey Gordon sings a lovely vocal on the track "Eclipse". Other titles include "Jump Monk", "Us Is Two", "ESP", and "Ecclusiastics". CD

One of the last great records by Charles Mingus – a set of extremely compelling original compositions, played by a fresh group of younger players, plus a few older masters! The record's got a fire and sense of emotion that's missing from a number of other 70s Mingus sessions – and it's one of the few later albums we'd easily rank right up there with his late 50s and early 60s classics! Orchestrations were partially arranged and conducted with help from Sy Johnson – and soloists include James Moody and Bobby Jones on tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, Snookie Young and Lonnie Hillyer on trumpet, and Roland Hanna on piano. Titles include "The Shoes Of The Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers", "Adagio Ma Non Troppo", "The Chill of Death", and "The I Of Hurricane Sue". CD features the bonus track "Taurus In The Arena Of Life". CD

A landmark recording from Mingus – and one of his best of the mid 60s! The album was recorded live at the Montery Jazz fest – and it features great work by Jaki Byard, Charles McPherson, John Handy, and Lou Blackburn. Mingus explores his increasing fascination with the work of Ellington on the extended Ellington Medley, which takes up most of the first record – and then he moves into two long fantastic originals, "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk" and "Meditations On Integrations. Both works represent some of his most sophisticated compositions – and the performances here are legendary. CD

A rare rare landmark from Charles Mingus – music written for the 1965 Monterey festival, but (as the title indicates) not played at the festival! The recording was done later, at UCLA, with a group that includes Charles McPherson, Julius Watkins, Jimmy Owens, Hobart Dotson, and Howard Johnson – and it features a large group of horns, playing in some of Mingus' most sophisticated arrangements of the 60s! There's still a tremendous amount of fire in the work, as you'd guess from titles that include "Don't Let It Happen Here", "Don't Be Afraid The Clown's Afraid Too", "Once Upon A Time There Was A Holding Corporation Called Old America", and "They Trespass On The Land Of The Sacred Sioux". The album was originally only issued on Mingus' own label, available only by mail – and is presented here as a well-done 2CD set complete with some spoken introductions. CD

Charles Mingus at Carnegie Hall – but playing here with relaxed and intimate feel that's not what you might expect from the staid setting! The original album features two long tracks – both done in more of a jam session mode than any other Charles Mingus recordings we can think of. Both numbers are Ellington classics – "C Jam Blues" and "Perdido" – showcasing Mingus' late fascination with the Duke, but in a way that still preserves all of the modern inventions of his own earlier work. As on much of the best Mingus albums from the time, there's a real focus on the strengths of the soloists here – players who include Roland Kirk on tenor and stritch, Hamiet Bluiett on baritone, Jon Faddis on trumpet, John Handy on alto and tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, and Don Pullen on piano – all of whom really play with some sharp edges and bold notes! This great expanded version features more very long tracks – over 70 minutes of unreleased music, with versions of "Celia", "Big Alice", "Fables Of Faubus", and "Peggy's Blue Skylight" – as well as Mingus' introduction of the music. CD

A legendary work – featuring Charles Mingus' great and chaotic Town Hall concert, one of those special events that achieved legendary status before it even started – not just because of the range of great musicians involved, but because the whole set was barely off the ground by the time it began! The set features a brilliant set of arrangements that Mingus barely copied and handed around before the show started – but that hardly stopped the music from being great, because everyone plays magnificently, especially Jerome Richardson and Charles McPherson, who was hitting a really great period here with Mingus. Tracks include "Epitaph", "Clark in the Dark", "Freedom", and "My Search". The CD also features the first full version of the concert – with many previously unissued tracks! CD

Fantastic lost work from Charles Mingus, from a very under-recorded time in his life – the same period in which he gave the world the seminal album Let My Children Hear Music! The setting's a live one – and as on some of Mingus' superb 60s concert sessions, there's a force and fire here that really surpasses the group's energy in the studio – long tracks that are filled with brilliant solo work, and handled by a sextet that includes Bobby Jones on tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, Jon Faddis on trumpet, John Foster on piano, and Roy Brooks on drums – a group with just the kind of young, imaginative horn players that Mingus always used to create a special sort of fire. Titles include the 19 minute "The Man Who Never Sleeps", the 30 minute "Mind Readers Convention In Milano", a 25 minute version of "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress", and a 20 minute take on "Noddin Ya Head Blue" – plus a 35 minute jam on "Fables Of Faubus" and the shorter "Pops". CD

The complete recordings – both master and alternate takes – of the famous Charles Mingus session recorded in Paris in October of 1970! The work here was originally issued on two different albums by the America label, but it was all recorded on a single day – and features some of the best later Mingus work in the studio! The tracks here are all relatively long, and captured with an intensity that's similar to some of Charles' amazing live work from the same period – really cut loose and unfettered, with long solos that build up from a tremendous sense of imagination and creativity. The group's relatively small – a sextet with Mingus on bass, Jaki Byard on piano, Bobby Jones on tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, Eddie Preston on trumpet, and Dannie Richmond on drums – all coming together in classic Mingus small group formation, with the kind of drive you'd expect more from the late 50s or early 60s. Titles include "Reincarnation Of A Lovebird", "Love Is A Dangerous Necessity", "Blue Bird", "Pithecanthropus Erectus", "Peggy's Blue Skylight", and a wonderful remake of "I Left My Heart In San Francisco". CD 1 features all the master takes – and CD 2 features alternates and false starts, all of which are previously unissued! CD

Live recording with Charles McPherson on alto, Bobby Jones on tenor, Eddie Preston on trumpet, Jaki Byard on piano, Mingus on bass, and Dannie Richmond on drums. Tracks include "Gables of Faubus", "The Man Who Never Sleeps", "Ellington Medley", "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress", and "She's Funny That Way". CD

Key moments in the career of Charles Mingus – all recorded during the crucial years of 1964 and 1965, and featuring the first-time release of a fair bit of live material too! The set represents the first full presentation of recordings that have appeared piecemeal on a handful of obscure releases – self-released records from Mingus himself – Town Hall, My Favorite Quintet, and Music Written For Monterey – all really expanded here with the full recordings of the tracks, and unreleased titles provided from the original tapes! Mingus was really on fire during these years – severed from most of his bigger label associations, and freely working on some of his most inventive ideas with various smaller groups of players – all fresh young talents who were key interpreters of Charles' ideas – including Johnny Coles and Lonnie Hillyer on trumpet, Jimmy Owens on trumpet and flugelhorn, Charles McPherson on alto sax, Clifford Jordan on tenor, Jaki Byard on piano, Eric Dolphy on alto, flute, and bass clarinet. The stalwart Dannie Richmond is on drums, and the sides represent some of Dolphy's last, and most important recordings on the planet – recordings done at Town Hall and in Amsterdam in April of 1964 – in addition to live material at Monterey in 1964 and 1965, in Minneapolis in May of 1965. Tracks are all quite long – some pushing the half-hour timing – and as with the best live Mingus, there's variations here that go way past any studio readings – really incredible solo flights that are still beautifully integrated with the ideas of the main group. Titles include "So Long Eric", "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress Then Blue Silk", "Mingus Piano Solo", "Bird Preamble", "Themeless Blues", "Copa City Titty", "A Lonely Day In Selma", "Cocktails For Two", "Praying With Eric", "Parkeriana", "ATFW", "Meditations On A Pair Of Wire Cutters", and "Meditations On Integration". 7CDs, limited edition, and with a great book of notes too! CD

Charles Mingus at Carnegie Hall – but playing here with relaxed and intimate feel that's not what you might expect from the staid setting! The album features 2 long tracks – both done in more of a jam session mode than any other Charles Mingus recordings we can think of. Both numbers are Ellington classics – "C Jam Blues" and "Perdido" – showcasing Mingus' late fascination with the Duke, but in a way that still preserves all of the modern inventions of his own earlier work. As on much of the best Mingus albums from the time, there's a real focus on the strengths of the soloists here – players who include Roland Kirk on tenor and stritch, Hamiet Bluiett on baritone, Jon Faddis on trumpet, John Handy on alto and tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, and Don Pullen on piano – all of whom really play with some sharp edges and bold notes! CD

Ray Appleton on drums – with Slide Hampton on trombone, Charles McPherson on alto, Jim Rotondi on trumpet, John Hicks on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Rumah Saafir on congas! CD

A bold return to Blue Note for pianist Andrew Hill – his first record for the label in over 15 years, and a record that echoes with the modern tones of Hill's legendary Blue Note run in the 60s! The sound here is a bit more starkly modern and obtuse – done with more of a sense of space than Hill's tenser 60s recordings, in a way that's almost a more contemplative reflection of the "new thing" ideal. All tracks are originals, and Andrew is working with a quintet that includes Charles Tolliver on trumpet, Greg Tardy on tenor and bass clarinet, John Hebert on bass, and Eric McPherson on drums. Hill and Tolliver seem to dominate the record, though – musing gently, but starkly on their respective instruments – on a set of tracks that includes "Malachi", "Time Lines", "Smooth", "Whitsuntide", and "For Emilio". CD

A nice collection that focuses on Rodney's initial run at Muse Records. Features Charles McPherson on alto, Bill Watrous on trombone, Roland Hanna on piano and keys, Roy Brooks on drums, and more! CD

A stone cooker from organist Don Patterson – and one of his best fuller group recordings for Prestige from the 60s! Patterson is best known for his work on the label with his trio that included guitarist Pat Martino and drummer Billy James – and while that unit is intact here, they're also augmented by Howard McGhee on trumpet and Charles McPherson on alto – for a rich, full sound that adds a bit of hardbop into Patterson's normally soul jazz focus. The tracks are all nice and long, and filled with a deeper set of colors and tunes than usual for Don. Titles include "Pisces Soul", "Island Fantasy", and "Donna Lee". CD

A real lost treasure from Art Farmer – a tremendous album that hardly ever shows up in the history books, and which, to our knowledge, appears here on CD for the first time ever – plus a bonus album of earlier Farmer work with the Mundell Lowe Septet! Many Faces is a rare 1964 jazz side for the mostly-pop Scepter label – featuring Farmer at the head of a small group working with Tommy Flanagan on piano, Charles McPherson on alto, and Steve Swallow or Ron Carter alternating on bass. The album was done under the direction of Tom McIntosh – the brilliant young composer who had a magical talent for blending together modern and lyrical modes while still keeping a strong degree of soul. McIntosh contributed a few tunes to the set, as did Dennis Sandole – the nearly-forgotten trumpeter from the Philly scene of the 50s. There's a dark beauty to this session that surpasses even many other Farmer sides from the time – and titles include "Hyacinth", "Ally", "Happy Feet", "Minuet In G", and "Saucer Eyes". 1958's Porgy & Bess finds Farmer playing trumpet for guitarist Mundell Lowe's Septet on a nice set of material from Gershwin – including lesser known numbers from the original play. Players include Tony Scott on clarinet and baritone, Ben Webster on tenor and either George Duvivier or Osie Johnson on the kit. Titles include "Summertime", "Bess, You Is My Woman", "I Love You Porgy", "Redhead Woman", "There's A Boat That's Leaving Soon For New York", "It Ain't Necessarily So" and more. CD

Features Monty Alexander, Barry Harris, Ray Brown, Walter Davis Jr, Ron Carter, and Charles McPherson playing alongside original solos by Charlie Parker. CD