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Search Result for Genre JAZZ
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LP
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SVVRCH 011LP
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$22.00
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RELEASE DATE: 2/14/2020
Italian film composer Piero Umiliani began working with the trumpeter and actor Chet Baker during the late 1950s. Of part Norwegian and Anglo-Saxon origins, Chesney Henry Baker Jr. was born into a musical family in the small town of Yale, Oklahoma in 1929. After singing in the local church choir, he began playing trombone but soon switched to the smaller and more manageable trumpet. He joined the US Army just after the end of World War II and played in the 298th Army Band while stationed in Berlin and began studying music theory at El Camino College in Los Angeles, following his discharge, but re-enlisted to play in the Sixth Army Band while stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco. Out of the Army for good in 1951, he played with saxophonists Vido Musso and Stan Getz before joining Charlie Parker for a series of West Coast live dates. He then joined the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, becoming a mainstay of the Los Angeles jazz scene, until Mulligan's drug bust forced Baker to form a quartet of his own. Chet Baker & Strings (WLV 82069LP) was issued by Columbia in 1954 and he began recording for Pacific Jazz the following year; cast in the film Hell's Horizon (1955), Baker turned down a Hollywood studio contact to travel to Europe, touring the continent for eight months, which resulted in the album Chet Baker In Europe. Heroin became a significant part of the picture in this era and when he began working with the arranger and conductor Ezio Leoni (aka Len Mercer) in Milan in 1959, Baker was arrested for drugs and jailed in Pisa, temporarily disrupting the proceedings. Baker and Umiliani first joined forces in 1958 for the crime film I Soliti Ignoti (AKA Big Deal on Madonna Street, Persons Unknown or Le Pigeon), reportedly the first instance of jazz being used for an Italian comedy film; Il Paradiso dell'Uomo and Smog (FOX 010LP) followed. Italian Movies draws from the best of Baker and Umiliani's cinematic collaborations, the atmospheric compositions backed by a group of session players centered on drummer Ralf Ferraro, acoustic bassist Berto Pisano, guitarist Enzo Grillini, tenor saxophonist Livio Cervellieri, and Franco Ciari on vibraphone, along with Baker's expressive trumpet leads and composer Umiliani on piano.
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12"
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LQ 010EP
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$19.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/17/2020
Over the last couple of years, the Lanquidity team has brought exciting releases from the Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet and an historic Polish recording of the Sun Ra Arkestra to UK audiences. Now label co-founders Adrian and Mateusz are repping one of the most exciting trios to come out of the new London jazz-scape with the debut EP from Still Moving. Their explosive compositions combine freestyle energy with electronic club vibes and a mature mastery of their instruments. The band's pumping originality stands out as a valuable contribution to the vibrant and diverse jazz scene that's shaping the capital. Following the incredible response to their most recent project, Sun Ra - Live in Kalisz 1986 (LQ 009LP), Lanquidity Records aren't sitting tight. This time it's the debut of an exciting London trio experimenting with jazz and electronic fusions. Their sound is Still Moving. Still Moving is comprised of three musicians: Nat Philipps on saxophone, Pike Ogilvy on drums, and Sam Bates on synthesizers and drum machines. Drawing from a wide pool of influence -- touching on jazz, folk rhythm traditions, club-oriented electronics, and progressive experimentalism -- they generate an organic performance rooted in an intimate musical understanding between performers. SM is an invitation to a fluid journey through musical space, just as capable of provoking emotion and introspection as inspiring dance and movement. Working from the principle that no two shows be the same, they access a sound that is at once poetic yet constantly developing: a sound that is Still Moving. The group's recorded material reflects the live, improvisatory nature of the project, mixing raw and dynamic performance with an experimental approach to studio production. Whether in the flesh or on record, they capture a unique synthesis of musical styles that is sure to move you in body and in spirit.
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2LP
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LQ 009LP
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$36.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/17/2020
It was one of the most peculiar landings of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Time: December 7, 1986, Polish People's Republic, still separated from the West by the Iron Curtain. It's a grey and poor twilight of a real socialism era. In three years, the Eastern Bloc would collapse, but what still occupies the minds of Poles now is mostly the martial law imposed by the Pro-Moscow regime in 1981, when the country wanted to free itself from the influence of the Soviet Union. Place: Kalisz, one of the oldest Polish cities dating back to the 10th century, historically connected with the first kings of Poland, grew into a multinational centre with time as not only the Czech Brethren escaping the Habsburg monarchy found refuge here, but also prominent rabbis known across Europe used to operate and expound in the local Jewish community. In the 20th century Kalisz became a provincial city and its presence in the cultural life of Poland was most significantly marked with the International Jazz Piano Festival. It was during the 13th edition of the festival that Sun Ra Arkestra performed. What turned out to be most memorable for the concert-goers was the closing procession of musicians who left the stage to walk around the audience, circle the venue, and return. Researchers of the Sun Ra mysticism recognized such gestures as rituals of passage corresponding to the cosmic cycles of death and resurrection. From a European perspective, Sun Ra's work turns out to be a dream come true for Wagner and Stockhausen. His music brought the myth to life. The myth connecting the past with the future 00 above the unfavorable present -- which created a sphere of freedom. However, Ra used to say that it was not freedom that was at stake here, but precision and discipline.
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CVSD 063CD
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An übertrio drawn from distinct parts of the creative music spectrum, The Underflow was recorded during a sizzling two-night stand in May 2019. In a series of duets and trios, guitarist David Grubbs, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, and trumpeter Rob Mazurek met headlong for the first time, converging not only their acoustic and electric instruments, but at times submerging themselves in a tangle of electronics, then emerging into shamanic bell-shaking chant or chest-rattling howl. Ranging from extreme noise to delicate texture (even a rare solo by Gustafsson on his first instrument, the flute), the CD's five tracks mark the beginning of a new group, named -- the same as the record -- after the venue at which they were recorded, the venerable Underflow Record Shop and Art Gallery in Athens, Greece. Harnessing the energy and intelligence of Grubbs's recent solo guitar records, the spirit and grit of Mazurek's hallmark work with the Chicago Underground Duo and recent Desert Encrypts project, and the monster-truck yowl of full- force Gustafsson, The Underflow is a surprise even for its participants, a present they gave themselves. Open with care, volatile contents inside.
Recorded by Manolis Aggelakis at Underflow Records and Art Gallery, Athens, Greece, on May 31, 2019. Mixed and mastered by Alex Inglizian, ESS Chicago summer 2019. Personnel: David Grubbs - guitar; Mats Gustafsson - flute, fluteophone, baritone saxophone, live electronics; Rob Mazurek - piccolo trumpet, wooden flute, electronics, percussion, voice.
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CD
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CVSD 065CD
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Despite having worked together in innumerable settings, including the longstanding Survival Unit III, with drummer Michael Zerang, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee have never released a CD of duets. In an extra intimate studio setting in upstate New York, where both players reside, No Time Left for Sadness demonstrates their incredible musical understanding. Recalling some of McPhee's landmark records with Marseilles musicians in terms of telepathy and trust, it's an outing whose intensity is measured not in decibels, but in emotional integrity. Across three tracks of increasing length, culminating in the 31-minute-long adventure "Next Time," McPhee (hear featured on tenor saxophone exclusively) and Lonberg-Holm redefine chamber music, casting string and reed in a joyous and longing place, a rec room set aflame, a library engulfed in tidewater, a throbbing mezzanine. The cover and the CD face feature original stained-glass works by Lonberg-Holm, and the interior spread is entirely given over to an action shot of the duo by Stevphen Shukaitis.
Recorded at Lone Pine Studios, January 11, 2019. Engineered by Eli Winograd. Mixed by Fred Lonberg-Holm. Mastered by Alex Inglizian at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago. Photo of JM and FLH by Stevphen Shukaitis. Cover image: Gary Series #1, by Fred Lonberg-Holm. Personnel: Joe McPhee - tenor saxophone; Fred Lonberg-Holm cello/electronics.
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LP
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BSR 057LP
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$21.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/17/2020
Black Saint present a reissue of John Carter Octet's Dauwhe, originally released in 1982. Dawhe is the first chapter in John Carter's Roots and Folklore saga. A five-part epic journey through the African American heritage conceived by the great clarinetist-composer and performed by a stellar line-up featuring Carter himself, Bobby Bradford (cornet), James Newton (flute), Charles Owens (soprano sax, oboe, clarinet), Red Callender (tuba), Roberto Miranda (bass), William Jeffrey (drums), and Luis Peralta (percussion). This is a highly integrated form of jazz, based on the processing of different musical forms and related topics. From the ancient African mythology through the Blues experience towards the open land of creative jazz. A strong musical and cultural statement from one of the greatest west coast modern jazz composers.
"Highly recommended for open-eared listeners" --Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.
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CD
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CVSD 062CD
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In 2018, Mats Gustafsson provided raw saxophonic material for the elusive Wendy Gondeln, who sometimes applied a scalpel, sometimes a pneumatic drill, to rework, remix, reimagine all the Swede's squeaks, pops, blats, and tones. In some places, Gondeln adds violent violin to thicken the roux, making Ornette's fiddling seem like Yehudi Menuhin. Uncommon bedfellows: disjunct techno and improvised music. But the Shitholes make it work brilliantly, even inviting minimal techno pioneer and co-founder of Cologne's seminal Kompakt label Wolfgang Voigt to edit and remix two of the twisted tracks. The CD's other guest star, engineer Martin Siewert, contributes guitar and lap top guitar to a couple of tracks. Not your usual any kind of music, The Shithole Country & Boogie Band bends genres and upends style. Spasmodic dance music or highly conceptual experimental sound art -- it's a thin line Gondeln and Gustafsson tread on these eight diverse tracks, but an irresistibly fun one, too.
Personnel: Wendy Gondeln - violin, electronic treatments, and more; Mats Gustafsson - piano mate, saxophones, and live electronics; Wolfgang Voigt - editing and mix (track 3 and 8); Martin Siewert - guitar and lap top guitar (track 1 and 7).
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CD
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CVSD 064CD
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One day in the studio, something ridiculously great happened. It was deep Chicago winter, cold as shit. Four musicians assembled for a round-robin set of improvisations -- duets, trios, a few quartets. Approached casually, the late morning bloomed into Largest Afternoon, 15 crackling encounters between guitarist Arto Lindsay, saxophonists Joe McPhee, and Ken Vandermark, and drummer Phil Sudderberg. No expectations -- open minds and creative intent. Lindsay, a brilliant singer and songwriter and one of the key architects of no wave via his band DNA, has proven himself once again to be one of the world's top texturalists, and he is an equally sensitive and challenging group improvisor. Vandermark and McPhee brought their long friendship and musical partnership to the studio, and both engaged with Lindsay in different ways, bringing blue flame and melody. The session's final wildcard, Sudderberg, a versatile drummer who collaborates with Vandermark on the band Marker, brought a lovely sense of buoyancy and ear for contrast in colors, as well as a raucous rock pulse. With parts this stellar, imagine when Largest Afternoon > than the sum. Nobody knew this would happen.
Recorded February 9, 2019, at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago. Engineered by Alex Inglizian. Mixed and mastered by Alex Inglizian with Ken Vandermark, John Corbett, and Jim Dempsey at ESS. Photographs by John Corbett. Cover design by David Khan-Giordano. Produced by John Corbett and Jim Dempsey. Personnel: Arto Lindsay - guitar; Joe McPhee - alto and tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet; Ken Vandermark - tenor and baritone saxophone, clarinet; Phil Sudderberg, drums.
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LP
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BSR 002LP
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$21.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/17/2020
Black Saint present a reissue of Archie Shepp's A Sea of Faces, originally released in 1975. Recorded in Milan (Italy), A Sea of Faces stands as one of Shepp's strongest recordings of the '70s. A highly varied program, covering Shepp's entire spectrum and performed by an all-star line-up featuring Archie Shepp (tenor & soprano sax, piano, vocals), Charles Greenlee (trombone, tambourine, vocals), Dave Burrell (piano), Cameron Brown (bass), Beaver Harris (drums, tambourine, vocals), Rafi Taha (vocals), and Bunny Foy (vocals, maracas, percussion). The album includes the famous 26-minute long "Hypnosis," a groovy extended jam in full spiritual Jazz mode.
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LP
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BSR 109LP
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$21.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/17/2020
Black Saint present a reissue of Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet's Voodoo, originally released in 1986. Voodoo shows the Sonny Clarke soulful hard bop conception as seen through the oblique perspective of a NY Downtown all-star quartet featuring John Zorn (alto sax), Wayne Horvitz (piano), Bobby Previte (drums), and legendary bassman Bill Drummond. This unique and iconic album stands as one of Zorn's first declared tributes to the art of an influential musician and composer. All compositions are by Sonny Clark including such hits as "Cool Struttin'" and "Something Special" both from his classic late '50s/early '60s Blue Note sessions. A full catalog of opened up hard bop structures and advanced jazz modes.
"Quartet masterminds Zorn and Wayne Horvitz spit fire, never allowing this heartfelt tribute to get too reverential... Here Zorn sounds like he's having serious fun" --Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.
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2CD
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CVSD 066CD
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Corbett Vs. Dempsey present a reissue of Willem Breuker and Han Bennink's New Acoustic Swing Duo, originally released in 1967. Late in 1967, saxophonist Willem Breuker and drummer Han Bennink recorded the first LP for the new artist-run free improvised music label, ICP Records. New Acoustic Swing Duo was an instant classic, and remains one of the most enduring documents of Dutch improvised music ever recorded. With Breuker's omnidirectional reed work, which ranges from plaintive to excoriating, occasional sneering tone adds a kind of ironic twist to the expressive outpouring. He could be as explosive as Peter Brötzmann, but Breuker has a razor-sharp wit and sense of humor. Since this recording, Bennink has gone on to be seated among the royalty of jazz and improvised music drummers. At the time, he was a fresh-faced 25-year-old, hauling around increasingly immense kits with heaps of percussion flotsam and jetsam, playing tabla and vibrapan, and sparking it all with tsunami energy. Keep in mind, Coltrane and Ali had just recorded Interstellar Space (which would not be issued until 1974), and the economical drum/sax lineup was by no means yet a standard in improvised music. Shortly after recording this, Breuker and Bennink would join Brötzmann to record Machine Gun (1968), another European free music keystone. Somehow, despite its historical importance and aesthetic magnificence, New Acoustic Swing Duo has never been available as a stand-alone CD. Remastered from original tapes, this reissue includes the original cover with the "ICP 001" hand-stamp, as well as several versions of the handmade covers designed by Bennink, drawn from Mats Gustafsson's wonderful collection. Finally, as a special bonus, the two-disc package includes a legendary concert by Breuker and Bennink, recorded in Essen, Germany, in 1968, released here for the first time.
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10"
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HH 3093LP
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Alice Coltrane, live at Carnegie Hall, New York on February 21st, 1971. On Sunday, February 21st, 1971, a benefit was held in New York's Carnegie Hall for Swami Satchidanda's Integral Yoga Institute, featuring Laura Nyro, the New Rascals, and Alice Coltrane's All-Stars. The latter band was a remarkable coming-together of talent, with Lady Trane joined by legends such as Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, and Jimmy Garrison on stupendous form (with a little assistance from members of the Yoga Institute). The astounding performance of John Coltrane's "Africa" on this set, finds them improvising thrillingly. Includes the entire WQXR-FM broadcast, digitally remastered and accompanied by background notes and images. Also features: Kumar Kramer (harmonium), Jimmy Garrison (bass), Cecil McBee (bass), Clifford Jarvis (drums), and Ed Blackwell (drums). 10" record with insert.
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LP
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MAR 015LP
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Gideon Nxumalo's Jazz Fantasia is probably the rarest release in South African jazz. Along with Chris McGregor, Nxumalo helped pioneer the pre-exile South African jazz sound. Jazz Fantasia -- originally released in 1962 -- is widely regarded as a seminal South African jazz record. The record features legendary jazz altoist Kippie Moeketsi and a very young Dudu Pukwana. Pukwana plays sax in a similar style to Albert Ayler; Moeketsi was a colossal South African jazz figure during this time. Jazz Fantasia signaled Moeketsi's last commercial success before his struggles with alcohol and depression took their toll. The album was recorded at the Great Hall at Wits University in September 1962. It was commissioned by the university as part of an arts festival. With a limited pressing at the time, the album has become a revered foundation of modern South African jazz music, even though it is a rare album to find. Edition of 500.
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LP
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MAR 017LP
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Mad About Records present a reissue of Mike Selesia's Flavor, originally released in 1976. This is cool jazz album all the way around. From the black-and-white, hand-drawn cover, to the fact that it came out of Fresno, California (not exactly a hotbed for jazz), to the handful of styles present (straight ahead, funky, free, and even a raga), Flavor has got it going on. High quality musicianship and some far-out stoner tracks make this album stand head-and-shoulders above most of its private press peers. Original released in a very limited issue -- rumor has it that only 300 were pressed -- this album was handed out at their shows and sold only to local record stores. Only together for nine months, Mike Selesia (who plays sax and flute) and band recorded this album in one day presented this fascinating hybrid of early '60s Coltrane, early '70s Miles Davis. One of the rarest spiritual jazz LPs ever!
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LP
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ARTYARD CIA100
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Art Yard present a reissue of Sun Ra's The Antique Blacks, originally released in 1974. The vitality you hear on The Antique Blacks is a testament to the unique energy of the community around The Foxhole Cafe in Philadelphia, as Ra honed his unique brand of Afro-futurism through the late '60s and '70s. Cosmic theater, spiritual chants, and experimental electronics make this record an essential document that was ahead of its time. Recorded as a radio broadcast in Philadelphia, according to Dale Williams, The Antique Blacks has a well-defined but oddball structure. Sun Ra was a master architect, very concerned to use the unfolding of an album, a broadcast, or a live performance to create a satisfying structure. "Song No. 1" is a lively, tonal introduction, featuring John Gilmore on tenor saxophone, Sun Ra on roksichord, Dale Williams, then aged 15, on guitar, and Akh Tal Ebah on trumpet. Sun Ra's poetry is featured on "There Is Change In The Air", a track which has on occasion been used for the album title: in its original incarnation as a Saturn LP, there was no dedicated sleeve artwork, and this record appeared under many names. Ra's poetry is allusive, elusive, and paradoxical, and this was its first major appearance on a record. During instrumental passages, Williams's guitar is heard, along with the saxophones of Marshall Allen and Danny Davis. The Antique Blacks is a similar setting for a Sun Ra poem, which encompasses "spiritual men", and Lucifer as a dark angel. The Arkestra is heard in conducted improvisational ensembles, in between the sections of the poem. "This Song Is Dedicated To Nature's God" has Arkestral vocals, with John Gilmore's voice in the foreground. Sun Ra's poetic declamations provide the structure for "The Ridiculous I" and "The Cosmos Me", which also has a fine unaccompanied tenor solo by John Gilmore, keyboard improvisations by Sun Ra, and closes with bass clarinet from Eloe Omoe. Sun Ra's keyboards are heard with minimal Arkestra support on "Would I For All That Were" -- a fine synthesizer improvisation, with electric piano left hand accompaniment. Tension is resolved by "Space Is The Place", which rounds the album out in an upbeat mood, with Akh Tal Ebah, James Jackson, and Sun Ra prominent among the vocalists. The closing section includes the chant Sun Ra And His Band From Outer Space, often used at the close of live performances.
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2LP
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JMAN 020LP
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Remastered limited 2019 repress; originally released in 2008. Jazzman Records presents the sound of the unsung musicians who -- in the midst of the Vietnam War and the fallout of the Civil Rights struggle -- created some of the most beautiful spiritual and meditative music of the era. Sometimes funky, sometimes mellow, but always trying to say something about the world in which we live. Existing completely under the critical radar and largely ignored or unknown by music fans and critics alike, most of the musicians featured in this album won't be familiar to even the most seasoned aficionado. Their records, frequently turned down by distributors and record stores, saw little attention when first released -- and have seen even less since. But in this era of musical apathy, where so many music junkies look to the past for their musical fix, Jazzman Records have re-discovered hidden, obscure and esoteric jazz musicians who looked to the four corners of the earth -- and beyond -- for inspiration. Here Jazzman Records evaluates spiritual jazz -- music that is a snapshot of the era after Coltrane, a time which saw the evolution of an underground jazz that spoke about the reform of the soul, the reform of the spirit, and the reform of society: a music which was local and international at once, which was a personal journey and a political statement, and which was religious and secular in one non-contradictory breath. The music on this album reflects the social and historical forces at work during the closedown of the '60s dream; music made by close-knit collectives and individual visionaries, by prisoners and eccentrics, by mystics and political radicals. It includes music by acknowledged masters, and moments of brilliance by unsung figures known to us from just one or two recordings. It is the jazz music of America in the age of civil rights, brutal repression, political assassination and war; a music that would guarantee the survival of the spiritual dimension in a society that was angry and traumatized, but nevertheless had seen hope of better days to come. Soul jazz; Black jazz; Spiritual jazz. Features James Tatum Trio Plus, Lloyd Miller, Morris Wilson Beau Bailey Quintet, Mor Thiam, Ndikho Xaba & The Natives, The Positive Force with Ade Olatunji, Salah Ragab and The Cairo Jazz Band, The Frank Derrick Total Experience, Hastings Street Jazz Experience, Ronnie Boykins, Leon Gardner, and Ohio Penitentiary 511 Jazz Ensemble.
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2LP
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KKM 003LP
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"Recorded in 2000 with essentially the same team as Shades of Bey and River Man and a similar variety of tunes and textures. It includes covers of two Milton Nascimento classics ('Bridges' and 'Saidas e Bandeiras'), a cover of 'Fragile' (by Sting) and standards such as 'I'll Remember April', 'Just Friends' (with strings), 'Invitation' and 'Little Girl Blue', as well as the sultry original 'Tuesdays In Chinatown'. This is Andy Bey in fine form, and includes performances by Ron Carter, Geri Allen, Mino Cinelu and Steve Turre. First time on vinyl."
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LP
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TROST 190LP
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LP version. A long desire of extraordinaire saxophone player Peter Brötzmann was a studio recording of some of his favorite jazz tunes and his own music -- a grand bridge over the music important for his life and his musical career in the past and present. Trost invited him to Martin Siewert's studio in Vienna to do so in summer 2018. The result is intense, beautiful and touching. Features compositions by Harry Barris/Gordon Clifford, Sigmund Romberg/Oscar Hammerstein II, Herbie Nichols, Dizzy Gillespie, George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin, and Sonny Rollins. Personnel: Peter Brötzmann - tenor saxophone. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Martin Siewert. Liner notes and artwork by Peter Brötzmann.
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2LP
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ROKU 022LP
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أحمد [Ahmed] -- the quartet of Pat Thomas, Antonin Gerbal, Joel Grip, and Seymour Wright -- make music of heavy rhythm, repetition, and syncopation set deep into an understanding of jazz and the obscure depths of its history. Across the two LPs which make up Super Majnoon [East Meets West] the group work and rework the music of the late musician Ahmed Abdul-Malik to create a stamping, swinging, relentlessly propulsive record where profundity and physicality root right back to ecstatic feeling. Abdul-Malik was a NYC bassist, oudist, composer, educator, and philosopher who fused aspects of American, Arabic, and East African thought, ethics, meanings, and beliefs in open and experimental ways to make vital, forward leaning jazz. [Ahmed] reimagine the notes of Malik as they push for the trajectory of free jazz to emerge from the clichés and cloy neo-classicisms of current "improvised music". Melodies respirate, swell, escalate, and combust in a driving jazz which yes is technical, yes is accomplished, but ultimately just foot-to-the-floor swings. Super Majnoon [East Meets West] is a title fused from the leader of the Master Musicians of Jajouka Bechir Attar's description of [Ahmed] after hearing them in Switzerland last year (Majnoon is the Arabic slang for "crazy"), and Abdul-Malik's 1959 album East Meets West. Arriving as a double-LP, the first comprises studio recordings of [Ahmed] at Hong Kong's Empty Gallery in 2018 and the second a scorched live recording at OTO from August 2018. The record features photos by Bert Glinn and Taku Unami and "in and out" liner notes by James G. Spady -- historian and journalist from Philadelphia. "When a musician plays, he should paint a picture," said Malik, "he should portray wind, movement, war, the universe -- and after he finishes, he should be able to repeat in words what he has just said in music. The Man I Love -- things have all been said before -- over and over again. The reason people don't come to concerts is that they're used to the sounds." To guard against this "stagnation", said Malik, jazz must branch out, experiment, fight the inbreeding that is now its wont. Musicians must stop looking inward, and instead, open their eyes to the imaginations of other cultures. Malik interviewed by Bob Gannon in Metronome 1958. [Ahmed] is: Pat Thomas - piano; Antonin Gerbal - drums; Joel Grip - bass; Seymour Wright - alto saxophone. Presented in a stunning gatefold sleeve.
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2LP
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HJR 214LP
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For the 1983 edition of Company Week held at London's I.C.A. in May of that year, guitarist Derek Bailey once more invited a typically eclectic collection of guests. Cellist Ernst Reijseger is a mainstay of Dutch new jazz (ICP Orchestra, Clusone Trio...), American wind virtuoso J.D.Parran a veteran of the Black Artists' Group and Anthony Davis and Anthony Braxton ensembles, while saxophonists Evan Parker and Peter Brötzmann, as titans of European free improvisation, need no introduction. French bassist/vocalist Joëlle Léandre is equally at home playing free or performing works by Cage and Scelsi, while Vinko Globokar is an acclaimed composer as well as a trombonist of monstrous virtuosity. He and British electronics pioneer Hugh Davies served time with Karlheinz Stockhausen, and before a brief stint with Robert Fripp's King Crimson, percussionist Jamie Muir was, with Davies, on the very first (Music Improvisation) Company outing in 1970. Bailey once described playing solo as a "second-rate activity"; while at the other end of the spectrum, large improvising ensembles can, if they're not careful, descend into the musical equivalent of a rugby scrum: dangerous, but thrilling -- listen to what happens when Brötzmann comes barreling into the final track here. Sometimes one instrument takes center stage, as Parker's circular-breathing soprano does at the beginning of "Trio Five", but knowing when to lie low, as he does in the brief austere "Trio Three", is just as crucial to the success of the whole. Muir makes sure he doesn't get in the way of Globokar and Parran's leisurely exchanges on "Trio Four", but the trombonist is all over the place on "Trio One" -- transcribe what Globokar does here and it might be the most difficult trombone music ever written -- with Léandre racing up and down her bass and Davies all spikes, squeaks and squiggles, after which "Trio Two" is a lighter affair, Parran's flute and Léandre's vocals twittering together while Derek's acoustic twangs merrily along. With a touch of dry Bailey humor, two of the seven tracks aren't trios at all: "Trio Minus One" is his duo with Reijseger, running the gamut from crazed polyrhythmic strumming (imagine Reinhardt and Grappelli playing Schoenberg and Nancarrow simultaneously) to what must be the fastest cello pizzicati ever recorded. And on the closing ecstatic nonet, Brötzmann and trumpeter John Corbett prove that too many cooks don't necessarily spoil the broth but sure as hell spice it up.
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2LP
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JMAN 117LP
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Double LP version. Gatefold sleeve with comprehensive liner notes and pics. Subtitled: Esoteric, Modal and Deep Jazz from Prestige Records, 1961-73. The tenth edition of Jazzman Records Spiritual Jazz series takes a closer look at the music Prestige was recording at the start of the 1960s. This was the period when the modal jazz sound pioneered by Miles and Coltrane was starting to percolate through the jazz underground. In its heyday, Prestige was the only jazz label that could hold a candle to Blue Note. Prestige was always quick off the mark to record new artists, and in the years after Kind of Blue (1959) the label was quick to release some of the most innovative early explorers of the new style. Founded as New Jazz in 1949 by 20-year old jazz fan and entrepreneur Bob Weinstock, Prestige was the only other imprint besides Blue Note to capture the iconic jazz sounds of the 1950s, and like its rival it grew to be an icon itself. If Blue Note documented the sound of hard bop in its most carefully crafted and beautifully presented form, the low-key, jam-session approach that Weinstock preferred meant that the music captured by Prestige has a tough, unfiltered energy that was a lot closer to way it was being played live, night after night, by New York's most prominent jazz musicians. Featuring Afro-Eastern visions from Yusef Lateef and Ahmed Abdul-Malik, deep modal excursions from Mal Waldron and Walt Dickerson, and essential spiritual jazz grooves from Gary Bartz and Idris Muhammed, Spiritual Jazz 10 documents the sound of modal jazz in full flight, unabashed and authentic from the pioneers! Also features Roy Haynes, Latin Jazz Quintet, and Moondog.
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LP
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NA 5183LP
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"Born in 1938, and raised in Glendale, California, Lloyd Miller has had one of the most unusual careers in all of jazz. By age 12 he had declared an intent to make his living as a jazz musician, and by high school he had already begun to experiment, shunning swing music's mechanical perfection, and chafing at his parents' desire for him to nurture his talents with formal training. This tumultous relationship with his parents would eventually lead to a stint in a psychatric hospital, before reuniting with them in moving to Iran, his father having accepted a job working for the Shah. Stops in Hong Kong, Japan and Pakistan on the way to Iran deepened Miller's connection to other cultures he'd first felt while listening to old world music compilations. He felt a definite calm and peace, an immense respect from everyone towards everyone else, and immersed himself in other cultures and languages immediately. Miller spent a year in Iran with his family, picking up Farsi after a few short months, and steadily gaining more and more of an appreciation for how deep the roots of Persian art run. However, still committed to his decision forge a career in jazz, Lloyd left Tehran in 1958 to head to Europe to see if he could make a living from jazz music. Miller kicked around the continent, first in Germany, then in Switzerland, Sweden and Brussels. He collaborated and performed alongside 60s jazz legend Jef Gilson, and experimented with exotic instrumentation before returning to America to resume his studies at Brigham Young University in Utah. In the years following his stint with Gilson, Miller had become more and more disillusioned with both modern music and modern society, which had ashewed jazz for rock music, which he detested. In Miller's conception, for a music to have value it had to have a deep connection to a tradition, specifically connecting jazz to African lore. To Miller, something like 'Tuareg African music is blues, just with no chord changes.' Oriental Jazz was recorded, compiled and self-released in 1968 while Miller was studying at Brigham Young. The record, originally pressed in a quantity of 300 copies, sought to combine a cool, modal style with the exotic arrays of instruments and styles that Miller had picked up during his travels. Miller included songs he'd cut with Gilson in his Parisian studio years before, and a solo piano piece that he recorded in one of the school's practice rooms. Despite Lloyd's professed aversion to modernity, there nevertheless is something strikingly new sounding about this music, which fits together in startling juxtapositions. Traces of Bill Evans, Stan Getz and Jimmy Giuffre rub shoulders with Persian santur, Arab oud and Turkish saz music. Copies of Oriental Jazz languished in Miller's home for years after numerous failed bids for record contracts, before finally ending up in the hands of record collectors decades later. After its release however, he would find a second life after returning to Iran, doing field recordings, and eventually hosting a weekly television show that programmed both American jazz and the best traditional Persian musicians he could find. It was not to last however, as he abruptly abandoned the country to return to the US in the late 1970s, predicting the arrival of the Islamic Revolution."
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LP
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TROST 194LP
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For the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the legendary Machine Gun recordings at the Lila Eule in Bremen, Peter Brötzmann put together a trio with the Berlin pianist, composer Alexander von Schlippenbach and the percussionist Han Bennink, who already sat on the drums 50 years ago. They were so pleased with the music that they decided to release it and continue to play gigs as the trio. Machine Gun was originally recorded in May 1968 by an octet consisting of influential musicians of new jazz and improvised music. The LP was repressed on Cien Fuegos in 2018 (CF 020LP). Personnel: Peter Brötzmann - tenor saxophone, b-flat clarinet, tarogato; Alexander von Schlippenbach - piano; Han Bennink - drums.
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CD
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JMAN 116CD
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Linking the ancient and the modern across time and space, the Sokratis Votskos Quartet presents Sketching the Unknown -- a modern jazz journey into the folk and modal music of ancient Greece. Playing rich original compositions, the quartet draw freely on Greek and Balkan folk sources, jazz idioms, and the classical makams of the near East. Returning to ancient Greek modes such as Dorian, Phrygian, and Lydian, a fresh perspective is brought to the modal style that was popularized by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. Expertly versed in musical theory, the pioneering jazz players that adapted these modes for the new jazz of the late 1950s and 1960s worked in full knowledge of their ancient Greek historical origins. The musical freedom offered by these ancient scales helped them take their music to a higher level as they laid the groundwork for the spiritual moment in jazz. On Sketching the Unknown, the Sokratis Votskos Quartet brings that process full circle, linking today's jazz back to the ancient modes and microtonal folk music of Greece and the Near East. Deep modal jazz sounds from an ancient source.
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LP
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JMAN 116LP
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LP version. Linking the ancient and the modern across time and space, the Sokratis Votskos Quartet presents Sketching the Unknown -- a modern jazz journey into the folk and modal music of ancient Greece. Playing rich original compositions, the quartet draw freely on Greek and Balkan folk sources, jazz idioms, and the classical makams of the near East. Returning to ancient Greek modes such as Dorian, Phrygian, and Lydian, a fresh perspective is brought to the modal style that was popularized by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. Expertly versed in musical theory, the pioneering jazz players that adapted these modes for the new jazz of the late 1950s and 1960s worked in full knowledge of their ancient Greek historical origins. The musical freedom offered by these ancient scales helped them take their music to a higher level as they laid the groundwork for the spiritual moment in jazz. On Sketching the Unknown, the Sokratis Votskos Quartet brings that process full circle, linking today's jazz back to the ancient modes and microtonal folk music of Greece and the Near East. Deep modal jazz sounds from an ancient source.
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