... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Features Ella Fitzgerald on vocal performances of "April In Paris", "Party Blues", and "Every Day I Have The Blues" – with Count Basie backing. Also features a jam session version of "Billie's Bounce" – with Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Tal Farlow, Zoot Sims, and others – and a solo piano take on "Lady Fair" by George Wallington. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic bit of jazz from Denmark – recorded at the end of the 70s, but much more like some of the hippest MPS/Saba experiments of the late 60s! The group's led by drummer Lief Johansson, and has a way of moving through larger arrangements with the mix of modernism and swing we love from Clark Boland Big Band, or the work of Gustav Brom in his prime. There's a cool wordless vocalist on a few tracks – singer Tove Norholdt, who hits these cool Scandia tones – and other players include Erling Kroner on trombone, Anders Muller on piano, Per Goldschmidt on baritone and tenor, Jesper Nehammer on alto and tenor, and Michael Hove on baritone, soprano, and alto. Includes versions of the Mingus tunes "Goodbye Porkpie Hat", "Peggy's Blue Skylight", and "Selfportrait In Three Colors" – plus originals "The Hi-Lief Suite", "Jo Jo", and "I'm Trying I'm Dying". LP, Vinyl record album

Spacey electronic score to this bizarre German orgy film from the late 70s! Klaus is in a sparer mode than some of the mid 70s Tangerine Dream recordings – but the music is quite compelling, and the record only contains three long tracks – "Stardancer", "Blanche", and "PTO" – all of which feature nice keyboard work. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic record that more than lives up to the promise of its title and cover – and a set that's gone onto legendary fame as part of the music used by director Jess Franco for his Vampyros Lesbos films! The music here comes from the German jazz scene of the early 70s – a sound library set that features the talents of guitarist Sigi Schwab, who you'll know from some very groovy records on MPS – and a host of other great projects at the time! Schwab put the music together with keyboardist Manfred Huebler, in a style that's got the same blend of funk, jazz, and psych as some of the MPS jazz albums by artists like Dave Pike or Wolfang Dauner – but which comes across here with maybe even a bit more sense of freedom, as the whole thing works to convey the vibe of some sort of drug-fueled orgy on record! Think of this as a psychedelic take on porno sounds, and you'll only get part of the picture – because the jazz chops are wonderful, as is the sense of arrangement and production. Titles include "People's Playground", in five variations – plus "Kamasutra", "Konkubination", "Shindai Lovers", "The 6 Wisdoms Of Aspasia", "We Don't Care", and "Necronomania". LP, Vinyl record album

Although Tommy Flanagan recorded often in trio format in the later years of his life, he didn't always do so at the start – which is how this 2CD set is able to contain all Flanagan's trio recordings of the pre-1978 years! First up is the best known material of this nature – the album Overseas, originally recorded by the Metronome label in Stockholm, but is issued here in the US by Prestige – hence the Overseas title! Tommy Flanagan is in perfect form in this stellar session of trio recordings, playing with Elvin Jones on drums and Wilbur Little on bass, in a mode that's both lyrical and boppish. Titles include "Skal Brothers", "Verdandi", "Delarna", "Little Rock", "Eclypso", and "Beat's Up". Remaining tracks on the 2CD set are from a very wide variety of sources – the album Lonely Town, The Tommy Flanagan Trio album on Moodsville, and cuts from The Cats and Dial JJ albums that only feature a trio, plus a few other assorted dates from the early 60s. These other cuts combine to make the CD a 32-track extravaganza of Flanagan Trio material from the years 1957 through 1964 – with titles that include "So Sorry Pleae", "Love For Sale", "Tonight", "America", "It's Love", "Make Our Garden Grow", "Lucky To Be Me", and "Come Sunday". CD

Quite a rare set from this important Swedish player – one recorded in Sweden by Metronome, but issued here in the US on the short-lived East-West imprint of Atlantic. The tracks all feature Gullin on baritone sax – in a variety of settings that range through quartet, quintet, sextet, octet, and big band. As always, Lars pulls far more out of the instrument than any of his contemporaries could hope to – and the backing he gets from Swedish modernists like Arne Domnerus, Rune Ofwerman, Bert Dahlander, and Sven Ake Persson really help keep things moving along at a strong pace. Titles include "Half Nelson", "Ma", "Yesterdays", "Like Someone In Love", and "After 8pm". CD