One of the few albums cut as a leader by trumpeter Henry Lowther – a great player on the British scene of the end of the 60s, but one who mostly labored in the service of other groups at the time! Lowther emerges here as an extremely visionary leader – one with a scope of expression and embellishment to match the work of some of his Deram labelmates at the time – especially Mike Westbrook and John Surman. For the album, Lowther plays both trumpet and violin – working in a group that includes tenor, bass clarinet, percussion, and some sparing, but beautiful use of electric piano – just enough to tipple along with the tunes in a lyrical way, and never too much to over-electrify things past the gentler notes of the acoustic instruments. The keyboardist for the set is the lesser-known Mike McNaught, and his work on the session is really wonderful – and the whole album has a gentle approach that's really great, and proof of the depth that was going on in the younger side of the British scene of the time. Titles include "Puppet Song", "Between", "Trav'lling Song", and "Plaything". CD

A gem of a record from the late 60s British scene – one based around the sound poems of writer and poet Terry Durham! The record features Duram speaking and singing his own lyrics – supported by musical backings arranged by John Coleman, shaded in by some wonderful work by players that include Alan Parker on guitar, Evan Parker on saxes, and Chris Karan (from the Dudley Moore and Roy Budd trios) on some especially nice drums! Despite the poetic approach of the session, Durham's rough vocals give it a real sense of humanity – with none of the high-art pretension you might expect, and a real "everyman" sort of feel that comes from the overall delivery of the tunes. There's a nice link here between the other British jazz and rock experiments of the time – and in a way, Durham's a lost link in a lineage of hipper British artists that include Nick Drake and Scott Walker. A few tracks even get a bit funky, and titles include "The Fortunate Isles", "Sleep Train", "White Room Dreaming", "Branwells Corner", "Crystal Telephone", "Moving Through My Life", and "Stills From A Late Nite Movie". CD

The brilliant third album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. This set features both volumes of the recording – with titles that include "Landscape", "Hooray", "Other World", "Marching Song", "Transition", "Rosie", "Tension", "Ballad", "Conflict", and "Requiem". Great 3CD set features a full bonus disc of rare material – including the 7" single of "Original Peter" and "Magic Garden" – 1970 recordings of "But It Must Get Better & It Will Get Better" and "When Young" by The Mike Westbrook Quartet, and a 1966 recording of "Marching Song" by the Mike Westbrook Sextet – the last three of which have never been released! CD

A landmark set of free-thinking British jazz – handled by one of the greatest arrangers of the London scene at the end of the 60s! Gibbs has a style here that's filled with majesty and modernism – one that uses the larger group to swing through some very hip rock-influenced rhythms, yet which also has the horns stretching out in some freer, more modern modes. Players on the set include Gordon Beck, Chris Spedding, Tony Roberts, Alan Skidmore, and John Surman – all working beautifully with Gibbs to shade in deep colors and tones on original tunes that include "Canticle", "Five For England", "Fanfare", and "Sojurn". CD

One of the most creative albums ever from UK composer Neil Ardley – and that's saying a lot, given the complexity of his other work! The set's got a wonderful blend of jazz arrangements and some freer passages – scored by Ardley with some of his most sensitive, most beautiful music ever – almost as if the whole thing's an extended soundtrack for a passage in time – or at least a sonic journey that's filled with some wonderful twists and turns! There's definitely some jazz/rock elements in the music, but the main focus is jazz – and Ardley has that same strong sense of large charts and forward-moving rhythms that you'd find in the best early work of Mike Westbrook, particularly his albums for Deram. Players are a very familiar, and very top-shelf batch of British musicians – including Barbara Thompson, Dick Heckstall-Smith, and Don Rendell on reeds; Harry Beckett and Henry Lowther on trumpets; Derek Wadsworth on trombone, Frank Rocotti on vibes, and Stan Tracey on both piano and celeste. Ardley plays prepared piano, and Ivor Cutler makes a great guest appearance on one track – reciting "The Dong With A Luminous Nose" – and Norma Winstone sings on "Will You Walk A Little Faster". The title track – "A Symphony Of Amaranths" – is dedicated to Duke Ellington and Gil Evans – with a feel that more than lives up to both! CD features the bonus track "National Anthem & Tango". 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 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

Stunning work from Mike Westbrook – a set that's done in later years than his classics for Deram Records – but one that's got almost the same sort of power! The lineup is large, and there's a definite dose of freaky fuzz in the mix – thanks to the guitar of Brian Godding, whose contributions help electrify the record past territory of some of Westbrook's other material from this vintage. Kate Westbrook handles vocals on the set – singing some very offbeat tunes at times – but as usual, the real power comes from the full instrumental lineup – which also features Phil Minton and Dick Pearce on trumpets, Georgie Born on cello, Malcolm Griffiths on trombone, Chris Hunter, Phil Todd, Lindsay Cooper, and Chris Biscoe on reeds – and even some addition tuba as well! With the lineup, you can see that Westbrook's tapping into a younger generation of artistic players – and their presence really helps stimulate the overall presentation of the material. A number of tracks have lyrics from poetic sources by Blake, Garcia Lorca, Herman Hesse, and others – and titles include "Erme Estuary", "It Starts Here", "Berlin 16.2.79", and "Cordoba". CD

One of the greatest albums ever from vocalist Norma Winstone – a set that really helps bring her talents into sharp focus! Like Karin Krog, Annette Peacock, Sheila Jordan, and other female jazz singers of her generation, Winstone was always pushing the boundaries of her craft – taking a style that began with a simple jazz-based approach, and turning it into a whole new array of sounds and voicings! This landmark album from 1972, one of Winstone's first on her own (although she'd sung to great strength on some of Mike Westbrook's Deram sessions), features the singer moving into territory that has distinct touches of progressive jazz rock, but which also retains a mellow sense of melody – despite an easy temptation to get too overblown. Arrangements are handled by Neil Ardley, John Surman, and John Taylor – and titles include "Song Of Love", "Erebus", "Shadows", "Perkins Landing", and "Edge Of Time". (Vocalists, Jazz) CD

A really fantastic live performance by the Mike Westbrook Concert Band – recorded right around the same time as his seminal albums for Deram – and with an equally amazing sound! The "old place" here is Ronnie Scott's old club – which was still leased for a few months as the new one was being opened in 1968, which gave Westbrook and other young musicians the chance to try out some of the incredible new ideas that would really set the British jazz scene apart in the late 60s! There's a pivotal feel to the record that's wonderful – really informing the explosion of sounds on Westbrook's late 60s albums, as he uses both older jazz compositions and his own great work – to make a pastiche of modes and modern moments that really blows us away – served up by a lineup that includes Mike Osborne and John Surman on saxes, Malcolm Griffiths and Paul Rutherford on trombones, Dave Holdsworth on piano, Harry Miller on bass, and Alan Jackson on drums – with Westbrook leading the group on piano. Titles include "Who's Who", "A Life Of It's Own", "The Few", "Lover Man", "For Ever & A Day", "Folk Song", "We Salute You", "Flying", and "Can't Get It Out Of My Mind". CD