A wonderfully soulful session from percussionist Babatunde Lea – and a shining example of the warm spirits and cross-cultural experimentation going on in the Bay Area scene of the 70s! The record mixes 70s soul jazz with bits of funk, Latin jazz, and breezy west coast touches – making ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A dream of a record from the LA spiritual underground of the 70s – and one of the only records we've ever seen from reedman Gary Bias! The date's got a soulful depth that makes it one of the most compelling albums on the legendary Nimbus label – a rhythmic pulse that's often modal, and ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
The only album ever cut as a leader by tenor saxophonist Charles Brackeen during his early years – and a real standout in the catalog of the legendary Strata East label! The set's got an unusual history – in that it's part of the Dolphy Series, recorded before the label started by ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A great collection of work from the classic years of Cab Calloway – all material that was originally issued on 78rpm singles in the 30s, and brought together here as a full length LP during the 50s! The cover image alone is a fantastic representation of the uniqueness of Cab – but the ... (Vocalists) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Limited 180 gram pressing!)
Stanley Cowell —
Musa (180 gram pressing) ... LP Strata East/Pure Pleasure (UK), 1974. New Copy Gatefold (reissue)...
$39.9944.99
A solo piano set from Strata East mainman Stanley Cowell – but a record that's got enough soul and spirituality to rival a full group recording! Although working alone here, Cowell's touch on the keys is astounding – often flowing and highly rhythmic, with a pulsating sense of energy ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A lost bit of late Strata East – and an all-star session that never lets up! The album's a quartet effort – led by Stanley Cowell, but equally featuring participation from Billy Harper on tenor, Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – all soaring together on long tracks ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Limited edition 180 gram pressing – first time on vinyl!)
A great bit of work from the hip LA scene that centered around the Nimbus label at the end of the 70s – a collective who work together here with the same spiritual jazz modes you'd find on labels like Tribe or Strata East! The group features some bigger names from the scene, including some ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of the hardest to find records on Strata East, and one of the best – a darkly-crafted session of pure beauty, one that lives up to all the best promise of the label! The tracks are long, the sound is bold, and the whole thing moves at a pace that none of the bigger jazz labels were ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
An amazing session of spiritual soul jazz – and one of the rarest albums on Strata East! Shamek Farrah's soulful alto is matched with the free spiritual piano of Sonelius Smith, for a totally memorable session that virtually defines the essence of the Strata East sound! The music is free, ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Limited edition 180 gram pressing!)
Billy Harper/Stanley Cowell/Sonny Fortune/Reggie Workman/Billy Hrt —
Great Friends (180 gram pressing) ... LP Black & Blue/Pure Pleasure (UK), 1986. New Copy 2LP Gatefold ...
$54.9959.99
A spiritual soul jazz supergroup – featuring some of our favorite players of the Strata East 70s scene! This obscure recording was made in the mid 80s, but it's got the feel of the best 70s work by Harper, Fortune, and Cowell – a richly expressive session built around original ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(First time on vinyl – limited edition 180 gram pressing!)
We can never get enough of Eddie Harris – and a record like this is a great reason why! Despite all the many different settings Eddie worked in at Atlantic, he still always stayed true to his roots – and a record like this is a perfect example of that – no electric horn, no funk, ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
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 ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of the most classic albums on the Tribe Records label from Detroit – music that was too heavy for most of the world when it was issued in the 70s – but which has gone onto achieve legendary status over the years! Reedman Wendell Harrison leads the group in a set of soaring, ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Fantastic new music from Detroit reedman Wendell Harrison – working here with a renewed version of the Tribe Records scene, at a level that makes the album one of his best in many years! Wendell blows tenor and bass clarinet, and his group here is mostly younger, lesser-known players – ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Beautiful solo work from John Hicks – one of the few straight pianists that can hold our attention in a setting like this for so long – a record that's maybe a bit more conventional than some of the other releases on the Strata East label from the 70s, but equally filled with a sense of ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Limited edition 180 gram pressing – first time on vinyl!)
A genius bit of work from the legendary Weldon Irvine – a mightily righteous effort that more than lives up to its heady title and cover! After turning out 2 great albums on his own indie Nodlew label, Weldon really steps into greatness with this set – using the bigger budget of his ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Landmark early work from the legendary Weldon Irvine – recorded way back when he was first coming to fame with Nina Simone, but done as an obscure indie effort for his tiny Nodlew label! The set's a wicked batch of keyboard-heavy funk – at a level that's similar to some of the best ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of the most beautiful records to come out of the early 70s – a tremendous indie effort from a young Weldon Irvine! Irvine put this album together as sort of a musical "time capsule" of his generation – an effort to capture the era's thoughts, feelings, and emotions ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
An essential bit of 70s soul jazz – a real standout in both the catalogs of tenorist Clifford Jordan, and the Stata East label! This is one of those few records where every element is perfect, and all players rise together to a new level of expression – and we'd easily rank this one ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
An odd little album from tenorist Clifford Jordan – but a great one too, given the unique format! As the title implies, Cliff pays tribute to Leadbelly – handling a host of Huddie Ledbetter originals, but in a style that's kind of 60s soul jazz, with a bit of blues as well – one ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
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 ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of the first albums ever recorded by UK jazz singer Stacey Kent – the start of a great run of albums that would bring the vocalist great fame in the decade to come! The style here is nice and laidback – that strong commitment to reviving jazz vocal modes that made Kent such a ... (Vocalists) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A real corker from Machito – a set that's got a lot more bite and earthy fire than some of his other albums of the 50s – as you might be able to guess from the cover and the title! The record definitely lives up to the Afro-Cuban promise on the front – thanks to very hip ... (Latin) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
The only session as a leader from trumpeter Cal Massey – a big influence on soulful modernism in the 60s, but an artist who showed up more in the liner notes for records than he did in the studio! The record's a really unique one – and a set that crackles with the best sort of ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of the few albums issued as a leader by bassist Cecil McBee – and like all of the rest, a really amazing record that showcases the visionary talent that often made McBee such a key part of other folks' groups! The tracks are long and spiritual, but with slight avant leanings – and ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of the most righteous albums ever issued by the always-righteous Tribe Records label of Detroit – a really collective effort, one that features ensemble vocals and spiritual jazz – all pulled together by pianist Harold McKinney! The album showcases a group named Voices Of The ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A lost spiritual jazz classic from pianist Nate Morgan – maybe the musician's best-remembered moment, and for good reason too! The set's got this soaring, spiritual vibe that's much more early 70s than you'd guess from the date of recording – a post-Coltrane spirit with lots of modal ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A legendary album from the LA jazz underground of the 80s – one of a rare few sets recorded as a leader by the great pianist Nate Morgan! Morgan's something of a lost talent, but was a key part of the scene that was forming around Nimbus Records at the time – a great musician who has ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Fantastic work from the legendary Idris Muhammad – the funky drummer who first rose to fame making breakbeats with Lou Donaldson in the 60s, then recorded some hip soul-based records in the 70s – here really getting back to basics with a set of soulful, spiritual small combo jazz! The ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
The third volume in Strata East's Dolphy Series, and a hard to find recording by the great baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne! Although Payne had his roots in earlier bop material, by the time of this recording, he'd emerged as an outspoken modernist – although few labels would give him the ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A stunning little record from Pharoah Sanders – a double-length set that has all the soul and spirit of his Impulse Records classics, but with a very different vibe! There's a sense of focus here that's tremendous – as if Sanders has found a way to take the energy of his side-long ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A great group recording from pianist Horace Tapscott – recorded in LA in the early 80s, but done with all the righteousness and spirituality of his earlier albums! Tracks are long and exploratory, but also relatively lyrical too – stretching out with a style that's never too "outsi ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of the most ambitious albums ever from pianist Horace Tapscott – a double-length set that has him working with a large lineup of underground musicians from the 70s Los Angeles scene – all united in spirit and power as the Pan-African Peoples Arkestra! Tapscott's piano directs the ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Really beautiful work from pianist Horace Tapscott – working here in a mode that crosses some of the freer inclinations of his solo sessions for the Nimbus label with some of the deeper spiritual currents of his large group recordings of the time! The group's just a trio – with Sonship ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Limited edition 180 gram pressing!)
Horace Tapscott & The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra —
Call (180 gram pressing) ... LP Nimbus/Pure Pleasure (UK), 1978. New Copy (reissue)...
$39.9944.99
Large-group genius from the legendary Horace Tapscott – one of the few recordings of his groundbreaking Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra! The music here is totally righteous right from the start – even more searching and soaring than Tapscott's trio or solo work – thanks to help from ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Wonderful work from Leon Thomas – easily one of his greatest albums ever, and a set that was recorded at the same time he was working with Pharoah Sanders! Thomas really rose to fame on Sanders' classic "The Creator Has A Master Plan" – and this set really takes off from that ... (Vocalists) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
The first moment of genius from trumpeter Charles Tolliver – a set that wasn't originally issued on the Strata East label, but which really set the tone for all the genius to follow on Tolliver's label! At the time of the record, Charles was part of a whole new generation of hardboppers who ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
An overlooked gem from trumpeter Charles Tolliver – not as well known as his Strata East sessions with Music Inc, but equally great! The sound here is a bit different than some of Tolliver's other albums of the 70s – as the group features the guitar of Nathan Page in place of the usual ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of the standouts in a great 70s run of albums from trumpeter Charles Tolliver – standard-setting records for the spiritual jazz scene of the time – and maybe one of his most far-reaching records for the Strata East label! Toilliver's in very strong company – as the group on ... (Jazz) read moreLP, 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 ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Maybe the most righteous album ever from reedman Harold Vick – a crowning achievement of all his soulful years in jazz, cut as one of the key 70s releases on Strata East! Vick is fantastic here – light years ahead of his work as the funky tenorist on 60s albums by John Patton and Jack ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A great small club date from Ben Webster – different than some of his European concerts of his final years, in that this one was done at a lounge in Rhode Island, and maybe has a bit more bite and focus overall! The tracks are short, and Webster gets superb rhythm accompaniment from the trio ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Limited edition 180 gram pressing – first time on vinyl!)
Norman Williams & The One Mind Experience —
Bishop (180 gram pressing) ... LP Theresa/Pure Pleasure (UK), 1976. New Copy (reissue)...
$34.9944.99
A great little record from alto saxophonist Norman Williams – also known as The Bishop – and the first record on the mighty Theresa label too! The sound here is maybe a bit funkier than some of the other Theresa sessions of the late 70s – in part because there's some monstrous ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Spiritual sounds from Pamela Samiha Wise – a musician who was a bit late to the Tribe Records scene in Detroit, but who's really done a lot to carry on the vision of the music! You might know Wise from some of her recordings with Wendell Harrison, and Harrison is very much in full force here ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A killer little set from funky organist Lyman Woodard – an old bandmate of Dennis Coffey, and one of the standout stalwarts of the 70s Detroit jazz funk scene! The set features Lyman working in a live setting – grooving out over some mighty long tracks that blend jazz and soul together ... (Jazz) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
New recordings done for a contemporary film, but music that's got a very timeless vibe overall – sounds that really take us back to the glory days of Cuban music, with a quality that's very different than some of the bigger names that have gotten wider exposure in recent years! A number of ... (Latin) read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Limited edition 180 gram pressing – first time on vinyl!)