One of the hippest albums Gato Barbieri ever cut – and a key link between his late 60s avant work with Don Cherry, and his Latin-tinged albums of the 70s! The album features Barbieri working with a New York group of avant players – including Beaver Harris on drums, Roswell Rudd on trombone, and Charlie Haden on bass – but the sound is a bit more focused and forward-moving than you might expect, thanks to a strong sense of rhythm on the date. Lonnie Liston Smith plays piano and Richard Landrum handles conga and percussion to give the set a slightly Latin flavor – and the overall sound is not that dissimilar from some of Pharoah Sanders' albums at the same time on Impulse. Barbieri's tone is fantastic – and the spiralling piano work by Smith really gives the album a lofty spiritual tone – on titles that include "Zelao", "Cancion Del Llamero", "Haleo & The Wild Rose", and "Antonio Das Mortes". CD

Herbie Nichols was one of the greatest piano players of the 20th Century, and his best work was recorded for Blue Note! You can hear just about every track he recorded for the label in this set (apart from some alternate takes), which is a stunning batch of lively tracks that rank Nichols right up there with Monk, Cecil Taylor, and Randy Weston for sheer modernist inventiveness. The set includes Herbie's first two 10" albums for Blue Note, and his full Herbie Nichols Trio record – with players who include Art Blakey or Max Roach on drums, and Teddy Kotick or Al McKibbon on bass. Titles include "Step Tempest", "Crisp Day", "2300 Skiddoo", "Query", "Blue Chopsticks", and "Chit Chatting". LP, Vinyl record album

Pretty darn obscure stuff from Clifford Thornton – and pretty darn great! The record features Thornton's New Art Ensemble, which includes Sonny King on alto, Karl Berger on vibes, Joe McPhee on trumpet, and Jimmy Garrison on bass. The tracks are similar to some of Thornton's later work, but with an open-ended style that's a bit more free. Titles include "Free Huey", "15th Floor", "O CT", "The Wake", and "Exosphere". CD

An incredible meeting of two massive Chicago talents – with results that are even more amazing than you might think! We've always loved the music of flute player Nicole Mitchell – and have reveled in watching her get even more righteous and sophisticated in her projects in recent years – and we've always had deep respect for the words and wisdom of Haki Madhubuti, a writer who makes us incredibly proud to live in the Windy City. Yet together, these two genius talents resonate with even more strength than we might ever have imagined – as Nicole turns in some of her deepest music in years, to set up the right kind of setting for Haki's words – all served up in a mixture of jazz and spoken passages that almost blows away most classics of this nature from the 70s! The group is wonderful – with Mitchell on flute, alongside Pharez Whitted on trumpet, Tomeka Reid on cello, Harrison Bankhead on drums, Renee Baker and Zara Zaharieva on violins, Tomas Fujiwara on drums, and Jovia Armstrong – and singer Ugochi provides additional vocal support for Madhubuti's spoken lead – as the group also soars out on some strong instrumental passages too. The scope of Mitchell's writing is even broader than before – and titles include "Rise Vision", "Move Into Our Own", "Gwendolyn Brooks", "Often Hard To Believe", "Woman Black", "We Walk The Way Of The New World", "Peace Starts Inside You", "Blackman Unfinished", and "Too Many Of Our Young". CD

An amazing package – a pair of rare avant jazz albums, presented here together! The first album is Peace In The World – maybe the only album issued under the name of Michael Cosmic – but a set that's part of a key legacy with his brother, reedman Phill Musra! The set has Cosmic in very heady territory – sounds that come from his young tenure in the AACM, his brief time with Cecil Taylor, and his budding reputation on the 70s Boston scene – where the set was recorded, and almost stands as a precursor to the rich legacy of improvisational jazz that would emerge on the New England scene for decades to come! Tracks are long and very free, but have spiritual currents too – and Cosmic is mostly on piano, with Musra on soprano sax and tenor, Leonard Brown on soprano and tenor, John Jamyll Jones on bass, Huseyin Ertunc on drums, and Eric Jackson on percussion. Titles include "We Love You Malcolm X", "Peace In The World", "Sapce On Space", and "Arabia". Next is the related album Creator Spaces, by Phill Musra – recorded at the time when he was part of the very underground Boston avant scene – a world that had a slightly different vibe than music coming from Chicago, Detroit, or New York! The album's got a spiritual avant bent – soulful at the core, with lots of references to outer space as well – and an approach that feels a lot like a classic Saturn Records session by Sun Ra, both in sound and spirit! Musra plays reeds, chimes, and percussion – and the group features some incredible sax work by Michael Cosmic, who also plays a bit of organ, again in a tripped-out, Ra-type way. Huseyin Ertunc plays percussion – very free and loose, in ways that are a great balance to the more angular lines of the reeds – and tracks include "The Creator Is So Far Out", "The Creator Spaces", "Egypt", and "Arabia". Also features unreleased tracks "The Creator Is So Far Out (unreleased version)" and "Phyllis". Added to the set is a really special bonus third CD – an unreleased long live performance of "The Prayer" by Worlds Experience Orchestra – a group from the same scene at the time – with Shaddu Jones on piano, Stan Strickland on tenor and soprano, Frank Peterson on alto, John Jamyll Jones on bass, Robert Ruff on cello, Larry Lerner on drums, and John Klein on amplified violin. CD

One of the best early albums cut by John Lewis as a leader – a set that's a fair bit different than John's work with the Modern Jazz Quartet – thanks to strong guest appearances from players who include Paul Gonsalves and Benny Golson on tenor sax, Eric Dolphy on alto, Jim Hall on guitar, and Herb Pomeroy on trumpet. Most of the tracks are a great mix of the mellow, introspective Lewis approach with some of the freer, more relaxed styles of the soloists – an approach that's slightly third stream, but which also has some of the great sounds and tones that Lewis forged on his Afternoon In Paris album with Sacha Distel. Titles include great versions of "Body & Soul" and "Afternoon In Paris", plus Lewis' classic "2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West", as well as "I Should Care" and "I Remember Clifford". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that really dives deep with a rich mix of creative rhythms and inventive horn lines! The album still has Jack DeJohnette staying true to his more avant roots – working with tenor from David Murray, alto and soprano sax from John Purcell, baritone and tuba from Howard Johnson, and bass from Rufus Reid – a lineup that's a bit bigger than on other Special Edition albums, and which is used to fill in even more colors and deeper elements than before. Some of the tunes are wonderfully vivid in approach – and titles include "Festival", "Third World Anthem", "Zoot Suite", "Ahmad The Terrible", and "New Orleans Strut". LP, Vinyl record album

The last album that Jimmy Heath ever gave the world – and a record that makes us miss him even more – as the whole thing takes Heath back to that spectacular mix of solo expressionist, thoughtful composer, and sensitive arranger territory of his best early years! And if you want proof of Jimmy's warm, open spirit – the set begins with a one minute bowed bass solo before Heath's horn even comes into play – then works sublime magic on a number of original numbers, and a few well-chosen classics – all put together by Jimmy as a "ballads" album, but in a way that's hugely different from some of the more facile songbook sessions of over-recorded standards. Instead, the Heath arrangements throughout are wonderfully fresh, and have a soulful quality that really blows us away – more than even on some of his other late records, which is what makes this final session so bittersweet. The core group features Kenny Barron on piano, Monte Croft on vibes, Russell Malone on guitar, and Lewis Nash on drums – and the set features vocals from Gregory Porter on one track, and Cecile McLorin Salvant on another – and Wynton Marsalis blows a trumpet solo on a third track. Titles include "Ballad From Upper Neighbors Suiter", "Left Alone", "Inside Your Heart", "La Mesha", "Con Alma", "Fasion Or Passion", and "Don't Explain". LP, Vinyl record album

A great counterpart to the two famous Charles Mingus albums for the Candid label – really a third "lost" Candid album, recorded at the time of those sets, but never issued until many years later! As with those great dates, the work here is filled with righteous anger, unbridled emotion, and some of the most passionate jazz work of the 20th Century – directed by Mingus with unfailing energy on the bass, and featuring solo work from players who include Eric Dolphy on alto and bass clarinet, Booker Ervin on tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, Ted Curson and Lonnie Hillyer on trumpets, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, and Paul Bley on piano – all giants in their own right, most of whom gave the world some fantastic records under their own leadership too! Tracks are all nice and long, mostly from the November 11, 1960 date that featured two different groups – titles that include "Bugs", "R&R", "Reincarnation Of A Lovebird (2nd version)", "Body & Soul", and "All The Things You Are (all)". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer piano jazz, and some of the greatest modernist work ever recorded by Blue Note! Herbie Nichols deserves every bit of the rare fame he ever got – and it's only the paucity of his recordings that has kept him from achieving the status of Monk or Cecil Taylor as an avant garde forefather. This killer box set features all of Nichols' recordings for Blue Note – including loads of unissued and alternate tracks, packaged with a discographical booklet with writings and photos. Tracks include "Third World", "Step Tempest", "Dance Line", "Shuffle Montgomery", "The Spinning Song", "Riff Primitif", "Query", "Chit Chatting", "Hangover Triangle", "2300 Skidoo", and "Blue Chopsticks". CD

An overlooked gem from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith – an early 80s session, but one that we'd rank with some of his most-together work ever! The album's a mixture of spare modes and some surprising group elements – a set that often has Smith blowing beautifully on trumpet or flugelhorn, alongside the vibes of Bobby Naughton and percussion of Kahil El Zabar – the latter of whom makes a strong, spiritual appearance here – really helping to shade in some strong sounds to Leo's music. Naughton's vibes are great too – very angular and chromatic, with the sharpness of Bobby Hutcherson's avant work of the mid 60s – and one track features John Powell on tenor, and two more have Louis Myers on guitar – bringing in these weird harmelodic bluesy tones which then accompany vocals from Smith! Titles include "Nuru Light", "The Flower That Seeds The Earth", "Jah Jah Is The Perfect Love", "Procession Of The Great Ancestry", and "Third World Grainery Of Pure Earth". CD

Maybe the title's a bit overly-optimistic – but with a record like this, you can certainly imagine a world in which everybody does like Hampton Hawes! The record's the third in a legendary early run for the Contemporary label – trio material that broke Hawes out of the box and firmly put his rich talents on the keys at the top of the list of the best players in jazz. The sound's an amazing blend of jazz idioms at the time – with some of the flourishes of the Peterson or Jamal crowd, but often a tighter, almost rootsier bottom in the rhythms – a touch of the LA soul jazz sound, showing up here quite early! The trio features Red Mitchell on bass and Chuck Thompson on drums – and tracks are short, but showcase the open sound that Hawes was developing at the time. Titles include "Night In Tunisia", "Body & Soul", "Lover Come Back To Me", and the Hawes originals "The Sermon" and "Coolin The Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A great counterpart to the two famous Charles Mingus albums for the Candid label – really a third "lost" Candid album, recorded at the time of those sets, but never issued until many years later! As with those great dates, the work here is filled with righteous anger, unbridled emotion, and some of the most passionate jazz work of the 20th Century – directed by Mingus with unfailing energy on the bass, and featuring solo work from players who include Eric Dolphy on alto and bass clarinet, Booker Ervin on tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, Ted Curson and Lonnie Hillyer on trumpets, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, and Paul Bley on piano – all giants in their own right, most of whom gave the world some fantastic records under their own leadership too! Tracks are all nice and long, mostly from the November 11, 1960 date that featured two different groups – titles that include "Bugs", "R&R", "Reincarnation Of A Lovebird (2nd version)", "Body & Soul", and "All The Things You Are (all)". CD

Maybe the title's a bit overly-optimistic – but with a record like this, you can certainly imagine a world in which everybody does like Hampton Hawes! The record's the third in a legendary early run for the Contemporary label – trio material that broke Hawes out of the box and firmly put his rich talents on the keys at the top of the list of the best players in jazz. The sound's an amazing blend of jazz idioms at the time – with some of the flourishes of the Peterson or Jamal crowd, but often a tighter, almost rootsier bottom in the rhythms – a touch of the LA soul jazz sound, showing up here quite early! The trio features Red Mitchell on bass and Chuck Thompson on drums – and tracks are short, but showcase the open sound that Hawes was developing at the time. Titles include "Night In Tunisia", "Body & Soul", "Lover Come Back To Me", and the Hawes originals "The Sermon" and "Coolin The Blues". CD

2 of John Lewis' non-MJQ albums of third stream jazz for Atlantic. Both records feature Lewis working with Gunter Schuller, and they both share Lewis and Schuller's keen ambition to move jazz into the sophisticated world of the concert hall. Although not always successful in their endeavors – mostly because they kind of squash jazz into a more academic instrumental pursuit – the records do have some nice moments, and include great players like Ornette Coleman, Jim Hall, Joe Wilder, and Scott LaFaro. Titles include "Abstraction", "Pulcinella", "Piazza Navona", "Variant I", and "Piece For Guitar & Strings". CD

Killer piano jazz, and some of the greatest modernist work ever recorded by Blue Note! Herbie Nichols deserves every bit of the rare fame he ever got – and it's only the paucity of his recordings that has kept him from achieving the status of Thelonious Monk or Cecil Taylor as an avant garde forefather – which makes this album a really key piece of a too-small jazz puzzle! Nichols is amazing throughout – bristling with new ideas, and a fresh approach to modern jazz that also transforms the presence of the other two members of the trio – Art Blakey on drums and Al McKibbon on bass, both of whom are clearly following Herbie's lead here. All titles are original – Nichols was a hell of a writer – and titles include "Third World", "Step Tempest", "Dance Line", "Blue Chopsticks", "Shuffle Montgomery", "Brass Rings", "Crisp Day", and "Amoeba's Dance". Single LP version features all material that was originally on the two different 10" LP releases. LP, Vinyl record album

The brilliant third album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. This set features both volumes of the recording – with titles that include "Landscape", "Hooray", "Other World", "Marching Song", "Transition", "Rosie", "Tension", "Ballad", "Conflict", and "Requiem". Great 3CD set features a full bonus disc of rare material – including the 7" single of "Original Peter" and "Magic Garden" – 1970 recordings of "But It Must Get Better & It Will Get Better" and "When Young" by The Mike Westbrook Quartet, and a 1966 recording of "Marching Song" by the Mike Westbrook Sextet – the last three of which have never been released! CD

An amazing set of tracks from one of our favorite artists ever – a whopping 33 track, 2CD compilation of some of the best of Roy's work for Polydor! Given the title, you can expect a very hip bent to the tracks picked for the set – lots of righteous politics and hip cultural themes bubbling underneath the funky and jazzy grooves that were Roy's forte during the 70s. And while we treasure just about every single track that Roy recorded for Polydor (re-release all the albums – please!), we also have to say that we probably couldn't have come up with a better 33 tracks if we'd picked them ourselves! Titles include "The Old One Two", "Life Is Just A Moment (part 2)", "The Memory", "Hey Uh What You Say Come On", "Running Away", "Searching", "We Live In Brooklyn Baby", "Coffy Is The Color", "Sweet Tears", "Red Black & Green", "No Deposits No Return", "The Third Eye", "Sweet Tears (disco)", "Africa Center Of The World", "Our Time Is Coming", "Destination Motherland", "Fever", "What You Won't Do For Love", "Thank You Thank You", "Can't You See Me (12" mix)", "Baby You Give Me A Feeling", "Everybody Loves The Sunshine", and "Love From The Sun". (Soul, Jazz) CD

A beautiful live performance from the same trio that delivered the Third World Underground album for Trio Records in 1972 – a set done with a similar mix of earthy, global elements as that gem – delivered by Carlos Ward on alto and flute, Dollar Brand on piano and flute, and Don Cherry on flute, trumpet, and percussion! There's a style here that's almost an extension of the energy of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – especially in the way the musicians mix up instruments – combined with some of the more globally-sensitive elements of Don Cherry's work in Sweden, which clearly brings out qualities in Brand and Ward that are different than their already-great work together on other albums. Titles include "African Session", "Air", "Berimbau", "Waya Wa Egoli", "Cherry", and "Bra Joe From Kilimanjaro". CD

Maybe the title's a bit overly-optimistic – but with a record like this, you can certainly imagine a world in which everybody does like Hampton Hawes! The record's the third in a legendary early run for the Contemporary label – trio material that broke Hawes out of the box and firmly put his rich talents on the keys at the top of the list of the best players in jazz. The sound's an amazing blend of jazz idioms at the time – with some of the flourishes of the Peterson or Jamal crowd, but often a tighter, almost rootsier bottom in the rhythms – a touch of the LA soul jazz sound, showing up here quite early! The trio features Red Mitchell on bass and Chuck Thompson on drums – and tracks are short, but showcase the open sound that Hawes was developing at the time. Titles include "Night In Tunisia", "Body & Soul", "Lover Come Back To Me", and the Hawes originals "The Sermon" and "Coolin The Blues". CD

We've always loved the wonderfully dark corners in the tenor work of saxophonist Mark Turner – but it sounds especially great here, in the company of pianist Ethan Iverson – as the two players deliver a superb album of duo material for ECM! Iverson never softens the sound of Turner, but he does bring out a greater current of sentiment than we sometimes hear in his work – especially when Mark might get a bit too "arch", and maybe limit himself to the moodier side of the spectrum. Instead, both he and Iverson create this sublime balance of darkness and light throughout – in a mode that's very unique, even in a familiar ECM setting – on original material that includes "Lugano", "Temporary Kings", "Dixie's Dilemma", "Seven Points", "Myron's World", and "Third Familiar". CD

Killer piano jazz, and some of the greatest modernist work ever recorded by Blue Note! Herbie Nichols deserves every bit of the rare fame he ever got – and it's only the paucity of his recordings that has kept him from achieving the status of Thelonious Monk or Cecil Taylor as an avant garde forefather – which makes this album a really key piece of a too-small jazz puzzle! Nichols is amazing throughout – bristling with new ideas, and a fresh approach to modern jazz that also transforms the presence of the other two members of the trio – Art Blakey on drums and Al McKibbon on bass, both of whom are clearly following Herbie's lead here. All titles are original – Nichols was a hell of a writer – and titles include "Third World", "Step Tempest", "Dance Line", "Blue Chopsticks", "Shuffle Montgomery", "Brass Rings", "Crisp Day", and "Amoeba's Dance". LP, Vinyl record album

A great look at the fresh energy that Miles Davis was bringing to his music in the 80s – and a set that's nicely different than some of the other albums issued in the "bootleg" series – in that two thirds of the collection features unissued studio material from the dates in the title! Those tracks are great – numbers that were recorded in the same sessions that gave the world the records Decoy, Star People, and You're Under Arrest – with work from players who include John Scofield and Mike Stern on guitars, Robert Irving III on keyboards, Bill Evans on tenor and soprano saxes, and the great Al Foster on drums. Miles even plays a bit of keyboards himself, but is also really focusing strong energy on his trumpet lines – more tightness than some of his 70s material, but not in a way that's slick or commercial either – still plenty of bite throughout. Studio titles include "Celestial Blues, Part 2", "Minor Ninths, Part 2", "Santana", "Freaky Deaky (Vinyl Edit)", "Hopscotch (Fast)", "Never Loved Like This (Studio Session Demo", and some alternates of Miles' versions of "Human Nature" and "Time After Time". LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection of work from one of the hippest bandleaders to emerge in the swing generation – and one of the few to be able to tie his approach to the growing worlds of modern jazz and jump jive too! The set features material from Woody Herman's first three "herds" – the first, his initial recording group with Columbia; the second, his groundbreaking group with the "four brothers" group of horn players who included Stan Getz and Jimmy Giuffre; and the third his mid 50s revival group that had Ralph Burns turning in some great modern arrangements to rework that four brothers sound. The set features very lively notes from Woody himself – and titles include "Non Alcoholic", "Caldonia", "Good Earth", "Four Brothers", "Early Autumn", "Third Herd", "Mulligan Tawny", "Blame Boehm", and "Sidewalks Of Cuba". LP, Vinyl record album

Four incredible albums from Hammond legend Brian Auger – a key link between jazz and the headier sounds of the UK scene at the end of the 60s! First up is Open – one of the amazing early albums from the team of Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger – kind of a next-generation to the Brit beat group sound of the mid 60s – one that moves beyond simple R&B modes, to bring in more sophisticated soul and jazz touches! Driscoll's vocals are amazing – some of the boldest belted out in the British scene at the time – and Auger's Hammond work really cooks throughout – at a level that easily makes him one of the best UK organists to hit the scene, amidst some very heady company in the 60s. There's a few bluesy moments, but our favorites are the funky ones – especially the group's reading of "Season Of The Witch", which is tremendous. Other cuts include "In & Out", "Black Cat", "Goodbye Jungle Telegraph", and "Break It Up". Definitely What is a landmark batch of funky organ work that made big waves in both the rock and jazz worlds at the time! Auger's really stretching out here – getting past the simple R&B of his roots, and going into a bubbling funky style that's clearly touched by chromatic inspirations from Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith – both of whom are referenced by some of the song structures on the set. The album's filled with killer organ-based instrumentals – some lean and stripped down, others full and rich – and all of them coming across with a richly soulful sound that you'd hardly expect from a member of the British rock scene! Titles include "Day In The Life", "Red Beans", "Definitely What!", and his classic "Bumpin' On Sunset". Streetwise is filled great funky grooves by the legendary Trinity group – featuring excellent keyboard work by Brian Auger, recorded during the period when he was really beginning to stretch out a bit, and hit a much more open-ended kind of sound. Julie Driscoll is still on vocals, singing in her raw sound, but Brian's Trinity group gets a fair number of nice instrumental moments on the set – which are greatly appreciated! Titles include the classic and sample laden "Light My Fire", "Czechoslovakia", "Finally Found You Out", "In Search Of The Sun", "Ellis Island", "I've Got Life", and "Save The Country". Befour is the third album from Brian Auger & The Trinity – and the first to feature the group recording without vocals from Julie Driscoll! The sound here is just as soulful as before – a tight take on American soul jazz and funky soul of the 60s – pushed along by Auger's mighty work on the Hammond organ, and featuring (this time around) some male lead vocals, which seem to give the album an even deeper feel than earlier work! Auger's included some great covers of American tunes like "I Want To Take You Higher", "Listen Here", and "Maiden Voyage" – all redone with some great Brit beat group touches – and the album also features a great take on Faure's "Pavane", and Auger's own "Just You Just Me". LP, Vinyl record album