Jazz — Recently Added

A never-issued live set from Detroit's Contemporary Jazz Quintet – a group who were a key part of the Strata Records scene, and who are expanded here to a much larger lineup for this very freewheeling performance from 1973! The group's spiritual modernism is very strongly in place, but there' ... LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant blast from The Comet Is Coming – their second album on Impulse in less than a year – and it's as exciting as anything they've done so far! Their core vibe of mixing spiritual jazz with electronic experimentation is here in full force, but they take it new directions. While ... CD

Tremendous work from the legendary Prince Lasha – a rare UK-only date from 1966 – and one that has the reedman working away from more familiar contemporaries like Sonny Simmons and Eric Dolphy! The approach on this session is very unique – as Lasha includes harp with the ... CD

A really crackling little album from this Italian trio – a group led by drummer Amedeo Ariano, which maybe gives them a slightly different approach to the music than the usual piano trio! Pianist Francesca Tandoi is very much on top of things – grabbing notes in bold handfuls, and ... CD

A definite head rocker here – a brilliant bit of funky jazz from Japan, and a record that beautifully balances acoustic and electric elements! Jiro Inagaki plays some heavy tenor and soprano sax on the record – working with a combo that includes electric guitar, electric bass, and ... LP, Vinyl record album

A superb record from the great Lloyd McNeil – one of the more obscure players of the spiritual jazz generation of the 70s, but an artist who always gave us his best whenever he walked into the studio! Here, the mood is a mix of modal and Latin elements, with a definite current of influence ... LP, Vinyl record album

The album's got a sexy little cover – but that's no surprise, considering that the record's a late 60s "Playboy Manual" from Japan! The format is quite weird – as each track begins with some Japanese spoken bits from Norio Maeda, possibly on the art of seduction – and ... CD

A beautiful little session from one of the greatest guitarists ever! The album's part of Blue Note's tendency to "churchify" Grant Green on some albums – giving his guitar a gospelly groove that has some nicely soulful connotations – but it's also a record that's maybe the ... LP, Vinyl record album

A set recorded in Paris during the early 80s – but headed up by an American saxophonist, and done with a vibe that's like the best spiritual jazz modes of the 70s! Byron Pope has a compelling legacy that includes work with Burton Greene and Alan Silva – but he's definitely his own man ... LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic live document of the genius of Chicago tenorist Fred Anderson – captured here with an excellent group that soar with the same boundless energy as their leader! Anderson is blowing at his very own Velvet Lounge club on the south side of the city – but he's hardly laidback ... CD

Some of the earliest work we've ever seen from Steven Halpern, and some of the best – a mid 70s set that predates some of his better-known new age records of later years – and which has a sound that's maybe a bit more compressed and focused overall! Steven's still playing plenty of ... LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique little record from Herbie Hancock – one that's almost completely improvised over Latin percussion! The setup is quite spare – and quite different than Herbie's other Blue Note work – and the group features improvised backgrounds by bassist Paul Chambers and 2 ... LP, Vinyl record album

A searing live set from trumpeter Charles Tolliver – one of the few talents who could take his instrument into the kind of long-blown, beautifully open territory explored on a double length album like this! Tolliver maybe inherits a late Lee Morgan quality, but also opens up with the Woody ... LP, Vinyl record album

The first record in many years from the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble – done with a lineup that features a variation from the original group, but a sound that's very much in keeping with their mission! The Ensemble were always dedicated to preserving a spiritual jazz tradition at a time when the ... LP, Vinyl record album

A strong trio session from Horace Tapscott – recorded in Santa Barbara in 1981, with a trio that features Sonship on percussion and the great Roberto Miranda on bass! Miranda's tone is round and warm, and brings out some of the most soulful sides of Tapscott's playing – even when he's ... LP, Vinyl record album

Kazutoki "Doctor" Umezu was always one of the more unusual Japanese saxophonists back in the day – not just a jazz musician, but a player who's open to a wide variety of styles – which you'll definitely hear here, in a cool collaboration with percussionist Midori Takada and ... LP, Vinyl record album

A very very cool record – an unusual take on the music to The Connection – that hip early 60s play that featured a more famous version of the soundtrack on Blue Note Records! This version's much more obscure – part of a "localization" that occurred when the play would ... LP, Vinyl record album

A very unusual shift for spiritual jazz in the 80s – a set that combines the acoustic energy of the 70s with some newer electric touches – all in a way that takes off with some soulful elements in the mix! Jeff Majors handles a harp – ala Dorothy Ashby – but the music mixes ... LP, Vinyl record album

Great lost work from Miles Davis – early material recorded for Warner Brothers in the mid 80s, and never released at the time – now finally uncovered from the vaults, and presented with a few slight contemporary touches! The core music is prime electric Miles funk all the way through ... LP, Vinyl record album

A rare jazz soundtrack from Japanese pianist Yosuke Yamashita – best known for his avant recordings of the time, but sounding equally enigmatic here in the film score world! The album's hardly the standard jazz score – as the tunes shift mood strongly from track to track – ... CD