A great later date from CTI – proof that the label still had its magic going on well into the 80s! The session's a larger group effort headed up by Don Sebesky, and featuring key solos by Chet Baker, Jim Hall, and Hubert Laws – all of whom get plenty of room to do their thing on the album's longer tracks! Other players include Kenny Barron, Jack Wilkins, Jorge Dalto, George Mraz, and Steve Gadd – plus bit of added percussion – and although the group is large, the overall sound is relatively lean – spacious and airy, in keeping with Baker's best moments on records like these, and always sensitive enough to let Hall's gentle work on the strings of his guitar shine through nicely! Titles include "Malaguena", "Django", "Swan Lake", and "All Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful guitar/trombone session that features Jim Hall, Jimy Raney, and Brookmeyer – with titles that include "Arrowhead", "Street Swingers", "Hot Buttered Noodling", "Musicale Du Jour", and "Jupiter". LP, Vinyl record album

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A beautiful mixing of modes – Jim Capaldi's Traffic-bred, London-styled vocals, and the sweet southern soul grooves of Muscle Shoals – all wrapped together with a sound that's even tighter than Capaldi's debut album! Jim's a big edgier here overall – both in the way he delivers the vocals, and in the lyrics of the tunes – and his singing's underscored perfectly by help from Jimmy Johnson on guitar, Barry Beckett on piano and organ, David Hood on bass, and Roger Hawkins on drums – all of whom create the right sort of warm Muscle Shoals vibe to make Capaldi's music sound wonderfully soulful. Steve Winwood plays a bit of guest organ on the set, and may well help with backing vocals – and titles include the funky "Low Rider" (different than the War tune) – plus "We'll Meet Again", "Summer Is Fading", "My Brother", "It's Alright", and "Yellow Sun". LP, Vinyl record album

A completely mesmerizing performance from these three avant giants – all working in longform territory that owes a lot to Tony Conrad's sense of sound – but at a level that really draws plenty from the contributions of all three players! Jim O'Rourke handles harmonium, cranking the instrument at a constant level to create these beautiful tones – next to some sharper lines from Arnold Dreyblatt on equally drone-like violin – matched with these long bowed sonic passages from Conrad on cello. The album features a full 41 minute performance, recorded at Tonic in New York – split over both sides of the record. LP, Vinyl record album

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With Anthony Davis on piano, James Newton on flute, Rick Rozie on bass, George Lewis on trombone, and Pheeroan AkLaff on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

A nice spare set from reedman Buddy DeFranco – with only the guitar of Jim Gillis for accompaniment! LP, Vinyl record album

Paul Desmond doesn't get any better than this – blowing his icy cool alto next to warm guitar lines from the mighty Jim Hall – a classic RCA Records pairing in jazz, heard to great effect on this classic album! There's a slight bossa groove to some of the rhythms, which is great for Desmond's sound – and the backing is also free of piano, so the guitar and alto hang together wonderfully by themselves – suspended in space, dipping and turning around each other beautifully! The pair get some very light rhythmic accompaniment from Connie Kay on drums, and either Percy Heath or Gene Wright on bass – on titles that include "That Old Feeling", "Easy Living", "Blues For Fun", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", and "When Joanna Loved Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary set from the team of guitarist Jim Hall and pianist Bill Evans – both already wonderful players on their own, but really hitting a magical sort of space here together! The record is a classic in understatement – the inevitable meeting of two players who'd both made a career out of saying more with less – and both Evans and Hall manage to make this special sort of sound when working together in such a space – spare, but never short on ideas – filled with color and tone, but never overdone. The tracks are long and dreamy, and the piano/guitar lines seem to float in the air, suspended on naught but idea and imagination. Titles include a very nice version of "Skating In Central Park", plus "Dream Gypsy", "Romain", and "Darn That Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary set from the team of guitarist Jim Hall and pianist Bill Evans – both already wonderful players on their own, but really hitting a magical sort of space here together! The record is a classic in understatement – the inevitable meeting of two players who'd both made a career out of saying more with less – and both Evans and Hall manage to make this special sort of sound when working together in such a space – spare, but never short on ideas – filled with color and tone, but never overdone. The tracks are long and dreamy, and the piano/guitar lines seem to float in the air, suspended on naught but idea and imagination. Titles include a very nice version of "Skating In Central Park", plus "Dream Gypsy", "Romain", and "Darn That Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary set from the team of guitarist Jim Hall and pianist Bill Evans – both already wonderful players on their own, but really hitting a magical sort of space here together! The record is a classic in understatement – the inevitable meeting of two players who'd both made a career out of saying more with less – and both Evans and Hall manage to make this special sort of sound when working together in such a space – spare, but never short on ideas – filled with color and tone, but never overdone. The tracks are long and dreamy, and the piano/guitar lines seem to float in the air, suspended on naught but idea and imagination. Titles include a very nice version of "Skating In Central Park", plus "Dream Gypsy", "Romain", and "Darn That Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet and subtle genius from two of the most understated players in jazz – a really great little record that makes the best of the CTI sound without tricking up the players too much! Art Farmer and Jim Hall play in a quintet with vibes by Mike Mainieri – in a style that eschews the electric funk of other CTI records, but has a similar sense of space, sound, and rhythm overall – proof that the label's groundbreaking approach didn't always have to be electrified! Tracks are quite long, and the two leaders effortlessly craft notes that magically hang in space with an airily soulful feel. Titles include wonderfully reworked versions of "Whisper Not", "A Child Is Born", and "Pavane For A Dead Princess". LP, Vinyl record album

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With Don Thompson on piano and bass, Terry Clarke on drums, and Rufus Reid on bass. LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliantly bold work from pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi – an artist who's really coming into her own for the 70s – stepping out in a big band format that would win her a wide new audience on both sides of the Pacific! The album's one of the first to feature the ensemble co-led with husband Lew Tabackin – a group that features strong work from American players who include Dick Spencer and Gary Foster on alto saxes, Tabackin and Tom Peterson on tenor, Bill Perkins on baritone, Bobby Shew and Don Rader on trumpets, and Charles Loper and Jim Sawyer on trombones. The horns are only part of the picture, though – as the inventive writing and arranging from Akiyoshi is what really makes the album great – a strong sense of painting with sound, while still keeping things swinging – really unlocking all the best elements that had been opened up for larger ensembles in the previous few years. The set features all original tracks that include "Kogun", "American Ballad", "Henpecked Old Man", "Elegy", and "Memory". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most sensitive 70s albums from guitarist Jan Akkerman – a set recorded with larger backings from Claus Ogerman, who really helps Jan find a newly mellow side of his sound! Gone are some of the too-jamming, rock-inspired modes of Akkerman's other records – and in their place are open, flowing lines on guitar – played with a sensitivity that reminds us a bit of some of Jim Hall's more ambitious albums of the same period – although even a bit more classically-oriented overall. Ogerman's arrangements are wonderful – full and lush, but never too sleepy – and titles include "Nightwings", "Modinha", "Espanoleta", "Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte", "Love Remembered", and "The Seed Of God". LP, Vinyl record album

Raw early work from the great Luther Allison – with the man himself on guitar and vocals, plus a bit of extra guitar from Jimmy Dawkins – and tenor on two tracks from Jim Conley too! LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet symphony of groove – featuring one long track on each side of the record – both composed and produced by arranger Ray Martinez, and mixed to perfection by the mighty Jim Burgess! Side one features "If There's Love" – a swirling batch of strings that soar alongside fast-stepping piano lines that really give the song some warmth right at the start – a bouncing disco groove that's mostly got an instrumental propulsion, but which features chorus vocals from Richard Norega and Martha Roque. Side two features the even better "Hazy Shade Of Love" – which has lots of great electronics that give the tune a cool moogy feel at points – kind of a space between P&P and TK records, with maybe some Rinder & Lewis touches! LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from guitarist Oren Ambarchi – a little more expansive than his preceding effort on Drag City, thanks to larger group and a wider range of instrumentation, while building on what loved about it! The style is tough to pin down in the best kind of way, with strains of improvisational jazz and hypnotic minimalism, but a unique melodic drive that's as compelling as it is tough to cleanly categorize. Collaborators this time include returning Swedish jazz bassist Johan Berthling, drummer Joe Talia, a second guitarist in Julia Reidy, Sam Dunscombe on bass clarinet – and for extra otherworldly, yet melodic atmosphere is some synth by Jim O'Rourke and pedal steel by BJ Cole on a couple of tracks. The whole Shebang is a 4 part set – each track running long, to give it a nice amount of space to build up, settle down, and flow into the next – and numbered 1 to 4. LP, Vinyl record album

Like some of the other issues on Trip, this set brings together some great sides that sort of fell between the cracks in an artist's career. These nice rarer sides by Gene Ammons seem to be recorded by Jug during the early 60's, when he was jumping around his contractual agreements with a number of labels, and recording sessions for just about everybody. The first LP features Jug in the studio with Howard McGhee (the set was briefly issued under his name, on Argo) and a guitarist we're pretty certain is Jake Fisher (from other issues of this material), for a cool laidback soul jazz session that's probably one of Jug's most open-ended from the time. The tracks are all long, with a lot of room for solo space, and a round mellow tone. Titles include "Housewarmin", "Nothin' But Soul", "Jivin Around" and "Jug & McGhee". The second set's a hard-hitting blowing session, cut very much in the mode of Gene's late 50s sides for Prestige – and with a very accomplished group of soul jazzers that includes Nat Adderley, Frank Foster, Bennie Green, and Frank Wess. The groove has a nice raw late night sound – and tracks are pretty long and open-ended. Titles include "Litty Ditty", "Sermonette", "Juggin Around", and "Jim Dog". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice collection of Gene Ammons' work that doesn't always get as well remembered as his sides for Prestige or Chess – a 1947 bop session for Savoy with Howard McGhee on trumpet, Leo Parker on baritone, Junior Mance on piano, Gene Wright on bass, and Chuck Williams on drums; and early 50s sesssions with Johnny Coles on trumpet, Lino Murray on trombone, Mack Easton on tenor and baritone, John Houston on piano, Ben Stuberville on bass, and George Brown on drums; done in a wonderfully full-voiced tone! The set features Gene's classic "Red Top", plus the great two part "Big Slam", and the titles "Chips", "Goodtime Blues", "Fuzzy", "Jim Dawgs", and "Street Of Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

Late great work from Ammons – an album done at the time of his funk sides for Prestige, but recorded in the style of his earlier years in Chicago! The session's a laidback set of soulful solo-heavy work – recorded as part of a hip series of shows at the North Park Hotel, with a local rhythm trio that includes Jodie Christian on piano, Cleveland Eaton on bass, and Marshall Thompson on drums. James Moody joins Ammons in the frontline, and the set's got the best electric feel that you'd hear if you were lucky enough to catch either player in a small club date in the early 60s. Loads of very imaginative solo work in the best Chicago tenor tradition – with titles that include "Work Song", "Jim Jam Jug", "Have You Met Miss Jones", and "C Jam Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Percussionist Andrea Centazzo really rises to the occasion here – as one might when meeting with the legendary Derek Bailey at a time when he was really at the height of his powers! Bailey works on both acoustic and electric guitars here – and has a way of creating all these amazing sounds and moments on his instruments – that famous style of improvisation he first unleased on the world at the end of the 60s, honed during the early part of the 70s, and which is in full bloom here! Centazzo is nicely respectful, and really finds a way to match the best of Bailey's impulses – playing a range of percussion instruments big and small. Titles include "Drop Three", "Tutti Cantabile", "Recapitulation Reiteration & Rabbits", "How Long Has This Been Going On", "Jim Never Seems To Send Me Pretty Flowers", and "Drop Two". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual later Chet Baker album – one of those overlooked gems from the years when he was maybe a bit more wayward, but also taking some really unusual chances with his music! Chet plays trumpet and sings a bit here – but some of the key contributions come from the European group who really help shape the record – a lineup that includes Jean Paul Florens on guitar, Henry Florens on piano, Jim Richardson on bass, and Tony Mann on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

A lost classic in the funky poetry mode of the 70s – and right up there with the best work from the time by the Last Poets, Jim Ingram, or Gil Scott Heron! Bama's got a rough-edged voice that works very well with the funkier backings of the set – handled by a team that includes Bernard Purdie on drums, Richard Tee on keyboards, and Cornell Dupree on guitar – and this rough vocal style also fits the themes of the tunes, which are still as political and righteous as other work in the genre, but a bit more down to earth as well. The music itself was arranged and composed by Jimmy Wizner and Billy Jackson – and titles include "Ghettos Of The Mind", "The Right To Be Wrong", "Nothingness", "Drunken Sister", "I Got Soul", "Welfare Slave", "Social Narcotics", and "Blackman, My Brother". LP, Vinyl record album

Duke Ellington's drummer from the 50's leads a thunderous octet that includes Harry Edison on trumpet, Sam Most on alto, and Jim Cook on tenor. Bellson's drums are out front, and he kicks the group nice and hard through tracks like "Thunderbird", "Nails", "No More Blues", and "Back On The Scene". Like Bellson's recordings from the 50's, this one sparkles with tightness and a good sense of play between the musicians. LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection of Maybelle's big early hits for Savoy – all featuring backings directed by Ernie Wilkins, with a nice jazzy undercurrent. Maybelle's got a robust voice that was one of the first key attempts to bridge gospel, R&B, and jazz – and the album features 10 tracks that include "Rock House", "I Don't Want To Cry", "Jim", "All Of Me", and "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie". LP, Vinyl record album

There's a nicely narrative photo on the cover, and Antoine Bourachot seems to follow up that inspiration with some cinematic-styled jazz funk throughout – on a record that's even got a set of song titles that conjure up an imagined story as well! A few tracks here have vocals that bring a nice current of soul to the music – fleshing things out with contributions on three different tracks from Jim Grandcamp, Giacomo Lecchi D'Alessandro, and Irfane – who each have their own soulful shapes next to the overall vibe of the music, which is nicely unified, and heavy on warm keyboards, guitar lines, and larger arrangements. Shoko Igarashi plays soprano sax and flute on the record – and titles include "Resolution", "Action", "Miracle", "Fortune", "Bullet", and "Serenade". LP, Vinyl record album

With Jim McNeely on piano, John Lockwood on bass, and David Calarco on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

A great modern moment from trombone genius Bob Brookmeyer – and hardly the traditional album you might expect from the title – as Bob blows both valve trombone and plays piano, in a really cool combo with Jim Hall on guitar, and the great Jimmy Giuffre on baritone, tenor, and clarinet! The mix of the two horns and guitar is completely sublime – with all the sense of tone and spacing that Bob and Jimmy were bringing to their other late 50s work – and the tracks are longer extrapolations on familiar themes, but taken into fresh territory with the help of Dave Bailey on drums, and either Joe Benjamin or Ralph Pena on bass. Titles include "Truckin", "Some Sweet Day", "Jada", and "Louisiana". LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked gem from Bob Brookmeyer – and a set that fits in strongly with the other Verve Records bossa nova albums of the 60s! Bob's the center star on valve trombone, but the record's awash in work from other great Verve talents too – a tight small group that features Gary McFarland on vibes, Jim Hall and Jimmy Raney on guitars, and Willie Bobo on drums – alongside some added percussion that really helps keep the bossa spirit strong! Tunes have that spare, soulful crackle that you'd find in the Stan Getz bossa sessions for Verve – except that trombone is the lead solo instrument here – and titles include "A Felicidade", "Col Bogey Bossa Nova", "Blues Bossa Nova", "Qual E O Po", "Chara Tu Tristeza", and "Samba De Orfeu". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hardest to find sessions by this obscure LA organ player, and a set of grooves that well earns the name "burnin". The group's a quartet with Jim Hall on guitar, Jimmy Bond on bass, and Jimmy Miller on drums. Tracks include "Churchin", "Blues At The Summit", "Still Searchin", and "Burnin". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that's way more than just "again" – that is, a recap of the first Buffalo Springfield classic – as the set not only has the group really exploding forward, but also the individual members taking these strong steps on their own that really point towards their big legacies to follow! Neil Young grabs us with darkness on the first tune, Richie Furay warms us with some country strains on the next, and Stephen Stills moves into a space that's very much his own on the next – yet throughout it all, the record has this sense of unity that really holds up over the years – giving us depth that makes the whole thing an amazing listen time and time again. There's some key help along the way – a bit of piano from Don Randi, electric piano from Jack Nitzsche, and even some recording help from Jim Messina – all furthering the warmth of the group's approach. Titles include "Mr Soul", "Sad Memory", "Hung Upside Down", "Good Time Boy", "Rock & Roll Woman", "Broken Arrow", "A Child's Claim To Fame", and "Expecting To Fly". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal collection of work from Buffalo Springfield – a group with a short-lived existence on the LA scene, but an impact that shaped the sound of mainstream rock for many years to come! That effect is no surprise – given that the lineup features a young Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and Richie Furay – moving from folk influences into trippier, headier territory – and paving the way for both classic and country rock to come! Here at the start, things are nice and lean – well-penned tunes that pack a heck of a lot into a very short space – given key production help from Jack Nitzsche, Brian Stone, Jim Messina, and even Neil Young himself. Titles include "For What It's Worth", "Mr Soul", "Broken Arrow", "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Win", "Expecting To Fly", "Go & Say Goodbye", "On The Way Home", "Sit Down I Think I Love You", and "Kind Woman". LP, Vinyl record album