There's a wonderful layering of sounds going on here – tremendous work from a team of improvisers who really know how to fill in the spaces alongside each other, and build up a performance that only increases in intensity as things move on! William Parker's bass, as always, is a key factor in the sound here – and on the album, he also plays gralla and shakuhachi as well – next to the drums of Francisco Mela and piano of Leo Genovese, topped and driven forward by incredible work from Daniel Carter on saxes! The music here is based on a poem by carter about non-stop motion in New York – and there's definitely that sense of action here – on titles that include "Intertext Salute", "Shine Hear", and "Glisten Up". CD

There's a wonderful layering of sounds going on here – tremendous work from a team of improvisers who really know how to fill in the spaces alongside each other, and build up a performance that only increases in intensity as things move on! William Parker's bass, as always, is a key factor in the sound here – and on the album, he also plays gralla and shakuhachi as well – next to the drums of Francisco Mela and piano of Leo Genovese, topped and driven forward by incredible work from Daniel Carter on saxes! The music here is based on a poem by carter about non-stop motion in New York – and there's definitely that sense of action here – on titles that include "Intertext Salute", "Shine Hear", and "Glisten Up". LP, Vinyl record album

Reed player Zoh Amba is in some fantastic company here – every bit as great as you'd guess in a trio setting with William Parker on bass and Francisco Mela on drums! Yet even amidst these giants, Amba more than holds her own – especially on tenor, which she blows in this raw, raspy quality that almost has echoes of Albert Ayler at times – in terms of individuality and spirit! The tracks are all quite long, and build with a nice sort of intensity – and Zoh also plays flute on the record as well. Titles include "O Life O Light", "Mountains In The Predawn Light", and "Mother's Hymn" – plus the shorter "Satya". CD

Reed player Zoh Amba is in some fantastic company here – every bit as great as you'd guess in a trio setting with William Parker on bass and Francisco Mela on drums! Yet even amidst these giants, Amba more than holds her own – especially on tenor, which she blows in this raw, raspy quality that almost has echoes of Albert Ayler at times – in terms of individuality and spirit! The tracks are all quite long, and build with a nice sort of intensity – and Zoh also plays flute on the record as well. Titles include "O Life O Light", "Mountains In The Predawn Light", and "Mother's Hymn" – plus the shorter "Satya". CD

Reed player Zoh Amba is in some fantastic company here – every bit as great as you'd guess in a trio setting with William Parker on bass and Francisco Mela on drums! Yet even amidst these giants, Amba more than holds her own – especially on tenor, which she blows in this raw, raspy quality that almost has echoes of Albert Ayler at times – in terms of individuality and spirit! The tracks are all quite long, and build with a nice sort of intensity – and Zoh also plays flute on the record as well. Titles include "O Life O Light", "Mountains In The Predawn Light", and "Mother's Hymn" – plus the shorter "Satya". LP, Vinyl record album

There's a nice variation here to the previous album from Francisco Mela with this title – and that difference is pianist Cooper-Moore, who steps into the place that Matthew Shipp held in the previous trio – and brings all sorts of wonderful sounds and flavors into play! Mela's a great leader for the set – as his approach to the drums is as open and elliptical as the bass of William Parker and the piano of Cooper-Moore – who really has a way of circling around these sonic passages in a great way – almost slowly winding up, and pulling Parker and Mela along with him – then generating sparks that allows all three players to bristle with energy in all sorts of different directions. The set features two long tracks – "Musical Literacy" and "Mental Scenario". CD

With Tony Scherr on bass and Francisco Mela on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Long buried live material from Gram Parsons & The Flying Burrito Brothers – captured at the dizzying heights of their cosmic American powers – over a couple shows at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom in 1969! These were dates opening for the Grateful Dead – and it's from the Dead's massive recorded archives that this material comes – so the sound is really of fine caliber. Gram & the Burritos weren't shy about playing honky tonk standards, and the sets have a number of them, plus classics from the Gilded Palace album and more! The booklet features notes by Pamela Des Barres and Dave Prinz, with loads of photos. Disc 1 features the set from April 4, 1969, Disc 2 with the similar, and maybe a little stronger set from April 6, with bonus home recordings of "Thousand Dollar Wedding" and "When Will I Be Loved" at the end of the first disc. Titles include "Close Up The Honky Tonks", "Dark End Of The Street", medley of "Undo The Right and "Somebody's Back In Town", "She Once Lived Here", "Mental Revenge", "Sin City", "Lucille", "You Win Again", "Hot Burrito #1", "Hot Burrito #2", "Train Song" and more! CD

This is the kind of CD that makes us love reissues! Why? Well, because it features 2 incredibly rare jazz albums – both of which never turn up on vinyl, and are lovingly packaged here on 1 CD filled with a dozen hard bop grooves. The album Matador was originally issued under Kenny Dorham's name, and Inta Somethin' was issued under Jackie McLean's name – but both players are sort of co-leaders on both albums, and it's fitting to pair the records together here because they represent the unique union of these two different players. Dorham's lyrical trumpet is an unlikely match for McLean's edgey alto, but the records work well, and with a modernist groove that's extremely compelling. Titles include "El Matador", "San Francisco Beat", "Prelude", and versions of "Una Mas" and "Melanie" – both of which were recorded later by the artists on Blue Note. CD

Handy's really going for the college crowd here – breaking away from the modernist hardbop of his post-Mingus years, going for a melange of styles put together with a host of hipper San Francisco players that includes Jerry Hahn on guitar and Michael White on violin. There's traces of some of Chico Hamilton's grooves from the same time, but the overall sound is a lot freer. Titles include "Theme X", "Dance For Carlo B", "Scheme #1", and "Dancy Dancy". LP, Vinyl record album

The songs of Lupicinio – performed by Cyro Monteiro, Linda Batista, Jamelao, Quarteto Quitandinha, Francisco Alves, and Orlando Silva. LP, Vinyl record album

The songs of Lupicinio – performed by Zizi Possi, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Jamelao, Roberto Luna, Nora Ney, Ciro Monteiro, Francisco Alves, Linda Batista, and Lupicino Rodrigues himself! Comes with a booklet of images and photos. LP, Vinyl record album