Timeless/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1986.
A really fantastic setting for the tenor genius of Pharoah Sanders – and a record that's very different than just about anything else he ever recorded! As the title implies, the album's a duo recording with pianist John Hicks – just his piano and Pharoah's tenor – working ...
Im-Hotep/P-Vine (Japan), 1974. (reissue)
Amazing sounds from the righteous Roy Brooks – a drummer who worked strongly in the soul jazz mainstream of the 60s, then stepped out into even headier territory here in the 70s! The album's a spiritual masterpiece all the way through – an album on par with early 70s Impulse sides from ...
Mark De Clive-Lowe/Andrea Lombardini/Tommaso Cappellato
Dreamweavers
Mother Tongue (Italy), 2020.
Some of the most jazz-based work we've ever heard from keyboardist Mark De Clive-Lowe – continuing a progression that's been taking place over the past decade or so – to a point where the musician is turning out a record to rival the classics of some of the 70s giants who influenced his ...
Ancient Archive Of Sound (UK),
...
Steeplechase (Denmark), 1979. (reissue)
An excellent later set – a trio date with Doug Raney on guitar and Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass – on long tracks that include "For Minors Only", "Down", "Broken Wing", and "Daybreak".
MPS/Endless Happiness (Italy), 1969. (reissue)
A fantastic album that brings together all of the European winners of the recent Downbeat polls – like Karin Krog, John Surman, Albert Mangelsdorff, Francy Boland, Daniel Humair, and Niels Henning Orsted-Pedersen. The sextet is a lively batch of free-swinging European jazz stylists, with ...
Elektra/Strut (UK), Late 1970s/Early 1980s.
Stunning work from the great second chapter of Patrice Rushen – the time when the lady moved over to Elektra Records and really opened up her groove! Rushen had already been making great music for most of the 70s – playing fantastic keyboards as a real up-and-coming star on the funky ...
Steeplechase (Denmark), 1979. (reissue)
A warmly wonderful trio record – from a time when Chet Baker was exploring a whole new side of his talents! The group features just Doug Raney on guitar and Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass – which gives Chet a lot of room to open up!
Criss Cross (Netherlands),
...
Enja/BBE (UK), 1982. (reissue)
...
Impulse, 1971. 2LP
A fantastic live performance from Alice Coltrane – and one that features a very heavy-hitting group, one that features both Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp on tenor, in a spirit that's as strong and righteous as Alice's Ptah The El Daoud album! The lineup features two bassists – Jimmy ...
Impulse, 1971. 2CDs
A fantastic live performance from Alice Coltrane – and one that features a very heavy-hitting group, one that features both Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp on tenor, in a spirit that's as strong and righteous as Alice's Ptah The El Daoud album! The lineup features two bassists – Jimmy ...
Holidays (Italy), 1980. 3LPs
A very cool Sun Ra performance from 1980 – recorded in Rome, and a wonderful summation of all the new directions the Arkestra took during the 70s! There's a wonderful balance here between intimate vocal tracks, sung by June Tyson, and some fuller ensemble numbers – mixed up in ways ...
Ancient Archive Of Sound (UK),
...
Meta, 2000.
A great later moment from Pharoah Sanders – a set that's one of his few from the time that really stretches out in the same open, spiritual territory of his classic recordings for Impulse! The group's a trio – with Sanders on tenor and wood flute, Hamid Drake on drums and other ...
Jazztone/Sam Records (France), 1957. (reissue)
Genius early work from a young Barney Wilen – an album issued in the US during a brief time when the French tenor star was turning a lot of heads on the American scene! The date's a great illustration of Wilen's amazingly deft talents on the tenor right from the start – a keen ear for ...
A&M/Future Days, 1970. (reissue)
One of our favorite-ever keyboard albums – a rare lost session from pianist Pete Jolly – one of his only electric dates, and a completely improvised set of grooves! Pete plays electric piano, organ, and even a bit of musette – jamming in the studio with help from Chuck Berhofer ...
Souffle Continu (France),
...
Souffle Continu (France),
...
Verve, Late 1960s. (reissue)
Beautiful work from reed player Tony Scott – recorded during a time when he was doing a lot of soul-searching with Eastern cultures! The set's a stripped-down batch of long tracks, with Scott's clarinet in the lead, and backing by 2 Japanese musicians on Koto and Shackuhachi. The tracks are ...
Verve, 1961.
Titles include "Night In Tunisia", "Cry Me A River", "This Year's Kisses", "Music Goes Round & Round", "Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie", "My Reverie", and "You're My Thrill".
Cadet/Verve, 1969. (reissue)
An amazing album by the great guitarist Eddie Fisher – and completely unlike his later funk records! Eddie plays stripped down jazz with a small combo that includes organ by Robert Selby, bass by Paul Jackson, and some rhythm guitar by Phil Westmoreland – and the twin-guitar approach ...
Original Cultures (Germany),
...
Atlantic/ARC (UK), 1969. (reissue)
Yusef Lateef's Detroit is a mighty funky one – a great summation of all the soulful sounds he'd crafted on previous records, but with a full groove that really points the way towards the 70s! Lateef's reeds are still the main attraction – great solos on tenor and flute – but ...
Souffle Continu (France),
...
Souffle Continu (France),
...
Groove Merchant/Mr Bongo (UK), 1975. (reissue)
Excellent work by Lonnie Smith – a free-flowing album of long jazzy grooves that's kind of an extension of his Blue Note albums, touched with more of the electricity of his 70s playing! There's some killer rhythms on the album – courtesy of drummers Jamey Hudad and Ben Riley, and ...
Groove Merchant/Mr Bongo (UK), 1975.
Excellent work by Lonnie Smith – a free-flowing album of long jazzy grooves that's kind of an extension of his Blue Note albums, touched with more of the electricity of his 70s playing! There's some killer rhythms on the album – courtesy of drummers Jamey Hudad and Ben Riley, and ...
New Jazz/Craft, 1961. (reissue)
A haunting and unusual batch of tracks from bassist Ron Carter – working here with a group that includes spiritual modernists Eric Dolphy on reeds and Mal Waldron on piano – both players who really add a lot to the set! In a way, the album's more like Dolphy's own work as a leader from ...
A&M/Future Days, 1970. (reissue)
One of our favorite-ever keyboard albums – a rare lost session from pianist Pete Jolly – one of his only electric dates, and a completely improvised set of grooves! Pete plays electric piano, organ, and even a bit of musette – jamming in the studio with help from Chuck Berhofer ...
Milestone/Craft, 1972. (reissue)
One of Johnny Lytle's most righteous albums ever – a soaring, spacious set that's almost to Lytle's career what Gears was to Johnny Hammond's! Of course, Lytle's groove here is different – no Mizell production, and a mellower feel overall – but the unbridled space of 70s ...
Arashi (Akira Sakata/Johan Berthling/Paal Nilssen Love)
Jikan
PNL (Norway), 2019.
Legendary Japanese reedman Akira Sakata joins younger improvisers Johan Berthling on bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums and percussion – and really seems to shape their performance, given the results of the record! Sakata blows both alto sax and bass clarinet – always with that rich, ...
Strata East/Heavenly Sweetness (France), 1974. (reissue)
A beautiful session of spiritual soul jazz – and one of the rarer albums on the legendary Strata East label! The obscure combo is led by drummer/percussionist John Betsch – and instrumentation includes guitar, piano, electric piano, and reeds – all used with plenty of warm ...
Steeplechase (Denmark),
...
RCA/Klimt (Italy), 1971. (reissue)
LP ...
About April 1, 2024
In the early 70s, pianist Chris McGregor was one of the leading lights of the British jazz scene – an expatriot South African living in London, whose work with the legendary group The Blue Notes was steeped in an African rhythmic traditions! This seminal work from 1971 shows how much ...
Bash Village (UK), 2023. 2LP
A stunning set from saxophonist Jowee Omicil – dedicated to a slave uprising in 18th Century Haiti, but served up with a righteous vibe that's very progressive and 70s overall! The music is spiritual, but also very loose and avant – as Omicil switches between woodwinds and trumpet, and ...
Bash Village (UK), 2024.
A stunning set from saxophonist Jowee Omicil – dedicated to a slave uprising in 18th Century Haiti, but served up with a righteous vibe that's very progressive and 70s overall! The music is spiritual, but also very loose and avant – as Omicil switches between woodwinds and trumpet, and ...
WHP (Italy), 2LP
LP ...
About April 1, 2024
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WHP (Italy),
LP ...
About April 1, 2024
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Verve/Big Pink (South Korea), 1968.
A cool little album from Joe Beck – very different than most of his other work! Although Beck's best known for his guitar work on funky 70s jazz records, this early album has him working in a mixture of rock, jazz, and folk styles – all cast in the hipster mode of Verve's Forecast ...
Bellaphon/Kray (Germany), 1977.
Very cool work from Psi – a hip 70s German group who were partly fusion, partly prog – in that special sort of blend shared by a rare few contemporaries – such as Embryo, Perigeo, or Zzebra! As with all three of those groups, the musicians here are clearly schooled in jazz, but ...
Denon/We Want Sounds (UK), 1981. (reissue)
A really striking solo piano session by the richly talented Fumio Itabashi – a pianist with a fluid, open feel on the keys – one that charges a session like this with the same sort of energy you'd expect from a trio album! In a way, Fumio's style would almost be held back by bass and ...
Perfect Toy (Germany),
...
Blue Note, 1964. (reissue)
The pinnacle of Blue Note's "new thing" era! This amazing album was led by drummer Tony Williams (then just a wee lad, playing with Miles Davis, in his legendary 60s quintet) – but it's more of a "roundtable" session that features equal contributions by some of Blue Note's ...
Blue Note, 1963. (reissue)
A bit less well-known than some of the real Horace Silver classics on Blue Note – but an incredible record that shows the Silver Quintet at all its lyrical best! The record is a masterpiece of original voicings from Horace – not just in the unique tunes he penned for the set, but also ...
Red River, 2015. 2LP
The title certainly gets it right – as the great keyboardist Bob Baldwin turns over some sweet mellow takes on the classic music of Stevie Wonder! Bob's the mainman at the helm for most of the record – working on Fender Rhodes, piano, and other keyboards – and even vocalizing ...
Red (Italy),
LP ...
About April 5, 2024
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Vault/Friday Music, 1966. (reissue)
A beautiful set of modal jazz tracks – recorded by the great LA pianist Jack Wilson with a young Roy Ayers! The set is amazing, and features haunting piano and vibes interplay between Ayers and Wilson – in a style that could best be summed up as LA modern modal, but which is also ...
Concord, 2024. 2LP
Keyon Harrold continues his rise from standard jazz into the realm of soulful superstar – working here with a great array of guests, and also creating a sound that's a fantastic blend of his own work on trumpet and some larger currents of soul and R&B! At some level, the record's almost ...
Atak (Takuya Kuroda)
Zazu
Atak (Japan),
...
Ahmed (Pat Thomas/Antonin Gerbal/Joel Grip/Seymour Wright)
Wood Blues
Astral Spirits, 2024. 2LP
...
Contemporary/Craft, 1960. (reissue)
A key moment in the west coast harbop scene – and one of the greatest early records from saxophonist Harold Land! The group's a really striking one – with the unique Dupree Bolton on trumpet, a great player that we really only know from this set – plus Herbie Lewis on bass, Frank ...
Steeplechase (Denmark), 1979. (reissue)
An excellent trio set, from a time when the piano of Duke Jordan was really getting some great exposure on record! The trio features Sam Jones on bass and Al Foster on drums – on titles that include "Love Train", "Dig", "Dancer's Call", and "Out Of ...
Steeplechase (Denmark),
...
Steeplechase (Denmark),
...
Somethin Cool (Japan), 2022.
Pianist Tsuyoshi Yamamoto gave us some sublime records in the 70s on the Three Blind Mice label from Japan – and he really continues the spirit of those records here, on a set of tracks that demonstrate that, if anything, his sense of space and timing have gotten even more amazing as the ...
Somethin Cool (Japan), 2022.
Pianist Tsuyoshi Yamamoto gave us some sublime records in the 70s on the Three Blind Mice label from Japan – and he really continues the spirit of those records here, on a set of tracks that demonstrate that, if anything, his sense of space and timing have gotten even more amazing as the ...
Toshiyuki Honda & Soichi Noriki
Hon Nori
Pit Inn (Japan),
...
Argo/Universal (Japan), Early 1960s.
Jamal's recorded here live at the Blackhawk in San Francisco – a club that always gave a warm welcome to pianists of any nature. The trio features Israel Crosby on bass and Vernell Fournier on drums – and tracks include Jamal's own "Night Mist Blues", plus "The Best ...
Argo/Universal (Japan), 1961.
A live set – one of many fine ones that Jamal recorded for Argo during the early 60s – recorded at his own Alhambra Club in Chicago, with the classic trio that included Israel Crosby on bass and Vernell Fournier on drums. Tracks are light and lively – and very Jamal – and ...
Argo/Universal (Japan), 1961.
Not just a wonderful record for the music, but also for the classic cover image too – a photo of Ahmad Jamal's righteous night club The Alhambra – an Eastern-themed spot on Chicago's Michigan Ave, where Jamal made some incredible music for a few short years! Jamal was one of the few ...