An incredibly righteous record from the legendary Andy Bey – an artist who's risen back to fame in recent years as a relatively straight jazz singer – but who was in some very heady territory here in the early 70s! Bey first rose to fame as part of the vocal trio, Andy & The Bey Sisters – and while that group's 60s recordings were already wonderful, Andy soon stepping out into tremendous territory of his own – working with Max Roach, Horace Silver, and Gary Bartz – and adding some unique spiritual and socially conscious vocals to some of their best jazz records at the end of the 60s! This set's one of Andy's few solo moments from the time – and really follows up the groove strongly – with lots of help from the mighty William Fischer, who wrote some of the tracks, and plays keyboards – although Bey is clearly the main compositional force here. The album includes a remake of "Celestial Blues", which Bey recorded famously with Gary Bartz – and which is in a leaner, even funkier take here – and other titles include "Being Uptight", "Tune Up", "Hibiscus", "Experience", and "The Power Of My Mind". LP, Vinyl record album

A weird and wonderful little record, as you might guess from the image on the cover – part sound library electronics, part narrative progressive rock – but with a sound that's also very much its own, and very different than those references might make you expect! If you know the voice of Dick Annegarn from some of his cool French recordings of the 70s, you'll know you're in for a treat – and COS member Daniel Schell provides all these cool keyboards and guitar parts in the instrumentation – jazzy sometimes, slightly rockish, and with global elements at others – including a nod to the oud! The sounds and styles criss cross wonderfully – almost like some Saravah Records attempt at more progressive material – and titles include "The FF Boom", "Un Instant", "Sabina & First Variation", "Granvelle", "La Ballde Du Zwin", and "Ud". LP, Vinyl record album

Enigmatic sounds from the early years of the recording industry in Japan – served up in a style billed as ryukoka, which mixes older elements of traditional music with some of the newer flavors emerging from the west in the early 20th century! To our ears, these tunes still sound very traditional overall – but because of the lack of recordings, we also can't tell you what the Japanese music sounded like a generation before – and the whole package is a wonderful presentation of lost relics from the shellac era, similar to sets of this nature from Dust To Digital (although not in a larger book format.) CD features 16 tracks in all – work by Yayoi Tanaka, Mitsuko Nemoto, Ichiro Fujiyama, Chiyako Sato, Otomaru, Hamako Watanabe, Seki Taneko, Kouta Katutaro, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic chapter in the career of the legendary Bill Fay – material that might have formed a lost third album, had any record company chosen to respond at the time – and which, presented here, really serves to illuminate a lost chapter in Bill's musical lineage! The set has Fay working with a small group of younger musicians who were originally fans who were disappointed that Decca never released another album after Bill's first two – so they got in touch, and set about helping Fay find a new vision in his music with their help! The sound is often stark and lean, with more of an edge than Fay's first two records – still graced with those enigmatic vocals and really haunting songwriting, but with moodier elements that really give the music some bite. The original batch of recordings has been expanded out here by a number of other rare recordings from the same time – really unique bits of varying length – and if you love Fay's music, you'll find plenty to love within! LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most tripped-out music ever from The Holy Modal Rounders – and that's saying a lot, given the nature of the group! This unique early album on ESP features two side-long tracks – both of which are mini-suites of sort, and filled with odd sounds, weird themes, and a strange mixture of hippie instrumentation and sci-fi experimentation! The group for the record is a quartet – with the core combo of Peter Stampfel on violin and vocals and Steve Weber on guitar, augmented by playwright Sam Shephard on drums and Lee Crabtree on piano and organ – plus extra vocals from the trio of Antonia, Barbara, & Wendy. The music is in the best free-thinking style of other rock on the ESP label in the 60s – and titles include "Jimmy & Crash Survey The Universe" and "The Second-Hand Watch". LP2 features Live In 1965 – Some of the earliest music ever from The Holy Modal Rounders – a rare live performance from 1965, recorded at the Chess Mate nightclub in Detroit, and featuring only the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber! The music here is a bit more folksy and a bit less trippy than some of the Rounders' later recordings, but it still shows a decidedly left-field approach – not just in the subjects of the tunes, but also in the way the guitar, banjo, and fiddle are used – almost as additional voices at times, instead of conventional folk instrumentation. Titles include "Crowley Waltz", "Black Eyed Suzy", "My Mind Capsized", "Fishin Blues", "Rum Mountain", "Random Canyon", "Skin Game", "Indian War Whoop", and "Flop Eared Mule". LP, Vinyl record album

A very unusual album for Yusef Lateef – and that's saying quite a lot, given how quirky most of his work can be! The session has Lateef exploring both rootsy and modern modes – working in a unique quartet that features George Arvanitas on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and legendary New Orleans musician James Black on drums and assorted percussion. Arvanitas has an excellent style with a very dark edge, and his playing is augmented strongly here by Workman's exploratory basslines, and Black's creatively rhythmic way of approaching the percussion. The whole thing's a very moody session, with a subdued sound, and a nice edgy approach to the material that differs nicely from some of Lateef's other recordings – an earthy feel that grabs the listener from the very first track. Yusef plays flute, tenor, and other wind instruments – and tracks include "Psychicetmotus", "Medula Sonata", "Semiocto", and a version of Satie's "First Gymnopedie". LP, Vinyl record album

John Tchicai plays the music of Thelonious Monk, and a few of his own tunes too – in a wonderful set that shows beautifully why we always look out for work from this enigmatic saxophonist! There's definitely a Monkish vibe to the record, but Tchicai's approach is often quite personal too – creating warmth where others might have kept things angular, or changing up the pacing of the tunes – so that he's always leaving a very strong imprint of his own on the recordings, and not just covering too-familiar Monk territory. Each tune has a slightly different execution – and many numbers have John stepping out sparely, blowing in the lead – but with some warmth and depth that's quite different than the coldness of his modern moments from years back. And there's also a bit of Hammond on the record – played by George Colligan, who also alternates on piano – and use of that instrument really makes for a fresh sound too – a wonderful change that's almost like some 60s soul jazz take on Monk. Bass is by Steve Laspina and drums are by Billy Drummond – and titles include "Monk's Mood", "Coming On The Hudson", "Light Blue", "Ugly Beauty", "Ruby My Dear", and "Cool Copy". LP, Vinyl record album

Philadelphia Freedom from Elton John – a trio of tracks recorded with legendary Philly Soul producer Thom Bell, all with a Sigma Sound vibe that's quite different than most of John's other work at the time! In fact, although these tracks were recorded right at the height of the disco era, they're quite restrained and more focused on a soulful sound overall – in a style that's very similar to Davie Bowie's great Philly Soul recordings on the Young Americans album! MFSB, Bell & James, Bobby Eli, and many other key Philly talents are in the lineup – and titles include "Mama Can't Buy You Love", "Are You Ready For Love", and "Three Way Love Affair". This version features six tracks in all – more than the original EP release – including "Shine On Through", "Country Love Song", and "Nice & Slow". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful improvised work from legendary Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko – work that's much more powerful and bracing than the atmospheric recordings he would do for ECM in later years! The work here comes right at a key moment for free jazz on the European scene – and Stanko works with some of the modern structures of his important 60s material with Kryzstof Komeda, but with looser styles that really lets the organic energy of the group take over from more compositional directions – especially on the two very long tracks that comprise the core of the material. The music has never been issued to the public before – and represents a key look at these important years when Poland was one of the most important jazz scenes behind the Iron Curtain – thanks to experimental work from Stanko on trumpet, Janusz Muniak on flute and soprano, Zbigniew Seifert on violin, Bronislaw Suchanek on bass, and Janusz Stefanski on drums and flexatone. Titles include "Calme", "6 & 8 1", and "6 & 8 2" – plus the short "Flute's Ballad". LP, Vinyl record album

Philadelphia Freedom from Elton John – a trio of tracks recorded with legendary Philly Soul producer Thom Bell, all with a Sigma Sound vibe that's quite different than most of John's other work at the time! In fact, although these tracks were recorded right at the height of the disco era, they're quite restrained and more focused on a soulful sound overall – in a style that's very similar to Davie Bowie's great Philly Soul recordings on the Young Americans album! MFSB, Bell & James, Bobby Eli, and many other key Philly talents are in the lineup – and titles include "Mama Can't Buy You Love", "Are You Ready For Love", and "Three Way Love Affair". This version features six tracks in all – more than the original EP release – including "Shine On Through", "Country Love Song", and "Nice & Slow". LP, Vinyl record album

The last album ever recorded by Townes Van Zandt – and a set that shows just how strong his talent was, right up until the end! The album came out two years after Townes passed away in 1997, and features core recordings of the legend on vocals and guitar, augmented by studio backings added to flesh out the sound of the material – yet done in a way that's very respectful to the spirit of the original tunes! The vocals are wonderful – maybe even more powerful at this point in Van Zandt's career than on some of the earlier recordings – and titles include a version of the great "Pancho & Lefty", which seems to have learned from the Merle Haggard/Willie Nelson version of Townes' classic – plus "Tower Song", "For The Sake Of The Song", "Waitin Round To Die", "Sanitarium Blues", "Greensboro Woman", "Dollar Bill Blues", and "To Live's To Fly". LP, Vinyl record album

Never-heard live work from Dave Brubeck's legendary quartet – recorded overseas right at the time they were first breaking big on Columbia Record – and with a creative modern energy that shows them right about to leap into Time Out territory! The tunes here are mostly familiar, but given wonderfully fresh readings, thanks to Dave's sense of timing – augmented with the creative rhythms of Joe Morello on drums and Eugene Wright on bass – and topped with the always-sublime work of Paul Desmond on alto sax! The recording quality is wonderful – and titles include "Watusi Drums", "For All We Know", "One Moment Worth Years", "The Duke", "Someday My Prince Will Come", "Two Part Contention", and "The Wright Groove". LP, Vinyl record album

A set of incredible records from Charles Mingus – all presented together in one mighty nice package! First up is Mingus Moves – a fantastic fresh new chapter in the career of Charles Mingus – a set that features the addition of two key players who would really shape his sound in the 70s – Don Pullen on piano and George Adams on tenor, both completely wonderful here! The group also features excellent trumpet from Roland Hampton, a player we don't know from many other settings – and the set also features some really nice vocal work from Honi Gordon and Doug Hammond. Titles include "Canon", "Moves", "Wee", "Flowers For A Lady", "Opus 3", and "Newcomer". CD also features bonus tracks – "Big Alice" and "The Call". Changes is key 70s work from Charles Mingus – an album that was recorded over the course of three days of creative activity at the end of 1974, but somehow split into two different albums under the Changes name! The lineup here is prime 70s Mingus – George Adams on tenor, Jack Walrath on trumpet, and Don Pullen on piano – young players who really give a fresh voice to Mingus' musical ideas, and help him find this beautiful late life sense of color, tone, and timing that's completely sublime! Titles on this second volume include "Sue's Changes", "Devil Blues", "Remember Rockefeller At Attica", "Free Cell Block F Tis Nazi USA", "Black Bats & Poles", "For Harry Carney", and "Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love" – which features a guest appearance by Marcus Belgrave on trumpet and Jackie Paris on vocals. On 3 Or 4 Shades Of Blues, Charles Mingus is returning to the soulful gospel-influenced mode he swung big in the early 60s! The record's something of a later predecessor of the classics Blues & Roots for Atlantic and Mingus (x5) for Impulse – and the style is slightly less dramatic, but still quite steeped in soulful explorations that feature plenty of notes from the bluer side of the spectrum! Players include George Coleman and Ricky Ford on tenor, Jack Walrath on trumpet, and Larry Coryell on guitar – and titles include new takes on "Better Git Hit In Your Soul" and "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" – plus"Nobody Knows", "Noddin Ya Head Blues", and "Three Or Four Shades Of Blues". Next is Cumbia & Jazz Fusion – one of the most enigmatic albums that Charles Mingus ever recorded – especially in his later years! The set features two very long tracks done by Mingus for use in a film about cocaine traffic between New York and Columbia – but considering the nature of the music, and the freely exploratory style, both numbers here stand very well on their own! Although touched with some of the Latin influences you might expect from the title, the sounds are often darker and more brooding than, say, the Mingus style on the classic Tijuana Moods set. And instead, there's a very serious soundtrack-like vibe going on through most of the set – larger jazz orchestrations used to beautifully underscore subtle themes, and breakout solo moments from players who include Mauricio Smith on flute, Paul Jeffrey on tenor sax, Jack Walrath on trumpet, and Jimmy Knepper on trombone. The album also features a fair bit of added percussion – and features two long tracks, "Cumbia & Jazz Fusion" and "Music For Todo Modo". Me Myself An Eye is complicated later work from Charles Mingus – a great illustration of the way his power to command a large ensemble never wavered as the years went on! The album features two different large groups of players – filled with modernists young and old – including Ricky Ford, George Coleman, and Michael Brecker on tenors; Ronni Cuber and Pepper Adams on baritone; Randy Brecker and Jack Walrath on trumpets; Lee Konitz on alto, Larry Coryell on guitar, Slide Hampton on trombone, and Eddie Gomez on bass. Side one features the 30 minute track "Three Worlds Of Drums", and side two contains a remake of "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting", plus "Devil Woman" and "Carolyn Keki Mingus". Something Like A Bird is one of the last albums Charles Mingus ever gave us – before departing this planet way way too soon! The set shows the increasing sophistication of Mingus' music in these later years – a mode that almost echoes the path that Duke Ellington would take in his final decade – a move towards some larger-form material that still holds onto all the raw energy of the early days, but finds a way to not only bridge larger musical ideas – but musical generations as well! As part of this, the set's got a wonderful lineup – with Lee Konitz on alto, Pepper Adams on baritone sax, George Coleman on tenor, Eddie Gomez on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums – and titles include the long title track, "Something Like A Bird", split up over 2 sides of the LP, plus "Farewell Farwell". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful late work from piano legend Bill Evans – a set that was recorded in 1977, but not issued until after his death in 1980 – at which point it became an instant essential in his catalog! As with so many of Bill's 70s recordings, the session benefits from the bass work of Eddie Gomez – rich, round, and warm – a perfect accompaniment for Evans' sometimes faltering piano work at the time – and a player that Evans was incredibly lucky to be working with during much of his later years. Elliot Zigmund is on drums, a beautifully sensitive player – and the set includes a sublime version of Michel Legrand's "You Must Believe In Spring", plus the tracks "Theme From Mash", "The Peacocks", "Sometime Ago", and "Gary's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing sounds from Lee Hazlewood – some of his most offbeat, unbridled recordings ever – and that's saying a lot if you've already heard his classics for Mercury, MGM, and Reprise! The package here brings together rare work from Lee's own LHI label – packaged beautifully with a rich set of notes, session details, and some amazing photos that follow in the spirit of the nutty-looking cover image! Hazlewood's voice is sublime throughout – that deeper-than-deep quality that always leaves us breathless – perfect for the sly wit and and "aw shucks" sensibility of the tunes – and also for unlocking the growing adult sensuality that Lee was letting into his work at the time. A few female singers step forth in that great Hazlewood duet mode – Nina Lizell, Suzi Jane Hokom, and Ann Margret – who each sing on a few tracks – but Lee's in the lead on most numbers, and titles include the previously unreleased "I Just Learned To Run" – plus "The Bed", "Sleep In The Grass", "The Night Before", "If It's Monday Morning", "Won't You Tell Your Dreams", "Hey Cowboy", "No Train To Stockholm", "What's More I Don't Need Her", "Trouble Maker", and "Nobody Like You". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning tribute to the work of Swedish reedman Bengt Frippe Nordstrom – a player whose solo and small group improvisations arguably set the tone for countless Scandinavian recordings in years to come – presented here with both unreleased material and his legendary Natural Music record for his own Bird Notes label! The package was put together by improvising reed genius Mats Gustaffson – a player who has a strong influence from Nordstrom – and the set features four 12" albums, one 10" disc, and an EP too – all with digital downloads of the music, in a very limited box set with a bonus set of notes and a discography too! Given how rare any of the Bird Notes material is – and even was, back in the day – the package is something of a steal, even with a high price tag – and the work is augmented here by some exclusive tribute tracks for the set as well. Titles include "Bird Notes & Fok Tunes" and "Reality" by Nordstrom – plus "When Will The Blues Leave", which has Frippe with the Ornette Coleman Quintet – plus the tracks "Flickorna I Smaland" by Sven Ake Johhansson, "Shrot 1" by Dror Feiler, "Cellar Fright 3" by Jorgen Adolfsson, "Vacker Men Kort Alltsa" by Isak Hedtjarn, and "Rrrhhmmmmrrrrrrrhhhmmmmm" by Mats Gustafsson. LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderfully strange mix of electronics and sounds from around the planet – as Alain Pierre uses field recordings from Thailand and Mexico, then mixes them with these really special creations of his own! Some of the other recordings are presented almost whole, but with some augmentation in a subtle way – and these are then balanced by Alain Pierre's own work, which moves between the more moody, abstract quality of the sound library scene of the 70s, into territory that's maybe more familiar to ears trained on musique concrete! Titles include "Des Morts", "Funerailles Chez Les Hmongs", "Clown", "Fete Des Morts Chez Les Indiens", and "Cryogene". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant early work by Miles Davis – some of his first truly important sessions to appear under his own name – originally issued as singles or 10" LP recordings by Blue Note, and brought together here in a full length set that would help to define the early years of his career! This is work before Miles was able to stretch out on longer sessions for Prestige, but the material already showcases his unique contribution to jazz – shorter tracks that are perhaps more boppish, than you might expect from some of Miles' other 50s work – but in a way that still allows for many moments of lyrical beauty, and that brilliantly cool sound of his which forever changed the sound of jazz trumpet. The set features work from an assortment of players who vary from track to track – including Jimmy Heath on tenor, Jackie McLean on alto, JJ Johnson on trombone, Gil Coggins on piano, and either Kenny Clarke or Art Blakey on drums – on titles that include "Tempus Fugit", "Kelo", "Enigma", "Ray's Ida", and "CTA". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the earthiest recordings made by Bill Laswell during his run of classic productions on Axiom Records – a set that's very faithful to the unique sound of the Gnawa musicians of Morocco, and which features no performance at all from Laswell! Sometimes, Bill would like to insert himself in the proceedings, or inflect the music with his own identity – but he stays nicely aside here, and allows the large ensemble to really do their thing – making incredible music through interplay between vocals and percussion, touched with a few local instruments as well – including oud, sintir, and darbouka! Often, the percussion is augmented by handclaps, which really brings a sense of urgency to the record as the songs build up – and titles include "Tramin", "Chabako", "Toura Toura Tour Kelilah", "Hamouda", "Said Fafy Drum Solo", "Jillala", and "Mimoun Mamrba". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that really takes off nicely in the sort of acoustic territory first explored in the American underground of the 60s and 70s – evolving past some of the solo modes of contemporary musicians who might be a bit too tied to a Takoma aesthetic, while still showing that deft performance is still at the core of a record like this! Elijah McLaughlin plays both 6 and 12 string guitars – but almost always with contributions that include his own sonic touches on electronics, effects, tape loops, and even field recordings – augmented by hammered dulcimer from Joel Styzens, piano from Adler Scheidt, bass from Jason Toth, and cello and a bit of effects from Katinka Klejin. At times, there's a very melodic vibe, other moments are more subtle and woven together – on titles that include "Braided River", "Point Of Departure", "Headwaters", "Parallax", and the very long "Coloring Of Lake/Sky". LP, Vinyl record album