A record that seems to take Dead Can Dance even farther back into the past than ever before – not to the sound of their earliest years, but to a world of ancient musical elements that come together beautifully in their hands! The set is probably the most carefully-recorded the group ever gave us – and one of the most sensitive too – with spacious qualities that can let individual vocal or instrumental passages really resonate, while wider washes of sound come in to tie the whole thing together, but in a way that's greatly matured since the earlier years of 4AD. Lisa Gerrard's vocals are amazing – and titles include "The Carnival Is Over", "Ariadne", "Towards The Within", "Spirit", "Bird", and "How Fortunate The Man With None". CD

Features Tom Harrell on trumpet and flugelhorn, Don Braden and Joe Lovano on tenor saxophone Gary Smulyan on bass clarinet, Rob Botti on oboe, Steve Turre on trombone, Kenny Werner on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Billy Hart on drums. CD

A stunning book – even more amazing than we were expecting, and we were really expecting a lot! This is a heavy, hardcover, full color volume that takes a deep dig into the world of British jazz during some crucial modern years – presented with oversized images throughout, in the manner of some hefty art book from Taschen or one of those other fancy publishers! Author Richard Morton Jack presents listings for hundreds of crucial albums – each with both front and back cover artwork reproduced in full, in a size that's about a square 9" for most of the records, on pages that are much larger, with text at the bottom on each record, and even inner label reproductions! If you love Brit jazz from this period as much as we do, you'll find plenty to love – as the book contains listings for crucial records by giants like Joe Harriott, Stan Tracey, Graham Collier, Mike Westbrook, John Stevens, Don Rendell, and dozens of others – not just familiar albums, but really rare ones we've never seen before – work on the Lansdowne series on Columbia, and other labels that include RCA, EMI, Argo, and CBS – plus smaller indies too. The book is as beautiful as having an original pressing of one of these gems in your hands – and given that most of the originals go for hundreds of dollars, if/when you can find them, the book is a hell of a deal. Hardcover, 372 pages, and in full color throughout. Book

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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

A brilliant batch of electronic, cold wave, and post-punk tracks – all drawn from the farther reaches of the Swiss underground of the 80s – a scene that was far more secret than those in the UK, Germany, or other European hotbeds of electronic experimentation! We'd heard only a few of these groups before – and back in the day, we were constantly searching for Euro electronic and new wave records – and the work that Strut have done to put the whole thing together is wonderful, as these rare gems are also illuminated with detailed notes that really shine a light on the darker corners of this sonic scene. Titles include "Anfang" by Mittageisen, "Le Jour L'Ennui" by Aboriginal Voices, "Boat Song" by Lilliput, "Asho II" by Bells Of Kyoto, "Labyrinth" by Jurg Nutz, "Basic Ground Without Voice" by Konx, "Soyledir" by Cafe Turk, "Nightmare" by Unknownmix, "Arbeiter" by Schamanen Circel, and "Glettscher" by El Deux. CD

A brilliant batch of electronic, cold wave, and post-punk tracks – all drawn from the farther reaches of the Swiss underground of the 80s – a scene that was far more secret than those in the UK, Germany, or other European hotbeds of electronic experimentation! We'd heard only a few of these groups before – and back in the day, we were constantly searching for Euro electronic and new wave records – and the work that Strut have done to put the whole thing together is wonderful, as these rare gems are also illuminated with detailed notes that really shine a light on the darker corners of this sonic scene. Titles include "Anfang" by Mittageisen, "Le Jour L'Ennui" by Aboriginal Voices, "Boat Song" by Lilliput, "Asho II" by Bells Of Kyoto, "Labyrinth" by Jurg Nutz, "Basic Ground Without Voice" by Konx, "Soyledir" by Cafe Turk, "Nightmare" by Unknownmix, "Arbeiter" by Schamanen Circel, and "Glettscher" by El Deux. LP, Vinyl record album

The complete Columbia Records studio sessions from pianist Denny Zeitlin – and a package that features a fair bit of unreleased material too – not just alternate takes, but loads of fresh new tunes recorded at the time – appearing here for the first time ever! Zeitlin's a hell of a pianist, especially during these years – a really fresh 60s talent who works with a sound that's both warmly lyrical and somewhat modern – stylistically rooted in Bill Evans' inspiration, but clearly his own man by the time of these recordings! Denny's never fully gotten his due, and reissues over the years have been spare – so this package is not only a much-needed look as his mighty talents, but also a key discovery of 12 previously unreleased numbers. Players include Charlie Haden, Cecil McBee, and Joe Halpin on bass – and Freddie Waits, Oliver Johnson, and Jerry Granelli on drums. Titles include "Blue Phoenix", "Spring Is Here", "Western Thing", "Slipstream", "Later", "Labyrinth", "The Journey Home", "Carole's Garden", "Skippying", "Carnival", "Dormammu", "Living Alone", "Night & Day", "Maiden Voyage", "Nica's Tempo", "Cathexis", and "Repeat". CD

A rare Japanese-only vinyl set of Art Pepper's legendary 1977 recordings at the Village Vanguard – really open, freewheeling material that has the mature altoist at his best! A record that marks the live recording debut of the alto giant Art Pepper – quite a surprise, given that he'd already had many years of playing under his belt – but also a date that captures Art at a time of real revival in his career – stretching out with new inspirations, and a sound that's very different from the Art Pepper of the 50s and 60s! The group features George Cables on piano, George Mraz on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – and Pepper also plays some great tenor, too. All tracks are very long – and titles include "The Trip", "You Go To My Head", "Cherokee", "My Friend John", "Blues For Les", "Valse Triste", "Goodbye", "But Beautiful", "Caravan", "Labyrinth", and "Las Cuevas De Mario". LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked moment of genius from Canadian bassist Neil Swainson – maybe the only album of his we've seen as a leader, and a tremendous showcase for the talents of Joe Henderson on tenor and Woody Shaw on trumpet! The album's a beautiful burner – filled with original songs by Neil, and handled by the group with some of the soulful flow you'd find on the best Woody Shaw albums for Muse Records in the 70s – a mode that's very much out of time, especially as the whole thing was issued on the Concord label, which isn't usually such a strong showcase for material as soulful and expressive as this! The rest of the combo features Jerry Fuller on drums and Gary Williamson on piano – and titles include "Don't Hurt Yourself", "49th Parallel", "Port Of Spain", "On The Lam", "Labyrinth", and "Southern Exposure". CD

An overlooked moment of genius from Canadian bassist Neil Swainson – maybe the only album of his we've seen as a leader, and a tremendous showcase for the talents of Joe Henderson on tenor and Woody Shaw on trumpet! The album's a beautiful burner – filled with original songs by Neil, and handled by the group with some of the soulful flow you'd find on the best Woody Shaw albums for Muse Records in the 70s – a mode that's very much out of time, especially as the whole thing was issued on the Concord label, which isn't usually such a strong showcase for material as soulful and expressive as this! The rest of the combo features Jerry Fuller on drums and Gary Williamson on piano – and titles include "Don't Hurt Yourself", "49th Parallel", "Port Of Spain", "On The Lam", "Labyrinth", and "Southern Exposure". CD

A record that marks the live recording debut of the alto giant Art Pepper – quite a surprise, given that he'd already had many years of playing under his belt – but also a date that captures Art at a time of real revival in his career – stretching out with new inspirations, and a sound that's very different from the Art Pepper of the 50s and 60s! The group features George Cables on piano, George Mraz on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – on titles that include "But Beautiful" and "Caravan", plus two Pepper tunes "Labyrinth" and "Las Cuevas De Mario". CD

Haunting music composed to accompany the trippy Labyrinthe at Expo '67 in Montreal. Supposedly, the Labyrinthe was this wild maze of shapes, sounds, film images, and music with kind of a political twist to it. Rathburn's music includes a lot of electronic bits, and the sound shifts around a lot to move with the maze's different themes like "The Universe Spins On the Point Of My Head" or "The Wind In My Hand". And who says you ever needed drugs in the 60's? LP, Vinyl record album