Some of the most soulful sounds we've ever heard from tenorist James Brandon Lewis a reworking of themes from the music of Mahalia Jackson into jazz – all at a level that keeps all the spirit of the originals, while unlocking the songs as vehicles for freer improvisation! Given the mix of freedom and spirit here, there's almost a vibe that takes us back to the brilliance of Albert Ayler at the start – served up through the intertwining magic of Lewis' tenor, the cornet of Kirk Knuffke, cello of Chris Hoffman, bass of William Parker, and drums of Chad Taylor – all tremendous players, but resonating even more strongly in the presence of this project! James has been getting plenty of attention in recent years, but this could be the album that catapults him into the canon of contemporary jazz – thanks to amazing takes of "Elijah Rock", "Were You There", "Go Down Moses", "Precious Lord", "Deep River", "Wade In The Water", "Swing Low", and "Sparrow". LP, Vinyl record album

The music of Sun Ra, taken into very different territory – every bit as cosmic as before, but maybe also a bit more down to earth in its presentation! Sun Ra classics are reworked here by a mix of different Brazilian musicians, with contributions from a few key American artists who really enrich the soulful qualities of the proceedings – with results that are tremendous, and which make the record one of the real standout projects in the long legacy of Red Hot recordings! The sounds here are all original, created for the project – and the Brazilian artists include some of our favorite underground talents of the past decade, mixed with a few who are more well-established, yet still very much on the left side of the spectrum! Titles include "Astroblack Orunmila" with Jazzmeia Horn & Orquestra Afrosinfonica, "Interstellar Low Ways" with Hamilton De Holanda Trio, "When There Is No Sun (Intergalactic version)" with Xenia Franca & Tigana Santana, "Eu Sou Um Instrumento" with Fabricio Boliveira & Jazzmeia Horn, "O Codigo" with Fabricio Boliveira & Edbrass Brasil, "Nature's God" with Meshell Ndegeocello & Munir Hossn, and "Nine Rocket For The Planet" with Meta Meta & Edgar. LP, Vinyl record album

Pre-ESP Records work from the legendary Albert Ayler – and a really special set that definitely shows his strong ties to a previous legacy of African-American music! Ayler always clamed blues and other roots in his sound, but didn't always show them as clearly – given his free-thinking, forward-moving approach – yet this set has Albert really reworking an older influence, by taking older songs from gospel and secular sources, and using them as a completely compelling springboard for his new ideas on tenor and soprano sax! The album's the sort that David Murray might have cut in the mid 80s – but conceived by Ayler two decades before – and sadly unissued for years after its recording, possibly because it's a very sensitive, soulful set that's different than the frenetic power of later albums on ESP. A real treasure throughout – with work from Call Cobbs Jr on piano, Henry Grimes on bass, and Sonny Murray on drums – on titles that include "Swing Low Sweet Chariot", "Deep River", "Goin Home", "Ol Man River", "Down By The Riverside", and "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from guitarist Oren Ambarchi – a little more expansive than his preceding effort on Drag City, thanks to larger group and a wider range of instrumentation, while building on what loved about it! The style is tough to pin down in the best kind of way, with strains of improvisational jazz and hypnotic minimalism, but a unique melodic drive that's as compelling as it is tough to cleanly categorize. Collaborators this time include returning Swedish jazz bassist Johan Berthling, drummer Joe Talia, a second guitarist in Julia Reidy, Sam Dunscombe on bass clarinet – and for extra otherworldly, yet melodic atmosphere is some synth by Jim O'Rourke and pedal steel by BJ Cole on a couple of tracks. The whole Shebang is a 4 part set – each track running long, to give it a nice amount of space to build up, settle down, and flow into the next – and numbered 1 to 4. LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the most haunting project to date from Ruth Goller – an important collaborator on the contemporary London scene, but one who's got a style that's much more than jazz – one that's definitely pushed to the limits here! The set features Goller on electric and acoustic bass, with overdubbed vocals that are often layered in very cool ways – and augmented track to track by guest work on drums, electronics, vibes, and sanza – instruments that are often used in ways that bring a slight touch of organic acoustic energy to the more layered proceedings. The textures of the vocals are very evocative – almost a blend of an older 4AD aesthetic with improvised music – and titles include "Next Time I Keep My Hands Down", "Below My Skin", "How To Be Free From It", "Don't Follow Me", "She Was My Own She Was Myself", and "All The Light I Have I Hand To You". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the most haunting project to date from Ruth Goller – an important collaborator on the contemporary London scene, but one who's got a style that's much more than jazz – one that's definitely pushed to the limits here! The set features Goller on electric and acoustic bass, with overdubbed vocals that are often layered in very cool ways – and augmented track to track by guest work on drums, electronics, vibes, and sanza – instruments that are often used in ways that bring a slight touch of organic acoustic energy to the more layered proceedings. The textures of the vocals are very evocative – almost a blend of an older 4AD aesthetic with improvised music – and titles include "Next Time I Keep My Hands Down", "Below My Skin", "How To Be Free From It", "Don't Follow Me", "She Was My Own She Was Myself", and "All The Light I Have I Hand To You". LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overview testament to the genius of Miguel Atwood Ferguson – a string player whose work has graced countless other great spiritual jazz projects from the west coast scene, and one who finally gets a chance to showcase his beautiful sense of creation in all its glory! The massively extended set is worth all the room that Miguel has been given – as the package features over three hours of music that flowers with all sorts of emotion, especially joy and hope – with Atwood-Ferguson working with help from friends who include Bennie Maupin and Kamasi Washington on reeds, Jeff Parker on guitar, and a whole host of musicians – including Domi & Beck, Carlos Nino, Thundercat, Jamire Williams, Jamael Dean, and others! There's a majestic quality to the record, but also a very personal tone too – as if Miguel has taken the wide range of his experience over decades on the scene, and woven it into a brilliant sonic poem of his own – served up here on 52 selections that leave us breathless! LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderfully righteous work from Burnt Sugar Arkestra – a group who've been giving us great records for years, but who are maybe even more important to the scene than ever before! The core of the record is the long title track – a very jazzy tune that builds up over loops set down by composer Greg Tate, with a flowing, snakey vibe that allows for plenty of long trumpet, tenor, flute, and alto solos over the guitars and Fender Rhodes that work the rhythms – maybe almost in electric Miles territory, but more laidback. That tune is then reworked on a number of variations that are very different – mostly instrumental, as the main track – but finishing up with a bit of vocals near the end of the record – a great contribution from singer Lisala Beatty! Titles include "Angels Over Oakanda", "Repatriation Of The Midnight Moores", "Oakanda Overdrive", and "Lisala Oer Inna Oakanda". (Deep Funk, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Never-issued live work from British jazz legend Graham Collier – a performance that follows hot on the heels of his classic Down Another Road album, and which continues with a very similar vibe! That album is a modal masterpiece that stands as one of the key moments in British jazz at the end of the 60s – and here, bassist Collier furthers the magic of that wonderful album, but with a freer, more spontaneous sort of live energy – leading a very cool group that features Nick Evans on trombone, Harry Beckett on trumpet and flugelhorn, Stan Sulzman on tenor and alto, Karl Jenkins on piano and oboe, and John Marshall on drums. Collier's basslines alone are worth the price of admission – but there's so many other wonderful touches too – even the oboe work by Jenkins, which echoes some of the exotic tones of Yusef Lateef a few years earlier. Titles include "Molewrenceh", "The Barley Mow", "Aberdeen Angus", "Down Another Road", "Lullaby For A Lonely Child", and "Burblings For Bob". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning slice of work from the mighty Dexter Gordon – material recorded in the Netherlands, at a time when Dex was really expanding his talents on that scene! The work here is unreleased, but follows the format of some of his killer albums on the Steeplechase label – a live performance, with Gordon really stretching out on some incredible solos that are filled with fire and imagination– with backing from a Dutch trio that features Rein DeGraaff on piano, Henk Haverhoek on bass, and Eric Ineke on drums. Rein is great – and has the full sense of soul that Kenny Drew brought to some of his recordings with Gordon on the scene – but the real star is the man himself, stretching out beautifully on long versions of "Fried Bananas", "The Panther", and "Body & Soul". LP, Vinyl record album

An ultra-rare performance from Dexter Gordon – one at a high school in Denmark at the same time he was really beginning to take off at the Club Montmartre in Copenhagen! The group here is similar to one that was working with Dex in the club – Kenny Drew on piano, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Albert Tootie Heath on drums – a rollicking rhythm section that really takes off on the title track – a searing rendition of "Soy Califa", which is one of our favorite Dexter Gordon tunes from the Blue Note years. The set then slides into a laidback reading of "Shadow Of Your Smile", with Dex blowing soulfully and deep – and the record concludes with a tight boppish version of "Blues Up & Down", with lots of room for long tenor and piano solos! The playing is great, but we should say that the recording quality seems to have the bass more upfront than both the piano and tenor – so the mix is a bit unusual. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic lost slice of work from reedman Yusef Lateef – a performance recorded at the legendary Ronnie Scott's club in London, with backing from a trio that features the wonderful Stan Tracey! Tracey was a committed modernist who really helped shape the sound of the UK scene at the time – and his pairing here with Lateef is wonderful, as Stan seems to bring out some of the most spiritual, most exotic sounds from the saxphonist – shaping the music with his own creative and angular work on piano. Yusef blows flute, tenor, shenai, and xun – and overall, the whole thing's got a vibe that really takes us back to the brilliance of his late 50s sessions for Savoy – done with the same mix of modernism, exoticism, and soul. Titles include "Song Of Delilah", "Last Night Blues", "Yusef's Mood", "Angel Eyes", and "Blues For The Orient". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the strongest creative statement to date from tenorist James Brandon Lewis – an album of work inspired by the legacy of George Washington Carver – served up here with a sense of depth that's certain to open even more doors for Lewis in years to come! There's a majesty to the music that's apparent in the very first notes, and which keeps on coming as each song unfurls – that search for truth talked about in Carver's writings, quested here with a quintet that includes William Parker on bass, Chad Taylor on drums, Kirk Knuffke on cornet, and Chris Hoffman on cello! The energy of Parker and Taylor is sublime – and makes for a setting that's different than other recent records we've heard from Knuffke, who also seems to draw new currents of sonic inspiration from the gentle but powerful use of the cello. The tenor has a raw, sharp edge throughout – a personality that would be striking, even without the beautiful setting of Lewis' original material – and titles include "Lowlands Of Sorrow", "Jesup Wagon", "Experiment Station", "Fallen Flowers", "Seer", and "Arachis". LP, Vinyl record album

The front cover might look a bit dramatic, but the set's got a warm and wonderful feel – lean, soulful instrumentation from a Finnish trio that features Aleksi Heinola on drums, Temu Akerblom on bass, and Marku Holkko on reeds and flute – coming together with this gentle groove that's got a subtle glow all the way through! The music of Holkko is sometimes in a familiar mode, with sax or flute lines snaking through over the grooves – sometimes a bit more laidback and textural – and there's clearly some other instrumentation on the record that warms up the sound from time to time, including a bit of uncredited keyboards. Titles include "Blue Sitar", "Joyous Water", "Hunting Heads", "Waves Of Sound", "Friday Gig", "Momentum Finale", "Amboseli", and "Little Dandelion". LP, Vinyl record album

We kinda want to hate the guy for such a hokey name like Tenderlonious – but this album's a surprisingly great little gem, and one that mixes lots of openly-blown work on flute with some sweet keyboards and other jazzy rhythms! The approach is maybe a bit like the Jason Lindh or Chris Hinze albums of the early 70s – and by that, we mean their better sets – with a flute approach that's less biting than the generation of Herbie Mann and Roland Kirk, using the instrument more in these spacious ways that are pretty darn great – especially against the heavy percussion and basslines of the 22Archestra! There's a few nice moments that almost have a Bobbi Humphrey sort of warmth – and titles include "Togo", "SV Interlude", "Expansions", "The Shakedown", "Yussef's Groove", "Red Sky At Night", and "You Decide". LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous entry in this wonderful series – a set that proudly proclaims its contents with the "NOW" on the cover! Back when the Spiritual Jazz series first started on the Jazzman label, the music was mostly relegated to material of the John Coltrane generation and the generation that followed – but in the past decade or so, there's been a huge explosion in new artists that explore the deeper, more righteous currents of jazz – music that's pulled in from the farther reaches of free improvisation, to righteous, message-oriented styles that often mix modal rhythms with more exploratory solo passages. Yet this new generation is hardly slavish to the sounds of Impulse Records – as they've really moved beyond, and have used a globe's worth of influences and new 21st Century concepts to bring fresh spirit to the music – opening things up in ways that have made this new movement one of our greatest sources of inspiration in recent years. This double-length entry is a fantastic overview of the sounds that are currently reshaping the planet – and titles on volume 2 include "Flute Song" by Wildflower, "Slow Sweet Burn" by Abeeku, "Palms To Heaven" by The Cosmic Range, "Nova" by Menagerie, "Avo's Tune" by Teemu Akerblom Quartet, "Paris" by Jonas Kullhammar, "Vessels" by The Jamie Saft Quartet, "What Do I Tell My Children Who Are Black "by Angel Bat Dawid, "Trane's Groove" by Carla Marciano, "For Coltrane" by Steve Reid Foundation, "Empty Streets" by Vibration Black Finger, and "Memory Ritual" by The Pyramids. (Funky Compilations, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A heady blend of jazz and larger elements – served up by Austin Peralta in a style that's a bit ahead of its time! The music here recalls recent sounds from the London scene, or some of the post-jazz experiments of International Anthem – but Peralta also takes things back to earlier spiritual expressions too – recalling Max Roach with strings, the work of Chris Bowden, and some other favorite spots along the way. The set features some especially great reed work – by Zane Musa on alto and Ben Wendel on tenor and soprano – and there's some nice reworking of core sounds by Strangeloop, and even a guest appearance by the Cinematic Orchestra too! Titles include "The Underwater Mountain Odyssey", "Capricornus", "Lotus Flower", "Ode To Loev", and "Algiers". 2LP version includes four bonus tracks from a BBC session! LP, Vinyl record album

Stunning duets from these key improvisers – a set recorded in Paris, and done with a stripped-down and freely playful vibe that's very much like some of the best AACM material of the time! Wadada Leo Smith blows trumpet, Marion Brown is on alto – and both players bring percussion into the mix too – as they shift between shorter and longer improvisations, all handled with that special ear for sonic textures that makes them such subtle giants in their field! The style is very different than the more spiritual vibe of some of Brown's larger group performances from the period – and very much in the spirit of more intimate improvisational recordings that Wadada would issue more often in years to come. Titles include "Rhythmus 1", "Centering", "And Then They Danced", and "Njung Lumumba Malcolm". LP, Vinyl record album

A previously unissued album from Indian guitarist Amancio D'Silva – recorded during his legendary run of work at Lansdowne Studios, but making its first-ever appearance here! The work on the set is every bit as far-reaching and progressive as some of D'Silva's official releases – and like those sides, this one does a tremendous job of blending complicated guitar lines, unusual rhythms, and some super-hip instrumentation! Amancio has a way of playing guitar that's a bit like Gabor Szabo – airy and exotic at times, with a free-flowing quality that's really explored nicely here on the longish tunes on the set. Players include Don Rendell on saxophone, Stan Tracey on piano, and Alan Branscombe on flute, vibes, and electric piano – but best of all is the use of sitar and tabla on the record – often employed sparingly, but in a way that adds some great echoes of Indian music. Titles include "A Street In Bombay", "What Maria Sees", "A Song For Francesca", and "Konkan Dance". LP, Vinyl record album

Never-heard lost work from Indian guitarist Amancio D'Silva – a musician who created one of the most legendary albums in the Lansdowne Series at the start of the 70s, still turning out incredible sounds over a decade later! The album's very much out of time – with currents of jazz and Indian music balanced equally, and at a level that's so much different than other experiments of this nature – very organic, and really taking the time to find the right vibe on each of the album's long, beautiful tracks! In addition to D'Silva on guitar, the group also includes Lyn Dobson on flute, Clem Alford on sitar, and Jahlib Millar on tablas – flowing beautifully with Amancio on tracks that include "Raag Bhairagi", "Song For Francesca", "Sapana", and "Raag Kafi". LP, Vinyl record album

Dezron Douglas and Brandee Younger are two of our favorite jazz musicians to emerge in the past decade – and this set of duets may well be some of the greatest work that either artist has done on record to date! The setting is unique – material pulled from live stream broadcasts that bassist Douglas and harpist Younger did from their Harlem apartment during the lockdown in Spring of 2020 – and if that makes you think that the material's going to be low-fi or cheap, it's not – as there's a sense of majesty here that's really surprising, given that the album features just two musicians! Dezron's bass has never sounded better – and blended with the harp of Younger, the sound is amazing – as Brandee evokes both Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby on the instrument – but also brings in a spirit that's very much her own. The set features remakes of tracks from both Coltranes, and Pharoah Sanders – plus lots of other surprises and original material too – on titles that include "Gospel Trane", "Force Majeure", "This Woman's Work", "Nothing Stupid", "Sing", "The Creator Has A Master Plan", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "We'll Be Right Back", "You Make Me Feel Brand New", and "Equinox". LP, Vinyl record album

A superb stripped down set from former Blue Note and South African ex-pat Dyani, joined by drummer Clifford Jarvis. The two bounce rhythms and pulses off each other on a wide open set featuring lots of solo moments for both, plus some vocal and piano contributions. 6 numbers in all, including "Afrikan Anthem (Zulu)", "Afrikan Blues", "Ithi-Gqi", "Lonely Flowers", "South Afrikan" and "The Robin Irland Struff". LP, Vinyl record album

Emmeluth is alto saxophonist Signe Emmeluth – a player with a very unusual ear for timing and rhythms, as you'll hear in this completely unique set! The record has a vibe that's very hard to describe in words – maybe partly some of the experimentation of the 80s New York downtown scene, but mixed with more subtle moments as well – played as instrumental jazz, but with a boundless sense of imagination and exploration in a variety of different sonic textures. Signe blows alto at the head of a quartet – with Karl Bjora on guitar, Christian Balvig on piano, and Ole Mofjell on drums – all musicians who have a sense of invention that's as strong as the leader – on titles that include "Flickering", "Parallel", "I Hear Nonsense", "Are You Cross", "Zelda", and "Shaking Tail Feathers". LP, Vinyl record album