Two jazz giants of the 70s come together on this rare Italian recording from the late 60s – South African pianist Dollar Brand (Abdulla Ibrahim) and Argentine tenorist Gato Barbieri – both working here in spare duo formation, with edges that are a fair bit sharper than most of their later work! The format is incredibly spare – just tenor and piano, plus some occasional cello work by Brand – dark and angular, but also filled with small flowers of hope, flowering in the spontaneous presence of these two great minds – a tremendous spirit that makes the record very different than freer jazz outings, and which maybe points the way towards some of the classic European tenor/piano recordings to come. Tracks are long, with a free flowing quality that's infused with soul and spirit – and titles include "Hamba Khale", "The Aloe & The Wildrose", and "To Elsa". CD

A rare early date as a leader from pianist Walter Bishop Jr – cut for a tiny east coast label that folded almost as soon as the record was issued – but a date that's gone onto great fame over the years, thanks to circulation in a few different formats! Bishop's got a really maturing approach here – as sharp as his work from the bop years, but with a deeper sense of tone and color too – occasional lyrical moments that get great shading from the bass of Jimmy Garrison and drums of GT Hogan – both players who make the album really something special – a real cut above the usual trio session. In that manner, the record features two tunes that run for nearly 10 minutes each – opening up in that reflectively soulful mode that Bish would be known much more for in later years – and titles include "Speak Low", "Milestones", "Green Dolphin Street", and "Blues In The Closet". CD features three bonus alternate takes too! CD

A really fantastic collection of never-heard work from the groovy singer Bobbi Boyle – a vocalist who worked on the west coast club scene in the late 60s and early 70s, but only issued two rare albums at the time! The work here is maybe even better than the work on those great sets – jazzier overall, recorded in a nicely relaxed vibe – with usually just trio backing, and this cool, breezy style that's at once very 60s hip – but also maybe a bit richer from a jazz perspective too. In addition to singing, Bobbi also plays piano and vibes – and gets backup help from Ron Anthony and Jimmy Stewart on guitar, Chris Clark and Bill Plummer on bass, and Chuck Piscttelo on drums. There's lots of great rhythms and time changes – which gives the whole thing the feel of some cool late 60s A&M Records material, but more stripped-down in terms of production – and titles include "Interlude", "No Love Song", "Feelin Good", "Cricket", "Right As Rain", "Cycle", "The Shadow Of Your Smile", "My Favorite Things", "Luck Be A Lady", "Tommy's In Love", "Chim Chim Cheree", and "Lazy Afternoon/Summertime". CD

Genius early work from reedman Marion Brown – an album that was originally only issued overseas, where it was recorded – as part of that legacy that's always had Brown getting a lot more attention in Europe than back at home! Yet the record's a monster that stands equally with Marion's seminal sides for Impulse and ESP – and is maybe even bolder than both of them, as Brown blows alto in a loose trio – with Maarten Van Altena on bass and Han Bennink on drums – in a mode that definitely puts the "free" in free jazz – recorded before the start of both FMP and BYG! Yet there's also that sensitive, soulful quality that makes Brown so great – that element in the music that's always had recordings like these as key pointers forwards to the loft jazz years on the NYC scene – a brilliant blend of freedom and inner spirit – on titles that include "Sound Structure", "QBIC", "Porto Novo", and "Similar Limits". CD

A whole new chapter in the career of trumpeter Dusko Goykovich – and a beautiful one at that! The set has Dusko playing a set of bossa-inspired tunes – working with a quartet that includes guitar, bass, and drums – in a warmly chromatic style that reminds us a lot of the classic Art Farmer/Jim Hall sessions of the early 60s! Dusko's playing is as imaginative as ever – and takes on whole new levels of expression in this setting. The light rhythms of the tunes are a real contrast from the modal and soul jazz approaches of earlier years – and in some ways, they seem to set Dusko free to explore whole new territory. Great stuff all around – with titles that include "The Fish", "Quo Vadis", "Sunset", "Samba Do Mar", "Jim's Ballad", and "Love & Deception". CD

An unusual little soundtrack to this obscure pre-Roots film about slavery – handled with some very nice touches from Gary McFarland, Bobby Scott, and Grady Tate! The music is penned by Scott, and is mostly in that hip blend of jazz and soul roots that he was using on some of his own 60s vocal work – but expanded a bit more here with the groovier styles of Skye Records, thanks to arrangements and conducting from Gary McFarland! The work's not as funky as you might expect, but is still plenty darn great – and there's a few instrumental numbers that are especially great here. Grady Tate sings on the vocal ones, often in the deep-voiced style of his own Skye albums – but with an approach that's a bit more down home and soul-based, which is a nice change – almost like Oscar Brown Jr at the best moments. A number of tracks are done in both instrumental and vocal versions – and titles include "Nightwind", "Slaves", "Black Lullabye", "Another Mornin", and "Pickin Cotton". CD

A rare pre-Blue Note session from Duke Pearson – very mellow, very soulful, and with a quality that's unlike most of his later work! The album's a trio side, recorded for the Jazzline label, and it features Pearson on piano, Thomas Howard on bass, and Lex Humphries on drums – the last of whom brings in some wonderfully lyrical lines on the kit, very much in the manner of the free, dancing rhythms used on records with Donald Byrd. Pearson's piano has a sharper edge than usual – these dark, moody tones that are totally great – almost a rougher version of his later sound, with a great sense of depth. Bob Cranshaw's bass and Walter Perkins' drums are featured on one number – and titles include a killer take on "Jeannine", plus "Say You're Mine", "Le Carrousel", "Bags Groove", and "Exodus". CD

One of Airto's best albums ever – and one that we never tire of hearing! There's a sublime quality here that steps perfectly right off of the percussionist's groundbreaking work with Quarteto Novo! Airto's joined on this set by Hermeto Pascoal – also from the Quarteto Novo group – as well as wife Flora Purim, bassist Ron Carter, and the always-great Sivuca – who plays guitar on the record. There's a swirling blend of jazz, Brazilian rhythms, and free-thinking soul to the set – one that's never been captured so perfectly on other Airto albums – and which has a lean, clean sound that's simply beautiful. The overall sound is quite rootsy, without many fusion touches at all – and Hermeto's reed work really brings in a great edge to the whole session – one that makes the album differ a bit from much of the other Airto/Flora work of the time. Titles include a classic take on the tune "Bebe", plus "Andei", "Mixing (Misturada)", "The Tunnel", and "Frevo". CD

The trumpet of Franco Ambrosetti meets the orchestrations of Don Sebesky – and the result is a wonderful batch of tracks that take us back to some of Don's best work of the late 60s! Ambrosetti's got a beautifully evocative tone on his horn here – and he's supported by a cast that includes Eddie Daniels on flute and sax, Joe Beck on guitar, and George Gruntz on piano – all given plenty of space by Sebesky to express themselves within the larger group – making for work that's full and rich, yet also relatively personal and intimate too. Titles include the funky groover "Lugano Lady", plus "Johanna", "Sleeping Gypsy", and "Demoiselle". CD

Mindblowing early work from pianist Paul Bley – two side-long tracks that really show the pianist stretching out and expanding his mind – quite far from even his few modern moments on record in years before! The group here is very well-suited to the spirit of the set – Mark Levinson on warmly rounded bass, and Barry Altschul on some freer, bolder drums – balanced with the freer lines on Bley's piano, but at a level that really shows that underlying sensitivity that made Paul so different than so many other avant jazz musicians of his generation. This is especially true on the sublime reading of Bley's "Mister Joy" – a mindblowing journey in music – but it also comes through on "Blood" as well. CD

One of the greatest jazz vocal albums of all time – and one of the first true moments of genius from a young Dee Dee Bridgewater! The album's a Japanese only release (proof that they're always hipper to our jazz artists than we are!) – and it features Dee Dee singing material that's quite different than her later R&B-inflected sides from the late 70s – very soaring and spiritual work, delivered in a way that set a whole new standard for jazz at the time! Backing is by a small combo with brothers Ron and Cecil Bridgweater, plus Roland Hanna on acoustic and electric piano, George Mraz on bass, and Motohiko Hino on drums and percussion – but the star of the set is always Dee Dee, who sparkles beautifully on the album's classic versions of "Afro Blue" and "Little B's Poem" – both of which have been redone by many other singers over the years. Other great cuts include "People Make The World Go Round", "Love From The Sun", and "Love Vibrations". CD

An incredible document of late 60s America – composed and conducted by Gary McFarland, in a style that's much more ambitious than any of his other work! The album's fully titled "America The Beautiful: An Account Of Its Disappearance" – and features "movements" with very telling subtitles that include "On This Site Shall Be Erected", "80 Miles An Hour Through Beer Can Country", "Suburbia: Two Poodles And A Plastic Jesus", and our personal favorite, "Due To A Lack Of Interest, Tomorrow Has Been Cancelled". Gary's really wearing his politics on his sleeve here – picturing a late 60s America that's without hope, without revolution, and clearly in danger of falling prey to its own plasticization. The whole thing's a wonderful antidote to the "revolution is coming" side of the 60s that is more popularly pushed – and Gary was one of the few musicians at the time with an eye that was clear enough to see that in the 60s, you could sing "The Times Are A-Changing" – but in reality, the corporations were a-growing! Musically, the album features a larger group of jazz players working in a full, rich style that has lots of soundtrack touches. There's a real Axelrod-like feel to the set – with string passages one minute, funky rhythms the next – and some breakout jazz soloing that really colors the tunes nicely! Players include Jerome Richardson, Eric Gale, Bernard Purdie, and Chuck Rainey – and Gary's mostly doing the conducting on the set. CD

Incredible work from the young Stanley Cowell – one of his first albums ever, but already a step ahead of most of his contemporaries! The set's a trio date, unlike some of Cowell's later albums for Strata East – and it's got a wonderful blend of soaring piano lines and more complicated rhythms – already showing some of the spiritual elements that Cowell would later craft into longer lines with Charles Tolliver – but possibly even more striking here in the looser space of a trio! Rhythms are sometimes quite fluid and free – almost in the vein of some of Steve Kuhn's most inventive late 60s work – but sometimes things echo previous generations as well, almost with a Jaki Byard vibe. In addition to Cowell's great work on acoustic and electric piano, the trio features wonderful drums from Jimmy Hopps and bass from Steve Novosel – both players who are at the top of their game here, and really help set fire to Cowell's music. Titles include an early take on "Travelin Man" – quite different from the later version on Strata East, but equally wonderful – plus "Blues For The Viet Cong", "Wedding March", "Photon In A Paper World", "Departure", "Sweet Song", and "The Shuttle". CD

A beautiful little Holiday set from jazz singer Janet Seidel – a vocalist we've loved for previous tributes to Blossom Dearie and Peggy Lee, and one who really brings that legacy to play on this Christmas album too! The backings are spare, and very much in a small combo jazz mode – just piano from Janet, with bits of guitar, flute, tenor, bass, and drums – often used sparingly, in ways that really keep the vocals intimate, but of the with the sort of sprightly vibe you'd hear from Blossom. There's some nicely unusual tunes on the set – and titles include "Hooray For Christmas", which is worth the price of the record alone – plus "What Child Is This", "Noel Blanche", "Silver Stars Are In The Sky", "Winter Wonderland", "Give Me An Old Fashioned Christmas", and "Mary Did You Know". Also fetaures a bonus track – "Silver Bells". CD

The guitar genius of Gabor Szabo – set to magnificent arrangements by Gary McFarland! The set's one of the most sophisticated albums Szabo ever cut – and has a slow-building style that steps off of his Impulse years with a deeper, broader vision of music. By the time of the set, McFarland himself was hitting a more contemplative style in his own music – and you can hear that shift in this album as well, especially in the moodier, mellower moments. Instrumentation includes violin, cello, and French Horn – all used sparingly to augment Szabo's small combo with piano by McFarland! Titles include lots of originals – "The Fortune Teller", "Half The Day Is Night", "Galatea's Guitar", and "Lady In the Moon". CD

Easily our favorite album ever by Grady Tate – a complex suite of tracks about adult love, loss, and redemption – put together with a focus and clarity that even surpasses his classic Windmills Of My Mind record! The whole thing was arranged and conducted by Harold Wheeler – who sets Grady up in a batch of tunes that are easily some of the best from that late 60s era when writers like Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb had inspired countless others to spin mature tales of human interaction – in a style that's far from pop, and beautifully mature all the way through. If you've always dug the tune "Sack Full Of Dreams" from Tate's Windmills album, this whole set is done in a similar mode – with cuts that include "I'll Try Again", "I Can Deliver", "Follow The Path", "Bridges", and "There's Nothing Between Us Now" – as well as the completely sublime title track! CD

A beautiful set of mellow jazz grooves – music that's easily as evocative as the title and cover of this Japanese-only collection! The work here is pulled from the Black Lion family of labels – including the classic 60s hardbop imprint Jazztime, and the equally rare European Debut label – both wonderful outlets for some of the hipper jazz work by US players in the early 60s – music that rivals that on Blue Note and Prestige, but which is often a bit more open overall. Tracks selected for the set are somewhat mellow, but still nicely grooving – not as full-on as jazz dance cuts on other compilations, but moving along with a gentle approach to rhythm that still has a nice little edge. Titles include "Like Someone In Love" by Dave Bailey, "Milestones" by Walter Bishop Jr, "Jeannine" by Duke Pearson, "Charade" by Sahib Shihab, "Le Carrousel" by Duke Pearson, "Sweet Georgie Fame" by Tete Montoliu, "Sonora" by Hampton Hawes, "On A Clear Day" by Barney Kessel, "My Little Cello" by Oscar Pettiford, and "East It" by Rocky Boyd. CD

A wild assortment of music from an equally wild source – a BBC Radio program hosted by Jarvis Cocker, presented on Sunday mornings as a way to relax and reach some sort of deeper spiritual consciousness! The show was never churchy – but maybe an attempt to find a new sort of inner peace during the modern age – with a selection of songs in a really great range, all linked by the dry wit and understated presence of Cocker as an announcer. This set brings together key tracks from the early years of the show – music that spans decades, and runs from jazz vocal numbers, to electronic music nuggets, 70s AOR, underground folk, and a number of more recent tracks that show that Jarvis has continually had his ear on the rock underground around the globe. The blend is incredibly hard to describe in words, but a delight to hear on record – and the whole thing comes with detailed notes on the track selections from Cocker himself. Titles include "Snowed In" by Tim Rose, "Day Glo" by Serafina Steer, "Cold Rain" by Alternative TV, "Won't That Be A Happy Time" by Joseph & Louis Spence, "Old Molly Metcalfe" by Jake Thackery, "Waters Of March" by Art Garfunkel, "It's A Quiet Thing" by Morgana King, "Rock Intro" by Miranda July, "After The Gold Rush" by The King's Singers, "Invasion Muzak" by John Baker, "True Love Will Find You In The End" by Headless Heroes, "Cars" by The Katzenjammers, "Crazy In Love" by Antony & The Johnsons, "Don't Wait Too Long" by Bob Welch, "Baltimore" by Nina Simone, "December" by David Cain/Derek Boswell, "Gynopedie No 3" by Camarata Contemporary Chamber Group, and "The Interrogative Mood" by Jarvis Cocker & David Cunningham. CD

A wild assortment of music from an equally wild source – a BBC Radio program hosted by Jarvis Cocker, presented on Sunday mornings as a way to relax and reach some sort of deeper spiritual consciousness! The show was never churchy – but maybe an attempt to find a new sort of inner peace during the modern age – with a selection of songs in a really great range, all linked by the dry wit and understated presence of Cocker as an announcer. This set brings together key tracks from the early years of the show – music that spans decades, and runs from jazz vocal numbers, to electronic music nuggets, 70s AOR, underground folk, and a number of more recent tracks that show that Jarvis has continually had his ear on the rock underground around the globe. The blend is incredibly hard to describe in words, but a delight to hear on record – and the whole thing comes with detailed notes on the track selections from Cocker himself. Titles include "Snowed In" by Tim Rose, "Day Glo" by Serafina Steer, "Cold Rain" by Alternative TV, "Won't That Be A Happy Time" by Joseph & Louis Spence, "Old Molly Metcalfe" by Jake Thackery, "Waters Of March" by Art Garfunkel, "It's A Quiet Thing" by Morgana King, "Rock Intro" by Miranda July, "After The Gold Rush" by The King's Singers, "Invasion Muzak" by John Baker, "True Love Will Find You In The End" by Headless Heroes, "Cars" by The Katzenjammers, "Crazy In Love" by Antony & The Johnsons, "Don't Wait Too Long" by Bob Welch, "Baltimore" by Nina Simone, "December" by David Cain/Derek Boswell, "Gynopedie No 3" by Camarata Contemporary Chamber Group, and "The Interrogative Mood" by Jarvis Cocker & David Cunningham. LP, Vinyl record album

A riveting batch of Sao Paulo avant noise and funky punk – from the No Wave early 80s and on through the decade – one of the most instantly exciting compilations on Soul Jazz in years! There's a richness to this previously somewhat buried scene that's not surprising, given all of the revolutionary music Brazil has produced over the past century or so, but it's incredible that the stylistic variety of post punk is deep as those of the UK or US in the decade! Many of the tracks skew to the No Wave, funk-steeped punk stuff that was born in NYC in the late 70s/early 80s, but there are also plenty of growling, hardcore-reverent guitar shrapnel, gutbuckety drums and percussion, piercing synths, and a healthy smattering Joy Division/Factory Records learned grooves! 18 tracks in all: "Inmigo" and "Panico" by As Mercenarias, "Sobre As Pernas" and "Eu Dirijo O Carro Bomba" by Akira S Et As Garotas Que Erraram, "Rock Europeu" by Fellini, "Jack Kerouac" by Gang 90, "For A Daqui" by Smack, "Ilha Urbana" by Muzak and more! CD

Incredible early work from Einsturzende Neubauten – recorded when the group was just a spare little trio, handling an amazing range of instruments – and a fair bit of tools and heavy equipment as well! You can't get more industrial than this for the post-punk years – given the use of machines as part of the sound – but the approach is hardly the soundscape or artish modes you might get from others, given the intensity and anger in the music – almost punkish itself in approach, with some of the same sonic sensibilities you might find in the odder experiments of the Swell Maps. The album offers a really haunting picture of Germany at the start of the 80s – quiet electronics of the Cluster camp and proggish jamming of the Brain Records scene both laid bare by the group's cold, dark approach to their work. Titles include "Vorm Krieg", "Sehnsucht", "Tanz Debil", "U Haft Muzak", "Kollaps", "Jet'M", "Netativ Nein", and "Helga". Also features the bonus track "Schiess Euch Ins Blut". LP, Vinyl record album