... 12-inch, Vinyl record

The sound of the future! An early Arthur Baker electro classic for you to pop and lock to your heart's content to. 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Totally excellent – and probably the best of the Planet Of The Apes soundtracks! The record features lots of snippets of dialogue from the film – including Cornelius telling the creed of the fate of man, General Ursus addressing Ape City, and the chilling Mass Of The Holy Bomb. The main score has some great work by Leonard Roseman, in kind of an off-kilter style with lots of atonal string passages – but it also features a few tasty funky cuts. The best of these is the "March Of The Apes", a great little funky 70s soundtrack number, and there's also a weird funky passage at the end of the "mass", with voices chanting in a hippy dippy kind of way! A great relic of a wild weird film, and one we don't see often! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A rare oddity – and a surprisingly nice record! Sarah Vaughan sings the words of Pope John Paul II – but set to groovy arrangements by Francy Boland, conducted by Lalo Schifrin! This trio of secular talents helps make the album much nicer than you'd expect – an unusual later project from Gigi Campi! LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to believe that the German Infracom label has been around for 30 years – maybe because the label was so future-thinking at the start, they helped set the tone for so much music to come! And if you're not hip to Infracom, the collection's a chance to dig the label in all its glory – as the set is filled with cosmic soul and jazzy club tracks that still stand as some of the hippest work to come from overseas in the past few decades – music that we've dug for years at Dusty Groove, served up in a package that really does justice to the label's legacy! Titles include "Freedom" by Gabriele Poso, "Hot Pot" by Mop Mop, "Who's Sorry Now" by Nekta, "Smoke & Regret" by Rime, "The Accessory" by Taxi, "Driver (Joash rmx)" by Matthias Vogt Trio, "Herbie's Delight" by Valique, "Love Is A State Of Mind" by Jhelisa, "Celebration Of Life" by Woodland Conclave, "You Can Dig" by Metropolitan Jazz Affair, "Tears" by Re:Jazz, "Calling" by Aromabar, "La Seule Fleur Dans Le Jardin" by Kosma, and "Something's Missing" by Dublex. LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to believe that the German Infracom label has been around for 30 years – maybe because the label was so future-thinking at the start, they helped set the tone for so much music to come! And if you're not hip to Infracom, the collection's a chance to dig the label in all its glory – as the set is filled with cosmic soul and jazzy club tracks that still stand as some of the hippest work to come from overseas in the past few decades – music that we've dug for years at Dusty Groove, served up in a package that really does justice to the label's legacy! Titles include "Freedom" by Gabriele Poso, "Hot Pot" by Mop Mop, "Who's Sorry Now" by Nekta, "Smoke & Regret" by Rime, "The Accessory" by Taxi, "Driver (Joash rmx)" by Matthias Vogt Trio, "Herbie's Delight" by Valique, "Love Is A State Of Mind" by Jhelisa, "Celebration Of Life" by Woodland Conclave, "You Can Dig" by Metropolitan Jazz Affair, "Tears" by Re:Jazz, "Calling" by Aromabar, "La Seule Fleur Dans Le Jardin" by Kosma, and "Something's Missing" by Dublex. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest recordings ever made by John Coltrane in his later years – a record that has him stepping off into really new territory that would have really been something, had he stayed on the planet long enough to make more recordings like this! The vibe is very experimental – almost predating loft jazz work to come in the 70s – as Coltrane works here just alongside the drums of Rashied Ali – a fantastic match for his mighty talents, as the pair work together with a whole new extrapolation of the spiritual territory that had been unlocked on more famous records of the time. The material didn't come out until years after Coltrane's death – at a time when others were already recording this way – but the set maybe blows away some of the best material of this nature from the 70s. Titles include "Mars", "Venus", "Jupiter", and "Saturn". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of the greatest jazz albums of all time – a real breakthrough moment for the legendary John Coltrane, and the blueprint for generations of jazz records to come! Trane was already breaking down plenty of boundaries before Love Supreme – but he knocked it out of the park for the album – which is a full-length suite of spiritual expression, one that gives even greater focus and message to Coltrane's long-spiralling style of soloing on the tenor sax! The group here is the classic quartet – McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – taking Trane up to the heavens on waves of modal energy, but also holding his spirit closer to the planet than on some of later, more outside performances. There's a slight bit of vocalization on the record – that chanted energy that imbues the set with so much love – and movements include "Acknowledgement", "Resolution", "Pursuance", and "Psalm". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of the greatest jazz albums of all time – a real breakthrough moment for the legendary John Coltrane, and the blueprint for generations of jazz records to come! Trane was already breaking down plenty of boundaries before Love Supreme – but he knocked it out of the park for the album – which is a full-length suite of spiritual expression, one that gives even greater focus and message to Coltrane's long-spiraling style of soloing on the tenor sax! The group here is the classic quartet – McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – taking Trane up to the heavens on waves of modal energy, but also holding his spirit closer to the planet than on some of later, more outside performances. There's a slight bit of vocalization on the record – that chanted energy that imbues the set with so much love – and movements include "Acknowledgement", "Resolution", "Pursuance", and "Psalm". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of the greatest jazz albums of all time – a real breakthrough moment for the legendary John Coltrane, and the blueprint for generations of jazz records to come! Trane was already breaking down plenty of boundaries before Love Supreme – but he knocked it out of the park for the album – which is a full-length suite of spiritual expression, one that gives even greater focus and message to Coltrane's long-spiralling style of soloing on the tenor sax! The group here is the classic quartet – McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – taking Trane up to the heavens on waves of modal energy, but also holding his spirit closer to the planet than on some of later, more outside performances. There's a slight bit of vocalization on the record – that chanted energy that imbues the set with so much love – and movements include "Acknowledgement", "Resolution", "Pursuance", and "Psalm". LP, Vinyl record album

Soul legend Sam Cooke left our planet all too soon – but during his short time in the business, and during the height of his fame, he managed to start his own record company too – a really groundbreaking imprint that issued some great singles of his own, and helped to showcase a small group of well-chosen artists that Cooke really got behind! The date range here is a bit longer than the actual recording history of SAR – as Sam died in 1964, and was overseeing most of the artistic and creative direction of the label – along with help from partner JW Alexander – and the material here showcases both sides of Cooke's legacy, both secular and spiritual – with a focus on some great soul singers and groups, and a bit of gospel music too. The collection is nicely tight – not as wide-ranging as bigger label compilations, in part because of the elite group of artists who recorded for SAR – which makes for a sharp lineup of tracks, from artists who include Johnnie Taylor, The Valentinos, The Womack Brothers, Soul Stirrers, The Simms Twins, Billy Preston, Johnnie Morisette, RH Harris & His Gospel Paraders, and Sam Cooke himself! LP, Vinyl record album

A Krautrock classic from start to finish – and very much the sort of music from the early 70s German scene that had a huge impact on music well into the 21st Century! The songs here are maybe a bit shorter than on some of the contemporary albums from the scene, but no less experimental overall – mixing conventional instrumentation with wild production and effects – so that sounds from players like Harald Grosskopf on drums, Manuel Gottsching on guitars, and Klaus Schulze on keyboards all end up sounding much wilder than you might expect! Dieter Dierks serves a key role as the "magier em mischpult" – helping weave the amazing sounds throughout in his legendary studio – on titles that include "Elektronenzirkus", "Intergalactic Radio Guri Broadcasting", "Der Planet Des Sternemadchens", "Planet of Communication", "Der Narr Im All", and "Intergalactic Nightclub". LP, Vinyl record album

MF Doom left our planet all too soon, and he left behind a great legacy of music, too – including a previous collaboration with the Czarface collective, nicely matched by this posthumous set! The balance here is great, and the set brings the metal man of mystery into great play with his collaborators and guests who include DMC, Kendra Morris, and Del The Funky Homosapien – all coming together on an album that's every bit as fun as the first time around, and maybe even more essential, given that we're not going to hear that much more from the unissued archives of MF Doom. Titles include "This Is Canon Now", "So Strange", "Young World", "Mando Calrissian", "Doom Unto Others", "The King & Eye", and "Czarwyn's Theory Of People Getting Loose". LP, Vinyl record album

From hipster comedian to schlocky roles in The Planet of The Apes, Severn Darden was one of the 60s more enigmatic performers. This early album has him doing intellectual standup and skits with the help of the Second City cast – including Alan Arkin, Paul Sand, and Barbara Harris. The stuff's a bit dated, but it has that nice pre-hippy early 60s intellectual camp sort of twist. LP, Vinyl record album

Angel Bat Dawid is a completely mesmerizing artist on record, but she's even more mindblowing in a live setting – where she seems to channel the energy of the skies and the planet into her music – brimming over with righteous energy that guides the rest of the group with a hell of a lot of power! Angel plays clarinet, keyboards, and sings throughout – effortlessly shifting between those elements in a group that includes tenor, keyboards, electronics, bass, and lots of drums and percussion – bursting out with an effortless blend of larger conception and improvisation – at a level that may well have Dawid emerging as one of the few folks from Chicago that could ever hope to match the legacy of Sun Ra! That's not saying that Angel is anything like Ra at all – but in a similar way, she immediately comes across as a true visionary, a deeply spiritual talent, and an artist who's following a path that's completely her own. Features material recorded live in Chicago and Berlin – and titles include "Capetown", "Black Family", "What Shall I Tell My Children Who Are Black", "The Wicked Shall Not Prevail", "Melo Deez From Heab'N", "VIKTORious Return", and "Enlightenment". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautifully meditative music from Alabaster DePlume – a set that brings together work from a variety of recorded projects from the past decade or so – finally getting full exposure in this Transatlantic collaboration between Chicago's International Anthem label and London's Total Refreshment Centre! The sound is a great illustration of the genre-crossing modes that have been going on in both scenes – as Alabaster's music is definitely beyond easy description or definition, and comes across in a way that's as personal as it is collaborative – since DePlume works with a whole host of different musicians on the recordings, mixing flute, percussion, strings, keyboards, and other elements together in a way that follows a spiritual legacy from the more spacey side of Alice Coltrane, to the west coast experiments of Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, to the changes taking place on the planet at present. Alabaster plays tenor and guitar, and vocalizes slightly – but never really sings – and titles include "Why Buzzardman Why", "Not My Ask", "Whisky Story Time", "If You're Sure You Want To", "What's Missing", and "Song Of The Foundling". LP, Vinyl record album

More of an EP than and LP, since the tracks are pretty short, and there's only 6 of them: "Freedom Of Choice Theme Song", "Whip It", "Girl U Want", "Gates Of Steel", "Be Stiff" and "Planet Earth". This was only available for a brief period of time, more or less a limited edition release. LP, Vinyl record album

Ernesto Djedje left the planet at a very young age – but thanks to recordings like this, he really left his mark on the music scene in the Ivory Coast – and the larger world of West African music as well! There's a special blend of traditional sounds and contemporary elements going on here – a hybrid that Djedje clearly picked up while working in the French scene earlier in his career, before returning home to make some really amazing records like this! Tracks have a pulsating groove throughout – more a flow directed by the guitar and bass than the heavier sound of Afro Funk – and Djedje's vocals have a raspy charm that grabs you instantly, and which really work well beyond the boundary of language. Titles include "Zigilbithiens", "Golozo", "Bilwana", and "Nini". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of our favorite Doors records of all time – if only for the long Fender Rhodes solo by Ray Manzarek on the album's final track, "Riders On The Storm"! Yet the whole album is pretty darn great, too – the last to feature Jim Morrison, who would leave the planet shortly after the album was released! There's a looser, more mature feel to the whole record – still lots of the territory the group had explored on previous albums, but also maybe more relaxed in the studio – knowing when to go for a hook when needed, but also letting some of the tunes really find themselves too. Titles include the hits "Riders On The Storm", "LA Woman", and "Love Her Madly" – plus "The Changeling", "Been Down So Long", "Cars Hiss By My Window", "The WASP", "L'America", and "Hyacinth House". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of our favorite Doors records of all time – if only for the long Fender Rhodes solo by Ray Manzarek on the album's final track, "Riders On The Storm"! Yet the whole album is pretty darn great, too – the last to feature Jim Morrison, who would leave the planet shortly after the album was released! There's a looser, more mature feel to the whole record – still lots of the territory the group had explored on previous albums, but also maybe more relaxed in the studio – knowing when to go for a hook when needed, but also letting some of the tunes really find themselves too. Titles include the hits "Riders On The Storm", "LA Woman", and "Love Her Madly" – plus "The Changeling", "Been Down So Long", "Cars Hiss By My Window", "The WASP", "L'America", and "Hyacinth House". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Girls On Film", "Planet Earth", "Friends Of Mine", "Careless Memories", and "Is There Something I Should Know". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the lushest, most melodic material from Four Tet yet – straight up beautiful for the most part – and a pretty strong contender for his best to date! He's blending electronics and more natural sounds in ways that aren't out of character given his past work, but the title is wholly appropriate. Up to this point, he's so fully embraced creative evolution, it's gratifying to hear a Four Tet record in which he brings in bits of the styles he's worked on past efforts with a new energy and fresh life. It'll roll from almost beatless mixes of electronic atmosphere and natural sounds on one track, to beats-centric and spacey on the next, but it gels all the way through, all parts of a hypnotic whole. Includes "Alap", "Two Thousand Seventeen", "LA Trance", "Tremper", "Lush", "You Are Loved", "10 Midi", "Daughter", and "Planet". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Arthur Baker's shining moments – a poppy little tune, to be sure, but with a tight electro groove that's stood up a lot more than we would have thought at the time! Not strictly Hip Hop, but definitely an '80's breakin'/electro/dance classic (like the tracks on the Tommy Boy Perfect Beats compilations.) Anything from 1982 produced by Arthur Baker and mixed by Jellybean is bound to be dope and this one is no exception. With production and sung vocals similar to the Planet Patrol records from that time. Complete with an instrumental/dub version if you don't want the vocals. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Great work from a really overlooked group – one who have the skills of a prog act, but some of the sensitivity of a more folksy combo – which maybe is why they were such a perfect fit for the unusual sound of the Dawn label in the UK! These guys clearly have chops – the keyboard and guitar solos certainly testify to that – but they also space things out with some gentler, more personal moments – and here are also maybe a bit more hook-heavy than in the past, with a sense of almost crossing over with a few key cuts on the set. One of the catchiest numbers here is the great "Janet Planet", which has really cool production from Ian McDonald, who brings out all the best elements in the tune – and other titles include "Gormenghast", "Misty Morning Way", "Sheba's Song", "Mystery Might", and "Why". LP, Vinyl record album

Gang Starr at pretty close to peak level here on 1994's Hard To Earn – and rather than continue to ride the waves they made on the previous couple classic albums, Guru sharpens the lyrical tone just a bit – spitting some more incisive rhymes over apporpriately gritty soul jazz beats from Primo. Tracks include the classic "DWYCK" featuring Nice & Smooth – which is just about our favorite Gang Starr track ever, to be honest – plus "Speak Ya Clout" featuring Jeru and Lil Dap, "Mass Appeal", "Code Of The Streets", "Brainstorm", "Tonz O Gunz", "Suckas Need Bodyguards", "Blowin Up The Spot", "Mostly Tha Voice", "F.A.L.A.", "Now You're Mine", "Comin For Datazz", "Aiight Chill...", "The Planet", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic group from the British scene at mid 60s – music from a time when the UK world of jazz was exploding from the work of artists like Joe Harriott and Tubby Hayes, but also held some other tremendous talents as well! The group here has trumpeter Henry Lowther and tenorist Lyn Dobson at the core – and also features work from Jon Hiseman on drums, plus piano from Ken McCarthy and bass from Ron Rubin on the quintet tracks, and bass from a pre-Cream Jack Bruce on the quartet titles! Tracks are long, open, and filled with the kind of modern expression you might know from the group of Ian Carr and Don Rendell – often modal rhythms giving strong inspiration to freer solo flights – but always with a sense of soul that keeps things from ever sounding too outside to swing. The whole thing's wonderful – a near-lost slice from these crucial years – with titles that include "Snow", "Straight Away", "Celebrity Stomp", "Night & Day", "Red Planet", "Black & White Raga", and "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the trippiest work ever issued by New Zealand's Peter Gutteridge – music that's much more spare and spooky than his work with The Clean and The Chills – and which has a freaky fuzzy quality that's somewhere in a space between Suicide and Spacemen 3! The album was originally only issued on cassette, and has a sound that's perfect for that format – stark and somewhat distorted – with vocals that are nicely muddy, and slip right down in alongside the fuzzy guitar – sometimes joined by other voices, but always with a murky, muddy quality that's totally great – reflective of that excellent late 80s generation who embraced distortion, fuzz, and psych – but took the music to much deeper, darker territory than some of the cleaner bands from a few years before. Titles include "Lonely", "Hang On", "Ocean", "Cause Of You", "Rubout", "Planet Phrom", "Having Fun", "First Instrumental", "Exhibition 2", "Fifty Seven Seconds", and "Chinese Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

Sharp sounds from guitarist Jim Hall – a record that's filled with all the cool, complicated lines the musician could muster on his instrument – yet a record that also manages to swing a bit too! The sound here is a great evolution from the sound of Hall's music in the 50s – even more modern at most moments, with unique phrasing that shows just how much Jim continued to grow over the decades – delivered at a level that's very fresh, and without a debt to any other guitarist on the planet! Part of the album's unique feel comes from the large amount of original Hall compositions – interpreted by Jim with a trio that also features Don Thompson on piano and bass and Terry Clarke on drums – on titles that include "Kyoto Bells", "Echo", "Without Words", "Light", "Something For Now", and "Two Special People". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal jazz funk session of the 70s – Herbie Hancock's legendary meeting with The Headhunters, and a killer batch of tunes that really gave the combo their name! Herbie's playing a wide range of keys here – including Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and Arp – but almost even better is the work from the rest of the group – including Bennie Maupin on soprano and tenor sax, Paul Jackson on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion! The earthier elements of the rhythm players really keep Herbie on track – bringing him back to the planet from previous trips into space, and helping him hit an all-solid, all-righteous funky groove! Titles include a great remake of "Watermelon Man", the classic original recording of "Chameleon", and the cuts "Vein Melter" and "Sly" – all nice and long! LP, Vinyl record album

A mindblowing journey in sound – a dip into the archives of French composer Pierre Henry – the postwar master of electronics and musique concrete, and an artist who was still very active in the final years of his life! The material here was all either recorded or reworked in Henry's own studio during the last few years of his time on the planet – with some tracks that revisit important early compositions, but with a different sonic perspective – mixed with a few new pieces that really continue that wellspring of recording that Henry was doing from the mid 90s onward! There's a wonderful array of sonic elements throughout – plenty of electronics, compelling tape and analog sounds, and lots more that we're hard pressed to figure out – in the best tradition of Pierre's music. Titles include "Variance (remix de Variations)", "Rock Electronique/La Reine Verte", "Prologue/Messe Pour Le Temps Present", "Danse/Mouvement Rythme Etude", "Final/Utopia Hip Hop", "Tokyo 2002", "Machine Danse", and "Tunne De La Mort/Le Fil De La Vie". LP features bonus tracks "Metamorphose/Fragments Rituels", "Enchevetrements De Spirales/Tam Tam Du Merveilleux", and "Etincell Qui Relie Deux Nuits". LP, Vinyl record album

And who says Scientology isn't about good music? Ron serves up a set of original space jazz compositions on this one, with backing by Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Nicky Hopkins. Tracks are short, and titles include "The Banker", "Alien Visitors Attack", "Earth, My Beautiful Home", "The Drone", and "Funeral For A Planet". LP, Vinyl record album

A crucial album for Jamal – one in which he's really working in the "extensions" mode promised in the title! The tracks are all quite long – far longer than on his usual Argo sides, which is why there's only 4 in all on the whole album. The feel of the album is free and lively, a real extension from the groundbreaking mode of piano expression that Jamal had pioneered during the late 50s – and this added room allows him to spin out in more complicated lines that clearly would have a bit influence on 70s soul jazz and spiritual players. Includes a great track called "This Terrible Planet", which has shaken bells with the rhythm, plus "Extensions", "Dance To The Lady", and "Whisper Not". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful late life improvisations from Keith Jarrett – a concert from 2016 that shows that the format he unleashed in the 70s was still amazingly alive and well – yet also nicely matured a bit too! Instead of one album-length track, the set features a number of shorter passages, 13 in all – all still improvised by Jarrett with that instant creativity he can bring to the piano, but operating maybe more as a set of smaller poems than one epic work – really beautiful sounds that are masterpieces in subtle emotion – the kind of pianistic work that just about nobody else on the planet can do this well, especially after all the many years that Jarrett has had to perfect his craft! We're huge fans of the pianist in this format, and own just about every other album of solo improvisation he ever recorded – but take it from us, there's still something very unique and special about this set – a bittersweet farewell to one of the piano greats of our time. LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful Holiday set from Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – easily one of the coolest albums you'll ever hope to spin in December! The group really recreate the vibe of a classic Christmas soul album – like records from James Brown or Stevie Wonder – and do an excellent job of moving between funky numbers, deeper soul, and some righteous message cuts that remind us that the Holidays aren't always happy for everyone on the planet. And these guys also don't just hang out at Christmas – and instead touch on other December holidays too – in a sweet mix of cuts that features Sharon in the lead on many numbers, plus some great instrumentals from the Dap-Kings too. Titles include "8 Days", "Ain't No Christmas In The Projects", "Big Bulbs", "Funky Little Drummer Boy", "World Of Love", "Got Rest Ye Merry Gents", "Silent Night", "Just Another Christmas Song", and "Please Come Home For Christmas". LP, Vinyl record album

With guest spots by DJ Romes, Kombo, Wildchild, Planet Asia, Krondon, Phil Da Agony, Montage One, Rhettmatic and the Visionaries. 12-inch, Vinyl record

What can we say? This is one of the greatest albums of all time! The record's got a sound that's completely unique – as crack LA garage punk rock meets Hollywood baroque production, and the result is an amazing bit of loud guitar noise backed by strings and horns, all graced by the godlike vocals of the great Arthur Lee. Forever Changes is a milestone in rock – an incredibly bleak document about insanity, escape, and the coming revolution that never happened. Think of all the best moments of Wild In The Streets, Zabriske Point, and Invocation of My Demon Brother rolled into one – and you'll only have a tiny slice of the picture! A record that will haunt us until the day we die – filled with incredible songs like "Alone Again Or", "Old Man", "Daily Planet", "Red Telephone", and "Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark & Hilldale". LP, Vinyl record album

What can we say? This is one of the greatest albums of all time! The record's got a sound that's completely unique – as crack LA garage punk rock meets Hollywood baroque production, and the result is an amazing bit of loud guitar noise backed by strings and horns, all graced by the godlike vocals of the great Arthur Lee. Forever Changes is a milestone in rock – an incredibly bleak document about insanity, escape, and the coming revolution that never happened. Think of all the best moments of Wild In The Streets, Zabriske Point, and Invocation of My Demon Brother rolled into one – and you'll only have a tiny slice of the picture! A record that will haunt us until the day we die – filled with incredible songs like "Alone Again Or", "Old Man", "Daily Planet", "Red Telephone", and "Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark & Hilldale". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most evocative albums ever recorded by the enigmatic Lloyd Miller – a set created at Brigham Young University, in Utah – but filled with a mix of different styles from the other half of the planet! Miller plays a variety of stringed instruments and percussion – including some great xylophone, shamisen, tabla, and santur – and is joined by flutes and recorders, tar, ching, and vocals from two different female singers – both used sparingly, in ways that barely get in the way of the instrumentation! There's less jazz here than some of Miller's later projects – and the record's got a vibe that almost makes it feel like some classic Ocora recording of sounds from Japan, China, Viet Nam, India, and other points east. Titles include "Hakimi", "Co La", "Luu Thuy", "Sakura", "Karpagame", "Seh Gah", and "Amen Avci Vurma Beni". 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

Charles Mingus recorded many great concerts over the years – but this huge double-length collection may well be one of the most likely to earn the title of "great" – as the lineup is superb, and the music really captures Mingus at a time when he was setting a new fire in his sound! The time is the magical year of 1964 – and Mingus works here with a small group that features Eric Dolphy at a time right before he was to leave our planet all too soon – stretching out with the kind of incredible solos that Mingus allowed players in his group – showing some of the new spirituality that was coming into his sound at the time, emboldened by the leadership of the famous bassist. Dolphy blows flute, alto, and bass clarinet – alongside tremendous work from Clifford Jordan on tenor – springboarding here into the more spiritual currents of his albums to come – next to work from the great Jaki Byard on piano and Dannie Richmond on drums. All titles are very long, filled with majestic solos – and tracks include "Fables Of Faubus", "Parkerana", "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress Then Blue Silk", "ATFW", "Sophisticated Lady", and "Meditations On Integration". LP, Vinyl record album

Great recordings the important 1964 tour of Europe by bassist Charles Mingus – a key musical moment that not only saw some of the last recordings of Eric Dolphy before his departure from this planet, but which also introduced the overseas scene to some key up-and-coming talents who were in Mingus' tenure! The group here is a quintet, but plays with the fire of some of Charles' bigger ensembles from a few years before – and the setting has some especially open space for great solos from the reedmen – both Dolphy on alto, flute, and bass clarinet – plus Clifford Jordan on tenor. Dannie Richmond plays drums, and Jaki Byard is superb on piano – and titles on this second volume include "Charlemange", "At-Fw-You", "Sophisticated Lady", and "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress Then Blue Silk". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautifully lofty work from the great Wes Montgomery – a set that was recorded quite late in his too-short career, and really points the way towards some of the sophisticated sounds that might have followed, had Wes not left this planet all too soon! Don Sebesky is at the head of the charts this time around, and while the vibe echoes some of the other work that Montgomery did with larger backings in the period, there's also a nice current of darkness too – this intensity that can come through, even if the tune is a familiar pop number. The ensemble is filled with great players – Herbie Hancock and Hank Jones on piano, Stan Webb on flute, Grady Tate on drums, and Ray Barretto on percussion – and titles include "I'll Be Back", "Road Song", "Yesterday", "Serene", "Green Leaves Of Summer", and "Fly Me To The Moon". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual pairing for a record release – and Tristano tunes include "Supersonic", "Air Pocket", "On A Planet", and "Celestia". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderfully weird and wild funk from Natural Yogurt Band – a UK group who've given us some mighty nice records in years past, and who also really push the envelop with this little gem! There's a strange mix of sci-fi currents running through the grooves – either in the instrumentation, which can be cool and spacey – or in the production, which can do all sorts of odd things with familiar instruments – not in a way that's too gimmicky, but which just makes the instruments sound even groovier than before! Instrumentation includes some mighty nice flute work next to electronics, organs, piano, and guitar – often peppered with these cool bird calls or other exotica elements – which are just one more unique aspect of the album. Titles include "Obscure Jungle", "Followers Of A New Moon", "Gas Narcosis", "Strange Life On A Distant Planet", "Vital Signs", "We Are Alone", and "Possible Danger". LP, Vinyl record album

The final album from Nirvana, and a set that marked a surprising turn away from the easy mainstream pop presence they could have easily embraced – a shift that comes in large part from the work of Steve Albini, who recorded the set with a raw edge that really has the group at their noisiest! While the approach was controversial at the time – especially to the band's record label – it turned out to be perfect for the mood of these songs, which have been the subject of plenty of analysis over the years, given that the whole thing is the final cohesive message that Kurt Cobain gave the world before departing this planet! Titles include "Serve The Servants", "Scentless Apprentice", "Heart-Shaped Box", "Rape Me", "Dumb", "Very Ape", "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter", and "All Apologies". Newly remastered 30th anniversary edition – with a bonus 10" album that includes b-sides and bonus tracks! LP, Vinyl record album

The final album from Nirvana, and a set that marked a surprising turn away from the easy mainstream pop presence they could have easily embraced – a shift that comes in large part from the work of Steve Albini, who recorded the set with a raw edge that really has the group at their noisiest! While the approach was controversial at the time – especially to the band's record label – it turned out to be perfect for the mood of these songs, which have been the subject of plenty of analysis over the years, given that the whole thing is the final cohesive message that Kurt Cobain gave the world before departing this planet! Titles include "Serve The Servants", "Scentless Apprentice", "Heart-Shaped Box", "Rape Me", "Dumb", "Very Ape", "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter", and "All Apologies". LP, Vinyl record album