A fantastic live set that offers up the first-ever recorded meeting of these three giants of improvised music – a trio who return to each others' company after many years, and here for the first time with a recording device in action! Given the legacy here, there's almost as much of a loft jazz influence as there is one from the world of European free jazz – and at many points, the reeds of Peter Brotzmann seem to take a lot more directl from the drums and percussion of Milford Graves and bass of William Parker – especially at moments when both players seem tied to each other at both an emotional and performative level! Parker also plays a bit of doussn'gouni, and Graves vocalizes a bit – and the set features a searing live set recorded at the gallery space of CBGBs in 2002. LP, Vinyl record album

Features Terell Stafford on trumpet and Victor Lewis on drums. CD

Three classic albums from Shoes, plus bonus tracks, and a full CD worth of rare material too! First up is Present Tense – a power-pop classic from Shoes – their first full length for Elektra Records, and a set that stands with all the best end of 70s gems from either coast! The songs are impeccable, and the group do a fantastic job of blending sharper guitars with really great lyricism – a mode that maybe makes the Illinois group a strong precursor for territory that The Replacements wouldn't hit until many years later – and which makes just about every track on the album a precious nugget that just gets better and better with time! Titles include "Now & Then", "Every Girl", "I Don't Wanna Hear It", "Three Times", "In My Arms Again", and "Too Late". On Tongue Twister, Shoes continue the brilliance of their first album for Elektra – serving up the kind of music that was so well-done, so subtle, it was maybe missed by most of the world at the time – even though it's gone onto the status of classic, thanks to legions of fans and critics! Shoes have a way with a tune that's unlike anyone else – maybe that compressed charm of Big Star, but fused into the sharper modes of the power pop years – but without any of the too commercial modes of some of the bigger groups of the time. Instead, the whole thing feels like you've just stumbled upon a brilliant band, playing in a backroom bar – which, unfortunately, is how Shoes spent too much of their career. Titles include "Only In My Sleep", "She Satisfies", "Found A Girl", "Hate To Run", "When It Hits", "Yes Or No", "Your Imagination", and "Girls Of Today". On Boomerang, Shoes maybe look a bit too new wave on the cover, but still sound perfect within – very much in charge of that perfect yet understated approach to a tune that has gone on to make them legends in all the many years since this album was released! The group were never out to change the world, and maybe that held them back at the time – but they were also never trying for big chart success, or too-slick modes – and there's a wonderfully honest, down to earth approach to the songwriting and production that clearly sets the stage for all the bigger late 80s groups that would follow in their wake. Nearly every tune is a completely catchy mofo – and titles include "Curiosity", "In Her Shadow", "Double Talk", "The Summer Rain", "Under The Gun", "The Tube", and "What Love Means". 4CD set features a huge amount of bonus material – 8 track demo versions of all three albums, added to their discs – and a bonus CD of 18 more rare tracks – all in a box, with a big booklet of notes! CD

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A power-pop classic from Shoes – their first full length for Elektra Records, and a set that stands with all the best end of 70s gems from either coast! The songs are impeccable, and the group do a fantastic job of blending sharper guitars with really great lyricism – a mode that maybe makes the Illinois group a strong precursor for territory that The Replacements wouldn't hit until many years later – and which makes just about every track on the album a precious nugget that just gets better and better with time! Titles include "Now & Then", "Every Girl", "I Don't Wanna Hear It", "Three Times", "In My Arms Again", and "Too Late". LP, Vinyl record album

Another dynamite effort from The Ex! By 1985 the Dutch collective had their jackhammer guitar and sharp, intelligent lyrical roar honed to a precise, tense science – and it's at this point that they really started allowing the tribal, earthy percussion that would later help define the groove pound its way to the surface. Truly amazing stuff – a pivotal moment in the Ex's career and an easy choice as one of their finest. Tracks include "Nurse!", "Soviet Threat", "MMM Crisis", "Rock", "White Liberals", "Everything We Never Wanted", "Hit The Headlines", "Friendly Neighbours" and more! LP, Vinyl record album

A dark title, but some light music overall – a sweetly dreamy score from Angelo Lavagnino, and one that's filled with sweet strings and some weirdly watery sounds! The album starts out with a lovely little melody, but then soon moves into territory that's even more gentle – sometimes sounds right at the range of hearing, which shimmer and twist beautifully as they come into sharper focus. Instrumentation includes bits of piano – recorded with some nice echo – soft strings, and a few other elements that are hard to place exactly, but which come together with almost a feel that's more sonic than melodic. A few tunes get somewhat tense, but the score's relatively sweet overall – and the CD reissue features a total of 20 numbers from the film, 2 of which feature vocals from I Cantori Moderni. CD

A classic 60s soundtrack from maestro Ennio Morricone – and a set of music that's lasted a lot longer than the film – which starred John Cassavettes in the role of Machine Gun McCain! Morricone's really coming into his own here – and uses some of the drama of his western work, blended with his growing ability to craft a simple, haunting melody – often the kind of dreamy tune you'd hardly expect to find in a movie like this! A few tense moments move into a slight atonal range – but most numbers have that cool, compressed style that made Morricone so great in the late 60s – with bits of Hammond, guitar, strings, and even some slight horns. The set's got two vocal numbers sung by Jackie Lynton – titles include "La Ballata Di Hank McCain", "Come Quando Fuori Piove", "Irene", "Defilee", "Gli Intoccabili", "Rosemary", "Come Lei", and "Sogno Dopo Sogno". Also includes a number of bonus tracks! LP, Vinyl record album

A dark little score from Ennnio Morricone – penned for a mid 70s film that starred Rod Steiger as Mussolini! The style here is even more spacious, and almost more tense, than some of Morricone's horror work of the time – and in a way, the music often has a cold, grey quality – with far less color or striking sound than some of Morricone's lighter, whimsical soundtracks. There's also a pronounced sense of space, too – a feel that almost has you waiting for each new note to come – instead of that more flowing Morricone style of familiar work. Titles include "SOS La Fine", "Ultimo Atto", "Giustiziato", "Verso La Frontiera", and "Mussolini Ultimo Atto". CD

Sweetness and darkness – perfectly blended together in this classic mid 70s soundtrack by Ennio Morricone! The main theme of the film – "Bambole" – is one of those Mondo Morricone type numbers that floats along on a gossamy sheen – vocals gliding softly over light woodwinds, stepping rhythms, and a bit of electric harpsichord – all used gently, but beautifully to create a wonderfully groovy little tune. But other numbers on the album are much more tense – strings drawn tighter, and sometimes into more atonal passages – and offset by descending woodwind passages that further underscore the melancholy of the film! Additional instrumentation includes some abstracted and slightly fuzzy guitar – and the whole album beautifully blends the sweet and dark tracks together with a great sense of pacing. Titles include "Bambole", in a number of variations – plus variations on "Spasmo" and "Stress Infinito". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare vinyl version of this classic Italian horror soundtrack! Piero Piccioni did the soundtrack for Seven Murders For Scotland Yard – in a style that mixes more dramatic orchestrations with a few great mod touches on organ, flute, and percussion – which step out nicely on the groovier tracks, and bring in a nice note of action and surprise to a score that's mostly tense and poised for danger! These few light bits really offset things nicely – and create an unsettling feel in a work that's pretty darn dark overall, and which shows some of the most somber qualities we've ever heard in Piccioni's music. Titles include "Seven Murders", "Unknown Maniac", "Reminding The Ripper", "Suspecting", "Inspector Campbell", and "Professor Christie" LP, Vinyl record album

Two Italian horror scores on one CD! Piero Piccioni did the soundtrack for Seven Murders For Scotland Yard – in a style that mixes more dramatic orchestrations with a few great mod touches on organ, flute, and percussion – which step out nicely on the groovier tracks, and bring in a nice note of action and surprise to a score that's mostly tense and poised for danger! Titles include "Seven Murders", "Unknown Maniac", "Reminding The Ripper", "Suspecting", "Inspector Campbell", and "Professor Christie". Francesco De Masi follows with the score for 7 Hyden Park La Casa Maledetta – done in a cool 70s electronic mode, one that often features the keyboards playing simple, but eerie melodies that set a great tone for the film's creepy plot! Titles include "Handicapped Girl", "Falling", "In The Past", "Cursed House", "House In The Park", "Fear & Blood", "So Many Corpses", and "Dreadful Cellar". CD

A killer set from Italian jazz gurus Cicci Santucci & Enzo Scoppa – an early 70s quartet effort that has a more fiery and overall freer sound than other Santucci Scoppa efforts of the era! This is one of those records that challenges our expectations of a combo, or in this case a pair, of artists that we've loved over the years, and their work is never predictable, but this one moves them in a more exciting and improvisational realm that works masterfully. Trumpet player Santucci and tenor sax player Scoppa work with an intuitive harmony together as always, but the vibe is far reaching a frenetic here in away that moves them away from their more hard bop rooted sounds. Many tense moments, but never far out, or compromising the fluid interplay. The quartet on this record includes a pair of Brunos – Tommaso on bass and Biriaco on drums. There's a Titles include "Colpi Di Flash", "Inumanity", "Tensione", "Toward The Peace", "Dalle Nostre Isole", "Routine", "Integration", "Liveri" and "A Free Way Of Life". CD

Jazz funk genius from Freddie Hubbard in the mid 70s! Gleam was a Japanese-only double album from the jazz giant in its original release – mighty funky at times, too – right up there with some of the best Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock Japanese sets from the 70s! It's a live set captured in March of '75 at Tokyo's Yubin Chokin Hall – long numbers played by a group that includes Freddie on trumpet, Carl Randall on tenor and flute, George Cables on electric piano, Henry Franklin on bass, Carl Burnett on drums, and Buck Clark on percussion! Each player has plenty of space to groove, and it's very well captured – you can hear the most expressive solos and the most subtle nuances. Some great solos by Freddie and the rest of the players – breathless tenor & flute by Randall, keys by Cables that are jazz funk perfection and interplay between Burnett's drums and Clark's congas & percussion that's somehow tense and comfortable at the same time. The shortest number in the set runs more than the 7 minutes and the longest is more than 20 minutes – and none is one second shorter than necessary, actually leaving us pining for more – making it all the more vital in the double album format. Released on 2CDs for the first time ever here! How this great album has been so hard to find over the years is a mystery. Titles include "Kuntu", "Spirits Of Trane", an amazing cover of Stevie Wonder's "Too High", "Midnight At The Oasis", "Ebony Moonbeams", and "Put It In The Pocket". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hippest, tightest sessions ever recorded by drummer Sunny Murray – a large group set recorded with his Untouchable Factor group – a great ensemble that includes Frank Foster on soprano sax, Oliver Lake and Arthur Blythe on alto saxes, Hamiet Bluiett on baritone, Don Pullen on piano, and Cecil McBee and Fred Hopkins on bass! The sound is somewhat straighter than Murray's free jazz of a few years before – almost in the mode that Foster was exploring with some of his large ensembles of the 70s – a platform for righteous jazz expression, but in a way that's still tied together strongly with a sense of rhythm. Other players on the group include the enigmatic Youseff Yancy on a host of instruments, including theremin – plus the under-recorded Monette Sudler on guitar. Some tracks are a bit more outside than others – and titles include "Past Perfect Tense", "One Down & One Up", "Applebluff", "Apple Cores", and "New York Maze". LP, Vinyl record album

An early western soundtrack from Italian maestro Bruno Nicolai – presented here for the first time ever, complete with a huge number of tracks from this obscure film! Much of the work is in a tense orchestra mode – peppered with western themes, but more conventionally dramatic overall – and filled with the dark touches that Nicolai usually brought to more of his non-western work. Franco De Gemini plays stark harmonica lines on a few of the most noteworthy tracks on the album, and a few other cuts use a weirdly-tuned Jews harp to create some Morricone-like notes. CD features 28 titles in all – all lovingly remastered from the original master tapes! CD

Genius, pure genius! Like all of Wayne Shorter's Blue Note sessions from the mid 60s, this album's a beautiful blend of hard bop ideas with a modern spiritual soulful consciousness – as important in its own way as Coltrane's work of the time – an incredible precursor for sounds from generations to come! Shorter's tenor solos are the main focus here, and he plays with creativity and imagination that you don't often hear on his later works – a sharp, soulful approach – but one that's already light years ahead of some of his Blue Note contemporaries – reaching for new ideas, but without any sense of effort – none of the overly-tense notes you'd get later, and instead just a marvelously fluid feel that really makes sense from the very first note – tremendous listening for both the lifetime jazz fan or the newcomer. McCoy Tyner plays piano, and Reggie Workman and Elvin Jones complete the group – and titles include "House Of Jade", "Deluge", "Mahjong", and "Yes Or No". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best ever sets of sprawling, spacey soul funk and jazz from the impossible to pen in Burnt Sugar Arkestra Chamber – never an easy group to describe in a nutshell, and that's a good thing – their best work in years and their first effort for the Livewired label! Making Love To The Dark Ages is a weirdly apt title, starting out with kind of dark, bluesy soul backdrop for Lisala's vocal in the beginning of the opening three part suite "Chains And Waters", slowly building into a tense, free jazz groove that's unafraid to pepper it up with some psyche rock guitar, heady/heavy bass, keys and synth, sax and drums. Guitarist and group leader Greg Tate conducts a sprawling chamber with slightly altered lineups depending on the piece, with players including vocal chanteuse Lisala, fellow vocalists Jeremiah, Karma Johnson, Justice Dilla X (who moonlights on piano, too) and others, alto & tenor sax by Matana Roberts and Petre Radu Scafaru, synth by Bruce Mack, cello by Will Martina, acoustic and electric bass by Jason DiMatteo and Jared Michael Nicherson, drums by Chris Eddleton and Trevor Holden & others, guitars by Rene Akan, Vernon Reid, trombone by David Smith, trumpet by Lewis 'Flip' Barnes, Jr, – lots more instrumentation and orchestration. The record rolls in and out of evocative soul, bits of electro and hip hop soundcraft, spaced out astral jazz, sharp solos and textured bursts of noise – never sacrificing a confluent sense of togetherness for all of the diverse sounds. Titles include the suites "Chains And Water" and the title track, plus "Thorazine/81", "Love To Tical" and "Dominata (The Gabri Ballad)". CD

The final recording from the good Captain and his last crew, and one of our favorites. Sideways rhythms collide with arthritic guitar parts in a remarkable gumbo topped off by Don Van Vliet's unique lyrical vision. A modern classic! Includes "Ice Cream For Crow", "Semi Multi Coloured Caucasian", "Hey Garland, I Dig Your Tweed Coat", "The Past Sure Is Tense", "The Witch Doctor Life" and "81 Poop Hatch". LP, Vinyl record album

A cool album – featuring one side of the score to A Fistful Of Dollars and one side of the soundtrack of For A Few Dollars More! The songs are short, but tense – and mix plodding solo instrumentation with some sparer dramatic moments, creating a sublime tension that's unsurpassed in the realm of western scoring! Titles include "A Fistful Of Dollars", "Almost Dead", "The Chase", "The Result", "Without Pity", "Sixty Seconds To What?", "The Watcher Watched", "Vice Of Killing", "The Showdown", "Goodbye Colonel" and "For A Few Dollars More". LP, Vinyl record album

A taut score from Piero Piccioni – penned for an early 60s black and white thriller, with a sound that's often a lot more serious than some of his other work of the time! There's a few whimsical themes at the start, but these drop off quickly – leaving some very spare, atmospheric numbers with a really tense, spooky sound – one that often comes from solo piano or organ work from Piccioni, the latter of which has a really deep-down, rumbling quality. Horns appear on some of the lighter moments – which have almost Nino Rota-like melodies that are a bit playful – but the score definitely leans towards the darker side of the spectrum at most moments. Titles include "Fox Foxy", "Waltz For You", "Il Terrorista", and "Eco Di Un Tempo". CD features the original soundtrack, plus 9 bonus tracks with a stereo mix! CD

A greatly expanded version of this Italian horror soundtrack – with way more music than we've ever seen on any previous edition! Piero Piccioni did the soundtrack for Seven Murders For Scotland Yard – in a style that mixes more dramatic orchestrations with a few great mod touches on organ, flute, and percussion – which step out nicely on the groovier tracks, and bring in a nice note of action and surprise to a score that's mostly tense and poised for danger! These few light bits really offset things nicely – and create an unsettling feel in a work that's pretty darn dark overall, and which shows some of the most somber qualities we've ever heard in Piccioni's music. Titles include "Seven Murders", "Unknown Maniac", "Reminding The Ripper", "Suspecting", "Inspector Campbell", and "Professor Christie" – and the CD features a total of 22 tracks in all! CD

A less tense and caustic Roots than the crew that hit us on the majority of Rising Down a couple years earlier – and this one's as strong of an album as they've delivered since moving over to Def Jam. In truth, we were a little scared when we saw some of the guests credited – Monsters Of Folk, John Legend, Joanna Newsom and other headscratchers on top of more likely collaborators such as Phonte, Blu, Peedi Peedi and Dice Raw – it gets over very, very well here! How I Got Over is a Roots effort through and through, with contemplative and soulful tracks that simmer and stew in tried and true fashion. The tracks with those indie rock guests turn out to be among the Roots-iest tracks on the record. Believe that! So you can rest easy, the Roots are The Roots here, just what we wanted and just what we get! Includes "A Peace Of Light" feat Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian & Haley Dekle, "Walk Alone" feat Truck North, PORN & Dice Raw, "Now Or Never" with Phonte & Dice Raw, "Dear God 2.0" with Monsters Of Folk, "The Day" feat Blu, Phonte & Patty Crash, "Doin It Again", "Tunnel Vision" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty tense score – especially for Lalo Schifrin, who we normally know for his groovier soundtracks! Lalo's working here in a mode that's quite like some of the best 70s Italian horror scores – lots of turgid orchestral passages moving slowly, with dramatic flourishes that are really great, and some breakout moments that are guaranteed to send chills down your spine! Quite evocative, and although not usually Schifrin's forte, a great score in the best tradition of the genre. Titles include "The Ax", "Amityville Frenzy", "Bleeding Walls", "Juke Box", "The Basement", and "The Wind". LP, Vinyl record album

A much-needed tribute to this genius power-pop trio – local Illinois legends who labored in the indie underground during the biggest years of disco and punk rock! Shoes were something else entirely – a no-nonsense group with a really tight power pop feel – easily one of the proudest of the Yellow Pills generation, with an ear for a hook and sharp guitar line to rival their Illinois contemporaries Cheap Trick – even though Shoes never broke nearly as big at the time. This set's the first full career-spanning collection of their music – and features lots of tracks from early albums like Present Tense, Black Vinyl Shoes, Tongue Twister, and Boomerang – plus a few choice bits from later years (these guys are still going today!) – all wrapped together with some wonderfully personal liner notes too. Titles include "She Satisfies", "Tomorrow Night", "Okay", "Girls Of Today", "Only In My Sleep", "Curiosity", "Get My Message", "Feel The Way That I Do", "Your Devotion", "Your Very Eyes", "Oh Angeline", "Burned Out Love", and "Torn In Two". CD

A hell of a record from one of the key groups who put the "hard" in the American hardcore scene – and a record that's so blisteringly intense, we still sometimes have to check to make sure we've got it on the right speed! Although Bad Brains may fly the flag of the Rastas, and definitely claim a reggae influence – the record manages to both blow away the work of the LA scene with its full-on hardcore tracks, and the UK scene with the group's few reggae-styled numbers. The original was only issued as a cassette, but that hasn't stopped it from being one of the key punk records of the time – and titles include "Sail On", "Don't Need It", "Attitude", "The Regulator", "Banned In DC", "Jah Calling", "Supertouch/Shitfit", "Leaving Babylon", "Fearless Vampire Killers", "I", "Big Take Over", "Pay To Cum", "Right Brigade", "I Luv I Jah", and "Intro". LP, Vinyl record album

Barclay James Harvest sound almost a bit more melancholy here than on previous records – maybe just because the leadoff hit track "Hymn" has a brooding message on drug deaths – but also because there seems to be a slightly more intense quality to their overall approach! The group are in very comfortable, confident territory – so much so, they can slow things down a bit and move with a brooding sense of soul that almost seems a precursor to the power ballad scene that would emerge a few years later. These tracks are still nicely free of the schmaltz of those – but definitely have a sense of compression that points the way forward – on titles that include "Hymn", "Love Is Like A Violin", "Leper's Song", "Taking Me Higher", "Spirit On The Water", "Sea Of Tranquility", and "Hard Hearted Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

A really great late 60s session from Ornette Coleman – one that shows is increasing expansion in sounds and styles, and which also offers a bridge between avant jazz generations too! That bridge comes in the presence of Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums – a surprising Coltrane rhythm duo, working here with Ornette's mindblowing work on alto sax, and tenor from a young Dewey Redman – already a crucially intense player here next to Coleman, as both are set free in a group without any piano – that Ornette melding of rhythm and melody, but with a very different vibe than the Atlantic years! Coleman blows trumpet on one tune – and titles include "Love Call", "Airborne", "Check Out Time", and "Open To The Public". LP, Vinyl record album

A movie that's so familiar, we sometimes forget the greatness of its soundtrack! True, the film did give the world a few big hits from Barry Manilow, but the instrumental score by Charles Fox is mighty nice – a great blend of 70s cop/crime modes with a few tenser moments – orchestrated wonderfully with this approach that's still very classic in its instrumentation, while sparkling with just a few slight contemporary elements. And away from the performances on the screen, the music almost sounds even classier – elevated past PG comedy realm, into the range of classic film score! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the rarest albums ever from percussionist Milford Graves, and one of the most intense as well – a completely unbridled live performance that features saxes from Hugh Glover and Arthur Doyle! Glover and Doyle are amazing together – and with that trademark raspy tone, Doyle's set apart nicely, even amidst the frenzy – and Graves is a complete monster on the drum kit, moving with a speed that must have been breathtaking to see in person – at a level that always has us checking the record to make sure that we don't have it set to 45rpm! If you've ever overlooked the contributions that Graves has made to improvised music, this is the record to convince you – with titles that include "Ba", "Bi", and "Babi". Great bonus material too – a whole CD that features the same trio, playing together 8 years before – recorded in New York in 1969, with four improvisations of varying length. CD

A pivotal album for Chico – one that has him working with his hip group that included Charles Lloyd and Gabor Szabo, both of whom take Chico into a modal mode that would completely transform his sound! Lloyd's the center star on the album's version of his own "Forest Flower" – done here in "sunrise" and "sunset" passages – but it's really Chico's increasingly offbeat sense of rhythm that allows Lloyd and Szabo to develop their intense solos and searching grooves. Other titles include "Mallet Dance", "Love Song To A Baby", "Man From Two Worlds", and "Child's Play". Plus, the CD reissue features 4 bonus tracks – including "Transfusion", "Passin Thru", "Lady Gabor", and "Lonesome Child". CD

A really great, but very unusual John Lee Hooker album – one that was recorded in London with backing from later blues rock heroes The Groundhogs – a group who do a really great job here of hanging back, and letting Hook really take the lead! All those raw, gritty charms of Hooker's music are firmly in place – tunes that build with spare but intense guitar, and which have that sort of open, spacious quality of production that makes the core essence of the man himself ring out with all its glory! Later versions of the record added in a few more elements, but this set is the core original recording – with titles that include "Mai Lee", "It's A Crazy Mixed Up World", "Seven Days & Seven Nights", "Bad Luck & Trouble", "Waterfront", and "It's Raining Here". LP, Vinyl record album

A strong quartet date, with a bit more edge than some of his solo piano records – thanks to work by Jan Garbarek on soprano and tenor, Palle Danielsson on bass, and John Christensen on drums. Jarrett also plays a bit of percussion and timbales! LP, Vinyl record album

Keith Jarrett on piano and percussion, Jan Garbarek on tenor and soprano sax, Palle Danielsson on bass, and Jon Christensen on drums. CD

Some of the most intense work we've ever heard from composer/reedman Darius Jones – a set of longer works, recorded live in Vancouver – with a style that mixes core jazz instrumentation with some added string elements that really send things over the top! There's plenty of free improvisation going on here – and the alto of Jones sounds especially nice next to the skittish drums of Gerald Cleaver – as the duo find strong interplay with the work of Jesse and Josh Zubot on violins, Peggy Lee on cello, and James Meger on bass! All the string instruments are hardly any sort of string quartet – and instead, they come across with those freer improv modes unlocked during the loft jazz generation of the 70s – really exploding here with a sense of united majesty and individual expression. Titles include "Zubot", "Damon & Pythias", "Rainbow", and "Fluxus V5T 1S1". CD

Some of the most intense work we've ever heard from composer/reedman Darius Jones – a set of longer works, recorded live in Vancouver – with a style that mixes core jazz instrumentation with some added string elements that really send things over the top! There's plenty of free improvisation going on here – and the alto of Jones sounds especially nice next to the skittish drums of Gerald Cleaver – as the duo find strong interplay with the work of Jesse and Josh Zubot on violins, Peggy Lee on cello, and James Meger on bass! All the string instruments are hardly any sort of string quartet – and instead, they come across with those freer improv modes unlocked during the loft jazz generation of the 70s – really exploding here with a sense of united majesty and individual expression. Titles include "Zubot", "Damon & Pythias", "Rainbow", and "Fluxus V5T 1S1". LP, Vinyl record album

A sprawling extended album that had a bit of a legendary status before it was ever released – in part because Kanye West recorded part of the record in the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta while it was closed down during the pandemic! The set brings forward some of the spiritual themes of the album's predecessor, but also has some sharper hip hop edges overall – and some of the anger that reflects the changes that were taking place in Kanye's personal life at the time – reflected in a few of the album's more intense tracks, which are usually some of the best. Titles include "Jail", "God Breathed", "Hurricane", "Off The Grid", "Jonah", "Ok Ok", "Praise God", "Believe What I Say", "24", "Remote Control", "Moon", "Heaven & Hell", "Keep My Spirit Alive", "Donda", and "New Again". LP, Vinyl record album

Seun Anikulapo Kuti returns with another strorming set of neo classic Afro Funk in the great tradition of his father – once again fronting the incredible Egypt 80 group! It's remarkable stuff that finds Seun – the youngest son of Fela – standing up as a visionary talent. He's not only living up to an immense legacy, but moving forward with it in ways that will absolutely stand the test of time. The insistent rhythms and intense energy of the Egypt 80 group – led by Lekan Animashaun – are Afrobeat perfection, with Seun's forthright vocals out front of it. But their approach here is anything but a retread of family glories. The songs are urgent and fierce, and there are subtle modern florishes in the production – thanks in part, no doubt, to co-producer Brian Eno. Titles include "African Soldier", "You Can R Un", "Rise", "Slave Masters", "For Dem E Ye", "The Good Leaf" and "Giant Of Africa". CD

A set of free improvised duets that are so fierce, they've been kept from the public for decades – finally seeing the light of day in this long-overdue package! Percussionist/electronicist Paul Lytton is a player known to many, and known for his always-incredible ear for sonic intensity – yet we've maybe never heard him this intense before, working alongside guitarist Erhard Hirt, a player with an approach to his instrument that's unlike anyone else in the free jazz universe at the time! Hirt often plays with a great sense of noise – not as bombastically as Sonny Sharrock, or as rock-influenced as some of the others – but almost as if he's using his electric guitar as the gateway to some darker universe, opening a passage that Lytton dives in to follow very quickly with some especially great electronics. Even the percussion has this electrified spark – and titles include "Orbod", "The Sensitive Stickler", "Don't Wait Too Long", "Deder", "Clip", and "175". CD

It's hard to believe that anyone ever took the electronics of Giorgio Moroder seriously enough to think they'd be the right setting for an intensely dramatic thriller like this – but in the decade when Italian thrillers were doing the same thing, it's kind of easy to see. And if you think of this one as a dated American soundtrack, you'll be lost – but if you see it as some groovy bit of Italian sexy electronics from the 70s, you'll find that it's got some pretty nice moments, and would fit perfectly with some of the Cinevox material from the end of the 70s. Titles include "The Chase", "The Wheel", "Cacophony", and "Midnight Express". LP, Vinyl record album

Two great cuts from this funky Japanese trio! "We Gettin Down" is the classic tune from Weldon Irvine – sampled famously by Tribe Called Quest, and done here with this lean groove that's wonderful – funky drums, bass, and these cool keyboards that are also mixed with a vocoder chant of the title! "Nautical Table" is more full on and intense – the kind of cascading piano groove the group does so well – and a tune that's exploding with color and light! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A trio of talents make this Samurai Champloo soundtrack so great – Japanese producer Nujabes, hip hop duo Force Of Nature, and American hip hopper Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician! The sound here is often a bit more dense and intense than on some of the other Champloo soundtracks, but it depends on the cut – as others have that open, melodic quality that makes the series so great – even on the Fat Jon tracks, which are instrumental. Titles include "Just Forget", "Nightshift", "Set It Off", "Death Wish", and "The Stroll" by Force Of Nature; "Bracelet", "In Position", "Night Out", "Not Quite Selah", and "Here & There" by Fat Jon; and "Dead Season", "Sanctuary Ship", "Tsurugi No Mai", and "Decade" by Nujabes. Also features "Who's Theme" by Minmi. LP, Vinyl record album

The genius of Bird and strings is hard to describe – an edgey approach that really goes far past most other "jazz with strings" projects, not a ballad-driven one, but a tensely strained one that brings out some of Parker's best soloing, almost in a moody soundtrack-type way. The tracks are a lot freer and less bop-driven than some of Bird's normal work, and it's incredible to hear him soloing with such complexity – even more proof of the genius he clearly exhibited in relation to his contemporaries. LP features some of Bird's best work in the strings format – some tracks recorded in 1950 at Carnegie Hall, others arranged by either Jimmy Carroll or Joe Lippmann. Titles include "Repetition", "April In Paris", "Summertime", "I'm In The Mood For Love", "East Of The Sun", "I'll Remember April", and "Easy To Love". LP, Vinyl record album

The genius of Bird and strings is hard to describe – an edgey approach that really goes far past most other "jazz with strings" projects, not a ballad-driven one, but a tensely strained one that brings out some of Parker's best soloing, almost in a moody soundtrack-type way. The tracks are a lot freer and less bop-driven than some of Bird's normal work, and it's incredible to hear him soloing with such complexity – even more proof of the genius he clearly exhibited in relation to his contemporaries. CD

Although these days, Parliament's best remembered for their classic studio albums, back in the 70s, the real P-Funk experience was the incredible live shows served up by George Clinton and the group! George, Bootsy, and the rest were undeniably at the top of their game at the time – rolling into cities and taking them by storm with their space-themed sets, wild costumes, and intense ability to jam live with a force that even blew away their records! This double live set is a great document of the P-Funk sound of the time – and features some great tunes from mid 70s Parliament, served up in modes that range from straight to very long and drawn out. Titles include "Give Up The Funk", "Get Off Your Ass & Jam", "Night Of The Thumpasorous Peoples", "Let's Take It To The Stage", and "Gamin' On Ya!" – all done with the sort of live jamming feel that made their shows go on forever and groove all night long. CD