Beautiful improvised work from legendary Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko – work that's much more powerful and bracing than the atmospheric recordings he would do for ECM in later years! The work here comes right at a key moment for free jazz on the European scene – and Stanko works with some of the modern structures of his important 60s material with Kryzstof Komeda, but with looser styles that really lets the organic energy of the group take over from more compositional directions – especially on the two very long tracks that comprise the core of the material. The music has never been issued to the public before – and represents a key look at these important years when Poland was one of the most important jazz scenes behind the Iron Curtain – thanks to experimental work from Stanko on trumpet, Janusz Muniak on flute and soprano, Zbigniew Seifert on violin, Bronislaw Suchanek on bass, and Janusz Stefanski on drums and flexatone. Titles include "Calme", "6 & 8 1", and "6 & 8 2" – plus the short "Flute's Ballad". LP, Vinyl record album

A funky treasure trove from Apple & The Three Oranges – a group we hardly know at all, but who really blow us away with the cuts on this collection! The groove is plenty hard right from the get-go – the best of the funky 45 underground of the early 70s – which means that there's more 60s rawness on the record than you'd get from bigger-label funk at the time – as Ed "Apple" Nelson still works here with a mostly underground vibe! Ed plays drums – which are mighty hard on most numbers – and his vocals have this offbeat, off-kilter, over the top quality that almost reminds us a bit of the Hank Ballard/James Brown recordings for late 60s King – particularly in the way that Nelson's completely unbridled with his energy. The whole thing's great – one of the best funky collections we've heard in years – and presented with a rich amount of notes and historical information too. Titles include "Free & Easy (parts 1 & 2)", "Moon Light", "Curse Upon The World", "What Goes Around Comes Around", "Down Home Publicity", "True Love Will Never Die", "Gotta Stand For Something (parts 1 & 2)", and "I'll Give You A Ring". Features a great 16 page booklet with extensive liner notes and photos! LP, Vinyl record album