A wonderful album from guitarist Jim Hall – different than some of his other work, and with a slightly harder edge! The unique session has him playing in an MPS 60s mode – more straight-on than some of his more airy moments – with a sound and tone that still recalls his work with Paul Desmond or Art Farmer, but a more direct approach, and an occasional groove as well! The trio's as unique as the record – the great Jimmy Woode on bass and drums from Daniel Humair – and titles include "Blue Joe", "Romaine", "Young One For Debra", "Body & Soul", and a great version of "Up Up & Away", which soars to the sky in a way you'd never expect from Jim! LP, Vinyl record album

A vintage performance from the Verve years – featuring a small group with Harry Carney on baritone, Lawrence Brown on trombone, and Ray Nance on cornet! CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Includes music by Andrea Neumann, Michael Renkel, Olaf Rupp, and Serge Baghdassarians – each on its own mini-CD. CD

Nobody's out to dinner here – or out to lunch – as the quintet revel in the tight intensity that we love from some of the recent all-star projects like this on the Posi-Tone label! The combination of instrumental elements here is wonderful – the sharp alto of Patrick Cornelius, colorful vibes of Behn Gillece, the deep-toned trombone of Ryan Keberle, careful basswork of Boriz Kozlov, and well-placed drums and percussion of Rudy Royston – all players that really have an understanding of each other, and work brilliantly as a group, even though any of the members could be a leader on their own! As with other projects like this, almost all the tunes are originals by group members – really fresh numbers that make the album a fresh delight throughout – titles that include "Episodes Of Grace", "We Create", "Precious Moments", "Hollow Men", "Green Machine", and "The Last Corner". CD

Nobody's out to dinner here – or out to lunch – as the quintet revel in the tight intensity that we love from some of the recent all-star projects like this on the Posi-Tone label! The combination of instrumental elements here is wonderful – the sharp alto of Patrick Cornelius, colorful vibes of Behn Gillece, the deep-toned trombone of Ryan Keberle, careful basswork of Boriz Kozlov, and well-placed drums and percussion of Rudy Royston – all players that really have an understanding of each other, and work brilliantly as a group, even though any of the members could be a leader on their own! As with other projects like this, almost all the tunes are originals by group members – really fresh numbers that make the album a fresh delight throughout – titles that include "Episodes Of Grace", "We Create", "Precious Moments", "Hollow Men", "Green Machine", and "The Last Corner". CD

Titles include "Always", "Say It Isn't So", "Easter Parade", "How Deep Is The Ocean", "Isn't This A Lovely Day", and "If I Had You". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

John Surman on soprano and baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer and Jack DeJohnette on drums,electronic percussion, and piano. CD

A brilliant early album from pianist Aki Takase – already at the top of her game with an amazing command of the keyboard – a reach and sense of imagination that almost opens into the freewheeling territory of Cecil Taylor, but one that's also got a lot of room for gentler, more sensitive moments – which makes the balance of expression on the album a real delight! The tracks are all quite long, and there's some equally wonderful work on bass from Nobuyoshi Ino – a player whose thoughtful qualities really open up the piano, and also provide some soulful grounding for the record next to the drums of Takeo Moriyama. Tracks include "Mountain Forest", "Minerva's Owl", "Monologue", and "Song For Hope". CD

A brilliant early album from pianist Aki Takase – already at the top of her game with an amazing command of the keyboard – a reach and sense of imagination that almost opens into the freewheeling territory of Cecil Taylor, but one that's also got a lot of room for gentler, more sensitive moments – which makes the balance of expression on the album a real delight! The tracks are all quite long, and there's some equally wonderful work on bass from Nobuyoshi Ino – a player whose thoughtful qualities really open up the piano, and also provide some soulful grounding for the record next to the drums of Takeo Moriyama. Tracks include "Mountain Forest", "Minerva's Owl", "Monologue", and "Song For Hope". LP, Vinyl record album

Totally wonderful live work from Sarah Vaughan – a Berlin performance that takes off strongly from the grooviest styles of her mid 60s work on Mercury – but with an approach that's maybe even more unfettered overall, given the live setting of the material! Sarah's voice is incredible – working with an amazing demonstration of that famous range that made her such a key force in transforming jazz vocals during the postwar years – always swinging, but with all these inflections that really show just how much she'd developed her voice as an instrument during the 60s. Backing is from an unusual trio – Johnny Veith on piano, Gus Mancuso on bass, and Eddy Pucci on drums – players who really fit the groovy nature of the material – titles that include "On A Clear Day", "Passing Strangers", "I Cried For You", "A Lot Of Livin To Do", "And I Love Him", "Fly Me To The Moon", "The Sweetest Sounds", "What Now My Love", "Time After Time", and "I Had A Ball". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... CD

With Billy Pierce on tenor saxophone. CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A really great bit of live work from Miles Davis – and the first-ever recorded appearance of the quintet with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams – even though the album was never issued in the US at the time! The set follows very strongly in the mode of the group's work at the Plugged Nickel – with a pace that's faster than usual, and bristling with freely exploratory energy. Titles include "Milestones", "So What", "Walkin", and a nicely stepped-up version of "Autumn Leaves". Shorter's solos are worth the price of the record alone, but Williams' work on the kit never ceases to amaze! CD features a bonus track – "Stella By Starlight"! CD

A really great bit of live work from Miles Davis – and the first-ever recorded appearance of the quintet with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams – even though the album was never issued in the US at the time! The set follows very strongly in the mode of the group's work at the Plugged Nickel – with a pace that's faster than usual, and bristling with freely exploratory energy. Titles include "Milestones", "So What", "Walkin", and a nicely stepped-up version of "Autumn Leaves". Shorter's solos are worth the price of the record alone, but Williams' work on the kit never ceases to amaze! LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work by Dolphy – as essential to his catalog as any of his albums on Prestige from the same time! Although Dolphy broke plenty of musical barriers in the studio, to our ears, it was always in a live setting that he sounded best – freely exploring the kind of space his playing opened up, hitting notes that were more soulful and spiritual than many that he ever recorded on his studio sides. This set is a perfect example of that trend – as Dolphy's working here with a strong straight jazz combo, one that includes the great Benny Bailey on trumpet, in a set that features familiar tunes, turned into haunting explorations of Dolphy's new jazz idiom. One of the highlights is an incredible 15 minute version of Randy Weston's "Hi Fly", with Dolphy doing great work on flute – and other tunes include "Hot House", "Geewee", "When Lights Are Low", "I'll Remember April", and "The Meeting". CD

Ella Fitzgerald takes on the music of Irving Berlin – and the witty nature of the words help unlock a whole new style of class and cool in her music! Paul Weston handles the backings, and the set's full of gems that Berlin wrote for films and shows of the 20s and 30s. Titles include "How About Me", "You Forgot To Remember", "All By Myself", "Lazy", "Cheek To Cheek", "Get Thee Behind Me Satan", "Russian Lullaby", "Always", "Change Partners", "It's a Lovely Day Today", "Supper Time", "Reaching For The Moon", and "Isn't This A Lovely Day". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool live set from the great tenorist Stan Getz, and one that really echoes some of the best styles of his Getz Au Go Go album – as it not only features guest vocals on a number of tracks from the lovely Astrud Gilberto, but also includes work from vibist Gary Burton throughout the entire performance! The combination of Burton and Getz is tremendous – one that wasn't captured nearly enough by Verve in the 60s, which makes these live recordings so essential – as Gary's modern chromatic elements really seem to unlock a fresh spirit in Stan's horn – all the fluidity of the bossa years, but with these unusual inflections that are completely mindblowing! The rest of the core group is equally hip – Chuck Israels on bass and the great Roy Haynes on drums – and Astrud Gilberto sings on seven of the album's nineteen selections. Titles include instrumental cuts "The Singing Song", "Blues Walk", "O Grande Amor", "Edelweiss", "Once Upon A Summertime", "Jive Hoot", "The Shadow Of Your Smile", and "On Green Dolphin Street" – and the vocal numbers "Voce E Eu", "Corcovado", "Telephone Song", "Girl From Ipanema", "It Might As Well Be Spring", and "Samba De Uma Nota So". CD

The heavy soulful trumpeter hits the Belin Jazz Festival in this classic MPS recording from 1976. He's backed by a sextet that includes George Adams on tenor, Diedre Murray on cello, and Michael Cochrane on piano – and the set is a lot straighter than usual, but still with the good spiritual sound that comes through on his more "out" recordings. Tracks include Coltrane's "Bessies Blues", plus "The 23rd Psalm", "My Favorite Things", and "Willow Weep For Me". CD

... CD

... CD

Includes music by St Germain, China Bear, DJ Vadim, Red Snapper, Jazzanova, DJ Cam, Llorca, Shawn Lee, Daedelus, Lyrics Born, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Koop, Roy Ayers, and more – 60 tracks total. CD

George Adams on tenor sax and vocals, Hannibal Marvin Peterson on trumpet, Jean Paul Bourelly on guitar, Ray Gallon on piano, Santi DeBriano on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums. CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A really lovely little record – one that feels like an instant classic in the world of MPB – the sort of long-overdue new release by a Brazilian artist that we hope we'll be hearing plenty from in years to come! As with the elite list of our Brazilian favorites of the past 20 years, Bruno's got a way of reaching into the past to grab just a bit here and there – then folds things together with a style that's crispily fresh, and very much his own – soulful, yet not mainstream soul at all – electronic at times, but with a warmly beating acoustic heart – and the kind of music that will grab you instantly upon first listen, at a level that our words could never hope to convey! Titles include "So Nois Dois", "Some Nyame", "Quero Dizer", "Ate Meu Violao", "Virginia Talk", "Sereno", "Arraiada", and "Beat 1". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Buddy Miles sings vocals on the title track. CD

... CD

Two classic early albums from San Francisco pianist Dave Brubeck! Jazz at Oberlin was famously recorded at the mid-Ohio college and haven of bohemiana, and a growing hotbed of jazz activity centered around students in the college's conservatory of music at the time of the recording! Dave and crew made the trip at the request of the kids – breaking from their mostly San Francisco-based recording career to cut what would end up becoming a very successful album in Dave's catalog, and begin a whole "at" or "goes to" series in his career – followed up at many other locations. The group's the early quartet with Paul Desmond on alto, Ron Crotty on bass, and Lloyd Davis on drums – and tunes include long and jamming versions of "The Way You Look Tonight", "How High The Moon", and "Stardust". College Of The Pacific is another great live set from the Dave Brubeck Quartet – already humming along nicely with some great alto sax from Paul Desmond! The group's in fine form here – a bit more relaxed and open than on their Columbia recordings – with plenty of creative piano lines from Dave, showing just a slight dose of modernism, and lots more of that cool, icy alto sax work that made Desmond a standout right from the start. Rhythm is by Ron Crotty on bass and Joe Dodge on drums – and titles include "Laura", "Lullaby In Rhythm", "For All We Know", "All The Things You Are", and "I'll Never Smile Again". CD

A really unique session from these two great players – a rare moment when both were brought together in the studio – performing here in a German session that really knocks it out of the park, and has a different vibe than early 60s Blue Note material from either player! In addition to Donald Byrd on trumpet and Dexter Gordon on tenor, the group also features Herb Geller on alto and Ake Persson on trombone – horns criss-crossing in a great way, but with plenty of room for solos, especially from Byrd, who is sublime! The group also features Heinz Kitschenberg on guitar, with no piano at all – which makes for a nice change in the sound – and remaining players include Jurgen Ehlers on bass and Joe Harris on drums. The set's a bit short, just four tracks in all – but all the tunes are wonderful – and titles include "An Air For The Heir", "The Dexter Byrd", "Fly Me To The Moon", and "Blue Orchids". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Quite a popular live album from Ella – recorded in Berlin at the height of the cold war years – featuring a famous recording of "Mack The Knife" that almost blew away Bobby Darin's hit with the cut! The album's nicely free of some of the stodginess of some of Ella's Songbook albums from the same time – with light and jazzy backing by a group that includes Jim Hall, Paul Smith, Wilfred Middlebrooks, and Gus Johnson. Titles include "Mack The Knife", "How High The Moon", "Too Darn Hot", "Gone With The Wind", "Misty", and "Summertime". LP, Vinyl record album

Ella Fitzgerald recorded famously in Berlin for Verve Records at the start of the 60s – but this set's from later on in the decade, and shows just how much Ella had grown as a singer! There's less of the easygoing good vibes of that previous album, and a much more mature, intimate quality at times – mixed with a few of the groovier styles that Fitzgerald was picking up in the second half of the 60s! Throughout it all, backing is just by a trio, but one who rock things with plenty of soul – Jimmy Jones on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Sam Woodyard on drums – on titles that include "So Danca Samba", "Summertime", "You've Changed", "Misty", "Midnight Sun", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Don't Be That Way", "These Boots Are Made For Walking", and "Oh Lady Be Good". Great 2CD package – with 20 tracks in all! CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A quintet session with Johnny Griffin on tenor, Rolf Ericson on trumpet, Fritz Pauer on piano, Lukas Lindholm on bass, and Ronnie Stephenson on drums. CD

Great later work from Eddie Harris – three albums in a single set! Live In Berlin is a surprisingly great concert – recorded by Eddie at the end of the 80s, with a fire and open approach that we wouldn't have expected! The album features Eddie on piano and tenor, with backing only by Ray Peterson on bass and Norman Fearrington on drums – and the spare setting really has Eddie taking charge of the set dynamically, hitting funky notes one moment, soulful notes another, and messing around in a tripped-out style that we haven't heard since his best Atlantic recordings of the early 70s. The set kicks off with the funky jamband number "Ambidextrous", rolls into the weird vocal tune "La Carnival", and contains other great numbers like "Scatting Unlyrically Simultaneously", "Airigen", "Walkin", "Lover", and "Eddie Who". Eddie Who is only a trio set, but one that often has all the full, soulful currents of some of the reedman's 70s material for Atlantic Records! Eddie plays piano and trumpet in addition to his usual tenor – and often does so at the same time, thanks to the magic of overdub – which also allows Harris to vocalize a bit next to his instrumental passages, with this very cool sound that's both an extension of the vocalizations he'd begun with Les McCann, but also some more familiar jazz singing as well. The whole album's not vocal, and the more instrumental passages feature some mighty nice tenor – and rhythm is from the team of Ralphe Armstrong on bass and Sherman Ferguson on drums. Titles include "Eddie Who", "Cedar Trees", "Silverplated", "Eddie Theme", and "Ambidextrous". People Get Funny is a later album from reedman Eddie Harris – but a set that still continues some of his best funky styles from the 70s Atlantic Records years! In fact, the record may well be the last that Eddie ever cut in this mode – a real surprise at a time when some of his other sessions were more traditional – and the record's filled with lots of very groovy surprises that include great Fender Rhodes from William Henderson, plus more electric piano from Eddie – who also sings a bit too, in that great raspy tone of his. Rhythms are often pretty great, too – funky, in an offbeat way – thanks to sweet basslines from Larry Gales and drums from Carl Burnett. Titles include "People Get Funny When They Get A Little Money", "Ski Ball", "Three Quarter Miles", "Silver Plated", "Hal Strange", and "Step Down To The Top". CD

... CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Later work from 50s modernist Warne Marsh – but pretty darn great stuff, and proof that Marsh remained creative and inventive as the years went on! The core of the CD features a 1980 live date recorded in Berlin with pianist Sal Mosca – like Marsh, another disciple of the Tristano school, and a great accompanist for the set! The rest of the group includes Eddie Gomez on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums – but although both players are strongly voiced, the real focus here is on Warne's beautifully-spun solos on the longer tracks, and on Sal's angular approach to the keys. Tracks are nearly all Tristano, Marsh, or Mosca numbers – and titles include "Leave Me", "The Family Song", "Like The Angels", "And Then There's Music", and "Background Music". CD also features 2 more tracks from a 1977 live date in Bronxville – with Mosca, plus Sam Jones and Roy Haynes – on readings of "She's Funny That Way" and "Background Music". And quite possibly best of all, the set's completed by 2 more tracks that are only spare duos between Sal and Warne – recorded at Mosca's apartment in 1979, and featuring versions of "Noteworthy" and "The Hard Way". CD

A quartet of live performances from Sun Ra – all recorded within the span of a single week in 1983 – at a time when the Arkestra was clearly covering a fair bit of territory in Europe! As you might guess from the title, the concerts here were recorded in Milan, Zurich, West Berlin, and Paris – all during the last week of October and first day of November – in a whirlwind series of sets that also included Montreux material that ended up on the Hiroshima album (not included in this package.) Ra's at the start of his key 80s growth here – able to open up to new audiences in a range of styles, from freely experimental to more traditionally jazzy – all in ways that link together many traditions in a single set, and show that his talents were rooted in a deep tradition of musical expression. The 5CD set features a huge amount of material – and apart from Ra on piano and keyboards, other "all star" players include Lester Bowie and Don Cherry on trumpets, John Gilmore on tenor, Archie Shepp on tenor and soprano sax, Marshall Allen on alto and flute, Richard Davis on bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums, and Don Moye on percussion. CD

The "biggest" album of Lou Reed's career – in the grand sense – with epic production and a small army of superstar session players and production by spectacle specialist Bob Ezrin – but that's paired with arguably the darkest, gloomiest songcycle ever composed by Lou Reed! The dichotomy works, and Lou apparently agrees, having revisited the material in the mid aughties to great acclaim. Ultimately, this and the previous year's Transformer makes for one of the strangest and most incredible transitions over a short period of time in pop music history. Titles include "Berlin", "Lady Day", "Men Of Good Fortune", "Caroline Says" (I & II), "The Kids", "The Bed", "Sad Song" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of concerts from Tangerine Dream – both of which feature side-long tracks, taking the group back to their 70s roots! CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Totally wonderful live work from Sarah Vaughan – a Berlin performance that takes off strongly from the grooviest styles of her mid 60s work on Mercury – but with an approach that's maybe even more unfettered overall, given the live setting of the material! Sarah's voice is incredible – working with an amazing demonstration of that famous range that made her such a key force in transforming jazz vocals during the postwar years – always swinging, but with all these inflections that really show just how much she'd developed her voice as an instrument during the 60s. Backing is from an unusual trio – Johnny Veith on piano, Gus Mancuso on bass, and Eddy Pucci on drums – players who really fit the groovy nature of the material – titles that include "On A Clear Day", "Passing Strangers", "I Cried For You", "A Lot Of Livin To Do", "And I Love Him", "Fly Me To The Moon", "The Sweetest Sounds", "What Now My Love", "Time After Time", and "I Had A Ball". CD

Totally wonderful live work from Sarah Vaughan – a Berlin performance that takes off strongly from the grooviest styles of her mid 60s work on Mercury – but with an approach that's maybe even more unfettered overall, given the live setting of the material! Sarah's voice is incredible – working with an amazing demonstration of that famous range that made her such a key force in transforming jazz vocals during the postwar years – always swinging, but with all these inflections that really show just how much she'd developed her voice as an instrument during the 60s. Backing is from an unusual trio – Johnny Veith on piano, Gus Mancuso on bass, and Eddy Pucci on drums – players who really fit the groovy nature of the material – titles that include "On A Clear Day", "Passing Strangers", "I Cried For You", "A Lot Of Livin To Do", "And I Love Him", "Fly Me To The Moon", "The Sweetest Sounds", "What Now My Love", "Time After Time", and "I Had A Ball". CD

A set that not only features an amazing and well-recorded live set by the early version of Weather Report – but one that also features them joined by a few great European jazz musicians as well! The core of the album has the quintet at their finest – playing in the TV studio featured on the cover, with incredible sound that's captured beautifully – as the group stretch out on really long takes that move past their studio genius of the time – served up by Wayne Shorter on soprano sax and tenor, Joe Zawinul on electric and acoustic piano, Miroslav Vitous on bass, Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and Dom Um Romao on percussion. And on three very long tracks, the group are joined by some amazing additional players – John Surman on soprano sax and bass clarinet, Alan Skidmore on flute and tenor, and Eje Thelin on trombone – really helping the group open up the tunes "Sunrise", "Moto Grosso Feio", and "Directions". Other titles include "Eurydice", "Morning Lake", "Orange Lady", "Dr Honoris Causa", "I Would Like To Tell", and "Early Minor". CD

A set that not only features an amazing and well-recorded live set by the early version of Weather Report – but one that also features them joined by a few great European jazz musicians as well! The core of the album has the quintet at their finest – playing in the TV studio featured on the cover, with incredible sound that's captured beautifully – as the group stretch out on really long takes that move past their studio genius of the time – served up by Wayne Shorter on soprano sax and tenor, Joe Zawinul on electric and acoustic piano, Miroslav Vitous on bass, Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and Dom Um Romao on percussion. And on one very long track, the group are joined by some amazing additional players – John Surman on soprano sax and bass clarinet, Alan Skidmore on flute and tenor, and Eje Thelin on trombone – really helping the group open up the tune "Directions". Other titles include "Eurydice", "Morning Lake", "Orange Lady", "Dr Honoris Causa", "I Would Like To Tell", and "Early Minor". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Features Ryan Keberle on trombone, Frank Woeste on piano, and Vincent Courtois on cello. CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album