Fantastic Fender Rhodes from a contemporary Brazilian trio – one who almost seem to take on the best territory that Azymuth worked in back in the day! The sound is lean – just the drums of Joao Fideles, bass of Noa Stroeter, and the mighty nice Rhodes work of Henrique Gomide – a ... CD(Brazil CD)
Freddie Roach always makes a good move on his Blue Note sessions – going for a lean and tight style on the organ that never fails to please! On this set, he's working with a mixed group of hardbop and soul jazz players that includes two Blue Note heavyweights – Blue Mitchell on trumpet ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
One of our favorite Woody Shaw albums from his later years – and an album that's got the same joyous spirit and free soaring feel of his best 70s work on Muse – really soaring with a sense of life and freedom in a really great way! The core group on the album is the Tone Jansa Quartet ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
Out Of/Into (Gerald Clayton/Immanuel Wilkins/Joel Ross/Kendrick Scott/Matt Brewer)
A mighty hip combo – a quintet that features some of the most exciting Blue Note Records musicians in recent years, all banding together beautifully for a session that has their talents lifted even higher in the company of each other! Players include Joel Ross on vibes, Immanuel Wilkins on ... CD(Jazz CD)
A never-issued live performance by Sun Ra and the Arkestra – and one that easily sits right up there with some of their best records of the 70s! The extended set offers a great chance to hear the way the Arkestra could effortlessly skirt inside and outside moments when they were at their ... CD(Jazz CD)
A lost Blue Note Records session by tenor genius Hank Mobley – originally recorded in 1966, but not officially issued until 1979 – and then only briefly until another short issue in the mid 90s! The record has Mobley really reaching out into a new bag – hitting a more soulfully ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
One of the greatest albums ever by one of the most compelling figures in Indian music! Ananda Shankar's been chronicled elsewhere and often on these pages – so by this point, you probably already know that he's a renegade pioneer who combined funky grooves with sitars and tablas, forging a ... CD(Global Grooves CD)
A treasure trove of never-heard work from the great Robbie Basho – a set that almost seems to double his catalog of recordings from his classic period! Most of the music here was recorded around the time of Basho's groundbreaking work for Takoma Records – in various locations, mostly ... CD(Folk/Country CD)
A seminal jazz rock statement from drummer Tony Williams – one that has him stepping out quite far from his original "new thing" recordings of the mid 60s! The album's got a genre-forming sound that's incredibly fierce – a power trio churning of Williams drums, John ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
Bill Evans is sporting a mustache on the cover, which wasn't always the greatest look for him – but the record's about listening, not looking – and it's a hell of a listen throughout! The set features Bill's wonderful trio with Eddie Gomez on bass and Marty Morell on drums – the ... CD(Jazz CD)
A great overview of the music of Japanese pianist Ryo Fukui – a key player on the scene in the late 70s, and one who really demonstrated that fluid, lyrical touch that made Japanese piano jazz so special at the time! It's a bit hard to put the genius of Ryo into words – as he's got a ... CD(Jazz CD)
Wonderfully folksy rock from this obscure Japanese group – an early 70s combo that included Harumi Hosono, years before his more electronic work! The sound of the album borrows a lot from the best of America's late 60s underground folk rock scene – and the production's an amazing blend ... LP, Vinyl record album(Japanese LP)
A massive set of music – and one that includes all the rare Palm label recordings made by reedman Byard Lancaster in Paris during the 70s! First up is Us – a set that features a really freewheeling trio brought together under the leadership of reedman Byard Lancaster – a group ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
Funky madness from one of the greatest soundtrack composers of all time – the mighty Lalo Schifrin, one of the few guys who could fit bossa, jazz, electronics, and funk into one single tune – and make the whole thing come out like magic! If you only know Lalo from his more famous ... LP, Vinyl record album(Soundtracks LP)
Great early work from jazz singer Al Jarreau – live tracks recorded in Washington, DC – and done with a laidback style that's a nice change from some of his studio work on Warner Brothers! The group is small – just a trio, with Fender Rhodes from Tom Canning – and Al's got ... CD(Soul CD)
Very cool electronic work from Norman McLaren – sounds created at midcentury, to accompany some of his avant animated films – all done with a really playful quality that's a great match for the images on the screen! At a time when so many other electronic pioneers were moving into ... CD(Out Sound CD)
A classic set that brings the east coast tenor of Sonny Rollins into contact with a west coast rhythm section of Ray Brown and Shelly Manne! Despite Rollins' silly look on the cover, and the album's overall "western" theme, the session's a brilliant one – right up there with Sonny's ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
A beautiful performance from modern piano genius Cecil Taylor – one that was not circulated at the time of its mid-60s recording, but which stands as a crucial document of the shifting sound of Taylor's work at the time! The extended performance might come as some surprise to those who only ... LP, Vinyl record album(Jazz LP)
Completely captivating work from Malian legend Nahawa Doumia – a singer who's got this way of stretching things out and inflecting her vocals – with all these great elements that hardly make you want for anything else in the mix! And that's great, because the only accompaniment on the ... CD(Global Grooves CD)
A classic indie cooker from Sugar Billy – a bit funky, a bit clubby – and a really great batch of grooves done in a pre-disco mode! The tracks are all pretty darn upbeat – somewhat warmer than the funk of Fatback or Kool & The Gang, but still with a nicely rough-edged feel ... CD(Soul CD)