Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Two mountains, three meditations, and three murmurations, interwoven in dynamic duo performance, presented in order of emergence at the time of the music’s making. Tromans and Sanders have worked together on a number of projects in the last decade, including Tromans’ Birmingham-Chicago Improvisers’ Ensemble (as featured on BBC Radio 3) and Sid Peacock’s acclaimed Surge Orchestra, but this is the first time they have recorded together in a duo setting. The session was suggested by Sanders in earl…

Conducted by Mats Gustafsson for two 9 piece chamber ensembles, 4 soloists, tape machine, turntable. Recorded at the Avant Art festival, Warsaw, Poland, 2022. The monumental composition for 27 musicians by Swedish saxophonist, improviser and composer Mats Gustafsson is an in-depth exploration and continuation of the previous piece Hidros o.T. (2019), commissioned by NyMusikk Trondheim, inspired by the mirrored forms and visual structures of artist Mathias Pöschl. Controlling 3 different groups o…

'The initial idea behind Ensemble E was to combine traditions of Contemporary Music, Noise, Improvised music, Free Jazz and other experimental music fields and traditions with the deeper music traditions. This is deeper research of traditional and non-traditional ways of expressing folk music of Scandinavia, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine and more. Much more. By putting them next to each other/ on top of each other/ inside of each other. Creating new ways. The instrumentation of Ensemble E is spectac…

Mind altering quartertone trumpet experiments from one of the world's most highly regarded and idiosyncratic players.

A celestial journey is just what Sun Ra and his Arkestra have created with Space is the Place. Sun Ra's opus is at its simplest, a trip through outer bound melodies! Planetary bodies, eras in time, crystals, space caravans

180 gram audiophile. Secrets is a jazz-funk album by keyboard player Herbie Hancock. It is also Hancock's seventeenth album overall. Participating musicians include saxophonist Bennie Maupin and guitarist Wah Wah Watson. The album clearly followed from its predecessor Man-Child. As ever, Paul Jackson's basslines were critical, and the other regular member Bennie Maupin continued to provide most of the solos alongside Hancock. Man-Child had seen the addition of electric guitar to Hancock's sound,…

A never-before released Donald Byrd & Bobby Jaspar 1958 studio recordings. First official release with the full permission and cooperation INA (Institut National de l’Audiovisuel). Available on vinyl only. No CD, No Digital is scheduled.In July 1958, Donald Byrd made a lengthy visit to Europe, not returning Stateside until December. He fronted a fine quintet that gave concert appearances at festivals held in many countries, Knokke-le-Zoute (Belgium), Cannes (France), Sweden, Norway, Germany – an…

European fusion at its best ! Philip Catherine has been on the forefront of the European jazz scene since the sixties, working with the likes Chet Baker, Larry Coryell, Tom Harrell, NHOP, Stéphane Grappelli, Charles Mingus. At the age of 18 he toured Europe with Lou Bennett and in 1971 Jean-Luc Ponty asked him to join his quintet. In 1971 he made his first record under his name - Stream – with a stellar line-up comprised of Freddie Deronde (bass), Frédéric Rottier (Drums), Giggs Whigham (trombon…

The magnificent Indo-Jazz suite by The Joe Harriott Double Quintet Under The Direction Of John Mayer.  Features Kenny Wheeler on trumpet, band leader Joe Harriott on alto saxophone, sitar player Diwan Motihar and more. On Indo-Jazz Suite's release in 1966 its four tracks – ‘Overture’, ‘Contrasts’, ‘Raga Megha’ and ‘Raga Gaud-Saranga’ – freeze-framed something in Indo-jazz fusion that was unique to Britain. The States may have had ‘happening’ notables like Don Ellis but never a John Mayer or a Jo…

'Tapestry: Koto' is a 3-album series produced by Nippon Columbia in the mid-1970s dedicated to one of the main instruments of Japanese traditional music: Koto. The beauty of the trilogy curated by composer Kiyoshi Yamaya, whose chapters are respectively dedicated to Sea, Hillside and Country, lies in the fact that they are a modern translation of tradition using newer and more avant-garde sound idioms, integrating the koto with jazz musicians. An original mix, a 'crossover’ that allows for the a…

Adroit jazz guitar, prog rock fantasia, and Japanese environmental music all rest comfortably behind Leo Takami's Next Door. The follow up to the acclaimed Felis Catus & Silence, Next Door finds Takami ruminating on passages — of time, seasons, consciousness. Through music, Leo contemplates daily events and finds beauty in ordinary moments. He also seems to be questioning the value of being stuck in the world, allowing his mind to wander towards something beyond it. His music is earnest, deeply …

All of You is a live album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal featuring performances recorded at Jamal's own club in Chicago in 1961 and released originally on the Argo label. Jamal's group had a personal sound of its own, often playing quietly and leaving space but never losing the passion. These versions of "Time on My Hands," "Star Eyes" and "All of You" in particular are well worth hearing. On the cover, photographed by Don Bronstein, one of the first staff photographers for Playboy magazi…

'Mention of Motian and LaFaro brings us to this disc, perhaps belatedly. But other  than observing that the music is presented here following immaculate and unprecedented  sound restoration, what more needs to be said about it? What more, usefully, can be said? The performances are as close to perfection as makes no difference, and as close to  immortality, too, and if you are still reading thesenotes, you will not need to be told why.' – Chris May Executive producer’s notes: 'Once you start to …

Two long-lost recordings from Marc Moulin's Placebo band, and it's earliest incarnation, Kiosk. Debuting unreleased outtakes from Placebo's second album, '1973', and the first ever official reissue of the proto-Placebo single by Kiosk. Originally pressed in tiny numbers in 1970 as a promotional release for Moulin's Sunday night radio show, Dimanche Musique, at RTB, Brussels. Taken from the only existing mastertapes, just recently resurfaced!

*300 copies limited edition* Two long-lost recordings from Marc Moulin's Placebo band, and it's earliest incarnation, Kiosk. Debuting unreleased outtakes from Placebo's second album, '1973', and the first ever official reissue of the proto-Placebo single by Kiosk. Originally pressed in tiny numbers in 1970 as a promotional release for Moulin's Sunday night radio show, Dimanche Musique, at RTB, Brussels. Taken from the only existing mastertapes, just recently resurfaced!

Musician Paul Flaherty believes that the difference between pre-composed music and free-form improvisational music is a bifurcation of the mind, “The logical mind is reduced to a witness during free playing and the emotional mind is fully released.” Free from concept, outline or even leadership, the music is a free-form experience. This is realized on the newest release from Paul Flaherty (Tenor sax, alto sax) and his long-time collaborators Jim Matus (Electric guitar, Baritone guitar) and Larry…

Collaborations are unique to their combinations, producing totally original and innovative ideas with the addition of a single factor. In this case, legendary musicians and 577 mainstays join together in this unique arrangement for the first time, allowing for yet another reinvention. Saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, pianist Leo Genovese, bassist William Parker (also playing Gralla and Shakuhachi on this album), and drummer and vocalist Francisco Mela, unite for another impro…

Abstraction, with feeling. Saxophonist Paul Dunmall, a veteran experimental jazz musician, was feeling drawn to vitality. He wanted to organize a group of musicians that were driven by an underlying pulse and a central energy, beyond the abstract improvisations he had been familiar with for years. He had always appreciated jazz that had a driving, uplifting energy, and organized this quartet, inspired by these musicians’ previous improvisational performances. Alongside guitarist Steven Saunders,…

What does it sound like to be a working artist? Here, flutist Joe Melnicove, joined by his mentor, saxophonist George Garzone, drummer Billy Hart and bassist Ben Street, tries to convey it. ‘You is You’ is inspired by a spirit of radical self-acceptance and self-knowledge, from a single melody he composed at home in Rosh Pinna, Israel. Recorded in New York, the songs have clear allusions to the experience of being musicians. Tracks like “Monday Night” and “No Applause” invoke the experience of a…

*2023 stock* 'The chief attraction of this album is an almost 50 minute, previously unreleased solo performance by Taylor given at New York University in November 1976 as part of the Bösendorfer Festival, a benefit series for the Kitchen performance centre. His previous solo recital that year had been in August at Moosham Castle in the Lungau region of Salzburg during an open-air festival, subsequently released as Air Above Mountains (Buildings Within) (Enja, 1977). Taylor had come across a Böse…

*2023 stock* In 1973, Indent marked a new direction for one of the founders and masters of what was to be called »free jazz«; yet it turned out to have defined styles and highly sophisticated rules of its own. It was radically new and initially difficult to tune into for some. Cecil Taylor was composing in fractions of seconds. He was free to decide what to compose but in the end intelligent structures can be perceived with a multitude of »cells« being introduced, developed and layered one upon …

*2023 stock* 'If you had to pick three architects of modern jazz piano, you could just about cover everything with Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor. Despite his phenomenal talent, Taylor may have seemed like the lesser influence at first, as most of his followers were relegated to the avant-garde end of things, but over the years his influence has grown and these days you are liable to hear Taylor type assaults on the piano from guys like Craig Taborn, Jason Moran or others, while they p…

*2023 stock* In the life of every artist comes the time when toward the end of his existence, he will create a monument to his ever-lasting artistic efforts. It is the Swan-Song for which he wishes to remain being known; for centuries, this has crossed the borderlines between cultures and arts. Poschiavo was recorded when Cecil Taylor was sixty-nine years old, very much at the height of his musical and poetic powers. Recorded in Europe on a fine Bösendorfer grand piano in perfect digital clarity…

American pianist and composer Joanne Brackeen has been called the "Picasso of jazz piano" for her unique style and complex improvisations. Her work is at the forefront of what avant-garde jazz can be and she has long been one of the giants of modal, post-pop piano. Snooze from 1975 is Brackeen's extraordinary debut album. Featuring four outstanding Brackeen compositions, along with her take on Wayne Shorter's "Nefertiti," Miles Davis' "Circles," and the standard "Old Devil Moon." A child prodigy…

Sowing Records present a reissue of Lee Morgan's City Lights, originally released on Blue Note in 1957. City Lights is the result of a fine session recorded at the legendary Rudi Van Gelder studio by an all-star sextet featuring the 19 years old trumpet genius Lee Morgan plus an impressive coalition of jazz stylists such as Curtis Fuller on trombone, George Coleman on tenor sax, Ray Bryant on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. All great players caught here in top form while d…

New from Strut, a fresh reissue of the classic debut album Try And Love from one of Nigeria’s most celebrated Afro-rock bands, Ofege. Formed by guitarist Melvin Ukachi and bassist Paul Alade while young students at St Gregory’s school in Lagos, Ofege first found their feet borrowing instruments and supporting school band The Groove Makers. Discovering drummer Mike Meme by chance at a school dance and adding Dapo Olumide on keys and Felix Inneh on rhythm guitar, they met EMI’s resident producer /…

Big Tip! LP version. Includes 20-page booklet. France, early sixties: the Mouvement de l'École moderne is in full bloom. Relying on the experiments and writings of its founder, the educationist Célestin Freinet, this consortium of teachers is about to give empirical evidence proving that another approach to music in school can be fruitful. With its pragmatic, anti-authoritarian tack, the method that Freinet was already developing in the 1920s held children in respect, giving them confidence and …

Ancient Africa represents Nat Birchall’s official follow-up to last year’s universally acclaimed Mysticism of Sound. Nat once again plays all the instruments here, tenor and soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, bass, drums and percussion. But this time around the Korg synth is replaced by piano as Nat wanted to utilise a more “classic” Jazz sound to express his musical visions. He has also arranged the songs for multiple horns, with melodies and harmonies played by up to five different instruments …

2023 much-need repress. Nat Birchall continues apace with his “one-semble” recording projects, this album being the fourth one to feature only Nat himself playing all the instruments. The Infinite presents seven original compositions loosely based around various mystical aspects of the universe. The recording demonstrates Nat’s belief in the music having its own life outside of any human input, and also that it has its own laws and innate sense of balance and form, as does the universe itself. A…

Red Vinyl Edition. In the 1970s, Betty Davis defied genre and gender by pushing her voice to extremes and embracing the erotic. She articulated a kind of pre-punk, funk-blues fusion that had yet to be normalized in mainstream music – a style that few musicians have come close to replicating. As one of the first Black women to write, arrange, and produce her own albums, Betty was a visionary who disregarded industry boundaries and constraints. Raw, unapologetic and in full control, Betty paved th…

Bomb! Black Vinyl edition. One can hardly imagine the genre-busting, culture-crossing musical magic of Outkast, Prince, Erykah Badu, Rick James, The Roots, or even the early Red Hot Chili Peppers without the influence of R&B pioneer Betty Davis. Her style of raw and revelatory punk-funk defies any notions that women can’t be visionaries in the worlds of rock and pop. In recent years, rappers from Ice Cube to Talib Kweli to Ludacris have rhymed over her intensely strong but sensual music. There i…

Bottle Clear Vinyl Edition. Betty Davis was a musical maverick with vision. Image, substance, sex, and grit combined with a badass band that could deliver the funk bed backbone to the sultry music between the sheets. After cutting two notorious discs for the Just Sunshine label (Betty Davis, and They Say I’m Different), and Nasty Gal for Island Records, Davis went to work on her most personal and expressive record yet. After capturing 10 hard-hitting tracks in 1976 at the remote Studio In The Co…

Gold Vinyl. Betty Davis was a musical maverick with vision. Image, substance, sex, and grit combined with a badass band that could deliver the funk bed backbone to the sultry music between the sheets. After cutting two notorious discs for the Just Sunshine label (Betty Davis, and They Say I’m Different), and Nasty Gal for Island Records, Davis went to work on her most personal and expressive record yet. After capturing 10 hard-hitting tracks in 1976 at the remote Studio In The Country (Louisiana…

*2023 repress* Caz Plak İstanbul proudly presents Okay Temiz's Oriental Wind - Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 1982 LP. A fantastic cocktail of Turkish Jazz which has unique rhythm sections like 9/8 , 7/8 , Anatolian Rock and Funk. Okay Temiz perfectly demonstrates the immersive layers of Turkish music. Never before released until now, a Turkish Jazz Magnum Opus is unearthed in collaboration between Istanbul-based Caz Plak and Montreux Jazz Festival. The performance by Okay Temiz's "Oriental Wind…

Deluxe 2CD boxset with 70-page booklet. Alongside a remastered version of Pharoah, his seminal record from 1977, are two previously unreleased live performances of his masterpiece, “Harvest Time.” Includes a 24-page booklet with rarely seen photographs and ephemera, as well as interviews with many of the participants and a conversation with Pharoah himself.  With Pharoah Sanders’ blessing, we present the definitive, remastered version of  Pharoah, his seminal record from 1977, in an embossed 2 L…

Back in 2021, we bore witness to the reissue, by Dialogo, of the Rome based ensemble Spirale’s lone 1974 self-titled LP, a towering obscurity of 1970s Italian jazz. Made of up Gaetano Delfini (wind instruments, vocals, percussion), Giancarlo Maurino (saxophone, flute, percussion), Corrado Nofri (piano, marimba, mbira, siren, Jew’s harp), Giuseppe Caporello (contrabass, guitar, percussion) and Giampaolo Ascolese (drums), the band ranks among the most sinfully neglected outfits of its moment, 1970…

A pioneer of bebop, Max Roach went on to work on many other styles of music and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history having worked with such musicians as Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz and more! A seminal set, stretching out towards the directions Max would explore fully on the Candid, Impulse, and Fantasy labels in the 60s. Group members include Booker Little on trumpet, George Coleman on tenor, Ray Dr…

Reissue, originally released in 1961. The West Indian-born alto saxophonist Joe Harriott was one of the most convincing boppers outside of the USA, though by the end of the 1950s he was exploring freer musical pastures, and the quintet with which he undertook the exploration was an outgrowth of the hard bop band with which he'd made a name on the British scene. Often in the past the group's music, in which trumpet and flugelhorn player Shake Keane figured alongside Harriott in the front line, ha…

Temporary offer. Flutist Prince Lasha and alto saxophonist Sonny Simmons were one of the great teams in the "New Thing" era. Recorded in New York in May 1963 these early studio sessions feature great contributions from trumpeter Don Cherry and tenor sax giant Clifford Jordan, plus the rhythm section of Orville Harrison and Bill Wood on bass, Charles Moffett on drums, and producer Fred Lyman on flugelhorn. This is a great snapshot of the NYC music scene in the 60's, when a bunch of young, creativ…

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Studio Songs! Popular titles that have been out of stock for a long time are being reissued at mid-price. The first title is the miraculous duo of Togashi and Takayanagi. Although the album is only 35 minutes and 50 seconds long, the tense improvisation on this masterpiece has captivated many free jazz fans. Masahiko Togashi/percussion, Masayuki Takayanagi/guitar Recorded: September 29, 1984 at Nagoya Far Out