The album that rocked a million dorm rooms back in the 60s – and for good reason, too – given that the title track is a side-long, totally jamming monster – the kind of track that was really revolutionary at the time, and which still has a hell of an impact all these many years later! "In A Gadda Da Vida" was shortened to a single – with the big hook intact – but this classic album version runs for 17 minutes in length, and has the group doing all these cool jams with their instruments – all the animals in the garden of Eden talking to each other (or at least that's what our addled teenaged minds always thought!) Shorter tracks are mighty nice too – a heady, heavy brew of Hammond and fierce guitar from Erik Brann, on cuts all penned by group leader Doug Ingle. Titles include "Termination", "My Mirage", "Flowers & Roses", and "Most Anything You Want". CD

The album that rocked a million dorm rooms back in the 60s – and for good reason, too – given that the title track is a side-long, totally jamming monster – the kind of track that was really revolutionary at the time, and which still has a hell of an impact all these many years later! "In A Gadda Da Vida" was shortened to a single – with the big hook intact – but this classic album version runs for 17 minutes in length, and has the group doing all these cool jams with their instruments – all the animals in the garden of Eden talking to each other (or at least that's what our addled teenaged minds always thought!) Shorter tracks are mighty nice too – a heady, heavy brew of Hammond and fierce guitar from Erik Brann, on cuts all penned by group leader Doug Ingle. Titles include "Termination", "My Mirage", "Flowers & Roses", and "Most Anything You Want" – plus live and single versions of the title track. CD

Easily the most hard-hitting of Blue Note's 2LP Lighthouse Live series from the early 70s – and a record that really lets Elvin Jones and his group stretch out and play! The setting is a perfect one for Jones – given the boundless energy already present on his studio sessions for Blue Note at the time – really fierce work that goes beyond even his classic Coltrane performances – pushing the limits in a sweet blend of rhythm and reeds! The group here is Elvin's razor-edge combo from the early 70s – the one that features Gene Perla on fat funky bass, and both Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman playing choppy reeds along with the grooves – really amazing hornmen at this point in their career, blowing here with interplay that's simply fantastic! Jones' leadership both draws from his years with Coltrane, yet also takes the music to key new levels – increasing the energy without blowing the top off, and creating a vivid new groove that so many others would try to cop later in the 70s – but never do this well. Titles on this second volume include "New Breed", "My Ship", and "Sweet Mama". CD

A mighty heavy group – paying tribute to the late drummer Alvin Fiedler – working with the kind of fierce improvisation that Fiedler would have really loved! Tenorist Kidd Jordan was a frequent musical partner of Alvin on record – and the group here really recreates some of the intensity they could deliver together – with Hamid Drake on drums and percussion, Joel Futterman on piano, and William Parker on bass – soaring out beautifully on one extended improvisation that takes up the entire record! Futterman is ferocious on piano, really matching the searing sounds that come from Jordan's horn – as he blows with a legacy of bold, spontaneous creation that almost takes us back to the years of ESP Records or BYG/Actuel. CD

The first album by the second group to call themselves the Last Poets – and as fierce a document of their rich talents as you'll ever find – bursting forth with anger and righteousness at a level as tight as Gil Scott-Heron's first album! The group here is the key second lineup of the ensemble of wordsmiths – comprised of Abiodun Oyewole, Alafia Pudim, and Omar Ben Hassan, plus the percussionist Nilaja – and most cuts feature only spare percussion backing over the spoken protest poetry – delivered with a brutal edge that really sums up the righteous politics of the time. Titles include "Run, N****r", "On The Subway", "When The Revolution Comes", "Jones Comin' Down", "Black Thighs", "N*****s Are Scared Of Revolution", and "Wake Up, N*****s" – all of which should give you a good picture of what's going on with the record! CD

We have to admit, even if this record wasn't a fierce salvo loaded down with tough dancehall tracks, we'd still love it for the great photos of Levy in a red, green and gold Robin hood getup on the cover! Junjo Lawes and Roots Radics may well have robbed from the rich for the mighty blasts of rhythm under Levy's outstanding vocals on this set that keeps up the pressure from start to finish! 10 tracks in all, including "Robin Hood", "Rock And Come In", "Love Sister Carol", "Gonna Tell Your Girlfriend", "You Come To Ask What Is Love", "Why Did You Leave Me", "Na Broke No Fight Over No Woman", "When Friday Comes", "Like How You Kiss & Caress Me" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A set of free improvised duets that are so fierce, they've been kept from the public for decades – finally seeing the light of day in this long-overdue package! Percussionist/electronicist Paul Lytton is a player known to many, and known for his always-incredible ear for sonic intensity – yet we've maybe never heard him this intense before, working alongside guitarist Erhard Hirt, a player with an approach to his instrument that's unlike anyone else in the free jazz universe at the time! Hirt often plays with a great sense of noise – not as bombastically as Sonny Sharrock, or as rock-influenced as some of the others – but almost as if he's using his electric guitar as the gateway to some darker universe, opening a passage that Lytton dives in to follow very quickly with some especially great electronics. Even the percussion has this electrified spark – and titles include "Orbod", "The Sensitive Stickler", "Don't Wait Too Long", "Deder", "Clip", and "175". CD

Never-issued material from the sessions for two classic Magic Sam albums – Black Magic and West Side Soul – not alternate tracks or demos, but really great material that stands strongly here as an album on its own! If you know those records, you'll now the raw power here – that fierce guitar of Sam's, that often has this sinister snakey quality – mixed with his undeniably soulful vocals, which are a perfect bridge between deep soul and Chicago blues! Players on the sessions include Eddie Shaw on tenor, Mighty Joe Young on second guitar, Shakey Jake on on harmonica, and Lafayette Leake on piano – and titles include "Lookin Good", "I Feel So Good", "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Keep On Doin What You're Doin", "Blues For Odie Payne", "Keep On Lovin Me Baby", and "That's All I Need". CD

The MC5 move to Atlantic Records after their first album – and find a whole new sort of focus that's pretty great! Their classic debut was a raw live album – designed to capture their intensity on the Detroit scene of the late 60s – but this set has the group stretching out, and really going for something else – working in the studio for the first time, with surprisingly strong production from a young Jon Landau – and a sense of focus in the songs that shows a great degree of maturity, while still keeping all their pre-punk edges! Wayne Kramer and Fred Sonic Smith are plenty darn fierce on guitar – and the titles alone give a good idea of the energy of the record – and include "Tutti Frutti", "Teenage Lust", "High School", "Shakin Street", "The Human Being Lawnmower", and "Back In The USA". LP, Vinyl record album

A searing live set from the legendary NRG Ensemble – a key bridge between Chicago avant generations in the 80s, still going very strong in the 90s in this stunning concert recorded in Utrecht! There's a lot of twin-reed frenzy in the music – leader Mars Williams and Ken Vandermark – relatively new to Chicago, but already making his mark – and a fierce frontline force, next to Steve Hunt on drums, Kent Kessler on bass, and Brian Sandstrong on bass, guitar, and trumpet! Mars also plays some toys along the way – and amidst the intensity, there's also some great breaks for more tuneful moments – on titles that include "Hold That Thought", "Pet Peeve", "Straight Time", "Wire Money", "In The Middle Of Pennsylvania", and "Cut Flowers". CD

Killer 60s work from the great Baden Powell – two tunes done for the Saba/MPS label, both with a very jazzy vibe! "Sarava" moves fast and fierce – lots of percussion driving the tune at the bottom, including work from the great Milton Banana on drums – while Baden delivers this crisp guitar solo over the top! "Canto De Ossanha" is one of our all-time favorite tunes – originally done by Powell with Vinicius De Moraes, but even better here in a fast-driving small combo mode! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Landmark work from Sun Ra – a rare 1964 performance that features some very early work from Pharoah Sanders, a good deal of which is appearing here for the first time ever! The material was recorded at Judson Hall – and marks a great large venue performance by the Arkestra on the New York scene. Ra and the group recorded the set on New Year's Eve, 1964 – at a time when John Gilmore had left the Arkestra to work with Art Blakey – leaving Pharoah Sanders to come and take his place on tenor. Also noteworthy is the presence of Black Harold (Harold Murray) on flute – blowing with a dark edge alongside other group members who include Al Evans on trumpet, Teddy Nance on trombone, Marshal Allen on alto sax, Pat Patrick on baritone sax, and both Alan Silva and Ronnie Boykins on bass. The performance starts with a relatively fierce sound, but then moves into some beautifully lyrical moments – and titles include "Gods On A Safari", "The World Shadow", "Rocket Number Nine", "The Voice Of Pan", "Dawn Over Israel", and "Space Mates". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hardest-jamming Return To Forever albums – recorded with the post-Brazilian lineup that includes Chick Corea on keyboards, Stanley Clarke on bass, Lenny White on percussion, and Al DiMeola on guitars. Corea's very firmly in the lead – stretching out in heavy keyboard romps that really take off into space – propelled by fierce drums from White, heavy bass from Clarke, and a bit of tippling guitar from DiMeola. We kind of miss the subtlety of Airto's percussion, and the beautiful vocals of Flora – but the overall sound's still pretty wonderful and we do like the spaced-out keyboard touches! Titles include "Soceress", "The Romantic Warrior", "The Magician", and "Majestic Dance". CD

A record that really lives up to its title – as it comes on with a sound so strong, so fierce, it can certainly be called an "attack"! The dub here isn't just the lazy-stepping, head-nodding variety – but very much on point and on the money – with the studio used almost as an additional instrument alongside the core rhythmic elements – which themselves have the best Channel 1 power of the studio's glory days in the 70s! And the lack of any vocals somehow makes the whole thing even more powerful – giving the spare instrumentation a hell of a lot of focus, in ways that so many later dub-imitators always tried to reach, but never did this well. Titles include "Semi Classical Natty Dub", "Skyjuice & Festival Dub", "Everybody Dubbin", "Dub For Marcus Garvey", "Is Dub I Deal With", "Dub Development", and "Musical Dub Attack". CD

A set that's way more than the classic rock outing of some of the group's Bay Area contemporaries – as the young Carlos Santana finds a way to mix inspirations from blues and Latin music into this fierce fusion of so many different elements at once – stretching out, jamming, and touching decades of listeners in the process! The whole thing's a perfect sonic blend – guitar, keyboards, and plenty of percussion – on the group's stunning remake of "Oye Como Va", their fusion of "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen", and the cuts "Se A Cabo", "Samba Pa Ti", "El Nicoya", and "Singing Winds Crying Beasts". LP, Vinyl record album

Don't let the "broadway" or the "blues" or the "ballads" in the title put you off – because this album's way more than any of those – one of those key 60s records that have Nina Simone taking familiar material and investing it with a new sort of righteous power of her own – almost transforming the songs in the process, and really opening them up past any sort of easy expectations! Arrangements include a bit of work from Nina, plus more by Horace Ott and Hal Mooney – and throughout, the singer shifts modes and moods with effortless ease, turning songs from ordinary tunes into fierce expressions of righteous soul. Titles include "The Laziest Gal In Town", "Nobody", "I Am Blessed", "Of This I'm Sure", "See Line Woman", "Last Rose Of Summer", and "How Can I". LP, Vinyl record album

A fierce, full-on session from British pianist Pat Smythe – a player you might know from more conventional settings, but who really lets loose here in this unreleased live set from the early 70s! Pat plays plenty of Fender Rhodes in addition to piano – and the set's got an especially strong electric component in the presence of Allan Holdsworth on guitar – who's at his searing best here, and really seems to push Smythe to new levels of energy! The group also features Daryl Runswick on bass and John Marshall on drums – and the set features material from two live French performances in 1973, with titles that include "Casa Forte", "Village Greene", "Floppy Hat", "Rank's Vibe", "Golden Lakes", "British Rail", and "Waiting For The Walrus". CD

Unreleased material by Ike & Tina Turner – hard, funky, and very fierce! The sound here is similar to some of the pair's more famous albums of the time – but it's also rawer and rootsier, as befits the demo status of these recordings. If you've ever gotten turned off by the production of some of Ike's studio records, you might well dig this one a lot – as it's got the raw funky promise that's often missing from other sets. CD features 17 cuts in all – and titles include "He Makes Me Holler", "Baby Makes Me Feel Good", "Ya Ya", "Sit & Hold Your Hand", "Money", "Brain Game", "It's Groovier Across The Line", "Proud Mary (funky version)", and "Woke Up This Morning". CD

One of the all-time great tenor/organ sessions on Blue Note – totally fierce, with a sound that's a lot rawer than most other work on the label! The incredible Baby Face Willette grooves it hard and heavy on Hammond – working in a quartet that includes Fred Jackson on tenor, Grant Green on guitar, and Ben Dixon on drums – a killer lineup that makes for a very cooking sound throughout! There's a bit of an R&B-ish tinge to most of the tracks on the set – gutbuckety soul jazz, of the sort you'd hear on a label like Prestige, but recorded with more of the Blue Note sense of poise and professionalism – a very unique blend that makes the album an essential one in any collection. Titles include "Swingin' At Sugar Rays", "Face To Face", "Something Strange", and "Goin Down". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "Face To Face (alt)" and "Something Strange (alt)". CD

A key record in the evolution of Tony Williams as a drummer – and kind of a powerful summation of all the changes he'd made in the 70s – before a return to straighter jazz in the next decade! Williams' drumming here is incredibly fierce at points – almost at a Billy Cobham level – but he also shows the sensitivity to deeper sounds that he first brought into play during the 60s – and manages to mix an ear for fusion modes with some freer elements too – thanks to help from a lineup of players that includes Herbie Hancock and Brian Auger on keyboards, Cecil Taylor on piano, Jan Hammer on Fender Rhodes, Stanley Clarke on bass, Ton Scott on lyricon, and Ronnie Montrose on guitar. Titles include "Tony", "Coming Back Home", "Morgan's Motion", "Eris", "Open Fire", and "Hittin On 6". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal jazz rock statement from drummer Tony Williams – one that has him stepping out quite far from his original "new thing" recordings of the mid 60s! The album's got a genre-forming sound that's incredibly fierce – a power trio churning of Williams drums, John McLaughlin's guitar, and Larry Young's free-thinking work on organ. The tunes are long and jamming, but also have a tight rhythmic focus that never gets too sloppy – and which virtually set the stage for a whole generation of 70s fusion players in years to come! Young and McLaughlin are especially great – working here with Williams to pound out sheets of sound in a cosmic trippy maze of riffs and grooves, certainly enough to inspire the most addled rocker to head over to the jazz section! Though this set was released as two separate volumes, this double LP version has both albums, and features 8 tracks in all "Emergency", "Beyond Games", "Where", "Vashkar", "Sangria For Three", "Something Spiritual", "Spectrum", and "Via The Spectrum Road". LP, Vinyl record album

Global psychedelic grooves from Zambia – the tripped out sounds of Witch! Witch works in a killer rock groove on Lazy Bones, with furious rhythms, heavy drums and fuzzed out guitars. It's all nice and raw and done with a really heady and fierce sense of groove – but there's some more delicate moments with acoustic guitars, and a focus on melody, too – but most tunes bring the a raw, echoing fuzz groove. The lyrics are in English and many of their influences are western, but the African rock groove is in full effect, particularly in the insistent rhythms. Titles include "Black Tears", "Motherless Child", "Strange Dream", "Havoc", "October Night", "Off Ma Boots", "Lazy Bones", "Little Clown", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A great one from X-Ray Spex – one of the strongest of the first generation punks of the 70s – a group fronted by the amazing Poly Styrene, and blessed with some incredibly catchy tunes! There's a poppy playfulness to most of these tracks, underneath the fierce, full-on energy of the group – a rhythmic approach to punk rock that's almost a precursor to the Bow Wow Wow sound, but more decidedly punk at its heart. Tracks include "Oh Bondage Up Yours", "I Am A Cliche", "Highly Inflammable", "Let's Submerge", "I Am A Poseur", "Genetic Engineering", "Warrior In Woolworths", "Obsessed With You", "Artificial", and "The Day The World Turned Dayglo". LP, Vinyl record album

Detroit finally gets its funky due – stepping out from the shadows cast by endless Motown and Northern Soul compilations, and fixing its funky wagon to a great batch of rare indie groovers! The package brings together some real gems from labels that have barely, if ever, been reissued in the past – Sport, Big Hit, and Northern – and features tunes that run in vintage from the late 60s through the mid 70s. There's a really fierce funky 45 sort of feel going on here – with lots of deep deep bass on the best cuts, plenty of snapping drums, and vocals that have lots of raw and rough southern-styled touches! The set's got 17 tracks in all – with titles that include "Party On 4th Street" and "Mama Didn't Lie" by Black Nasty, "Going To Get It" by Calvin Williams, "Don't Leave Me To Be Lonely" by The Dramatics, "Funky Soul" by Dynamic Walton Brothers, "You Better Get Yourself Together" by Timmy Shaw & Chuck Holiday, "Keep On Stepping" by Black Nasty, "Bit Off More" by Lynn Day, and "Uncle Tom" by Herbie Thompson. CD

Supposedly the end of Willie Colon's early "crime" career – as the title and cover imply that he's finally been brought to trial! Don't worry about Willie being beaten down, though, because the music on the album is every bit as fierce and powerful as ever – and features a number of long tracks that really stretch out in a highly percussive groove! The group's great – with Jose Mangual on bongos, Joe Torres on piano, and Milton Cardona on conga – as well as Hector Lavoe still in the lead on vocals. Titles include "Aguanile", "Pan y Agua", "Seguire Sin Ti", "Timbalero", "Pirana", "Ah Ah O No", "Si La Ves", and "Sonando Despierto". LP, Vinyl record album

Miles Davis makes the electric transition – in this groundbreaking set from the late 60s! The classic mid 60s quintet is still in place here – Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums – but the sound is looser, freer, and more spacious – often echoing some of the rhythmic concerns that would dominate Miles' music in a few more years, but without as much of a bombastic sound. Williams' drums are amazing – fierce one minute, then fading the next – and Herbie Hancock's use of both electric and acoustic piano really points at his own directions in coming years. George Benson plays one one track – "Paraphernalia" – introducing electric guitar to the Miles Davis sound – and other long tracks on the set include "Stuff", "Black Comedy", and "Country Son". CD

Miles Davis makes the electric transition – in this groundbreaking set from the late 60s! The classic mid 60s quintet is still in place here – Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums – but the sound is looser, freer, and more spacious – often echoing some of the rhythmic concerns that would dominate Miles' music in a few more years, but without as much of a bombastic sound. Williams' drums are amazing – fierce one minute, then fading the next – and Herbie Hancock's use of both electric and acoustic piano really points at his own directions in coming years. George Benson plays one one track – "Paraphernalia" – introducing electric guitar to the Miles Davis sound – and other long tracks on the set include "Stuff", "Black Comedy", and "Country Son". LP, Vinyl record album

A very different album than most of the other records issued on the Flying Dutchman label at the start of the 70s – not funk, or jazz, or soul material – and instead a stunning hard rock monster that's every bit as revolutionary as titles in those other genres on the label! The group are definitely working with some heavy equipment here – fierce drums, fuzzy guitar, monstrous basslines – all wrapped together at a level that's got some echoes of the new UK hard rock scene, but also maybe some of the slight fuzzier touches around the edges from some of the US underground groups recording for Mainstream. Titles include "97 Days", "Lazy Livin", "Bye Bye Baby", "Shadows Of Life", "She's Gone", "First Time Last Time", and a pretty freaky cover of "Gimme Some Lovin". LP, Vinyl record album

The second long player by The Faces – and one of their best! The group hits a real peak on Long Player, balancing real emotional grit with their unrivaled rock swagger – and they're just flat out fierce on the best songs here! On one hand, there grooving along so loosely that it feels like it could fall apart at any moment, but the the intensity of the rhythms and the force of Rod's vocals keep it all together. Exhilarating stuff! Includes "Bad N' Ruin", "Tell Everyone", "Sweet Lady Mary", one of the best-ever covers of "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Had A Real Good Time", "On The Beach", a rollicking version of Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good" and more. CD

The Gap Band are definitely Jammin on this sweet little set from the early 80s – hitting that fierce funk mode they do so well, with lots of snapping lines at the bottom of the rhythms! The style is trademark Gap all the way through – a percolated approach to funk that's tight, but never too slick – in a groove that's different than some of their other mainstream counterparts at the time – hard to describe accurately, but almost with a touch of jazz in the mix! Charlie Wilson handles most of the lead vocals, with support from brothers Robert and Ronnie – and Ronnie produced most of the set. Titles include "Where Are We Going", "Shake A Leg", "Jam The Motha", "Someday", "You're Something Special", "I'm Ready", "You're My Everything", "Smile", and "Jammin In America". CD also features the bonus track "Party Train (special dance mix)". LP, Vinyl record album

Nona Hendryx at the height of her 80s glory – looking mighty fierce in a fencing costume on the cover! As with her previous set, this one's done with heavy help from Material – who bring in a beat heavy sound that's kind of a mainstream variation on the underground New York groove they'd had a few years before. Francois K helps a bit on the mixing, and you can definitely hear some of his playful touches – the sorts of sounds that helped a record like this build a bridge between the clubs and the streets, from Danceteria to the mainstream! Musicians include Bernie Worrell on keyboards and Bill Laswell on bass and tapes – and titles include "To The Bone", "Electricity", "I Sweat", "Soft Targets", "I Want You", "Ghost Love", and "The Life". LP, Vinyl record album

A once lost gem! Hudson's voice as a producer remains one of the most unique and idiosyncratic of his era, and this first LP issued under his own name stands as a shining document of his genius. Cut very near the time of his classic dub side Pick A Dub, this album shares the haunting mood that runs through the best of Hudson's work, all the while delivering a resounding roots message. The rhythms are fierce, laid down by Leroy Sibbles, Fully Fullwood, Santa Davis, Count Ossie and Augustus Pablo, a dozen mighty tracks in all: "Hunting", "Flesh Of My Skin", "Blood Of My Blood", "Testing Of My Faith", "Fight Your Revolution", "Darkest Night", "Talk Some Sense (Gamma Ray)", "Treasures Of The World", "My Nocturne", "I Shall Be Released", "No Friend Of Mine" and "Stabiliser". CD

The album that rocked a million dorm rooms back in the 60s – and for good reason, too – given that the title track is a side-long, totally jamming monster – the kind of track that was really revolutionary at the time, and which still has a hell of an impact all these many years later! "In A Gadda Da Vida" was shortened to a single – with the big hook intact – but this classic album version runs for 17 minutes in length, and has the group doing all these cool jams with their instruments – all the animals in the garden of Eden talking to each other (or at least that's what our addled teenaged minds always thought!) Shorter tracks are mighty nice too – a heady, heavy brew of Hammond and fierce guitar from Erik Brann, on cuts all penned by group leader Doug Ingle. Titles include "Termination", "My Mirage", "Flowers & Roses", and "Most Anything You Want". LP, Vinyl record album

The MC5 move to Atlantic Records after their first album – and find a whole new sort of focus that's pretty great! Their classic debut was a raw live album – designed to capture their intensity on the Detroit scene of the late 60s – but this set has the group stretching out, and really going for something else – working in the studio for the first time, with surprisingly strong production from a young Jon Landau – and a sense of focus in the songs that shows a great degree of maturity, while still keeping all their pre-punk edges! Wayne Kramer and Fred Sonic Smith are plenty darn fierce on guitar – and the titles alone give a good idea of the energy of the record – and include "Tutti Frutti", "Teenage Lust", "High School", "Shakin Street", "The Human Being Lawnmower", and "Back In The USA". LP, Vinyl record album

Kenji Mori may be the firebird on tenor and flute for the date – but the album also features some mighty bold lines on guitar from the young Kazumi Watanabe! Kazumi's got a dynamic sense of energy that really shapes the record from the start – these long, twangy electric passages that find a way to be fierce one minute, gentle the next – almost phrased at points as if he was holding a reed instrument instead of a stringed one! Mori's lines on flute are an especially great counterpart to the guitar – shapes in sound that really have an organic quality as they spin out. The group also features Nobuyoshi Ino on bass and Steve Jackson on drums – and titles include the long tunes "Firebird (parts 1 & 2)", "K&J", and "A Time For Us". CD

A set that's way more than the classic rock outing of some of the group's Bay Area contemporaries – as the young Carlos Santana finds a way to mix inspirations from blues and Latin music into this fierce fusion of so many different elements at once – stretching out, jamming, and touching decades of listeners in the process! The whole thing's a perfect sonic blend – guitar, keyboards, and plenty of percussion – on the group's stunning remake of "Oye Como Va", their fusion of "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen", and the cuts "Se A Cabo", "Samba Pa Ti", "El Nicoya", and "Singing Winds Crying Beasts". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that's way more than the classic rock outing of some of the group's Bay Area contemporaries – as the young Carlos Santana finds a way to mix inspirations from blues and Latin music into this fierce fusion of so many different elements at once – stretching out, jamming, and touching decades of listeners in the process! The whole thing's a perfect sonic blend – guitar, keyboards, and plenty of percussion – on the group's stunning remake of "Oye Como Va", their fusion of "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen", and the cuts "Se A Cabo", "Samba Pa Ti", "El Nicoya", and "Singing Winds Crying Beasts". CD adds 3 live bonus tracks. CD

A twin-alto session that matches the sax of Sonny Stitt with that of Bunky Green – both set up in a tight little combo that includes some smoking work on Hammond by organist Odell Brown! Brown's fierce approach to the keys creates a really gutbuckety sound on the set – making the album burn like some of the best Prestige soul jazz sides from the mid 60s – but also opening up some of the tunes in the same sort of skittish groove that Brown was using on his own albums of the period! A young Maurice White plays drums – and titles include "Soul In The Night", "One Alone", "The Spies", and "Home Stretch". CD

Quite possibly the greatest album to date from Atomic – a set that steps out with a bold, rich sound right from the start – giving the whole thing the feel of some lost classic slice of avant jazz, but with a freshness that definitely marks the set with plenty of Atomic energy too! The horns are amazing – fierce interplay between the trumpet of Magnus Broo and reeds of Fredrik Ljungvist – locking together at times with these raging lines that have almost an ESP sort of feel – then breaking out with soul-drenching solos on their own – especially when Ljungvist handles the tenor. Paal Nilssen-Love's drums are on fire throughout – Havard Wilk barrels away on piano – and Ingebrigt Haker Flaten rolls things along strongly on bass. Titles include "Morphemes", "HCE", "Milano", "Kreuzberg Variations", "Panama", and "Unity Toccata". CD

Pretty fierce stuff from Gato Barbieri – a firey avant session that's very much in the mode of his work for ESP, and his playing with Don Cherry in the late 60s. The set was recorded in Milan in 1967, with a trio that includes JF Jenny Clark on bass and Aldo Romano on drums – and Gato's pretty free and unbridled in his tenor solos, playing with the style he was using a lot at the time, part-Coltrane, but with the soulfulness of Pharoah Sanders even in the freer moments. Titles include "Michelle" and "Obsession". LP, Vinyl record album

Early bluesy soul from Buster Brown – in the fierce tradition of Fire Records. Tracks include "When Things Go Wrong", "Madison Shuffle", "John Henry", "Sincerely", and "I'm Going But I'll Be Back". LP, Vinyl record album

Although Roy Brown had a slightly softer edge than some of his King R&B contemporaries – he could definitely rock and wail when he wanted to, as you'll hear on this CD! The folks at Rhino have done a good job of digging through Roy's work at King, pulling together 18 tracks that have a fierce Wynonnie Harris-ish sound to them – no surprise, as King often had Brown and Harris splitting "Battle Of The Blues" albums together! Tracks include "Black Diamond", "Mighty Might Man", "Rockin At Midnight", "Cadillac Baby", "Hard Luck Blues", "Bar Room Blues", "Big Town", "Gal From Kokomo", "Beautician Blues", and the original version of "Good Rockin Tonight", which is a lot rawer than you'd expect! CD

8 tracks that do a pretty darn good job of summing up the genius of pianist Sonny Clark during his years at the Blue Note label! The recordings feature Clark in the company of some fierce hardbop groups – with players that include John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Paul Chambers, Donald Byrd, and Art Farmer. Titles include "Junka", "Cool Struttin", "Dial S For Sonny", "Shoutin On A Riff", and "Sonny's Crib". CD

Important second chapter work from Ornette Coleman – a record that marked a real shift in his sound from the Atlantic Records years – issued by Blue Note at a level that gave the rest of the world a chance to see what Ornette had been cooking up on the underground scene! The album was recorded in Stockholm – in the tradition of European live performances that saw Coleman grow so strongly in the mid 60s – and the tracks are long, free, and full of improvised moments – with Ornette adding in trumpet and violin next to his familiar alto – in a trio with David Izenzon on bass and Charles Moffett on drums – both fantastic players who can be loose at the right moments, and bring things back at others. Tracks are long and unbridled – with less of the rhythmic changes that you'd hear in work by the classic quartet, and more of a full-on fierce soloing mode. Titles include "Snowflakes & Sunshine", "Morning Song", "The Riddle", and "Antiques" – and the CD features 3 bonus alternate takes! CD

Classic work from Willie Colon – the "payoff" of his youthful hoodlum routine, and a hard-hitting batch of salsa tunes pulled from earlier records – all in a package that defines his groove of the 70s! Hector LaVoe's on vocals with Willie's group – and he's also standing with Willie on the cover, a nice image that has the two of them dressed as big-time gangsters, standing next to a Rolls Royce! (Wonder what it cost them to rent that for the cover shoot?) But more important than Willie's perpetuation of himself as the bad boy of Latin music, is the overall sound of the record – fierce salsa, with a really strong approach that's as bold and proud as the image which supports it. Solid all the way through, and tracks include "El Malo", "Jazzy", "El Titan", and "Che Che Cole", a nice groover. LP, Vinyl record album

Deep Purple may be asking a lot to knock the faces of the presidents off Mount Rushmore, and put up their own images instead – but given the force of this classic early 70s set, they may well have the musical power on their own to carve up a whole mountainside! The album's a ripper right from the start – a tight barrage of fierce guitars and heavy drums from the legendary lineup that included Roger Glover, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillian, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice – a group so tight, so tremendous, the only way to proper describe them is to encourage you to drop the needle on a classic gem like this! A non-stop barrage from start to finish – with tracks that include "Speed King", "Bloodsucker", "Child In Time", Into The Fire", "Flight Of The Rat", and "Living Wreck". CD

Deep Purple may be asking a lot to knock the faces of the presidents off Mount Rushmore, and put up their own images instead – but given the force of this classic early 70s set, they may well have the musical power on their own to carve up a whole mountainside! The album's a ripper right from the start – a tight barrage of fierce guitars and heavy drums from the legendary lineup that included Roger Glover, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillian, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice – a group so tight, so tremendous, the only way to proper describe them is to encourage you to drop the needle on a classic gem like this! A non-stop barrage from start to finish – with tracks that include "Speed King", "Bloodsucker", "Child In Time", Into The Fire", "Flight Of The Rat", and "Living Wreck". CD

A really fierce blend of avant jazz and post-punk energy – served up here by a group that effortlessly mix complicated reed lines with more driving drums and electric bass – all peppered with vocal contributions from singer Sofia Jernberg! Mats Gustafsson is one of the key forces here – playing flutes, baritone, and live electronics – and really reminding us that his ear for sonic activity is boundless, and open to interactions in just about any sphere – no surprise, given his other records – but still emphasized very strongly with the freshness of this album! Other group members include Borge Fjordheim on drums, Anders Hana on baritone and bass guitars, and Kjetil Moster on clarinet, tenor, and electronics. Titles include "Snow", "Wasted Blame", "Smokey Black", "Whose Face", "Winter Doesn't End", and "Black Vivaldi Sonata". LP, Vinyl record album

The second long player by The Faces – and one of their best! The group hits a real peak on Long Player, balancing real emotional grit with their unrivaled rock swagger – and they're just flat out fierce on the best songs here! On one hand, there grooving along so loosely that it feels like it could fall apart at any moment, but the the intensity of the rhythms and the force of Rod's vocals keep it all together. Exhilarating stuff! Includes "Bad N' Ruin", "Tell Everyone", "Sweet Lady Mary", one of the best-ever covers of "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Had A Real Good Time", "On The Beach", a rollicking version of Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Classic Herbie Hancock from the early years – and a great mix of soul jazz and modernist inspiration! The record include a nice groovy "hit" – Herbie's "Blind Man Blind Man" – an obvious follow-up to "Watermelon Man", but still a standout track with a lot of imagination, and a fierce soul jazz hook that just won't quit! The rest of the record, while also groovy, starts to show many more signs of Herbie's far-reaching conception – especially shared with players like Tony Williams on drums, Grachan Moncur on trombone, and Chuck Israels on bass – who all work with Herbie in a larger than usual group that also includes Grant Green on guitar, Donald Byrd on trumpet, and Hank Mobley on tenor. The lineup is as great as it sounds on paper – and the larger setting really helps expand Herbie's new ideas – on tunes that include "Blind Man Blind Man", "And What If I Don't", "A Tribute To Someone", "King Cobra", and "The Pleasure Is Mine". LP, Vinyl record album

Nona Hendryx at the height of her 80s glory – looking mighty fierce in a fencing costume on the cover! As with her previous set, this one's done with heavy help from Material – who bring in a beat heavy sound that's kind of a mainstream variation on the underground New York groove they'd had a few years before. Francois K helps a bit on the mixing, and you can definitely hear some of his playful touches – the sorts of sounds that helped a record like this build a bridge between the clubs and the streets, from Danceteria to the mainstream! Musicians include Bernie Worrell on keyboards and Bill Laswell on bass and tapes – and titles include "To The Bone", "Electricity", "I Sweat", "Soft Targets", "I Want You", "Ghost Love", and "The Life". LP, Vinyl record album

The album that rocked a million dorm rooms back in the 60s – and for good reason, too – given that the title track is a side-long, totally jamming monster – the kind of track that was really revolutionary at the time, and which still has a hell of an impact all these many years later! "In A Gadda Da Vida" was shortened to a single – with the big hook intact – but this classic album version runs for 17 minutes in length, and has the group doing all these cool jams with their instruments – all the animals in the garden of Eden talking to each other (or at least that's what our addled teenaged minds always thought!) Shorter tracks are mighty nice too – a heady, heavy brew of Hammond and fierce guitar from Erik Brann, on cuts all penned by group leader Doug Ingle. Titles include "Termination", "My Mirage", "Flowers & Roses", and "Most Anything You Want". Cassette

Easily the most hard-hitting of Blue Note's 2LP Lighthouse Live series from the early 70s – and a record that really lets Elvin Jones and his group stretch out and play! The setting is a perfect one for Jones – given the boundless energy already present on his studio sessions for Blue Note at the time – really fierce work that goes beyond even his classic Coltrane performances – pushing the limits in a sweet blend of rhythm and reeds! The group here is Elvin's razor-edge combo from the early 70s – the one that features Gene Perla on fat funky bass, and both Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman playing choppy reeds along with the grooves – really amazing hornmen at this point in their career, blowing here with interplay that's simply fantastic! Jones' leadership both draws from his years with Coltrane, yet also takes the music to key new levels – increasing the energy without blowing the top off, and creating a vivid new groove that so many others would try to cop later in the 70s – but never do this well. Titles on this second volume include "New Breed", "My Ship", and "Sweet Mama". CD

Tripped-out grooves from this legendary combo from Uruguay – a mix of candomble roots and wilder rockish touches – but also served up with a bit of Latin in the mix too! There's some great heavy percussion on the bottom of most tracks – and even when the guitars are fierce and fuzzy, the overall sound is nicely rhythmic, and often a bit funky – a great blend of global elements, and coming across with the same sort of power as the best Latin funk albums from Peru! There's perhaps a bit more psychedelia here than on those records, but never in a way that's too indulgent or dated – thanks to some lean, clean arrangements. Titles include a cover of Tito Puente's "Guayaba", plus "Adios A Jimi Hendrix", "Cajon De Castanas", "Llamada Del Sur", "Buscado", "Donde Esta El Doctor", and "Mas Alla Del Sahara". CD

Spacey electric work from guitarist Pat Martino – a record that seems to be as concerned with sound overall as it is with the jazz stylings of Martino's guitar – and we mean that in a good way! The older modes of Martino's 60s soul jazz work are very far gone by now – but in their place is a new sense of space and tone, one that makes him a completely different player altogether! A few cuts get hard and funky – pairing Martino with the fierce keyboard work of Gil Goldstein – while others are mellower and atmospheric, with lots of moody sounds floating along. Titles include "Fall", "Nefertiti", "City Lights", "Blue Macaw", "Prelude", and "Masquerade". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic lost material from Jackie McLean! The set was recorded right before his "new thing" era – in the same period as the amazing Fickle Sonance album. And like that one, this features Jackie edging out towards modernist ideas, yet still swinging hard and fierce, with a firey boppish sensibility. The writing is great – and the players include Herbie Hancock on piano, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Butch Warren on bass, and a young Tony Williams on drums – making his recording debut on the album! The whole thing's tinged with dark and fragile emotion – and a heated sense of urgency that makes it one of McLean's best albums of the 60s – even though it was recorded then, and not issued by Blue Note until many years later! Titles include "Marney", "Dusty Foot", "Vertigo", and "Cheers". Now, in this reissue with 24-bit mastering, it's also coupled with a great set that has McLean playing with Kenny Dorham and Sonny Clark, recorded a year earlier. The whole CD's got a total of 11 great tracks – and it's one of the best Jackie McLean titles you can find! CD

Classic bop session work, featuring Bird, Miles, JJ Johnson, Max Roach, Duke Jordan, and Tommy Potter. There's no surprises here, but the playing's tight as a tick, and the short tracks are a fierce declaration of the bop idiom. Titles include "Bongo Bop", "Bird Feathers", "Klactoveedsedtene", "Crazeology", "Don't Blame Me", "Dewey Square", "Air Conditioning", "Scrapple From the Apple" and "Quasimodo". LP, Vinyl record album

Really wonderful work from The Pretty Things – a vastly-underrated group who work here with a depth that rivals bigger contemporaries like The Kinks or The Who! Like both of those groups, The Pretty Things have a heck of a lot going on musically – a real range of styles that goes beyond simple catchy pop – showing a growth in style and sound that's really tremendous, given the way they sounded just a few albums back. The songs are almost all originals, and filled with themes that run from the fierce to the fragile – often pointed pictures of the human condition, delivered with surprising sensitivity. The album features some added orchestrations from Reg Tilsley, and titles include "Tripping", "My Time", "One Long Glance", "House Of Ten", "Out In The Night", "Death Of A Socialite", "The Sun", "Children", and "Bright Lights Of The City". CD features 7 bonus tracks – including "Progress", "House In The Country", "My Time", "Photographer", and "The Sun". CD

Although most of the world knows Ike Quebec these days for his "comeback" recordings with Blue Note in the early 60s, back in the 40s, he recorded some totally smoking sides for the label that show him playing in a much younger, gutsier vein – nicely shifting between the camps of bop and swing, as a fierce young tenor master. Those recordings, all originally issued on 78s, have all been tough to find – and now they're paired nicely with a great set of recordings that Quebec did for the Savoy label around the same time. Both sets are excellent material by one of the most woefully overlooked tenorists of the 20th century, and this set features great remastering, and probably the best packaging we've ever seen for the material. There's a total of 22 cuts in all – with a number of unreleased ones – and titles include "Zig Billion", "IQ Blues", "Jim Dawgs", "Facin The Face", "Tiny Exercise", and "Hard Tack". CD

A brilliant trio set from three of the most important modernists of the post-Coltrane years – tenorist Dewey Redman, pianist Cecil Taylor, and drummer Elvin Jones – working here in very free formation, especially for the Verve label! Redman's reeds are sharper and more far-reaching than most of his other recordings of the time – no doubt driven onward by Taylor's frenetic work on piano, a really surprising match for a group like this – and Jones himself has some very fierce moments on the drums, definitely in the harder, heavier side of his talents for the date. Titles include "Nine", "Bekei", "Spoonin", "Dew", "It", "Is", and "Life As". CD

A fierce 10th album from the Roots – hard hitting and straight up angry, without sacrificing the musicality that makes them the most unique crew in hip hop of the past 15 years! We'll do our best to recommend this vital LP without tagging it with the dreaded "concept album" tag (wish us luck on that) but it's for the most barbed commentary on the state of Philly – and the larger social and cultural landscape. The Roots are still bringing some truly exhilarating material after all these years! Titles include "Rising Down" feat Mos Def & Styles P, "Get Busy" feat Dice Raw & Peedi Peedi, "@ 15", "75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)", "Becoming Unwritten", "Criminal" feat Truck North & Saigon, "I Will Not Apologize" feat Porn & Dice Raw, "Lost Desire" feat Malik B & Talib Kweli, "The Show" feat Common & Dice Raw, "Rising Up" feat Wale & Chrisette Michelle and more – plus a few unlisted bonus tracks on the CD version. CD

The first three albums by Undisputed Truth – finally on CD, with bonus tracks too! First up is the amazing debut of Undisputed Truth – one of the coolest new Motown groups of the 70s – and one of the few that really continued the experimental legacy of the label in the late 60s! As with the Temptations during their psychedelic years, Undisputed Truth are handled by superproducer Norman Whitfield – who does a fantastic job of mixing deeper ideas and righteous themes with some of the soaring soul that was the Motown stock in trade – a wonderful blend that made these guys one of the best groups poised to push the label into the new decade! Titles include the huge hit "Smiling Faces Sometimes", plus lots of covers of cool tracks like "California Soul", "Like A Rolling Stone", "Ball Of Confusion", and "You Got The Love I Need". Law Of The Land is an unstoppable groove from The Undisputed Truth – a group who worked with Norman Whitfield in the same psychedelic soul territory as The Temptations – and who arguably got the sound across even better than them! This set's not as much of a bit hit as the group's other records from the time – but that makes it sound even fresher and more fierce – loads of those hard-rolling basslines you'd expect from Whitfield's production – and some soaring arrangements from Paul Riser and David Van DePitte, both of whom give the album a sense of majesty to match its inherent righteousness. Titles include "Law of The Land" and "Mama I Got A Brand New Thing" – plus covers of Temps tunes "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" and "Just My Imagination" – and other covers that include "Love & Happiness", "If I Die", "Feelin' Alright", and "Killing Me Softly", done in the full soul mode of the group. Down To Earth features Undisputed Truth at the height of their powers – still working in the psychedelic soul style they forged with Norman Whitfield at the end of the 60s – but with a groove that's tighter and sharper than ever before! We might well call the record the funkiest the group ever cut – as Whitfield's production really brings the rhythms into strong focus, while still letting the righteous message in the lyrics shine through in the group's strong sense of interplay – that back/forth between male and female vocals that really helps the group create a sense of social conversation. Titles include the Whitfield originals "Help Yourself", "Big John Is My Name", "Save My Love For A Rainy Day", and "Law Of The Land" – but the best tracks might be their covers, like "Love & Happiness" and "Our Day Will Come", both totally remade here into great new versions! CD features 6 more bonus tracks – including "Let's Go Back To Day One" and "Gonna Keep On Tryin Till I Win Your Love" – plus single edits of "What's Going On", "What It Is", "You Make Your Own Heaven & Hell", and "Law Of The Land". CD

One of the last great albums that Hank Mobley ever cut! Although Mobley's 70s output was nothing compared to his 60s Blue Note work, this 1972 session for Cobblestone/Muse is a winner, and features the aging tenorist co-leading a crack quintet with Cedar Walton, and featuring Billy Higgins, Sam Jones, and Charles Davis. The set's freer than Mobley's Blue Note work, but the group's right on the money – and the record is dominated by fierce soulful solos. Walton plays both acoustic and electric piano, at times, the record feels as if it might have been issued on the Black Jazz label. Tracks include "Sabia", "Breakthrough", "Early Morning Stroll", and the beautiful "House On Maple Street". CD

A seminal jazz rock statement from drummer Tony Williams – one that has him stepping out quite far from his original "new thing" recordings of the mid 60s! The album's got a genre-forming sound that's incredibly fierce – a power trio churning of Williams drums, John McLaughlin's guitar, and Larry Young's free-thinking work on organ. The tunes are long and jamming, but also have a tight rhythmic focus that never gets too sloppy – and which virtually set the stage for a whole generation of 70s fusion players in years to come! Young and McLaughlin are especially great – working here with Williams to pound out sheets of sound in a cosmic trippy maze of riffs and grooves, certainly enough to inspire the most addled rocker to head over to the jazz section! Though this set was released as two separate volumes, this double LP version has both albums, and features 8 tracks in all "Emergency", "Beyond Games", "Where", "Vashkar", "Sangria For Three", "Something Spiritual", "Spectrum", and "Via The Spectrum Road". CD

Aesop's poetic genius shines like florescent lights in the basement – Pessimistic, hopeful, and fierce, reflecting on the evil repetitiveness of day to day labor in the city of New York. Already critically acclaimed, this Def Jux release is bound to be a hip-hop classic. 4 tracks were produced by Aesop Rock, 9 produced by his longtime producer Blockhead, and 1 by Omega One. Tracks include "Boombox", "Coma", "The Yes And The Y'all", "One Brick" featuring Illogic, "Bent Life" featuring C-rayz Walz, "9-5ers Anthem", "Labor", "Daylight", "Save Yourself", "Flash Flood", "No Regrets", "The Tugboat Complex Pt 3", "Battery", and "Shovel". CD

Fierce sounds from Ame Son – one of the most important French groups at the start of the 70s, and, as the title implies, an outfit who seemed to catalyze all the best elements going on at the time! The tunes are long, and relatively freewheeling – and instrumentation can get mighty intense – in an early Floyd-like style that has us wanting to set the controls for the heart of the sun! But there's a lot more of an edge, too – and overall, things are much more unbridled – not nearly the focused energy of some of the more polished groups of the time – and almost a garage-prog sort of approach. Titles include "Coeur Fou", "Eclosion", "Seventh Time Key", "Hein Quant A Toi", and "Reborn This Morning On The Way Of". Includes great poster with notes, too! LP, Vinyl record album

One of those great Kenny Barron records from a time when it seemed like the pianist could do no wrong – effortlessly turning out great sessions like this, with such prolific energy that it's sometimes hard to remember them all! Yet even so, Quickstep is a real standout – a record that shows the maturity Barron was hitting as both a leader and a player at the time – a fierce, focused power that really brings together a great quintet here – with John Stubblefield on tenor, Eddie Henderson on trumpet, David Williams on bass, and Victor Lewis on drums! The record's the sort that we treasure more and more over the years, and feel like we never appreciated fully at the time – and titles include "Hindsight", "Quickstep", "Big Girls", "Here & There", "Once Upon A Time", and "I Wanted To Say". CD

A pretty great and very strange album by avant pianist Dave Burrell! Side one features an extended tune called "West Side Story", which is basically a medley of tunes from the musical, played with a nice dark edge by Burrell and a trio, plus additional tambourine work by Pharoah Sanders! Side three features "East Side Colors", a great track in the ESP avant mode – and one that features killer drum work by Sonny Murray, and some fierce piano by Burrell. The set closes with the jaunty "Margy Pargy", a short straight tune with almost an old-timey feel to it. Weird, but one of Burrell's more compelling albums. Other tracks include "Theme Stream", "Bittersweet Reminiscence", and "Dave Blue". LP, Vinyl record album

Damn! These guys just keep getting better and better with each new release – to the point where they're way more than just a combo dedicated to classic soundtrack modes – and instead have found a fuzzy funky space that's all their own! Both the instrumentation and rhythms are sharper than ever – very hard-hitting, on the rockier side of 70s sound library styles – and topped with some fierce guitar work that makes nearly every cut bristle with a newfound sense of power – matched by mighty sweet lines on keyboards that include Fender Rhodes, clavinet, mellotron, dulcitone, and eko tiger! Vocals are almost nonexistent – leaving the most room for instrumentals that ring out boldly – and titles include "You Filthy Bastards", "The Butcher's Bride", "Mescaline 6", "Stainless Steel", "Two Pills In The Pocket", and "Traitors". CD

A surprisingly great batch of kick ass rock and roll tunes – southern fried, but done with a cosmic undercurrent that makes for a mighty weird approach! The drums are amazing – fierce right from the get-go, in a way that has made the record a favorite with break collectors for years – and the fuzzy guitars really step out strongly too – with just a slight southern twang, and a great edge that keeps things pretty funky at parts! Bobby Caldwell is in the group on percussion, piano, vibes, and bells – and he also co-wrote most of the songs on the album – and titles include the classic "Dancing Madly Backwards", plus "Myopic Void", "Frozen Over", "Thousand Days Of Yesterdays", "As The Moon Speaks", and "Astral Lady". LP, Vinyl record album

Important second chapter work from Ornette Coleman – a record that marked a real shift in his sound from the Atlantic Records years – issued by Blue Note at a level that gave the rest of the world a chance to see what Ornette had been cooking up on the underground scene! The album was recorded in Stockholm – in the tradition of European live performances that saw Coleman grow so strongly in the mid 60s – and the tracks are long, free, and full of improvised moments – with Ornette adding in trumpet and violin next to his familiar alto – in a trio with David Izenzon on bass and Charles Moffett on drums – both fantastic players who can be loose at the right moments, and bring things back at others. Tracks are long and unbridled – with less of the rhythmic changes that you'd hear in work by the classic quartet, and more of a full-on fierce soloing mode. Titles include "Faces & Places", "Dee Dee", and "Dawn" – plus two alternate takes and the cut "Doughnuts". CD

Important second chapter work from Ornette Coleman – a record that marked a real shift in his sound from the Atlantic Records years – issued by Blue Note at a level that gave the rest of the world a chance to see what Ornette had been cooking up on the underground scene! The album was recorded in Stockholm – in the tradition of European live performances that saw Coleman grow so strongly in the mid 60s – and the tracks are long, free, and full of improvised moments – with Ornette adding in trumpet and violin next to his familiar alto – in a trio with David Izenzon on bass and Charles Moffett on drums – both fantastic players who can be loose at the right moments, and bring things back at others. Tracks are long and unbridled – with less of the rhythmic changes that you'd hear in work by the classic quartet, and more of a full-on fierce soloing mode. Titles include "Snowflakes & Sunshine", "Morning Song", "The Riddle", and "Antiques". CD

A set that's even more searing and sonically intense than the debut of this genre-hopping group – served up in this bracing blend of electric and acoustic instrumentation that almost takes us back to the 90s experiments on Axiom Records from the Bill Laswell generation! there's plenty of guitar and bass here – the former from Javi Perez, the latter from Jamie Benzies – driven strongly by the fierce drum work of Tim Toyle, and topped with trumpet from Axel Kaner Lidstrom, tenor from James Mollison, keyboards and electronics from Tile Gichigi Lipere, and a mix of tenor, bass, clarinet, and flute from Rob Milne – all coming together with a very dark, textured, almost layered sort of sound – even though the performance here seems to be mostly live. Titles include "3301", "Fallacy", "The Cracks In The Bricks", "Ashen Faun", "Last Throes Of The Temporal Monolith", and "Crystalline Peaks". LP, Vinyl record album