Rare music from this legendary Dutch free jazz collective – all pulled from the earliest years of the project, when the ICP group were every bit as important to improvised music as combos in the German and French scenes! The core players here are Misha Mengelberg on piano, Han Bennink on drums, and Willem Breuker on reeds – but with all ICP recordings, the "pool" is the most important part – as the lineup shifts fantastically, always in pursuit of new improvising possibilities – spontaneous creation amidst musicians who also include Manfred Schoof on cornet and flugelhorn, Theo Loevendie on soprano sax, Piet Noordijk on alto, Frederic Rzewski on electronics, and Willem Van Manen on trombone. Some moments have even more unusual instrumentation – steel drums, electrified viola, accordion, toy instruments, and amplified recorder – and throughout it all, the sense of unified group action and individual improvisation is tremendous. Most of the work on the CD has been unissued before – save for one track from the 53CD box ICP, and three more from a rare Dutch Jazz Scene LP box set from Radio Netherlands. 2CD set features 17 tracks in all – and titles include "Piano Distance", "Adebar Der Geheimnisvolle", "Jump Italiano", "Viet Cong", "Session No 1", "New Alto", "ICP 4 14 Write Your Own Part", "Stch Shuffle", "Siep", "Angels", and "Trammermusik". CD

Two early 70s recordings by pianist Marian McPartland. CD

A tremendous look at the early years of the legendary Joe McPhee – a set that's based around his classic Nation Time album, and which features other live material from the same time – including a Hat Hut album, and two CDs' worth of previously unissued work! The core album is legendary – a gritty set that features a mighty funky drummer, and some of the most soulful work that Joe ever recorded. Joe plays tenor and trumpet in sweet lineup that features bubbling organ, vamping rhythms, and some sweet modal elements mixed together in percussion, guitar, and Fender Rhodes. Titles include the hard wailing "Nation Time" – plus "Shakey Jake", an excellent 13 minute funk number – and the moodier "Scorpio's Dance". Next is the searing Black Magic Man album – an early release on the Hat Hut label, but recorded during the same December 1970 performance as Nation Time – almost showing the bolder, freer sound of the group – but still coming across with some surprising soulful elements too. The original album is expanded by the addition of the unreleased "Song For Lauren" alternate takes – and the core record includes "Black Magic Man", "Hymn Of The Dragon Kings", and "Song For Lauren". The next two CDs feature material recorded in 1969 and 1970 – at Vassar and in Poughkeepsie – with Joe and group working through some similar spiritual and soul jazz territory as on the Vassar CD issue from the same label. The music is heavy on elements you'd hear from the Nation Time album – Hammond, guitar, and even some electric bass and vibes – used in styles that run from soul jazz, to modal, to more experimental – all on very long tracks that have McPhee really stretching out on tenor and trumpet! Titles include "Cold Sweat", "Breakaway Theme", "Untitled", "Nation Time", "Sunshower", "Spring Street", and "Contemplation". All 4CDs come in very cool LP sleeves, in a slipcover box, a 60 page booklet of notes, photos, and information on the music! CD

Tremendous solo work from the great Joe McPhee – recorded alone at home during 2020, as you might guess from the title – but a set that has Joe being wonderfully expressive, in the very personal way that you'd know if you've ever seen him live in performance! McPhee mostly blows tenor, but he also speaks at points – even quoting some lines from Black Panther – and brings in some field recordings, and even makes sounds on water and a pie tin too – all with this mandate to be as fully expressive as possible, even in a situation of isolation – a beautiful testament to the artistic fire that has kept McPhee going as one of the most important improvisers in jazz over the decades! Titles include "Cuernavaca 79", "Goodbye Porky Pig Hat", "Self Portrait In Three Colors – Red, Black, & Green", "Reflection On Ida Lupino", and "Do You Still Love Me". CD

One of the most distinct early dates from reedman Charles McPherson – a unique "with strings" session recorded as a tribute to Billie Holiday – and with a style that shows off sides of McPherson's playing that wouldn't show up on other records for years to come! The album's got a beautifully understated quality – hip, adult arrangements by Ernie Wilkins – neither in his Basie-esque style of the early years, nor in any sort of slavish relationship to the Billie Holiday recordings of the 40s and the 50s either – which makes for a mode that just lets Charles flow with this wonderfully soulful tone on his alto – almost in a way that points towards some of Stanley Turrentine's music to come in such a setting. The core group features piano by Barry Harris, guitar by Earl Dunbar, bass by Sam Jones, and drums by Leroy Williams – plus larger backing by a string section – and titles include "Don't Explain", "Miss Brown To You", "Lover Come Back to Me", "Lover Man", and "God Bless the Child" – but all shaped beautifully and personally by McPherson! LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic unreleased work from the great Joe McPhee – material recorded around the same time as his legendary Nation Time set, and done with a similar blend of spiritual jazz and occasional funky undercurrents! This work shows McPhee to already be an amazing talent, even in the years before his wider reputation grew on record – and the work here is from a series of recordings in the Hudson River valley, where Joe was constantly creative, and very open to exploring new musical ideas! Two thirds of the set feature a version of the Contemporary Improvisational Ensemble – a group led by Joe on trumpet, tenor, and soprano saxophone, and who were clearly inspired by the later work of John Coltrane – with additional work on one group from Ernest Bostic on vibes, Tyrone Crabb on bass, and Bruce Thompson on drums – plus work in another group from Crabb and Thompson, plus Reggie Marks on tenor and flute. Titles from that group include long takes on "Afro Blue", "Naima", "Juju For John Coltrane", and "Black Is The Color" – plus two untitled "Improvisation" tracks. The last batch features slightly more soul-styled work – as McPhee's tenor works alongside the vocals of Octavius Graham – in a lineup that also has piano, drums, and electric bass – on versions of "I Don't Want Nobody" and "Funky Broadway", plus Joe's long original "Blues For The People". CD

The long-awaited (and much needed) reissue of Joe McPhee's first record – recorded at Holy Cross Monastery in New York in 1969, and originally only issued in a small number of copies. Even at this early stage, Joe's showing a strong musical vision, working in a style that moves off the New York avant scene of the 60s – but which also shows traces of the spiritual exploration to come in the 70s. Joe plays trumpet, pocket cornet, and tenor – and the rest of the group features Reggie Marks on saxes, Tyrone Crabb on bass, and Ernest Bostic on drums and vibes. Six months before that gig, the same group performed at Holy Cross – recorded, but never issued until now. This great 2CD set brings together the 1968 and 1969 recordings – for a package of 5 long tracks that include "New Spiritual No 1", "Underground Railroad", "Harriet", "E=MC2", and "Message From Denmark". CD

The title here is very apt – as this fantastic quartet seem to set a different kind of fire on every one of the CDs in the set – six different performances, recorded over the space of two months – in Paris, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Poland! The group should be well-known to lovers of improvised music from earlier Okka Disk recordings in the 90s – and the passage of two decades has only made them sharper and more intense – especially when the tenor and pocket trumpet of Joe McPhee joins the lineup of Ken Vandermark on reeds, Kent Kessler on bass, and Hamid Drake on drums. The set of recordings is dedicated to James Baldwin – which you might have guessed from the title – and the whole thing is a fitting tribute to the transformation of ideas about freedom and identity over the passage of time. CD

Classic Clyde McPhatter work from the post-Drifters years – 16 great Atlantic recordings! Tracks include "Thirty Days", "Treasure Of Love", "Just To Hold My Hand", "Come What May", "A Lover's Question", "You Went Back On Your Word", and "Deep Sea Ball". LP, Vinyl record album

A late 90s record, but one that we might easily put next to similar spiritual improv albums from the 70s – a fantastic meeting of both artists at Chicago's Empty Bottle – with Joe McPhee on pocket trumpet and tenor, and Hamid Drake on some amazing drums and percussion! Drake's wonderfully open, fluid sense of sound is a great match for McPhee here – really opening up a side of Joe's music in a way that's a bit different than some of his other recordings of the time, including his Okka Disk material – spirited, but never stressed – exploratory, yet always with a strong sense of direction. Titles include "Hate Crime Cries", "Cries & Whispers", "Mother Africa", and "Emancipation Proclamation". Very spare, but very moving – in the manner of some of the early work by the Art Ensemble of Chicago! CD

Very rare, very obscure material from this important free jazz trio of the German scene in the 70s – a set that features one long performance originally issued on the JG label, despite the FMP-like image on the cover – plus two more tracks from the same year that appear here for the first time ever! "Just For Altena" offers up the power trio at their best – very freewheeling piano from Fred Van Hove, drums from Han Bennink, and tenor from Peter Brotzmann – with intensity that may well surpass the Machine Gun years, and an understanding of each players strengths that means that there's almost no tentative moments at all in the improvisation! "Filet Americain" and "ICP No 17" are from earlier in 1971 – and showcase a different, more sonic side of the trio – some tones that are at the farther end of hearing, which ruminate then blossom into bolder statements, but still often with a very abstracted approach to each instrument. Great stuff – and every bit as essential as any of the better-known Brotzman recordings of the time! CD

A great live set from pianist Barry Harris – material recorded on the same date that gave us the excellent Live In Tokyo album from reedman Charles McPherson – but done in a very different way that shows that Barry's clearly the leader on these tracks! The rhythm duo is wonderful – the mighty Sam Jones on bass and Leroy Williams on drums – players who can crackle when Harris wants them to, yet also lay back and give Barry lots of spacious territory to work some incredibly deft, personal magic on the keys. The sound almost takes us back to the initial Harris recordings of the early 60s, but also has some of those colors that would flow even more freely in some of his sessions for the Japanese market – on titles that include "I'll Remember April", "Fukai Aijo", "A Soft Spot", "Round Midnight", and "Un Poco Loco". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest releases ever from the Okka Disk label – a legendary set that stands as a great testament to the global improvising scene that exploded in Chicago during the 90s! Back in the early years of FMP, nobody would have thought to use the name "Peter Brotzmann" and "Chicago" in the same context – but by the time of these recordings, the legendary reedman had been spending quite a bit of time in the Windy City – working strongly alongside that decade's fresh generation of improvisers, at a level that also helped Brotzmann discover new energy in his music too! The lineup here is great – both octet and tentet groups that operate in an improvising orchestra tradition – with players that include Ken Vandermark on tenor and bass clarinet, Mars Williams on tenor and alto, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Mats Gustafsson on baritone and fluteophone, Joe McPhee on pocket cornet and valve trombone, Fred Lonberg Holm on cello, Kent Kessler on bass, Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion, and Brotzmann himself on tenor, clarinet, and tarogato. The set features three different live recordings, and one long studio set recorded over two days – a fantastic collection of music. Titles include "Burning Spirit (For Kazuka Shiraishi)", "Other Brothers", "Old Bottles No Wine, "Aziz", "Foolish Infinity", "Immediate Music", "Makapoor", "Foolish Infinity", "Other Brothers" and "Divide By Zero". CD

A great live set from pianist Barry Harris – material recorded on the same date that gave us the excellent Live In Tokyo album from reedman Charles McPherson – but done in a very different way that shows that Barry's clearly the leader on these tracks! The rhythm duo is wonderful – the mighty Sam Jones on bass and Leroy Williams on drums – players who can crackle when Harris wants them to, yet also lay back and give Barry lots of spacious territory to work some incredibly deft, personal magic on the keys. The sound almost takes us back to the initial Harris recordings of the early 60s, but also has some of those colors that would flow even more freely in some of his sessions for the Japanese market – on titles that include "I'll Remember April", "Fukai Aijo", "A Soft Spot", "Round Midnight", and "Un Poco Loco". CD features four bonus tracks too – two versions of "Ornithology", plus "Like Someone In Love" and "Night In Tunisia", both nice and long! CD

Key moments in the career of Charles Mingus – all recorded during the crucial years of 1964 and 1965, and featuring the first-time release of a fair bit of live material too! The set represents the first full presentation of recordings that have appeared piecemeal on a handful of obscure releases – self-released records from Mingus himself – Town Hall, My Favorite Quintet, and Music Written For Monterey – all really expanded here with the full recordings of the tracks, and unreleased titles provided from the original tapes! Mingus was really on fire during these years – severed from most of his bigger label associations, and freely working on some of his most inventive ideas with various smaller groups of players – all fresh young talents who were key interpreters of Charles' ideas – including Johnny Coles and Lonnie Hillyer on trumpet, Jimmy Owens on trumpet and flugelhorn, Charles McPherson on alto sax, Clifford Jordan on tenor, Jaki Byard on piano, Eric Dolphy on alto, flute, and bass clarinet. The stalwart Dannie Richmond is on drums, and the sides represent some of Dolphy's last, and most important recordings on the planet – recordings done at Town Hall and in Amsterdam in April of 1964 – in addition to live material at Monterey in 1964 and 1965, in Minneapolis in May of 1965. Tracks are all quite long – some pushing the half-hour timing – and as with the best live Mingus, there's variations here that go way past any studio readings – really incredible solo flights that are still beautifully integrated with the ideas of the main group. Titles include "So Long Eric", "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress Then Blue Silk", "Mingus Piano Solo", "Bird Preamble", "Themeless Blues", "Copa City Titty", "A Lonely Day In Selma", "Cocktails For Two", "Praying With Eric", "Parkeriana", "ATFW", "Meditations On A Pair Of Wire Cutters", and "Meditations On Integration". 7CDs, limited edition, and with a great book of notes too! CD

A really unusual collection of work from the great Brook Benton – material that's much more obscure than you'd guess from the hits in the title – as it comes from two different periods in his career! CD1 features early demos that Brook did when he was an emerging songwriter – long before he became one of the key figures in country soul, but was already penning really great tunes – presented here in demo form, which led to some later recordings by Clyde McPhatter. These titles include "Ain't It Good", "I'll Stop Anything I'm Doing", "A Lover's Question", "You Can't Get Away From Me", "Completely", "Doggone Baby Doggone", and "One Love Too Many". CD2 features more obscure recordings from the mid 70s – some fresh tunes, some older tracks – all ones we've never heard in these takes. Titles include "Think Twice", "Let The Sun Come Out", "My True Confession", "Revenge", "So Many Ways", "Kiddio", "Hotel Happiness", and "Endlessly". CD

Seminal work from one of the greatest trumpeters of the postwar years – captured here right before his famous association with drummer Max Roach in the final years of his life! The set brings together everything that Clifford Brown recorded for both the Blue Note and Pacific Jazz labels – including sides done with Lou Donaldson as a co-leader, in the groups of drummer Art Blakey and trombonist JJ Johnson, and as as leader on his own. Includes some alternate takes as well! CD

Charles Mingus at Carnegie Hall – but playing here with relaxed and intimate feel that's not what you might expect from the staid setting! The original album features two long tracks – both done in more of a jam session mode than any other Charles Mingus recordings we can think of. Both numbers are Ellington classics – "C Jam Blues" and "Perdido" – showcasing Mingus' late fascination with the Duke, but in a way that still preserves all of the modern inventions of his own earlier work. As on much of the best Mingus albums from the time, there's a real focus on the strengths of the soloists here – players who include Roland Kirk on tenor and stritch, Hamiet Bluiett on baritone, Jon Faddis on trumpet, John Handy on alto and tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, and Don Pullen on piano – all of whom really play with some sharp edges and bold notes! This great expanded version features more very long tracks – over 70 minutes of unreleased music, with versions of "Celia", "Big Alice", "Fables Of Faubus", and "Peggy's Blue Skylight" – as well as Mingus' introduction of the music. CD

A complete collection Charles Mingus' classic recordings for the Candid label – far and away some of the best recordings he ever made, and some of the few studio sessions that really let him stretch out and do his thing! Players here are a firey lineup of young modernists that includes Eric Dolphy, Ted Curson, Charles McPherson, Booker Ervin, Paul Bley, Roy Eldridge, Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Knepper, Jo Jones and Dannie Richmond – all working here with Mingus on really long tracks that burst out with raw emotion, intense energy, and some really searing solo work! 17 tracks spread out over 4 LPs, with titles that include "Lock Em Up", "MDM", "Stormy Weather", "Folk Forms No 1", "Original Faubus Fables", "Bugs", "All The Things You Could Be If Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother", "Mysterious Blues", "Melody From The Drums", "Vasserlean" and "Wrap Your troubles In Dreams" LP, Vinyl record album

A huge run of music from this legendary psychedelic band – all served up here in a single set! First up is their Part 1 album – the initial uttering from the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – a group with a heady sound that definitely lives up to their name! There's less "pop art" going on here than just trippy psych – served up at a level that makes the group one of the best bigger label examples of the style at the time – and definitely a lot more edgey than some of their labelmates on Warner. Jimmy Bowen produced, but really keeps all the edges intact – and titles include the completely insane "Help I'm A Rock" (actually about a rock calling for help!) – plus "Shifting Sands", "1906", "Transparent Day", "Here's Where You Belong", and "If You Want This Love". Next is Volume 2 – the amazing second album from this ultra-cool group – a set that's even weirder and wilder than their debut! The trio are maybe one of the few who really live up to the farthest expectations of the psych generation – as they're really open to let their minds fly in their choice of lyrics, instrumentation, and overall presentation of the record – which hardly seems the sort to yield any sort of singles at all, even though a few of the tunes are downright catchy! Instead, the whole thing's put forth as a dark statement on late 60s society – with a sound that's as heavy as the subject matter, and not afraid to really pus all the freak and fuzz as far as it can go! Quite surprising, even for the Reprise label – and tracks include "Queen Nymphet", "Tracy Had a Hard Day Sunday", "In the Arena", "Smell of Incense", "Suppose They Gave A War & No One Comes", "Overture Wcpaeb (part 2)", and "Carte Blanche" – which supposedly they were given in recording the album! Next is Child's Guide To Good & Evil, the third album in the continuing genius of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – a group who are certainly as experimental as their name would imply, but who can also come across with some warmer Sunshine Pop touches too! And it's that which makes the group so wonderful – the blend of freak and sweet, of fuzz and fun – all given a special shape in the studio through the genius of producer Jimmy Bowen, whose work here with Bob Markley is superb – and very much open to the best freedoms that Warner was offering its creative talents at the time! The song titles are equally superb – and titles include "A Child's Guide To Good & Evil", "Ritual #1", "Anniversary of World War III", "Eighteen Is Over The Hill", "As Kind As Summer", and "Our Drummer Always Plays In the Nude". CD 4 features 18 more bonus tracks – rare takes and alternate mixes of titles that include "Watch Yourself", "Ritual #1", "As Kind As Summer", "Eighteen Is Over The Hill", and "Until The Poorest People Have Money To Spend" – plus other tracks too. And all the other three albums are presented in both mono and stereo mixes – which makes for 84 tracks in the full set! CD