It's hard to get more powerful and progressive than the message this title – an indication that the record is one of the boldest in the Tribe Records catalog from the 70s – which is saying a lot, given the force of the legendary Detroit label! Trombonist Phil Ranelin is at his best here – not just as a soloist, but also as a guiding spiritual force – as he works here with a very progressive ensemble who are somewhere between Sun Ra's Arkestra and some of the loft jazz groups to come – effortlessly mixing free instrumental solo passages with more rhythmic pulsations – adding in electric elements in just the right way, to almost create a cosmic tension in the acoustic core of the performance. Keith Vreeland is listed as the pianist – and we're not sure if it's him who plays the weird and wonderful keyboards on the record, but they're totally great – mixed with Ranelin's work on trombone, plus Wendell Harrison on tenor, Marcus Belgrave on flugelhorn, Charles Moore on trumpet, and Harou El Nil on alto – plus strong work from two drummers, George Davidson and Bili Turner, each in one side of the mix – and bass from John Dana or Reggie Fields. This is message-oriented spiritual jazz at its best – and titles include "13th & Senate", "Black Destiny", "Time Is Running Out", "He The One We All Knew", and "The Time Is Now For A Change". Very cool 2LP pressing – with alternate takes of three tracks on the album! LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to get more powerful and progressive than the message this title – an indication that the record is one of the boldest in the Tribe Records catalog from the 70s – which is saying a lot, given the force of the legendary Detroit label! Trombonist Phil Ranelin is at his best here – not just as a soloist, but also as a guiding spiritual force – as he works here with a very progressive ensemble who are somewhere between Sun Ra's Arkestra and some of the loft jazz groups to come – effortlessly mixing free instrumental solo passages with more rhythmic pulsations – adding in electric elements in just the right way, to almost create a cosmic tension in the acoustic core of the performance. Keith Vreeland is listed as the pianist – and we're not sure if it's him who plays the weird and wonderful keyboards on the record, but they're totally great – mixed with Ranelin's work on trombone, plus Wendell Harrison on tenor, Marcus Belgrave on flugelhorn, Charles Moore on trumpet, and Harou El Nil on alto – plus strong work from two drummers, George Davidson and Bili Turner, each in one side of the mix – and bass from John Dana or Reggie Fields. This is message-oriented spiritual jazz at its best – and titles include "13th & Senate", "Black Destiny", "Time Is Running Out", "He The One We All Knew", and "The Time Is Now For A Change". CD

A brilliant set with a real 60s modern feel overall – in case you couldn't guess from the hip cover image! The group's got a sound that's definitely in the sharper side of the Italian jazz spectrum – kind of a Basso-Valdambrini groove, but with some bolder tones at times – all handled wonderfully by a quintet that features Oscar Rocchi on piano, Sergio Fanni on trumpet, Hugo Heredia on flute and sax, Giovanni Tommasso on bass, and Gianno Cazzola on drums! The horn parts are especially great – coming together with some nice tension on the heads, the burning out into solos that are filled with soul and feeling – the kind of sparkling energy that makes digging up older Italian sessions like this so great. Titles include "Thema", "Elixir", "Preposition", "Action Up", "Kind Words", "Wafers", "Relax Love", and "Example". CD also features 6 bonus tracks too – "Nigredo", "Gold Fast", "Rubedo", "Solution", "Silver Bop", and "Sulphur". CD

A classical-oriented soundtrack from Arthur B Rubinstein – penned for an early 80s film that stars Richard Dreyfus and John Cassavetes! The music draws heavily on the baroque tradition – with lots of strings and woodwinds that come across with very colorful flourishes – but there's also some modern elements as well, a bit more space and tension that best underscore the bittersweet story of the film. Many tracks are relatively short – remixed here by Film Score from the original tapes, and put together with a beautiful booklet of notes and images from the movie. Titles include "Art Thief", "Find A Judge", "Intensive Care", "The Diagnosis", "The Parting", "Montage", "Candid Camera", and "Nice Breasts". CD

A pair of crucial Cecil Taylor sessions from the 60s – both of which show the free-thinking pianist working amidst some larger arrangements! First up are three tracks from the Gil Evans album Into The Hot – all tunes written by Cecil Taylor – a very bold move for Evans, given Taylor's strongly out reputation even at this point in his career – and possibly even more bold, given that Taylor's on the tracks playing piano, alongside players who include Archie Shepp on tenor, Jimmy Lyons on alto, Henry Grimes on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums – plus work on one track from Ted Curson on trumpet and Roswell Rudd on trombone. The material's fantastic, and is a key part of Taylor's work at the time, and shows a very different setting for his piano – a bit of tension with the larger Evans group, in a way that's almost more compelling than his own early dates as a leader – on the titles "Pots", "Bulbs", and "Mixed". Next is the Unit Structures album – one of a rare few albums done by pianist Cecil Taylor for the Blue Note label in the 60s – some of the most outside work recorded for the imprint at the time! The word "structures" here is perhaps a bit misplaced – as the work has a strong sense of freedom with the soloists – who operate based on a system of energy and impulses described by Taylor in the notes, at a level that's maybe one of his most inventive, ambitious expressions of the decade! The whole lineup is great – with especially strong horn work from Eddie Gale on trumpet, Jimmy Lyons on alto, and Ken McIntyre on alto, oboe, and bass clarinet – and Taylor's piano gets accompaniment from two groundbreaking bassists – Henry Grimes and Alan Silva – plus drums from Andrew Cyrille. Given the lineup, and the format, the whole thing almost feels more like one of the BYG/Actuel avant sessions than Blue Note in the 60s – and titles include "Steps", "Enter Evening (Soft Line Structure)", "Unit Structure/As Of A Now/Section", and "Tales (8 Whisps)". CD

A really cool spy soundtrack from the Italian 60s scene – put together by Piero Umiliani with lots of jazzy touches! The music here is a nice change from the more obvious, more familiar American spy modes of the time – and often uses some cool vibes mixed with horns, to create this blend of tension and action that flows together wonderfully! The tunes are really evocative – almost little mini-movies on their own, even without the film – and there's a core theme that's very catchy – never dominating the soundtrack, but showing up in little bursts to tie the whole thing together. 20 tracks in all, great sound, and the package includes a little fold-out movie poster! CD

A really cool spy soundtrack from the Italian 60s scene – put together by Piero Umiliani with lots of jazzy touches! The music here is a nice change from the more obvious, more familiar American spy modes of the time – and often uses some cool vibes mixed with horns, to create this blend of tension and action that flows together wonderfully! The tunes are really evocative – almost little mini-movies on their own, even without the film – and there's a core theme that's very catchy – never dominating the soundtrack, but showing up in little bursts to tie the whole thing together. 20 tracks in all, great sound, and the package includes a little fold-out movie poster! CD

A spooky little soundtrack, with some slight erotic moments as well – all scored for a schlocky Italian film starring an ex-patriot Farley Granger! The story centers around an investigation of an earlier rape and murder – and the music does a good deal to underscore the mix of sexual tension and drama in the film – often using spare stepping basslines that move very slowly on the bottom of the tunes, while eerie keyboards, guitar, and weirder effects drift lightly over the top. A few numbers have a slightly warmer feel, in keeping with more erotic moments in early 70s Italian cinema – and there's also a bit of wordless vocals that float through some of the tunes, often with a theremin-like quality. LP features 15 tracks from the film! LP, Vinyl record album

The brilliant 3rd album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. Titles on this second volume include "Transition", "Rosie", "Tension", "Ballad", "Conflict", and "Requiem". LP, Vinyl record album

A record from the more electronic years of the sound library scene – yet one that's also got a nicely sensitive side too, in a way that really lives up to its title! Both artists get plenty of space to serve up their songs – mostly shorter numbers in variations for most tracks – heavy on keyboards, but with flute, cello, and acoustic guitar as well – so that there's almost a pastoral approach to the album – very different than other Colorsound library releases of the time, and most mid 80s sound library work in general. Titles include "Emotional Tension", "Moonset", "Sentimental View", "Personal Mood", "Soft Thoughts", "In The Garden", "Pastoral Walk", and "Sundown". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge amount of 12" singles, stuffed into one mighty nice 4CD set – maybe not the greatest of all time, but still pretty darn wonderful overall! The set does an especially great job of looking at a late 70s moment when some of the hipper soul artists were able to get the extra space of a 12" single to really open up their sound – grooves that move past the shorter space of a 7", and really do plenty in the process – often in ways that are much more interesting than some of the overplayed disco of the time. There's 43 long grooves on the set – all 12" singles – and titles include "Space Age" by Jimmy Castor, "You Are A Star" by Aquarian Dream, "Flashlight" by Parliament, "Good Times" by Chic, "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure, "I Should've Loved Ya" by Narada Michael Walden, "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside, "You're My Occupation (ext)" by Chaz Jankel, "Expansions" by Lonnie Liston Smith, "And The Beat Goes On" by the Whispers, "You Got The Floor" by Arthur Adams, "Do It Any Way You Wanna (Tom Moulton mix)" by People's Choice, "Do What You Wanna Do" by T-Connection, "Twilight (inst)" by Maze, "You + Me + Love" by Undisputed Truth, "More Bounce To The Ounce (parts 1 & 2)" by Zapp, "Now That We Found Love (disco mix)" by Third World, "Hi Tension" by Hi Tension, "Dancing In Outer Space" by Atmosfear, "Money's Too Tight To Mention" by Valentine Brothers, "Searching" by Change, and "Running Away" by Roy Ayers. CD

A set of merengue tracks, but from a very focused source – as the package features all numbers recorded in the Dominican Republic during the 60s and 70s – often with a groove that sets them apart from the rest! The rhythms here are often blindingly fast – so much so, you might be tempted to make sure you're not playing the album at 45rpm – which makes for an even more amazing discovery once you realize that live musicians are moving at such speed with such dexterity – in a way that also creates all this weird tension in the vocals and other instrumentation too! As with other Bongo Joe sets, the track list is great – and titles include "La Negra" by Bilo Y Sus Tipicos, "Me Gustan Las Pegajosas" by Trio Ramirez, "Que Mala Suerte" by Rafaelito Roman, "La Mecha" by Victor Suriel Y Trio Rio Verde, "La Pasion De Cristo" by Trio Royecell, "Por La Manaita" by Negrito Figueroa, "Cana Brava" by Fefita La Grande, and "Los Lanbones" by Aristides Ramirez. CD

A set of merengue tracks, but from a very focused source – as the package features all numbers recorded in the Dominican Republic during the 60s and 70s – often with a groove that sets them apart from the rest! The rhythms here are often blindingly fast – so much so, you might be tempted to make sure you're not playing the album at 45rpm – which makes for an even more amazing discovery once you realize that live musicians are moving at such speed with such dexterity – in a way that also creates all this weird tension in the vocals and other instrumentation too! As with other Bongo Joe sets, the track list is great – and titles include "La Negra" by Bilo Y Sus Tipicos, "Me Gustan Las Pegajosas" by Trio Ramirez, "Que Mala Suerte" by Rafaelito Roman, "La Mecha" by Victor Suriel Y Trio Rio Verde, "La Pasion De Cristo" by Trio Royecell, "Por La Manaita" by Negrito Figueroa, "Cana Brava" by Fefita La Grande, and "Los Lanbones" by Aristides Ramirez. LP, Vinyl record album

That's a sexy-looking lady on the cover – sliding on her cutoffs after a rendezvous in the dark – and the sound of the album definitely fits the image, at least at the start! Stelvio Cipriani begins the music like the story – a bit light and romantic at first, then sliding into tension as the album goes on – marking a point in the narrative where sex turns to suspense, which Stelvio follows by picking up the action on some of the tunes, and dropping into darker moments at others! Edda Dell'Orso delivers a fair bit of wordless vocals on the album, next to keyboard lines from Cipriani – and the whole thing almost feels like a late 70s update of the modes she might have crafted with Ennio Morricone a decade before. CD features 17 tracks in all – and wonderful sound! CD

A legendary album from a legendary moment in jazz – and one that's got a very unique lineup, given that the young tenor genius John Coltrane meets up here with the brilliant piano of Cecil Taylor! The pair were both very influential in the farther reaches of jazz, yet in very different ways – so working here together on this unique session really creates a special moment in jazz – as both musicians are an incredible force on record, and create a really strong sense of tension throughout. The rest of the group is great – Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Chuck Israels on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – an equally unique blend of talents brought together for the session – stretching out on long tracks that include "Shifting Down", "Double Clutching", and "Just Friends". LP, Vinyl record album

A great soundtrack for a very creepy film – one about a grown man who's being kept like a baby, along with the crib pictured on the cover – scored by Gerald Fried with all the sort of offbeat tension that can make a film like this even better! Most tracks are relatively sort, and are these cool mood-setting moments that often use spare aspects of larger orchestrations with some slight tension and echoes of modern composition, offset by a few wider ensemble moments that almost feel like breathers between the tension! This is the first ever full release of the soundtrack – beautifully done, with bonus tracks and a short commentary by Fried – a total of 25 tracks that include "Germaine", "Hatchet Wielders", "Meet The Baby", "Pool Games", "Excavation", and "Baby Dressed Older". CD

A brilliant late album from British tenor giant Tubby Hayes – one of his last true studio sessions, and a free-thinking album by a quartet that included Mike Pyne on piano, Ron Matthewson on bass, and Tony Levin on drums. Hayes' tenor talents are as strong as ever – imaginative and firey and with a tone that most other British players never reached – but he's also picking up some late 60s elements of freedom, and playing with his style a bit, in kind of an edgey way that creates more tension than usual for a set by Tubbs. The tracks are long and very creative original compositions – and the album's a true masterpiece that shows the wealth of talent bubbling on the UK jazz scene during the mid to late 60s. Titles include "Trenton Place", "Blues In Orbit", "Mexican Green", "Dedication To Joy", and "The Second City Steamer". CD

A richly complex set from David Murray – and a record that offers up a much wider range of moods than some of his other sessions from the time! Some numbers have an angular, almost aggressive groove – one that comes from the presence of group members James Blood Ulmer on guitar and Lonnie Plaxico on bass – but other moments are a bit more introspective, and show the more soulful side of Murray's blowing – a great balance that makes the record a perfect illustration of his growing players at the time. Other group members include Don Pullen on piano and Marvin Smitty Smith on drums – and Murray plays both tenor and bass clarinet. All tracks are long, and titles include "Death", "David Mingus", "All The Things You Are", and "Tension". CD

A mighty impressive box set of previously unreleased Can – incredible stuff captured throughout their groundbreaking run from the late 60s to mid 70s – culled from hours and hours of tapes of the sessions that could have just as easily wound up on any of their classic records of the period! We figured that this would almost certainly be a solid companion piece to their initial run of classic albums – but the best thing about it is that out stands up really well on its own. Can pretty famously let the tapes run while they worked things out and let the magic happen spontaneously, so it stands to reason a lot of brilliant stuff was left on those tapes! We're surprised it took so long to pour through it and assemble some of the best of the "lost" material, but better late than never! Since it covers the full late 60s & early 70s periods, it's got bits with Mooney and Suzuki, hypnotic live takes, slow-building tension, moody lulls and violent bursts of sound – it's Can, alright! 30 tracks sequenced brilliantly over 3CDs – and it comes a reel-to-reel style box with a 10-inch booklet. Titles include "Millionenspiel", "Waiting For The Street Car", "Evening All Day", "Deadly Doris", "Bubble Rap", "Your Friendly Neighborhood Whore", "Bilnd Mirror Sur", "Bubble Rap", "Godzilla Fragment", "Barnacles", "The Agreement", "The Loop", "A Swan Is Born" and more. CD

Andrew Hill works mostly in a trio here – a great group with Rufus Reid on bass and Ben Riley on drums – but also gets some help from Clifford Jordan's tenor on a few tracks, which really makes the album stand out from other Hill dates of the time! The core group is already great – and Reid and Riley bring a slightly straighter vibe to the date, and a sound that's filled with plenty of soul – and when Jordan joins in, there's almost a classic hardbop approach going on – quite a change from usual for Andrew, and proof that he can handle just about anything that comes his way. Hill still throws out plenty of creative piano lines throughout – those deft, modern moments that are always illuminating, even amidst a straighter swing – with a tension that's not unlike his Grass Roots album. Titles include "Ball Square", "Domani", "La Verne", "Monk's Glimpse", and "Tripping". CD

We love this Jazz Liisa series from Finland – as it features unreleased work from the 70s, but which matches the quality of some of our favorite German and Japanese jazz records of the time! The first half of the set was recorded for Finnish radio, and features a group that really shows the power of that scene at the time! The lineup features trumpeter Mike Koskinen at the helm – blowing in a much more outside way than some of his later studio albums, with a cascading array of tones and soundshapes that recall some of the hipper British work of the end of the 60s – such as records like Mike Westbrook or Michael Gibbs – both of whom would be good comparisons here, especially in the tension between the idea of the group, and the strong solos of the individual members. Other players include Juhani Aaltonen on tenor and flute, Mircea Stan on trombone, Kaj Backlund on trumpet, Pekka Poyry on flute and soprano sax, Olli Ahvenlahti on piano and Fender Rhodes, and Edward Vesala on drums – and titles include "PS DC", "Murusia 2", "Numero Puolitoista", "Song For Sally", and "Peretelmia". On the second half, Otto Dorner's just the conductor on the set – but it's also clear that he's a very musically-minded fellow, as the action he gets from the group on the session is really wonderful! The players are all sharp-edged instrumentalists who represent the cream of the Finnish jazz scene of the time – Juhani Aaltonen on tenor and flute, Markku Johansson on trumpet, Seppo Paakkunainen on baritone, and Christer Boustedt on alto – all musicians who really bring a lot of their individual voices to the performance, and are given great space to solo by Donner – in a way that reminds us of some of the more open-ended bigger band performances from the MPS Records releases of the early 70s. Titles include "Och Tusen Tusen Strala Ock", "For Her", and "Saxballad". CD

A tremendous set from Jackie McLean – perfectly poised between his hardbop and modern years, with a set of compositions that are as great as the performances! The lineup on this one's a bit unusual – with Walter Bishop on piano, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums – but that mix of players makes for a really unusual sound – as the rhythm section's often straight ahead, Blue Mitchell's notes are bold and sparkling, and Jackie's own solos are reaching for the darker corners of the spectrum! There's a great sense of tension here that heralds the genius of later McLean sides of the 60s – and original titles include "Francisco", "Condition Blue", "On The Lion", and "Capuchin Swing". CD

A tremendous set from Jackie McLean – perfectly poised between his hardbop and modern years, with a set of compositions that are as great as the performances! The lineup on this one's a bit unusual – with Walter Bishop on piano, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums – but that mix of players makes for a really unusual sound – as the rhythm section's often straight ahead, Blue Mitchell's notes are bold and sparkling, and Jackie's own solos are reaching for the darker corners of the spectrum! There's a great sense of tension here that heralds the genius of later McLean sides of the 60s – and original titles include "Francisco", "Condition Blue", "On The Lion", and "Capuchin Swing". CD

The debut album for Mulgrew Miller as a leader – and a rock-solid session that really set the pianist up strongly for the 80s! At a time when other keyboardists where mixing in so many other elements to their music, Miller's work here is a wonderful return to basics – pure pianistic imagination, played with a sense of fire and creativity that brings us back to McCoy Tyner's best work of a decade before – yet always informed by a fresh style that's always Mulgrew's own, one that's always got dark corners and an undercurrent of tension. The trio's wonderful – and features Ira Coleman on bass and Marvin Smitty Smith on drums – and the album features a number of original Miller tunes, including "Song For Darnell", "Saud's Run", "Portrait Of A Mountain", and "Promethean" – plus versions of "Milestones" and "Inner Urge". CD

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

Misha Panfilov takes on the sound library style of the 70s – and as with all of his other projects, the results are completely top shelf all the way through – wonderfully funky, yet handled in a style that's a nice change from Misha's work in other modes as well! Tunes are short and groovy, and each number has a slightly different flavor in a really great way – that sound library approach of setting a mood with a tune, so that broader soundtrack impulses are compacted into a shorter track with more punch and focus – all with plenty of cool keyboards and moogy moments from Misha! Titles include "Dawn", "Cosmic Bliss", "Smoky", "Helix", "Rush Hour", "Eclipse", "Sunbeam", and "Tension". LP, Vinyl record album

There's plenty of the bass promised in the title – but that's what we'd expect, given that the great Guy Pedersen's bass appeared on countless wonderful French records over the years! Yet this set's also something really special, too – a chance for Guy to come out of the background, into the spotlight, and use his instrument in all these excellent ways that go way beyond simple timekeeping! The bass is the solo instrument on most numbers – both acoustic, and electrified acoustic – amidst other sweet sound library elements, including plenty of funky drums that make the album way tighter, way groovier than you might expect! Titles include "Bass Session", "Les Copains De La Basse", "Obsession Diabolique", "Percussion Bass", "Cosmic Bass", "Indian Pop Bass", and "Tension Nerveuse". LP, Vinyl record album

The brilliant third album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. This set features both volumes of the recording – with titles that include "Landscape", "Hooray", "Other World", "Marching Song", "Transition", "Rosie", "Tension", "Ballad", "Conflict", and "Requiem". Great 3CD set features a full bonus disc of rare material – including the 7" single of "Original Peter" and "Magic Garden" – 1970 recordings of "But It Must Get Better & It Will Get Better" and "When Young" by The Mike Westbrook Quartet, and a 1966 recording of "Marching Song" by the Mike Westbrook Sextet – the last three of which have never been released! CD

The last full length transaction from slowcore pioneers and TX heroes Bedhead – one of the more influential indie rock bands of the 90s, which is all the more amazing given that they were largely ignored outside of a small, devoted fanbase! The quiet, but tense dynamic established on their first 2 albums continues here, with subtle builds in tension perfectly captured by Steve Albini's direct, no frills engineering. Titles include "Exhume", "More Than Ever", "Parade", "Half-Thought", "Forgetting", "Lepidoptera", "Psychosmatica" and "The Present". LP, Vinyl record album

A great mix of shadow and noise from Tim Berne's Snakeoil group – one of the best projects he's created in recent years, and a group who really set a new sort of fire to Berne's imagination! There's a wonderful blend of texture, tension, and individual expression going on here – modes that are initially familiar to an ECM setting, but which often break free with the sort of energy that Tim brought to his music years back – especially when his alto sax takes off in some searing solo moments. The group features Matt Mitchell on some especially great piano – very spaced, but very powerful – plus Oscar Noriega on clarinet and bass clarinet, and Ches Smith on drums, vibes, and percussion. Titles include "Static", "Psalm", "OC/DC", "Socket", "Cornered Duck", and "Son Of Not So Sure". CD

Tenor player Rodrigo Amado spearheads an excellent international quartet session – bridging the inspiration of 60s heavyweights Sonny Rollins and Albert Ayler to a modern, boldly improvisational sound that still connects strongly to the inspired roots! The group features pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach, bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and Gerry Hemingway on drums, with each getting strong lead moments on the 40+ minute "Beyond The Margins", the length offering plenty of space to roll from loose beauty to heavy-hitting tension. The shorter, no less brilliant group composed "Personal Mountains" might be all the more impressive for doing so much with a bit of brevity, and a take on Ayler's "(Visiting) Ghosts" closes it out. CD

A legendary album from a legendary moment in jazz – and one that's got a very unique lineup, given that the young tenor genius John Coltrane meets up here with the brilliant piano of Cecil Taylor! The pair were both very influential in the farther reaches of jazz, yet in very different ways – so working here together on this unique session really creates a special moment in jazz – as both musicians are an incredible force on record, and create a really strong sense of tension throughout. The rest of the group is great – Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Chuck Israels on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – an equally unique blend of talents brought together for the session – stretching out on long tracks that include "Shifting Down", "Double Clutching", and "Just Friends". CD

A legendary album from a legendary moment in jazz – and one that's got a very unique lineup, given that the young tenor genius John Coltrane meets up here with the brilliant piano of Cecil Taylor! The pair were both very influential in the farther reaches of jazz, yet in very different ways – so working here together on this unique session really creates a special moment in jazz – as both musicians are an incredible force on record, and create a really strong sense of tension throughout. The rest of the group is great – Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Chuck Israels on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – an equally unique blend of talents brought together for the session – stretching out on long tracks that include "Shifting Down", "Double Clutching", and "Just Friends". LP, Vinyl record album

A great late 60s western score from Italian composer Francesco De Masi – hitting on all of favored sounds to accompany the best Italian made westerns of the era – rustic solo guitar, string-tightened tension, both lonely and densely orchestrated horns, and swaggery mood to spare! Excellent work that hits all the right notes – and it's got a groovy vocal opener, to boot! This CD marks the first ever release of the complete score, mastered from the original mono tapes. "Maybe Somwhere, Maybe Someday", plus "Non Potro Domenticare", "Sogni Ed Ombre Nell'Incubo", "La Pista Nella Sabbia", "Ecce Homo", "Triste E Sospeso", "Un Giorno Ti Pentirai", "Passagio Ne Nistero" and many more. CD

Rare TV work from Georges Delerue – represented here in two different soundtracks! Les Visiteurs has a cool sci fi theme, but is carried out by Georges with his usual depth of sentiment – orchestrations that are often warmer than usual for such work, but with these cool moody touches that have some of the acoustic instruments echoing electric modes – in a very nice way! Tracks are short, but quite interesting – and include "Arkim Et Tolrach", "Antonia", "Zarko Chevalier De L'Espace", "Les Visiteurs", and "La Prison De San Diego". L'Homme Qui Revient De Loin is more TV work from Georges Delerue – done with those great flourishes we love so much in his work – a sense of space that never overdoes the drama, but which creates a wonderful sense of tension as you're waiting for the next notes to come! Instrumentation is relatively familiar, but used in a really great way – and titles include "Au Bord De L'Etang", "Le Fantome", "Denouement", "Generique Fin", and "Marthe Et Andre". CD

A really really wonderful little record – one that's far more than you might guess from it's slightly gimmicky title! The session's clearly done in a mode to resonate with the Charlie Byrd or Stan Getz bossa work of the early 60s, but it's also got a slightly offbeat quality that makes it really unique – a sound that partly comes from the use of three guitars by three relatively different players, and from the way that the tunes themselves are put together. There's almost a jam session feel at times here – with the guitars coming together in a tension of different voices, hardly the sort of thing you'd hear in a regular bossa album. But equally great is the tenor sax work of Bob Enevoldsen – which comes in with a sharper edge and a bit more soul than his 50s sides – creating a deeper quality to the tunes that's really great. Percussion is by a trio that includes Milt Holland, Bob Neel, and Chico Guerrero – and Donn Trenner plays piano and Bob Bertaux is on bass. Titles include "I Told Ya I Love Ya Now Get Out", "Sweet Dreams", "Bossa Nova #2", "Bossa Nova Samba", and "Leave It To Me". CD

The harder of the two Gil Evans albums on Impulse to find, and the best – really far-reaching material that has Evans coming into contact with some of the hippest jazz players of his generation! The record's got three incredible tracks written by Cecil Taylor – a very bold move for Evans, given Taylor's strongly out reputation even at this point in his career – and possibly even more bold, given that Taylor's on the tracks playing piano, alongside players who include Archie Shepp, Jimmy Lyons, Sonny Murray, and Henry Grimes. The material's fantastic, and is a key part of Taylor's work at the time, and shows a very different setting for his piano – a bit of tension with the larger Evans group, in a way that's almost more compelling than his own early dates as a leader! Taylor titles include "Pots", "Bulbs", and "Mixed". The other tracks on the album were written by John Carisi, who wrote the classic "Israel" for Miles Davis' nine piece group in the late 40s – but who here contributes "Moon Taj", "Angkor Wat", and "Barry's Tune". Carisi's tracks are a bit more subdued, but no less wonderful – and arrangements are by Taylor and Carisi, of their own music, presented with the Evans modern touch. If you ever needed a record to convince you that Gil Evans was a genius, this is it! LP, Vinyl record album

This album is part of H&O's great comeback years in the early 80s – a time when they were mixing their white boy soul with some nice 80s groove and electro touches, often going for a spare mix of groove and vocals that's really compelling. Includes the sublime "Maneater", everything that was right with pop in the 80s – plus "One On One", "Open All Night", "Crime Pays", "Go Solo", "Delayed Reaction", "At Tension", and "Italian Girls". LP, Vinyl record album

Unreleased work from alto genius Joe Harriott – two different slices of material from a very under-recorded point in his career! The first five tracks feature Joe in that back to basics mode he was hitting at the time – working in a unique group that features Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flugelhorn, Pat Smythe on piano, Ron Mathewson on bass, and Bill Eyden on drums – all players who are very open to modern ideas, but who also keep things on more of a groove here – with only a bit of the freedom that Harriott was bringing to his music a few years before! And yet there's still a great tension that makes the set great – swinging jazz mixed with modernism – on titles that include the Horace Silver tunes "Down & Out" and "Psychedelic Sally", plus "WSIMC", "Chronology", and "Shadows". The remaining two tracks on the set feature Joe in a very different setting – the large group of Harry South – the kind of mod jazz in 60s London, working here with a superb lineup that also features Kenny Wheeler and Ian Hamer on trumpets, Ray Warleigh on alto and flute, and Tubby Hayes and Alan Skidmore on tenor saxes! Tunes include the very swinging "Themeology" by South – plus a richly full take on "My Man's Gone Now". CD

Drummer Akira Ishikawa was easily one of the hippest cats on the Japanese scene of the late 60s and early 70s – a player and leader with a great ear for American funk and soul changes of the time, most of which he brought into play on a record like this! The album's definitely got the soul and rock promised in the title, but also plenty of jazz too – as some of the solos go nicely outside, in weird offbeat ways that nicely contrast with the tighter grooves in the rhythm – creating a nice sense of tension that really makes this record stand out from the pack! There's a really sinister undercurrent here – odd edges and weird tones on piano, guitar, and saxophone – all amidst some strongly soulful grooves from the rest of the group. Titles include "The Cougar", "Greensleeves", "No More Than A Drop", "Deep River", "Mago-Uta", and "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice one by Quincy! Although the material here isn't funky like his 70's work, it does show Quincy as a strong composer of serious thriller-type material – working in a style that produces a nice amount of tension and mood, and which still has some nice touches of jazz. The group is filled with strong jazz players like Freddie Hubbard, Anthony Ortega, Oliver Nelson, Elvin Jones, and others – and the album features a vocal version of the theme by Marc Allen, plus a crazy spoken bit from the movie, by Rod Steiger! Other titles include "Harlem Drive", "Naked Truth", "Rack 'Em Up", and "Death Scene". LP, Vinyl record album

The second album from Kendrick Lamar, and the one that really helped bring his talents to the rest of the world – and maybe mark a whole new generation of hip hop in the process! At some level, Lamar is in the same territory as many of the south Cali rappers before him – with tales of rough life on the mean streets – but his approach here is very different, both in terms of the personal quality in the lyrics and the subtle drama in his presentation – and the lean production, which seems to strip things bare, and avoid the thuggish cliches that might celebrate such a background. Even the title alone hints at the tension that's made the record so durable over the years – and titles include "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe", "The Art Of Peer Pressure", "Money Trees", "Poetic Justice", "MAAD City", "Singing About Me I'm Dying Of Thirst", "Real", and "Compton". Deluxe edition vinyl 3 bonus tracks: "The Recipe" with Dr. Dre, "Black Boy Fly" and "Now Or Never" with Mary J Blige. LP, Vinyl record album

The second album from Kendrick Lamar, and the one that really helped bring his talents to the rest of the world – and maybe mark a whole new generation of hip hop in the process! At some level, Lamar is in the same territory as many of the south Cali rappers before him – with tales of rough life on the mean streets – but his approach here is very different, both in terms of the personal quality in the lyrics and the subtle drama in his presentation – and the lean production, which seems to strip things bare, and avoid the thuggish cliches that might celebrate such a background. Even the title alone hints at the tension that's made the record so durable over the years – and titles include "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe", "The Art Of Peer Pressure", "Money Trees", "Poetic Justice", "MAAD City", "Singing About Me I'm Dying Of Thirst", "Real", and "Compton". CD

A massive collection of work from Patti Labelle – one that features solo recordings, sides with Labelle, and famous duets – all in a 3CD, 38 track package that even features some previously unreleased cuts! The label-hopping effort offers up a true picture of Patti's greatness at all levels – and the bonus tracks make it well worth having, even if you've got some of these gems on other sources. Unreleased tracks include "Mean Ol Man's World", "Release The Tension (disco version)", and "Last Dance"; solo tracks include "Somebody Loves You Baby", "My Love Sweet Love", "Over The Rainbow", "Music Is My Way Of Life", "Joy To Have Your Love", "New Attitude", "If Only You Knew", and "The Spirit's In It"; Labelle tracks include "Moonshadow", "Last Dance", "Lady Marmalade", "You Turn Me On", "Messin With My Mind", and "What Can I Do For You". CD

A stunning reinvention of the music of Charles Mingus – still very much with all the fire and spirit of the great one's original intent – but taken to new territory here in the hands of Frank Lacy! Lacy is every bit the same sort of visionary leader as Mingus – and although he plays a hell of a trombone, he acts here mostly as a singer and director of a sublime large ensemble that features Jack Walrath and Lew Soloff on trumpets, Wayne Escoffery and Craig Handy on tenors, Conrad Herwig and Earl McIntyre on trombones, Ronnie Cuber on baritone, and David Kikoski and Helen Sung on piano. Frank's voice is warmly raspy, and deeply personal – just right for the straining tension that often comes from the best Mingus music – that yearning for expression that continues to make his sound so powerful. Lyrics here are penned by Mingus himself – plus Langston Hughes, Joni Mitchell, and Elvis Costello – and titles include "Weird Nightmare", "Consider Me", "Eclipse", "Chair In The Sky", "Noonlight", "Dry Cleaner From Des Moines", and "Sweet Sucker Dance". CD

The great John Lennon album from 1973 – still in an exhilaratingly creative mode with strong Plastic Ono traces, even if the overall effect is more mainstream friendly – ultimately, an album that stands incredibly well on its own, even if its something of a bridge to John's rock and roll years to come! The songs aren't as overtly strident as the ones on Sometime In New York City, but there's plenty of passion bubbling under the surface – and the struggle to be as honest and passionate as he can be without bludgeoning us over the head with his feelings brings an underlying tension the work as whole that's pretty amazing to this day. Includes the great, always emotionally resonant title track plus "Bring On The Lucie", "Nutopian International Anthem", "Intuition", "You Are Here", "Meat City", and "I Know I Know". CD

One of Charles Mingus' excellent albums for the Bethlehem label – recorded during that magical year of 1957, a real turning point in his career! There's a sharpness here to Mingus' musical vision that hadn't shown up in previous years – a refinement of ideas expressed for Savoy and Prestige on previous sessions, drawn with tighter tension, and a bolder sense of spirit and emotion throughout. The group's a well-chosen batch of modernists – with Shafi Hadi on alto and tenor, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Clarence Shaw on trumpet, and the surprising addition of Bill Evans on piano – sounding a fair bit bolder here than elsewhere. Titles are almost all Mingus originals with a great balance of modern structures and freer solo moments – and tracks include "Conversation", "West Coast Ghost", "Fifty First Street Blues", "East Coasting", and the sublime "Celia", which Mingus and Hadi performed in the film Shadows by John Cassavettes. CD reissue also features bonus alternate takes of "East Coasting" and "Memories Of You". CD

One of the darkest Sun Ra albums of the early 70s – and a set that's also a bit unusual in his catalog as well! The album was issued during Ra's run with Impulse Records – a period that mostly saw the label reissue previous records from the Saturn catalog – save for a rare few like this one, which was an unusual all-new batch of material for Impulse! Because of that, it's been a bit overlooked in later years – maybe missed as less authentic, but actually some of the most striking sounds that Ra created at the time! There's a very strong tension here between electric and acoustic elements – not in the usual fusion-based way, but instead with this vibe that often has the electric instruments providing darker areas of sound, while the woodwinds and percussion have a way of humanizing the proceedings. June Tyson's also at her moodiest on the title track, "Astro Black" – and other titles include "Hidden Spheres", "Discipline 99", and the long improvisation "Cosmo Fire". CD

An overlooked Lalo Schifrin score for this later Dirty Harry film – but one that still shows the maestro very much at the top of his game! The instrumentation's changed a bit from before – a bit more 80s keyboards in place of 70s Rhodes – but Schifrin still brings in a great blend of subtle sounds, funky bits, and fuller orchestrations – setting eerie moods when needed, and punching things up with more action themes as the going gets tough! Some of the mellower moments are the most acoustic, and actually have a fragile, sensitive sound that's totally great – one that really creates a strong sort of tension alongside the more dynamic numbers on the album. Titles include "The Rules", "Something In Return", "The Last Autograph", "The Car", "Harpoon", "The Pier The Bridge & The City", "Time To Get Up", and "San Francisco Night". CD

Among the best of the best of early Patti Smith albums – the Easter LP from 1978 – also her biggest hit ever! Easter splits the difference between accessible, if rawly impassioned rock & roll and more raucous and in yer face rebellious poetry. There's a stylistic gulf between the more delicate songs and the rawer ones, and that tension makes for a more amazing record overall. Titles include "Till Victory", "Space Monkey", "Because The Night", "Ghost Dance", "Privelege (Set Me Free)", "We Three", "25th Floor", "Easter" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Tangerine Dream delivered a number of famous soundtracks in the late 70s and early 80s – but this set is one of the most obscure, and maybe one of the wildest too! The music was done for an Australian horror film, and has a very dark, moody vibe – still plenty of the Tangerine Dream touches you'd know, but also a bit more noise and murky moments too – and less of the fast-running keyboard lines and electronics that usually grace most of their moments in film! Much of the instrumentation is electronic, but abstracted in all these cool ways – and certainly handled with a lot more depth than some of the younger film composers who were often turning out music like this on a limited budget, with limited instrumentation. Titles include "Murder In The Classroom", "Horror In The Bathroom", "Experiments In Tension", "Tension In The Graveyard", "Kill The Professor/Cleaning Up", and "Pete Goes In For The Kill". LP, Vinyl record album

Pretty well peak era material from pianist Cecil Taylor – doing his thing with incredible line up of jazz greats on a couple NYC dates from early 1961! A couple of the pieces here are pure magic – we're especially loving the bits where Cecil is kind of hitting the keys heavily, spurring the players from a comfortable, measured gait into something a bit more feral, but it never busts wide open, creating a dynamic tension. The cream of the crop are on board, including Clark Terry, Roswell Rudd, Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp and Billy Higgins. The numbers mostly run north of 8 minutes, for a nicely loose, lingering groove, and titles include "Jumpin' Punkins", "OP", "O Forgot" and "Things Ain't What They Used To Be". CD

An amazing soundtrack from German maestro Peter Thomas – even weirder and more electric than some of his famous 60s recordings! Thomas scored the music for a spooky 70s film about the possibility of aliens on earth – and did so with a bit more tension than some of his other records – mixing in some dark tones, weird sounds, and other odd elements amidst some more familiar space age-styled themes. Instrumentation often mixes conventional orchestrations with electronics and offbeat percussion – the latter of which brings an earthy, organic undercurrent that you might not expect, and which really sets the record apart from anything else at the time. A few key cuts have the trademark groovy feel you'd expect from Thomas – including the classic "Stars & Rockets" – and other titles include "Reminiscences Of The Future", "Popular Myth & The Destruction Of Sodom", "The Red Sea", "Gods From Strange Planets", "Returning To The Stars", "Rocket Science", and "Easter Island". LP, Vinyl record album

A spooky little soundtrack, with some slight erotic moments as well – all scored for a schlocky Italian film starring an ex-patriot Farley Granger! The story centers around an investigation of an earlier rape and murder – and the music does a good deal to underscore the mix of sexual tension and drama in the film – often using spare stepping basslines that move very slowly on the bottom of the tunes, while eerie keyboards, guitar, and weirder effects drift lightly over the top. A few numbers have a slightly warmer feel, in keeping with more erotic moments in early 70s Italian cinema – and there's also a bit of wordless vocals that float through some of the tunes, often with a theremin-like quality. LP features 15 tracks from the film! LP, Vinyl record album

The brilliant 3rd album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. This set features both volumes of the recording – with titles that include "Landscape", "Hooray", "Other World", "Marching Song", "Transition", "Rosie", "Tension", "Ballad", "Conflict", and "Requiem". LP, Vinyl record album

Earl McGrath looks pretty darn cool on the cover, and from all reports he was a pretty darn cool guy in the 70s too – head of Rolling Stones Records, and friend and confidant to some very hip folks in the music industry! After Earl passed, a closet full of unreleased tapes was discovered at his home – really wonderful material by artists big and small, brought together here in a treasure trove of tracks that give us a whole different look at the 70s! Given the obscurity, most titles are demo recordings with lean instrumentation – but that quality makes the work by big stars even more interesting, and really delivers the best work of the special singer/songwriters that McGrath would always champion. Titles include "Cocaine Cowboy" and "Gonna California" by Terry Allen, "California" by Mark Rodney, "Baby Come Closer" and "Dry In The Sun" by Hall & Oates, "Funky But Chic" by David Johansen, "Tension" by Jim Carroll, "Oh La La" by Shadow, "Christopher" by Michael McCarty, "Holy Commotion" by Paul Potash, "Sail Away" by Jabor, "Invisible Lady" by Johnny Angel, "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" by Blood Brothers Six, and "Salt Showers" by Len & Betsy Green. LP, Vinyl record album

A huge look at the Liverpool scene in the UK – but one that doesn't focus on the generation of the Beatles and Brit Invasion groups – and instead brings some great attention to the city's contribution to the post-punk years and beyond! The package is tremendous – 100 songs in a huge booklet of notes – tracing an evolution from the late 70s years, when Liverpool was as creative and fervent of a scene as other North England territories, like Manchester and Sheffield – but also one that could quickly develop some tuneful aspects too, which no doubt helped the rest of the UK music scene of the 80s find a way to expand in some great global directions! Throughout the whole time covered here, there's a great tension between experimentation and commercial success – one that's covered beautifully by the many tracks in the collection, and also documented in the hefty notes within. There's far too many tracks here for us to list – but let us say that the package is overflowing with work by artists as diverse as Dalek I, The Wild Swans, China Crisis, Pink Industry, Care, Box Of Toys, Deaf School, Big In Japan, Pale Fountains, Icicle Works, Dead Or Alive, The Lotus Eaters, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Mr Amir, Brenda & The Beach Balls, Jegsy Dodd & The Sons Of Harry Cross, The La's, Jactars, Magic Carpets, Barbel, The Walking Seeds, Thomas Lang, Ministry Of Love, Nightmares In Wax, OMD, The Planets, Spitfire Boys, Geisha Girls, Royal Family & The Poor, Public Disgrace, It's Immaterial, The Balcony, The Yachts, Teardrop Explodes, Original Mirrors, The Press Gang, Moderates, Egypt For Now, Those Naughty Lumps, Flock Of Seagulls, Freeze Frame, Echo & The Bunnymen, and many more! CD

Tomorrow may be the question, but the record screams "today!" – and even this many years after its recording, this early set by Ornette Coleman has an energy and presence that cannot be denied! The sound here is kind of a rougher take on the mode that would gel more strongly on Ornette's Atlantic albums – but even so, it's still incredibly fresh, and well worth seeking out – especially as an example of the sharper edges that were bursting forth from the once-cool west coast scene! Coleman's on alto sax and Don Cherry is on trumpet – but they're not joined by their more familiar associates, and are instead working with a more conventional rhythm team that includes either Percy Heath or Red Mitchell on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums – all clearly trying to make a bit of sense of Ornette's approach here, but in a way that also creates a great sense of tension on the record! Tracks are shortish, with great solos by Ornette and Cherry – and titles include "Tomorrow Is The Question", "Endless", "Rejoicing", "Lorraine", "Turnaround", "Tears Inside", and "Giggin". CD

Unreleased work from alto genius Joe Harriott – two different slices of material from a very under-recorded point in his career! The first five tracks feature Joe in that back to basics mode he was hitting at the time – working in a unique group that features Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flugelhorn, Pat Smythe on piano, Ron Mathewson on bass, and Bill Eyden on drums – all players who are very open to modern ideas, but who also keep things on more of a groove here – with only a bit of the freedom that Harriott was bringing to his music a few years before! And yet there's still a great tension that makes the set great – swinging jazz mixed with modernism – on titles that include the Horace Silver tunes "Down & Out" and "Psychedelic Sally", plus "WSIMC", "Chronology", and "Shadows". The remaining two tracks on the set feature Joe in a very different setting – the large group of Harry South – the kind of mod jazz in 60s London, working here with a superb lineup that also features Kenny Wheeler and Ian Hamer on trumpets, Ray Warleigh on alto and flute, and Tubby Hayes and Alan Skidmore on tenor saxes! Tunes include the very swinging "Themeology" by South – plus a richly full take on "My Man's Gone Now". CD

One of Charles Mingus' excellent albums for the Bethlehem label – recorded during that magical year of 1957, a real turning point in his career! There's a sharpness here to Mingus' musical vision that hadn't shown up in previous years – a refinement of ideas expressed for Savoy and Prestige on previous sessions, drawn with tighter tension, and a bolder sense of spirit and emotion throughout. The group's a well-chosen batch of modernists – with Shafi Hadi on alto and tenor, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Clarence Shaw on trumpet, and the surprising addition of Bill Evans on piano – sounding a fair bit bolder here than elsewhere. Titles are almost all Mingus originals with a great balance of modern structures and freer solo moments – and tracks include "Conversation", "West Coast Ghost", "Fifty First Street Blues", "East Coasting", and the sublime "Celia", which Mingus and Hadi performed in the film Shadows by John Cassavettes. LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly beautiful score for a film that's about revenge – one that maybe elevates the whole proceedings past the George Kennedy performance on the screen – at that level that can always make a Morricone score for a forgotten film well worth seeking out! There's plenty of tension in the music – sounds that draw on some of the maestro's understanding of more atonal elements, yet mixed with other moments that show a slight sense of relief – orchestrations sliding back into more familiar formation – in a shifting balance that creates a nicely unsettling sound throughout the entire score! Tunes include "Il Giustiziere", "Terrorist", "Vite Cancellate", and "Gusto Di Vendetta". CD

A crime thriller, but one with a beautiful score from Bruno Nicolai – slinky and 70s at times, and with some really gentle tension at others! This is definitely one of the works that has Nicolai stepping nicely away from Morricone – using some warmer elements in some of his best themes – almost dreamy at times, which is odd given the lack of romance in the film – put together with masterful timing, and this haunting sense of space that makes the music almost better than the images were in the film! And yes, the story is that old Agatha Christie chestnut Ten Little Indians – but forget the overdone trope of the store, as the music is totally great – completely different than the more hackney 70s whodunit soundtracks of the time. CD features 18 tracks in all! CD

Wonderful stuff! Ben Webster blows soulful late night ballads over strings – a perfect combination, and a wonderful idea that was first executed on two LPs in the 50s: Music For Loving and Music With Feeling, both of which are reissued here with some extra unreleased material! Backings are by Ralph Burns and Billy Strayhorn – both of whom can be trusted to keep things hip, using the strings to create mood, emotion, and tension, instead of a pillow to smother the sound of Webster's incredible tenor work. Added to those two albums and bonus cuts is the even rarer Harry Carney with Strings session, recorded in the same era, and a perfect addition to the package that makes for over 3 LPs worth of material on 2 CDs, all packaged with great notes and some very cool Verve artwork! Titles include "Chelsea Bridge", "Some Other Spring", "Blue Moon", "Early Autumn", "My Fantasy", "Love Is Here To Stay", "Under A Blanket Of Blue", "You're Mine You", "Love's Away", and "All Too Soon". CD