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Really great work from tenorist Joshua Redman – an artist that many have been following for decades – but who, to us, really seems to be hitting a new level of genius in recent years! There's this understated confidence going on here – as if Redman no longer has anything to prove, and can just open up beautifully on the tenor – never breaking down too many barriers in jazz, but always blowing with this distinct sound that's very much his own – and which brings an edge to his well-written compositions on the record, which have a beautiful balance of color and rhythm. Pianist Aaron Goldberg is also fantastic – a very rhythmic player, but one who also leaves a lot of space between the notes – in ways that create this glow, or maybe a sense of waves of sound from his instrument – gently rocking the performance in this strong, yet subtle way. The rest of the quartet features Reuben Rogers on bass, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums that are bold, but never overdone – and the set of all-original material includes "How We Do", "DGAF", "Stagger Beer", "Vast", "Circle Of Life", and "Come What May". LP, Vinyl record album

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Two sides of legendary experimental composer Steve Reich – with one side composed for a large ensemble, the other side comparably pared down and composed for a quartet! The former is the 14+ minute "Pulse" played by the International Contemporary Ensemble, with 4 violins, a viola, flute, bass, piano and a pair of clarinets. It's not at all the drone you might expect from the title, but actually kind of soars, with the bass serving as anchor to the other loftier instrumentation. The Quartet pieces are performed by Colin Currie Group – with a pair of vibes and a pair of pianos – and bookended by 2 fast parts with a slower part between. LP, Vinyl record album

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One of Stockhausen's more extended compositions, and a haunting piece composed for soprano, choir groups, and a very strange mix of instruments – including lots of weird percussion, and some very spooky electric organ. There's a solo soprano out front, who punctuates the piece with a lot of avant garde vocals, and she's backed up by 4 different small groups of singers. The real highlight, though, is the instrumentation, as the mix of odd percussion and electric organ has an almost electronic music feel in parts, with lots of spare, strange, random bits. This is the US issue of the 1965 recording by Wergo Records. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A great 90s album by Caetano Veloso – a beautiful re-awakening of his genius in the later years of his career! The sound here is as fresh, creative, and personal as on some of Veloso's best post-Tropicalia albums of the 70s – served up in a blend of spare percussion, edgey guitars, and inventive production techniques that are as simple and powerful as Veloso's wonderful vocals on the set. The songs are wonderful too – penned at a level that we haven't heard this strong since Cinema Transcendental, and with a heavenly quality that transcends language and conventional pop expectations. Titles include "Livros", "How Beautiful Could A Being Be", "Pra Ninguem", "Na Baixa Do Sapateiro", and "Manhata". CD

A far-reaching album by Caetano – with a wide scope of sounds and influences, from tribal/ethnic percussion, to subtle jazzy backdrops, to guitar-driven numbers that hint at a brief return to rock music. The rich tapestry of themes and images are perfectly linked by Veloso's always-wonderful voice – impeccably rich-toned, with a sound that only seems to get better with age. To us, the record's his first really striking album since 1997's Livro – although it's got a lot more subtlety, in the manner of some of his mid 70s work, like Bicho or Joia. Titles include "Michelangelo Antonioni", "Zera A Reza", "13 De Maio", "Zumbi", "Meu Rio", and "Sou Seu Sabia". CD

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One of our favorite Zorn "tribute" albums from the 80s – in this case a set of long pastiche tracks that pays hommage to pulp writer Mickey Spillane, Albert Collins, and the film Forbidden Fruit. The track "Spillane" is the best – a side-long number that features text by Arto Lindsay, plus John Lurie as the voice of Mike Hammer – over instrumentation by Bill Frisell, Anthony Coleman, Zorn, Jim Staley, Bob James, and Bobby Previte. "Two Lane Highway" is a showcase for solo work by Albert Collins, but Zorn nicely messes things up a lot with a New York downtown approach that includes John Patton, Bobby Previte, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Wayne Horvitz. "Forbidden Fruit" features the Kronos Quartet augmented with voice by Ohta Hiromi and turntables by Christian Marclay! Also includes "Spillane" & "Two Lane Highway". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary set of recordings – a collection whose title may have aged a bit with the passage of time, but whose contents continue to sound as powerful today as when they were first captured by musicologist David Lewiston in the 70s! The album focuses on strands of music with deeper African roots – music that might not be the sort you'd usually expect to hear from Colombia, Brazil, and Ecuador – as the sounds are spare and rootsy, and come across much more like ethnographic recordings from various West African regions in years past. Most numbers feature earthy percussion, vocals (often chanted), and some additional instrumentation – with a very timeless vibe, and a quality that's surprisingly consistent, especially given that the work was recorded in three different nations. Titles include "Capoeira", "Los Cholitos", "Salome", "Arullo San Antonio", "Candomble", "Currulao Cantado", and "Voy A Bando". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

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Bill Frisell goes to Nashville – and finds a whole new outlet for his tremendous talents on guitar! The record's definitely got some of the elements you'd expect – some dobro from Jerry Douglas on another of tracks – plus bits of banjo, mandolin, and even some harmonica – but the whole thing is often in a very Frisell-familiar mode, with a sense of color, space and sound – just given a bit of a Nashville pitch! Robin Holcomb sings on three of the album's 14 tracks – and titles include "Family", "Pipe Down", "Go Jake", "One Of These Days", "Brother", "Mr Memory", "Gimme A Holler", "Shucks", and "The End Of The World". LP, Vinyl record album

Great work from one of the most creative periods of Astor Piazzolla! CD

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A groundbreaking album, put together by Zorn and a group of downtown New York hipsters, as a fitting hommage to the genius of Ennio Morricone! The track list sticks to mostly the bigger known numbers, and the album's got a darkness that we'd actually say was a bit out of place, considering the choice of tracks – but the groups formed by Zorn do a pretty good job of breathing new life into some of the tracks, and the album was a key moment in the recognition of Morricone as one of the century's greatest composers. Players include Robert Quine, Tim Berne, Arto Lindsay, Jim Staley, Bill Frisell, Christian Marclay, Anton Fier, and even Big John Patton. Titles include "Erotico", "Once Upon A Time In The West", "Giu La Testa", "Battle Of Algiers", and "The Big Gundown". LP, Vinyl record album

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... LP, Vinyl record album

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Bill Frisell goes to Nashville – and finds a whole new outlet for his tremendous talents on guitar! The record's definitely got some of the elements you'd expect – some dobro from Jerry Douglas on another of tracks – plus bits of banjo, mandolin, and even some harmonica – but the whole thing is often in a very Frisell-familiar mode, with a sense of color, space and sound – just given a bit of a Nashville pitch! Robin Holcomb sings on three of the album's 14 tracks – and titles include "Family", "Pipe Down", "Go Jake", "One Of These Days", "Brother", "Mr Memory", "Gimme A Holler", "Shucks", and "The End Of The World". LP, Vinyl record album

Really great work from tenorist Joshua Redman – an artist that many have been following for decades – but who, to us, really seems to be hitting a new level of genius in recent years! There's this understated confidence going on here – as if Redman no longer has anything to prove, and can just open up beautifully on the tenor – never breaking down too many barriers in jazz, but always blowing with this distinct sound that's very much his own – and which brings an edge to his well-written compositions on the record, which have a beautiful balance of color and rhythm. Pianist Aaron Goldberg is also fantastic – a very rhythmic player, but one who also leaves a lot of space between the notes – in ways that create this glow, or maybe a sense of waves of sound from his instrument – gently rocking the performance in this strong, yet subtle way. The rest of the quartet features Reuben Rogers on bass, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums that are bold, but never overdone – and the set of all-original material includes "How We Do", "DGAF", "Stagger Beer", "Vast", "Circle Of Life", and "Come What May". CD

A beautiful collaboration between two of the most important forces in leftfield music in the early 80s – multi-media artist Laurie Anderson and modern string legends Kronos Quartet – coming together here in an extended Anderson composition inspired by the experience of Hurricane Sandy! It's been years since we've last heard from Laurie, and she's really returned to her roots here – still using her voice a bit, but also playing violin a fair bit too, along with keyboards, samples, percussion, and lots of her unusual filters and other electronic elements. Most selections are sort, and work together beautifully – almost in territory that might be described as a string quartet take on the modes of United States. Titles include "All The Extinct Animals", "Built You A Mountain", "Darkness Falls", "Dreams Translated", "The Water Rises", "Our Street Is A Black River", "Nothing Left But Their Names", "Thunder Continues In The Aftermath", "Old Motors & Helicopters", and "Everything Is Floating". CD

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... LP, Vinyl record album

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