A massive collection of music from the Steeplechase label – spiritual sounds from back in the day, and a side of the label's legacy that's only gotten the right sort of appreciation in more recent years! Steeplechase was a European company, and their biggest claim to fame was recordings of American musicians overseas – especially Dexter Gordon – but the label also had a fantastic ear for more soulful currents on the American underground, and not only managed to capture some less-recorded artists, but also give some bigger names a freer space to express the more spiritual side of their styles! The set is a sublime set of work from the post-Coltrane years – tunes that are modal, soulful, and occasionally slightly funky – served up in a set of completely uplifting music, all supported by the usual excellent Jazzman attention to detail and thorough liner notes. Titles include "The Time Of This World Is At Hand" by Billy Gault, "Tipe Tizwe" by Jim McNeely, "Aida" by Rene McLean, "Dark Warrior" by Khan Jamal, "Naima" by Michael Carvin, "Magwaza" by Johnny Dyani with John Tchicai & Dudu Pukwana, "Ode To St Cecile" by Mary Lou Williams, "Jean Marie" by Sam Jones, "Miss Priss" by Ken McIntyre, and "De I Comahlee Ah" by Jackie McLean & Michael Carvin. CD

A sweet trio session featuring Peter Washington on bass, Kenny Washington on drums, and George Cables on piano. Tracks include "In Walked Bud", "Just Friends", "Waltz For Debby", "Con Alma", and the Cables originals "Lullaby", "Helen's Song", and "Sweet Rita Suite". CD

Titles include "My Funny Valentine", "Sweet Rita Suite", "Blue Nights", "In Walked Bud", "Polkadots And Moonbeams", and "Love Song" – 12 tracks in all! CD

Brian Charette wields the Hammond B3 here in a really wonderful way – sometimes using the instrument with a full force that really drives the rest of the group, other times hitting more spacious lines that bring in all these great colors from the horn players on the set – a lineup that includes Itai Kriss on flute, Mike DiRubbo on alto, Kenny Brooks on tenor, and Karel Ruzicka on bass clarinet! Alongside the drums of Brian Fishler, the horns are used almost like a mini-ensemble – filling in next to the organ in the way you might hear on some of the hipper charts used with Jack McDuff at the end of the 60s – although Brian's approach is very much his own. The set includes lots of tasty original tunes – including "Silver Lining", "As If To Say", "Fried Birds", "Elephant Memory", "Power From The Air", "Want", and "Frenzy". CD

A real standout set from pianist Stanley Cowell – one of his few dates in recent years to feature more than a trio lineup – and recorded in a live setting that really seems to ignite some old school fires in Stanley's music! Make no mistake – Cowell is always wonderful – but there's a nice edge to his compositions here, as Stanley hits a bit harder, and drives things along to match the energy from the trumpet of Freddie Hendrix and alto of Bruce Williams – who play in a lineup that also features Tom DiCarlo on bass and Vince Ector on drums. Sunny Cowell performs a beautiful vocal version of the classic "Equipoise" – maybe worth the price of the album alone – and other tracks include "Cal Massey", "Montage For Toledo", "This Life", "Banana Pudding", "No Illusions", and a take on the Max Roach tune "It's Time". CD

Two of the greatest contemporary baritone saxophonists – going head to head on a date that would have made older giants like Pepper Adams or Serge Chaloff very proud! There's a no-nonsense boppish vibe to the date – and although both players get lots of room to solo, the tracks aren't handled in some extended "battle" mode – and are instead nicely compact, usually around the 6 minute mark – with romping rhythm from Gary Versace on piano, Jay Anderson on bass, and Jason Tiemann on drums! Titles include four Horace Silver tunes, plus more from Red Prysock, Freddie Hubbard, and Cuber himself – cuts that include "Nica's Dream", "Little Sunflower", "Intervals", "Split Kick", "Lover", "Damn Right Blues", and "That's The Groovy Thing". CD

A solo piano take on the music of John Coltrane! Tracks include "Syreeda's Song Flute", "Like Sonny", "Exotica", "After The Rain", "Wise One", "Dahomey Dance", and "Spiral". CD

An album with an evocative title, but one that really fits the music – as the piano work of Harold Danko is very open and organic – seeded in space in a really nice way, and then blossoming beautifully as the tunes move on! The group has the rhythm duo of Jay Anderson on bass and Jeff Hirshfield at the core – both players who match the open, almost speculative energy of Danko's piano at points – but the group also features the tenor of Rich Perry, which provides a more firm grounding at all the right moments – a sonic element that really lets things grow. Titles include the Danko originals "Spring Winds", "Envisage", "Address Unknown", "The Chosen", "Mysterious Ancestors", and "Nevele". CD

Harold Danko on piano, Jay Anderson on bass, and Jeff Hirshfield on drums. CD

There's a really great pairing going on here – the always-amazing sound of Pierre Dorge's New Jungle Orchestra, and the tenor of Stephen Riley – a guest who's brought into the fold after a successful European tour with the group, and a perfect match for their ever-inventive sound! Dorge's guitar sets the scene and colors the music right from the start – with plenty of the blue elements you might expect in the title – and Riley seems as if he's challenging all the other group members to do their best with the strength of his own tenor – a lineup that includes Tobias Wiklund on trumpet, Kennet Agerlhom on trombone, Jakob Mygind on tenor and soprano, Anders Banke on tenor and bass clarinet, and Irene Becker on piano and keyboards. The tracks are mostly originals by Dorge, plus a few by Becker – and they've got that angular, shape-heavy vibe that marks the work of the NJO – on titles that include "Dancing In The Jungle", "Aburu Kuwa", "Mingus' Birthday Party", "Witchdoctor In The Burial Mound", "Fulani", and "Blue Afriki". CD

Bassist Michael Feinberg has a round, rich tone on this record, right from the start – a great way of setting up a superb lineup that features Dave Liebman on soprano sax, Noah Preminger on tenor, Gary Versace on piano, and Ian Froman on drums! Liebman's sharpness is balanced wonderfully by the depth of Preminger – a twin-reed pairing that really makes the album sound like something special, and different – very much living up to the spirit of the strong original material by Feinberg, which comprises the entire set. The quality of the record is a bit hard to describe in words, but if you know the players, the meeting is even better on record than it is on paper – on titles that include "Louisville", "Cairo", "Nogales", "Tokyo", "East St Louis", and "Pontiac". CD

Spring has come early, and maybe Christmas too – as this set from tenorist Anthony Ferrara is quite a musical present – filled with wonderful original tunes composed by the leader, all graced with these very personal lines and inflections on tenor sax! Ferrara's got a way of spacing out his notes that's really unique, and sometimes can twist things right on the edge – balanced nicely with the more lyrical piano work of Gary Versace, who plays here alongside bass from Jay Anderson and drums from Billy Drummond. The set's full of all original tunes from Ferrara – including "Wind Up Blues", "Belle Daze", "Mind Stutter", "Sitting In Karma", "Slither In Slither Out", "Old York Maze", and "Early Spring" – and the set also features a great long take on "Emily" too. CD

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Von Freeman blows it bold and beautifully here – with just the right sort of sound we first fell in love with when seeing him in small club gigs in Chicago! There's an easygoing soulfulness to Freeman that grabs us right away – but there's also an edge, too – a quality that marks his lineage on a tenor scene that goes back to Johnny Griffin and John Gilmore – and the days when you could play things straight, but still always be inventing as well – never needing to go to the farther reaches, just always working out new feelings, new emotions on the familiar canvas of tunes that gave you plenty of solo space. Of Freeman's few studio recordings, this is one that really gets the sound of his soul just right – that tender feeling and slightly offbeat edge that always made us sit up and take notice. Rhythm is from the comfortable trio of Jodie Christian on piano, Eddie DeHaas on bass, and Wilbur Campbell on drums – and titles include "Four", "There Goes My Heart", "Song For My Father", "There Is No Greater Love", "Dedicated To You", and "My Foolish Heart". CD

A fitting title, as there's plenty of Lester Young nestled down there deeply in the horn of Von Freeman – yet given that the album was recorded during Von's 70th year on this planet, there's also a hell of a lot of his own sound there too! Freeman's one of those talents that we're especially happy to have grown up with – a musician who taught us plenty on the inside that we thought could only happen on the outside – subtle sounds, twists, and turns in his music that always kept us listening, even when the setting might seem familiar. And here, the tunes are all ones you've heard, but Freeman delivers them in a deeply personal way – blowing tenor with a gutbuckety depth, yet none of the gutbuckety cliches that always make us hate the word "gutbuckety" so much. No too-hard Texas tenor, no bop retro rehash, just clear Chicago soul – handled by Von in ways that nobody else can touch. Players include Jodie Christian on piano, Eddie DeHaas on bass, and Wilbur Campbell on drums – and titles include "All About Ronnie", "I Love You", "A Nightingale Sang In Berkely Square", "Lester Leaps In", and "Scrapple From The Apple". CD

Don Friedman on piano, Jed Levy on tenor saxophone, Tim Ferguson on bass, and Tony Jefferson on drums. CD

A solo piano date – tracks include "How Deep Is The Ocean", "My Foolish Heart", "Angel Eyes", "Darn That Dream", and "In Your Own Sweet Way". CD

Dexter mostly plays tenor, in this great 1964 date with Tete Montoliu on piano – but he also vocalizes a bit on a version of the Benny Green tune "I Want To Blow Now". CD

With Kenny Drew on piano – and titles that include "Tenor Madness", "Wave", "You've Changed", and "Days Of Wine & Roses". CD

With Eddie on tenor, reed trumpet, and the "Eddie Harris Attachment" – alongside Tete Montoliu on piano, Bo Stief on bass, and Norman Fearrington on drums. Titles include "Encirclement", "Freedom Jazz Dance", "Misty Thursday", "Scandia Skies", and "Steps Up". LP, Vinyl record album

John Hart has a crystal clear sense of tone on his guitar – one that almost hearkens back to some of the key jazz players of the postwar years, but which also has a nice edge too – coming across with a very personal, individual quality that's supported by a fair bit of original material on the date too! The group's a quartet – with David Wong on bass and Andy Watson on drums – and Gary Smulyan contributes some wonderful lines on baritone sax, deepening the sound past the tones of Hart's guitar – creating a really great counterbalance in tone! Titles include the originals "Power Of Three", "Right To Lie", "Bittersweet", "Checkmate", "Miniature", and "123 Blues". CD

One of the hippest albums we've ever heard from bassist Johnny Dyani – and that's saying a lot, given his tremendous records of the 70s! The album's different than the album that Johnny recorded with fellow Blue Notes members on the Steeplechase label – and instead, the group here is led by percussionist Okay Temiz, and mixes Johnny's round, bold lines on acoustic bass with additional electric bass, plus clarinet and saxes too! The tunes are heavily rhythmic – still jazz, but with very strong global currents too – an even rootsier vibe than most jazz of the South African scene from whence Dyani came – in a mode that really seems to set him free. Johnny also plays a bit of piano, too – and the tracks are a mix of Dyani originals, plus Temiz arrangements of traditional Turkish tunes. Titles include "Gece", "Yesl Fener", "Ben Muslumanim", "Moriva", "Hepimiz Icin", "Elhamdulillah Marimba", and "Doktur". LP, Vinyl record album

2 very rare slices of work from Martial Solal's postwar years – one 10" and one 7" EP session, both recorded in Paris in 1956, each with a different twist! The first half of the set features "Martial Solal & Les Kentonians" – a group that's not exactly all members of Stan Kenton's group, but plays in a very similar mode! Players include Solal on piano, Curtis Counce on bass, Mel Lewis on drums, Carl Fontana on trombone, and Don Rendell on tenor sax – plus a bit of trumpet from Vinnie Tano – and the tunes have a well-composed, chamber jazz sort of mode – a bit more like some of the small group mid 50s work on RCA by members of larger orchestras of the time, than any of Stan's original sides for Capitol. Oddly, the second half of the album's actually by a larger group – "Martial Solal & Son Grand Orchestre" – an ensemble with 5 trumpets, 4 trombones, and 5 saxes – all directed through short, tight original tracks that are heavy on the head arrangements, and played with a lot of dynamic modern energy. CD features 11 tracks in all – with titles that include "Blues Martial", "Steeplechase", "Jive At Five", "Why Not", "Au 4eme Top", "Midi 1/4", and "Derniere Minute". CD

A triple-trumpet session with a really wonderful sound – the kind of all-star date that only a label like Verve could have done so well! As you'll guess from the title, the record's a showcase for the three trumpeters in the lead – and the tracks are long, with plenty of space for each player to state their case in a very distinct solo voice. Rhythm is by a familiar quartet that features Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, and Buddy Rich on drums – and the use of guitar in a set like this creates an especially ringing tone at the bottom, one that often seems echoed by the brighter notes of the trumpet over the top. The album's got a great extended "Ballad Medley", plus long takes on "Tour De Force" and "Steeplechase". CD