The title's a wonderfully poetic one, and the music is too – very open improvisations between Sabu Toyozumi on drums and Yuji Takahashi on piano – along with plenty of percussion from both musicians too! There's a very spacious approach to the music – lots of thoughtful interaction between both players, as they find sonic resonance that never overwhelms at all, yet which is still freely spontaneous – beautifully organic in approach, and stretched out on two long tracks that make up the album – "Lovely Silver 6000 KM" and "Shoulder Blade & Hip Joint". LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overdue set from the great Johnny Blas – the percussionist who really made the Cubop label so great back in the 90s, returning here with a sound and style that's even more classic than ever! The instrumentation and production are rock-solid throughout – no too-polished modes, and a really strong focus on Johnny's conga work at the core – which seems to ground all the other great instrumentation on the set – including lots of strong work on trombone, piano, flute, and alto – the last two of which are sometimes played by Johnny too! There's vocals on the record on a few tracks, but the main focus is on jazzy instrumentation – and titles include "Unfinished Business", "Never Let Me Go", "Baila Que Baila", "Chi Town (parts 1 & 2)", "Berwyn Stop", and "Danzon For Rocio". (Latin, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A classic early 60s session for Candid Records – put together by a group that includes Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and a host of other musicians who were working here as "Newport Rebels" – by setting up the Jazz Artists Guild Festival as a protest against the increasingly commercialized Newport date! And for the record, the group definitely live up to their name – really shaking off the easier modes popularized at the Newport festival, and coming across with a style that's much more modern, firey, and righteous! Other artists include Abbey Lincoln on vocals, Booker Little on trumpet, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Eric Dolphy on saxophone, and Jimmy Knepper on trombone – and titles include a great rendition of "Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do" – plus 2 other great originals, "Cliff Walk" by Booker Little and "Mysterious Blues" by Mingus. LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet cuts for the Christmas season – a great batch of jazz, vocal, and R&B numbers pulled from the postwar years – excellent songs and singles from a time when the best sort of Holiday music was coming out on record, year after year! The set's a great addition to the ever-growing Bear Family Christmas collections – and like the rest, it really shows a strong understanding of what makes a great Christmas tune so great – not just a hit, or a familiar chart number from the past – but new takes on old tunes, or fresh songs that really show just how much Holiday music was flooding the record business back in the day! The package is great, with notes on each track – and titles include "Ole Santa" by Dinah Washington, "Mambo Santa Mambo" by The Enchanters, "I've Had A Very Merry Christmas" by Jerry Lewis, "Happy New Year Baby" by Johnny Otis, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" by Ramsey Lewis, "Christmas Ball" by Georgie Auld with Bill Darnel, "Jingle Bells" by Knuckles O'Toole, "Jing A Ling Jing A Ling" by The Andrews Sisters, "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson, "Come On Santa Let's Have A Ball" by Kay Martin & Her Body Guards, and "Mister Santa" by Dorothy Collins. (Holiday Music, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

The Blue Note debut of guitarist Charlie Hunter – a set that introduced Hunter's talents on the strings to a much larger audience at the time – and one that also really helped Blue Note get back into the business of funky jazz! The approach is nice and lean – a core trio with Dave Ellis on tenor and Jay Lane on drums – and at times, Hunter has a way of handling his guitar almost like an organ, which is a testament to his fresh approach to the instrument – a quality that continues even when a few moments feature some guest trombone or clarinet. Titles include a famous cover of "Come As You Are", plus the tracks "Bullethead", "Scrabbling For Purchase", "Fistful Of Haggis", "Greasy Granny", and "Elbo Room". LP, Vinyl record album

A totally fantastic record, and one we'd put right up there next to some of the best soulful hardbop albums on bigger labels of the 60s – even though the set hardly ever saw much circulation back in the day! As you can guess from the cover, the quintet hails from San Francisco – and they work here with a boldly creative vibe that really reflects the energy they were bringing to their club dates in the Bay Area – leadership by pianist Al Tanner, with smoking tenor from Roy Henderson, and a mix of flute and trumpet from George Alexander – both done in these really great ways. Edwar Williams handles bass, and perhaps the biggest name here is drummer Smiley Winters, who would later go on to more avant fame – yet it's the group together as a whole who work so well, often with the cohesive energy and individual voices of the Horace Silver quintet at its best. Titles include the massive modal number "Kuba" – plus "Rolon's Groove", "Bronson's Blues", "The Magi", "Poor Me", and "Zaltanica" – most nice and long. LP, Vinyl record album

A jazzy combo with plenty of soul – working here with plenty of fusion undercurrents, but in a way that's tied together with some really great vocals on the top! The style's a bit like that of James Mason on his legendary Rhythm Of Life LP – soaring, righteous, and with some slightly cosmic elements – especially in the way the guitar, keyboards, and vibes come together with an upbeat sort of groove! Ted sings, plays piano and vibes, and wrote all the tunes for the set – and the album's a beautiful lost treasure that has plenty of greatness to offer – echoes of Bobby Hutcherson, Roy Ayers, and others – in addition to James Mason – but also a richly personal vibe that's all its own. Titles include "Sweet Bird", "Samba De", "Can You Feel It", "Due Consideration", "If We Took The Time", and "What A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening". (Soul, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark late 50s album on Prestige Records – one of the label's key efforts to bring together some of the best talents in the hardbop business, and really let them loose on the kind of extended passages that weren't being recorded a few years before! The Cats here are all quite hip ones – an all-star sextet effort that features Tommy Flanagan on piano, John Coltrane on tenor, Idrees Sulieman on trumpet, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Doug Watkins on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums. Tracks are long, and open – and although each player is really at their best on their solos, there's still a sense of group unity that makes the record stand out from other efforts of its type – enough so that it's often cited as a key early entry in the Coltrane catalog. Titles include "Eclypso", "Solacium", "Tommy's Tune", and "Minor Mishap". LP, Vinyl record album