An unusual live set – one that features Coleman Hawkins on tenor with vibes from Harry Sheppard on side one – plus Benny Morton on trombone and Nat Pierce on piano on side two! LP, Vinyl record album

Spare European work from Egberto Gismonti – a set that's different than his fuller earlier work from Brazil, but still pretty compelling overall! Gismonti's playing here with a group of familiar ECM artists – mixing his own piano, guitar, and percussion lines with soprano sax from Jan Garbarek, guitar and percussion from Ralph Towner, tabla from Collin Wolcott, and berimbau and assorted percussion from Nana Vasconcelos. Many tunes are spare, but not nearly as cerebral as other ECM work – as Gismonti brings a very organic feel to the record, one that resonates strongly with Wolcott – and helps keep things in a loosely creative space. Tracks include "Cafe", "Sapain", "Coracao", "Kalimba", and the great "Raga", with excellent work by Wolcott! (Brazil, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best Paul Horn recordings of the 70s – tracks that were recorded amidst the Brazilian fusion explosion of the 70s, and which really push Horn's sound to the limit! The album features work composed by Egberto Gismonti, played by Horn, Gismonti, Dom Salvador, and Dom Um Romao with a breezy Brazilian jazz finish! The sound's a great extension of the genius that Gismonti had at the time, and takes his music into a slightly more American mode – with titles that include "Danca Das Cabecas", "Carmo", "Altura Do Sol", "Quarup", "Tango", and the great "Salvador". LP, Vinyl record album

A massive bit of funk – and from 70s France, no less! These guys clearly come from a jazz-based background – and have absorbed some of the best electric influences of their time – working in a keyboard-heavy mode that's clearly inspired by Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, and George Duke – yet also kicking up a groove that's a bit more down and dirty, and more in the instrumental funk mode overall. The sound of the set's incredible – really raw, riffy, and filled with plenty of snapping hard grooves – and the used of the keys is sublime throughout, changing mood from track to track, but always staying funky! Titles include "Penwick", "Marathonic", "Ergocentric", "La Moto Verite", "Psychocross", "Ring Modulator", "Plongee Synthetique", "Kayak", and "Cache Catch". (Soul, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Al Cohn leads a host of great sax players like Gene Quill, Sol Schlinger, Phil Bodner, and Zoot Sims through a set of tight arrangements that have nice little openings for searing solos by the stars. There's a lot of tracks (including "Shazam", "Shutout", "Villa Rowboats", and "Solsville"), and the group plays fast and hard to get them all in. LP, Vinyl record album

A strange 60s chapter in the career of trumpeter Chet Baker – but one that we sure like a heck of a lot! These sides were recorded as an answer to the big success of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass over at A&M Records – and for the sessions, Chet's trumpet was backed by jaunty, brassy arrangements penned by Jack Nitzsche. And while it might be easy to dismiss the tunes as copycat sound-a-likes, they're really not – as Nitszche brings in a much fuller groove to most of the numbers than Herb Alpert ever did – more of a sunny LA pop feel that has the whole group really gliding along on bold waves of sound all topped off by Baker's horn – sounding stronger and more confident here than on most of his other recordings of the 60s! There's a definite Latin undercurrent to most of the numbers, but also a fair bit of mainstream pop instrumentation as well – a style that's bolder and not nearly as compressed as the A&M approach to Tijuana – and one that explodes with some youthful LA energies! 10 numbers in all, including "Flowers On The Wall", "Mexico", "Hot Toddy", "El Paso", "Come A Little Bit Closer", "Speedy Gonzales", "Cuando Calienta El Sol", and "24 Hours To Tulsa". (Now Sound, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Smooth jazzy fusion from Lee Ritenour – a classic set that was originally only released in Japan, part of the underground Japanese Fusion movement of the late 70s, famous for groove hounds for that added level of soul that often wasn't showing up in American releases at the time! The album was recorded in both Rio and LA – with work by a mixture of Brazilian and American fusion players, including Chico Batera, Oscar Castro Neves, Alex Acuna, Don Grusin, Dave Grusin, Steve Forman, and Marcus Miller. Includes the smooth funk classic "A Little Bit Of This & A Little Bit Of That", plus the cuts "Simplicidad", "Rainbow", "Rio Funk", "San Juan Sunset", and "Ipanema Sol". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best of Charlie Byrd's pop bossa recordings for Columbia – featuring a small group that includes flute, bass, and drums behind Charlie's acoustic guitar. The album includes a stellar reading of "Canto De Ossanha", done as "Let Go", and featuring a breezy approach to the track that's just great. Other tracks include "Blues 13", "Esperando O Sol", "Bird of Paradise", and "Lonely Princess". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet funky album from Art Farmer– an artist we don't normally associate with 70s funk, but who does a really great job on this CTI session! Art's working here in the frontline with Yusef Lateef on reeds – another unlikely candidate for a record like this – and the pair get some strong backing from the band of Dave Matthews, who manages to provide just the right blend of tight arrangements and jazz funk, so that each player gets plenty of room to soar, but the whole album sticks in a nice smooth groove on the rhythms! Includes a soaring version of Chick Corea's "Spain", a slow funk take on Chris Kenner's "Something You Got", and the cuts "Flute Song", "Hombre Del Sol", "Sauhade", and "Sandu". LP, Vinyl record album

The Music Man, made different – thanks to very fresh arrangements from Jimmy Giuffre – heard here in one of his few large group sessions for Atlantic Records! The music is all from the score of the famous show, but Giuffre really reworks things with some sharp modern jazz edges – inventive rhythms from bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Ed Shaugnessy – and no use of piano at all, which allows for plenty of free play in the horn section – which features Giuffre on tenor, clarinet, and baritone – plus Al Cohn and Eddie Wasserman on tenor, Joe Wilder and Phil Sunkel on trumpets, and Sol Schlinger on baritone sax. Without any vocals, and with Jimmy's unique structures, these tunes take on some very fresh styles – and titles include "Marian The Librarian", "The Wells Fargo Wagon", "Iowa Stubborn", "Gary Indiana", and "It's You". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost classic from one of the greatest Brazilian sax players ever! Paulo handled all the arrangements himself, and the group's an all star one that features Pascoal Meirelles on drums, Wagner Tiso on piano, Luiz Carlos on bass, plus additional tenor sax, trumpet, and trombone next to Moura's alto sax. The set's a beautiful batch of warmly painted tunes – awash with color and life, showing both Moura's talent for lyrical interplay, and his tendency to blow in edgier styles. Titles include "Travessia", "No Brilho Da Faca", "General Da Banda", "Outubro", "Nem Precisou Mais Um Sol", and "Das Tardes Mais Sos". (Brazil, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A nice little record – way different than Ponty's overblown sides from the 70s, and cut at a time when he was hanging out with George Duke and Frank Zappa! The record is a live session recorded at the hip Donte's nightclub in Hollywood at the end of the 60s – but not issued until this brief release in 1981. Ponty's on his trademark violin, grooving on long tracks with backing by George Duke on piano, John Heard on bass, and Al Cecchi on drums. Titles include "Hypomode Del Sol", "People", "California", and "Eighty One". LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly great album – even if it's short on information! There's no real dates on this one, so we have to assume that it's of the vintage of the album's release date – somewhere in the early 60s – making the album pretty late for Benny, but also pretty great as well! The sessions have a pretty unique feel – with Benny's alto in front of gentle small group backings that have a bit of a sweet feel – and some occasional vocal chorus bits that slide in and out very gracefully. Carter's tone is tremendous, and the sound of the record is really incredible – hard to describe, but much more than you'd expect from the title, label, and the date! Titles include "Waltz Gay", "Bagatelle", "Blues For Benny", "Black Knight", and "Cuando Caliente El Sol". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Monty Alexander on solo piano. LP, Vinyl record album

Late 60s compilation that features both standards and Ellington compositions – titles include "The Sheik Of Araby", "Dancing In The Dark", "Solitude", "Autumn Leaves", "Poor Butterfly", "Blue Harlem", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A classic acoustic set on ECM – a pairing of guitarists John Abercrombie and Ralph Towner, working here together in a beautifully spare sound! The album predates the bigger wave of work like this that would soon become cliched by the start of the 80s – and both players stretch out with sensitivity not always found on some of their other albums. Abercrombie plays mostly acoustic, but also some slight electric guitar – mostly in the background – and Towner plays 12-string and classical guitars, and a bit of piano as well. Titles include "Sargasso Sea", "Fable", "Avenue", "Elbow Room", "Parasol", "Romantic Descension", and "Staircase". LP, Vinyl record album

Open, swinging live work from the George Adams/Don Pullen Quartet – and a set that shows both the group's sense of jazz tradition, and their willingness to play with it on their own terms! The tracks here are all quite long, jamming numbers – built on lively rhythms from the bass of Cameron Brown and drums of Dannie Richmond, and featuring a mix of exploratory solos and more swinging moments from Adams on tenor and Pullen on piano. Titles include a great reading of the Mingus tune "Diane" – plus "The Necessary Blues", "Intentions", and "Solitude" – all of which are over 13 minutes long! LP, Vinyl record album

A great session from 1959 – one that features John Coltrane playing tenor in a combo that's billed as being led by altoist Cannonball Adderley – but which is really more of a Miles Davis combo, without Miles! The set was recorded in Chicago when both were stopping through the city with Miles Davis' combo at the time – and since the rhythm section includes Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums – the album's essentially a Kind Of Blue-era Miles album, recorded without Miles on trumpet, and grooving in a slightly more soul-based Adderley mode! Given the presence of Coltrane, there's a bit less of the gutbuckety soul jazz that Cannon was cutting in his own Quintet – but that's more than ok with us, as the Coltrane solos more than make up for that difference! The set's got 2 great originals by Coltrane – "The Sleeper" and "Grand Central" – plus the cuts "Wabash" and "Limehouse Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful early work from Cannonball Adderley – and a record that's quite different than most of his better known sets from the time! The album's more spare and stripped-down than usual – with Cannon's alto in a quartet alongside Bill Evans on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Connie Kay on drums. The style is almost more that of Evans than it is Cannonball – lightly lyrical, with a good sense of space – in a way that has Adderley playing out front very strongly, cutting some beautiful lines with his solos, in a really unfettered way! Titles include versions of two of Evans' tracks – "Waltz For Debby" and "Know What I Mean?" – plus nice moody takes on other material, like John Lewis' "Venice", Clifford Jordan's "Toy", and Gordon Jenkins' "Goodbye". LP, Vinyl record album

Mose Allison creates a very swinging machine for this classic Atlantic Records set – by adding in a few horns to his usual trio, and making for a groove that's even jazzier overall! Mose's vocals are wonderful, as always – extremely witty, with that great balance of New Orleans roots and 60s hipster jazz – served up in a host of his own wonderful compositions! But at some points, the horns step out even more strongly, and get some great solo play of their own – with excellent work from the obscure Jimmy Reider on tenor sax, a surprisingly great player we wish we knew better – plus the great Jimmy Knepper on trombone. Some tunes are instrumentals – and titles include the classic"Swingin Machine", plus "Do It", "Stop This World", "Promenade", "If You're Goin To The City", and "Saritha". (Vocalists, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Guitarist Laurindo Almeida returns to a bit of his roots here – but he also shows off a lot of the jazz experience he's picked up along the way! The album features Almeida working solo on acoustic guitar – although possibly overdubbed alongside himself at times – and while the set begins with the serious title composition, things never get too much in the realm of classical guitar – and instead have Almeida skirting many different styles, including a bit of bossa guitar – and working with this uniquely echoey recording style that makes each note resonate with a richly expressive sound! Titles include "Cool Cat Keeps Coat On", "Holiday For Strings", "Songs From Black Orpheus", "The Summer Knows", and "Star Dust". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the strongest solo project ever from Phil Alvin – a late 80s effort dedicated to the romping R&B sounds of the 50s – done with great help from both the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Sun Ra Arkestra! A number of cuts are from the glory days of the R&B single – and the approach moves between tracks with Alvin's combo, one with the Dirty Dozen, and three especially nice tracks with the Arkestra! Given the way that Sun Ra's 80s material was often dipping back into earlier generations of jazz, the group make for a very strong fit with Phil's approach – on titles that include "Someone Stole Gabriel's Horn", "Titanic Blues", "Collins Cave", "Death In The Morning", "Next Week Sometime", and "The Old Man Of The Mountain". (Rock, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Like some of the other issues on Trip, this set brings together some great sides that sort of fell between the cracks in an artist's career. These nice rarer sides by Gene Ammons seem to be recorded by Jug during the early 60's, when he was jumping around his contractual agreements with a number of labels, and recording sessions for just about everybody. The first LP features Jug in the studio with Howard McGhee (the set was briefly issued under his name, on Argo) and a guitarist we're pretty certain is Jake Fisher (from other issues of this material), for a cool laidback soul jazz session that's probably one of Jug's most open-ended from the time. The tracks are all long, with a lot of room for solo space, and a round mellow tone. Titles include "Housewarmin", "Nothin' But Soul", "Jivin Around" and "Jug & McGhee". The second set's a hard-hitting blowing session, cut very much in the mode of Gene's late 50s sides for Prestige – and with a very accomplished group of soul jazzers that includes Nat Adderley, Frank Foster, Bennie Green, and Frank Wess. The groove has a nice raw late night sound – and tracks are pretty long and open-ended. Titles include "Litty Ditty", "Sermonette", "Juggin Around", and "Jim Dog". LP, Vinyl record album

Late great work from Ammons – an album done at the time of his funk sides for Prestige, but recorded in the style of his earlier years in Chicago! The session's a laidback set of soulful solo-heavy work – recorded as part of a hip series of shows at the North Park Hotel, with a local rhythm trio that includes Jodie Christian on piano, Cleveland Eaton on bass, and Marshall Thompson on drums. James Moody joins Ammons in the frontline, and the set's got the best electric feel that you'd hear if you were lucky enough to catch either player in a small club date in the early 60s. Loads of very imaginative solo work in the best Chicago tenor tradition – with titles that include "Work Song", "Jim Jam Jug", "Have You Met Miss Jones", and "C Jam Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice little 2-fer collecting two great meetings of two greats! Jug and Stitt go head to head on Boss Tenors, a classic album of tracks that perfectly captures the joy and fury of their live performances from years before! The record was cut in Chicago with a very hard rhythm section that includes John Houston on piano, Charles Williams on bass, and George Brown on drums – and it's way heavier than the usual Verve "meeting of the masters" session, and feels more like a record that should have been issued on Prestige or Argo. Both players are impeccable, and the solos stretch out for a long long very live time. Titles include "Blues Up & Down", "The One Before This", and "Counter Clockwise" – but these guys even groove amazingly on standards like "Autumn Leaves" and "No Greater Love". Boss Tenors In Orbit was a follow up one year later, an obscure little session with the pair once again recreating the energy of their live shows – as they stretch out nicely on very long tracks that have spare backing by the Don Patterson trio! The cuts are mostly standard stuff – "John Brown's Body", "Walkin", "Long Ago And Far Away" – but the twin-tenor sound is great, and Patterson's free organ lines riff away nicely! LP, Vinyl record album

Hard swinging big band material from Sweden – featuring the big band of Harry Arnold arranged by Quincy Jones. Quincy had been spending a lot of time in Sweden during the mid 50s – bringing with him a host of great players that would soon become big names on the European scene. Biggest of these is Benny Bailey, who plays some good solos here with a mostly-Swedish group that includes Arne Domnerus, Bengt Hallberb, Ake Persson, and Bengt-Arne Wallin. The style of the work, and its trans-Atlantic jazz orientation, is a direct precursor of later work by the Clarke-Boland Big Band – of whom Bailey was a big part. Titles all swing nicely, and tracks include "Doodlin", "Room 608", "Quincy's Home Again", "Brief Encounter", and "Meet Benny Bailey". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic late work from Albert Ayler! The record is one of the last he ever recorded – and it's a no-nonsense live set, without any of the silly influences of some of his late Impulse sides. Most of the material features Ayler blowing long free solos, with a tightness and directness missing from mid 60s sessions. Cal Cobbs is on piano, Steve Tintweiss is on bass, Allen Blairman is on drums, and Mary Maria plays a bit of soprano sax. Tracks include "Truth Is Marching On", "Spiritual Reunion", and "Universal Message". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal live set by a young Albert Ayler – an unusual one-sided record that featured only 20 minutes of music, performed with an intensity that hardly leaves room for complaints about the shortness of the album! The single track "Bells" was performed at Town Hall by Ayler with a group that includes Donald Ayler on trumpet, Charles Tyler on alto sax, Lewis Worrell on bass, and Sunny Murray on percussion – all coming together in a raw, real sense of freedom – beautifully explored here without ever getting too overindulgent. The tune may well be one of the greatest illustrations of the ESP format at its best – as Ayler and company never stray too far, but carve out some incredibly imaginative space through their starkly-blown horn solos! LP, Vinyl record album

Early work by avant saxophone genius Albert Ayler – and very very striking! The setting is very spare, with only bass and drums backing Ayler up – and the way the album is mixed, Ayler's solos dominate the tracks in a way that isn't always the case with some of the more group-driven later work. His tone is amazing even in this early date of 1962 – and he completely blows away the other two players on the set, drummer Sune Spangberg and bassist Torbjorn Hulcrantz. The set was first recorded by the small Swedish label Bird Notes, and it's the beginning of a longtime love affair that Swedish modernists had with Ayler's tone and playing – a love affair that runs up to the current avant garde that includes Mats Gustafsson. Includes a mindblowing reworking of "I'll Remember April", plus versions of "Rollins Tune", "Tune Up", and Ayler's own "Free". LP, Vinyl record album

One of a handful of late 50s albums that Chet Baker recorded for Riverside – all of which are some of his last great 50s work in the studio, before a shift in the 60s to a wider-ranging approach to his music! The style here is definitely in the "classic" Baker mode set down for Pacific Jazz – but a bit more fleshed out by the other players in the set – who seem to push a bit more personality into the tunes, and not just let Chet's trumpet dominate. The sound is soft and gentle – as you'd expect from the title – and other players include Bill Evans, Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers, Connie Kay and Philly Joe Jones – all bringing a bit of a New York undercurrent to the west coast Baker solo style. Titles include "How High the Moon", "It Never Entered My Mind", "If You Could See Me Now", "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", "Time On My Hands", and "You And The Night And Music". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Chet Baker's most classic albums of the 50s – a record that features both vocals and strong trumpet solos – all from a time when Baker was one of the hottest things going in jazz! The album's different from records from previous years, in that it moves Baker from LA to New York – where he works with a great quartet that features Kenny Drew on piano, George Morrow or Sam Jones on bass, and Philly Joe Jones or Danny Richmond on drums – all players who have a slightly different approach than some of Baker's compatriots on Pacific Jazz sessions, which also seems to bring out a bit more bite in Chet too. Tracks are still shortish, with those breathy Baker vocals we love so much, balanced with really well-crafted trumpet solos – and titles include "It Could Happen To You", "Do It The Hard Way", "Old Devil Moon", "Dancing On The Ceiling", and "The More I See You". LP, Vinyl record album

A great later date from CTI – proof that the label still had its magic going on well into the 80s! The session's a larger group effort headed up by Don Sebesky, and featuring key solos by Chet Baker, Jim Hall, and Hubert Laws – all of whom get plenty of room to do their thing on the album's longer tracks! Other players include Kenny Barron, Jack Wilkins, Jorge Dalto, George Mraz, and Steve Gadd – plus bit of added percussion – and although the group is large, the overall sound is relatively lean – spacious and airy, in keeping with Baker's best moments on records like these, and always sensitive enough to let Hall's gentle work on the strings of his guitar shine through nicely! Titles include "Malaguena", "Django", "Swan Lake", and "All Blues". LP, Vinyl record album