A whole new kind of trio session for the 70s – one that has the airy, open lines of guitarist John Abercrombie stretching out nicely in the company of drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Dave Holland! The music is archetypal ECM work of the time – a complete contrast to a guitar trio session from a decade before, or even a few years before on any different sort of label. Abercrombie's got a bit of bite at a few moments, but mostly keeps things spare and spacious – and Holland and DeJohnette are more than happy to follow suit. Titles include "Backwoods Song", "May Dance", "Waiting", "Jamala", and "Sorcery 1". CD

A whole new kind of trio session for the 70s – one that has the airy, open lines of guitarist John Abercrombie stretching out nicely in the company of drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Dave Holland! The music is archetypal ECM work of the time – a complete contrast to a guitar trio session from a decade before, or even a few years before on any different sort of label. Abercrombie's got a bit of bite at a few moments, but mostly keeps things spare and spacious – and Holland and DeJohnette are more than happy to follow suit. Titles include "Backwoods Song", "May Dance", "Waiting", "Jamala", and "Sorcery 1". LP, Vinyl record album

A whole new kind of trio session for the 70s – one that has the airy, open lines of guitarist John Abercrombie stretching out nicely in the company of drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Dave Holland! The music is archetypal ECM work of the time – a complete contrast to a guitar trio session from a decade before, or even a few years before on any different sort of label. Abercrombie's got a bit of bite at a few moments, but mostly keeps things spare and spacious – and Holland and DeJohnette are more than happy to follow suit. Titles include "Backwoods Song", "May Dance", "Waiting", "Jamala", and "Sorcery 1". LP, Vinyl record album

The second effort from this trio – with Dave Holland on bass, Jack DeJohnette on piano and drums, and John Abercrombie on electric and acoustic guitars, and electric mandolin too! CD

The second effort from this trio – with Dave Holland on bass, Jack DeJohnette on piano and drums, and John Abercrombie on electric and acoustic guitars, and electric mandolin too! LP, Vinyl record album

Features John Abercrombie on guitar, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums and piano. CD

Gateway is John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. CD

One of the few albums ever recorded by pianist Charles Bell – a fresh-voiced modernist who flourished briefly on the recording scene at the beginning of the 60s, when he recorded great records for Columbia and Atlantic, plus this little gem for the smaller Gateway label! The set's a live one, and has Bell playing in a style that's more open than some of his other records – still very much concerned with moods and colors, in an almost John Lewis-like way – but also playing some extremely inventive lines on the piano, and giving the record a keenly improvised quality. Titles include "Take Five", "Memories Of Home", "Whisper Not", "Work Song", "Prancing", and "Tommy's Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Trombonely jazz from Harold Betters – the Pittsburgh legend who had a tremendous reach in the 60s! The album features Betters working his magic in a variety of settings – from catchy soul jazz-inflected numbers, to gentle ballads, to the more R&B-tinged numbers that were most likely Betters' biggest crowd pleasers on his popular live sets. The album's got a great vocal number called "Tall Girl", a two-part original groover called "Do Anything You Wanna", and nice takes on "Twist & Shout" and "Girl From Ipanema". LP, Vinyl record album

Obscure recording by the great trombonist Slide Hampton, and one of the last that he made in the US before disappearing to Europe for a long while. The set's put together by trombonist Harold Betters for the Gateway label, based in Betters' home base of Pittsburgh. The two players trade off solo lines and arrangements here, but the bulk of the tracks have Slide penning the charts. As always, his work in this respect is flawless, and the LP grooves nicely with a nice bottom sound. Cuts include "Major Minor", "Rum & Coke", "The Beat", and "The New Waltz". LP, Vinyl record album

Jaki Byard brings plenty to the table here – playing both tenor and alto sax, in addition to his usual piano – and showing once again that he's not just a multi-instrumentalist, but also one of the most multi-voiced talents in jazz! Byard seems to bring a similar spirit of multiplicity to his players on the date – as Major Holly plays tuba and Fender bass, as well as his usual acoustic bass – and drummer Warren Smith also picks up a bit of tympani and vibes as well, especially on the tracks that feature added drummer JR Mitchell. Side one of the record features shorter tunes that showcase Byard's ear for many generations of jazz at once – titles that include "Ballad To Louise", "Just Rollin Along", and "LH Gateway Rag". Side two features part of Jaki's "Family Suite", which is a much more modern number overall – filled with beautiful little pictures in sound! LP, Vinyl record album

A set of free improvised duets that are so fierce, they've been kept from the public for decades – finally seeing the light of day in this long-overdue package! Percussionist/electronicist Paul Lytton is a player known to many, and known for his always-incredible ear for sonic intensity – yet we've maybe never heard him this intense before, working alongside guitarist Erhard Hirt, a player with an approach to his instrument that's unlike anyone else in the free jazz universe at the time! Hirt often plays with a great sense of noise – not as bombastically as Sonny Sharrock, or as rock-influenced as some of the others – but almost as if he's using his electric guitar as the gateway to some darker universe, opening a passage that Lytton dives in to follow very quickly with some especially great electronics. Even the percussion has this electrified spark – and titles include "Orbod", "The Sensitive Stickler", "Don't Wait Too Long", "Deder", "Clip", and "175". CD

Overlooked genius from Henry Threadgill – one of his under-exposed 80s sessions for the About Time label, and work that's every bit as great as his better-known sides for Delmark or Black Saint! The group here has a nice sense of freedom and interplay – almost a quality that hearkens back to Threadgill's roots in the AACM, thanks to strong contributions from Craig Harris on trombone, Olu Dara on trumpet, Fred Hopkins on bass, Deidre Murray on cello, and both Pheeroan Aklaff and John Betsch on percussion. The tracks are nicely arranged, but never too stiffly – and titles include "Cremation", "Black Blues", "Gateway", and "Just The Facts And Pass The Bucket". CD

Overlooked genius from Henry Threadgill – one of his under-exposed 80s sessions for the About Time label, and work that's every bit as great as his better-known sides for Delmark or Black Saint! The group here has a nice sense of freedom and interplay – almost a quality that hearkens back to Threadgill's roots in the AACM, thanks to strong contributions from Craig Harris on trombone, Olu Dara on trumpet, Fred Hopkins on bass, Deidre Murray on cello, and both Pheeroan Aklaff and John Betsch on percussion. The tracks are nicely arranged, but never too stiffly – and titles include "Cremation", "Black Blues", "Gateway", and "Just The Facts And Pass The Bucket". CD