Jazz /
Radiance
“Radiance” is the first album of solo piano improvisations from Keith Jarrett in a decade. The last such was “La Scala”, recorded 1995, released 1997. (In between, in 1999, Jarrett issued the home recording “The Melody At Night With You”, a solo album of standards and folk songs). Four years ago, Jarrett told interviewers it was unlikely he would return to solo piano performance. Having been sidelined for several seasons by illness, he had attempted two solo concerts in Japan in the autumn of 19…
Toki
Hidefumi Toki's 1975 album Toki offers a deeply personal journey into the realms of jazz, showcasing his expressive prowess on alto and soprano saxophones. Backed by a stellar quartet including Kazumi Watanabe on guitar, Nobuyoshi Ino on bass, and Steve Jackson on drums, Toki creates a stunning sonic landscape filled with gentle, raspy tones. The album's ambiance is laidback and mellow, yet infused with a profound sense of spiritual depth reminiscent of Coltrane's work. Original compositions lik…
Dimensions Of The Drums
This album was inspired by the music coming out of Jamaica in the mid 1970s, in particular the use of drum machines by Lee Perry and Aston Family Man Barrett (and Sly Stone in the USA) but also the instrumentals and dubs by Keith Hudson and Im & Count Ossie etc. Searching out, buying and listening to those records had a deep and profound effect on me and became a big influence on me as a musician, which continues to this day.
Variety Orchestra
Followers of our Quarterly will recall, about 6 years back, Woodbury's inspired arrangement of 'Shenandoah', which managed to embrace the whole of America history in under 10 minutes. Since then he has been working on completing this collection, his first full ensemble instrumental CD. The interest starts with the ensemble itself, half as expected for Latin, Jazz and Big band arrangements and half traditional American: pedal steel, banjo, accordion and fiddles. One thinks of Van Dyke Parks', and…
Colours
Tip! Behind the deceptive veneer of the demure monotone artwork, something unassuming lies within this long-play waiting to be explored. Intrigued by the ironic title, enticed by the elegant text positioned alone on the beautifully tactile matte canvas, the listener will experience musical wonderment at odds with the presentation and discover that the 1976 album Colours is a powerful yet sophisticated set of electric soul-jazz. An inspired recording that bursts with warmth and texture, the pivot…
Before Before Surgery
Two gigs by a loose ensemble of nomads, hybrids, tech-heads and agitators gravitating around Porto, Portugal. ANTIFLUFFY is the pop cousin of Autodigest, both dedicated to a critique of the current culture of entertainment and the paradoxical labyrinths of late consumerism. While Autodigest takes the cerebral, strategic route, Antifluffy gets down and dirty, visceral in the face of fluff. Whether disemboweling magnetic tape or analogue photographs, delivering impassioned manifestos or crooning a…
Wandering Birds
Tip! *Japan import with Obi Strip* This is the first and long-awaited vinyl reissue of this Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media jazz rock masterpiece! With vocals by Sammy and Yasushi Sawada. Backed by Masahiko Sato, Kimio Mizutani, Hiro Yanagida. Essential!
Subtle Movements
"In the spirit of expansive expression; deep connection to the Sea as it furthers the Sound. The rumination of consideration put forth thru a profound triumvirate of Beings, Fathers, Sons, Family Members, Loved Ones. The Most Powerful Movements of Love are Subtle. They are sublime. They are felt before and after any note is played by the three of us. We are supportive of each other as people, in the true spirit of a Trio. Equilateral in the degrees of consideration towards each portion of our h…
In The Light Of The Current Myth
"The time in Porto when Barry Guy and The Blue Shroud Band recorded an album all this here would also be a time when a group of outstanding artists and warm friends also had the opportunity to spend time making music together outside the big band formula. It's not easy to bring together some of Europe's most original artists, and it's not easy to assemble such a stellar quintet with Savina Yannatou, Julius Gabriel, Agusti Fernendez, Barry Guy and Ramon Lopez. It's a great thing to be able to doc…
Live In St. Johann
"The legend of the world of improvisation and the field of double bass virtuosity, Joelle Leandre, needs no introduction. She is one of the most expressive and original artists in the world! The singer and composer Elisabeth Harnik is probably already remembered by music lovers enough to follow her musical journey with bated breath, and Zlatko Kaucic, well, if you are in love with percussion painting, sensitivity, and expression combined with communication skills, this is one of the best address…
Seasons
Organic, electric, freeform. Pete Jolly's Seasons is comprised of melodies and textures composed live and without pretense—its grooves contain a complete and divine listening experience that surpasses all others of the era in which it was originally released, coming as close to transcendent musical meditation incarnate as one could possibly imagine. Seasons is an unsung masterpiece of ensemble groove and stellar musicianship, equally unsurpassed and inspired in its quiet excellence.
Red Moon
Low Leaf is the long-running and multivalent project of Los Angeleno and multi-instrumentalist Angelica-Marie. Riding the wake of 2023’s Microdose—melding/channeling free jazz, astrology, hip-hop, eco-spirituality, and geo-political anger—Red Moon is a tight, three-song release, a snapshot of Low Leaf during an especially dynamic period. Having received training in classical piano as a child, Low Leaf is equally adept as a self-taught guitarist, harpist, and producer. Indeed, these four elements…
Bright Size Life
New vinyl edtition as part of the "Luminessence" Series, presented as a tip-on gatefold including new photos from the archive. “I personally feel this is a great record and recommend it to everyone. It’s positive and hot and simply excellent.” – Gary Burton
Pat Metheny had debuted at ECM as a member of Gary Burton’s band on the album Ring in 1974, but Bright Size Life, his first studio recording as a leader, was the album that decisively put him on the map as a bright new force, with something…
The Trio
*Comes in a CD-sized papersleeve album replica (gatefold), with obi-strip and insert of notes mostly in Japanese..2024 stock* The ‘70, two-CD debut of The Trio, formed by John Thurman, who was taking European jazz by storm with his baritone saxophone playing with incredible speed and power, with Barre Phillips (b) and Stu Martin (ds). ' A great classic album that symbolises the British scene, which was undergoing a remarkable evolution in the early 70s as it united with rock, with a musicality t…
Reflections Vol. 2: Black Decelerant
For the second volume of Reflections, Black Decelerant, the duo of Khari Lucas, aka Contour, and Omari Jazz, explore improvisational jazz traditions through contemporary tone and texture, fostering sonic meditations on themes of Black being and nonbeing, life and mourning, expansion and limitation, and the individual and collective. The Black Decelerant collaboration, and intention, creates space for listeners to be still, while providing a basis for a movement beyond “the moment.”
Live In Frankfurt 1983
This box includes a CD commemorating the event 20 years of Jazz in the Park and postcards of the respective posters of the 20 editions held. Mário João Laginha dos Santos is a Portuguese jazz pianist and composer. For Mário Laginha, making music is above all an act of sharing. And he has done it with strong musical personalities: Maria João, Bernardo Sassetti and Pedro Burmester. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a predominantly jazz-like nature, being one of the founders of the Sexteto…
Constitution
“Members of the dispossessed, won’t you lend me your ears!”
Fanfares and Freedom
A live recording from a piece premiered at the 2023 Cheltenham Jazz Festival, and later recorded at The Vortex. Laura Jurd was commissioned to write this piece for scored ensemble plus improvising quartet, and the resulting piece balances the composed and improvised elements beautifully in the fast moving 45 minute work which is very much in the tradition of the best British jazz.
Laura writes - "I don’t think I’ll ever forget hearing Paul Dunmall play for the first time. Whilst aware of his gra…
Move
Jazz in Australia at its best with incredible sessions from autumn 1960 – three masters with unbelievable musical control and understanding. This album was recorded at the El Rocco club six weeks after the group was formed, and the boys claim they were only just becoming accustomed to one another’s playing. In all, they cut thirty different titles in two 3-hour sessions, all of which were one take only. This in itself is incredible as the resulting takes never fall below top-level
Transoceanico
2024 stock. Federico Ughi, New York drummer, improviser and producer releases a new studio recording to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of his very first album, recorded when he resided in London, UK. The theme of the album is Ughi’s experience of home, and how it has evolved, living between Brooklyn, New York, his native Rome, Italy and all the places in the world he has passed through while touring. It’s Ughi’s deeply personal meditation on all the incredible things he’s gotten from travelin…