A never-issued gem from the UK scene at the end of the 60s – totally top-shelf work from that moment when earlier beat group energy was exploding into new modes of prog, psych, and hard rock! There's an organ at the core of most of these tunes – still with the lean tones of the previous generation, but taking off on longer runs – and the guitars are fuzzier and turned up more, and the group have this bolder energy that really pushes past any sort of American roots and influences – all at a level that makes the record a nascent masterpiece that should have become a classic! The group were slated as one of the next big stars on the NEMS label, and the notes have a full story of their short career – next to tracks that include "Time Keeper", "Venetian Glass", "Space Shanty", "Taxman", "Same Girl", "Pattern People", "Venetian Glass", "I'm In Love With A Girl Like You", and instrumental takes on some of the tunes too. CD

A gem of a record from the great Billy Butler – brother of better-known Jerry from the Chicago scene, and maybe best known for his northern soul work of the 60s – but a hell of a great artist here in a rare group soul date from the 70s! Billy's lead vocals are supported by the Infinity trio of Phyllis Knox, Errol Batts, and Larry Wade – who glide and soar wonderfully alongside Butler – with a style that's got all the best charms of group soul work from Philly or New Jersey at the time, but an approach that's maybe even deeper and more righteous too – with arrangements from Jerry Long, and tracks produced in both Memphis and Chicago. A record we love to death, and have treasured for years – with tracks that include "I'm So Hung Up On You", "Storm", "Free Yourself", "When Your Baby's Gone", and "You Can't Always Tell". CD

Kahil El'Zabar's working here with the Infinity Orchestra – a very large ensemble of musicians from the south of France – pulled together by Kahil for this special performance! A core trio of Americans is at the lead – El'Zabar on percussion, Ernest Dawkins on alto, and Joseph Bowie on trombone – but the larger group supports their work wonderfully with a full complement of saxes, trumpets, and trombones – and a huge amount of African percussion that creates a very earthy feel. There's a few vocal moments on the set too, as well as a slightly unfortunate use of turntable work too – and titles include "Soul To Groove", "Nu Art Claiming Earth", "Return Of The Lost Tribe", and "Speaking In Tongues". CD

A group who really live up to their name, as they have a way of reaching back in time and space with this very righteous vibe – blending the sorts of horns you might hear in Sun Ra's Arkestra with more majestic strings that might come from a Carlos Nino/Miguel Atwood Ferguson project – but all with a style that's got a lighter, more cosmic approach! There's strong use of harp on the albums at times, echoing a bit of Alice Coltrane – but the group definitely take off in all their own directions too, especially as they shift the focus on key instruments from track to track – in a lineup that includes flute, alto, oboe, tenor, bass clarinet, and baritone – next to light strings, piano, percussion, and bass. All the music was composed by Ozzy Moysey, and a few tracks feature a vocal group to help lift up the spirits of the tunes – equally cosmic and righteous, and a great addition to the sound of the set. If you've dug the Matthew Halsall recordings on the Gondwana label, you'll find plenty to love here – on titles that include "Rejoicing", "Niyama", "Equanimity", "Arc Of The Sun", "River Of Light", and "Pharoah Sings". CD

A set of varied moods and settings – yet one that really does a wonderful job of fleshing out the Sun Ra aesthetic during these crucial years when Ra dubbed himself the "King Of The Sub Underground"! That humorous title is a reference to the fact that Ra and the Arkestra were still working with largely little mainstream exposure – despite the big growth of avant jazz at the time – and were instead working on beautiful recordings like these, often made without any thought of a larger market at all! The CD brings together material from albums originally issued with Sub-Underground in the title – also under other names as well, including Temple U – and the tracks represent the Arkestra really hitting some of their creative heights in a mix of live, studio, and rehearsal recordings. Titles include the brilliant "World Of Africa", recorded in 1968, but with a chunky groove and weird piano that almost feel like a precursor to Fela Kuti; the sublime "Love Is Always" and "Song Of Drums", recorded live with a spare group in a beautifully echoey setting; surprisingly great takes on "What's New" and "Autumn In New York", played by a small group with Ra on a slightly off-tune upright piano; the long "Cosmo Earth Fantasy" suite, with some very fierce sounds; and a nice live take on "Space Is The Place/We Roam The Cosmos", which jumps right into the groove at the start – with a pretty offbeat feel, and lots of cool vocal interplay! CD

Lee Morgan on the hippest side of his 60s talents – working here in a style that's really stretching out, and in the same territory as similar unreleased gems from the time – like Tom Cat or Sonic Boom! The group here is very inventive – Jackie McLean on alto, Larry Willis on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – players who really represent the left side of Blue Note, but not as out as the "new thing" crowd – with a really creative approach to both the rhythms and the solos, commanded by Morgan's rich imagination at this point in his career. All tunes are great, and titles include "Zip Code", "Infinity", "Miss Nettie B", "Growing Pains", and McLean's fantastic "Portrait of a Doll". CD

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The John Coltrane sound stretching out to Infinity – beautifully collaborating core spiritual sounds recorded when The Great One was still alive, and later string passages done by Alice Coltrane in the early 70s! The initial tracks are very open and almost easygoing – not the full-on outside expressions of some other Coltrane unreleased sides from the time, but the more cosmic sound of Love Supreme – carried out by musicians that include Alice Coltrane on harp, piano, and organ – plus Pharoah Sanders on tenor, McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison and Charlie Haden on bass, Rashied Ali on percussion, and Elvin Jones on drums. The strings are surprisingly wonderful, too – kind of linking the Coltrane and post-Coltrane generations in ways that are really marvelous, and filled with the kind of majesty that Coltrane should have deserved while still on this planet! Titles include "Living Space", "Joy", "Leo", and "Peace On Earth". CD

Spiritual sounds from a group who just seem to get better and better with each release – a combo headed up by Lance Ferguson, who you'll know from previous funk projects, including work in The Bamboos – an artist who's turned out to be a surprisingly strong jazz leader as well! There's definitely some soulful currents of Lance's previous work mixed in with the music – including some female soul vocals that help the record soar at points, almost with a Roy Ayers righteousness, especially in the way the singers join together – and the rest of the ensemble features Fender Rhodes, tenor, soprano, trumpet, and some mighty nice percussion – on titles that include "Arrival", "Danieda's Dance", "Of", "Shores Of Infinity", "Kingdom", and "Earthrise". CD

Lee Morgan on the hippest side of his 60s talents – working here in a style that's really stretching out, and in the same territory as similar unreleased gems from the time – like Tom Cat or Sonic Boom! The group here is very inventive – Jackie McLean on alto, Larry Willis on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – players who really represent the left side of Blue Note, but not as out as the "new thing" crowd – with a really creative approach to both the rhythms and the solos, commanded by Morgan's rich imagination at this point in his career. All tunes are great, and titles include "Zip Code", "Infinity", "Miss Nettie B", "Growing Pains", and McLean's fantastic "Portrait of a Doll". CD

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Lee Morgan on the hippest side of his 60s talents – working here in a style that's really stretching out, and in the same territory as similar unreleased gems from the time – like Tom Cat or Sonic Boom! The group here is very inventive – Jackie McLean on alto, Larry Willis on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – players who really represent the left side of Blue Note, but not as out as the "new thing" crowd – with a really creative approach to both the rhythms and the solos, commanded by Morgan's rich imagination at this point in his career. All tunes are great, and titles include "Zip Code", "Infinity", "Miss Nettie B", "Growing Pains", and McLean's fantastic "Portrait of a Doll". CD

With Michael Brecker on tenor and guest percussion from Valtinho Anastacio. CD

Includes 22 tracks from the Electras, Cherios, Younghearts, Penny Rae, Betty Turner, Billy Storm, the Debs, Shad Prinder, and the Ring A Dings! CD

A stunning surprise from Andre 3000 – at least if you only know him as part of Outkast – and a record that finally gives us an audio document of the sounds that Andre has really been involved with in recent years – a beautiful blend of spiritual jazz with mellower currents, aided here by some members of the contemporary LA scene! There's a resonance here with some of the more laidback projects on the International Anthem label, and with the work of Carlos Nino – and no surprise, Nino is on board to deliver great production work throughout, and co-produced the album with Andre too. Andre delivers a lot of work on flute, as hinted at by the cover – and also serves up beautiful sounds on wind controller too – as the set moves between contributions from other artists who include Nate Mercereau on guitars, and Diego Gaeta and Surya Botofasina on keyboards – as well as guest vocals from Mia Doi Todd on two tracks, and shakuhachi from Shabaka Hutchings on one more. Titles include "That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther & Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn't Control", "Ninety Three Til Infinity & Beyonce", "Dreams Once Buried Beneath The Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens", "Ants To You Gods To Who", and "I Swear I Really Wanted To Make A Rap Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me". CD

A great Lee Morgan set – and one of his rarest! The album was recorded in 1967, but unissued until 1998, when Blue Note unveiled the material as part of its "standards" series that featured label players performing material not of their own composition. Unlike the other records in the series, though, this set by Morgan is not filled with snoozy evergreens, and instead features some excellent reworkings of 60's pop tracks and a few traditional numbers. The group's a septet, with instrumentation that hearkens to other Morgan sessions from the time – like Infinity or Sixth Sense – and players include Wayne Shorter, James Spaulding, and Herbie Hancock. Duke Pearson did the arrangements, and titles include "If I Were A Carpenter", "A Lot Of Livin To Do", and "This Is The Life". CD

Mindblowing music from Sun Ra & The Arkestra – sounds recorded during the same marathon session that gave the world the records Other Planes Of There, When Sun Comes Out, and When Angels Speak Of Love – but titles that are much more obscure overall! The initial release of the material featured very misleading notes, but the true details of the session are even more impressive – as Ra plays a variety of unusual instruments alongside piano – including the piano strings, space organ, and clavioline – alongside some sublime straight horn work from John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on alto and oboe, Pat Patrick on baritone, Danny Davis on alto and clarinet, Walter Miller on trumpet, Robert Cummings on bass clarinet, and Ali Hasaan on trombone! The lineup here has that raw power the Arkestra first unleashed after their initial move to New York – almost a sense of new freedom in the new environment – even at a time when they weren't clicking on a financial level, but still continued to push forward with new ideas in music! Some passages have this great approach that links the cosmic ideas of the Arkestra with older traditions of jazz soloing – while others reflect the growing concern of the group with new textures and sounds – making for some very impressive elements on both the horns and percussion. The group is completed by Ronnie Boykins on bass, Art Jenkins on space voice and percussion, and Tommy Hunter on drums, percussion, and some mighty nice reverb – and titles include "Biosphere Blues", "Intergalactic Research", "Earth Primitive Earth", "New Planet", and "Continuation To Jupiter Festival". Beautiful 2CD reissue features sublime sounds from the original tapes, remastered – plus a full bonus CD of unreleased tracks that include "Blue York", "Conversation Of The Universe", "Red Planet Mars", "Cosmic Rays/Next Stop Mars", "The Myth", "Meteor Shower", "Infinity", "The Beginning Of", and "Endlessness". CD

One of Sun Ra's best non-Saturn live sets of the 70s – a nice little record that shows the group mixing it up with equal parts avant garde and straight ahead jazz, all handled in that ever-growing large group style that made them a real force to be reckoned with in a concert setting! The album was recorded during the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival, and has a bit more focus and polish than some of the other Arkestra live material from the time – a mature, coherent sound that almost points the way towards some of their work to come in the 80s – when Ra and the group were finally reaching the wider audience they deserved. The set's a double-length one, and features players who include John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen and Danny Davis on alto and flute, Pat Patrick on baritone, Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet, Craig Harris on trombone, and James Jackson on Ancient Egyptian Infinity drum – which is always a treat. Ra plays solar organ and moog, as well as piano – and titles include "Of The Other Tomorrow", "On Sound Infinity Spheres", "El Is The Sound Of Joy", "Gods Of The Thunder Realm", "Gods Of A Thunder Realm", "The House Of Eternal Being", and "Lights On a Satellite". CD

One of the greatest releases ever from the Okka Disk label – a legendary set that stands as a great testament to the global improvising scene that exploded in Chicago during the 90s! Back in the early years of FMP, nobody would have thought to use the name "Peter Brotzmann" and "Chicago" in the same context – but by the time of these recordings, the legendary reedman had been spending quite a bit of time in the Windy City – working strongly alongside that decade's fresh generation of improvisers, at a level that also helped Brotzmann discover new energy in his music too! The lineup here is great – both octet and tentet groups that operate in an improvising orchestra tradition – with players that include Ken Vandermark on tenor and bass clarinet, Mars Williams on tenor and alto, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Mats Gustafsson on baritone and fluteophone, Joe McPhee on pocket cornet and valve trombone, Fred Lonberg Holm on cello, Kent Kessler on bass, Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion, and Brotzmann himself on tenor, clarinet, and tarogato. The set features three different live recordings, and one long studio set recorded over two days – a fantastic collection of music. Titles include "Burning Spirit (For Kazuka Shiraishi)", "Other Brothers", "Old Bottles No Wine, "Aziz", "Foolish Infinity", "Immediate Music", "Makapoor", "Foolish Infinity", "Other Brothers" and "Divide By Zero". CD

The classic quartet of John Coltrane, certainly the classic quartet of the 60s jazz scene and perhaps the classic jazz quartet of all time, compiled in one box set with all of their studio recordings! John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones set so many benchmarks for jazz with their envelope pushing style, recording and performances that it's impossible to overstate their importance in the modern musical oeuvre. This set features all of the LPs Coltrane, Ballads, Impressions, Live At Birdland, Crescent, A Love Supreme, The John Coltrane Quartet Plays, Kulu Se Mama, Transition, Sunship, Infinity and First Meditations, plus a number of tracks issued on compilations. 66 tracks in all, spread out over 8 CDs, in a beautiful bookbound package with a metal slipcase and extensive liner notes. The titles are too numerous to list here, but the set includes "Big Nick", "Soul Eyes", "Miles' Mode", "Tunji", "After The rain", "Lonnie's Lament", "The Drum Thing", "Wise One", "Crescent", "A Love Supreme", "Nature Boy", "Brasilia", "Song Of Praise", "Dear Lord", "The Last Blues", "Living Space", "Dusk Dawn", "Dearly Beloved", "Attaining", "Ascent", "Amen", "Love", "Compassion", "Joy", "Consequences", and "Serenity". CD

Tracks include "Can I Get Open" by Original Flavor, "Lyrics To Go (Tumblin Dice remix)" by A Tribe Called Quest, "Best Kept Secret" by Diamond & The Psychotic Neurotics, "Hot Potato" by Freestyle Fellowship, "The Return Of The Crazy One" by Digital Underground, "Snake Eyes" by Main Source, "93 Til Infinity" by Souls Of Mischief, "Popcorn" by KMD, "Them That's Not" by J-Live, "One Of Those Days" by Schoolz Of Thought, and more. CD

One of the coolest rock concept albums ever – and arguably the crowning moment for Aphrodite's Child – an incredibly hip Greek group from the early 70s – featuring a young Demis Roussos on vocals, and Vangelis Papathanassiou on organ, piano, vibes, flute, and a lot of other instrumentation! Vangelis composed the whole set – as an extended piece based on the Apocalypse of St John – and the album was recorded in Paris, away from their native Greece – in a time of political unrest and cultural upheaval that's clearly referenced in the music! There's a really wide array of textures and moods on the set – from sinister to soft, freaky to peaceful, all laid out beautifully with a sense of poetry and power that few other groups could match! Irene Pappas performs a recitation, and also gives some sexy sounds on the classic "Infinity" – and other tunes include "The System", "Babylon", "Loud Loud Loud", "The Four Horsemen", "The Seventh Seal", "Aegian Sea", "The Marching Beast", "Capture Of The Beast", "Altamont", "Seven Trumpets", and "Hic Et Nunc". CD

High Pulp have some pretty heavy jazz guests this time around – a killer lineup that includes work from Jeff Parker, Kurt Rosenwinkel, James Brandon Lewis, and Brandee Younger – all musicians who definitely deepen the sound, while still letting the core combo bristle with all the funky edges of their previous work! The jazz soloists are working in a territory that's not strictly jazz – more the post-styles of labels like Brownswood or International Anthem – but also given a different sort of spin in the manner we've come to expect from High Pulp. Titles include "Dirtmouth", "Never In My Short Sweet Life", "Robert Pollard", "Solanin", "Unified Dakotas", "Fatigue", and "Bad Infinity". CD

Wonderful trio material from guitarist Jeff Parker – a lean, clear demonstration of his fantastic command of the instrument – in ways that are very different than the larger sonic palette of some of his other recent albums! In truth, the session is a three-pointed star, not just Parker's own – as it features some perfect work on drums from Nasheet Waits, whose sense of space and open touch on the kit really fits the mode here – as does the bass of Eric Revis, who's maybe the most subtle force on the record, but a tremendously powerful one too. Parker's guitar is illuminated with amazing color and tone throughout – and titles include "Between Nothingness & Infinity", "Similar Limits", "Drunkard's Lullaby", "That Eastside Romp", "Room For VG", and "Watusi". CD

Sun Ra left the planet a few decades ago, but his Arkestra has been going strong – really carrying the torch that the great one kept burning – and stepping out here in their first studio album in 20 years! The record is really something special – that core Sun Ra spirit, but taken in righteous territory that shows just how much the group has evolved in his absence – still with alto saxophonist Marshall Allen as the leader, but a combination of classic Arkestra members and younger musicians who have really helped continue that legacy of mentorship and spiritual exploration that was always the greater mission of the ensemble. The production is great – never too commercial, and handled brilliantly to capture the spirit of the group at their most expressive – with a lineup that also features Knoel Scott on alto, James Stewart on tenor and flute, Michael Ray and Cecil Brooks on trumpets, Vincent Chancey on French horn, Farid Barron on piano, Dave Hotep on guitar, Akatunde and Elso Nascimento on percussion, and Tara Middleton on vocals and violin. Titles include "Sea Of Darkness/Darkness", "Swirling", "Seductive Fantasy", "Sunology", "Door Of The Cosmos/Shy", "Satellites Are Spinning/Lights On A Satellite", "Infinity/I'll Wait For You", and "Angels & Demons At Play". CD

A record that seems to bristle with color and life throughout – a surprisingly strong pairing of the tenor of Jim Snidero and the guitar of Kurt Rosenwinkel – the latter of whom seems to have a bit more bite than usual, but also seems to infect Snidero's horn with his innate sense of color! The rest of the lineup is equally great – a superb core trio with Orrin Evans on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Joe Farnsworth on drums – and the blend of Farnsworth and Evans seems to bring in a new freshness to each of them as well. Titles include "Obsession", "Pat", "Nowhere To Hide", "Little Falls", "Search For Peace", "Infinity", and "Far Away". CD