We totally loved Reel People's Seven Ways To Wonder album – and this special remix set is equally great – a package of wonderful new versions that features work from a host of hip producers! The set has all the soulful spirit of the original album, but also takes off in some more spaciously soaring modes too – a mix of British cosmic touches and classic instrumental roots – both of which really show up in some of the mixes here! Vocals are by Omar, Tony Momrelle, and Tasita D'Mour – and titles include "Outta Love (4 Hero rmx)", "It Will Be (Kyoto Jazz Massive rmx)", "Love Is Where You Are (The Realm rmx)", "Alibi (Rasmus Faber rmx)", "Amazing (Jon Cutler's distant music mix)", "Upside (Bugz upside mix)", "Upside (Pete Kuszma rmx)", "Love Is Where You Are (Orto rmx)", and "Anything You Want (Domu rmx)". 12 tracks in all! CD

Awe-inspiring solo guitar from Mark Fosson – brilliant stuff that rivals Fahey, Peter Lang and any other folk guitar geniuses who influenced him – recorded direct to reel-to-reel in Fosson's living room in 1976! Fosson's 12-string, the tape recorder and a rented microphone are all that went into the "production" – but the sound is impeccable, as is Fosson's playing! This is as wonderful as any rare folk guitar music we've been introduced to in quite a while! Includes "Quarter Moon" (plus and alternate take), "Arrival Of The Grand Picayune", "Cosmic Hiccup", "Frozen Fingers" (also with an alternate take), "Gorilla Mountain", "Nancy's Waltz", "Sky Piece" and the only non-original, "Back In The Saddle Again", which is a great, non-nostalgic take on the Gene Autry song. CD

One of the coolest collections ever put out by The Numero Group – and that's saying a lot, given the hipness of the label! Downriver Revival chronicles the story of a unique studio in Michigan – Double U Sound, a custom recording spot that captured a wonderful range of soul, funk, gospel, and other sounds from the local community – beautifully presented here in a full CD, plus a bonus DVD that features the near-complete 200 song archive of the studio! The DVD's really unique – so we'll talk about it first: Done with an interactive menu that lets you literally comb through the boxes of tapes in the Double U vault – selecting each reel recorded by the studio, and sampling the rich array of wonderful sounds from this untapped Michigan scene – a huge amount of music, far more than you'd ever find on a CD compilation. The DVD also features a documentary on the studio and Downriver Revial project – and that alone would be worth the price of admission – but the CD then features 24 key numbers pulled from the vaults – tracks that were either issued on rare 45s, or never issued at all – and which represent a wonderful array of soulful sounds that definitely lives up to the Numero standard! Titles include "There's A Light" by Shirley Ann Lee, "Take Care Of Us" by The Revelations, "Untitled Jam" by Bobby Cook & The Explosions, "Foot Stumping (alt)" by Organics, "While You Were Gone" by Combinations, "Heaven" by Deliverance Echoes, "Untitled" by Burgess Band, "Round N Round" by Junior Mays Group, and "Walk With Me" by Calvin Cooke. CD

A real standout in the classic catalog of ECM – not only because the record's got a slightly different inspiration than most, but also because it seems to unlock some especially beautiful moments from players who could sound different in other settings on the label! As the title indicates, the tunes here all take inspiration from the poetry of Robert Creeley – but never in a mode that's got the usual jazz meets poetry approach – as Sheila Jordan sings the lyrics when they appear, with a sense of her own power that's very different than a more standard recitation – and which, to us, really feels a lot like her great vocal performances with Steve Kuhn for ECM. Kuhn is also in the group on piano, and other musicians include David Liebman on saxes, Lyle Mays on keyboards, and Bob Moses on drums – all working under the superb leadership of bassist Steve Swallow – who really outdid himself with the depth of feeling in this project. Titles include "Colors", "In The Fall", "She Was Young", "Some Echoes", "Ice Cream", and "You Didn't Think". CD

One of the last great records ever cut by Jon Hendricks – one of our favorite singers of all time! The album's a bit of a "tour de force" – with Hendricks singing alongside a host of famous jazz musicians and vocalists, working in an all star setting that's sometimes too good for its own good, but at other times works magically! The best moments are those when Jon actually takes the lead himself, singing in that warm, raspy, honest style that's always made him the kind of a singer that brings meaning to lyrics that always leave us cold from other vocalists. The album's got a wonderful re-reading of the Italian classic "Estate", redone here with English lyrics as "In Summer" – and one of Hendricks finest moments on record! Other tracks include "Listen To Monk", "Sugar", "Freddie Freeloader", "High As A Mountain", "Trinkle Tinkle", and "The Finer Things In Life" – and players include Tommy Flanagan, George Benson, Wynton Marsalis, Stanley Turrentine, and Al Jarreau. CD

Music from Bessie Jones, Hobart Smith, Sid Hemphill & Lucius Smith, Vera Ward Hall, Fred McDowell, Bright Light Quartet, Neil Morris, Sidney Carter, Ollie Gilbert, Almeda Riddle & more – part of the Alan Lomax collection! CD

This tenor giant gets better and better with each new album! Eric Alexander is one of our favorite new jazz artists of the past decade – still a relatively young player, but with a sound that's incredible, steeped in years of tradition, yet freely creative in his own unique way. His tenor solos on this set stand up to some of our favorite older work by players like Clifford Jordan or Sonny Rollins, and if anything, the backing may be some of the best he's ever received on record. Alexander's playing here with longtime friend and musical partner Harold Mabern – who's as sympathetic to Alexander's sound as he once was to that of Frank Strozier – and the other players in the group include trumpeter Nicholas Payton, John Webber, and Joe Farnsworth. Titles include "Andre's Turn", "After The Rain", "This Girl's In Love With You", "A House Is Not A Home", and "Summit Meeting". CD

One of the warmest, most earthy albums we've ever heard from avant percussionist Andrew Cyrille – a set done with his Haitian Fascination group, and one that definitely lives up to that name! There's lots of percussion on the date – played by Cyrille and Frisner Augustin, mixed with these deep, round basslines from Lisle Atkinson – amidst which dances acoustic guitar from Alix Pascal, almost with a bossa inspiration – and the whole thing's topped off with deeply soulful work on baritone sax by Hamiet Bluiett! The album's got all the freely creative energy of Cyrille and Bluiett's best from years back, but also has a more open, earnest feel too – really wonderful stuff, on original cuts that include "Route Des Freres", "Spirit Music", "Sankofa", "Ti Kawol", "Mais", "C'mon Baby", and "Marinet". CD

A pair of legendary albums from the mighty Joe Harriott – a player who emigrated to England in the 50s, then set the scene on fire in the following decade! First up is Free Form – the landmark album that forever put saxophonist Joe Harriott on the map, and it's a brilliant batch of tracks that prove that Harriott was advancing the jazz avant garde in England as much as players like Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor were advancing it in America. Despite the "free form" of the title, the tracks are more "new thing" – somewhat structured, with a rhythmic approach that's still a little straight, but solos that go nice and outside. Joe's overall conception is a beautiful mix of angular thinking with freely expressed soulful emotion – and the record's one that ranks up there with the 10 most groundbreaking of the 60s! The group's about as fantastic as you could ever expect from England at the time – with Shake Keane on trumpet, Pat Smythe on piano, Coleridge Goode on bass, and Phil Seamen on drums – and titles include "Formation", "Coda", "Abstract", "Straight Lines", and "Impression". Next is Abstract – one of the legendary sets of avant garde jazz by the British alto genius Joe Harriott – an artist who was sometimes billed as the British Ornette Coleman – a reputation he definitely earns with the groundbreaking quality of this album! The conception is bold right from the start – strongly rhythmic, but at a level that's different from Coleman's music – with some deeply emotional undertones to the solos (which also include work from Shake Keane on trumpet!) – and occasional modal elements that also bring in some spiritual elements to work perfect with the breakout solos. The group also features crack rhythm work from Pat Smythe on piano, Coleridge Goode on bass, and Phil Seaman on drums – and the track list includes "Subject", "Shadows", "Tonal", "Oleo", "Pictures", "Idiom", "Compound" and "Modal". CD

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". CD

A quartet of live performances from Sun Ra – all recorded within the span of a single week in 1983 – at a time when the Arkestra was clearly covering a fair bit of territory in Europe! As you might guess from the title, the concerts here were recorded in Milan, Zurich, West Berlin, and Paris – all during the last week of October and first day of November – in a whirlwind series of sets that also included Montreux material that ended up on the Hiroshima album (not included in this package.) Ra's at the start of his key 80s growth here – able to open up to new audiences in a range of styles, from freely experimental to more traditionally jazzy – all in ways that link together many traditions in a single set, and show that his talents were rooted in a deep tradition of musical expression. The 5CD set features a huge amount of material – and apart from Ra on piano and keyboards, other "all star" players include Lester Bowie and Don Cherry on trumpets, John Gilmore on tenor, Archie Shepp on tenor and soprano sax, Marshall Allen on alto and flute, Richard Davis on bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums, and Don Moye on percussion. CD

A window into a near-lost side of American avant jazz of the 70s – the self-produced albums issued by Leo Smith on his Kabell label – presented here as a beautiful 4CD set, complete with over 2 hours of previously unreleased material! The original albums have always been incredibly hard to find, and they show a side of Smith that is one of the purest on record from the time – displaying him as a key innovator in the tradition of Chicago musicians of the AACM, and the New York players of the loft scene – both of whom Smith interacted with freely. Players on the set include Oliver Lake, Anthony Davis, and Pheerokan Ak Laff – and the set features music from the albums Creative Music 1, Song Of Humanity, Reflectativity, and Akhreanvention – as well as unreleased tracks from those sessions! CD

Genius live work from tenor saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar – working here in trio formation with bass and drums, freely creating on the fly – and evoking the power of Sonny Rollins live classics for Blue Note and RCA! We've raved elsewhere on these pages about Kullhammar's tone and musical vision on the tenor – but it steps out even more strongly on this set, thanks to firm support from drummer Daniel Fredriksson and bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg – who both match Jonas' inventive energy on the record. As with Sonny Rollins Vanguard recordings for Blue Note, there's a tremendous depth of spirit and sound here, and one record is not nearly enough to capture the scope of talent – which is why we're happy they've decided to issue 3 albums worth of material from this date! Titles on this first volume include "One Down One Up", "Have Horn Will Blow", "Apex", and "Blessing In Disguise". CD

Genius live work from tenor saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar – working here in trio formation with bass and drums, freely creating on the fly – and evoking the power of Sonny Rollins live classics for Blue Note and RCA! We've raved elsewhere on these pages about Kullhammar's tone and musical vision on the tenor – but it steps out even more strongly on this set, thanks to firm support from drummer Daniel Fredriksson and bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg – who both match Jonas' inventive energy on the record. As with Sonny Rollins Vanguard recordings for Blue Note, there's a tremendous depth of spirit and sound here, and one record is not nearly enough to capture the scope of talent – which is why we're happy they've decided to issue 3 albums worth of material from this date! Titles on this second volume include "Inchworm", "Sweet Georgia Bright", "J Blooz", "You Don't Know What Love Is", and "Oleo". CD

A huge step forward in music for saxophonist Jimmy Greene – an artist who's still reeling from the loss of his daughter, who was murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 – but who's turning his grief and sorrow into some of the richest music he's ever recorded! The feel here is even deeper than the first volume dedicated to Green's daughter – original songs that burst out with so much life and energy, we're held rapt right from the very first note – almost never mired in the sort of melancholy you might expect from such an experience, and instead ready to set a new fire to light the way ahead! Greene plays tenor, soprano, alto, and baritone – and other musicians include Kevin Hayes on Rhodes and piano, Mike Moreno on guitar, Renee Rosnes on piano, Ben Williams and John Patitucci on bass, and Jeff Tain Watts and Otis Brown III on drums. Titles include "Fun Circuits", "Second Breakfast", "Flowers", "Stanky Leg", "Big Guy", "Amantes", and "Thirty Two". CD

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". CD

A pivotal record in the sound of the US scene at the end of the 60s – and a record that seems to trace an entire evolution in rock during the space of just one album! Touch have roots that go back to The Kingsmen and Don & The Goodtimes – and you can definitely hear garage elements in the organ and guitars – but they're also stretching out freely in all the heady freedoms of the late 60s – with a soaring approach that definitely lives up to the cover image! There's a blend of rough and rootsy with confident and cosmic going on – a really powerful approach that's made the album a standout for years, even if the group never hit some of the fame of their bigger contemporaries. Titles include "We Feel Fine", "Friendly Birds", "Down At Circe's Place", "The Spiritual Death Of Howard Greer", and "Seventy Five". CD features some great bonus tracks – rare demo versions fo "We Finally Met Today", "Alesha & Others", and "The Spiritual Death Of Howard Greer" – plus film music for "The Second Coming Of Suzanne", and the cut "Blue Feeling". CD

Music from Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Lonnie Johnson, Sippie Wallace, Memphis Slim, T-Bone Walker, Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, Eddie Boyd, Willie Dixon, and more – 16 tracks total. CD

23 of her freely improvised pieces in honor of musicians who appeared on her program. CD

What can we say? This is the ultimate Miles Davis album – the one that includes so many songs that we've heard way too much in Starbucks, in retail stores, or at a friend's house who claims to be a "jazz expert", but is really a yuppie dilettante. Yet somehow, over all the years, and all those playings, the record manages to still sound fantastic – a truly inspirational piece of music that's long deserved all the attention it gets! The legendary group on the album includes John Coltrane on tenor, Cannonball Adderley on alto, Bill Evans on piano, and Paul Chambers on bass – working with Miles in a relatively modal style, with brilliant rhythm changes and a wonderful sense of space. The whole thing's sublime – and titles include "Blue In Green", "All Blues", "So What", and "Freddie Freeloader". CD

What can we say? This is the ultimate Miles Davis album – the one that includes so many songs that we've heard way too much in Starbucks, in retail stores, or at a friend's house who claims to be a "jazz expert", but is really a yuppie dilettante. Yet somehow, over all the years, and all those playings, the record manages to still sound fantastic – a truly inspirational piece of music that's long deserved all the attention it gets! The legendary group on the album includes John Coltrane on tenor, Cannonball Adderley on alto, Bill Evans on piano, and Paul Chambers on bass – working with Miles in a relatively modal style, with brilliant rhythm changes and a wonderful sense of space. The whole thing's sublime – and titles include "Blue In Green", "All Blues", "So What", and "Freddie Freeloader". CD

An incredible collaboration between pianist Eddie Palmieri and vibist Cal Tajder – a record done for Tico in answer to their previous session for Verve – and a set that's even harder-jamming overall! Cal and Eddie really find something special together on the record – and both players groove into a descarga mode that burns even more strongly than their own other work of the decade – a masterful jam that's a really true collaboration, and which brings out the best that both musicians had to offer. Cal's moving way beyond his familiar modes here – with a fluid, freely colorful sound – and Eddie himself is beginning to hit some of the darker, harder notes that would show up even more strongly on his records of the 70s. There's a much more strongly jazz-based sound here than most of Palmieri's previous records – a really bold focus on the instrumentation as it rolls out over some great modally-informed grooves – and titles include "Bamboleate", "Resemblance", "Guajira Candela", "Mi Montuno", and "Come An Get It". CD

A wonderful album from the great Cedar Walton trio that featured Sam Jones on bass and Billy Higgins on drums – a really beautiful group of musicians who completely transformed the sound of the piano trio in the 70s! The group played together often in the 70s, and they've never sounded better than on an album like this – freely soulful and dancing, with Walton in firm command of his talents – sometimes coming on with the strength of his early 60s material, but always opening up with a more exploratory vibe too. Walton worked often in this mode for the decades that followed this set – but this Japanese album is almost the start of that great legacy, and still one of the best from this group! Titles include "Con Alma", "Suite Sunday", "Suntory Blues", and "Fantasy In D". CD