UK trumpet legend Harry Beckett makes a surprising appearance here for the On-U Sound label – although maybe that's not much of a surprise, given all the diversely creative moments Beckett has had in his decades-long career! The format is very much in the best On-U Sound mode, but with a bit more bite too – as although Harry blows trumpet over grooves that feature plenty of dark-tinged production from Adrian Sherwood and work from likely studio talents – there's a greater presence to his solos than some of the other instrumental On-U sessions – much more up in the mix, which gives Beckett the prominence he deserves! The set features guest vocals from Junior Delgado on one track, and Orphy Robinson plays vibes throughout - on titles that include "Ultimate Tribute", "The Forgotten Man", "Switch Up", "Out Of The Blue", "The Storyteller", "Fantastic Things", and "Facing It". LP, Vinyl record album

A crowning moment of genius from trumpeter Harry Beckett – a musician who's graced a heck of a lot of records over the years, but who really knocks it out of the park with this amazing early session as a leader! Harry's work on flugelhorn is worth the price of admission alone – bold, focused, and full of all these sharp edges that really mark a new moment of expression on the instrument, equally matched by his work on trumpet too. Yet the overall vibe of the group is what really sends the record home – sounds on piano from John Taylor, vibes from Frank Ricotti, soprano and tenor from Alan Skidmore, and baritone and soprano from John Surman – all key players on Beckett's scene, really hitting their heights here. Arrangements are by Surman, Beckett, and Graham Collier – all of whom wrote material too – and titles include "Flare Up", "Where Fortune Smiles", "Flow Stream Flow", "The Other Side", "Rolli's Tune", "Fools Play", and "Third Road". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most creative albums ever from UK composer Neil Ardley – and that's saying a lot, given the complexity of his other work! The set's got a wonderful blend of jazz arrangements and some freer passages – scored by Ardley with some of his most sensitive, most beautiful music ever – almost as if the whole thing's an extended soundtrack for a passage in time – or at least a sonic journey that's filled with some wonderful twists and turns! There's definitely some jazz/rock elements in the music, but the main focus is jazz – and Ardley has that same strong sense of large charts and forward-moving rhythms that you'd find in the best early work of Mike Westbrook, particularly his albums for Deram. Players are a very familiar, and very top-shelf batch of British musicians – including Barbara Thompson, Dick Heckstall-Smith, and Don Rendell on reeds; Harry Beckett and Henry Lowther on trumpets; Derek Wadsworth on trombone, Frank Rocotti on vibes, and Stan Tracey on both piano and celeste. Ardley plays prepared piano, and Ivor Cutler makes a great guest appearance on one track – reciting "The Dong With A Luminous Nose" – and Norma Winstone sings on "Will You Walk A Little Faster". The title track – "A Symphony Of Amaranths" – is dedicated to Duke Ellington and Gil Evans – with a feel that more than lives up to both! CD features the bonus track "National Anthem & Tango". CD

A never-issued live set from the legendary Brit leader Neil Ardley – recorded right during his classic years, and featuring a host of leading jazz luminaries of his scene! The material features both original compositions by Neil, plus some surprising other inclusions as well – all wrapped together in some of the most creative jazz orchestra modes of the UK scene of the time, and played by a cast that includes Henry Lowther and Harry Beckett on trumpet, Mike Gibbs on trombone, Dick Heckstall-Smith on tenor and soprano sax, Barbara Thompson on alto and flute, Frank Jellett on vibes, and Dave Greenslade on Hammond and electric piano. The horns are mighty heavy – blowing both with a nice sense of force on the heads, but also allowing some good space for players to really stretch out and do their thing – and although Ardley's got a definite modern bent to his vision here, there's also plenty of stone groovy moments too. Titles include "Rope Ladder To The Moon", "Tanglewood", "Stratusfunk", "Dusk Fire", "Naima", "Rebirth", "Study", "Ballad", and "Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe". CD

A stunning solo debut from Jack Bruce – and a record that shows just how much more he had to offer the world than his work in Cream! Right from the start, the album's a thing of brilliance – with very offbeat lyrics penned by Pete Brown, but in ways that are a bit more down to earth than some of his own records – set to music arranged by Bruce, with all sorts of jazzy elements that come from the work of Harry Beckett and Henry Lower on trumpets, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Art Themen on tenor and soprano, and Jon Hiseman and John Marshall on drums – all key players who were in that special space between jazz and rock on the UK scene of the time! Bruce himself delivers lots of great work on bass, piano, and organ – and the great Chris Spedding brings in lots of guitar as well – on titles that include "Rope Ladder To The Moon", "The Ministry Of Bag", "Tickets To Waterfalls", "Boston Ball Game 1967", "To Isengard", "Theme For An Imaginary Western", and "Never Tell Your Mother She's Out Of Tune". LP, Vinyl record album

The group's listed here as the Double Quintet of trumpeter Ian Carr, but the sound is right next to the best work of his Nucleus group for Vertigo Records – a groundbreaking blend of jazz and electric elements, served up in a style that's very different from American work of the time! At one level, Carr and his group mates have this sophisticated style that's awash in complicated colors and very rich tones – but at another, they're able to open up and really let things fly – not really in prog directions, or avant improvisation either – but with a very freewheeling spirit that has Ian and the group exploding with new ideas all the way through! Other players include Harry Beckett on trumpet, Brian Smith on tenor and soprano, Tony Roberts on tenor and bass clarinet, and the electric core of Chris Spedding on guitar, Ron Matthewson on electric bass, and Karl Jenkins on electric piano – on long takes of tracks that include "Element 1", "Bedrock Deadlock", "Torso", "Snakehips Dream", and "Spirit Level". First-ever release – pulled from a well-recorded radio session in 1970! LP, Vinyl record album

A never-issued gem from British jazz giant Graham Collier – a set that follows strongly in his larger projects of the period, but also comes across with even more of an edge than some of those famous records! The work was a special commission done for an arts festival – but the lineup features some very familiar players from more famous records – Harry Beckett on trumpet and flugelhorn, Geoff Castle on piano, Alan Wakeman on tenor and soprano, and Bob Sydor on tenor and alto – all players who get a fair bit of room for individual expression throughout! Perhaps most unusual is the presence of narrator John Carberry, who does a really great job of uniting the music from track to track – on titles that include "The Good Companions", "In A Manufacturing Town", "Old Established Bradford Mill Owners", "Wind", and "Pennies In April". The set also features one more bonus track that runs for 26 minutes in length – with work from Derek Wadsworth on trombone, and Art Themen on soprano and tenor – on "Where Will They Put The Blue Plaque Now". CD

A tremendous run of music from the great Keef Hartley – a British drummer who was maybe not the biggest name on the scene, but who created some wonderfully groovy music on the albums in this set! The records are a brilliant blend of jazz and rock elements, but in ways that are so different from so many other jazz rock records of the time – maybe in part because Hartley could always bring a lot of soul and a bit of funk to his drums, while still also keeping things in more of the rock side of the spectrum overall – yet opening the door to let in some key jazz musicians from session to session – including trumpeters Harry Beckett and Henry Lowther, reedmen Johnny Almond and Jimmy Jewell, and organist Wynder K Frog – just a few of the players who really give these records a special sort of vibe! It's a bit hard to peg the sound of the records in just a few words – in part because they each have their own flavor – but they're all great, not a weak one in the bunch – and the package features the full albums Halfbreed, Battle Of North West Six, Overdug, Time Is Near, Little Big Band, Seventy Second Brave, and Lancashire Hustler. PLUS, there's also 15 bonus tracks added to the set – mostly live, and some live in studio! CD

A record with a strange mix of elements on the outside – a confusing title, a proggy-cover image – but one that's got a sound that's a perfect maturation of the fantastic sound of Alexis Korner in the 60s! Korner's one of the overlooked heroes in British music – a strong devotee of American blues, and maybe so much so that sounds more like his inspirations than most – but never in a slavish way, as Alexis is always able to full absorb the sound, and make you feel like it's coming from his own deep soul – and over the years, he really shifted things in these slight, but powerful ways – making his music a huge influence on a big generation of UK rock acts to come. Here, the double-length set is almost a "thanks back" affair – as Korner records with a huge all-star array that includes folks like Robert Plant, Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Graham Bond, Lol Coxhill, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ray Warleigh, Harry Beckett, and many more – a fantastic crossroads of all that's hip in British rock, blues, and jazz at the start of the 70s. Titles include "I Got A Woman", "Rockin", "She Foold Me", "I Wonder Who", "Dee", "Love Is Gonna Go", "Clay House Inn", "Evil Hearted Woman", "Mighty Mighty", "Sunrise", and "Hellhound On My Tail". CD

The great second album from Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath – a record that's much more obscure than the group's debut, and which has them moving into even deeper territory! As before, there's a wonderful post-colonial groove going on here – one that builds from McGregor's roots in South African jazz, but inflects it with some of the bolder, more modern modes of the London jazz scene in Chris worked after leaving Africa in 1964. But unlike before, some of the more free-thinking London styles take even stronger roles here – stretching out in solos that are a bit looser and more exploratory, and which point the way towards the more avant-oriented direction that McGregor and contemporaries would take in the Ogun years – yet not in ways that leave behind the inherent sense of rhythm in the music. The album starts out with rolling South African jazz piano lines that are quite familiar – but then soon opens up into much less structured territory, with solo work from players who include Mongezi Feza, Harry Beckett, Alan Skidmore, Mike Osborne, Harry Miller, Gary Windo, Dudu Pukwana, and Nick Evans. Most tracks are long – and titles include "Think Of Something", "Joyful Noises", "Nick Tete", "Do It", and "Funky Boots March". CD

A previously unissued performance by the Brotherhood Of Breath – recorded at a time when the group was at the height of their early powers! Some of the styles here are in the straighter, South African-inspired jazz of pianist Chris McGregor's roots – but other tracks get far more experimental, and show the new ideas and levels of expression that some of the players were adopting at the time – a great criss-crossing of cultural modes as the London jazz scene absorbed ex-colonial artists from South Africa and the West Indies. The lineup here includes Dudu Puckwana and Mike Osborne on altos, Alan Skidmore and Gary Windo on tenor, Harry Beckett and Marc Charig on trumpet, Nick Evans and Malcolm Griffiths on trombone, Harry Miller on bass, and Louis Moholo on drums – all coming together with a sense of magical creativity that we'd reserve for a rare few groups – like the Sun Ra Arkestra! Titles include "Nick Tete", "Restless", "Do It", "Eclipse At Dawn", "The Bride", and "Funky Boots March". CD

Seminal sounds from trumpeter Ian Carr and his Nucleus group of the early 70s – maybe one of the few jazz rock groups that was ever able to work with a fair bit of jazz in their sound! Unlike his contemporaries, who often started in rock first, then added some horns – Carr was already coming off an important 60s legacy, co-leading a group with tenorist Don Rendell – so the vibe here is like an extension of that very rhythmic, very tonal modern work – but with the addition of electrified instrumentation – thanks to the guitar work of Chris Spedding and keyboards of Karl Jenkins – who plays some fantastic electric lines throughout! The vibe is maybe a bit in the territory of early 70s electric work by Miles Davis and Donald Byrd (pre-Mizell for the latter) – but there's maybe a farther-reaching concept at play on many of the records, at a level that always helped the group cross over to the prog crowd, and move beyond just a straight jazz audience. Other key players include Brian Smith on tenor and soprano saxes – a really fantastic part of the lineup – plus Jeff Clyne on bass and John Marshall on drums – and as the albums move along a bit, the lineup shifts slightly, and also opens up to guests who include Kenny Wheeler and Harry Beckett on trumpets, Tony Levin on drums, and Norma Winstone on voice. And although some of the albums have been reissued before, this is the first set to really dive in completely – and bring together material from the Vertigo Records releases that include Elastic Rock, We'll Talk About It Later, Solar Plexus, Belladonna, Labyrinth, Roots, Under The Sun, Snakehips Etcetera, and Alley Cat. CD

Early genius from British saxophonist Mike Osborne – his first session as a leader, recorded in the company of some of the greatest players on his scene! Osborne's got a strong vision here that's apparent from the first note of the set – a mixture of freedom and cohesive energy that resonates with the best modes of the ESP albums cut a few years before this one – stretching out with the new imagination that was setting the London jazz scene on fire at the start of the 70s. Osborne's alto is at the lead of a quintet that also includes Harry Beckett on trumpet, Chris McGregor on piano, Harry Miller on bass, and Louis Moholo on drums – and the sound is a mixture of some of the post-Blue Notes work of McGregor with bolder-blown trumpet/sax lines from Beckett and Osborne. The album features 2 long tracks – the stark, angular "So It Is", and the slower-building "Outback", which features some especially nice solos from Beckett. LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal bit of work from Mike Westbrook – recorded back in the early years of his career, when he still had a pretty sharp edge! Like Westbrook's first few albums on Decca, this set features the British avant jazz maestro playing piano with a large ensemble of some of England's finest jazzmen – including Ray Warleigh, Alan Skidmore, Harry Beckett, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Rutehrford, and Harry Miller. Norma Winstone sings on a few tracks, bringing in her lovely voice in the way that she does on Westbrook's best albums – but overall, the set's a bit more out there and more avant than some of his earlier work, but still has the majestic cohesiveness that makes his work of the time so great. The work is one long piece, split into 9 segments. CD

A stunning solo debut from Jack Bruce – and a record that shows just how much more he had to offer the world than his work in Cream! Right from the start, the album's a thing of brilliance – with very offbeat lyrics penned by Pete Brown, but in ways that are a bit more down to earth than some of his own records – set to music arranged by Bruce, with all sorts of jazzy elements that come from the work of Harry Beckett and Henry Lower on trumpets, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Art Themen on tenor and soprano, and Jon Hiseman and John Marshall on drums – all key players who were in that special space between jazz and rock on the UK scene of the time! Bruce himself delivers lots of great work on bass, piano, and organ – and the great Chris Spedding brings in lots of guitar as well – on titles that include "Rope Ladder To The Moon", "The Ministry Of Bag", "Tickets To Waterfalls", "Boston Ball Game 1967", "To Isengard", "Theme For An Imaginary Western", and "Never Tell Your Mother She's Out Of Tune". 2CD package features bonus tracks – "Ministry Of Bag (demo)", "The Clearout (alt)", "Ministry Of Bag (alt)", "Weird Of Hermison (alt)", "Escapoe To Royal Wood (inst demo)", "Vikings (first attempt)", "Rope Ladder To The Moon (second attempt)", "You Burned The Tables On Me (inst demo)", and "Rope Ladder To The Moon (first demo)" – plus a remastered version of the original mix, and a new stereo mix. Blu-ray 3 features 96 kHz/24-bit new 5.1 Surround Sound and stereo mixes by Stephen W Taylor and remastered original stereo mix. Blu-ray 4 features the 1970 documentary film – Rope Ladder To The Moon. CD

A 2CD set that includes two of Graham Collier's longer and more striking works. Day Of The Dead is suite based on the work of Malcolm Lowry – and includes spoken passages from Under The Volcano, Dark As The Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid, and Forest Path To The Spring, all set to evocative backdrops by a group that includes Alan Wakeman, Roger Dean, Mike Page, Harry Beckett, Peter Duncan, and Collier himself. A similar group performs on the second CD in the set – another long piece entitled Triptych, recorded at the same time, and with a similar feel, minus the recitation. CD

A killer set of searing soulful spiritual material from Oliver Nelson – and one of his best albums of the 70s! There's hardly anything "Swiss" in the music – save for the fact that it was recorded at the Montreux Jazz Fest – as the large ensemble recording has Nelson at the helm of a very hip group of musicians – really stretching out into territory that's more Strata East than any of his other work, especially on the title track! In addition to the tenor from Gato Barberi and alto from Eddie Vinson – both featured on the title – the set also features Charles Tolliver and Harry Beckett on trumpets, Bosko Petrovic on vibes, Na Na on barimbau, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Stanley Cowell on piano. Side one features the soaring "Swiss Suite" – an extended number done for the set – and side two has a bit more Nelson touches coming into play with the progressive lineup – on titles that include "Stolen Moments", "Black Brown & Beautiful", and "Blues & The Abstract Truth". CD

A stunning solo debut from Jack Bruce – and a record that shows just how much more he had to offer the world than his work in Cream! Right from the start, the album's a thing of brilliance – with very offbeat lyrics penned by Pete Brown, but in ways that are a bit more down to earth than some of his own records – set to music arranged by Bruce, with all sorts of jazzy elements that come from the work of Harry Beckett and Henry Lower on trumpets, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Art Themen on tenor and soprano, and Jon Hiseman and John Marshall on drums – all key players who were in that special space between jazz and rock on the UK scene of the time! Bruce himself delivers lots of great work on bass, piano, and organ – and the great Chris Spedding brings in lots of guitar as well – on titles that include "Rope Ladder To The Moon", "The Ministry Of Bag", "Tickets To Waterfalls", "Boston Ball Game 1967", "To Isengard", "Theme For An Imaginary Western", and "Never Tell Your Mother She's Out Of Tune". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic set of stretched-out jazz, built upon modal formations – very searching, but never too free, and always with a sense of purposeful emotion that really holds the whole thing together! The set's a great chapter in the career of British composer Graham Collier – one that really shows a freer sort of sound that stretches forth from his famous experiments at the end of the 60s – yet still carried off with all the deeply soulful qualities of that great work. The album features 2 long tracks – both recorded in a live intimate setting – and featuring Harry Beckett on trumpet, plus a lineup that includes guitar, trombone, piano, drums, and bass. Tracks include the 44-minute long "Darius", plus the shorter "A New Dawn". CD

Early 80s greatness from Elton Dean – the 41+ minute Ninesense Suite captured in June of 1981 with a the mighty lineup of Dean on alto, Keith Tippett on piano, Harry Miller on double bass, Louis Maholo on drums, Mark Charig on trumpet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and Nick Evans on trombone! There's a subtlety at play on this piece that's very rewarding, and it's roomy enough for some great playing throughout. Also includes "Natal", a 37 minute trio piece with Beckett, Miller & Maholo recorded the following spring. CD

Seminal work from British reedman Elton Dean – two classic Ogun albums back to back on a single CD! First up is Happy Daze – a set that's got a lot more complicated class than you might expect from the title – really wonderful large ensemble arrangements penned by Dean, and definitely in the spirit that he claimed made the group the heir to Keith Tippett's previous group of the late 60s! The music here is all nicely inside, and pretty darn soulful – swinging and stepping with a bit more of a groove than some of the other Ogun Records work of the time – really back to that hip point at the end of the 60s, when British jazz groups stretched out in their spirit, but never got too avant in their style – a perfect blend that Dean really recreates here, with help from players who include Alan Skidmore on tenor, Harry Beckett on trumpet, Mark Charig on trumpet and tenor horn, Nick Evans and Radu Malfatti on trombones, Keith Tippett on piano, Harry Miller on bass, and Louis Moholo on drums. Titles include "Nicrotto", "Seven For Lee", "Sweet FA", and "Three For All". On Oh For The Edge, there's definitely an edge to the music – but one that's a bit different than that of some of Elton Dean's contemporaries in the 70s British scene! Dean brings a lot more swing and soul to this record than you might expect – working with a large group, but never letting the players get totally outside – which is a real change from some of the more freely improvising UK ensembles of the period. Dean's own work on alto and saxello are totally great – as are the core rhythms of the group, which come from Keith Tippett on piano, Harry Miller on bass, and Louis Moholo on drums. But we're also plenty happy to hear Alan Skidmore on tenor, Harry Beckett and Mark Charig on trumpets, and Nick Evans on trombone. The recording has a very good "roomy" sound to it that gives it a darker edge than some of the other Ogun recordings from the time – and tracks include "Fall In Free", "Dance", "Friday Night Blues", and "Prayer For Jesus". CD

Two jazz rock classics – back to back as a 2CD set! Solar Plexus was a pivotal album in the career of British jazzman Ian Carr – one that had him really opening up into some trippy, spacey grooves – adding in a lot of keyboards, kicking up the grooves, yet still never losing the strong jazzy finish that was the best part of his earlier work. Players on the set include trumpeters Harry Beckett and Kenny Wheeler, guitarist Chris Spedding, and keyboardist Karl Jekins, who really throws in some groovy lines on the set! Titles include "Elements 1 & 2", "Snakehips Dream", "Torso", "Spirit Level", and "Bedrock Deadlock". Belladonna is one of the heaviest electric sets from UK trumpeter Ian Carr – and that's really saying a lot, given how much heavy work he cut with his group Nucleus! The sound here is a groundbreaking mix of acoustic horns and keyboards – trumpet from Carr, and a mix of tenor, soprano, alto, and flute from Brian Smith – coming into contact with the Fender Rhodes of Dave MacRae and the Hohner electric of Gordon Beck! The pairing of keys is wonderful – and the whole thing is sewn together by the guitar of a young Allan Holdsworth, who's very much in the sway of Carr's sound here, instead of the later directions he'd take as a leader. The set might be worth it alone for the massive "Summer Rain" – a slow funk track that trips along beautifully – but the whole thing's great, and other titles include "Belladonna", "Mayday", "Suspension", and "Hector's House". CD