Fantastic early work from Gil Evans – emerging here in this early session as an already far-thinking modernist. The tracks are shorter and less ambitious than some of Evans' work on Impulse, but the group is excellent – and even in a shorter format, the conception of the work still contains plenty of rich new ideas. Players include Louis Mucci, John Carisi, Steve Lacy, Willie Ruff, Paul Chambers, Nick Stabulis, and "Zeke Tolin" on alto, who is certainly a more famous player under a fake name. Titles include "Ella Speed", "Big Stuff", "Jambangle", "Nobody's Heart", and "Remember". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic lost set from modernist genius Gil Evans – one that expands on some of the larger group territory he was exploring with Miles Davis at Columbia Records – but with an even hipper range of soloists overall! The lineup on the record is an all-star one – mostly top shelf players, not studio musicians – and the set has Evans making room in the arrangements for key solo performances by giants who include Johnny Coles on trumpet, Steve Lacy on soprano sax, Budd Johnson on tenor, Ray Crawford on guitar, and both Curtis Fuller and Jimmy Cleveland on trombones – all players who each bring some key moments of magic to the larger arrangements on the album. Evans himself plays piano, and drums are by Elvin Jones and Dennis Charles – which should give you an idea of the modernist inclinations in the music. And although the title says "standards", the tunes here are definitely on the hipper side of the jazz spectrum of the 50s, expanded with beautiful modern arrangements by Gil – on versions of "Joy Spring", "Ballad Of The Sad Young Men", "Django", "Straight No Chaser", and "Chant Of The Weed". LP, Vinyl record album

A pivotal session for Gil Evans – one that brought his genius to the American public strongly and successfully, without the help of Miles Davis! Sure, Gil had recorded albums as a leader before this one – but the sparkling quality of this set is right up there with the charts he handled for Miles, and the quality of the players in the group make the performance every bit as great. Gil's band includes trumpeter Johnny Coles, plus Ron Carter on bass, Elvin Jones on drums, Budd Johnson on tenor, and Ray Crawford on guitar – all players who open up the sound with a magnificent array of colors that sparkle from the sublime Evans arranging touch. Titles include "Stratusphunk", "Sunken Treasure", "La Nevada", and a great reading of Kurt Weil's "Bilbao Song". LP, Vinyl record album

Surprisingly wonderful work from Kenny! The album has Kenny's guitar set to arrangements by Gil Evans – who gives the session a modern edge that really sets it apart from other Burrell albums of the time. Kenny's freed to do his thing – wonderfully, we might add – and Gil paints these washes of sound, color, and tone with the help of hip players like Johnny Coles, Louis Mucci, Julius Watkins, Steve Lacy, Richie Kamuca, Elvin Jones, and Lee Konitz. Tracks include "Lotus Land", "Downstairs", "Moon & Sand", "Terrace Theme", "Greensleeves", and "Loie". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare session as a leader from trumpeter Johnny Coles – a player who cut some great work in the groups of James Moody and Gil Evans, but who shines even more brightly on this classic Blue Note album! Coles really has an ear for finding the hippest side of his instrument – and he blows with a style that's unlike anyone else we can think of – and certainly far from the mellower tones of his previous leader set for Columbia. This album's got a great mix of hardbop and modern ideas – right up there with the best Blue Note had to offer at the time – and the group's filled with equally hip players who include Joe Henderson on tenor, Leo Wright on alto and flute, Duke Pearson on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and either Pete LaRoca or Walter Perkins on drums. Titles include "Heavy Legs", "Hobo Joe", "Jano", and "Little Johnny C". Very hip, very hard, and very swingin! LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful collaboration between Miles Davis and the great Gil Evans – and perhaps the most perfectly realized of all their projects! The album's got a wonderfully unified feel – as it begins with long compositions that have a distinct Spanish-tinge (and not a Latin-tinge, which is an important distinction to the way the album progresses.) Evans' arrangements have a majesty that takes the songs to the next level – working them as lush, lively backings for Davis' equally majestic trumpet solos, some of the finest he ever recorded with large group backing. Wonderful all the way through – and with the tracks "Concierto De Aranjuez", "Saeta", "The Pan Piper", and "Solea". LP, Vinyl record album

Another bold new direction for the legendary Miles Davis Quintet of the 60s – a set that has some of the angular styles of earlier albums, but also a bit more of the flowing grace to come in the electric years! A key illustration of this is the leadoff track "Prince Of Darkness" – which has a fluid sensibility that still never fails to floor us, even all these many decades later! The rest of the tracks are equally great – even when subtle – and by this point, the group of Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams were well earning their acclaim as one of the most groundbreaking groups in jazz. Titles include "Prince Of Darkness", "Masqualero", "The Sorcerer", "Pee Wee", and "Vonetta" – plus the odd inclusion of a vocal version of "Nothing Like You" – recorded 5 years before with singer Bob Dorough and arranger Gil Evans! The tune's an odd cap to this otherwise cohesive set – but we love it plenty too, and it somehow oddly fits! LP, Vinyl record album

There's few singers lovelier than Astrud Gilberto – and this "great women" set is a perfect introduction to her music – a package filled with the key cuts she recorded for Verve Records during the big bossa nova boom of the 60s – a movement that lifted Astrud from obscurity into the realm of undeniably classic singers! The set features some of Gilberto's original recordings with tenorist Stan Getz, and others on her own – with backings from arrangers Don Sebesky, Claus Ogerman, Gil Evans, and Marty Paich – and one tune done with Brazilian organist Walter Wanderley too! Titles include "Agua De Beber", "Take Me To Aruanda", "O Morro", "Berimbau", "The Shadow Of Your Smile", "How Insensitive", "Girl From Ipanema", "Fly Me To The Moon", "So Nice", "It Might As Well Be Spring", "Once I Loved", "Corcovado", and "So Tinha De Ser Come Voce". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the moodiest Verve albums from Astrud Gilberto – a set that has some surprising arrangements by Gil Evans – working here on one of his few 60s dates with a singer! Astrud's blue-tinged vocals work perfectly with Evans' backdrops – and Al Cohn also takes over the helm on two of the album's tracks, but still does a very good job of keeping the groove. There's a nice mix of sadness and lightness in the set – and titles include a wonderful version of "Berimbau" that actually features berimbau playing by Dom Um Romao, a great take on "El Preciso Aprender A Ser So" with English lyrics, and the titles "Bim Bom", "Lugar Bonito", "Frevo", and "Once Upon A Summertime". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary bit of jazzy soul – recorded by an obscure female singer from Milwaukee! Penny's got a warm style that's pretty darn nice on its own – but it's made even better by the great arranger Richard Evans, who helped out a lot on the session. The feel is very much in the Chicago sophisti-soul mode – and at times, the record sounds a lot like Marlena Shaw's best work in the 70s, particularly her sides for Blue Note in the early part of the decade. Includes the great original "Too Soon You're Old" – a jazz dance classic for many years – plus a stellar cover of Gil Scott Heron's "Lady Day & John Coltrane", and the tracks "What's Goin On", "Slow Hot Wind", "He's Come Back", and "Rain Sometimes". LP, Vinyl record album

Stunning sounds from the Japanese jazz scene of the 70s – one of those key records that show how the scene was really moving forward with older jazz formats, and definitely finding new voices and styles in the process! The New Herd group here has nothing to do with older American big bands of years past – as they use the larger lineup of saxes, trumpets, and trombones to unlock all these insane colors next to the electric piano of Masahiko Sato – who guests with the group here, composing new material – and really taking things into some very heady territory! The record has breakout sonic passages that go out, but never too far – as things come back with a more standard swing from time to time – yet the overall structure is still quite loose too, very much its own thing – with maybe just a very slight comparison to the territory that Gil Evans might explore at his most avant 70s. Titles include "Ichi", "Ni", and "San". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost masterpiece of modern jazz from the Venezuelan scene at the start of the 70s – a record that mixes together acoustic and electric elements with effortless ease – maybe echoing some of the best Gil Evans experiments of the time, but also vibing with the cooler European work on labels like MPS! Gerry Weil plays both acoustic and electric piano – in a group that features alto from Ramon Carranza, alto and soprano from Bill Bucci, and tenor from Victor Cuica – all shifting amidst the larger ensemble of trombones, trumpets, electric guitar, bass, and plenty of percussion – the last of which echoes some slight Latin currents, while never getting in the way of more modern jazz expressions! The title track, "The Message", is a funky monster with great fuzzy guitar – and other titles include "Johnny's Bag", "Little Man", "The Bull's Problem", and "The Joy Within Yourself". LP, Vinyl record album

A warmly intimate album from Joao Gilberto – one that has the singer and guitarist in the same special space as his wonderful albums from the early 70s - a bit more sophisticated than the bossa years, but equally personal throughout! The set was co-produced by Helen Keane – who was bringing real magic to the records of pianist Bill Evans at the time – and music is by a core combo that includes American jazz musicians Ralph Grierson on keyboards and Grady Tate on drums – with some additional larger arrangements from Claus Ogerman, but used in a way that never clutters up the sound at all. Instead, Joao sounds beautiful right up front in the mix – with those sublime raspy vocals, and perfectly-placed lines on acoustic guitar – on titles that include a fabulous reading of "Estate", plus Jobim's "Wave" and "Zingaro", and the tracks "Caminha Cruzados", "Tin Tin Por Tin Tin", and "Besame Mucho". LP, Vinyl record album

Landmark work from Sun Ra – a rare 1964 performance that features some very early work from Pharoah Sanders, a good deal of which is appearing here for the first time ever! The material was recorded at Judson Hall – and marks a great large venue performance by the Arkestra on the New York scene. Ra and the group recorded the set on New Year's Eve, 1964 – at a time when John Gilmore had left the Arkestra to work with Art Blakey – leaving Pharoah Sanders to come and take his place on tenor. Also noteworthy is the presence of Black Harold (Harold Murray) on flute – blowing with a dark edge alongside other group members who include Al Evans on trumpet, Teddy Nance on trombone, Marshal Allen on alto sax, Pat Patrick on baritone sax, and both Alan Silva and Ronnie Boykins on bass. The performance starts with a relatively fierce sound, but then moves into some beautifully lyrical moments – and titles include "Gods On A Safari", "The World Shadow", "Rocket Number Nine", "The Voice Of Pan", "Dawn Over Israel", and "Space Mates". LP, Vinyl record album