An overlooked gem from that moment when the acoustic underground of the 70s was sometimes getting lost amidst the new age deluge of the 80s – even though all of the best musicians still their best talents intact! Mike Marshall is one of those musicians – working here on mandolin and guitars alongside violinist Darrol Anger – in a warmly wonderful partnership that forges new roads ahead in instrumental music – pushing past some of the coldness of the post-jazz inventions of the ECM generation, and maybe finding a more American space in the process. Both of the leaders play a bit of keyboards – but hardly much at all – and the group does feature electric bass from Michael Manring – but these non-acoustic elements are really just used as shading around the edges, and still leave plenty of focus on the string performances that really make the record great. Titles include "Dolphins", "Dardanelles", "Bach Bouree", "Beloved Infidel", "Saurian's Farewell", and "Spring Gesture". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A wild bit of electronics meets jazz – performed by Bruce Ditmas on moog and ARP, with additional percussion and vocals by Joan La Barbara, and trumpet by Enrico Rava! The sound is very wild and over the top – with a lot more noise than jazz overall, despite the other players on the set – and Ditmas gets a very hip sound from his assorted banks of modulators! Tracks include "Face To Face To Face", "Terminal Velocity", "Tactics Of Despair", and "Aeray Dust". LP, Vinyl record album

Jonah Jones on trumpet and vocals, Buddy Tate on clarinet and tenor sax, Earl Hines on piano, Jerome Darr on guitar, John Brown on bass, and Cozy Cole on drums. CD

Features a bit of bass from Chuck Israels, who mostly directs – plus tenor from Sal Nistico, trumpet from Tom Harrell, alto from Lee Konitz, piano from Bill Evans, trombone from Jimmy Knepper, and other reeds from Greg Herbert. LP, Vinyl record album

Bobby Rosengarden on drums, Milt Hinton on bass, and Derek Smith on bass, CD

With Harckett on cornet, Vic Dickenson on trombone, Dave McKenna on piano, Jack Lesberg on bass, and Cliff Leeman on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing album – and a really unique slice of the underground of jazz in the 60s! The session was put together in 1963 by Walt Dickerson, and was conceived as an attempt to draw attention to the incredible amount of great jazz players who were then currently serving time in prison for trumped-up drug charges. The players were culled from New York's Riker's Island, and the mix is a strange and wonderfully surprising blend of musicians that includes Hope, John Gilmore, Ronnie Boykins, Philly Joe Jones, and Earl Coleman. The quality of the work and writing is superb, and not only is the record a high point in Hope's all-too-short career, but it also features some excellent non-Sun Ra work by Gilmore! Titles include "One For Joe", "Three Silver Quarters", "Kevin", "Trippin", and "It Shouldn't Happen To A Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

With Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar, John Bunch on piano, George Duvivier on bass, Ronnie Traxter on drums, and Mary Eiland on vocals. LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful record based around a brilliant concept! Buddy Tate is a hell of a tenor player – with a tone that's up there with Rollins, Coltrane, and other giants – but his frequent recording patterns usually have him in less adventurous swing-based sessions, ones that don't get him to open up as much as he should. This set corrects that, by pairing Tate with pianist Dollar Brand, and matching the two of them with bass work by Cecil McBee and drums by Roy Brooks. The set is hip and easily grooving – a surprising meeting of these two players, but a very effective one! Titles include "Goduka Mfundi", "Heyt Mazurki", "Just You Just Me", and "Doggin Around". LP, Vinyl record album

Dorothy Donegan on piano, Jon Burr on bass, and Ray Mosca on drums. CD

Henry Johnson on guitar, Kenny Drew Jr on piano, Larry Gray on bass, Paul Humphrey on drums, and guest vocals from Vanessa Rubin. CD

Joe Venuti on violin and Earl Hines on piano. CD

Solo piano tribute to Billie Holiday, with 14 titles that include "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", "When You're Smiling", "Body And Soul", and "Them There Eyes". LP, Vinyl record album

An album that was issued in the US, but which actually features excellent work that Abdullah Ibrahim/Dollar Brand recorded for the Gallo label in South Africa – the kind of edgier work that we often prefer next to some of his solo and trio material! The key force here is the horns – as one side of the record features work from Kippie Moketsi on alto, Basil Manenberg on tenor and flute, and Duku Makasi on tenor – and the flipside features a quartet with Manenberg again – a player whose deep tones really make for a perfect combination with Dollar Brand's snakey piano lines. Moketsi is great, as always – with that offbeat reed sound that always makes his performances so unique. Side one includes the extended groover "Black Lightning", and side 2 features a rendition of "Blue Monk", plus "Little Boy", and "Black & Brown Cherries". LP, Vinyl record album

A strong little album from Ted Curson – one of his best from the time, and one of the few that feature him working in a group that's larger than a quartet! Players on this one include Ted's old partner Bil Barron on tenor, plus Nick Brignola on baritone and soprano, Charles Williams on alto, Jim McNeeley on piano, Lawrence McKillian on percussion, and Steve McCall on drums. The album's kind of in a bluesy modern mode – an extension of some of Curson's groundbreaking 60s work, with solos that rip a bit far out, but rhythm that's always swinging and straight ahead. Titles include "Marjo", "Snake Johnson", "Blue Piccolo", "Dwackdo Mun Fudalik", and the jazzy dancer "LSD, Take A Holiday". LP, Vinyl record album

Dorothy Donegan on piano, Clark Terry on trumpet, Jon Burr on bass, and Ray Mosca on drums. CD

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Duets with Bill Charlap, Mike LeDonne, Bicky Pizzarelli, Richard Wyands, Eddie Higgins, and Junior Mance. CD

Jay McShann on piano and vocals – with Phil Woods on alto, Flip Phillips and David Newman on tenor, Keter Betts on bass, and Jackie Williams on drums. CD

Jay McShann on piano, Bill Crow, Major Holley, and Milt Hinton on bass, Ben Riley and Bobby Durham on drums, Al Grey on trombone, Clark Terry on trumpet and flugelhorn and Jay McShann, Major Holley, and Clark Terry on vocals. CD

A wonderful sound library set from Piero Umiliani, and one that's overflowing with contributions from some mighty hip jazz musicians on the Italian scene of the 70s – including Enrico Pieranunzi on both electric and acoustic piano, Oscar Valdambrini on trumpet, Dino Piana on trombone, and Bruno Tommaso on bass – all working with very cool organ and moog from Piero himself! There's flute on many tracks – played by both S Genovese and N Rapicavoli, both players we don't know at all – and the instrument is often used in these cool, compressed ways that are mighty nice – and which make a stunning sonic counterpart to the other instrumentation, especially when Umiliani turns up some of the odd effects in the production! Titles include "Regalita", "Babilonia", "Chiaroscuro", "Battimenti A Tarantella", "Flauto Notturno", "Penombra", and "Fantasia Italica". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite albums ever – and every track is a masterpiece! The album was originally cut for the tiny Chiaroscuro label in 1977 – and it's got a sound that's unlike anything else we can think of – soaring, soulful, jazzy, and righteous – wrapped up in a blend that's never been done this perfectly again! James Mason's a player who's know for a bit of keyboard work with other artists – but here, he's really working as a collective power – bringing together a brilliant ensemble that work as one to hit some sublime sounds – much in the way that Roy Ayers could work some key magic with his groups at the same time, but with a vibe that's very different too. Players include Ayers associates Justo Almario on saxes and Philip Woo on piano – and a young Narada Michael Walden adds some excellent drums to the record – a lot more powerful and funky than on most of his own albums! Lead vocals are by Clarice Taylor – who's got this unique voice that really makes the record – proud, but sensitive at the same time too – and Mason plays lots of Fender Rhodes, polymoog, Arp, and a bit of guitar. Titles include the breakbeat classic "Funny Girl", the monster groover "Sweet Power Your Embrace", the funky "Slick City", and the massive "Free" – but every cut's a winner, and others include "Mbewe", "Rhythm Of Life", and "Dreams". This is the kind of album that makes us proud to be in business! CD

A much-needed look at one of the hippest Italian labels ever – the legendary Horo Records, home to some of the most groundbreaking jazz in Europe during the 70s! Horo's never reissued their work – at least not yet – so this collection makes the first time that most of these cuts are showing up again since the 70s – an essential batch of work that not only features important material from Italian players, but also includes some sublime cuts from American artists as well! Horo picked up the torch of avant and spiritual sides after the BYG and MPS labels stopped recording as much of that material in the mid 70s – and as you'll hear on this package, the music is really mindblowing – especially given that Gilles Peterson has gone through the catalog, to come up with some of the grooviest numbers from the label – modal dancers, soaring spiritual jazz cuts, and amazing moments we're plenty happy to have out again. Titles include "Caravan" by Piero Umiliani, "Nuraghi" by Santucci Scoppa, "Big Bang" by Kenny Clarke, "Tropical" by Irio De Paula, "I'm So High (Paolo Scotti re-edit)" by Roy Haynes, "Moon Dance" by Steve Grossman, "The Satellites" by Sun Ra, "Costa Bruciata" by Stafford James, "Pastoral" by Giancarlo Barigozzi, "Polychrome" by Enrico Pieranunzi, "Blue Generation" by Oscar Valdambrini & Dino Piana, and "Chiaroscuro" by Martin Joseph. CD