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A great couple of harder-to-find Ornette Coleman records – nicely paired up in a 2CD set! First up is The Music Of Ornette Coleman, from 1967 – which is beautiful record that serves as both a showcase for Ornette's "serious" writing efforts – and his ability to play with a larger ensemble! It kicks off with Ornette playing trumpet solos with The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet as they perform his "Forms & Sounds" live. That's followed by recordings of Ornette's "Space Flight" and "Saints & Soldiers" performed by The Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia Quartet, a string ensemble that brings a new light to Ornette's compositions! Skies Of America is an ambitious record with full orchestra, in a haunting sound that's light years from any of his smaller group recordings of the 60s and 70s! There's an incredible feel to the strings used here – played by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Measham – all tied up and dark, with swirling sounds that run up beautifully from the bottom, then take off to the skies promised in the title – opening the door for Ornette to come in and solo freely over the top – in a magical mix that easily makes the record a standout in his long and mighty career! Harmolodic theory is definitely a part of Coleman's conception here – but in very different ways than his quartet or quintet recordings. Lots of tracks on this one, including "Skies Of America", "The Men Who Live In The White House", "Sunday In America", "Dreams", "Native Americans", "Silver Screen", "The Artist In America" and more. CD

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Gal Costa looks surpisingly youthful on the cover – and she's also sounding more youthful in her music than we've heard in many years – thanks to a key collaboration with Kassin and Moreno Veloso! Both of the younger musicians really find a fresh space for Gal to work with – a nice shift away from some of the more staid, mature modes of her other recent records – and a style that brings out all the creativity that made us fall in love with Costa so many years ago! This shift isn't a return to Tropicalia, but instead a move towards that playful, genre-stepping territory that you'll find in both Veloso and Kassin's music, especially the latter. One of Costa's best in years – and with titles that include "Amor Se Aclame", "Anuviar", "Espelho D'Agua", "Ecstasy", "Jabitaca", and "Sem Medo Nem Esperanca". CD

One of the great Miles 70s groove albums – an album that's often as funky as you might expect from the cover, with a sound that's gone onto become the stuff of legend over the years! The noise of previous electric sessions is nicely toned down a bit here – leaving lots more room for soulful grooving – and although the selections were recorded over different dates, there's a very unified feel to the record – as most tracks have a similar groove, away from other Davis electric work of the period. Players vary throughout – and include Wayne Shorter and Sonny Fortune on reeds, Lonnie Smith and Chick Corea on keyboards, Ron Carter and Dave Holland on basses, John McLaughlin on guitar, and Al Foster and Billy Cobham on drums. Titles include "Great Expectations", "Ife", "Go Ahead John", and "Lonely Fire" – and the whole thing kicks! CD

Four sides of noisy, funky, stretched-out playing from Miles Davis – recorded at the Fillmore West, but with an intensity that matches some of Miles' crazy electric recordings from Japan during the early 70s! The music is a powerful blast of music that stretches out over the double-length set of the package – with a style that moves from heavy-duty avant playing, then back to more mellow grooving, then kicks it out nice and hard again – a heavy dose of rock mixed in with the fusion, but still plenty jazzy throughout. In all, the record is probably one of the most heavy-duty that the Miles electric group recorded in the 70s – and the lineup on the set features Steve Grossman on saxes, Chick Corea on electric piano, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Airto on percussion. Tracks include "Spanish Key", "Directions", "Masqualero", "It's About That Time", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "Bitches Brew", "Willie Nelson", and "Sanctuary". LP, Vinyl record album

Miles Davis' first-ever performance in Japan – a really unique concert that featured the quintet with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams – augmented by a young Sam Rivers on tenor! The presence of Rivers really gives the set an edge – and although Miles is holding Sam a bit more in check than on some of his "new thing" albums from the time, there's an overall quality here that's different than the other Davis quintet albums of the time. The set was one of a number of important Miles Davis live sessions from the period – including albums from Berlin, Antibes, and Chicago – and titles include "If I Were A Bell", "My Funny Valentine", "So What", "Walkin'" and "All Of You". CD

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Wonderful live work recorded with John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, and others – including tracks pulled from his live albums at the Blackhawk, Plaza, Newport, Antibes, the Plugged Nickel, and the Budokan in Tokyo. CD

29 gems from one of the most fantastic groups of the 70s! CD

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The new full-length album from Fauna Flash – a great little German combo who's been crafting some great singles over the past few years for the Compost label! The record shows the full range of the group's style – mixing together jazzy numbers with other tunes that have more of a downtempo feel, blending smoother soul elements with harder funky ones, often touched with the group's quirky sense of humor and flair for a bossa-inspired groove. A few tracks have some great Fender Rhodes in the lead, and the whole album sparkles with the kind of fresh jazzy sound you'd expect from Compost groups like Jazzanova or the Rainer Truby Trio! Titles include "Tel Aviv", "Mother Nature", "Percussion", "Alone Again", "Sunday At The Getty", "Question", and "Ten". CD

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A beautiful orchestral work from Philip Glass – a set that features the long piece "Itaipu", and the shorter "The Canyon" – both handled with a mix of instrumentation and voices that really gives the music a sense of majesty! Although Robert Shaw recorded some relatively mundane vocal records for RCA back in the postwar years, he's really at his best here – using the voices next to the bold brass, strings, and woodwinds with a sense of formation that often uses the lower end of the sonic spectrum in a great way – maybe a bit reminiscent of Glass' soundtrack recordings for Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, with some obvious ties to his 80s opera work too. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record, and one that forever transformed the sound of opera in the US – the amazing summation of all the many musical ideas that Philip Glass had been cooking up since the 60s, done as a mindblowing stage presentation with Robert Wilson! Voices, organ, reeds, and piano come together in wonderful lines that go on and on, seemingly forever, in endless variations and rivulets of sound – as simple in structure as the leaner small combo minimalist work from Glass – but with a very different style in the fuller setting, with a sonic quality that still is as groundbreaking today as it was back in the 70s! 4LP set features all acts, plus the very cool "Knee Play" segments too! LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime sounds from the great Herbie Hancock – presented here in one of his amazing Japanese-only albums from the 70s! The record is a showcase for Hancock in two different modes – as Herbie plays solo acoustic piano on side one, and delivers these really haunting renditions of "Maiden Voyage" and "Dolphin Dance" – both of them long, and with relaxed exploratory solos. Side two features Herbie on a variety of electric keyboards (moog, arp, etc) – playing with the kind of imagination and funkiness that characterized his best recordings of this period. On this side, Hancock lays down a sweet electric version of "Cantaloupe Island", and a nice spiritual groover called "Nobu" – both of them great, and nearer to the electric vibe of Thrust or Flood. CD

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Heavy funk from a hip Japanese combo – one that features lots of drums and percussion from leader Akira Ishikawa, plus plenty of guitar, keyboards, and hard-riffing horns! Akira's taking most of his cues here from American funk of the early 70s – work by Incredible Bongo Band, BT Express, and others – but he often serves up the music with a fair bit of conga work at the front of the arrangements, in a way that takes familiar tunes and gives them a much rootsier, earthier kind of groove! The approach is unique, but totally great – and the album's a funk album unlike anything else we can think of – quite unusual even for the experimental Japanese scene of the time. Titles include "Bongo Rock", "Pick Up The Pieces", "Do It Til You're Satisfied", "I've Got To Use My Imagination", "Let's Start", "Love Is The Answer", and "Boogie On Reggae Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

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Michael Jackson, heard anew – presented here in a crackling sharp set of fresh mixes – all done for a traveling Cirque Du Soleil performance – but more than great enough on its own! The tunes here are all classics from Jackson's years at Sony/Columbia – but they're really reworked strongly, in ways that sometimes bring in more of a contemporary club vibe, but which also expand the orchestrations at other points – taking the whole project way farther than any other Jacksons-related remix packages we've heard – and if anything, really intensifying the vibe on many tracks! 2CD version is vastly different than the single CD version – with many different titles, too. Cuts include "Beat It/State Of Shock/Jam", "Planet Earth/Earth Song", "Little Susie/Scream", "Shake Your Body Down To The Ground", "J5 Medley", "Mime Segment", "Ben", "Dancing Machine/Blame It On The Boogie", and "Remember The Time/Bad". CD

One of the hippest jazz groups going in Czechoslovakia during the 70s – the mighty Jazz Q, a cool fusion combo who really knew how to groove! The group's lineup includes a lot of electric keyboards and guitars – and while some tracks have them jamming out in a really rock-inspired way, there's some other tunes that open up with a great jazzy sound. Side two of the album kicks off with an amazing modal groover called "The Wizard" – a cut that builds and builds on riffs of bass, conga, and keyboards – before soaring into a sweet female lead vocal that sounds like Lani Hall at her best! Other tracks include "Lost Soul", "Starbird", "From Dark To Light", and "Epilog". CD features two bonus tracks – "Mlyn" and "Konstelace". CD

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They're not kidding about the title with this one – because the album's surprisingly funky, and a really welcome return from Chaka Khan – who hasn't given us a new album in a decade! Although contemporary, the album's got a sound that really takes us back to Chaka's genius in the 70s – a sparely grooving approach to the music that lets her vocals really take over most of the tunes, and which supports them with just the right sort of sensitive backing she got from Rufus. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced the record, but they themselves are also nicely restrained – and even though much of the instrumentation is handled by bigger name players, there's a more relaxed vibe here than we might expect. It's almost like Chaka, Terry, and Jimmy are all taking a cue from the sounds of the younger funk and soul generation – and have really managed to get their groove right! Titles include "Angel", "One For All Time", "Back In The Day", "Castles Made Of Sand", "Disrespectful", "Pack'd My Bags", "Ladies Man", and "Super Life". CD

With vocalists Ginny Simms, Harry Babbit and Sully Mason. CD

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The cello genius of Yo Yo Ma with the mandolin and violin of Mark O'Connor, and the piano and bass of Edgar Meyer! CD

One of the loveliest singers we've heard from the Brazilian scene in years – working here in a set of gentle tunes with a hell of a lot of charm! Mallu Magalhaes has this raspy little quality in her voice – almost a Brazilian version of Charlotte Gainsbourg, but with a slightly warmer feel overall – one that's perfect for the album's mellow grooving numbers, served up in a blend of playful styles that moves from sonically-sensitive contemporary modes, back to a few with a slight bossa undercurrent. Marcelo Camelo produced the record, and his touch definitely helps guide the whole thing nicely – and titles include "Por Que Voce Faz Assim Comigo", "Sambinha Bom", "Cena", "Velha E Louca", "In The Morning", and "Highly Sensitive". CD

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Tim Maia in concert – captured relatively recently, but in a setting that recalls his greatness from previous decades! That legendary Maia voice hasn't lost any of its punch – and really soars soulfully amidst the album's lively arrangements – backings so well-recorded, we'd almost swear they were done in a studio! Titles include "Baby", "Telefone", "Sossego", "Gostava Tanto De Voce", "A Festa Do Santos Reis", "Me De Motivo", and "Um Dia De Domingo". CD

Japanese singer Carmen Maki works here with Blues Creation – on a set that's headier and heavier than just about anything she ever recorded! The group themselves are amazing – searing with guitar work that rivals the best of the Anglo blues-inspired hard rock combos of the period – and when Carmen comes into the mix, she uses an equally soulful approach, turned towards freakier styles that might have made Christine Perfect run away in fear! The combination is fantastic – the kind of special set that makes this period of the Japanese scene such a standout for collectors of this sort of material – on titles that include "I Can't Live For Today", "Motherless Child", "Understand", "Empty Heart", and "Lord I Can't Be Going No More". LP, Vinyl record album

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A funky fusion of post-millenium Brazilian club groove and contemporary hip hop from Marcelo D2! MD2 does a great job of demonstrating the all inclusive groove at the core of disparate musical elements. Almost every tune has a sound rooted in percussive samba, but the vibe stretches through programmed and organic beats, bass, keys and scratches – courtesy of Mixmaster Mike! The album was produced by "fourth Beastie" Mario Caldato – who really brings his hip hop pedigree to the sound in ways that he did not when he produced Seu Jorge's album! Seu Jorge makes a behind-the-scenes appearance on the album, as does Shabazz The Disciple. The raps are in Portuguese, the groove has nu samba feel, with traces of electro, house, and hip hop love that stretches from Sugarhill to Shaolin. Tracks include "Pra Posteridade", "Vai Vendo", "A Maldicao Do Samba", "Loadeando", "Qual E?", "Re: Batucada", and more! CD

A great small combo set from this soulful Japanese singer – served up with work from Mike Wofford on piano, Harry Edison on trumpet, Monty Budwig on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums! The vibe is nice – much more jazz vocal than some of her other work. LP, Vinyl record album

A classic album by Maysa – one of Brazil's most evocative vocalists of the 60s, recorded here in a lovely session of bossa tunes that begins with her stunning reading of "O Barquinho"! There's a core jazz group backing Maysa up – and strings and larger orchestrations drift into the mix from time to time, giving the album a nicely fleshed-out sound, to match the deep range of Maysa's emotional vocals – an approach that's maybe a bit different than some of the other bossa vocal albums of the period, but which also gave the singer a very strong global appeal. Titles include "Lagrima Primeira", "So Voce", "Melancolia", "Dois Meninos", and the self-titled "Maysa". CD

Includes Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 remastered, MTV Unplugged, a disc of bonus tracks, and a DVD with his appearance on the South Bank Show from 1990, with promotional videos. CD

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Music from Duke Ellington, Al Jolson With The Vitaphone Orchestra, Bix Beiderbecke, Red Nichols And His Five Pennies, George Olsen And His Music, Dick Hyman And The Three Deuces Musicians, and more. CD

Wonderful live work from Prince – the only official concert album ever issued by the man during his life, and a great testament to the way that his genius kept on burning bright on stage – even when he wasn't always knocking it out of the park in the studio! There's a fair bit of material here from later years, but also some classics mixed into the set – and the work often emphasizes the jazzier side of Prince's style – partly through his evolved musicianship, but also in the way the tunes come together with an even more sophisticated vibe than the early years. Titles include "Rainbow Children", "Muse 2 The Pharoah", "Extraordinary", "One Nite Alone", "Wanna B Ur Lover", "Do Me Baby", "Diamonds & Pearls", "When U Were Mine", "Mellow", "1+1+1 Is 3", "Nothing Compares 2 U", and "Sometimes It Snows In April". LP, Vinyl record album

A dream of a record from Prince – up-close, intimate, and just the voice and piano promised in the title! As you'd guess from the setting, the record presents the mellower side of the man's mighty talents – but the whole thing is no less soulful than any of his previous records – and in fact maybe is even more so in the way that Prince lays down his vocals, with all these amazing inflections, long reaches, and very personal qualities throughout! Titles include "Pearls B4 The Swine", "Have A Heart", "Here On Earth", "One Nite Alone", "U're Gonna C Me", "Young & Beautiful", "Avalanche", "Objects In The Mirror", and "Arboretum". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic live moment from Prince – a set that's even groovier and funkier than the standard One Nite Alone material – as the tracks here are nice and long, feature guest work from Musiq and George Clinton, and really feature Prince jamming with a group that features Maceo Parker and Candy Dulfer on saxes, plus the legendary Larry Graham on bass! The tunes stretch out nice and long, and feel very spontaneous – like you're certainly being let into some special aftershow event – and titles include "The Everlasting Now", "Peach (xtended jam)", "Dorothy Parker", "Just Friends (Sunny)/If You Want Me To Stay", "Joy In Repetition", "We Do This", "2 Nigs United 4 West Compton", "Alphabet Street", and "Girls & Boys". LP, Vinyl record album

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A smoothly soulful set from Sade – with a bit more heartbreak and sometimes a bit heavier moodiness in the compositions – changing up the groove just enough on her first album in 8 years and reminding us how much we miss her in her years between albums! The first couple of tunes on the album, particularly the excellent title track, bring the more insistent sound, but, Sade is still Sade – the more smoothed out sounds and more lilting melodies come into play, leaving the tear welling passion of her voice to pull us in all the more effectively. Titles include "The Moon And The Sky", "Soldier Of Love", "Morning Bird", "Babyfather", "Long Hard Road", "Be That Easy", "Bring Me Home", "In Another Time", "Skin" and "The Safest Place". CD

Titles include "Eternal Caravan Of Reincarnation", "Waves Within", "Look Up", "Just In Time To See The Sun", "All The Love Of The Universe", and "Stone Flower". CD

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A sweet little record from Caiphus Semenya – a South African singer, but one who works here with backings from some top-shelf studio talents in LA – a mix of jazz and fusion players who really bring a great sense of groove to the material! Tracks include two originals co-written with Letta Mbulu – and the mix of South African roots and Cali soul is a bit similar to some of Letta's late 70s work – maybe a bit more upbeat than the political climate in SA warranted at the time, but that sometimes happens when an overseas artist spends a bit of time on the west coast. Titles include "Gumba Boogie", "Play With Fire", "Umoya", "Angelina", "Without You", and "Ziph'Inkomo". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Frank Sinatra's earliest experiments with instrumental music – a set of tunes composed by Alec Wilder – including some handled by Wilder himself, with a group that includes Mitch Miller on oboe and Julius Baker on flute – in a cool modern chamber jazz mode! CD

A classic from Ricky Skaggs' early run up to stardom – with titles tha tinclude "Let's Love The Bad Times Away", "Highway 40 Blues", "Can't You Hear Me Callin", "Nothing Can Hurt You", "You've Got A Lover", and "Don't Think I'll Cry". LP, Vinyl record album

The electrifying debut of Bruce Springsteen – flying the flag for earnest souls in the strange years of the early 70s, and busting right out of the gets in prime form! Loads of classics – including "For You", "Blinded By The Light", "Mary Queen Of Arkansas", "Growing Up", "Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?" and "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City". CD

A great bit of electric jazz from the Japanese scene of the 70s – an album that easily rivals the best CTI work in the US at the time! Trombonist Hiroshi Suzuki heads up a quintet here – one that's heavy on electric piano and keyboards, played in a stretched-out sort of groove that reminds us a lot of the energy on Freddie Hubbard's funkiest albums from the same period. The tracks are all quite long – and step out with a wonderfully rhythmic sensibility – spare at times, and very focused on the right rolling approach to the groove. Suzuki's trombone solos are matched by some equally great sax work from Takeru Muraoka – and rhythm is from Kunimitsu Inaba on bass and Akira Ishikawa on drums. Filled with great breaks and laidback jazzy grooves – and featuring tracks that include "Cat", "Walk Tall", "Romance", "Shrimp Dance", and "Kuro To Shiro". CD

Remixes by Headspinnaz and The Specialist. 12-inch, Vinyl record

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The cover's not much to look at, but the set's one of the few collections we've ever seen of the famous bossa work by The Zimbo Trio – one of Brazil's best piano combos of the 60s! There's no real notes in the set listing dates for the material, and a number of the tracks here sound like re-recordings of the classics – but they're still done in a way that captures the warmth and freshness of the original tunes! Titles include "Samba De Maria Luiza", "Arrastao", "Samba Dobrado", "A Felicidade", "Garota De Ipanema", "Aquarela Do Brasil", and "O Morro Nao Tem Vez". CD

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Includes performances from Stevie Wonder, Lou Reed, John Mellencamp, Johnny Winter, Ron Wood, George Harrison, The Band, Neil Young, Chrissie Hynde, Willie Nelson, and others. CD

Includes music by Vivaldi, Purcell, Stanley, Handel, Mouret, Bach, Charpentier, Mozart, Haydn, Hummel, Arban and more – 20 tracks in all. CD

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Music from Gabby Pahinui, Keola Beamer and George Winston, Ray Kane, Jeff Peterson, Sonny Chillingworth, Ozzie Kotani and Daniel Ho, Charles Michael Brotman, and more. CD

A great dip into the wide world of Japanese pop in the early 80s – a set that does a nice job of bringing in some elements from the world of jazz, and showing just how much a range of electric modes flowed together in Tokyo at the time! Some of these artists were doing more offbeat work, others straighter jazz – but the tunes here are all catchy and have a nice current of soul – but without some of the more polished commercial modes of the city pop era too! The balance is a special one – with a quality that really makes this collection a great one – put together with a thoughtful ear that really takes you on a long journey through the catalog of Sony/Columbia Japan, and the related Better Days label. Titles include "Soul Life" by Haruo Chikada & Vibratones, "Chinatown Rose" by Kazue Itoh, "Shinzo No Tobira" by Mariah, "Watashi No Bus" by Yumi Murata, "Treasure Hunter" by Jun Fukamachi, "Self Control" by Chika Asamoto, "Tokyo" by Kyoko Furuya, "Room" by Akira Sakata, "The Word II" by Shigeo Sekito, and "Tokyo Joe" by Kazumi Watanabe. CD

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House mixes by Lil Louis. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Tracks include "Huckle-Buck", "Mo-Lasses", "Con Alma", "Willow Weep For Me", "Exodus (Main Theme)", and "Madison Time (Pts 1 & 2)". CD

An amazing record – one that stands as one of Chico Buarque's greatest from the 70s! The set was recorded in Italy in 1970 – and features Chico singing lead vocals over backings handled by Ennio Morricone – all in a style that's a perfect blend of MPB with the best elements of the Italian scene of the time! The songs are all originals written by Chico – and have a light and dreamy samba/bossa feel, one that's inflected by the off-beat orchestral style of Morricone, and supported by vocals from I Cantori Moderni. The feel is halfway between Chico's work on RGE and some of the dreamier Morricone soundtracks of the time – and it's a wonderful thing to have a strong male lead vocal over backings from Morricone – a really rare thing for the time, with results that are tremendous. Titles include "Rotativa", "Samba E Amore", "Nicanor", "Tu Sei Una Di Noi", "In Te", "Ed Ora Dico Sul Serio", and "Quete E Quelle". LP, Vinyl record album

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Features Stanley Clarke on bass, Larry Carlton on guitar, Najee on saxophones, and Deron Johnson on keys, Billy Cobham on drums and percussion. CD

The tenor sax here makes the album a standout – as John Coltrane still works with Miles Davis on 2 tracks for the record, but Blue Note stalwart Hank Mobley joins in on the rest! The approach is similar to that of the classic Coltrane/Davis years – and in a way, the record's kind of a swan song to that period – one of the last studio session that Miles would cut in such an unabashedly sweet and lyrical way. And while Mobley's always better known for his harder-blown notes at Blue Note, he sounds totally great here next to Davis – really keeping up the gentle spirit and spaciousness of the record, and working with a gentleness that surpasses even his work on the legendary Soul Station album. Rhythm is by the trio of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb – and titles include Miles' classic version of "Someday My Prince Will Come", plus "Old Folks", "Teo", "Drad-Dog", and "Pfrancing". Includes the bonus tracks "Blues No. 2" and "Someday My Prince Will Come (alt take)". CD

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