Strut (UK), 1974. New Copy
Amazing grooves like you've never heard before – seminal sides by Salah Ragab and his Cairo Jazz Band – work done by the percussionist who'd also worked with Sun Ra, but who's even more amazing here on his own! As you can probably guess from their name, the ensemble was an Egyptian one ...
Left Ear (UK), 1979. New Copy
A record that's hardly spaced out at all – and which instead is a really righteous blend of funk, jazz, and a bit of soul – all served up here by an obscure Maryland band at the end of the 70s! There's a wonderful confluence of energy going on here – some spiritual jazz in the ...
Sonorama (Germany), 1972. New Copy
A really unique little album – a righteous blend of funky jazz, vocal chorus, and soulful leads – recorded in the German scene of the early 70s! The group features a number of key players from the MPS side of the funky jazz spectrum – and the record feels like some of the best ...
Sonorama (Germany), 1967. New Copy
Soulful jazz from the German scene of the 60s – a sweet little album that features pianist Walter Strerath in three different settings! Strerath is already great on the trio tracks – mixing 60s soul jazz modes with some of the groovier, more rhythmically open modes of the European ...
Sonorama (Germany), Late 70s/Early 80s. New Copy
The jazz community here is pretty small – just a sextet, but one that had a huge impact on the Swiss jazz scene at the time! The group have a vibe that's maybe a bit earlier than the date of the material here – maybe more like some of the early 70s expressions from the American, German ...
Blue Note, 1957. New Copy Gatefold (reissue)
An all-star quintet session from tenor genius Hank Mobley – originally recorded during his classic run for Blue Note in the late 50s – but then unissued for decades, until a CD-only appearance in Japan many years later! Hank's in tremendous young formation here – blowing with ...
Strata/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1975. New Copy
Hypnotic organ funk from Lyman Woodard – an old bandmate of Dennis Coffey, and one of the shining lights of the 70s Detroit scene! This is amazing, amazing stuff – Woodard's electric piano, organ and occasional mellotron and Norma Bell's alto saxophone lend a cosmic funk aspect ...
Tony Lavorgna & The St Thomas Jazz Quartet
Chameleon
Antelope Records/Jazz Room (UK), 1982. New Copy (reissue)
An obscure one – but with some great funky jazz moments! The album features the work of The St. Thomas Jazz Quartet – a group that might conjure up images of the Carribean, but who were really just a great soul jazz combo from Cleveland. David Thomas plays some excellent Hammond B-3 ...
Smoke Sessions, 2022. New Copy
Trombonist Steve Davis always gives us something great with each new release – and that's definitely the case here, in a set with a rock-solid group, filled with all original material that really soars right from the very first note! In addition to Davis on trombone, the group also features ...
Blue Note, 2022. New Copy 2LP
The "poet" in the title is very well-put here – as vibist Joel Ross continues to mature into one of the most distinctive artists in contemporary jazz – not just a unique player on his chosen instrument of the vibes, but also a leader who can take a session like this and really ...
Tribe/P-Vine (Japan), Early 70s. New Copy
Genius work from the Detroit underground of the 70s – one of the greatest records ever on the now-famous Tribe Records label, and a masterpiece of soul, jazz, and righteous spirit! The session's headed by tenor player Wendell Harrison – and it's got an all-star Motor City lineup that ...
Tribe/P-Vine (Japan), Early 70s. New Copy
Genius work from the Detroit underground of the 70s – one of the greatest records ever on the now-famous Tribe Records label, and a masterpiece of soul, jazz, and righteous spirit! The session's headed by tenor player Wendell Harrison – and it's got an all-star Motor City lineup that ...
Sunmuse/BBE (UK), 1983. New Copy 3LPs Gatefold (reissue)
Really beautiful sounds from bassist David Wertman – an unsung hero of the late 70s spiritual jazz scene around New England, and one who delivers this gem in close partnership with singer Lynne Meryl! Meryl's got this warm, fluid style that's a lot like the way that some of the better Bay ...
Impulse, 1963. New Copy Gatefold (reissue)
A landmark album of vocal jazz – and one of the few sessions that John Coltrane ever cut with a singer! In a way, the album's more Hartman's than it is Coltrane's – given that Johnny's warm, mellow style of singing isn't as free and open as Trane at his most adventurous – but at ...
Nimbus/Pure Pleasure (UK), 1983. New Copy (reissue)
An overlooked gem from west coast vibist Ricky Kelly – a player who only cut a small number of records, but who was kind of an 80s equivalent to some of the hippest Bobby Hutcherson work of the 70s! This album's a bit different than some of the more avant work on the Nimbus Records label ...
Skye, Late 60s. New Copy Gatefold
A wonderful album from Gabor Szabo – one with the same freely grooving, slightly-psychedelic sound that he was using on his best records for the Impulse label! Two guitars head up the quintet – those of Gabor and Jim Stewart – and they trade breezy lines throughout, grooving over ...
Wenha/Pure Pleasure (UK), 1980. New Copy (reissue)
Great later work from Wendell Harrison – a set that has the Tribe Records giant of the 70s taking the sound of the Detroit underground into a whole new vibe! The record takes the spiritual post-Coltrane jazz of Harrison's earlier days, and infuses it with some warmer, electric modes – a ...
RR Gems (Estonia), 2021. New Copy
Completely stunning music from the marvelous Muriel Grossmann – a saxophonist who's become one of our favorite jazz talents over the course of the past decade – thanks to deeply spiritual work like this! The album's got a Hammond organ, something you're not as always likely to see in a ...
Union/Le Tres Jazz Club (France), 1971. New Copy Gatefold (reissue)
Part of a great move forward for Japanese drummer George Otsuka in the 70s – a player who'd really made some great waves with his trio material at the end of the 60s, but who found a way deepen his groove with a larger group on records like this – really standing out as one of the most ...
Freedom/Muzak (Japan), 1969. New Copy
A tremendous recording from the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – done during the same Paris stretch as their Great Black Music classics on the BYG/Actuel label – and a set that easily matches, if not tops, those classics! You can really hear the group finding their own space here – ...
Anagram, Early 80s. New Copy 2CD
Chet Baker in the 80s was a really wonderful thing – hardly the sound of an aging musician stumbling towards the end of his life, as so many others tend to paint this time – and instead, a continually-creative individual who was really finding ways to get around his losses and make some ...
Luv N' Haight, 1976. New Copy (reissue)
Keyboardist Howard Wales is probably best-remembered for a late 60s collaboration with Jerry Garcia – but this mid 70s set has Wales sounding even more expansive than before – with a richly visionary sound that's a real surprise! The album's almost a jazz session – in that it's ...
Blue Note, 2022. New Copy
Tenorist Melissa Aldana is no newcomer to jazz, but this Blue Note debut really seems to open up a special sort of sound in her music – a mode that's both deeper and more sensitive, and filled with a really rich sense of color and tone! A key musical partner on the date is guitarist Lage ...
Mallory-Hall Band (Sanifu Al Hall & Charley Mallory)
Last Special
IRC/Outernational (UK), 1974. New Copy (reissue)
Really fantastic work from this unusual South African band of the 70s – a group who never got much exposure on our side of the Atlantic, but includes key work from some very hip American players of the time! The group is led by trombonist Al Hall and guitarist Charles Mallory – but ...
IRC/Outernational (UK), 1974. New Copy (reissue)
A song of Soweto, but served up here by a really unique South African group that also features key work by a number of American players too! The sound is mix of the loping rhythms of SA jazz and some of the bolder elements you'd hear in American funk of the period – but all mixed together ...
Columbia, 1972. New Copy (reissue)
A sublime bit of Miles Davis electric funk – one of the best-remembered electric sets from the 70s, and for good reason too! The tracks are long, the jams are hard, and the whole thing has a lot more funk than some of the noise you'd get on other Miles albums of the time – thanks to ...
Dialogo (Italy), 1974. New Copy
A hell of a record from the Italian scene of the 70s – a heavy set of electric jazz with a soaring, righteous sort of vibe – served up by a quintet who somehow manage to work as if they've got the spirit of a much larger ensemble! We don't know any of the players at all from other ...
Gorbra/Sonorama (Germany), 1975. New Copy (reissue)
The rare debut of tenorist Fitz Gore – a player born in Jamaica, but one who didn't get his chance to shine in the spotlight until moving overseas – where he started his own small label in Germany! The set's a live one – and has Fitz stretching out with a very deep tenor sound, ...
Astral Spirits, 2022. New Copy
Charlie Rumback once again proves himself to be one of the most enigmatic talents around – working here with a great group of musicians, in a set of tracks that push far beyond the currents of standard jazz – both avant and mainstream! Rumback's the drummer and composer – but the ...
Astral Spirits, 2021. New Copy
Over the past few years, the Astral Spirits label has quietly been staging a sonic revolution – really breaking down expectations in the world of avant jazz, and turning our albums that go way past familiar free jazz and improvisation! That's definitely the case here, with a really unique ...