A landmark concert from the mid 80s – one held to honor the resurrection of the Blue Note label, featuring a wealth of some of the best players for the label – from the 80s back to the 50s bebop years. This first volume in the 4 LP series features centered around Herbie Hancock and Bobby Hutcherson, with appearances by Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, Tony Williams and James Newton. Side one features the group nicely stretching out on a quintet take of "Canteloupe Island" and a sextet reading of "Record A Me", and side two has a quintet take of "Little B's Poem", a trio take of "Bouquet" and a quartet take of "Hat & Beard". CD

Ron Carter on bass, Herbie Hancock on piano, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, James Newton on flute, and Tony Williams on drums. Tracks include "Hat And Beard", "Cantaloupe Island", "Recorda Me", and "Little B's Poem". CD

A nice bit of funky organ work from Jimmy McGriff – a set that's got his famous talents on the Hammond out front of a larger ensemble – but in a way that's very different than some of his albums of that type from the 70s! There's lots of electricity in the mix – electric piano from Horace Ott, bass from Richard Evans, and guitar from Wayne Bennett – mixed with sharp work on horns from Cliff Davis on tenor and flute, Murray Watson on trumpet, and Johnny Beard on baritone – three players who really flesh out the sound! The album's got some excellent stone funky classics – like "The Bird", "Groove Grease", and "Plain Brown Bag" – plus some surprisingly funky readings of standards like "Canadian Sunset" and "Mr Lucky", both made to sound super-nice, thanks to excellent work on bass and drums! CD

A nice bit of funky organ work from Jimmy McGriff – a set that's got his famous talents on the Hammond out front of a larger ensemble – but in a way that's very different than some of his albums of that type from the 70s! There's lots of electricity in the mix – electric piano from Horace Ott, bass from Richard Evans, and guitar from Wayne Bennett – mixed with sharp work on horns from Cliff Davis on tenor and flute, Murray Watson on trumpet, and Johnny Beard on baritone – three players who really flesh out the sound! The album's got some excellent stone funky classics – like "The Bird", "Groove Grease", and "Plain Brown Bag" – plus some surprisingly funky readings of standards like "Canadian Sunset" and "Mr Lucky", both made to sound super-nice, thanks to excellent work on bass and drums! LP, Vinyl record album

Heavy hitting jazz rock from the UK underground of the early 70s! We'll Talk About It Later is a great early album from Ian Carr's legendary Nucleus group – playing here in a version that includes Karl Jenkins and Brian Smith on reeds, and Chris Spedding on guitar. The band had a landmark sound that mixed progressive jazz and tight full-on rock fusion into a style that was sometimes funky, sometimes avant, and often pretty darn exciting! This album has lots of nice electric piano lines, and plenty of choppy sax parts that hit a nice groove in the manner that would later be taken up by a lot of European reed players, with nice long songs with plenty of room for improvisation – and grooves that are still nice and jazzy. Titles include "Song for The Bearded Lady", "Oasis", "Ballad of Joe Pimp", "Easter 1916", and "Lullaby For A Lonely Child". LP, Vinyl record album

Never-issued work from this legendary fusion group – a 1971 live performance recorded in Rotterdam, and a set of tracks that's a perfect complement to the legendary Nucleus albums issued by Vertigo at the time! Leader Ian Carr is upfront on trumpet – but as with the best Nucleus recordings, this is definitely an all-out group affair – driven by very strong work from John Marshall on drums and Roy Babbington on bass – and filled with work from two different simultaneous electric pianos, handled by both Hywel Thomas and Karl Jenkins, the latter of whom also blows a bit of oboe. Other reeds are from Brian Smith on tenor, soprano sax, and flute – and all tracks are nice and long, and often quite funky – with titles that include "Snakehips Dream", "We'll Talk About It Later", "Song For The Bearded Lady", "Exit Interlude 1", "Persephone's Jive", "Exit Interlude 2", and "Oasis". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hippest bandleaders of his generation, even if his group wasn't as famous as those of Basie or Kenton! Pierce was a bit like the former in the heavy swing of his group, but also a fair bit like the latter in that he had a great ear for finding young modernists – players who would work well within the tighter ensemble of the larger group, but also be willing to try out new ideas on their solos – even in a relatively short span on record! The Pierce style was always subtle, but extremely rewarding – especially when given a few repeat listenings. Players here include Joe Newman, Bill Harris, Hal McKusick, Freddie Green, Oscar Pettiford, and Nat Pierce. Includes "Old Rev", "Trip To Nathan's", "Maple Leaf Rag", "That's All", "Sioux City Sue", "Rojiserro", and "The Bearded One". LP, Vinyl record album

A soul jazz masterpiece – and one of the rarest albums on the Jazzland label! Tenorist Joe Alexander has a mean, raw tone on the set – clearly influenced by the early 60s soul jazz generation, but also with some nicely off-beat tones that give him a really unique feel. He's backed here by the kind of a group that couldn't go wrong – Bobby Timmons on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Albert Heath on drums – as well as the equally-obscure John Hunt on flugelhorn. Tracks are all long and jamming – much more soulful than some of the other Jazzland sides from the time – with titles that include "I'll Close My Eyes", "Brown's Town", "Terri's Blues", and "Weird Beard". LP, Vinyl record album

Never-issued work from this legendary fusion group – a 1971 live performance recorded in Rotterdam, and a set of tracks that's a perfect complement to the legendary Nucleus albums issued by Vertigo at the time! Leader Ian Carr is upfront on trumpet – but as with the best Nucleus recordings, this is definitely an all-out group affair – driven by very strong work from John Marshall on drums and Roy Babbington on bass – and filled with work from two different simultaneous electric pianos, handled by both Hywel Thomas and Karl Jenkins, the latter of whom also blows a bit of oboe. Other reeds are from Brian Smith on tenor, soprano sax, and flute – and all tracks are nice and long, and often quite funky – with titles that include "Snakehips Dream", "We'll Talk About It Later", "Song For The Bearded Lady", "Exit Interlude 1", "Persephone's Jive", "Exit Interlude 2", and "Oasis". LP, Vinyl record album

Guitarist Pierre Dorge in a really unusual setting – not his larger orchestra, but a great small group with drummer Hamid Drake – who really helps bring out a whole new side of Dorge's music! The spare setting of the record also features Kirk Knuffe on cornet and Thommy Andersson on bass – and the players have this airy, open way of interacting – which really allows us to hear all these great sounds on guitar from Dorge, often with ringing tones that match perfectly with the cornet – but also bowed at other times, with a sonorous approach we especially love. Drake is great, as always – extremely sensitive in his approach to the drums – and titles include 'Wulla Wussa", "Blui", "Danza Reptilla", "Cha Cha Lupa", "Xongly", "Else Belse Bird Beard", and "Happy As A Cow". CD

Drummer Ulysses Owens leads a great ensemble here – a largeish group that he makes swing and soar throughout, driving the whole thing with the kind of fire that Kenny Clarke might have done in a similar setting! As with Clarke in his famous big band, Owens knows that the best sound will come from the group if he opens the door to all the many talents in the lineup – not just big names like Michael Dease on trombone, Stefon Harris on vibes, and Alexa Tarantino on alto – but also players like trumpeter Benny Benack, tenorist Diego Rivera, and bassist Yasushi Nakamura – who not only solo, but also bring their own arrangements to the group. There's a wonderful sense of individual spirit and color within the group – a very fresh take on this sort of territory – and titles include "Language Of Flowers", "Harlem Harlem Harlem", "Soul Conversations", "London Towne", "Red Chair", and "Beardom X" – plus a version of "Giant Steps". CD

Three 70s killers from Jimmy McGriff! Groove Grease is a nice bit of funky organ work from Jimmy McGriff – a set that's got his famous talents on the Hammond out front of a larger ensemble – but in a way that's very different than some of his albums of that type from the 70s! There's lots of electricity in the mix – electric piano from Horace Ott, bass from Richard Evans, and guitar from Wayne Bennett – mixed with sharp work on horns from Cliff Davis on tenor and flute, Murray Watson on trumpet, and Johnny Beard on baritone – three players who really flesh out the sound! The album's got some excellent stone funky classics – like "The Bird", "Groove Grease", and "Plain Brown Bag" – plus some surprisingly funky readings of standards like "Canadian Sunset" and "Mr Lucky", both made to sound super-nice, thanks to excellent work on bass and drums! Main Squeeze is one of the grooviest albums ever from Jimmy McGriff – a hard-wailing session that's filled with plenty of cooking lines on the organ, and a few especially funky tracks! The groove here is tight, short, and very sharp – strongly in the mode of other post-Sue sessions by McGriff – like The Worm or other Groove Merchant sides – with a style that's often much more focused than Jimmy's earlier years, and strongly turned towards the rhythms of the tunes! A few numbers are more familiar soul jazz, but these are nicely offset by the harder funk numbers of the record – like the romping, stomping break classic "The Main Squeeze", the totally groovy "The Worm Turns", and the fast-vamping "GMI". The group features Jimmy Ponder on guitar and Connie Lester on alto sax – and other titles include "The Sermon", "Stella By Starlight", and "The Blues Train To Georgia". Tailgunner has Jimmy McGriff in a very cool 70s mode – hitting some of the fuller, more soul-based styles that Johnny Hammond and Jimmy Smith were exploring in the middle of the decade – while still also displaying a hell of a talent on the organ as well! The album has extra keyboards from Pat Rebillot and Paul Griffin – which makes for a nice mix of organ and electric piano sounds, plus some occasional moog that's very nicely placed – all backed by a largeish group that has tight horns, and some occasional soul vocals from Al Downing and Denise Wooten. The vocals are often an augmentation of the tunes, and there's still plenty of room for solos by Jimmy in the middle – on titles that include "Tailgunner", "Flexible Flyer", "Sky Hawk", "Grandma's Toe Jam", and "Bullfrog". CD

Very hip work from Art Turk Burton – percussionist, educator, and underground figure on the AACM scene in Chicago for decades – working here on a set of very long, live readings of key jazz tunes, served up with help from some equally hip musicians on the scene! The great Ari Brown plays tenor in the group, alongside the alto of Edwin Daugherty, keyboards of Ed Beard, and bass of Yosef Ben Israel – in a group that also features plenty of congas from Art, and more percussion from Sammie Torres and Dushun Mosley too – as the group takes off on these very extended performances that are filled with plenty of strong solos over equally strong percussion too! Maggie Brown brings in some vocals and spoken parts too – and titles include long takes on "Song For My Father", "Freedom Jazz Dance", "Listen Here", "Afro Blue", and "Inner City Blues". CD

Very hip work from Art Turk Burton – percussionist, educator, and underground figure on the AACM scene in Chicago for decades – working here on a set of very long, live readings of key jazz tunes, served up with help from some equally hip musicians on the scene! The great Ari Brown plays tenor in the group, alongside the alto of Edwin Daugherty, keyboards of Ed Beard, and bass of Yosef Ben Israel – in a group that also features plenty of congas from Art, and more percussion from Sammie Torres and Dushun Mosley too – as the group takes off on these very extended performances that are filled with plenty of strong solos over equally strong percussion too! Maggie Brown brings in some vocals and spoken parts too – and titles include long takes on "Song For My Father", "Freedom Jazz Dance", "Listen Here", "Afro Blue", and "Inner City Blues". CD