A nice little live set from Freddie – open and free, with a soulfully-blown spirit that reminds us of his best live recordings of the 60s! The group's a quintet with some especially strong work from Don Braden on tenor and Ronnie Matthews on piano – and the tracks all stretch out at lengths that go well past the 10 minute mark – allowing Hubbard, Braden, and Matthews to really hit some great moments in their solo work. Titles include "Dear John", "All Blues", "God Bless The Child", and a really strong take on Cedar Walton's "Bolivia"! CD

Fantastic material from the legendary Polish pianist Krzystof Komeda – best-known as the soundtrack composer on most of the early films of Roman Polanski, including Rosemary's Baby – but also a hell of a jazz modernist in his own right! This live performance captures Komeda right at a time when he was taking off – stretching out with fresh modern ideas of his own, and working with a key group of young associates – all at a level that rivals some of the freshest modern jazz experiments of contemporaries like Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, or Joe Harriott! The group's a quintet – with Michal Urbaniak on tenor and Tomasz Stanko on trumpet – and all tracks are long, and include "Knife In Water", "Roman Two", and "What's Up Mr Basie". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes "Sisyphus" and "Dancers" by Klaus Lenz Big Band & Uschi Bruning; and "PT" by Arild Adersen Quartet. LP, Vinyl record album

McCoy Tyner on solo piano. CD

One of the most ambitious Cecil Taylor projects of the 80s – a special project performed by a large ensemble at a jazz festival in Poland – an incredible group who really expand the vision in Cecil's music! Make no mistake, Taylor is definitely the leader here – his piano and vocalizations really direct the entire set – but the music brims over with contributions from giants who include Tomasz Stanko and Enrico Rava on trumpets, Conrad Bauer on trombone, Jimmy Lyons on alto, Frank Wright and John Tchicai on tenors, Gunter Hampel on bass clarinet and vibes, and William Parker on bass. The performance features one long piece, but graced with all these really beautiful themes amidst the freer improvisations – coming across with a global vision in jazz that's maybe not unlike some of Charlie Haden's Liberation Music projects, but freer and bolder overall! CD

A hell of a document of what Cecil Taylor could do when he was at his best – just one man and one piano, but a universe of sonic exploration and non-stop energy throughout! The set features a rare 1968 live performance in Poland – done at the nation's famous Jazz Jamboree festival – and Taylor is completely unbound during the 43 minute "Respiration" which takes up the entire album – even more so than on some of his better-known records from a few years before – and solo, without even having to pay attention to other group members on the stage – so that he can just focus his frenzied attack on the piano, which must have been reduced to splinters by the time the set was over! Yet this isn't just bombast, as the whole thing has that intrinsic logic that makes a Taylor solo set like this so brilliant – a complete understanding of all the possibilities of the instrument, really pushing them to the limits, but also with a cohesive mission that makes the whole thing come together in a fantastic way. CD

Tremendous work from the Spanish scene of the 60s and early 70s – way more than just a batch of obscure jazz cuts, and instead a true testament to this very vibrant musical community! The package brings together some really special tracks from Spanish labels like Edigsa, Ensayo, Hispavox, and others – and really shows that in Spain at the time, there was musical growth that was every bit as strong as in better-known scenes in Germany, France, and Italy – a really rich step forward from American inspiration of the postwar years – into a world of freshly inventive rhythms, really imaginative solos, and some key local touches that really made the music sparkle! Not all players here are of Spanish origin, as the set also shows the key crossroads the scene was offering at the time – a wealth of wonderful hardbop, soul jazz, and modal numbers that include "El Cant Dels Ocells" by Catalonia Jazz Quartet, "Movimiento" by Lou Bennett, "Psique" by Juan Carlos Calderon, "Tema Per Alicia" by Jazz Group, "Asteriscs" by Nits De Jazz Al Jamboree, "Bosnia Calling" by Dusko Goykovich, "Israel" by Modern Jazz Sextet, "Rememberance To Madrid" by Elia Fleta, "Marcha De Los Dioses" by Tino Contreras, and "Laberinto (2nd part)" by Vlady Bas. (Funky Compilations, Jazz) CD

Don't be put off by the title, because this is hardly the sort of ballet you might see at the opera house – and instead features some of the best early modern jazz work from the great Krzysztof Komeda. The title track is the ultimate recording of one of the most ambitious works ever composed by Komeda – as the "Ballet Etudes" suite was originally composed for the 1962 Jazz Jamboree festival, but this later recording is even better than the original – a side-long piece that opens up with wonderful complexity, yet never fails to swing. The track's a wonderfully haunting work – sort of like some of Mingus' larger concept pieces of the late 50s, built around a specific project, a jazz ballet, but also working perfectly as a showcase for the rich solo talents of the members of the group – who include Allan Botschinsky on trumpet and Jan Wroblewski on tenor! Wroblewski returns on the second half – which features long readings of the Komeda originals "Alea" and "Crazy Girl" – the latter of which may get its best performance ever here, thanks to bold rhythms from Roman Dylag on bass and Rune Carlsson on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest albums ever recorded by Guy Lafitte – a wickedly soulful set that's overflowing with Latin and modern touches! Lafitte's in the lead on tenor, backed by a group that features the groundbreaking George Arvanitas trio at its core, plus trombone from Sonny Grey and guitar from the great Jimmy Gourley. Arvanitas' group features some incredibly strong rhythm work from the team of Jacky Samson on bass and Charles Saudrais on drums – a pair that were one of the greatest bass/drum units working during the 60s on either side of the Atlantic – and equally well-suited to gently soulful moments as they were to full-on rhythmic romps! The album bristles with excitement from the word go – and features some surprising soul jazz groovers that have Arvanitas playing a bit of organ – as well as some great late nite numbers that really have Lafitte opening up on his horn. Titles include "Jambo", "Cote A Cote", "Jamaica", "African Night", and "Jamboree". CD

An amazing record from the legendary Booker Ervin – and a set that really does a great job of bridging his modernist tendencies and soul jazz roots! The title track – "The Trance" – is an amazing 20 minute number that takes up all of side one of the record – and features Ervin soloing in an incredibly imaginative way – not as boppish as on his set with Dexter Gordon, but more in the powerful-voiced style that he developed with Mingus. The rest of the group features Jaki Byard on piano (always a treat!), Reggie Workman on bass, and Alan Dawson on drums – and side two features a very moody take on "Speak Low", and a nice bluesy vehicle for Booker, entitled "Groovin At The Jamboree". CD