Far-reaching and incredibly soulful work from Mal Waldron and Gary Peacock! Both players are at the height of their powers here, and have a warmth and sense of interplay that makes the session one of the best they did alone or together during the time. The group's a trio, with Hiroshi Murakami added in on bass – and the overall feel is similar to some of the best Japanese trio sessions of the early 70s, with great recording, long drawn-out introspective songs, and free unbridled playing that you don't always get on American sessions by the same players. Titles include "Walking Way", "What's That", "She Walks In Beauty", and "The Heart Of The Matter". LP, Vinyl record album

A great all-star group – recorded live in 1981 – with Chick Corea on acoustic piano, Joe Henderson on tenor, Gary Peacock on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums! CD

A beautiful set of freely improvised numbers, and one of only a few trio albums to depart from the usual "standards" format! CD

Keith Jarrett on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. CD

Mostly solo recordings by bassist Gary Peacock, joined by Jan Garbarek on saxophone on "Winterlude" and "Greenwings". LP, Vinyl record album

A great ECM trio date – tracks include "Open, To Love", "Touching", "Albert's Love Theme", "Cartoon", "Blood", and the title track "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway". CD

Another wonderful live date – tracks include "If I Were A Bell", "Butch & Butch", "Someday My Prince Will Come", and the title track, "Up For It". CD

A later-looking package, but one that features a rare set from 1964 – an early example of the genius of Albert Ayler, recorded in The Netherlands for a small audience in a Dutch radio studio! The setting is a wonderful one – a mix of the live freedoms that would really let Ayler stretch out – especially when playing overseas – but recorded with the clarity of some of his studio albums for ESP – that sharp-edged sound that really highlights the groundbreaking style of his playing! The rest of the group here is equally great – and the quartet features Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums – the latter of whom is almost completely freed up from rhythm at some points. Titles include "Angels", "CAC", "Infant Happiness", and "No Name". CD

A huge 2CD set – one that features important European work that saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded with trumpeter Don Cherry! CD1 brings together six tracks from Albert Ayler's Hilversum Radio sessions from 1964 – plus an additional three tracks recorded in Denmark a few months earlier! The first six titles are a famous performance by a famous group set loose on a European tour in 1964 – Ayler on tenor, Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murry on drums – recorded in The Netherlands for a small audience in a Dutch radio studio! The setting is a wonderful one – a mix of the live freedoms that would really let Ayler stretch out – especially when playing overseas – but recorded with the clarity of some of his studio albums for ESP – that sharp-edged sound that really highlights the groundbreaking style of his playing! The rest of the group here is equally great, and Murray is completely freed up from rhythm at points, to fly beautifully with the rest – on titles that include "Angels", "CAC", "Infant Happiness", "Ghosts", and "No Name". The same group performs on the final three tracks – recorded in Copenhagen for Danish Radio, with an equally great level of clarity – on "Saints", "Spirits", and "Vibrations". The interplay between Ayler and Cherry is especially great – echoing the latter's material with Ornette Coleman, but with a different sort of edge! CD2 features amazing live material from 1964 – work that was recorded at the Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, right around the same time that Albert Ayler recorded his album for Debut Records – and a set that has his quartet in even more firey formation overall! The tracks are long, and Ayler is completely unbridled – at a level that really shows not only how much of a leader he was to the American avant underground, but what an inspiration he was to the European free scene too – who could only help but take a big cue from his work here on tenor! The group also features equally wonderful work from Don Cherry on cornet – sounding quite different than when with Ornette Coleman – plus bass from Gary Peacock, whose dark tones really set the mood – and drums from Sunny Murray, who is also at an explosive point in his career. The material is remastered wonderfully, with permission from Albert Ayler's estate – and titles include "Mothers", "Saints", "Vibrations", Spirits", "Children", and a shorter "Spirits". CD

Marc Copland on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Bill Stewart on drums – plus Joe Lovano and Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone and Tim Hagans on trumpet. CD

A record that offers up one slice of a key live moment in the career of Keith Jarrett – his return to work in a New York club after the space of more than a decade! The group here is Jarrett's fantastic Standards trio – Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – working with Keith on these longform explorations of tunes that are familiar, but which really transform in that mode that Jarrett brought to his own solo improvisation work of the 70s. The tunes are there, somewhere – but often just as subtle signposts for the direction of the flow from the master's hands on the piano. Titles include "Autumn Leaves", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "When I Fall In Love", and a version of Jarrett's "Bop Be". CD

A great little trio session from Keith Jarrett – still in the mode of some of his other ECM work, but almost a bit more back to basics as well! The group here features Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – both working beautifully with Keith in a flurry of colors, tones, and pulsating rhythms – the latter of which really drive along the two-part composition "Flying", which takes up most of the set. The shorter "Prism" completes the record – a number that's a bit more contemplative overall, and which features some of those beautifully rounded tones that were virtually Peacock's trademark at the time. CD

A live date – with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums! CD

Exactly the sort of recording to remind us why the Keith Jarrett Trio has been such an important force in jazz during the past few decades – a popular group, yet one that still retains all its heart and edge as well! The lineup is way more than the piano of the leader – as bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette each provide a crucial third of the group's energy – and, if anything, their presence really helps give a focus to Jarrett's always-inventive sounds on piano – still able to fly as freely as on his own solo recordings, but in different shapes, tones, and rhythmic pulses – an approach that's often especially illuminating when the trio takes on standards. The tracks here are mostly in that mode, but handled in very fresh ways – and the set was recorded live in Luzern, with tracks that include "Deep Space", "Solar", "I Thought About You", "Somewhere", "Everywhere Tonight", and "Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea". CD

5 years after they made their first set of groundbreaking Braziliany jazz tracks together, Bud Shank and Laurindo Almeida went back into the studio to record another great batch for Pacific Jazz. That second set of sessions is captured here in its entirety, and it features Shank and Almeida playing with the looser rhythm team of Gary Peacock and Chuck Flores on a number of short groovy tracks that clearly had a big influence on the bossa generation. Titles include "Frio y Color", "Sunset Baion", "Harlem Samba", "Blowing Wild", "Xana-Lyn", and "Serenade For Alto". LP, Vinyl record album

The pinnacle of Blue Note's "new thing" era! This amazing album was led by drummer Tony Williams (then just a wee lad, playing with Miles Davis, in his legendary 60s quintet) – but it's more of a "roundtable" session that features equal contributions by some of Blue Note's best avant garde players from the time, all of them young firey geniuses like Williams. The configurations of the players change drastically from track to track – and some feature Sam Rivers, Richard Davis, and Gary Peacock playing in a 2-bass and tenor lineup with Williams; others feature Bobby Hutcherson and Herbie Hancock playing heavily percussive vibes and piano solos next to Williams' assorted percussion playing; and one track doesn't even feature Williams at all, but has Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter in a beautifully moody bass and piano duet! The record is a treasure – and it's a landmark recording that's probably one of the greatest that Blue Note (or any other label) released during the 60s! Titles include "Barb's Song to The Wizard", "Memory", and "Two Pieces Of One: Red & Green". CD

The pinnacle of Blue Note's "new thing" era! This amazing album was led by drummer Tony Williams (then just a wee lad, playing with Miles Davis, in his legendary 60s quintet) – but it's more of a "roundtable" session that features equal contributions by some of Blue Note's best avant garde players from the time, all of them young fiery geniuses like Williams. The configurations of the players change drastically from track to track – and some feature Sam Rivers, Richard Davis, and Gary Peacock playing in a 2-bass and tenor lineup with Williams; others feature Bobby Hutcherson and Herbie Hancock playing heavily percussive vibes and piano solos next to Williams' assorted percussion playing; and one track doesn't even feature Williams at all, but has Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter in a beautifully moody bass and piano duet! The record is a treasure – and it's a landmark recording that's probably one of the greatest that Blue Note (or any other label) released during the 60s! Titles include "Barb's Song to The Wizard", "Memory", and "Two Pieces Of One: Red & Green". LP, Vinyl record album

Startling! This album is one of two that a young Tony Williams cut for Blue Note, back when he was just hitting the age of 20, and when he was already blowing the minds of masters like Jackie McLean (who first hired him) and Miles Davis (who stole him from Jackie for his own group!) with an approach to drumming that was freed from usual time constraints. Williams conception was so unique, other young modernists – like the album's Wayne Shorter and Sam Rivers on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, and Gary Peacock on bass – quickly benefited from his presence, as you'll hear in this amazing session that sounds very little like any other Blue Note release. Williams wrote all of the tracks, but the style is much freer than any sense of composition might imply – and the group is shaken up differently from track to track. Titles include "From Before", "Echo", and "Extras". CD

Startling! This album is one of two that a young Tony Williams cut for Blue Note, back when he was just hitting the age of 20, and when he was already blowing the minds of masters like Jackie McLean (who first hired him) and Miles Davis (who stole him from Jackie for his own group!) with an approach to drumming that was freed from usual time constraints. Williams conception was so unique, other young modernists – like the album's Wayne Shorter and Sam Rivers on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, and Gary Peacock on bass – quickly benefited from his presence, as you'll hear in this amazing session that sounds very little like any other Blue Note release. Williams wrote all of the tracks, but the style is much freer than any sense of composition might imply – and the group is shaken up differently from track to track. Titles include "From Before", "Echo", and "Extras". CD

A double-length set that brings together 2 key early live sets by Albert Ayler – both recorded on the New York scene of the mid 60s! Bells was an unusual one-sided record that featured only 20 minutes of music, performed with an intensity that hardly leaves room for complaints about the shortness of the album! The single track "Bells" was performed at Town Hall by Ayler with a group that includes Donald Ayler on trumpet, Charles Tyler on alto sax, Lewis Worrell on bass, and Sunny Murray on percussion – all coming together in a raw, real sense of freedom – beautifully explored here without ever getting too overindulgent. The tune may well be one of the greatest illustrations of the ESP format at its best – as Ayler and company never stray too far, but carve out some incredibly imaginative space through their starkly-blown horn solos! Prophecy is longer – a full album that was recorded live in 1964 at the Cellar Cafe in New York, but not issued by ESP until years later, after Ayler's untimely early death. The performance is a trio outing – with Ayler's tenor alongside the bass of Gary Peacock and drums of Sunny Murray – all freely skirting around each other's space on the date, in a way that allows Ayler to take the bold lead with his sharp-toned solos, but which also allows for free interplay between the bass and percussion. Ayler's tone and wide swaths of sound are simply amazing – and titles include two variations on "Ghosts", plus "Spirits", "Prophecy", and "Wizard". And then, if that's not enough, the 2CD package also features more material from the Prophecy sessions – 6 more tracks originally issued on the Albert Smiles With Sunny album – with titles that include "Saints", "Children", "Ghosts", "Spirits", and "Wizard" – all in different versions. CD

A later-looking package, but one that features a rare set from 1964 – an early example of the genius of Albert Ayler, recorded in The Netherlands for a small audience in a Dutch radio studio! The setting is a wonderful one – a mix of the live freedoms that would really let Ayler stretch out – especially when playing overseas – but recorded with the clarity of some of his studio albums for ESP – that sharp-edged sound that really highlights the groundbreaking style of his playing! The rest of the group here is equally great – and the quartet features Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums – the latter of whom is almost completely freed up from rhythm at some points. Titles include "Angels", "CAC", "Infant Happiness", and "No Name". CD

A pair of classic Albert Ayler albums from 1964 – back to back on a single CD! First up is Spirits – only the second album ever recorded by Albert Ayler, but a tremendous statement of music that clearly marks the tenorist as one of the most important jazz talents of the 60s! The set was recorded in New York, and only ever got initial exposure overseas – but has grown to become one of the best-remember Ayler albums over the years – thanks in part to a rock-solid lineup of equal visionaries in the group, a lineup that include Sunny Murray on drums, Norman Howard on trumpet, and both Henry Grimes and Earl Henderson on bass – playing together on the title track, which gives the whole thing a really tremendous power. Ayler's clearly the spotlight, though – shining his light with brilliance both in his phrasing of the tenor, and his sense of timing and inherent rhythm – which opens the door to whole new pathways in jazz. Titles include "Spirits", "Prophecy", "Holy Holy", and "Witches & Devils". Next is Ghosts – a seminal early moment from the legendary Albert Ayler – an important session recorded overseas in Copenhagen – where enthusiasm for Ayler's music caught fire more strongly than in the US! The group's got an edge that's maybe even sharper than some of Ayler's ESP material, but no less powerful – with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums – working through tremendous readings of six Ayler classics that include "Ghosts", "Children", "Holy Spirit", "Vibrations" and "Mothers". A wonderful precursor to the ESP years – and equally great! CD

A seminal early moment from the legendary Albert Ayler – an important session recorded overseas in Copenhagen – where enthusiasm for Ayler's music caught fire more strongly than in the US! The group's got an edge that's maybe even sharper than some of Ayler's ESP material, but no less powerful – with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums – working through tremendous readings of six Ayler classics that include "Ghosts", "Children", "Holy Spirit", "Vibrations" and "Mothers". A wonderful precursor to the ESP years – and equally great! CD

A seminal early moment from the legendary Albert Ayler – an important session recorded overseas in Copenhagen – where enthusiasm for Ayler's music caught fire more strongly than in the US! The group's got an edge that's maybe even sharper than some of Ayler's ESP material, but no less powerful – with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums – working through tremendous readings of six Ayler classics that include "Ghosts", "Children", "Holy Spirit", "Vibrations" and "Mothers". A wonderful precursor to the ESP years – and equally great! LP, Vinyl record album

A huge 2CD set – one that features important European work that saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded with trumpeter Don Cherry! CD1 brings together six tracks from Albert Ayler's Hilversum Radio sessions from 1964 – plus an additional three tracks recorded in Denmark a few months earlier! The first six titles are a famous performance by a famous group set loose on a European tour in 1964 – Ayler on tenor, Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murry on drums – recorded in The Netherlands for a small audience in a Dutch radio studio! The setting is a wonderful one – a mix of the live freedoms that would really let Ayler stretch out – especially when playing overseas – but recorded with the clarity of some of his studio albums for ESP – that sharp-edged sound that really highlights the groundbreaking style of his playing! The rest of the group here is equally great, and Murray is completely freed up from rhythm at points, to fly beautifully with the rest – on titles that include "Angels", "CAC", "Infant Happiness", "Ghosts", and "No Name". The same group performs on the final three tracks – recorded in Copenhagen for Danish Radio, with an equally great level of clarity – on "Saints", "Spirits", and "Vibrations". The interplay between Ayler and Cherry is especially great – echoing the latter's material with Ornette Coleman, but with a different sort of edge! CD2 features amazing live material from 1964 – work that was recorded at the Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, right around the same time that Albert Ayler recorded his album for Debut Records – and a set that has his quartet in even more firey formation overall! The tracks are long, and Ayler is completely unbridled – at a level that really shows not only how much of a leader he was to the American avant underground, but what an inspiration he was to the European free scene too – who could only help but take a big cue from his work here on tenor! The group also features equally wonderful work from Don Cherry on cornet – sounding quite different than when with Ornette Coleman – plus bass from Gary Peacock, whose dark tones really set the mood – and drums from Sunny Murray, who is also at an explosive point in his career. The material is remastered wonderfully, with permission from Albert Ayler's estate – and titles include "Mothers", "Saints", "Vibrations", Spirits", "Children", and a shorter "Spirits". CD

Bill Evans is working with a really wonderful trio here – one that features Gary Peacock on bass and Paul Motian on drums – both budding young modernists who help Evans reach some new sounds on the set! The record starts out with a groove that's perhaps more inside than you'd expect – but it then quickly moves into the sort of sensitively-played numbers that really made Evans a key force in jazz during the early 60s – supported by equally personal work from Peacock and Motian, who both clearly feel free to move beyond common piano trio cliches. Tracks include "Dancing In The Dark", "Always", "Little Lulu", "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Everything Happens To Me", and "For Heaven's Sake". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Gordon Grdina on guitar and oud – with Gary Peacock on bass and Paul Motian on drums! CD

An expanded document of a key live moment in the career of Keith Jarrett – his return to work in a New York club after the space of more than a decade! The group here is Jarrett's fantastic Standards trio – Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – working with Keith on these longform explorations of tunes that are familiar, but which really transform in that mode that Jarrett brought to his own solo improvisation work of the 70s. The tunes are there, somewhere – but often just as subtle signposts for the direction of the flow from the master's hands on the piano. CD

A great selection of tracks that includes work with Gary Peacock, Bobo Stenson, John Surman, Dino Saluzzi, Juhani Aaltonen, and Jan Garbarek. CD

John Surman on baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, recorder, synthesizer, and keyboards, Miroslav Vitous on double-bass, Kenny Kirkland on piano, Jon Christensen on drums, John Abercrombie on guitar, Marc Johnson on double-bass, Peter Erskine on drums, Stephen Waterman, Henry Lowther, and Stuart Brooks on trumpet, Malcolm Griffiths and Chris Pyne on trombone, David Stewart and Richard Edwards on bass trombone, Chris Laurence on double bass, John Marshall on drums, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Barre Phillips on double-bass, Stu Martin on drums, Paul Bley on piano, Gary Peacock on double-bass, Tony Oxley on drums, Terje Rypdal on guitar, Vigleik Stgoraas on piano, Rita Manning on violin, Keith Pascoe on violin, Bill Hawkes on viola, and Nick Cooper on cello. CD

Fantastic work by this obscure LA legend! Jimmy Woods was one of the unsung geniuses of the west coast scene at the start of the 60s – and the few recordings he ever made stand as some of the best examples of how the avant garde was feeding into the hard bop scene out there – and with fantastic results! Jimmy's alto is hard and biting throughout – and although it veers in the direction of Ornette Coleman at times, the overall conception is very much Woods' own – with a starkly clear voice that should have made him one of the key figures in 60s modern jazz. The rest of the group includes the great (and also underrecorded) Joe Gordon on trumpet, plus Amos Trice on piano, Milt Turner on drums, and either Gary Peacock or the highly rhythmic Jimmy Bond on bass. Titles include "Awakening", "Roma", "Not Yet", "New Twist", "Little Jim", and "Anticipation". CD

A landmark recording – Albert Ayler's first album for the ESP label, and a record that hit the jazz world like a bullet! Spiritual Unity sets the stage for a format that would become huge in the European avant scene of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and even today – the sax-driven power-trio, tenor against bass and drums, working freely with less rhythmic constraints than before, searching for new sounds and new modes of expression, working through changes in a style first proposed by Sonny Rollins, but taken to new intensity by the New York underground of the 60s. That sound is summed up here perfectly by Ayler, Gary Peacock, and Sunny Murray – working together with an edgey brilliance, on classic tracks that include "Ghosts: First Variation", "Ghosts: Second Variation", "The Wizard", and "Spirits". CD

A landmark recording – Albert Ayler's first album for the ESP label, and a record that hit the jazz world like a bullet! Spiritual Unity sets the stage for a format that would become huge in the European avant scene of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and even today – the sax-driven power-trio, tenor against bass and drums, working freely with less rhythmic constraints than before, searching for new sounds and new modes of expression, working through changes in a style first proposed by Sonny Rollins, but taken to new intensity by the New York underground of the 60s. That sound is summed up here perfectly by Ayler, Gary Peacock, and Sunny Murray – working together with an edgey brilliance, on classic tracks that include "Ghosts: First Variation", "Ghosts: Second Variation", "The Wizard", and "Spirits". LP, Vinyl record album

Marc Copland on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Billy Hart on drums. CD

One of the most obscure 60s jazz sessions on ESP – a really free outing from pianist Lowell Davidson, working here in a trio that includes Gary Peacock on bass and Milford Graves on drums! Davidson's approach to the keys is quite far out, especially for the time – very much in the mode of Cecil Taylor, but possibly even more open-ended than Taylor's work up to this point. He doesn't get lost in the open spaces, though, thanks in no small part to the intuitiveness of his players. Really wonderful stuff that's loose, angular and engrossing all the way! Tracks are all longish originals – and titles include "L", "Ad Hoc", "Strong Tears", "Stately 1", and "Dunce". CD

Incredibly great work from Toninho Horta – especially considering that the album's a US release from the early 90s! Horta's working here in a tight trio with Gary Peacock on bass and Billy Higgins on drums – both players we can trust to keep things real, and help Toninho hit a groove that's solidly jazzy. The style is more straight jazz than some of Horta's other work – but in a really great way – and although he sings a bit on the set in that wordless way of his, there seems to be more of a focus than before on well-played guitar solos, both electric and acoustic. Titles include "Pica Pau", "Lullaby Of Birdland", "My Funny Valentine", "Minas Train", "Footprints", "Tarde", and "O Amor Em Paz". CD

A record that offers up one slice of a key live moment in the career of Keith Jarrett – his return to work in a New York club after the space of more than a decade! The group here is Jarrett's fantastic Standards trio – Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – working with Keith on these longform explorations of tunes that are familiar, but which really transform in that mode that Jarrett brought to his own solo improvisation work of the 70s. The tunes are there, somewhere – but often just as subtle signposts for the direction of the flow from the master's hands on the piano. CD

A great little trio session from Keith Jarrett – still in the mode of some of his other ECM work, but almost a bit more back to basics as well! The group here features Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – both working beautifully with Keith in a flurry of colors, tones, and pulsating rhythms – the latter of which really drive along the two-part composition "Flying", which takes up most of the set. The shorter "Prism" completes the record – a number that's a bit more contemplative overall, and which features some of those beautifully rounded tones that were virtually Peacock's trademark at the time. CD

Keith Jarrett on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Tracks include "All Of You", "Just In Time", "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing", "Dedicated To You", and "I Hear A Rhapsody". CD

After the success of Jarrett's Standards Trio recording, he revisits the format with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette – the first ever live recordings of this incredible trio in action! Like the studio recordings, this set features roomy, lyrical readings of standards, in a way, reminiscent of classic Bill Evans approaches to similar material – with a relaxed, moody spin on the proceedings. The tried-and-true material is given fresh life by the players, who roll from a looser dynamic with each player having their moments, to some tighter interplay in the heart of the tunes – and the appreciative French audience helping with the mood! 6 numbers: "Stella By Starlight", "The Wrong Blues", "Falling In Love With Love", "To Young To Go Steady", "The Way You Look tonight" and "The Old Country". CD

After the success of Jarrett's Standards Trio recording, he revisits the format with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette – the first ever live recordings of this incredible trio in action! Like the studio recordings, this set features roomy, lyrical readings of standards, in a way, reminiscent of classic Bill Evans approaches to similar material – with a relaxed, moody spin on the proceedings. The tried-and-true material is given fresh life by the players, who roll from a looser dynamic with each player having their moments, to some tighter interplay in the heart of the tunes – and the appreciative French audience helping with the mood! 6 numbers: "Stella By Starlight", "The Wrong Blues", "Falling In Love With Love", "To Young To Go Steady", "The Way You Look tonight" and "The Old Country". LP, Vinyl record album

A great early trio moment from Keith Jarrett – a set that steps off some of his previous Standards albums for ECM, but which also has more of a personal flavor as well! The group here is that great combo with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – both really open, fluid players who make the music really sparkle alongside Jarrett's piano – offering up tunes that are mostly standards, but in really unique variations! The album's a tribute to key musical heroes – Lee Konitz, Jim Hall, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and others – but the overall sound is pure Jarrett all the way through, on titles that include "Lover Man", "Solar", "Sun Prayer", "Little Girl Blue", "U Dance", "Ballad Of The Sad Young Men", and "All The Things You Are". CD

Remarkable Carmell Jones, indeed – and one of the few albums ever cut as a leader by this up-and-coming force on the LA scene at the start of the 60s! Jones was a player who really showcased something new on the west at the time – a move away from cool jazz, and the start of a deeper, headier generation of musicians – the bold power that would come from cats like Lou Blackburn, Horace Tapscott, and Jimmy Woods. This date's an early entry into that legacy – and has a tight approach to hardbop with plenty of modern elements – a bit like the shift that Curtis Amy was making at the time. In addition to Jones on trumpet, the album also features Harold Land on tenor, Frank Strazzeri on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Leon Pettis on drums – all working with a careful blend of soul jazz and modern influences, on a wonderful batch of well-written tunes. Titles include "I'm Gonna Go Fishing", "Night Tide", "Sad March", and "Stellisa". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Ralph Towner on guitars and piano – plus Marcus Stockhausen on trumpet, Paul McCandless on oboe and English horn, Gary Peacock on bass, and Jerry Granelli on drums. CD

The pinnacle of Blue Note's "new thing" era! This amazing album was led by drummer Tony Williams (then just a wee lad, playing with Miles Davis, in his legendary 60s quintet) – but it's more of a "roundtable" session that features equal contributions by some of Blue Note's best avant garde players from the time, all of them young firey geniuses like Williams. The configurations of the players change drastically from track to track – and some feature Sam Rivers, Richard Davis, and Gary Peacock playing in a 2-bass and tenor lineup with Williams; others feature Bobby Hutcherson and Herbie Hancock playing heavily percussive vibes and piano solos next to Williams' assorted percussion playing; and one track doesn't even feature Williams at all, but has Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter in a beautifully moody bass and piano duet! The record is a treasure – and it's a landmark recording that's probably one of the greatest that Blue Note (or any other label) released during the 60s! Titles include "Barb's Song to The Wizard", "Memory", and "Two Pieces Of One: Red & Green". CD

Startling! This album is one of two that a young Tony Williams cut for Blue Note, back when he was just hitting the age of 20, and when he was already blowing the minds of masters like Jackie McLean (who first hired him) and Miles Davis (who stole him from Jackie for his own group!) with an approach to drumming that was freed from usual time constraints. Williams conception was so unique, other young modernists – like the album's Wayne Shorter and Sam Rivers on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, and Gary Peacock on bass – quickly benefited from his presence, as you'll hear in this amazing session that sounds very little like any other Blue Note release. Williams wrote all of the tracks, but the style is much freer than any sense of composition might imply – and the group is shaken up differently from track to track. Titles include "From Before", "Echo", and "Extras". LP, Vinyl record album

An expanded, remastered version of the album Prophecy – early work by Albert Ayler, recorded live in 1964 at the Cellar Cafe in New York, but not issued by ESP until years later, after his untimely early death. The performance is a trio outing – with Ayler's tenor alongside the bass of Gary Peacock and drums of Sunny Murray – all freely skirting around each other's space on the date, in a way that allows Ayler to take the bold lead with his sharp-toned solos, but which also allows for free interplay between the bass and percussion. Ayler's tone and wide swaths of sound are simply amazing – and titles include two variations on "Ghosts", plus "Spirits", "Prophecy", and "Wizard". Newly remastered version of the full concert – with 10 tracks in all! CD

Seminal ESP work from Albert Ayler – a unique session done as a soundtrack to a short (and weird!) film from experimental director Michael Snow! The lineup is a bit different than some of Ayler's other ESP albums – and features Don Cherry on trumpet and cornet, John Tchicai on alto, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums. At times, the record's got a bit of a "new thing" vibe – a bit more spacious and sonic than some of Ayler's other material – but at other times, it burns with an intensity that's almost harder and freer than any of Albert's trio dates of the 60s. The album features 2 long tracks – "AY" and "ITT" – plus the shorter "Don's Dawn". CD

Early work by Albert Ayler, recorded live in 1964 at the Cellar Cafe in New York, but not issued by ESP until years later, after his untimely early death. The performance is a trio outing – with Ayler's tenor alongside the bass of Gary Peacock and drums of Sunny Murray – all freely skirting around each other's space on the date, in a way that allows Ayler to take the bold lead with his sharp-toned solos, but which also allows for free interplay between the bass and percussion. Ayler's tone and wide swaths of sound are simply amazing – and titles include two variations on "Ghosts", plus "Spirits", "Prophecy", and "Wizard". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark recording – Albert Ayler's first album for the ESP label, and a record that hit the jazz world like a bullet! Spiritual Unity sets the stage for a format that would become huge in the European avant scene of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and even today – the sax-driven power-trio, tenor against bass and drums, working freely with less rhythmic constraints than before, searching for new sounds and new modes of expression, working through changes in a style first proposed by Sonny Rollins, but taken to new intensity by the New York underground of the 60s. That sound is summed up here perfectly by Ayler, Gary Peacock, and Sunny Murray – working together with an edgey brilliance, on classic tracks that include "Ghosts: First Variation", "Ghosts: Second Variation", "The Wizard", and "Spirits". CD

Bill Carrothers on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Bill Stewart on drums. CD

Bill Evans is working with a really wonderful trio here – one that features Gary Peacock on bass and Paul Motian on drums – both budding young modernists who help Evans reach some new sounds on the set! The record starts out with a groove that's perhaps more inside than you'd expect – but it then quickly moves into the sort of sensitively-played numbers that really made Evans a key force in jazz during the early 60s – supported by equally personal work from Peacock and Motian, who both clearly feel free to move beyond common piano trio cliches. Tracks include "Dancing In The Dark", "Always", "Little Lulu", "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Everything Happens To Me", and "For Heaven's Sake". LP, Vinyl record album

A second great set of standards from Keith Jarrett – and like the first one, a great reminder to many that the pianist was still very strongly schooled in jazz! Although Keith really opened up ways for pianists to stretch out in the 70s, his move to material like this in the early 80s was a great one – as it moved Jarrett away from some territory that was a bit overly-trod, and managed to bring a new sort of sensitivity to his music! Of course, the whole trio here is really part of the success – bass from Gary Peacock and drums from Jack DeJohnette – both, like Jarrett, players who'd more than had their chance to stretch out, explore new modes, and were bringing all that freedom and experience to play here in a setting that's outwardly conventional, but still plenty darn fresh. Titles include "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "Never Let Me Go", "So Tender", and "Moon & Sand". CD

Wonderful trio work from Keith Jarrett – a format that the pianist returned to strongly in the 80s, after really breaking fresh ground as a solo artist in the 70s! The music here is hardly the trio styles of most of Jarrett's contemporaries, as there's lots of lessons learned from the freewheeling solo years, which come strongly into play with the performances from all group members – not just Keith's amazing tone and phrasing on the piano, full of gentle soul and life – but also the sublime bass work of Gary Peacock, and the defter-than-usual drums of Jack DeJohnette. The whole thing's wonderful – very transformative – and tunes include "Late Lament", "I Remember Clifford", "The Song Is You", "When I Fall In Love", and "Autumn Leaves" – all in very long, very unusual versions. CD

The Keith Jarrett trio can take just about any tune and make it their own – as you'll hear in this wonderful set that has the group still going strong, well into the 21st Century! As with some of their previous outings, the tunes here are mostly familiar standards, but played with a fluid, open quality that's really unique – Keith himself blocking out these waves of sound that approximate the melody, but really extrapolate from it – Gary Peacock handling the bass with these round, extended tones that seem to wrap up the whole group together – and Jack DeJohnette as a master of understatement, yet making these really important inflections all the time as well. Titles include "Shawnuff", "Yesterdays", "Strollin", "A Sleepin Bee", "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", and "Stella By Starlight". CD

Remarkable Carmell Jones, indeed – and one of the few albums ever cut as a leader by this up-and-coming force on the LA scene at the start of the 60s! Jones was a player who really showcased something new on the west at the time – a move away from cool jazz, and the start of a deeper, headier generation of musicians – the bold power that would come from cats like Lou Blackburn, Horace Tapscott, and Jimmy Woods. This date's an early entry into that legacy – and has a tight approach to hardbop with plenty of modern elements – a bit like the shift that Curtis Amy was making at the time. In addition to Jones on trumpet, the album also features Harold Land on tenor, Frank Strazzeri on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Leon Pettis on drums – all working with a careful blend of soul jazz and modern influences, on a wonderful batch of well-written tunes. Titles include "I'm Gonna Go Fishing", "Night Tide", "Sad March", and "Stellisa". LP, Vinyl record album