Really great vocal work from legendary underground figure Brion Gysin – best known as a poet, but also a key European connection for the American beats – and a frequent partner in the language experiments by William S Burroughs! Here, Gysin mixes his words in both singing and spoken styles – a bit more of the former than some of his recordings with avant jazz musicians – and hits a groove that bubbles over with all sorts of cool funky touches that often recall the vibe of the Ze Records material from the French scene of the early 80s. Ramuntcho Matta handles production and the main creative direction of the music – and opens the door to work from Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Lizzy Mercier Descloux and Caroline Loeb on vocals, and Yann Le Ker on bass and guitar,. Titles include "Sham Pain", "Junk", "Kick (discomix)", "Stop Smoking", and "Baboon". LP also features the unreleased tracks "Kick (alt 7" mix)" and "Kick (alt 7" inst)" – plus "All Those Years", "VVV", and "Stop Smoking (alt mix)". LP, Vinyl record album

The birth of new sounds on the New York scene of the 60s – an important early recording that features the team of Prince Lasha on flute and Sonny Simmons on alto – with great contributions from Don Cherry on trumpet and Clifford Jordan on tenor! The work is some of Jordan's most spiritual for the time – and the long tracks on the album spin out with a vibe that's looser and freer than some of the other Lasha/Simmons material of the period – almost with an echo of the loft jazz generation to come, but with more of the rhythmic focus of the work in Jordan's Dolphy Series recordings. Other musicians include Fred Lyman on flugelhorn, Charles Moffett on drums, and both Orville Harrison and Bill Wood on bass – and titles include "Lost Generation", "The Trane", and "Prelude To Bird". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest records ever from Japanese drummer Masahiko Togashi – a rare European session that features the talents of Don Cherry on trumpet and Charlie Haden on bass! The session's one of Cherry's most compelling performances from the time – a really loose and free date that could have easily been recorded a decade before – yet which also seems to have that new sense of warmth and spiritualism that Don brought to his best experiments in the 70s. And Togashi really brings this spiritual, soulful quality to the proceedings – using percussion in earthy and subtle ways that really let Haden's basslines come forward too! Titles include "Rain", "Song Of Soil", "June", "Oasis", and "Words Of Wind (parts 1 & 2)". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge 2CD set – one that features important European work that saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded with trumpeter Don Cherry! CD1 brings together six tracks from Albert Ayler's Hilversum Radio sessions from 1964 – plus an additional three tracks recorded in Denmark a few months earlier! The first six titles are a famous performance by a famous group set loose on a European tour in 1964 – Ayler on tenor, Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murry on drums – recorded in The Netherlands for a small audience in a Dutch radio studio! The setting is a wonderful one – a mix of the live freedoms that would really let Ayler stretch out – especially when playing overseas – but recorded with the clarity of some of his studio albums for ESP – that sharp-edged sound that really highlights the groundbreaking style of his playing! The rest of the group here is equally great, and Murray is completely freed up from rhythm at points, to fly beautifully with the rest – on titles that include "Angels", "CAC", "Infant Happiness", "Ghosts", and "No Name". The same group performs on the final three tracks – recorded in Copenhagen for Danish Radio, with an equally great level of clarity – on "Saints", "Spirits", and "Vibrations". The interplay between Ayler and Cherry is especially great – echoing the latter's material with Ornette Coleman, but with a different sort of edge! CD2 features amazing live material from 1964 – work that was recorded at the Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, right around the same time that Albert Ayler recorded his album for Debut Records – and a set that has his quartet in even more firey formation overall! The tracks are long, and Ayler is completely unbridled – at a level that really shows not only how much of a leader he was to the American avant underground, but what an inspiration he was to the European free scene too – who could only help but take a big cue from his work here on tenor! The group also features equally wonderful work from Don Cherry on cornet – sounding quite different than when with Ornette Coleman – plus bass from Gary Peacock, whose dark tones really set the mood – and drums from Sunny Murray, who is also at an explosive point in his career. The material is remastered wonderfully, with permission from Albert Ayler's estate – and titles include "Mothers", "Saints", "Vibrations", Spirits", "Children", and a shorter "Spirits". CD

A package without much in the way of notes, but which includes some really killer work from the great Don Cherry – some of his famous French recordings done for the BYG/Actuel label at the end of the 60s, and which really helped point the way towards all the directions he'd take in the 70s! The music is a strong bridge between the more avant styles he was recording at Blue Note, and some of the global experiments he was beginning to do overseas – served up here with help from Ed Blackwell and Okay Temiz on percussion, Johnny Dyani on bass, and Cherry on pocket trumpet, flute, piano, and other instruments. Titles include "Bamboo Night", "Blue Lake", "Amejelo", "East (parts 1 & 2)", "Orient (Part 1)", and "Smiling Faces Going Places". CD

A package without much in the way of notes, but which includes some really killer work from the great Don Cherry – some of his famous French recordings done for the BYG/Actuel label at the end of the 60s, and which really helped point the way towards all the directions he'd take in the 70s! The music is a strong bridge between the more avant styles he was recording at Blue Note, and some of the global experiments he was beginning to do overseas – served up here with help from Ed Blackwell and Okay Temiz on percussion, Johnny Dyani on bass, and Cherry on pocket trumpet, flute, piano, and other instruments. Titles include "Bamboo Night", "Blue Lake", "Amejelo", "East (parts 1 & 2)", "Orient (Part 1)", and "Smiling Faces Going Places". CD

A rare slice of work from trumpeter Don Cherry – music that's every bit as forward-thinking as his three classic 60s albums on Blue Note! The session is a live one, but the sound is quite strong – recorded up-close, and with great focus on Cherry's incredible horn work – as well as the efforts of the rest of the group, which includes Gato Barbieri on tenor, Karl Berger on vibes, Bo Stief on bass, and Aldo Romano on drums. There's a definite "new thing" vibe going on here – a style that's similar to some of Archie Shepp's work of the period, or that of some of Cherry's Blue Note contemporaries. Tracks are all long, and titles include "Complete Communion", "Neopolitan Suite", "Cocktail Piece", and "Free Improvisation Music Now". CD

Easily one of the most powerful albums ever cut by Don Cherry – a searing set of tracks done for Blue Note in the late 60s – and featuring some tremendous tenor work by Pharoah Sanders! There's a tightness and level of energy here that surpasses even Cherry's other excellent Blue Note sessions – a rawness that recalls the style forged often on key ESP albums of the 60s, but honed here into a slightly tighter mode. Sanders' horn is especially well-placed in the set – and pushes Cherry past the spacier notes of other recordings, in a way that unlocks fire from the years with Ornette – but which opens up into a much freer groove. The rest of the group includes Henry Grimes on bass and Ed Blackwell on drums – both a perfect match for the quartet – and titles include the 17 minute "Unite", plus "There Is A Bomb", "Awake Nu", "Taste Maker", and "The Thing". CD

The first album from this key group of Ornette Coleman alums – an all-star combo that features work from Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Dewey Redman on tenor, Charlie Haden on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums! The sound here is quite Ornette-inspired at times – with a definite late 70s harmelodic groove – but given the organic, acoustic nature of the lineup, the sound is almost more faithful to Coleman's vision than Ornette's records of the time. Haden and Blackwell are great together, as always – driving the tunes with a rhythmic force that Cherry and Redman can't help but carry through. Titles include "Handwoven", "Dewey's Tune", "Chairman Mao", "Next To The Quiet Stream", "Augmented", and "Old & New Dreams". CD

The second album by this wonderful world jazz ensemble – a trio featuring sitar, tabla, and vocals by Colin Wolcott; trumpet, melodica, and percussion by Cherry; and assorted percussion and voice from Nana Vasconcelos. The tracks are mostly atmospheric and exploratory, but work in a style that's better than other examples of this sort of session – and which have made the Codona records stand longer than some other world jazz sessions from the time. Titles include "Walking On Eggs", "Malinye", "Que Faser", "Drip Dry", and "Again & Again Again". LP, Vinyl record album

A really amazing package – the full performances that created the seminal album Our Man In Jazz – one of the most freewheeling recordings of Sonny Rollins! Sonny plays here in a great quartet that features Don Cherry on cornet, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and only three of the many tracks on the set were ever issued before! CD

A huge 2CD set – one that features important European work that saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded with trumpeter Don Cherry! CD1 brings together six tracks from Albert Ayler's Hilversum Radio sessions from 1964 – plus an additional three tracks recorded in Denmark a few months earlier! The first six titles are a famous performance by a famous group set loose on a European tour in 1964 – Ayler on tenor, Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murry on drums – recorded in The Netherlands for a small audience in a Dutch radio studio! The setting is a wonderful one – a mix of the live freedoms that would really let Ayler stretch out – especially when playing overseas – but recorded with the clarity of some of his studio albums for ESP – that sharp-edged sound that really highlights the groundbreaking style of his playing! The rest of the group here is equally great, and Murray is completely freed up from rhythm at points, to fly beautifully with the rest – on titles that include "Angels", "CAC", "Infant Happiness", "Ghosts", and "No Name". The same group performs on the final three tracks – recorded in Copenhagen for Danish Radio, with an equally great level of clarity – on "Saints", "Spirits", and "Vibrations". The interplay between Ayler and Cherry is especially great – echoing the latter's material with Ornette Coleman, but with a different sort of edge! CD2 features amazing live material from 1964 – work that was recorded at the Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, right around the same time that Albert Ayler recorded his album for Debut Records – and a set that has his quartet in even more firey formation overall! The tracks are long, and Ayler is completely unbridled – at a level that really shows not only how much of a leader he was to the American avant underground, but what an inspiration he was to the European free scene too – who could only help but take a big cue from his work here on tenor! The group also features equally wonderful work from Don Cherry on cornet – sounding quite different than when with Ornette Coleman – plus bass from Gary Peacock, whose dark tones really set the mood – and drums from Sunny Murray, who is also at an explosive point in his career. The material is remastered wonderfully, with permission from Albert Ayler's estate – and titles include "Mothers", "Saints", "Vibrations", Spirits", "Children", and a shorter "Spirits". CD

A really back to basics album from trumpeter Don Cherry – or maybe a set that goes back to basics that Don didn't even have, given that most folks initially heard him in the freewheeling group of Ornette Coleman! The album's straighter than his work with Ornette, and also different than his 70s experiments with world cultures and fusion – as the record has a tight, acoustic vibe – Cherry blowing these great solos on pocket trumpet, in the company of a swinging lineup that also features James Clay on tenor, Charlie Haden on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums! The lack of piano is definitely a nod to Don's roots, and there's certainly an open vibe to the record at times – but things are mostly straight and swinging, in a way that opens up another level in Cherry's long and varied career. Titles include "Art Deco", 'When Will The Blues Leave", "Body & Soul", "Bemsha Swing", "Maffy", "Folk Medley", "The Blessing", "Passing", "I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face", and "Compute". LP, Vinyl record album

Arguably the best of Cherry's albums for Blue Note – and a real masterpiece of soulful avant playing! The group features Cherry on cornet, Gato Barbieri on tenor (and he's incredible, by the way!), Henry Grimes on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums. Grimes and Blackwell are more than just timekeepers – and deliver a lot of the melody of the session, yet still never lose their sense of swing. Barbieri's fragile raw tone proves to be a good one to work with Cherry, even if there are a few touches of Ornette in his playing. The album's divided up into 2 long suites – "Complete Communion" and "Elephantasy" – both of which are excellent. A real treat – with no sloppiness, lots of fresh ideas, and a good sense of both freedom and control! Reissued here with 24-bit remastering! CD

Mindblowing music from the great Don Cherry – quite a statement, given how much fantastic sounds Cherry had already given us by this point in his career! In the years before this set, Don had worked in some very free, avant modes – and also explored a fair bit of global styles too – yet this set has this great electric vibe – one that mixes the freedom of Cherry's trumpet with spacey instrumentation and really great production – almost even funky at points! Players include Ricky Cherry on electric and acoustic piano, Charlie Haden on bass, Billy Higgins on drums, and Frank Lowe on tenor – and one cut has Bunchie Fox on electric bongos and Verna Gillis on voice. All tracks are nice and long – and titles include "Degi Degi", "Brown Rice", "Malkauns", and "Chenrezig". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare slice of work from trumpeter Don Cherry – music that's every bit as forward-thinking as his three classic 60s albums on Blue Note! The session is a live one, but the sound is quite strong – recorded up-close, and with great focus on Cherry's incredible horn work – as well as the efforts of the rest of the group, which includes Gato Barbieri on tenor, Karl Berger on vibes, Bo Stief on bass, and Aldo Romano on drums. There's a definite "new thing" vibe going on here – a style that's similar to some of Archie Shepp's work of the period, or that of some of Cherry's Blue Note contemporaries. Tracks are all long, and titles include "Complete Communion", "Dos E Diablo", "Cocktail Piece", and "Rememberance". CD

Incredible work from Don Cherry – a previously unreleased live date from the 60s, but every bit as great as any of his better-known records from the decade! The sound here is really amazing – a hip blend of Cherry's trumpet with tenor from Gato Barbieri and vibes from Karl Berger – working here in a piano-less setting that has all three players snaking together beautifully as the tunes unfold – freed up a bit to explore some really bold new territory, yet always held together with the same sense of inherent rhythm you'd find on Cherry's Blue Note albums from the late 60s. Rhythm is by Bo Stief on bass and Aldo Romano on drums – both players who really help the tunes take on some great structures – especially during the group's extended take on "Orfeo Negro", a number taken in very similar ways to Archie Shepp's Fire Music version of "Girl From Ipanema"! Other numbers are great too – and include "Elephantasy", "Spring Is Here", "Suite For Albert Ayler", and "Complete Communion", done in a 22 minute take. CD

One of the first truly important records from Don Cherry as a leader – and an amazingly well-crafted session that brings together ideas from his early years with Ornette, and expands them with some of the freedoms he was learning from the European scene! The record boasts a format and lineup that's quite unusual for Blue Note at the time – 2 side-long "suite" tracks, performed by a group that features Cherry on cornet, Pharoah Sanders on tenor and piccolo, Karl Berger on vibes and piano, Gato Barbieri on tenor, Ed Blackwell on drums, and both Jean-Francois Jenny- Clark and Henry Grimes on bass! There's a fair bit of room for creative improvising on the session, but the overall album's a bit more structured than contemporary free jazz outings – and clearly shows the mark of Cherry's interpolation of styles at the time. Two long suites are entitled "Symphony For Improvisers" and "Manhattan Cry" – with shorter passages that include "Nu Creative Love", "Infant Happiness", "Manhattan Cry", and "Lunatic". CD

One of two great records that Cherry cut for the Sonet label while working in Sweden. The album features Cherry in the company of Swedish players like Bernt Rosengren, Agneta Arnstrom, and Bengt Berger – all of whom play in a very world jazz vibe, adding in lots of strange percussion, gongs, pianos, and other percussive instruments to the mix. Cherry even vocalizes a bit on one track, and he plays no trumpet at all on the recording – which shows an even greater commitment to exploring new modes of expression than you might expect. Titles include "Tibet", "Moving Pictures For The Ear", "Love Train", and "Gamla Stan – The Old Town By Night". LP, Vinyl record album

Easily one of the most powerful albums ever cut by Don Cherry – a searing set of tracks done for Blue Note in the late 60s – and featuring some tremendous tenor work by Pharoah Sanders! There's a tightness and level of energy here that surpasses even Cherry's other excellent Blue Note sessions – a rawness that recalls the style forged often on key ESP albums of the 60s, but honed here into a slightly tighter mode. Sanders' horn is especially well-placed in the set – and pushes Cherry past the spacier notes of other recordings, in a way that unlocks fire from the years with Ornette – but which opens up into a much freer groove. The rest of the group includes Henry Grimes on bass and Ed Blackwell on drums – both a perfect match for the quartet – and titles include the 17 minute "Unite", plus "There Is A Bomb", "Awake Nu", "Taste Maker", and "The Thing". LP, Vinyl record album

Don Cherry gave many wonderful musical performances on the European scene in the 70s, including this one – a gem of a record that was thought to be lost for years, and finally gets released to the world at large! The set's a live collaboration with electronic musician Jean Schwarz – whose contributions here are nicely subtle, and never challenge the acoustic energy of the session, but instead augment it in all these really cool, unique ways – very different than most improvised music with electronics at the time. Cherry plays pocket trumpet and some great doussn gouni – in the company of an equally fantastic lineup that features JF Jenny Clark on bass, Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, and Michel Portal on saxes, bass clarinet, and bandoneon. Given all the elements, there's some very unique sounds going on here – a really amazing record that includes the tracks "Bells One", "Doussn Gouni", "Tribute To Ornette", "Bando", and "Berimbau". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful meeting of two major talents from the left end of jazz – recorded in the early 60's when both were working for Atlantic! Despite the "avant garde" title, this set is straighter than you'd expect – very much in the spirit of Coltrane's work for the label, but with perhaps some of the more angular styles that Cherry was laying down with Ornette Coleman at the time. The session has Coltrane joining Ornette's group of Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell – save for a few numbers that feature Percy Heath on bass instead of Haden. The set includes great readings of Ornette's "The Blessing", "The Invisible", and "Focus On Sanity", and Coltrane plays both soprano sax and tenor! LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful meeting of two major talents from the left end of jazz – recorded in the early 60's when both were working for Atlantic! Despite the "avant garde" title, this set is straighter than you'd expect – very much in the spirit of Coltrane's work for the label, but with perhaps some of the more angular styles that Cherry was laying down with Ornette Coleman at the time. The session has Coltrane joining Ornette's group of Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell – save for a few numbers that feature Percy Heath on bass instead of Haden. The set includes great readings of Ornette's "The Blessing", "The Invisible", and "Focus On Sanity", and Coltrane plays both soprano sax and tenor! CD

A great quintet performance with Don Cherry on trumpet, Henry Grimes on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – very similar to the Our Man In Jazz album! CD

... CD

A cheapo package, but some really great material! Side one features two long cuts recorded live – with Gato Barbieri on tenor, Don Cherry on trumpet, and Karl Berger on vibes – on "OCDC" and "Third Movement". Next is another live track – Albert Ayler's tenor on a version of "Ghosts" with Norman Howard on trumpet, Earle Henderson and Henry Grimes on basses, and Sonny Murray on drums. Last is a side-long take of "If Only We Knew" – led by John Handy on alto – with Michael Sampson on violin, George Tucker on bass, and Bobby Fuhlrodt on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing music from the great Don Cherry – quite a statement, given how much fantastic sounds Cherry had already given us by this point in his career! In the years before this set, Don had worked in some very free, avant modes – and also explored a fair bit of global styles too – yet this set has this great electric vibe – one that mixes the freedom of Cherry's trumpet with spacey instrumentation and really great production – almost even funky at points! Players include Ricky Cherry on electric and acoustic piano, Charlie Haden on bass, Billy Higgins on drums, and Frank Lowe on tenor – and one cut has Bunchie Fox on electric bongos and Verna Gillis on voice. All tracks are nice and long – and titles include "Degi Degi", "Brown Rice", "Malkauns", and "Chenrezig". CD

Arguably the best of Cherry's albums for Blue Note – and a real masterpiece of soulful avant playing! The group features Cherry on cornet, Gato Barbieri on tenor (and he's incredible, by the way!), Henry Grimes on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums. Grimes and Blackwell are more than just timekeepers – and deliver a lot of the melody of the session, yet still never lose their sense of swing. Barbieri's fragile raw tone proves to be a good one to work with Cherry, even if there are a few touches of Ornette in his playing. The album's divided up into 2 long suites – "Complete Communion" and "Elephantasy" – both of which are excellent. A real treat – with no sloppiness, lots of fresh ideas, and a good sense of both freedom and control! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Don Cherry's most hypnotic albums ever – a full album-length performance that features one of his first experiments with mixing jazz and global elements! The set was captured at the 1968 Berlin Jazz Festival – and mixes Cherry's amazing work on cornet, flute, and a myriad of world instruments with key contributions from European improvisers who include Eje Thelin on trombone, Bernt Rosengren on tenor and oboe, Karl Berger on vibes, Joachim Kuhn on piano and prepared piano, and Albert Mangelsdorf on trombone! There's even a bit of gamelon elements in some of the music, and Sonny Sharrock plays guitar too – and although free at times, the music comes together with an amazing sense of cohesion by the end – a vision that would inspire others to move into new territory in the decade to come. CD

One of Don Cherry's most hypnotic albums ever – a full album-length performance that features one of his first experiments with mixing jazz and global elements! The set was captured at the 1968 Berlin Jazz Festival – and mixes Cherry's amazing work on cornet, flute, and a myriad of world instruments with key contributions from European improvisers who include Eje Thelin on trombone, Bernt Rosengren on tenor and oboe, Karl Berger on vibes, Joachim Kuhn on piano and prepared piano, and Albert Mangelsdorf on trombone! There's even a bit of gamelon elements in some of the music, and Sonny Sharrock plays guitar too – and although free at times, the music comes together with an amazing sense of cohesion by the end – a vision that would inspire others to move into new territory in the decade to come. LP, Vinyl record album

Important 70s work from Don Cherry – one of the first albums to bring his overseas experiments to a larger US audience! The set builds nicely off of styles that Don forged earlier in France and Scandinavia – a freer style of music than his work with Ornette Coleman, and a richly organic groove that builds up strongly from the bottom, often with elements of world music settled in alongside the jazz – but there's also some funkier moments here too, a bit like the Brown Rice album, but looser overall! The groups on most numbers are relatively large and spiritual – almost like Alice Coltrane at times, but a bit more electric and funky at others – and players include Collin Walcott on sitar, Michael Brecker on saxes, Cliff Carter on keyboards, Lenny White and Tony Williams on drums, Lois Colin on harp, and Raphael Cruz on percussion. Cherry himself plays conch shells, bells, and flute in addition to his usual trumpet – and he even sings a bit on a few numbers, in a soulful, scatting sort of groove. Narada Michael Walden produced, and the whole set's got a very righteous feel – with tracks that include "Universal Mother", "Buddah's Blues", "Eagle Eye", "Mahakali", "Karmapa Chenno", "Surrender Rose", and "Journey Of Milarepa". LP, Vinyl record album

The third and final volume of Don Cherry's great performance at Cafe Montmartre from 1966 – and work that's even more far-reaching than the first two volumes! The album features two extended tracks – versions of "Complete Communion" and "Remembrance" – done in ways that mix core themes with freer solo moments, almost in a mini suite-like form! Players include Cherry on pocket trumpet, Karl Berger on vibes, Gato Barbieri on tenor, Alto Romano on drums, and Bo Stief on bass – and the music is right up there with Cherry's seminal 60s sides for Blue Note – every bit as bold and righteous as that material. CD

Don Cherry really breaks out here on his classic Mu sessions from France – using the new freedoms of post-68 Paris to explore themes at a level that would set the tone for generations to come! The album's very spare, and very improvised – with Cherry on pocket trumpet, piano, and wooden flute – plus a bit of percussion too – alongside drummer Ed Blackwell, who's equally unbridled – showing a huge evolution since the time both he and Don spent in the group of Ornette Coleman! There's a few echoes of the global elements that Cherry would later embrace more strongly in the 70s – but the core energy here is mostly improvised jazz, handled at a level that really makes a lot better use of the freedom than some of Don's contemporaries. Titles on this second part include "Bamboo Night", "The Mysticism Of My Sound", "Psycho Drama", "Smiling Faces Going Places", "Teo Teo Can", and "Dollar Brand/Spontaneous Composing/Exert Man On The Moon". LP, Vinyl record album

Later work from trumpeter Don Cherry – and a great a showcase for the globe's worth of musical influences Cherry picked up over the years! Features Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, melodica, and vocals, plus contributions from Ed Blackwell on drums, Carlos Ward on alto sax, Nana Vasconcelos on percussion , Bob Stewart on tuba, and Karl Berger on marimba. CD

Rare 70s work from Don Cherry, and one of the most perfect realizations of his organic music concept – a quartet session recorded for Italian broadcast, with long songs that have a very spun-out, meditative vibe! Cherry's on pocket trumpet, but is way more than a horn player – as his vocalizations and spirit really guide the whole proceedings – played by a quartet that features Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, Gian Piero Pramaggiore on guitar, and Moki on tanpura! As you can imagine from the mix of instruments, there's an earthy, organic vibe to the whole set – really special sounds that come together with a natural beauty that may well make the record one of Don's most spiritual performances of the 70s – and that's really saying a lot. Titles include "Koye", "Flute Song", "Dissolution", "Nana's Solo", "Om Shanti Om", Luna Turca", and "Chenrezig". LP, Vinyl record album

Early 70s greatness from Don Cherry – a double album's worth of profoundly spiritual soundscapes paired with lots of weird effects – and a very laidback groove overall! Tracks are written by Cherry, Terry Riley, Pharoah Sanders, and Nana Vasconcelos – and include performances by Don on trumpet, voice, and harmonium. Lots of cool percussion elements by the group, with some tabla and other Indian instrumentation. Titles include "Elixir", "Relativity Suite (Parts 1 & 2)", "Terry's Tune", "Hope", "The Creator Has a Master Plan", and "Resa". CD

One of the first truly important records from Don Cherry as a leader – and an amazingly well-crafted session that brings together ideas from his early years with Ornette, and expands them with some of the freedoms he was learning from the European scene! The record boasts a format and lineup that's quite unusual for Blue Note at the time – 2 side-long "suite" tracks, performed by a group that features Cherry on cornet, Pharoah Sanders on tenor and piccolo, Karl Berger on vibes and piano, Gato Barbieri on tenor, Ed Blackwell on drums, and both Jean-Francois Jenny- Clark and Henry Grimes on bass! There's a fair bit of room for creative improvising on the session, but the overall album's a bit more structured than contemporary free jazz outings – and clearly shows the mark of Cherry's interpolation of styles at the time. Two long suites are entitled "Symphony For Improvisers" and "Manhattan Cry" – with shorter passages that include "Nu Creative Love", "Infant Happiness", "Manhattan Cry", and "Lunatic". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible performance from the great Don Cherry – one that's maybe the most perfect summation we've ever heard of his ability to embrace a globe's worth of influences and make them his own! The set was recorded live at a French jazz festival in 1972, and it has a very compelling group known as the New Researches Ensemble – a lineup that includes Nana Vasconcelos on percussion and berimbau, Christer Bothen on ngoni and piano, Dodou Gouirand on soprano and alto, and Moki Cherry on tanpura – all working in a larger stage setting designed by Moki, with puppet theater as well! The most striking thing might well be the vocals – much more prominent here than on other Cherry recordings, and very soulful as well – blended with jazz expressions and global instrumentation, with a vibe that's almost like some of the best work on the Saravah label during the period. The whole thing's fantastic – a great lost chapter of a musician whose well never seems to run dry – with titles that include "Resa", "Butterfly Friend", "Elixir", "Amazwe", "Witchi Tai To", "Ganesh", "North Brazilian Ceremonial Hymn", and "Dha Dhin Na Dha Tin Na". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful live performance from the same trio that delivered the Third World Underground album for Trio Records in 1972 – a set done with a similar mix of earthy, global elements as that gem – delivered by Carlos Ward on alto and flute, Dollar Brand on piano and flute, and Don Cherry on flute, trumpet, and percussion! There's a style here that's almost an extension of the energy of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – especially in the way the musicians mix up instruments – combined with some of the more globally-sensitive elements of Don Cherry's work in Sweden, which clearly brings out qualities in Brand and Ward that are different than their already-great work together on other albums. Titles include "African Session", "Air", "Berimbau", "Waya Wa Egoli", "Cherry", and "Bra Joe From Kilimanjaro". CD

The first album from this key group of Ornette Coleman alums – an all-star combo that features work from Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Dewey Redman on tenor, Charlie Haden on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums! The sound here is quite Ornette-inspired at times – with a definite late 70s harmelodic groove – but given the organic, acoustic nature of the lineup, the sound is almost more faithful to Coleman's vision than Ornette's records of the time. Haden and Blackwell are great together, as always – driving the tunes with a rhythmic force that Cherry and Redman can't help but carry through. Titles include "Handwoven", "Dewey's Tune", "Chairman Mao", "Next To The Quiet Stream", "Augmented", and "Old & New Dreams". CD

One of the most successful jazz-meets-modern classical albums we've ever heard – thanks largely to the supreme talents of Don Cherry! Cherry leads the large New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra – which includes a large lineup of European free jazz musicians, with Peter Brotzmann, Tomasz Stanko, Manfred Schoof, Kenny Wheeler, Gunter Hampel, Willem Breuker, and Albert Manglesdorf – all conducted by Polish modern composer Krzystof Penderecki. Cherry plays mostly solo on his own composition "Humus", and other tracks include "Sita Rama Encores" (also by Cherry), and Penderecki's "Actions For Free Jazz Orchestra". CD

Three groundbreaking albums from this ethereal ECM ensemble – a very hip trio that features Don Cherry, Nana Vasconcelos, and Collin Wolcott – all coming together in a beautiful blend of jazz, world music, and a touch of ECM atmospherics! The instrumentation is quite compelling with Cherry on trumpet, flutes, organ, and doussn'gouni; Vasconcelos on berimbau, cuica, talking drum, and percussion; and Wolcott on sitar, tabla, dulcimer, and percussion – all instruments that are used sparely, often away from their original cultural context, in ways that unlock new sounds and new meanings in the hands of the trio! The record is quite open and airy at points – really resonating in that sweet ECM style of production, which almost seems to build a new sense of majesty out of the simplest acoustic elements. 3CD set features each individual album, plus new notes – and titles include "Like That Of Sky", "Codona", "Mumakata", "Drip Dry", "Walking On Eggs", "Goshakabuchi", "Clicky Clacky", "Trayra Boia", "Lullaby", "Travel By Night", and "Inner Organs". CD

One of a handful of documents from the late 50s of an early incarnation of Ornette's group, that still featured piano, before he decided to pursue the more limitless possibilities of a keyless harmelodic group. Paul Bley joins Ornette, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins in this seminal recording, which offers an altogether different perspective on Coleman's formative years developing the free concept. 4 numbers in all: "Klactoveesedstene", "I Remember Harlem", "The Blessing" and "Free". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful meeting of two major talents from the left end of jazz – recorded in the early 60's when both were working for Atlantic! Despite the "avant garde" title, this set is straighter than you'd expect – very much in the spirit of Coltrane's work for the label, but with perhaps some of the more angular styles that Cherry was laying down with Ornette Coleman at the time. The session has Coltrane joining Ornette's group of Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell – save for a few numbers that feature Percy Heath on bass instead of Haden. The set includes great readings of Ornette's "The Blessing", "The Invisible", and "Focus On Sanity", and Coltrane plays both soprano sax and tenor! CD

The birth of new sounds on the New York scene of the 60s – an important early recording that features the team of Prince Lasha on flute and Sonny Simmons on alto – with great contributions from Don Cherry on trumpet and Clifford Jordan on tenor! The work is some of Jordan's most spiritual for the time – and the long tracks on the album spin out with a vibe that's looser and freer than some of the other Lasha/Simmons material of the period – almost with an echo of the loft jazz generation to come, but with more of the rhythmic focus of the work in Jordan's Dolphy Series recordings. Other musicians include Fred Lyman on flugelhorn, Charles Moffett on drums, and both Orville Harrison and Bill Wood on bass – and titles include "Lost Generation", "The Trane", and "Prelude To Bird". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest groups of the second generation of ECM – a post-Ornette Coleman quartet that features Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Ed Blackwell – all exploring space in a way that's quite different than their work with Ornette! The sound here is much freer, and atmospheric – in keeping with Cherry's work of the 70s, and the overall ECM sound of the time – and although unified, there's less of an emphasis on group dynamics than in the Coleman years, and more of a recognition of the role of the individual. Titles include unique reworkings of Ornette's "Lonely Woman" and "Open Or Close" – plus Blackwell's "Togo", Cherry's "Guinea", Redman's "Orbit Of La-Ba", and Charlie Haden's "Song For The Whales". LP, Vinyl record album

With Billy Higgins on drums. CD

One of the greatest records ever from Japanese drummer Masahiko Togashi – a rare European session that features the talents of Don Cherry on trumpet and Charlie Haden on bass! The session's one of Cherry's most compelling performances from the time – a really loose and free date that could have easily been recorded a decade before – yet which also seems to have that new sense of warmth and spiritualism that Don brought to his best experiments in the 70s. And Togashi really brings this spiritual, soulful quality to the proceedings – using percussion in earthy and subtle ways that really let Haden's basslines come forward too! Titles include "Rain", "Song Of Soil", "June", "Oasis", and "Words Of Wind (parts 1 & 2)". CD

Don Cherry really breaks out here on his classic Mu sessions from France – using the new freedoms of post-68 Paris to explore themes at a level that would set the tone for generations to come! The album's very spare, and very improvised – with Cherry on pocket trumpet, piano, and wooden flute – plus a bit of percussion too – alongside drummer Ed Blackwell, who's equally unbridled – showing a huge evolution since the time both he and Don spent in the group of Ornette Coleman! There's a few echoes of the global elements that Cherry would later embrace more strongly in the 70s – but the core energy here is mostly improvised jazz, handled at a level that really makes a lot better use of the freedom than some of Don's contemporaries. Titles include "Total Vibration", "Sun Of The East", "Brilliant Action", "Terrestrial Beings", "Bamboo Night", "The Mysticism Of My Sound", "Psycho Drama", "Smiling Faces Going Places", "Teo Teo Can", and "Dollar Brand/Spontaneous Composing/Exert Man On The Moon". CD

Here's a summer house we'd really like to visit on our next vacation – a legendary spot in Sweden, where Don Cherry created freely with some of the hippest players on the local scene in 1968! The tracks here were all recorded for later commercial release, which never ended up happening – and they represent a key bridge in Cherry's career between his important American work of the mid 60s, and his growing global consciousness to come – maybe a first chapter in the sound that would become the Organic Music Society! The set features work from an array of musicians that includes Cherry on pocket trumpet and flute, Bernt Rosengren on tenor and flute, Gunnar Lindqvist on reeds, Tommy Koverhult on tenor and a variety of flutes, Jacques Thollot and Leif Wennerstrom on drums, Torbjorn Hultcrantz and Kent Carter on bass, and percussion from Bulent Ates – plus other members of the group! There's no vocals, but there's a strong sense of rhythmic cohesion throughout – freewheeling jazz, but not entirely free either – and filled with a global inspiration that makes the whole thing come off with an organic sense of beauty. Titles include "The Machine Age", "Sir Charles Brackeen A", "Mao", "Samba", "Plotslight", and "Human". LP, Vinyl record album

The great Dollar Brand is a wonderful pianist, no matter what the setting – but he seems especially great when in collaboration with other contemporary giants – which is definitely the case here in a superb live performance with trumpeter Don Cherry from the early 70s! As you'll guess from he cover, Don's in the throes of his globally expansive style on the performance – and there's this majesty to the music that's really wonderful – sounds that are organic, yet which quickly grow from little sprouts to a powerful force in spiritual music – with Brand on additional flute, alongside Johnny Dyani on bass and Nana Vasconcelos on berimbau and percussion. All players vocalize slightly at points, and the set spins out with a great sense of spontaneous imagination and creativity – on titles that include "Kalahari", "Blues For America", "The Pilgrim", "Bra Joe From Kilimanjaro", "Cherry", and "Waya Wa Egoli". LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing music for the Alejandro Jodorowsky film The Holy Mountain – even more compelling and complex than his sounds for El Topo! The score is a wonderful mix of earthy, organic elements and a few more composed and equally groovy parts – handled by Jodorowsky in collaboration with trumpeter Don Cherry and pop producer/arranger Ron Frangipane! Some of the work has the hypnotic blend of global elements you'll find in Cherry's recordings of the time – particularly his groundbreaking early 70s work in Sweden – and although Frangipane brings in some bigger, fuller charts, he always does so with a sense of irony, and this undercurrent of darkness that continues to link his sounds with those of Cherry. The double-length score is a wonder throughout – maybe Jodorowsky's highest musical moment – and titles include "Psychedelic Weapons", "Rainbow Room", "Alchemical Room", "Mattresses Masks & Pearls", "City Of Freedom", "Starfish", and "Violence Of The Lambs". LP, Vinyl record album

With Mike Noch on drums. CD

A live trio side recorded at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, in July 1989, with Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell. 8 numbers in all: "The Sphinx", "Art Deco", "Happy House", "Lonely Woman", "Mopti", "The Blessing", "When Will The Blues Leave" and "Law Years". CD

One jazz legend pays tribute to another – as percussionist Kahil El Zabar leads his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble through a set of tracks that really take on the wide-spanning legacy of the great Don Cherry – from his early years with Ornette Coleman, to his European world jazz experiments, to his enduring sonic creations over the years! Kahil is every bit as much of a musical experimentalist as Cherry – and his leadership here is perfect – pulling together contributions from Corey Wilkes on trumpet, David Ornette Cherry on piano, Alex Harding on baritone, and Dwight Trible on voice – all players who also pick up percussion and other instruments, in the best Cherry tradition. Kahil handles a wide array of percussion, including balafon and kalimba – and also adds some of his great vocalizations to the proceedings – in a set of tracks that includes "Degi Degi", "Sketches Of A Love Supreme", "Lonely Woman", "Harvest Time", "Spirit Gatherer", "Holy Man", and "Evocation". CD

A package that looks like a tape box, and which includes a whole host of never-heard tracks from the great Glenda Collins – a stunning female singer who worked with UK production genius Joe Meek back in the 60s! Glenda recorded a few key tracks that were issued as singles – soaring numbers that take her magnificent vocal approach and give it all the cool, crisp, electric touches that made Meek's production so great – touches that are given plenty of space here to roam around, as the box features all sorts of studio outtakes, alternates, backing tracks, and more – almost giving Collins the sort of treatment that the Beach Boys have gotten with some of the box sets that highlight all the cool variations of Brian Wilson's work in the studio. The set features 64 tracks in all – titles that include "I Lost My Heart At The Fairground", "Baby It Hurts", "Feel So Good", "Lollipop", "Thou Shall Not Steal", "Been Invited To A Party", "It's Hard To Believe It", "Don't Let It Rain On Sunday", and lots lots more – including jingles, French tracks, and more – all with very copious notes on the material. CD

Drummer Hamid Drake has appeared on countless records over the years – even some as spare as duo improvisation sessions – yet this album is a long-overdue first solo effort from Drake, and one that allows us to hear his sensitive touch on the kit even more than before! Drake's always been a very musical percussionist – able to get all sorts of sounds out of a simple drum kit, in ways that almost feel as melodic as they do rhythmic – not in any sort of Krupa-like style, as Hamid's definitely a free improviser – but with a warmth and understanding of these familiar elements, unlocked in a really personal way! That's the approach used here on all the tracks – a loving set of dedications dedicated to contemporaries who include Don Cherry, Milford Graves, Paul Lovens, Fred Anderson, Adam Rudolph, and others. CD

Key work as a leader from bassist Johnny Dyani – one of his most soulful, spiritual outings ever – and a record dedicated to the important South African political prisoner Stephen Biko! There's a sense of flow and rhythmic focus here that's wonderful – as Dyani comes together with a tremendous quartet that features Don Cherry on cornet, Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, and Makaya Ntshoko on drums – players that are joined as one in meaning and message as they make their way through the original Dyani compositions on the set. The album features a wonderful extended tune, running for all of side two, entitled "Jo'Burg–New York" – a musical journey that's worth the price of the album alone – and the set also features a number of great shorter tunes that include "Wish You Sunshine", "Song For Biko", and "Confession of Moods" LP, Vinyl record album

A group that's not really folk, but who definitely have a special magic of their own – a collective ensemble who played on the Italian scene of the 70s, and who bring together free improvisation with a range of other earthy and organic elements! There's definitely some global currents going on here – and at points, the record's not far from some of the Don Cherry experiments of this nature – especially on passages that are heavy on percussion elements. But the size of the ensemble really gives them a strong force once they get going – and the saxes and flutes are sometimes merged with use of voice – only conventionally singing on one more straight ahead track on the record. Most musicians are ones that we don't recognize from other jazz efforts of the time – but the group does include flute from Nicola Stilo, who later played with Chet Baker – plus soprano and alto from Giancarlo Maurino, tenor from Mario Fulci, and altos from Sandro Satta and Luciano De Bonis. Titles include "Inno Per L'Imperatore", "Grass Leaf Rag", "Alice Alice Che Piange E Che Ride", "Free Bop New Bop", and "Monkey". CD

A group that's not really folk, but who definitely have a special magic of their own – a collective ensemble who played on the Italian scene of the 70s, and who bring together free improvisation with a range of other earthy and organic elements! There's definitely some global currents going on here – and at points, the record's not far from some of the Don Cherry experiments of this nature – especially on passages that are heavy on percussion elements. But the size of the ensemble really gives them a strong force once they get going – and the saxes and flutes are sometimes merged with use of voice – only conventionally singing on one more straight ahead track on the record. Most musicians are ones that we don't recognize from other jazz efforts of the time – but the group does include flute from Nicola Stilo, who later played with Chet Baker – plus soprano and alto from Giancarlo Maurino, tenor from Mario Fulci, and altos from Sandro Satta and Luciano De Bonis. Titles include "Inno Per L'Imperatore", "Grass Leaf Rag", "Alice Alice Che Piange E Che Ride", "Free Bop New Bop", and "Monkey". LP, Vinyl record album