Includes expanded score presentation with almost 100 minutes of music – plus an additional 50 minutes of bonus material. CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A lost fusion classic from the early 70s – one of the only records cut under the leadership of drummer Horacee Arnold, but a heck of a great little set with a soaringly righteous sound! The style here is plenty full-on, but a bit less rock-leaning than some of the other Columbia fusion of the period – thanks to a spacious vision on Arnold's part, and the inclusion of a fair bit of sounds from world music. Players on the set include Art Webb on flute, Sonny Fortune on soprano sax, John Abercrombie on guitar, David Friedman on vibes and marimba, Dom Um Romao on percussion, and Jan Hammer on moog and electric piano – and although there's a fair bit of guitar in the mix, the other acoustic elements are kept nice and high too – for a blend that's almost like some of the best Brazilian fusion from later years, touched by a slightly funkier sound! Tracks really stretch out nicely, allowing for plenty of solo space as they roll on, in a way that's almost a cross between Strata East and some of the more familiar mainstream fusion modes of the time. Very hip stuff, with titles that include "Benzele Windows", "Tales Of The Exonerated Flea", "Euroaquilo Silence", "Puppet Of The Seasons", "Sing Night Jar", and "Delicate Evasions". CD

A lost fusion classic from the early 70s – one of the only records cut under the leadership of drummer Horacee Arnold, but a heck of a great little set with a soaringly righteous sound! The style here is plenty full-on, but a bit less rock-leaning than some of the other Columbia fusion of the period – thanks to a spacious vision on Arnold's part, and the inclusion of a fair bit of sounds from world music. Players on the set include Art Webb on flute, Sonny Fortune on soprano sax, John Abercrombie on guitar, David Friedman on vibes and marimba, Dom Um Romao on percussion, and Jan Hammer on moog and electric piano – and although there's a fair bit of guitar in the mix, the other acoustic elements are kept nice and high too – for a blend that's almost like some of the best Brazilian fusion from later years, touched by a slightly funkier sound! Tracks really stretch out nicely, allowing for plenty of solo space as they roll on, in a way that's almost a cross between Strata East and some of the more familiar mainstream fusion modes of the time. Very hip stuff, with titles that include "Benzele Windows", "Tales Of The Exonerated Flea", "Euroaquilo Silence", "Puppet Of The Seasons", "Sing Night Jar", and "Delicate Evasions". CD

A lost fusion classic from the early 70s – one of the only records cut under the leadership of drummer Horacee Arnold, but a heck of a great little set with a soaringly righteous sound! The style here is plenty full-on, but a bit less rock-leaning than some of the other Columbia fusion of the period – thanks to a spacious vision on Arnold's part, and the inclusion of a fair bit of sounds from world music. Players on the set include Art Webb on flute, Sonny Fortune on soprano sax, John Abercrombie on guitar, David Friedman on vibes and marimba, Dom Um Romao on percussion, and Jan Hammer on moog and electric piano – and although there's a fair bit of guitar in the mix, the other acoustic elements are kept nice and high too – for a blend that's almost like some of the best Brazilian fusion from later years, touched by a slightly funkier sound! Tracks really stretch out nicely, allowing for plenty of solo space as they roll on, in a way that's almost a cross between Strata East and some of the more familiar mainstream fusion modes of the time. Very hip stuff, with titles that include "Benzele Windows", "Tales Of The Exonerated Flea", "Euroaquilo Silence", "Puppet Of The Seasons", "Sing Night Jar", and "Delicate Evasions". LP, Vinyl record album

2 incredible records by David Newman – back to back as a single CD set! Bigger & Better is one of the best David Newman albums for Atlantic from the 60s – and one that breaks past the R&B-influenced formula of earlier albums! This one features some great arrangements by William Fischer, the cool wild-card arranger who was to late 60s Atlantic what David Axelrod was to Capitol at the same time. Fischer's touch isn't exactly funky – but it's certainly far-reaching, as he sets up David's funky tenor and flute in some very hip arrangements that mix together horns, strings, and soul production, in a mode that provides some of the best backings that Newman's ever had to solo over – a favor he returns admirably in his playing on the album! Includes the cool psychedelic number "The Thirteenth Floor", Eddie Harris-ish readings of "And I Love Her" and "Yesterday", and versions of Sam Cooke's "Ain't That Good News" and "A Change Is Gonna Come". Many Facets is equally brilliant – and follows in a similar mode. Newman's playing here with a really far-reaching groove that's miles ahead of his initial work for Atlantic – really stretching out at the end of the 60s, in an array of well-chosen influences. The record features a great little funky remake of Calvin Arnold's classic funky 45 "A Funky Way To Treat Somebody", plus some really beautiful tunes in a Coltrane-esque mode, with arrangements by William Fischer – spinning out in modal and exotic tones that we never would have expected. Titles include "Children Of Abraham" and "Chained No More", and they both feature Newman playing freer than you've ever heard him! CD

Genius work from the legendary Bill Fay – one of those 70s artists who never got their due back in the day, but who have gone on to become a crucial piece of the musical puzzle as the years move on! Fay recorded two incredible records for Decca – treasures as rare as the early Nick Drake albums – and like Drake, Bill was years ahead of his time, although in very different ways – an incredible songsmith, with qualities that maybe come through best of all in the material within! The tracks are all from Fay's personal archives – recorded in the early 70s in a stripped-down mode, but as fully formed songs – brought to the light of day by David Tibet, and presented here in a way that finally give these lost years their full exposure. Titles on this first volume include "Plan D", "Inside The Keeper's Pantry", "Arnold Is A Simple Man", "Time Of The Last Persecution", "Backwoods Maze", "The Sun Is Bored", "Release Is In The Eye", "Tell It Like It Is", and "Pictures Of Adolf Again". LP, Vinyl record album

Les McCann on piano, Tom Scott on flute and alto saxophone, Ron Jannelli on flute, bassoon, and tenor saxophone, Gary Herbig on flute, oboe, and tenor saxophone, Richard Perissi and Vince De Rosa on French horn, Bill Reichenbach and Dick Hyde on trombone, Larry Hall and Malcolm McNab on trumpet, Buell Neidlinger on bass, Anne Karam, John Acosta, and Ray Kelley on cello, David Campbell, David Schwartz, Milton Thomas, Pamela Goldsmith, Ray Tischer, and Virginia Majewski on viola, Arnold Belnick, Assa Druri, Charles Everett, Don Palmer, Ezra Kliger, Gail Cruz, Israel Baker, Joseph Goodman, Mari Botnick, Norman Hughes, Pavel Farkas, Stanley Plummer, and Vladimir Polimatidi on violin, and Tony Sepe conducting. CD

A heady dip into the musical frontiers of the postwar years – a set that digs deep into avant classical, jazz, and other styles – all to come up with sounds that later provided inspiration for The Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and other landmark groups at the end of the 60s! Yet the styles here aren't rock at all – and instead showcase all these changes that had taken place long before the years of psych and prog, but in different forms of music – and even a bit of spoken word, as well – as some of these selections show just how much the recorded art form could work for unusual styles of vocal presentation. The four CDs feature a wonderful range of styles that all work together somehow – with work by Pierre Schaeffer, John Cage, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, Cathy Berberian, John Coltrane, Gustav Holst, Arnold Schoenberg, Jack Kerouac, Ali Akbar Khan, The Goons, Dave Brubeck, Percy Grainger, Hilaire Belloc, Sabicas, Delia Derbyshire, and many others! CD

Genius work from the legendary Bill Fay – one of those 70s artists who never got their due back in the day, but who have gone on to become a crucial piece of the musical puzzle as the years move on! Fay recorded two incredible records for Decca – treasures as rare as the early Nick Drake albums – and like Drake, Bill was years ahead of his time, although in very different ways – an incredible songsmith, with qualities that maybe come through best of all in the material within! The tracks are all from Fay's personal archives – recorded in the early 70s in a stripped-down mode, but as fully formed songs – brought to the light of day by David Tibet, and presented here in a way that finally give these lost years their full exposure. Titles on this first volume include "Plan D", "Inside The Keeper's Pantry", "Arnold Is A Simple Man", "Time Of The Last Persecution", "Backwoods Maze", "The Sun Is Bored", "Release Is In The Eye", "Tell It Like It Is", and "Pictures Of Adolf Again". CD

Amazing! This is a perfectly-constructed compilation of funky abstract downtempo grooves – in a style that evokes the classic work of David Axelrod, and a million lost 70s soundtrack composers! The vibe is very serious – with complex jazzy grooves shifting slowly about, but always staying pretty darn funky. Titles include "Funky Chimes" by Lee Arnold Trio, "Fine & Funky" by David Mensah, "Rosa Mae" by Mary Lou Williams, "Rain Rain Go Away" by Bob Azzam, "Brazilian Greens" by Laurindo Almeida, "Los Caballos" by Alice Coltrane, "Mellow Funk" by Floyd Morris, "It Seems That Way" by The Returners, "Bass In Action #7" by Tonio Rubion, "Head In My Clouds" by Johnny Pearson, "Al's Blues" by Sound Prospect, and "Filigree Funk" by King Ant. 17 tracks – and all great and rare! LP, Vinyl record album