A sweet set of 70s spiritual jazz from Argentine tenor player Chivo Borraro – one of his best albums of the time, and a really wonderful session with lots of nice touches! The record features Borraro playing keyboard effects, in addition to his usual tenor – and it also features some ... CD(Jazz CD)
Amazing early work from Blossom Dearie – quite possibly her best album for Verve, recorded in the mid 50s right after her return from work on the Paris scene! The style here is sprightly and whimsical, yet also fragile and human – a blend that few other singers can pull off as well as ... LP, Vinyl record album(Vocalists LP)
Maybe one of the greatest albums ever from Brazilian percussion legend Nana Vasconcelos – and that's really saying a lot, given the tremendous legacy of sounds he's given us in a huge variety of settings! This record is maybe one of Nana's most intimate – a solo session recorded with ... LP, Vinyl record album(Brazil LP)
One of the weirdest records Sun Ra ever made – music to accompany the strange film Space Is The Place – which itself was an odd mixture of science fiction and blacksploitation-type action! The sounds here are sometimes in the usual Arkestra mode – wonderfully exotic rhythms mixed ... CD(Jazz CD)
There's a host of cool keyboards on the cover, and that's what you'll hear on the record as well – used in all these really groovy space age styles over more conventional Latin rhythms – all of which made for a really incredible subgenre of sounds on the scene in Ecuador during the 70s! ... CD(Global Grooves CD)
An incredible trio of talents – three Brazilian giants, but all turning out a very unique session that was originally issued on the famous French Saravah label – home to some really groundbreaking music in the 70s! The set features Nana Vasconcelos on berimbau, percussion, and a bit of ... LP, Vinyl record album(Brazil LP)
One of the best-ever Sonny Sharrock albums – and one of the few that really captures the fresh genius of his approach! The set was recorded in New York during the period when Sonny had just come out of Herbie Mann's group with Roy Ayers – but the sound is far far different than the ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
A record that's sometimes overlooked in the career of the legendary Eartha Kitt – a set that came out on MGM in the early 60s, after Kitt's initial rise to fame on RCA, and before taking off for a long stretch overseas! The set hints at the sound of that era a bit – and arrangements by ... LP, Vinyl record album(Vocalists LP)
A really legendary album from tenorist Hal Singer – an American player from earlier years in jazz, but one who made some incredibly new, fresh music during a late 60s/early 70s stretch on the scene in Paris! Although Singer is often most associated with an older style of swing-based jazz, he' ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
The front cover might look a bit dramatic, but the set's got a warm and wonderful feel – lean, soulful instrumentation from a Finnish trio that features Aleksi Heinola on drums, Temu Akerblom on bass, and Marku Holkko on reeds and flute – coming together with this gentle groove that's ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
A warm jazzy gem from 70s Brazil – a set that's filled with incredible keyboard work from Guilherme Coutinho, who handles organ, electric piano, and other keyboards too – mixed with vocal modes that often have the best sorts of jazzy touches from the scene at the time! The blend is the ... CD(Brazil CD)
An overlooked later score from Ennio Morricone – one with a slightly modern approach to instrumentation, but much of the charm of his best work from the 70s! Unlike some of the other Morricone soundtracks from this period, this one's never too overblown – often done with a spare, ... CD(Soundtracks CD)
A really unusual collection of work from the great Brook Benton – material that's much more obscure than you'd guess from the hits in the title – as it comes from two different periods in his career! CD1 features early demos that Brook did when he was an emerging songwriter – ... CD(Soul CD)
One of the few sessions ever cut as a leader by soul jazz trumpeter Charles Sullivan – a brilliant talent who shone brightly in the mid 70s, working in hip small groups that were very much in the Strata East mode. This rare Japanese-only set has Sullivan working with Rene McLean, Kenny ... CD(Jazz CD)
A heady live set from The Meters – recorded in a small club outside of New Orleans, and with a groove that's a nicely gritty take on the sound that they were hitting on their Warner albums of the mid 70s! There's more vocals here than on the early records, but the group still really showcase ... LP, Vinyl record album(Soul LP)
Don't let the cover put you off, as this isn't some marching band record – although the set does have plenty of funky drums! There's a jazzy vibe to the record that's different than most other Venezuelan records of the time – and overall, the whole thing has maybe the feel of some sort ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
A really great collection of work from the legendary Egyptian singer Oum Kalsoum – a package that includes most of her early recordings from the late 20s and early 30s – very early in the history of her career, but still already handled with a sound that's completely sublime! Even on ... CD(Global Grooves CD)
A great overview of a really fantastic label for jazz and avant garde material in the late 70s – the Japanese-only Why Not imprint, which was briefly a great home for some of the best work by key American players from both the AACM and the loft jazz generation! The label only issued a small ... CD(Funky Compilations CD)
A seminal early album from Ian Carr's legendary Nucleus group – playing here in a version that includes Karl Jenkins and Brian Smith on reeds, and Chris Spedding on guitar! The band has a landmark sound that mixes progressive jazz and tight full-on rock fusion into a style that's sometimes ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
A stunning solo performance from UK improviser Evan Parker – made during his first trip to New York City in the late 70s, and delivered with the textural intensity of some of his more famous solo albums of the time! Parker's a master of layering here – finding those great textures in ... CD(Jazz CD)