Jazz /
Smoke-Blackened Walls & Curlews
‘Surprisingly enough, program music is not all that common in jazz. For example, unlike their classical counterparts, not many jazz composers have set out to evoke particular places. Duke Ellington’s 'Tone Parallel To Harlem' is one of the great exceptions. Britain has been even more neglected, unless you count Billy Strayhorn’s 'Chelsea Bridge', and that was about Whistler's painting rather than the actual bridge itself. But the British jazz composer Graham Collier is one who is doing something…
Blue Piccolo
*2024 stock* A trumpeter who played in the Charles Mingus Group and other groups. This album is somewhat unique in the Whynot catalog, which is lined with works overflowing with blackness. The bop style is orthodox, but the one-horn style of playing original compositions is truly poignant. Cecil Mcbee and drummer Steve McCall join the band.
Metasediment Rock
The Norwegian jazz scene is like the hat of a magician: when you think nothing more can get out from its mysterious hole, there’s something else emerging to amaze us. Snik is such a case. The compositions are from two of the members of this quartet, trombonist Kristoffer Kompen and double bassist Ole Morten Vagan. Vagan is one of the most respected names of the Scandinavian jazz, with his membership of Joshua Redman Trio and his quintet Motif, writing scores for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra or p…
Swinging Macedonia
"Mal Waldron's piano, exotic ensemble and sweltering pets. This is the definitive melancholy jazz album! Long-awaited reissue at mid-price of this masterpiece from the peak of Balkan treasure Dusko Goykovich's career! This is an unquestionably treasured album full of great songs and performances, including Nicolas Conte's cover of 1 and 9 from "Tatsuo Sunaga's Night Jazz", and it has been restored in its original German Philips jacket!
It is no exaggeration to say that "Swingin' Macedonia" is th…
Piko + 3
The second in the Masaru Imada reissue series that jazz collectors all over the world have been eagerly awaiting! A solo piano album that allows you to fully enjoy the beautiful tone and fluid touch of jazz piano poet Masaru Imada. The album features Imada's signature tune 'Pico', as well as 'Sum Time A Go', which was also performed by Chick Corea.
Blue Eyes
Reissue of Masaru Imada Trio's Blue Eyes. Originally issued on Yupiteru Records YJ25-7029. Recorded on June 25 and 27, 1979. Comes in mini LP replica with obi, four page booklet in Japanese
Seeking Blue
The second in the Masaru Imada reissue series that jazz collectors all over the world have been eagerly awaiting! This is a tour de force of Imada's hard bop style, featuring Shigeharu Mukai on trombone and Seiichi Nakamura on saxophone. All songs are Imada's own original numbers, and he also demonstrates his true potential as a melody-maker.
Norman Feels
Little is known about Norman Feels…but we do know that he was an underground soul sensation in the 1970s. He released two classic albums on Just Sunshine Records (the label that was also responsible for putting out milestone recordings by artists like Betty Davis, Karen Dalton and Arica). Over the years, Norman’s songs have been sampled by renowned acts from the likes of Ghostface Killah, Nas and Kanye West. The sound his songs emit reminds of the classic soul coming out of New Jersey at the tim…
Total Space
Although MPS was known for his studio and brilliant recording technique, Rolf Kühn decided not to record his albums in the studio in the Black Forest. At MPS, Rolf Kühn was allowed free rein to choose the team for the recordings and so he decided to get Wolfgang Hirschmann on board, one of the most interesting sound engineers in jazz at that time. Together with him and seven other musicians, “Total Space” was recorded in January 1975 in the Cornet Studios in the south of Cologne, Germany. Having…
Poder Del Alma II
Impossible to find second album by this band from Nicaragua, 1975. A cool mix of Latin funk, jazz, salsa and psychedelic grooves. Including some of their most sought after tracks like “Bacanal’ 76”, “Mimo” or the antiracist statement “La Conga de las Dos Razas”. After recording their first LP in Guatemala, Nica supergroup Poder del Alma travelled to Costa Rica to register their second album. This time the recording studio and equipment (including Mini-Moog) were better and the band featured a ne…
Caravan
Orrin Keepnews produced Art Blakey's 1963 debut for Riverside Records, a hard-bop triumph featuring an all-aces band: Curtis Fuller, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton and Reggie Workman. Blakey drives them with power and passion as they play Caravan: Sweet 'n' Sour: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning: This Is for Albert: Skylark, and Thermo. Back on vinyl again!
New York United
2024 stock. Legendary downtown music master Daniel Carter meets Tobias Wilner from world-renowned electronic band Blue Foundation. Featuring Wu-Tang Clan bass player Djibril Toure & drum wiz Federico Ughi. As a band, they have played a number of concerts in NYC, including the Forward Festival 2016 and 2018, and are currently promoting their debut album. This group is the ultimate mix between the classic New York sound of the avant-garde (i.e., John Coltrane & Albert Ayler) combined with electron…
Prophecies Come To Pass
*2024 stock* "Prophecies Come to Pass is the debut recording of Sabir Mateen's compositions by his group The Shapes, Textures, and Sound Ensemble. Recorded live in Brooklyn in September 2005, the CD was edited by Mateen and Swell and mastered under Mateen's direction. It's dedicated to the late great Raphe Malik, who at one time played with the group. The ensemble is composed of an impressive roster of creative musicians: Mateen on saxophones, flute, and clarinets; Matt Lavelle on trumpet, fluge…
Survival Situation
2024 stock. Iconic downtown sax player Sabir Mateen, together with up-and-coming Texan clarinetist Patrick Holmes and drum wiz Federico Ughi, celebrate the cosmic dimensions of creative music via their new album Survival Situation.The three musicians have collaborated in the past, in New York, in different projects but never as a trio. This time they met in a recording studio in Tuscany, Italy, not far from where Sabir Mateen has been living for the last few years. They freely improvised, then t…
Shifa - Live At Cafe Oto
2024 stock. Shifa, from the Arabic word for healing, is a new trio born out of old musical partnerships from the ever-shifting sands of the UK improvised music scene. Pat Thomas, pianist extraordinaire whose eclectic motherboard pushes the music in unexpected twists and turns, suggested the name. The healing, in this case, is a raw, unfettered musical space where he, saxophonist Rachel Musson and drummer Mark Sanders meet and make music in the moment, of the moment. Each player values the others…
BleySchool
2024 stock. The trio pays homage to legendary pianist Paul Bley, drawing on both his tunes and improvisational approach. Bley’s music encompassed latin-inspired grooves, deceptively simple and catchy melodies, as well as freer improvisations. His willingness to collaborate openly with European improvisers as well as being part of the American tradition was an attractive template to follow.Pat Thomas, Dominic Lash and Tony Orrell grew up in the UK with the children’s tv series Play School and whe…
Next Door
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 …
Play
*250 copies limited edition* "Play" is a set of 100 cards with instructions for ensembles of any size and instrumentation. The individual instructions vary from precise (two contrasting sounds, a very long sound) to vague (something funny, thinking of something you smell), sometimes requiring a high degree of interpretation. The release combines two excellent recordings of the piece: one including the composer himself with a group of Israeli musicians, the other introducing an ensemble around th…
Poem For Malcom
Historic 1969 Paris session by the american saxophonist-vocalist-intellectual who conveys his deep anguish at the loss of a civil rights icon.
Live at Jazz Festival Willisau 2023, First Visit
“We are in the business of transformation, applying our knowledge of improvising together for twenty-five years, interwoven with our resonance with these melodies and forms. We have found our collective way with honouring what these pieces express to us, through our personal language, comments Gerry Hemingway.” He agrees that there's a concept of authenticity”. “The feeling of swing is our own, but shaped by the pieces we are playing”. Authenticity is acquired through assimilating traditions, an…