Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

A legendary album by one of the masters of modern jazz drumming! Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in 1963, Cymbalism is among the albums Roy Haynes provided for Prestige's New Jazz series. This session features the drummer leading an acoustic quartet with Frank Strozier (alto sax, flute) Ronnie Mathews (piano) and Larry Ridley (bass). An unpredictable Hard Bop-Post Bop transitional album with different colors and moods. From the primary influence of Charlie Parker through a kind of expanded sound ins…

'Dorothy Ashby was the very best and most swinging performer on the multi-stringed instrument associated with the gates of heaven. Here on Earth, Ashby adeptly plucked and strummed the harp like nobody else, as evidenced on a single reissue containing her two best LPs for the Prestige and Prestige/New Jazz labels from 1958 -- Hip Harp and In a Minor Groove. Alongside her prior efforts for the Savoy label, they collectively represent a small but substantive discography for the Detroit native in s…

Although his main instruments were the tenor saxophone and the flute, Yusef Lateef was known for his innovative blending of jazz with Asian music. In addition to the oboe and bassoon (which are both unusual in jazz), he played various instruments. Lateef began recording as a leader in 1957 for Savoy Records, a non-exclusive association that continued until 1959. The earliest ofhis albums for the Prestige subsidiary New Jazz overlap his Savoy Recordings. Cry!-Tender was one of these early albums …

Holiday For Soul Dance finds Sun Ra Arkestra at its most approachable, trading cosmic chaos for spirited reinvention of jazz standards recorded in Chicago, 1960. Even as familiar melodies pulse through the session, Ra and his ensemble infuse each note with irrepressible eccentricity, blurring nostalgia and space-age wit.​

In Mingus Plays Piano, Charles Mingus swaps the thunder of his double bass for distilled lyricism at the keyboard. Recorded in 1964, this rare solo album uncovers a private Mingus, weaving spontaneous meditations and bittersweet standards into a living, breathing portrait of creative solitude.​

Fate In A Pleasant Mood showcases Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra at a turning point, merging big band swing with celestial avant-garde impulses. Recorded in 1960 Chicago and released in 1965, this concise, mystical set captures Ra’s fascination with outer space and metaphysical abstraction through poetic miniatures and crystalline ensemble interplay.​

Looking Ahead is the debut album by American jazz musician Ken McIntyre, recorded with fellow alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy in 1960 and released on the New Jazz label in January 1961. From the beginning Mr. McIntyre considered himself part of the avant-garde or ''new thing'' movement in jazz, as spearheaded by musicians like Ornette Coleman, Bill Dixon and Cecil Taylor, although his own music was considerably more traditionally melodic than theirs. He played a whole fleet of reed instruments, inc…

**Abstract (200 characters):** Released by Atlantic in 1962 from earlier sessions, "Coltrane Plays the Blues" showcases the quartet’s innovative blend of blues, jazz, and avant-garde, earning cult status and critical acclaim.

Charlie Mingus’s 1956 Jazz Composers Workshop showcases his visionary blend of hard bop, classical, gospel, and avant-garde. The album captures Mingus’s restless innovation—by turns explosive, tender, and genre-defying.

Ornette Coleman’s "Ornette On Tenor" marks a pivotal moment in jazz, featuring his switch to tenor sax and the addition of Jimmy Garrison on bass. The album’s earthy, darker soundscape, collective improvisation, and absence of fixed themes highlight Coleman’s ongoing musical revolution.

1991 release ** "Recorded at the Listen to Lacy festival in Vienna, 1990, this large ensemble recording is really the Steve Lacy Sextet plus ten. One of the dectet members is Franz Koglmann. Although some of Lacy's other large group experiments met with mixed results, it is not so here. Itinerary, with its seven selections, is an orchestral work on par with at of Gil Evans' (to whom this record is dedicated) Out of the Cool sessions for Impulse, and of course the Gil Evans and Ten recordings tha…

1990 release **

2000 release (no OBI) ** "It may be unfair to compare this recording to the seminal album recorded on ESP almost 35 years earlier, but such comparisons are hard to resist. In truth, the group -- now with Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) assuming an expanded role and bassist Reggie Workman substituting for the late Lewis Worell -- sounds as fresh and, yes, revolutionary as it did back in the heyday of 1960s radicalism. To be sure, each member has changed, but the sounds here are surprisingly r…

1998 release ** "This recording is an important part of bassist William Parker's early discography and comprises four ensemble pieces. The sound quality is slightly subpar, but the raw, 1960s feel of this album should appeal to those who appreciate the unassuming brilliance of this giant of the string bass. Each of the four tracks features different groups, with Parker composing all the pieces and appearing on all four. The two larger ensembles presage some of the large bands Parker was to lead …

2003 release ** "An important release is not necessarily a great release, and while the rare Environmental Control Office recording of legendary Swedish saxophonist and clarinetist Bengt Frippe Nordström is a significant contribution to the discography of Swedish jazz, his lengthy improvisations remind the listener of Albert Ayler on an off day, which when you think about it is a complement of sorts. Nordström squeezes a primitive sound from his horns, his tenor sounding precisely how drummer Pe…

1993 release **

1989 release ** "On November 23, 1986, at the Galerie Maximilien Guiol, a small art space in Paris, Alan Silva, Roger Turner, Misha Lobko, Didier Petit, and Bruno Girard shared the stage for the first time. They knew each other well, since they had all performed alongside one another in various groupings, but as a quintet, as this quintet, it was their first concert. From the moment Turner starts hitting his metal scraps, they all dive in and begin to Take Some Risks. A satisfying session, focus…

Diriaou (“Thursday” in Breton) captures the singular collaboration between Kristen Noguès-pioneering Celtic harpist and explorer of Breton tradition-and legendary British saxophonist John Surman, renowned for his atmospheric jazz on ECM. Recorded live in 1998 at the Dre Ar Wenojenn festival, this album presents the duo weaving together original compositions and traditional melodies into a tapestry of free folk, modal improvisation, and ambient soundscapes. Noguès, deeply rooted in Breton music y…

2007 release ** "Susie Ibarra is a percussionist, but she doesn’t hit you over the head with the fact. Rather, her powerfully delicate, insistent sounds seem to emanate from the landscape of drums and tuned gongs by themselves. Drum Sketches, Ibarra’s first solo CD following several Tzadik ensemble releases, is inspired by various images and sounds of her native Philippines. Among her glowing array of percussion are tuned bronze Kulintang gongs and a Surunay xylophone that blend with field recor…

1994 release ** "This is the logical companion to Tout Court. The lineup has been hardly changed. The only newcomer is Alfred Spirli, who alternates percussion duties with Xavier Desandre. Yves Robert also sticks to the same formula with an emphasis on musical vignettes. The relationship with Tout Court is also underlined by the deliberate choice of opening with the composition that concluded its predecessor, "Epilogue" -- several other pieces are also revisited. It would be a mistake, however, …

1994 release ** "Hooker's music is good, unabash ed free-jazz improvising. He and Lawrence make an effective duet: Hooker's rolling bed of drumming avoids direct comment on Lawrence's strong, Lyons-inflected alto. Of the trio and quartet tracks on the album, Pralaya and Radiance are probably the strongest. The horn players get their solo moments and do well with them, but the music is framed to emphasize the group, and that's where a listener's ears are drawn. There's good group improvising to b…

1990 release (RARE) ** Recorded live at Volksbühne East Berlin on June 13, 1982.

1998 release ** "A cosmopolitan synthesis of visionary music and outstanding poetry" is the concept and program of "Honey and Ashes," according to the press release. This claim naturally raises many questions about the work of German saxophonist Michael Riessler: Is it jazz—what constitutes "jazz"? There is little improvisation, as "Honey and Ashes" is largely through-composed. Is it contemporary classical music? Can you find pounding bass drums in classical music? "Honey and Ashes" is a speech …

2002 release ** "The drummer and band leader Lucas Niggli, with his trio ZOOM and quintet Big ZOOM, provided the big surprises at many festivals last year: the band's concerts in Moers, Saalfelden, Willisau, Münster, Schauffhausen count among these festivals' highlights. «Unbelievable how the genre-idioms from blues, rock and jazz styles are paired up among each other in the controlled gesture of new music,» said the journalist Marcus Maida after the performance at the Moers Festival. «Everythin…

1995 release **

1989 release ** An early Available Jelly Quartet; the instrumentation scaled down to two horns, bass/tuba, and percussion. Original compositions and covers of Brian Wilson and Misha Mengelberg. "The 1989 album from Available Jelly, In Full Flail narrowed down the band's physical lineup while extending its musical reach. Down to a quartet, the band included Michael Moore on saxophones and piano, Gregg Moore on tuba, trombone, electric bass, and mandolin, Michael Vatcher as master drummer, and the…

Orchestrated by legendary producer Alan Lorber, this talented cast of musicians weave their way through Eastern-influenced and psychedelic interpretations of pop gems and some way-out-there originals, in an album touted as the first in the fusion of raga and jazz. Brimming with the sounds of sitar, tabla, and Gamelan percussion, this eccentric blend of Eastern and Western music includes four originally unissued bonus tracks! Packaged in a gorgeous replica of the original gatefold jacket, featuri…

The Middle Eastern Soul of Carlee Records collects the early works of Baronian who's probably best known as a key contributor on John Berberian's Middle Eastern Rock. This set includes his early 50s work with the Nor-Ikes, and his early 70s albums Hye Inspiration and Middle Eastern Soul. This monster is a barrage of middle eastern clarinet, oud, dumbek, kanun, sax, tambourine, wild percussion, and kaval, along with finger cymbals and the occasional vocal from some of his favorite belly dancers. …

Undoubtedly the most sublime constellation in the Sun Ra cosmos, June Tyson’s voice is the perfect guide through one of the most challenging and varied musical legacies ever created. Capable of fierce and sassy declamations as well as intricate melodic weavings, June's voice transcends genre. This first-ever collection affirms June Tyson’s unassailable gravity in Sun Ra’s realm, and features some of June's most popular numbers along with previously unissued tracks. The LP and CD versions include…

What happens when you bring together familiar faces at London experimental music venue Café OTO, Charles Hayward (drummer Abstract Concrete, This Heat) and John Edwards (double bass), and the Total Refreshment Centre (hub of new london jazz scene recording studio ) like Alabaster DePlume (singer and saxophonist) and Danalogue (synths from Soccer96, The Comet is Coming), and the learning disability autism art scene like singers/spoken word artists Sebastian Golgiri and Dean Rodney Jnr (Fish Polic…

The Complete Pharoah Sanders Theresa Recordings reveals the revolutionary saxophonist's misunderstood 1980s period. Seven discs capture Sanders integrating avant-garde fire with melodic tradition, featuring collaborators like John Hicks, Elvin Jones, and Bobby Hutcherson. Essential rediscovery of an artistic evolution long dismissed by critics but blazing with spiritual intensity and technical innovation.

2015 release ** "Matthew Shipp, the supreme jazz pianist of his generation, and Mat Walerian, the finest Polish jazz woodwind player of his, have combined their talents in concert on several occasions. This album documents one such event on May 15, 2012. Shipp hardly needs an introduction at this point thanks to a career of over a quarter century, including not only many acclaimed albums under his own name but also a long and prominent tenure in the David S. Ware Quartet and a vast array of coll…

1995 release ** "This work had its origin in the '60s. That's when I met Irene Aebi and Frederic Rzewski in Rome. The three of us have been working together ever since. The Living Theatre (founded by Julian Beck and Judith Malina in New York) was at that time very active in Italy and, as the most powerful and innovative theatre group anywhere, was becoming part of all our lives. I knew them from New York from the late '50s (The Connection, The Brig), and so did Frederic, who had composed and pla…

1997 release ** Daniel Carter, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet, trumpet, piano, voice - Randall Colbourne, drums, piano - Paul Flaherty, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, voice - Raphe Malik, trumpet, piano - Sabir Mateen, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet, piano, voice.

Recorded at the 1970 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and produced by Helen Keane, Montreux II (originally issued on the CTI label) was the second of Bill Evans’ Montreux concert recordings to be released, following the Grammy Award-winning Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival (1968). It features the leader accompanied by Eddie Gomez on bass, and Marty Morell on drums. According to AllMusic writer Ken Dryden, the concert finds “the pianist in peak form” presenting “a terrific live perfo…

Further Conversations with Myself, released on the Verve label in 1967, was Bill Evans’ sequel to his 1963 Grammy Award LP Conversations with Myself.  As on that initial album, here all the pieces are unaccompanied solos with piano overdubs. On Further, however, he plays just two pianos instead of the three he had previously employed. According to AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow, “The program is brief, but Evans plays quite well throughout. In particular, his versions of Johnny Mandel's ‘Emily’ an…

Lonnie Liston Smith was one of the most important musicians to emerge in jazz in the 1970s. His 1975 album ‘Expansions’ is one of the foundation stones of modern dance music and his recordings have been sampled by many of the biggest artists in the world. His music was a cosmically inspired spiritual interpretation of the music he had been making during his time with Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and Miles Davis. Released in 1976,“Reflections On A Golden Dream”, the follow-up to “Expansions”, w…

A fascinating blend of jazz and contemporary classical influences, How Time Passes is the debut album from the envelope pushing trumpeter and composer Don Ellis. Known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures, Ellis began his long career in the New York Citys post bop and avant-garde jazz scenes of late 1950s. Most notably he appeared on Charles Mingus Mingus Dynasty, and albums by George Russell and Maynard Feguson. But he also worked with, among ot…

Jaki Byard was a visionary multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, teacher, and pianist. His early experiences with classical music fused seamlessly with a deep passion for jazz, shaping his unique style. While he mastered numerous instruments including trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and drums the piano became his main voice. By the early 1960s, he had established himself as a dynamic and forward-thinking player, joining Charles Mingus's ensemble and contributing to seminal works like Mingus, …

*2025 much needed repress!* Reissue of Don Cherry's 'Relativity Suite', recorded with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra in 1973. At this time, Cherry was becoming increasingly interested in Middle Eastern and traditional African and Indian music, having traveled extensively and studied with Indian musician Vasant Rai. This suite of songs was particularly influenced by the Indian karnatic singing tradition, as can be heard from the very opening moments of the album. Featuring Carla Bley on piano, Cha…