Jazz /
The Storyteller - A Musical Tribute to Yusef Lateef
With 20 years passing since his first foray into recorded jazz, Nat Birchall now ranks as one of the premier saxophonists of his generation. With several highly acclaimed albums in the locker, he now returns with his most ambitious project yet: a tribute to the legend that is Yusef Lateef titled, The Storyteller - A Musical Tribute to Yusef Lateef.
Nat Birchall on the project: "When Jazzman Gerald first mentioned to me the idea of doing an album as a tribute to the jazz giant Dr Yusef A. Lateef,…
Projection: The Complete Inspiration and Power Live at Shinjuku Art Theater
A miraculous discovery! The complete live performance at "Inspiration & Power 14" at Shinjuku Art Theater in 1973. Uncut live performance of Masayuki Takayanagi's New Direction For The Arts Discography at "Inspiration & Power 14" held at the Shinjuku Art Theater in 1973. This CD contains all the performances of the day, although only the last part of the concert was included in the album of the same title.
Recently, a cassette tape was discovered among the belongings of Masayuki Takayanagi, an…
Unity
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Unity is one of the great organ records precisely because it refuses to behave like one. Larry Youngbrings the Hammond into a post‑bop, modal context alongside Woody Shaw on trumpet, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, and Elvin Jones on drums. The tunes – including originals by Young and his bandmates – are harmonically rich and structurally intriguing, offering the soloists wide latitude. Young’s playing is astonishing: he voices chords in unexpected clusters, sp…
Life Time
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Life Time, Tony Williams upends expectations of a drummer’s debut, convening shifting ensembles that include Sam Rivers, Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Gary Peacock. Rather than a showcase of drum solos, the album is a series of explorations in texture, space, and form. Williams’ playing ranges from explosive to whisper‑soft, but always with an acute sense of placement: each cymbal stroke, roll, or accent is structural, not ornamental. The o…
Further Explorations
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Further Explorations pairs Horace Silver’s piano with Art Farmer on trumpet and Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, plus Teddy Kotick on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. Silver’s blend of blues, gospel, and hard‑bop sophistication is very much in evidence, but the writing nudges things into slightly more intricate territory. Catchy themes, smart modulations, and rhythmic hooks abound, yet everything feels natural and unforced. Farmer and Jordan bring contrasting horn col…
Juju
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Juju finds Wayne Shorter working with McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – essentially the John Coltrane Quartet’s engine repurposed. The tunes, many with subtly African‑inflected rhythmic ideas, open broad spaces for exploration while maintaining clear thematic profiles. Shorter’s improvisations wind through these spaces with a storyteller’s sense of pacing, lingering on simple motifs before leaping into unexpected intervals. …
Search For The New Land
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Search for the New Land shows Lee Morgan in a more reflective, exploratory mood, joined by Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Grant Green on guitar, Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. The compositions stretch out over modal frameworks and evocative themes that suggest journeys as much inward as outward. The band plays spaciously yet intently, building tension through dynamics and texture more than sheer speed. Morgan’s tone is full …
Let Freedom Ring
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Let Freedom Ring, Jackie McLean fronts a quartet with Walter Davis Jr. on piano, Herbie Lewison bass, and Billy Higgins on drums, and turns the LP format into a manifesto. Stark, ringing themes and open, modal frameworks give the music a declamatory character, while McLean’s alto pushes into the upper register with cries and shouts that go beyond tidy bebop language. Higgins and Lewis oscillate between march‑like insistence and freer undercurrents, and Davis’ …
Bluesnik
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Bluesnik, Jackie McLean teams with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Pete La Roca on drums to prove there is still plenty to say within the twelve‑bar form. The band leans heavily on the blues but treats it as a living language, shifting tempos from strolling to urgent and varying the feel from tough swagger to reflective drag. McLean’s solos are full of sharp edges and vocal inflections, while Hubbard brings a more ext…
Demon's Dance
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Demon’s Dance (often mis‑typed in catalogues) captures Jackie McLean with a younger, firebreathing band: Woody Shaw on trumpet, LaMont Johnson at the piano, Scott Holt on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. The tunes are packed with rhythmic snaps and melodic hooks, yet the improvisations regularly veer into more angular, exploratory territory. McLean’s alto tone is piercing and urgent, cutting through the ensemble with authority, while Shaw’s harmonically advanc…
Point Of Departure
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Point of Departure, Andrew Hill convenes a dream ensemble: Eric Dolphy on alto, bass clarinet, and flute, Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Richard Davis on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. Hill’s compositions bend conventional form with asymmetrical phrases, overlapping lines, and harmonies that hover between centres, creating a sense of forward motion as much psychological as rhythmic. Each soloist finds personal routes through these land…
Page One
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Page One, Joe Henderson introduces his tenor alongside Kenny Dorham on trumpet, McCoy Tyner on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and Pete La Roca on drums. Together they bring to life a set of tunes – including future standards – that balance memorable themes with ample improvisational room. Henderson’s tone is earthy yet flexible, his lines combining logical development with sudden, surprising detours. Dorham’s lyrical, slightly tart trumpet provides a perfect foi…
Speak Like A Child
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Speak Like a Child, Herbie Hancock opts for subtler shades with an unusual front line of Thad Jones on flugelhorn, Peter Phillips (or Jerry Dodgion) on alto flute, and Jackie McLean on alto sax, supported by Ron Carter on bass and Mickey Roker on drums. Carefully voiced harmonies create a soft‑focus glow around lullaby‑like themes that harbour unexpected harmonic turns. Hancock’s piano is restrained and lyrical, often leaving wide spaces around simple phrases,…
My Point Of View
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** My Point of View shows Herbie Hancock widening his palette with a larger band: Donald Byrd on trumpet, Garnett Brown on trombone, Hank Mobley on tenor, Grant Green on guitar, Chuck Israels on bass, Tony Williams on drums, and Patricia “Patty” T. on vocals on one track. The writing is richer and more layered, from soulful vamps to waltz‑like lyricism, yet unified by Hancock’s sense of structure and colour. The horns are given space to develop ideas; Green’s guitar…
Maiden Voyage
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Maiden Voyage, Herbie Hancock turns the small jazz group into an ocean vessel, steering a dream team of Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), George Coleman (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) through a suite of sea‑evoking pieces. Modal harmonies, open forms, and long, swelling melodies create a sense of expanse; Carter and Williams suggest tides and undertows, while Hubbard and Coleman trace arcs that feel both exploratory and inevitable. Hancock’…
Out To Lunch!
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Out to Lunch! remains one of the most strikingly original statements on Blue Note. Eric Dolphy marshals Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, Richard Davis on bass, and Tony Williams on drums into a unit that treats his knotty compositions as springboards rather than straitjackets. Themes like “Hat and Beard” arrive full of angular intervals and odd accents, while the rhythm team tilts and lurches under them, propelled by Williams’ restless …
Volume 2
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Volume 2, Miles Davis again fronts shifting line‑ups – including Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, and Horace Silver – in a programme that continues the exploration begun on its companion. The arrangements juxtapose brisk, tightly coiled numbers with more relaxed pieces that give Davis room to stretch his lyrical side. His phrasing shows a growing command of silence and attack; a single, slightly bent note can carry as much weight as a flurry of scales. The band’s in…
Volume 1
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Volume 1 presents Miles Davis in a transitional bebop/hard‑bop setting, surrounded by players hungry to prove themselves: J. J. Johnson on trombone, Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Sonny Rollins on tenor, Horace Silver at the piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums on the original 10" sessions. Later tracks add different personnel, but the through‑line is Davis’ preference for space and contour over sheer velocity. Even at brisk tempos, his muted p…
At The "Golden Circle" Stockholm - Volume Two
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Volume 2 of At the “Golden Circle” finds Ornette Coleman, David Izenzon, and Charles Moffett pushing even further into the freedoms opened the night before. The pieces feel more expansive, the silences more charged, the interactions even bolder. Coleman’s improvisations unfold like stories without fixed endings, full of sudden turns that never break the underlying logic. Izenzon’s bass veers between bowed cries and elastic walking; Moffett’s drums slip from polyr…
At The "Golden Circle" Stockholm - Volume One
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** The first volume of At the “Golden Circle”, Stockholm places Ornette Coleman’s alto saxophone in front of his stripped‑down trio with David Izenzon on bass and Charles Moffett on drums, in a snowy club where the microphones catch every spark. Free of a chording instrument, the group moves with startling elasticity: themes flash by and dissolve into collective improvisation where roles are fluid. Coleman’s tone is both keening and tender, capable of slicing throug…