... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Double-length brilliance from the mighty Sahib Shihab – a set that collects a number of killer 60s sessions with members of the Clarke Boland Big Band – all of them great! The small combo work here is amazing – hard-hitting modal jazz that matches, if not tops the best MPS/Saba sounds of the time – all produced to perfection with a really sharp edge, and a cutting approach to jazz that's gone onto inspired countless others in the current scene – including artists on Schema and Ricky-Tick Records, as well as most Japanese club jazz combos! But long before any of those cats started copping his groove, Sahib Shihab had it all totally together – a great ear for his own amazing solos on baritone and flute, and a way of hooking up with players like Francy Boland on piano, Fats Sadi on vibes, Benny Bailey on trumpet, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums. All players here were Shihab's partners in the Clarke Boland Big Band, and they use these small combo sessions to explore some great new ideas – stripped-down groovers that are heavy on rhythm, and really allow full expression from all the players involved. Titles include "Companionship", "Om Mani Padme Hum", "Bohemia After Dark", "Serenata", "Yah Yah Blues", "Balafon", "Talk Some Yak-ee Dak", "The Turk's Bolero", "CT + CB", "Jay Jay", "Stoned Ghosts", "Just Give Me Time", and "Dijdar". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent French session – with Zoot on tenor, Frank Rosolino on trombone, Jimmy Gourley on guitar, Henri Renaud on piano, Don Bagley on bass, and Jean-Louise Viale on drums! Titles include "The Late Tiny Kahn", "Toot's Suite", "Great Drums", "Call It Anything", and "Zoot's Suite". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool French album cut by LA pianist Gerald Wiggins – working here with his early trio with Chico Hamilton on drums, and Alvin Banks on bass! The tracks are all pretty lively – and titles include "Have You Met Miss Jones", "Ivan Wig Digs Chic", "I Get A Kick", and "Coffee Time". LP, Vinyl record album

A French group from the 70s, but one with a lead singer from Tunisia – the freaky-looking Mahmoud Ayari, who's got his feet up on the cover! The group are fiercely jamming – with a really heavy, driving percussion approach, and lots and lots of freaky guitar fuzz – often used in these really dark ways, which then seems to bring out even more darkness from Ayari's vocals – which act almost like loud calls to action than standard lyrics! A number of tunes are heavy on the instrumental section – which makes for even more great focus on the excellent guitar – and titles include "To Where I Belong", "Lot Of Things", "Explosion", "We All Come & Go", and "My Sorrow" – plus two tunes with really great special effects from Jean Pierre Massiera – "Pop Orbite" and "Pop Pull Hair". LP, Vinyl record album

There's nothing little about the talents of Roy Eldridge on the trumpet – as you'll hear in this hip set of tracks from the start of the 50s – material recorded in Paris with help from some great American sidemen! Half the tracks feature Roy's trumpet in a quintet with Zoot Sims on tenor, Dick Hyman on piano, Pierre Michelot on bass, and Ed Shaughnessy on drums – grooving in the relaxed, swing-based style that you'd expect from Eldridge's 50s work on Verve. Roy sings just a bit on the set – scatting alongside the lead vocals from Anita Love on a version of "It Don't Mean A Thing" – and singing a duet with Anita on the R&B-ish "There Ain't No Flies On Me". Other tracks include "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams", "The Man I Love", "Wild Driver", "Easter Parade", and "Just Fooling". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the earliest small group sessions from tenor giant Frank Foster – recorded in Paris with a quartet that includes Henri Renaud on piano! LP, Vinyl record album

An early album from this might Belgian reedman – a set that mostly features Bobby Jaspar on tenor, working with the quintet of Henri Rene! Titles include "La Baronne", "Black Hourse", "Tenor Business", and "Jimmy's Dream". Very nice, and a key chapter in Jaspar's career! LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure Joyce album from the late 80s, and a very nice set of mellow readings of Jobim classics, performed with help on keyboards from the great Gilson Peranzzetta. Joyce's guitar and vocals are in the lead, and Peranzzetta plays electric piano and a bit of synth, in washes of sound that feel a bit like some of the more recent recordings on the Lumiar label. Titles include "Wave", "Canto De Ossanha", "Garota De Ipanema", "A Felicidade", and a fantastic scat version of "Surfboard/Samba De Uma Nota So"! CD

Two killers from 70s keyboard legend Marc Moulin – both very much in the spirit of his work with Placebo! "Mona Call" is a fast-stepping number that's awash with all sorts of great Fender Rhodes lines – served up in that cool, chomping style Moulin does so well – and peppered with some great reed solos too! The keys continue strongly on "Waterfall" – a number in a similar tempo, and one that feels almost like a part 2 to the main cut – which is a-OK with us! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Featuring Mulligan on baritone sax, Bob Brookmeyer on trombone, Red Mitchell on bass, and Frank Isola on drums. Tracks include "Lady Is A Tramp", "Five Brothers", "Limelight", "Laura", "Love Me Or Leave Me", "Makin Whoopee", and "Bark For Barksdale". CD

A classic French Vogue recording that has Parisian pianist Henri Renaud playing with a group of American all-stars, like Milt Jackson, Jay Jay Johnson, Al Cohn, and Percy Heath. The set's a prime example of the firey crossover bop that was being laid down on the left bank when American jazz players would meet up with the best that Paris had to offer – and as you'll hear on tracks like "Out Of Nowhere", "The More I See You", "If I Had You", "Indiana", and there's very little lost in the translation! LP, Vinyl record album

Double-length brilliance from the mighty Sahib Shihab – a set that collects a number of killer 60s sessions with members of the Clarke Boland Big Band – all of them great! The small combo work here is amazing – hard-hitting modal jazz that matches, if not tops the best MPS/Saba sounds of the time – all produced to perfection with a really sharp edge, and a cutting approach to jazz that's gone onto inspired countless others in the current scene – including artists on Schema and Ricky-Tick Records, as well as most Japanese club jazz combos! But long before any of those cats started copping his groove, Sahib Shihab had it all totally together – a great ear for his own amazing solos on baritone and flute, and a way of hooking up with players like Francy Boland on piano, Fats Sadi on vibes, Benny Bailey on trumpet, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums. All players here were Shihab's partners in the Clarke Boland Big Band, and they use these small combo sessions to explore some great new ideas – stripped-down groovers that are heavy on rhythm, and really allow full expression from all the players involved. Titles include "Companionship", "Om Mani Padme Hum", "Bohemia After Dark", "Serenata", "Yah Yah Blues", "Balafon", "Talk Some Yak-ee Dak", "The Turk's Bolero", "CT + CB", "Jay Jay", "Stoned Ghosts", "Just Give Me Time", and "Dijdar". LP, Vinyl record album

Zoot Sims on tewnor saxophone, Gerry Wiggins and Henri Renaud on piano, Pierre Michelot and Don Bagley on bass, Kenny Clarke and Jean-Louis Viale on drums, Fdrank Rosolino on trombone, and Jimmy Gourley on guitar. CD

Jimmy Witherspoon takes the stage at the Olympia Theater in Paris – recording here with a hip small combo who really help him find his unique blend of blues and jazz! The album's got a feel that's quite similar to any of Witherspoon's best American dates of the time – a swinging jazz take on older KC vocal modes, handled by Jimmy in a voice that's easily one of the most recognizable of his generation. Players include Buck Clayton and Emmett Berry on trumpets, Dicky Wells on trombone, Buddy Tate on tenor, and Sir Charles Thompson on piano – and titles include "I Make A Lot Of Money", "Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You", "I'll Always Be In Love With You", "Blowin The Blues", and "Everything You Do Is Wrong". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Dizzy is heard here in one of his famous Salle Pleyel concerts in Paris – but the real treat is the collection's late 40s work by Max Roach – fronting a group here that also features James Moody on tenor, Kenny Dorham on trumpet, and Al Haig on piano! CD

Really lovely sounds from the young Francoise Hardy – easily one of the coolest, most confident female singers in France at the time! Hardy is neither the emotive style of postwar passionate singers, nor the too-cool style of the left bank – and instead, she's got this way of mixing her own acoustic guitar with lightly lyrical arrangements that never overshadow her role in the lead – far less of the "yeh yeh" style that other singers were using, and which Hardy is too-often considered with. There's a beautifully gentle feel to the record – even though the set features some larger arrangements from Marcel Hendrix – and titles include "J'Aurais Voulu", "Nous Tous", "On Dit De Lui", "Comme Tant D'Autres", "Saurai Je", "Va Pas Prendre Un Tambour", and "Le Premier Bonheur Du Jour". CD

A wonderful French session from alto genius Lee Konitz – and a record that we might well rank up there with Lee's best 50s material on Atlantic and Storyville! The session's got the open, tone-centric feel of those gems – with Lee's crisp alto right out front, already finding countless new modes of expression that few of his contemporaries could touch – and the lineup features guitarist Jimmy Gourley in a place that Billy Bauer might normally occupy – playing in a way that's maybe not as spacious as Bauer, but still very respectful of the overall Konitz ideal! Henri Renaud plays piano in the quintet – and titles include "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", "I'll Remember April", "Lee Tchee", "Record Shop Suey", "Young Lee", and "4pm"; LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

With Gerry Mulligan on bariont sax, Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone, Red Mitchell on bass, and Frank Isola on drums. Tracks include "Bark For Barksdale", "Motel/Utter Chaos", "Walkin' Shoes", "Bernie's Tune", and "Five Brothers" – 14 tracks total. CD

... LP, Vinyl record album