Browse by Label: UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)

Artist:	VA
Title:	Message From The Tribe
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 005CD

[deleted ] Well done CD compilation (originally issued in 1996) of tracks from the obscure Detroit based Tribe label. Although its records were only distributed locally, Tribe is compared to Strata East and the music of the AACM in terms of its historical significance. "An anthology of Tribe Records, 1972-1977. Underground jazz and funk from a Detroit collective of musicians that included Wendell Harrison, Phil Ranelin, Marcus Belgrave and others. Besides releasing records in the early 1970s, Tribe also used to produce a black awareness magazine for Detroit." Last copies...

Artist:	VA
Title:	Strata-2-East
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 006CD

"Strata-East Records was one the pioneering labels in independent jazz in the USA in the 1970's. Started by musicians Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell the label acted as an umbrella for self financed recordings by some incredible jazz musicians. Artists such as Clifford Jordan, Harold Vick, Weldon Irvine, Cecil Mcbee made some of their finest recordings on this label. Creative musicians were given the musical freedom to explore new areas of jazz music leading to spiritual music on the highest plane. Strata-2-East is the the second Soul Jazz release on the label (the first is now deleted) and features artists such as Bill Lee, Shirley Scott, Oneness of Juju and more." Limited stock of this now deleted title.

Artist:	PAPETE
Title:	Best Of
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$24.00
Catalog #:	US 007LP

Double vinyl version in gatefold sleeve. 1997 release."Papete is one of Brazil's great percussion players. He is also one of Brazil's least known. These recordings are taken from a number of very rare recordings he made in the late 70s in Brazil. Focusing on many of Brazil's folk songs and styles from the northern part of the country, this CD also features Batucadas and Brazilian jazz. Sleeve notes were specially commissioned by one of Brazil's greatest arrangers, Theo de Barros. The addition of nice pictures make this a classy package." Last copies, CD is deleted.

Artist:	MITTOO, JACKIE
Title:	The Keyboard King at Studio One
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 008CD

"From forming the Skatalites, at age 15, alongside Don Drummond, Roland Alphanso, Tommy McCook and others, to his work as in-house writer, arranger, and producer at Studio One records during the sixties to his own classic recordings, Jackie Mittoo is a defining figure of reggae music. He is also the funkiest keyboard player ever to come out of Jamaica. Here we showcase Jackie's solo work at Studio One, where he earned the name the Keyboard King."

Artist:	MITTOO, JACKIE
Title:	The Keyboard King at Studio One
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$24.00
Catalog #:	US 008LP

Repressed on vinyl for the first time in years. Double LP version. "From forming the Skatalites, at age 15, alongside Don Drummond, Roland Alphanso, Tommy McCook and others, to his work as in-house writer, arranger, and producer at Studio One records during the '60s to his own classic recordings, Jackie Mittoo is a defining figure of reggae music. He is also the funkiest keyboard player ever to come out of Jamaica. Here we showcase Jackie's solo work at Studio One, where he earned the name 'The Keyboard King.'"

Artist:	ESG
Title:	A South Bronx Story
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 010CD

Long desired best-of compilation covering most of their recorded output, starting with the historically mind-blowing debut EP for Factory/99. "ESG were formed in 1978 and are from the South Bronx and based around the Scroggins sisters: Renee (guitar), Marie (congas), Valerie (drums), and Deborah (bass). With the addition of their friend Tito Libran on percussion, the group changed its name from Emerald, Sapphire and Gold to ESG. ESG are still thriving today, and the Scroggins sisters are now joined by two of their daughters, Chistelle and Nicole. The story of ESG is one that gives them a place in three different musical histories -- house music, hip hop, and punk. A unique position that few other bands can claim. Their first single contained the all-time dancefloor classics 'Moody' and 'UFO' (produced by Martin Hannett) which placed them at the root of both house and hip hop. ESG were involved with 99 records in the US (as were Liquid Liquid). Owned by ESG's unofficial manager/producer Ed Bahlman, 99 records spearheaded a new wave in US punk/dance groups that became known as No Wave. 99 records, which had a working relationship with labels in the UK like Factory, Rough Trade, and Adrian Sherwood's On-U-Sounds, eventually closed after it lost a protracted court case with Sugar Hill records when Grandmaster Flash's 'White Lines' sampled Liquid Liquid's 'Cavern'. At this period, laws regarding sampling, which would become a part of life for anyone involved in hip hop, were still unclear. ESG (and 99 records) also lost out in many similar cases -- ESG's sparse minimal bass and drum sound made them one of the most sampled artists around (in 1993 they wrote a track 'Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills'). ESG were immersed in both the New York dance club scene and in the meeting of punk and dance culture. They played all the New York dance clubs like the Paradise Garage, Xenon, and Danceteria, as well as playing with many punk groups (they once played with the Clash and Grandmaster Flash on the same bill)."

Artist:	OCHO
Title:	1
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 012CD

"Soul Jazz Records are reissuing three albums by Ocho, one of the defining bands of the Latin New York Funk sound. Led by Chico Mendoza, Ocho have been featured heavily in Soul Jazz Records Nu Yorica series and these reissues are the three definitive albums by the group. Along with other artists such as Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Bataan and Tito Puente, Ocho mixed Latin, funk and jazz in equal measures. The music of Ocho has never been fully available in this country before and Soul Jazz Records are releasing them in their entirety for the first time. These releases come on CD and limited edition vinyl (with plastic sleeve). Ocho 1 includes 'Coco May May' as featured on Nu Yorica." Recorded in NYC, 1973.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Voodoo Drums
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 016CD

"Soul Jazz Records brings you the real deal! 19 rhythms of Haitian Voodoo drumming! Recorded in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, this record features The Drummers of the Societe Absolument Guinen. This music is at the heart of both Latin and African music and this CD explains the connections between the music of Africa, The West Indies and onto America. These rhythms feature heavily in dance music today, especially with artists such as Masters At Work, Joe Claussel, Osunlade and others. Consequently this release comes on both super-loud double vinyl and Universal Sound CD with booklet."

Artist:	MORRIS & UNITY, BYRON
Title:	Blowing Thru Your Mind
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 017CD

"Byron Morris and Unity released Blow Through Your Mind originally in the US in 1974. The LP was recorded a year earlier at Minot Sound Studios in White Plains, New York. This studio was a favorite with many independent Jazz groups at this time -- for instance, many recordings for the independent Strata East Records, co-owned by Stanley Cowell and Charles Tolliver, were made here. Unity was formed with similar values, aims and objectives of many similar groups at the time, as the name suggests. Uniquely, it managed to match the musical and spiritual searching of John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Ornette Coleman alongside an equally experimental New York art-music dimension that was brought into the group by vocalist Jay Clayton, who has performed with, amongst many others, Steve Reich. With bassist Milton Suggs having played in Sun Ra's Arkestra, and Byron Morris studied with Ornette Coleman and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, it is possible to see the path that makes up 'Kitty Bey', twelve minutes of musical intensity, that sounds like nothing else ever recorded. Kitty Bey was originally featured on Universal Sounds Of America on Soul Jazz. Originally released on Unity's own EPI label and distributed by hand, this record has remained an underground classic recording for over 25 years?."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Impact! Rare & Unreleased Reggae, Funk, & Soul...
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 018CD

...From The Vaults Of Impact! and Randy's Records. "Soul Jazz Records are releasing this compilation featuring the cream of Reggae, Funk and Soul from the Impact and Randy's Records label from Kingston, Jamaica. Featuring classic, rare and previously unreleased material this release continues Soul Jazz Records journey through Reggae. Featuring classic productions from Vincent Chin, and later his son Clive Chin, this release features Augustus Pablo, Jackie Mittoo, Tommy McCook, Lloyd Parks and a host of others all alongside the Randy's All Stars in-house band. Randy's began as a record shop in Kingston and shortly progressed to running it's own studio and record label. It's owner, Vincent Chin, later went on start VP records, the largest distributor of Reggae in the US. The tracks featured here are mostly from the 1970s and are some of the funkiest Reggae ever to come out of Jamaica, most of them versions of US Funk and Soul tracks popular in Kingston at that time."

Artist:	A CERTAIN RATIO
Title:	The Graveyard and the Ballroom
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 020CD

"The Graveyard and the Ballroom is the legendary first album by A Certain Ratio. Originally released in 1980 this album has been a collectors item ever since its initial release on cassette-only by Factory Records. Soul Jazz Records are releasing this album on CD and for the first time on LP. This album is a definitive piece of Post-Punk history and shows A Certain Ratio as leaders in this movement that they helped create along with their label mates Joy Division and other groups such as The Pop Group etc. Produced by the legendary Martin Hannett and Factory head Tony Wilson only 1000 copies were ever originally issued. The CD come with two bonus tracks 'Thin Boys' and 'And Then Again'. The LP come with a limited free 12" of the same two tracks."

Artist:	A CERTAIN RATIO
Title:	To Each
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 021CD

"Soul Jazz Records are releasing one of the seminal Post-Punk albums of all time. Following on from last month's The Graveyard and The Ballroom, ACR's To Each was their first full studio album and was produced by the legendary Martin Hannett and originally released on Factory Records in 1981. ACR's To Each was recorded in East Orange, New Jersey. Here ACR mixed Funk, Dub, Percussion and Electronics to create a truly unique sound and the album was instantly hailed a classic. A Certain Ratio were friends and label mates of Joy Division and the two groups (especially the singing of Simon Topping and the late Ian Curtis respectively) showed similarities in sound. ACR's Funk however was all their own and led the way for the future sound of groups such as New Order in mixing dance and punk. These sessions in New Jersey actually produced two classic albums -- After the completion of To Each, ACR gave over their remaining free studio time to a group they had just seen in New York City, ESG, who recorded their classic first album here for Factory/99 Records, also produced by Martin Hannett. This album comes with two bonus tracks 'Abracadabra' and 'Somnadub'. Sounding like King Tubby meets Sun Ra, these tracks were originally released as a 12" single independently a few months after this album under the pseudonym Sir Horatio (!) and have been a collectors item ever since."

Artist:	A CERTAIN RATIO
Title:	Sextet
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 022CD

"Sextet is the definitive third album released by A Certain Ratio. Originally released on Factory Records, the album mixes Post-Punk/Funk with New York Dance. The album also shows heavy African, Latin and Brazilian influences and shows ACR once again as a group ahead of their time. Soul Jazz Records are releasing this record as their latest in the series of ACR releases. This album is a definitive piece of Post-Punk dance history and shows a Certain Ratio as leaders in this movement that they helped create along with their label mates Joy Division and other groups such as The Pop Group etc. The CD comes with two bonus tracks 'Kether Hot Knives' and 'Funuzekea'. The LP comes with a limited free 12" of the same two tracks."

Artist:	REID AND THE MASTER BROTHERHOOD, STEVE
Title:	Rhythmatism
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 023CD

"Soul Jazz Records are releasing this second release of deep spiritual jazz by Steve Reid and The Master Brotherhood, entitled Rhythmatism. Steve Reid is a true pioneer of US left-field deep jazz. This release, originally released in 1976, is one of four albums Steve Reid recorded on his own tiny Mustevic record label in the 1970s and has a defining sound. This release follows on from the earlier Steve Reid album, Nova, also released on Soul Jazz Records. Steve Reid is steeped in musical history. He played in Sun Ra's Arkestra, was a Motown session drummer and backed James Brown at the Apollo! He was imprisoned during the Vietnam war as a conscientious objector and lived in Africa in the early 1970s. Steve Reid has also worked with Freddie Hubbard, Gary Bartz, Ornette Coleman, Lester Bowie, Fela Kuti, Leon Thomas, Miles Davis and many more. There were only 1000 copies of this record pressed when it was originally released in 1974 and it has been a collectors' album ever since. Soul Jazz Records are releasing this record for the first time ever in the UK."

Artist:	BELGRAVE, MARCUS
Title:	Gemini
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 024CD

"Soul Jazz Records are re-issuing a lost classic deep jazz album by Marcus Belgrave entitled Gemini. Marcus Belgrave is featured on the recent Carl Craig album The Detroit Experiment, which includes a new version of the classic track 'Space Oddysey' which features here. Originally released in 1974 on the independent Tribe Records, this album features many of the Detroit heavyweight artists such as Wendell Harrison and Phil Ranelin who have both had releases on Chicago's Hefty Records where they have worked with and been re-mixed by current artists such as Telefon Tel Aviv, Morgan Geist, Prefuse 73 and Kirk Degiorgio amongst others. Marcus Belgrave's musical career over 4 decades. He has worked with everyone from Sun Ra to Charles Mingus, from McCoy Tyner to Clifford Brown. He worked as part of the Tribe collective in Detroit, working with the same ideology as their musical neighbors, The Art Ensemble of Chicago. He has consistently broken down musical barriers, from playing with Was (Not Was) in the 1970s to his current work with Carl Craig in The Detroit Experiment. There were only 1000 copies of this record pressed when it was originally released in 1974 and it has been a collectors' album ever since. Soul Jazz Records are releasing this record for the first time ever in the UK."

Artist:	MAULAWI
Title:	Maulawi
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 026CD

"Soul Jazz Records are re-issuing this lost classic deep jazz album. This is the only recording of Maulawi Nururdin and his group. Originally recorded in Chicago in Sep 1973, and released by a small independent label in Detroit the following year. The music fell between the gap of the avant-garde and straight-ahead jazz, and had elements of Funk and Latin that were rare at the time that meant that commercially it sank without a trace -- but, thirty years on, we can see that these are exactly the elements that help make it a unique album, years ahead of its time. Maulawi grew up in Chicago and, as the album sleeve states, was part of the great heritage of Chicago music that ranged from the electric blues of Muddy Waters, the straight ahead jazz of Ahmad Jamal, through to the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra, Anthony Braxton and other members of the avant-garde royalty. As a saxophonist he was also part of the tradition of great Chicago horn-players that includes Gene Ammons, Eddie Harris, Johnny Griffin and many more. Maulawi had led his own group since the 1960s and a number of young musicians came up through his group -- Billy Greenfield, Jack DeJohnette, Jerome Cooper and on this album a16 year old Adam Rudolph (who currently records on Soul Jazz Records as Hu Vibrational). Maulawi was a multi-instrumentalist and bandleader and although he specialised on saxophones, also played oboe, piano, drums and more. His career was on the periphery of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), the collective of avant-garde musicians in Chicago that included Richard Muhal Abrams, The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Amina Claudine Myers -- he was never a member but often played with those involved in this musical community, musicians such as Billy Brentfield and Fred Anderson. In 1973 the group went into the studio to record this one record for Strata Records in Detroit, an independent label run by Kenny Cox (who himself had led the Contemporary Jazz Quintet on Blue Note Records) and Charles Moore. A planned association that never worked out also led to the birth of another label, Strata East Records in New York, run by Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell."

Artist:	HANNIBAL PETERSON AND THE SUNRISE ORCHESTRA
Title:	Children of the Fire
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 027CD

"Soul Jazz records are releasing this super-rare lost classic deep jazz album by Hannibal Peterson and The Sunrise Orchestra. Hannibal Peterson has played with Pharoah Sanders, Gil Evans, Roland Kirk, Elvin Jones, Archie Shepp and many more. Influenced by everyone from John Coltrane to Cecil Taylor the Sunrise Orchestra has been in existence for over 30 years. Hannibal's Children of The Fire is a unique deep jazz album composed as a suite and featuring a full orchestra. Originally self-released on the tiny Sunrise label in 1974, the album is a timeless classic, previously only known to collectors. This album is one of a three releases that coincide with Soul Jazz Records New Thing, the story of Deep Jazz in the USA, featuring music by Sun Ra, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Alice Coltrane, Hannibal Peterson and more."

Artist:	BIGGS, TRAVIS
Title:	Challenge
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	US 028CD

"Following on from their recent New Thing album of Deep Jazz in USA (Sun Ra, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Alice Coltrane, Archie Shepp), Soul Jazz Records are re-issuing this lost classic album. Travis Biggs' Challenge is a boogie/jazz-funk/jazz LP originally recorded in Detroit in 1975. This one off-album by Travis Biggs initially came out on his own tiny T & C label with a pressing of 500 copies and was used by Travis as a demo. This is the second of 3 lost albums that Soul Jazz Records are re-issuing following on from first appearing on New Thing. As well as the track 'Tibetan Serenity' (as featured on New Thing album), the album also includes super-rare versions of Stevie Wonder's 'I Wish' and a cover of the Loft/Paradise Garage classic track, Steve Miller's 'Fly Like An Eagle'."

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Artist:	VA
Title:	Impact! Rare and Unreleased Reggae, Funk, & Soul...
Label:	UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$24.00
Catalog #:	US 018LP