... LP, Vinyl record album

Angular Monk meets hard-driving Art Blakey – in a session that's quite unique, and which has gone onto become one of the best-remembered Atlantic jazz sessions of the late 50s! The album features Blakey in that key non-Blue Note year of 1957 – a time when he was working with a variety of players, at a variety of labels, and taking some real chances with his music before settling into his more established hit Jazz Messengers sound. The group here is Art's own – with Johnny Griffin on tenor, Bill Hardman on trumpet, and Spanky DeBrest on bass – augmented by the piano of Thelonious Monk – a match that might seem unlikely at first, but not so much so after you consider the great work that Monk and Griffin did together at Riverside during the late 50s. There's a nice match between Johnny's sharp-edged tenor and Monk's imaginative playing – and if anything, the record has Blakey, Hardman, and DeBrest moving dynamically to keep up with the flurry of modern ideas coming from Griffin and Monk! Tracks are almost all originals by Thelonious too – a fact that definitely helps keep up the "Monk-ish" sound of the record – titles that include "Evidence", "Blue Monk", "I Mean You", and "Rhythm A Ning" – alongside Griffin's "Purple Shades". LP, Vinyl record album

The Texas tenor legend soars again – in three great albums from his later years! Funky Butt is strong later work by tenor sax legend Arnett Cobb – in a quartet session cut in New York in January of 1980 – sounding fresh and revitalized one of his final studio dates! Funky Butt actually isn't a left turn into a funk sound Cobb, but it is a pretty darn great showcase for his rich, full sounding and playful tenor approach – not too out of character from his work in the late 50s on Prestige. He's backed by a great group that includes Ray Drummond on bass, Derek Smith on piano and Ronnie Bedford on drums. It's got a few fairly stomping numbers, particularly the opener "Jumpin' At The Woodside" and their energetic take on "I Got Rhythm" – and the whole set is terrific – with the bluesy Cobb-composed title track, plus "September In The Rain", "Isfahan", "Georgia On My Mind" and "Satin Doll". Wild Man From Texas is a great overseas set from tenor giant Arnett Cobb – a set done after a bit of a late 60s comeback on Prestige Records, and one that takes him back into even grittier territory overall! The great Milt Buckner is on the set on organ and a bit of vibes – and the record also features work from Eddie Chamblee on tenor, Buster Cooper on trombone, Wallace Davenport on trumpet, and Earl Warren on alto – players of a generation who really resonate well with Arnett's lead! Titles include "Where Or When", "Ghost Of A Chance", "Smooth Sailing", "Dutch Kitchen Bounce", and "Flying Home No 2". Again is a set that has the tenor of Arnett Cobb reunited with the Hammond of Milt Buckner – but in an unusual quartet that also features Clarence Gatemouth Brown on guitar! Brown's presence definitely brings out some bluesier currents at times, and the tunes also get plenty of that raw, raspy tenor treatment that Cobb can do so well – on tunes that include "Cobb's Boogie", "Deep Purple", "Cobb's Blues", "Light Like That", and "Willow Weep For Me". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic early work from Gil Evans – emerging here in this early session as an already far-thinking modernist. The tracks are shorter and less ambitious than some of Evans' work on Impulse, but the group is excellent – and even in a shorter format, the conception of the work still contains plenty of rich new ideas. Players include Louis Mucci, John Carisi, Steve Lacy, Willie Ruff, Paul Chambers, Nick Stabulis, and "Zeke Tolin" on alto, who is certainly a more famous player under a fake name. Titles include "Ella Speed", "Big Stuff", "Jambangle", "Nobody's Heart", and "Remember". LP, Vinyl record album

Great RCA comp of Dizzy's earlier bop sides for the label, many of which came out first only as singles! Titles include "Anthropology", "Jumpin With Symphony Sid", "Ool Ya Koo", "Duff Capers", "I'll Be Boppin Too", and "Guarachi Guaro" – the precursor to "Soul Sauce"! LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from Jimmy Giuffre – and a key album in the development of his spare sound of the late 50s! The record features Jimmy on clarinet – as you'd guess by the title – but this is no hokey set of Benny Goodman or Buddy DeFranco-type tunes. Instead, Giuffre's using the clarinet in a way that predates 70s modernist styles – working in washes of sound and color that explore the instrument like few other players had even imagined at the time. The backing differs from track to track – as "So Low" features only a tapping foot behind Giuffre's clarinet, "Deep Purple" has backing on piano, and others like "The Sheeherder", "Quiet Cook", and "The Side Pipers" feature some lrger group backing, often with no piano. CD

A well-done overview of some of the best recordings by trumpeter Roger Guerin – one of the most important players on his instrument in Paris during the postwar years – and one of the few to regularly interact with important soloists from overseas! This set brings together Guerin in both dates as a leader, and as a key guest with others – pulled from a section of rare 10" and 7" releases, plus a few full album recordings as well – all bundled together here in a package that really lets Roger's trumpet talents shine! There's a huge range of material here – and the set begins with a few tracks from a session with James Moody on alto in 1961, a few more from a date with guitarist Jimmy Raney in 1954 – then moves into a quartet date with Martial Solal in 1956 and one with pianist Christian Chevailier during that same year. The set has four great tracks with a 1958 date co-led with the great Benny Golson on tenor, with Bobby Timmons on piano in the group – then ends with one track with Michel Hausser on vibes and Martial Solal on piano. The book includes detailed notes on all the sessions – and titles include "Bootsie", "Vline", "Chet", "Mythe", "Blues March", "I Remember Clifford", "Not Serious", "Ca Turne", "Night & Day", "Deep Purple", and "Sweet Feeling". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

One of Slide Hampton's first albums – and a massively hard-wailing set that will make any doubters sit up and take notice! The set really packs a punch – as Slide leads a hip group that features Freddie Hubbard, Richard Williams, Bernard McKinney, and George Coleman through some tightly woven arrangements that manage to swing with the grace of small combo work, yet wail with the intensity of a big band. Great solos pop out all over the set – and there's a soul jazz groove that makes the album sound like a classic Prestige session. Titles include "Asseveration", "Hi Fly", "Sister Salvation", and "A Little Night Music". LP, Vinyl record album

A split LP with Johnny Hodges and his orchestra on side one and Rex Stewart and orchestra on side two. LP, Vinyl record album

An early cooker from Richard Groove Holmes – and one of the most important Hammond jazz sets to come out of the west coast at the time! At a point when most folks think the east has a lock on the instrument, Groove bursts forth here with a great hard-edged sound – proof that the LA scene didn't just go for cool jazz and the occasional hardbop date – and the start of a great run of records that would have Holmes sounding great all through the 60s! The lineup is nicely unusual, too – with guitar from Chicagoan George Freeman, then on the west coast – and a key part of Holmes' group for years – and trombone from the excellent Lawrence Tricky Lofton, a player who rarely recorded, but made some great sides with Carmell Jones. The group also features Les McCann on piano, a nice combo with the organ – plus Ben Webster on tenor and Ron Jefferson on drums. Titles include "Good Groove", "That Healin' Feelin'", "Them That's Got", and "Deep Purple". CD

An early cooker from Richard Groove Holmes – and one of the most important Hammond jazz sets to come out of the west coast at the time! At a point when most folks think the east has a lock on the instrument, Groove bursts forth here with a great hard-edged sound – proof that the LA scene didn't just go for cool jazz and the occasional hardbop date – and the start of a great run of records that would have Holmes sounding great all through the 60s! The lineup is nicely unusual, too – with guitar from Chicagoan George Freeman, then on the west coast – and a key part of Holmes' group for years – and trombone from the excellent Lawrence Tricky Lofton, a player who rarely recorded, but made some great sides with Carmell Jones. The group also features Les McCann on piano, a nice combo with the organ – plus Ben Webster on tenor and Ron Jefferson on drums. Titles include "Good Groove", "That Healin' Feelin'", "Them That's Got", and "Deep Purple". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful setting for the vibes of Milt Jackson – a record that has his sublime chromatic sound stepping out in front of fuller orchestrations from Quincy Jones – never overdone, but with just the right sort of soulful focus to send Milt over the top! The album's an early example of the great solo path that Jackson would pursue more strongly in the 60s – work away from the MJQ that showed that he may well have been the most multi-faceted member of that group. Barry Galbraith plays guitar on many tracks – and his light hues are a perfect complement to the vibes – on titles that include "The Cylinder", "Makin Whoopee", "Alone Together", "Tenderly", "Don't Worry Bout Me", "Nuages", "Deep In A Dream", "I'm A Fool To Want You", "The Midnight Will Never Set", and "Tomorrow". LP, Vinyl record album

The title says it all with this one – as Milt Jackson plays a set of ballads, and a set of blues – but both in ways that really make the best of his warmly chromatic approach to the vibes! The players here vary on different tracks, but apart from MJQ regular John Lewis, the album also presents Jackson with some less-familiar associates who include Barney Kessel on guitar, Lucky Thompson on tenor, and Oscar Pettiford on bass. A few tracks on the album also feature an augmented woodwind section – and titles include "Bright Blues", "Hello", "They Didn't Believe Me", "The Song Is Ended", "So In Love", and "Gerry's Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Wynton Kelly's greatest albums, and an all-star hardbop session that includes Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. With Philly Joe on drums, and Morgan and Shorter, the LP almost has the feel of a classic Art Blakey session for Blue Note, but Kelly's piano gives it a feel that's a bit warmer, and more relaxed. The tracks are nearly all long, with very open room for soloing, and nice catchy hooks by the various writers – who include Kelly, Morgan, and Shorter. Titles include "Wrinkles", "Mama G", "What Know", and "Sidney". LP, Vinyl record album

A collection of some of Kenton's early 50s hits. Most of the tracks that are included were arranged by Pete Rugolo and they include "Peg O' My Heart", "He's Funny That Way", "Capitol Punishment", "Painted Rhythm", "Lover", "Somnambulism", "Abstraction", and "Chorale For Brass, Piano & Bongo". Packaged in a very cool cover featuring a conductor standing amidst a odd Dali-esque landscape of hands and lines. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing set – the complete early Oscar Peterson recordings for Norman Granz – packaged in a format that's as lovely as the music itself! The work here is the stuff of legend – the tracks that first pushed Peterson into the limelight of American music, and which opened up a whole new side of jazz improvisation! Although Oscar's made many great records over the years, we're really partial to these initial tracks – as they offer up the Peterson genius at its purest, most basic – often presented with only bass for accompaniment, played by Ray Brown or Major Holley – so that you get plenty of space to hear Oscar open up on the keys! The 3CDs come wrapped inside a hardcover book, which itself is in a beautiful slipcover – filled with full notes on the music, and color reproductions of the album covers that originally contained the music – Oscar Peterson At Carnegie Hall, Tenderly, Keyboard, and An Evening With Oscar Peterson – not to mention a wealth of smaller 7" and 10" releases that are also featured here. There's a total of 50 tracks in all – including two previously unissued numbers, and great bonus tracks as well – a true treasure for fans not only of Peterson, but of jazz piano in general! Titles include "Gai", "Padovani", "Fine & Dandy", "Deep Purple", "Squatty Roo", "Little White Lies", "Debut", "Oscar's Blues", "Tico Tico", "What Is It", "Minor Blues", "The Nearness Of You", "Dark Eyes", "Laura", "There's A Small Hotel", "Fancy Free", and "On The Alamo". CD

An unusual Verve album from Oscar Peterson, and one that really lives up to its title! There's no drummer on the album at all – just bass from either Ray Brown or Major Holley – which leaves plenty of space for Oscar's work on the keys of the piano, opening up warmly with a really fluid sound. The tunes still have that romping quality of Peterson's early years on Verve, but a bit more lyricism too – and titles include "Tico Tico", "Robbins Nest", "Get Happy", "Easy To Love", "Deep Purple", and "Squatty Roo". LP, Vinyl record album

From its booze-soaked title cut, to its haunting selection of lonely ballads like "Midnight Sun" and "Stranger Called The Blues", this is one of the most fantastic vocal jazz albums of all time – and a record that we'd recommend instantly to anyone! June Christy has an incredibly icy tone on the record, filled with sorrow, regret, and loneliness – all of which are amplified even more deeply by Pete Rugolo's eerie, off-kilter arrangements. Titles include "Something Cool", "It Could Happen To You", "Lonely House", and "I Should Care". This is the original 10" mono recording with 7 tracks – and a green and white cover that has June with eyes closed. (Vocalists, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Coltrane plays the blues, but in a way like nobody else – stepping off of the deeply soulful sound of his late Prestige years, and moving into even more open and exploratory space for Atlantic! The setting is bare bones and simple – and many of these numbers begin with the sort of simple vamp that might characterize a blowing session for other labels, but which still has a strong degree of focus for this date. Rhythm is from McCoy Tyner on piano, Steve Davis on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – and there's some great sharp edges from Coltrane here, especially on the numbers that feature tenor sax in the lead. Side one of the album features more standard bluesy vamps, but side two really opens up into some tremendous numbers that show the first great hint of modal energy – rollingly enchanting titles that still leave us breathless after all these years! Tracks include "Blues To Elvin", "Blues To Bechet", "Mr Syms", "Mr Day", and "Mr Knight". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautifully earthy performance – and a set that not only has the three members of the trio on their trademark instruments, but also picking up a wide range of other elements too! Joe Morris is perhaps the most striking here – as in addition to guitar, he also uses banjo, fiddle, bass, banjouke, pocket trumpet, and even a bit of whistles – a sonic sense of variety that's matched by Parker's use of shakuhachi, sintir, n'goni, and thumb piano – all instruments that he plays with the same deeply spiritual currents of his work on bass! Hamid Drake sticks mostly to percussion – a range of drums, cymbals, and gongs – but overall, his performance feels as open and organic as the others – far beyond both standard and free jazz, into a mode that almost works in some ethnographic currents as well. The whole record's as poetic as the title – and tracks include "Profound Branches", "The Sky Was Purple Blue", "Energy Of Patience", "The Rhythm Of Butterflies", "Endless Galaxies", and "Grass Beneath The Cracked Shells". CD

A near-forgotten gem from Coleman Hawkins excellent late 50s period – recorded for the short-lived Felsted label, and done in a beautifully relaxed way! The tracks here are long and easy-going – at times even more open than Hawkins' work for Verve, and in the style he'd explore even more deeply for Prestige on some albums recorded right after this set. Hawk is playing in a quintet with Buck Clayton on trumpet, Hank Jones on piano, Ray Brown on bass, and Mickey Sheen on drums – and titles include "My One & Only Love", "Bird Of Prey Blues", "Get Set", "Ooh Wee Miss GP", "Vignette" and "You've Changed". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful sounds from Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – a group who've matured tremendously in the time that they've been giving us music – and who almost seem ready here to take on the legacy of their musical father – the late Kelan Phil Cohran! There's a complexity to the horn work here that's even deeper than before – amazing tones and textures from trumpets, trombones, euphonium, and sousaphone – all balanced with these sonic currents on guitar, bass, and electronics – instruments used in subtle ways, but to strongly shape the brass elements with maybe more spiritual overtones than in previous years – almost as if the group is growing, and getting even more serious about their message – with echoes that stretch back to the work of Cohran, and maybe Sun Ra's Arkestra, the world of Strata East, and even the tonal colors of Oliver Nelson at his best. Titles include "Heaven & Earth", "Midnight", "Now", "Morning Prayer", "Purple Afternoon", "Lead The Way", "Synapsis", "Royalty", "Solstice", and "Sri Neroti". (Deep Funk, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Really lovely work from pianist Danilo Perez – a set that features some wonderful orchestrations from Claus Ogerman, who brings a similar spirit to the record as some of his best backings in the 70s! The core group features Perez on piano with a hip rhythm duo of Christian McBride on bass and Lewis Nash on drums – augmented with percussion from Luis Quintero, and a group that would already sound wonderful on their own, even without the backings! But Ogerman's sensitive shadings really help deepen the sound – bringing in a sense of space and majesty, but in really subtle ways – letting Danilo's piano ring out with great tones, and even allowing plenty of sound for McBride's warm basslines. Cassandra Wilson sings on two tracks – "Lazy Afternoon" and "My Heart Sings" – and other titles include the Ogerman originals "Across The Crystal Sea", "Rays & Shadows", "The Purple Condor", "If I Forget You", and "Another Autumn" – all wonderful compositions! CD

One of the greatest Sam Rivers albums we've heard in years – a really compelling little set that has Sam playing in a relatively straight manner, and working alongside vibes-based Bryan Carrott trio! The mix of vibes, bass, and drums is a great accompaniment to Rivers' searching work on tenor, soprano sax, and flute – and many of the tunes have a slightly modal approach that keeps things rhythmic, and which seems to deepen Rivers' sense of soul a bit more than usual. A few tracks go a bit out, but there's a nicely straight feel to most of the numbers – and titles include "Solace", "The Mooche", "In Search Of Black Benny", "Moderation", "Space", "Abalone", and "Captain America". CD