A landmark in modern jazz – from the stark stares of the band on the cover, to the starkly haunting music in the grooves! The record makes a bold statement right from the outset – and more than lives up to its promise in the sound within – an amazing approach to modern jazz that's still quite powerful, even all these many years later! The group features Ornette Coleman on alto, Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums – moving at a fast, highly rhythmic pace that still leaves us breathless – filled with angles, but wrapped up in soul. The group make severe statements about the future of modern music in tracks like "Humpty Dumpty", "Beauty Is a Rare Thing", and "Kaleidoscope" – bouncing the efforts of the whole group off the beat, in a way that's both challenging and groove-heavy at the same time, a key summation of the genius of Ornette's early vision! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most ambitious albums ever recorded from Clifford Jordan – a totally righteous little effort that was the first installment in the legendary Dolphy Series on the Strata East label! The set has Jordan working with a larger group than usual – an all-star array of players that includes Kenny Dorham and Don Cherry on trumpets, Julian Priester on trombone, Wynton Kelly on piano, Wilbur Ware and Richard Davis on bass, and drums from Roy Haynes, Ed Blackwell, and Albert Heath. The titles are originals by Jordan – long numbers that flow out slowly as they build up new musical ideas – all in a style that's somewhat laidback and spacious, very organic, and a bit like some of the best early 70s Impulse material by Archie Shepp. Album features 4 long tracks – "872", "Vienna", "Doug's Prelude", and "Ouagoudougou". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning side project from Albert Toodie Heath of the Heath Brothers – a musician who was sometimes a bit staid in the past, but who was really feeling the vibe of the spiritual scene in the post-Coltrane years! The set resonates with a vibe that's very similar to the rare Heath Brother's album on Strata East, Marchin On – and the lineup here is incredible, with reeds from Jimmy Heath, trumpet from Don Cherry, piano from Herbie Hancock, bass from Buster Williams, percussion from Mtume, and drums from Ed Blackwell – all coming together for a session that's nearly lost to the history books, but which is one of the strongest spiritual jazz sessions of the late 60s! Herbie plays all acoustic piano throughout, and the tracks are long, leaping, and loping – with stretched-out spiritual solos from Jimmy Heath and Don Cherry – and a proud and righteous sound that's extremely free-spirited without going too far out. Titles include "Baraka", "Maulana", "Dunia", and "Kamili". CD

Second ECM recording of Ornette Coleman alums, once again playing a handful of newer tunes as well as Coleman repertoire. Don Cherry's on trumpet and piano, Dewey Redman on tenor sax & musette, Charlie Haden on bass and Ed Blackwell on drums. While Coleman was delving into full-on electric ensemble playing with Prime Time at the time of this recording, this group maintains the spirit of the original harmelodic quartet. 6 tracks in all: "HappyHouse", "Mopti", "New Dream", "Rushour", "Broken Shadows" and "Playing". LP, Vinyl record album

Great lost work from Ornette Coleman – material recorded in New York and LA during the years 1959 through 1961 – never issued at the time, but pulled together in this wonderful package at the start of the 70s! Although not recorded as an official album, the record stands easily with the best Ornette had to offer at Atlantic Records – and all tracks here have that sense of sharpness, rhythm, and timing that made the Coleman combo one of the most exciting of the time. Players include Ornette on alto throughout, plus Don Cherry on trumpet and pocket trumpet, Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins on drums, and Charlie Haden (mostly), Scott LaFaro, and Jimmy Garrison on bass. All tracks are originals by Ornette – and titles include "Moon Inhabitants", "The Fifth of Beethoven", "Circle with a Hole In the Middle", and "The Alchemy of Scott La Faro", featuring the great late bassist, Scott La Faro! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Ornette Coleman's best recordings from the 70s – and like his other album for Columbia, quite a change from the freewheeling sounds he was blowing over at Blue Note! The style here is a bit more high concept, but in a good way – with all the edges that Coleman had developed from the late 50s onward, brought into tighter focus for the Columbia setting – given a bit more complexity, although still with plenty of room for freedom – and played both with a smaller combo, and a slightly larger group. The mix of players is as striking as the sounds on the record – and includes Coleman on alto, trumpet, and violin – plus Dewey Redman on tenor, Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Bobby Bradford on trumpet, Jim Hall on guitar, Cedar Walton on piano, Charlie Haden on bass, and Billy Higgins and Ed Blackwell on drums. Asha Puthli sings a bit on the larger ensemble tracks – making a rare appearance here before her 70s soul career in Germany – and titles include "What Reason Could I Give", "Street Woman", "The Jungle Is A Skycraper", and "All My Life". 2CD set also features all the material from the Broken Shadows album as well – plus 3 previously unissued bonus tracks. Other titles include "Happy House", "Elizabeth", "Good Girl Blues", "Broken Shadows", "Rubber Gloves", and "Written Word". CD

A collection of Ornette Coleman albums from the end of the 60s – work from two key albums, plus some interesting bonus material too! First up is the album Ornette At 12 – a set that features two generations of Ornette Coleman – making incredible music here together! The album's a freewheeling late 60s outing from the senior Ornette – who plays alto, violin, and trumpet here – working with his young son Ornette D Coleman on drums, just 12 years old at the time – but a surprisingly strong free jazz player overall! Heavyweight help comes from Dewey Redman on tenor – really tremendous here, with energy that's up there with Albert Ayler or Archie Shepp at their 60s best – plus Charlie Haden on bass, really coming strongly back into the music at this point in his career. The album's quite free overall – similar to some of Coleman's Blue Note work of the period – and titles include "COD", "Rainbows", "New York", and "Bells and Chimes". Next is Crisis – a record that bursts out with a sound that definitely lives up to its striking title – as Ornette Coleman explores the new frontiers of experimental jazz with one of his great groups from the end of the 60s! The album's got the intensity of the best ESP sessions of the period, but also shows the richer sonic elements that Coleman can bring to the proceedings – that way of mixing sharp edges with surprising currents – delivered by an all-star group that features Ornette on alto and violin, Don Cherry on trumpet and flute, Dewey Redman on tenor and clarinet, Charlie Haden on bass, and the young Ornette D Coleman on drums. It's especially amazing to hear Haden and Cherry take on such different roles than in the Ornette material of the early 60s – and also realize a wider vision for the music, on tunes that include a great version of Haden's "Song For Che", plus "Broken Shadows", "Trouble In The East", and "Space Jungle". The last two tracks are maybe the most unusual – originally issued only as a promo 7" single by Impulse Records, with the tunes "Man On The Moon" and "Growing Up" – recorded with a group that features Cherry on trumpet, Redman on tenor, Haden on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums – plus electronics from Emmanuel Ghent on one track! CD

One of the most ambitious albums ever recorded from Clifford Jordan – a totally righteous little effort that was the first installment in the legendary Dolphy Series on the Strata East label! The set has Jordan working with a larger group than usual – an all-star array of players that includes Kenny Dorham and Don Cherry on trumpets, Julian Priester on trombone, Wynton Kelly on piano, Wilbur Ware and Richard Davis on bass, and drums from Roy Haynes, Ed Blackwell, and Albert Heath. The titles are originals by Jordan – long numbers that flow out slowly as they build up new musical ideas – all in a style that's somewhat laidback and spacious, very organic, and a bit like some of the best early 70s Impulse material by Archie Shepp. Album features 4 long tracks – "872", "Vienna", "Doug's Prelude", and "Ouagoudougou". CD

A really amazing set of work from tenorist Clifford Jordan – a player who first rose to fame in the hardbop scene of the late 50s, but who moved into tremendous new territory with these Strata East recordings of the late 60s and early 70s! Jordan was a Chicago contemporary of players like Johnny Griffin and Von Freeman, but he was never content to rest on his laurels – and stretched out on these records with a spiritual vibe that he'd never expressed before – and which would go onto inspire countless other musicians in years to come! This set brings together all the Dolphy Series recordings that Jordan recorded – either as an artist or producer – two of which were never issued on record at the time. Jordan's own albums for the label are wonderful enough – the double-length Glass Bead Games, one of our favorite records ever – and the killer In The World, which is great too. But this set also adds in other Strata East albums that really help illustrate the scene in which Jordan was working – including the excellent Pharoah Sanders non-Impulse session, Izipho Zam; the modern music of Charles Brackeen on Rhythm X, with Don Cherry on trumpet and Brackeen on tenor; and the great Cecil Payne album Zodiac, which has some of the last trumpet work ever from Kenny Dorham. Plus, the set also features two extremely rare albums – the never-issued Shades Of Edward Blackwell – led by the drummer, with Don Cherry on trumpet and Luqman Lateef on tenor, plus a bit of log drum from Jordan – and the obscure Super Bass album from Wilbur Ware, which features Jordan on tenor, in a quartet with Ware on bass, Don Cherry on trumpet, and Ed Blackwell on drums! These two albums are worth the price of the package alone – even if you have other Strata East albums in your collection – and the whole thing features the usual sublime Mosaic package and booklet. CD

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 Clifford Jordan – as a way of giving a strong showcase to so many new ideas that were bursting in jazz during the late 60s! Here, Brackeen's tenor is set up with a trio of musicians most familiarly associated with Ornette Coleman – Don Cherry on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums – a unit that's completely on fire, and freer than before – yet each graced with such strong individuality, every aspect of the record is a complete delight. Brackeen is amazing (why the hell didn't he record more like this at the time?) – but the bass, trumpet, and drums are all very distinct too – the perfect power of free improvisation when it's done right. Titles include "Rhythm X", "Hour Glass", "CB Blues", and "Charles Concept". LP, Vinyl record album

Great lost work from Ornette Coleman – material recorded in New York and LA during the years 1959 through 1961 – never issued at the time, but pulled together in this wonderful package at the start of the 70s! Although not recorded as an official album, the record stands easily with the best Ornette had to offer at Atlantic Records – and all tracks here have that sense of sharpness, rhythm, and timing that made the Coleman combo one of the most exciting of the time. Players include Ornette on alto throughout, plus Don Cherry on trumpet and pocket trumpet, Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins on drums, and Charlie Haden (mostly), Scott LaFaro, and Jimmy Garrison on bass. All tracks are originals by Ornette – and titles include "Moon Inhabitants", "The Fifth of Beethoven", "Circle with a Hole In the Middle", and "The Alchemy of Scott La Faro", featuring the great late bassist, Scott La Faro! The CD includes the bonus tracks "Music Always" and "Brings Goodness". CD

The title gets it right – as the album's easily the closest thing to free jazz that Ornette Coleman ever recorded – an album-length improvisation played by a "double quartet" that's overflowing with classic players! The style here is a fair bit like John Coltrane's Ascension album for Impulse – and like that one, the session features Ornette and his contemporaries really stretching out – blowing like never heard before on record, and working in a highly unstructured setting! Other players include Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, and Scott LaFaro on bass – alongside regular group members Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, and both Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins on drums. One long track – just titled "Free Jazz"! LP, Vinyl record album