One of the earliest albums ever from Harold Budd – an artist who'd later rise to great ambient fame in the following decade, but who's maybe at his most sophisticated here! The set has all the hallmark of the new musical experiments that Brian Eno was showcasing on his Obscure Music label – where the set first appeared – and Budd plays electric piano with a very cool set of contemporary musicians – a lineup that includes alto sax from Marion Brown, harp from Maggie Thomas, marimba from Michael Nyman and John White, and glockenspiel from Gavin Bryars. Brian Eno produced the record, and vocalizes slightly – and tracks have a long-spun, almost spiritual vibe – on titles that include "Bismallahi Rrahmani Rrahmani", "Two Songs (Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord/Butterfly Sunday)", "Madrigals Of The Rose Angel", and "Juno". LP, Vinyl record album

An underground classic from Karen Dalton – a record that's almost out of time, given its early 70s release – as Karen sings with spare backings that are almost in a Folkway Records mode at points, but with all these headier currents that are also indicative of the Bay Area generation too! Dalton's voice is completely unique too – unlike anything you'll ever hear – phrasing that almost hearkens back both to vintage jazz and Appalachian folk, but a style that's more long hair – as are some of the backings too. The set was recorded upstate in Bearsville – and really has all the hallmarks of the freedoms of that scene at the time – summed up beautifully on material that includes "Something On Your Mind", "In A Station", "Take Me", "Same Old Man", Are You Leaving For The Country", "Katie Cruel", and "How Sweet It Is". Features a huge amount of bonus material – three alternate takes from the album sessions, and six more live tracks from 1971! LP, Vinyl record album

A righteous cover, a righteous title, and a righteous little session that features one long song that spans the entire length of the album! "Black Unity" may well be Pharoah Sanders' freest expression on record to date – but it's also still got all the hallmarks of his best moments on Impulse – especially the tighter rhythmic focus that always makes his work so compelling – and which has kept his legacy fresh for generations and generations of new jazz listeners! The group here is wonderfully put together – with Joe Bonner on piano, Carlos Garnett on tenor, Marvin Hannibal Peterson on trumpet, Cecil McBee and Stanley Clarke on basses, and Norman Connors and Billy Hart on drums – all with plenty of space to stretch out, open up, and really do their thing! In contrast to some of the totally free work coming out of the European scene during the same stretch – especially that by American players overseas – the album's a great reminder that rhythm in jazz is always a key component – as Pharoah finds a way to make things swing, even at unexpected moments! LP, Vinyl record album

The debut of a legendary British jazz group – one who not only gave that nation's scene a fresh voice in music, but who also really set the tone for many other acts to come! After a stretch when the London scene was doing a great job of matching American efforts in bop and swing, players like Don Rendell and Ian Carr found a way to really carve out some bold space of their own – here, by matching their own strong sense of writing and arranging, always filled with beautiful tone and color, with some of the more modern phrasing and styles that were just creeping up around town. The set's not nearly as experimental as the work of Joe Harriott, but has all the hallmarks of that generation's openness to new ways of expression – often given a surprisingly soulful swing, and captured perfectly as one of the early entries in the famous Lansdowne Series recordings. The rest of the group is equally great – and in addition to Rendell on tenor and soprano sax, and Carr on trumpet and flugelhorn – the combo includes Colin Purbrook on piano, Dave Green on bass, and Trevor Tompkin on drums. Titles include "Garrison 64", "Blue Mosque", "Just Blue", "Latin Blue", "Sailin", and "Big City Strut". LP, Vinyl record album

An underground classic from Karen Dalton – a record that's almost out of time, given its early 70s release – as Karen sings with spare backings that are almost in a Folkway Records mode at points, but with all these headier currents that are also indicative of the Bay Area generation too! Dalton's voice is completely unique too – unlike anything you'll ever hear – phrasing that almost hearkens back both to vintage jazz and Appalachian folk, but a style that's more long hair – as are some of the backings too. The set was recorded upstate in Bearsville – and really has all the hallmarks of the freedoms of that scene at the time – summed up beautifully on material that includes "Something On Your Mind", "In A Station", "Take Me", "Same Old Man", Are You Leaving For The Country", "Katie Cruel", and "How Sweet It Is". LP, Vinyl record album

Solid soul from the amazing George Duke – a record with a fair bit more focus than some of his previous efforts for MPS, but still done with a free and righteous vibe overall! The album's one of the last before Duke moved into smoother soul territory for his US albums of the late 70s – and it's still got plenty of the best hallmarks of the MPS years – especially on the keyboards, which are always warm and mellow, used with a great sense of space and inherent rhythm. There's a bit more vocals than before, but they're fused in nicely with the instrumentation – and players in Duke's group include Airto on percussion, Emil Richards on marimba, and Ndugu Chancler on some very heavy drums! Vocals are by Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock, and Bonnie Bowdon Amaro – and titles include "Back To Where We Never Left", "I C'n Hear That", and "Liberated Fantasies", all of which are nice jazz funk numbers – plus "Don't Be Shy", "Seeing You", "Tzina", and "After The Love". LP, Vinyl record album