Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

* 1979 Very Rare Private Hawaii Spiritual Jazz Funk First Ever Worldwide Vinyl Reissue * This exclusive Jazz-Fusion album is a work composed by famous Hawaiian composer/musician/educator Gary Washburn. "A Life in a Day" was a project to fulfil a National Endowment of the Arts grant that he was awarded, and he performed to fulfil a State Foundation grant that was also awarded to him. Gary composed the music in Hilo specifically for the individuals who performed the music (in the same way that Duk…

One of the most uncompromising free jazz records ever made, this one-off improvisation by a group of Dutch players, led by percussionist Pierre Courbois, is an archetype of the style

* 2021 Repress * Troupeau Bleu is the 1st and most famous album which had been recorded by the French Jazz-Funk band legend, Cortex. The obscure French jazz group that's been a favorite of grooves collectors for years! Reissued last in 2008 by Underdog Records, it’s now back in stock in a final limited repressing of 500 copies, reissued by Trad Vibe Records under official license from Alain Mion. In 1974, Alain Mion, Alain Gandolfi & Jeff Huttner formed the mythical band, Cortex, who then record…

The closely affiliated Black Saint and Soul Note labels were established in the 1970s by Italian jazz lover Giacomo Pellicciotti, and together they released some of the most forward-thinking jazz recordings on the market during their four decades of independent existence (both labels were acquired by another company in 2008). In 2011, the labels' new owner began releasing a series of budget-priced box sets documenting the complete output of particular artists, each individual disc housed in an L…

CD version. There are few Australian originals in jazz, but vibraphonist Alan Lee surely ranks among the best. Australian jazz is and always will be an interpretation of the American art form, but throughout his long career Lee has ploughed his furrow undaunted; as he puts it, "What I want is the fire! Whether it's John Coltrane's 'Blues Minor' from Africa/Brass or 'Backwater Blues' by Leadbelly, I want the emotion, the gut wrenching pain, the cry from within!" A musician and bandleader who cut …

CD version. The album Premonition is a masterpiece of spiritual jazz, and reflects the spiritual awakening of a natural musical genius, Umlah Sadau Holt. In the 1970s, Holt was involved in all kinds of jazz, reggae, and world music projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over time he absorbed the global rhythms that can only come from extensive involvement with a variety of international musicians, and he integrated them into his own developing ideas of jazz. When his friend Emmanuel Nado return…

**478 page! Texts in English and French ** A polyphonic evocation of the American saxophonist through the testimonies of some forty international musicians. And you, how do you hear him? As we approach the twentieth anniversary of Steve Lacy' death (or the ninetieth anniversary of his birth), Guillaume Tarche asked the question, in English, in French, in Italian, to Steve Adams, Irene Aebi, Guillaume Belhomme, Etienne Brunet, Frank Carlberg, Kent Carter, Andrea Centazzo, Allan Chase, Alvin Curra…

*2021 stock* This album, originally released in 1977, was re-mastered and repackaged in Digifile cardboard format. It includes the original full-color booklet.  Old and New Dreams was a jazz group that existed from 1976 to 1987, and was composed of tenor saxophone player Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden, trumpet player Don Cherry and drummer Ed Blackwell.  A virtual reincarnation of Ornette Coleman's first ensembles, the cooperative Old and New Dreams brought together trumpeter Don Cherry, te…

* Official reissue of one of Argentina's top jazz-rock albums. First vinyl reissue. Top sound mastered from original master tapes. 8-page booklet with previously unpublished pictures and bilingual liner notes (English and Spanish) * It's safe to say that starting a jazz album with a version of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" was quite a daring deed, to say the least. In Argentina — back in 1977. And yet this is something a musician with the career of Jorge Navarro could afford. Navarro belongs to a g…

Saba developed ‘world music’ beyond its jazz label remit, the eclectic ‘Jazz Meets The World’ series brought together artists from Japan, India, Tunisia, Indonesia and Brazil. Producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt travelled to Rio in 1966 to create SABA’s first Brazilian release with a giant of the scene, guitarist Baden Powell. The resulting album, one of Baden’s greatest, bore two deeply rhythmic, spiritual titles found on this 45. ‘Sarava’ is a trance-like ritualistic number designed to whip dancers…

Original created by Roland Kovac’s studio band for an industrial commercial, Hans Georg Brunner Schwer, an admirer of Kovac’s work, released the recordings as a full length SABA album in 1968 under the title ‘Trip To The Mars’. The recording has a sound somewhere between atmospheric soundtrack, library and modal jazz. Sort after for the modal waltz dancer ‘Blue Dance’, presented here in it’s ultimate sonic form – AAA analogue mastered and cut to 45rpm. Side 2’s ‘Milky Way’ is a heady trip mixing…

Another highly collectable Nathan Davis release on SABA, also recorded in 1965, ‘Happy Girl’ has remained unissued on vinyl since the 1960s. The date gathers together another top drawer line-up, with Woody Shaw on Trumpet and Larry Young, the Coltrane of the organ, uniquely found on piano for this session. Jimmy Woode again supports on bass, with a furious Billy Brooks on drums. ‘Theme From Zoltan’, a fierce modal original by Shaw, was recorded by Young the following year on his classic Blue Not…

Nathan Davis recorded ‘The Hip Walk’ in 1965 alongside his school mate, trumpeter Carmell Jones (who a month later went on to record the Song for My Father album with Horace Silver). The quintet is backed by the tightest of rhythm sections: Francy Boland on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. One of the most beautiful, swinging jazz pieces ever captured on tape, ‘Carmell’s Black Forest Waltz’ is presented in all-analogue richness on 45 single format for the first time. On side …

Although considered to be the greatest jazz singer the world has ever known, Mark Murphy remained underground with a cult status. Perhaps the pinnacle of his recording career was Midnight Mood released by SABA in 1968, aligning his unique vocal skills with the Clarke-Boland Octet. With the arrangements of Francy Boland, Kenny Clarke playing offbeats and between-beats, and individualists like Sahib Shihab and Ake Persson, the backing on this date provided a unique dialogue for Murphy. After the l…

Recorded in 1966, Fats Sadi’s ‘Ensadinado’ was his second recording as leader, his first album had been an early Blue Note 10”. Essentially comprising the Clarke-Boland rhythm section, with Sadi on vibes, Francy Boland on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums, this 45 features the two standout tracks from this rare SABA LP, which remains unissued on vinyl since its release in 1966. ‘Ensadinado’ finds the quartet playing a latin oriented title penned by Jimmy Woode. Boland’s ‘Night…

Christmas album by The Respect Sextet, with pieces by Misha Mengelberg, Thelonious Monk, Sun Ra, Frank Loesser, Robbie Robertson and Loudon Wainwright III, and guests JACK String Quartet, Ensemble Signal and guitarist Marco Cappelli.

* Edition of 100 * While working on a filmmusic job, Bjorn Eriksson started to fool around with a philharmonic orchestra plugin, and created his own crazy jazz combo. Music Iinfluenced by his heroes Django Reinhardt, Eric Dolphy, Duke Ellington, Raymond Scott, Ennio Morricone, Universe Zero and many others. This collection of compositions could be a soundtrack for a East European saga or a French strange  detective serie.  Although The Easywood KIller is a solo project, there will be a live grou…

Live DVD of Trio PAJ, formed in 2007 by percussionist Roland Auzet, Pierre Jodlowski and Michel Portal, recorded at the Grenoble Jazz Festival in 2010 and exploring jazz, improvisation and electronic music.

Ten improvised duets recorded in June 2006 by Joe McPhee on pocket trumpet and alto saxophone and Montreal drummer and painter John Heward on drums, kalimba and percussion.

Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone and percussionist John Heward in a single long improvisation recorded live in Montreal on 20 June 2003, one of Lacy's last recordings, ending with a tribute to Oliver Johnson.

** 2021 Stock ** Following in the footsteps of the landmark 1966 double-quartet recording by Joe Harriott and John Mayer, Indian born musician Amancio D’Silva produced some of the most adventurous and sophisticated recordings within the canon of ‘indo-jazz’, a term used to define a pioneering east meets west synthesis that reflected the shifting musical and cultural landscape of post-war Britain. An experiment which reached a pinnacle in 1972 with D’Silva’s seminal recording Dream Sequence by Co…

** 2021 Stock ** Two outstanding performers, Carlos Santana and Alice Coltrane, collaborated to record their fantastic trip through time called Illuminations. Santana's interest in the Indian culture and different musical styles led him to the musician Alice Coltrane.

Gabor Szabo's Faces, recorded for Mercury in 1977, is a distinctly jazz-fusion album. It was produced by trombonist and former Crusaders member Wayne Henderson, with the rhythm section coming from the soul-jazz-funk band Pleasure, with whom Henderson was working for the Fantasy label at the time. Built on gripping rough funk grooves, the music leaves plenty of room for Szabó's elegant guitar lines and meticulously constructed solos. The album, which was rather neglected when it was released, can…

Vocalion presents Hum Dono by Joe Harriott & Amancio D'Silva Quartet. The combination of a Jamaican sax player and an Indian jazz guitarist getting together with a UK jazz elite in its hay day could be the stoned out fantasy. It’s also a music and cultural melting pot making up a real lost treasure in jazz music. Fantasy meeting reality. Recorded at Lansdowne Studios, London, February & March 1969. A&R – Michael J. Dutton, Oliver Lomax. Alto Saxophone – Joe Harriott. Bass – Dave Green (tracks: 1…

One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher.

One of the iconic and enduring music leaders to emerge in the world over the last half century, William Parker continues to raise the bar higher.

Avant-garde jazz drummer Rashied Ali played with John Coltrane up until his death in 1967, appearing on final recordings like The Olatunji Concert and Interstellar Space. After Coltrane's death, Ali soon formed his own quartet, with Fred Simmons on piano, Stafford James on bass violin and Carlos Ward on alto sax and flute. The quartet's first release, New Directions In Modern Music, released on Ali's own Survival Records in 1973, exploded onto the free jazz scene, influencing the likes of Don Ch…

** First pressing of 200 with artwork by Tiny Little Hammers ** Astral Spirits presents Unity in Isolation by Landon Caldwell & Nick Yeck-Stauffer. Crazy Doberman were holed up at A-Space in Indianapolis for their Illusory Expansion sessions, an amorphous span of organic and guided jams punctuated by smoke breaks, meals, and sleep. Players came in and went, sometimes in the middle of jams. I had never met Nick before. Most everyone went outside to smoke and give their ears a rest. I was sitting …

** Edition of 150 copies ** This is a compilation of segments from 6 different recordings throughout the U.S. and Greece including: a trio with Amy Denio and Samantha Boshnack at the Good Shepherd Chapel in Seattle, part of the Wayward Series; a duo with Seetha Shivaswamy in Austin for NMASS; a trio at the BopStop in Cleveland with Mat Weisman and Rick Kodramaz; a duo with Djallo Djakate in Djallo’s studio in Detroit; a hand percussion duo with Jason Finkelman in Allen Hall at the University of …

** First pressing of 250 copies on aqua blue cassette shells with artwork by Jaime Zuverza ** Wicken and Debden are tributaries of the River Cam, North Essex and the inspiration for this music. These systems were written by Jack Cooper. The music was arranged, recorded and performed by Jeff Tobias and Jack Cooper. Additional mixing and mastering by Ed Deegan at Gizzard Recording, London. Artwork and layout by Jaime Zuverza.

** First pressing of 500 glass mastered CD's ** Astral Spirits presents Traantjes by Orquesta del Tiempo Perdido. All music composed and produced by Jeroen Kimman. Mixed and mastered by Sandor Caron at Poesco Studio. Initial rhythm section recording on March 10 2020 at Studio De Zoete Inval by Jasper Schonewille. Editing and additional recording at Nananananineteen Studios. Further additional recording all over the place, corona-proof, emailed. Thank you Marksk, Nate, Sambo, Sjeng, Oona, LoÏe, H…

** First pressing glass mastered edition of 500 copies. Cinderblocks, safety glass, enfolded glass etched with text ** “Often, when finding titles for improvised music I go through poetry that I feel might have some relation to the way the music turned out. I look for two or three word phrases that capture something related. I think of this as “consulting a professional” when it comes to titles. When it came time for these titles, I found myself reaching for Fred Moten’s fantastic book “The Feel…

Teranga Beat proudly presents the drummer-composer Yannis Angelopoulos, aka Jan Van and his last project "Streams". A well known musician in the Athens jazz scene, accompanied by three fellow musicians, he created an album with a tough background story. Jan Van started as a drummer in clubs playing popular greek music (laïka) even before he was 18, a typical first step for a musician in Greece. In this way he experienced the underground and in fact the surrealistic atmosphere of the laïka greek …

** 2021 Stock ** Teranga Beat proudly presents Vol.2 of Kyriakos Sfetsas' 1976 "Greek Fusion Orchestra" project. Sfetsas' vision behind the formation of GFO, was to create a piece of work that would expand the boundaries of Greek traditional music. The result was a Progressive-Jazz Fusion masterpiece comprising complex and intriguing compositions, performed by Athens' best musicians of the day. Following the success of Vol.1, Vol.2 is a compilation of musical pieces Sfetsas recorded with the gro…

We’re excitWe’re excited to be launching a new release series: “Melodies Record Club”, a string of DJ and Artist curated mini compilations in loud 12” format! The first instalment was put together by Four Tet, selecting two big peak-time Jazz tracks he used to spin regularly at Plastic People. On one side, we’ve got all time jazz greats Jackie McLean and Michael Carvin’s De I Comahlee Ah, taken from their seminal album Antiquity recorded in Denmark back in 1975. A year and a half ago, we visited…

* Special 10th anniversary edition comes in tip-on gatefold sleeve with cover art in bronze, including archive pics & new liners. 180 gram vinyl; includes download card. * Recorded in Sweden, Dark is the Sun is a concept album based on themes and variations by British pianist/composer/arranger Greg Foat, who has created an intriguing blend of non-contemporary jazz sounds with classic scoring techniques. An exotic array of unorthodox instrumentation was utilized, including harpsichord, tubular be…

LP version. 180 gram vinyl; tip-on sleeve. Taking cues from Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane at their most delicate, renowned Welsh harpist Amanda Whiting's mesmerizing Jazzman full-length After Dark arrives as soft as moonlight to gladden the soul and delight the ear -- without forgetting to bring the swing. Summoning the nocturnal mood suggested by the album's title, Whiting's harp flows and cascades, dances and alights, broods and haunts, informed by a deep understanding of both classical and…

** Limited edition, individually numbered copies on transparent blue vinyl ** Hans Dulfer is a Dutch jazz musician famous for playing the tenor saxophone. With his band Ritmo-Natural he released his second album Candy Clouds in 1970. The album consists of six songs, with its title track being split into two parts. One single was released, “Red, Red Libanon”, which hit the Dutch charts in both 1970 as well as 1977. This rare Dutch jazz album is now available on coloured vinyl for the first time.

Duo improvisations recorded unedited in Montreal in 2011 by bass clarinettist Lori Freedman and drummer and percussionist John Heward, the third set of duos featuring Heward on Mode/Avant.

Amazing music from trombonist George Lewis – five different albums that each show a different side of his talents! First up is Shadowgraph 5 – a great early Black Saint, and a key example of the way the AACM spirit thrived overseas, thanks to the efforts of labels like this! The work is quite serious and experimental – almost compositional in nature, and definitely heading towards the AACM promise of "Great Black Music" – and other players include Roscoe Mitchell on saxes, Leroy Jenkins on violi…