New Arrivals
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’ …
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…
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…
The All Seeing Eye
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On The All Seeing Eye, Wayne Shorter expands his canvas to a large ensemble that includes Freddie Hubbard, James Spaulding, Grachan Moncur III, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Joe Chambers, Alan Shorter, and Gene Bertoncini. Conceived as a musical cosmology, the album uses layered brass and reeds, intricate voicings, and shifting rhythmic underpinnings to explore themes of creation, judgement, and human frailty. Shorter’s own solos rise out of dense textures rather t…
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. …
Speak No Evil
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Speak No Evil, Wayne Shorter fronts a quintet of Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Herbie Hancockon piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Shorter’s compositions are haunted and luminous: melodies that are instantly memorable yet subtly elusive, harmonies rich with unresolved tension, forms deceptively straightforward. His tenor lines slide between inside and outside, often stating a theme in stark tones before twisting it into ambiguous shapes. The ba…
Newk's Time
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Newk’s Time captures Sonny Rollins in a quartet with Wynton Kelly on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and “Philly” Joe Jones on drums, midway through one of the most fertile stretches any saxophonist has enjoyed. Rollins brings his huge, flexible sound and restless imagination to a set of standards and originals, bending them to his will without ever disrespecting the material. Rhythmic play is central: he toys with the beat, displaces phrases, and locates unexpected…
Heavy Soul
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Heavy Soul, Ike Quebec’s big, breathy tenor is wrapped in the glow of Freddie Roach’s organ, with Milt Hinton on bass and Al Harewood on drums. The organ‑tenor setting gives the session an intimate, club‑like feel: slow blues, shuffles, and strolls that prioritise mood over flash. Quebec favours clear, singing melodies, letting the natural grain of his sound carry the emotional weight. Roach’s organ lines and comps supply warmth and subtle grit, while Hinton a…
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 …
The Cooker
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On The Cooker, Lee Morgan fronts a quintet with Pepper Adams on baritone saxophone, Bobby Timmons at the piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and “Philly” Joe Jones on drums, and lives up to the album’s title. Recorded when he was still in his early twenties, the session showcases a trumpet voice brimming with swagger and control. The band digs into blues‑based vehicles and brisk swingers with equal commitment, Adams’ baritone adding a gruff counterweight to Morgan’s br…
Genius Of Modern Music Volume One
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Genius of Modern Music gathers early recordings that reveal just how far ahead Thelonious Monk was thinking, with different sessions featuring combinations of Idrees Sulieman, Milt Jackson, Gene Ramey, Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, and others. The tunes – “’Round Midnight,” “Epistrophy,” “Ruby, My Dear” and more – present themselves as puzzles: jagged melodies, off‑kilter accents, harmonies that jab when one expects glide. Monk’s pianism, all percussive attack and un…
Evolution
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Evolution documents Grachan Moncur III stepping out as a composer‑leader with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Jackie McLean on alto, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. The pieces blend post‑bop structures with freer approaches to metre and harmony, resulting in music that feels constantly tilted yet never topples. Moncur’s trombone leads themes that are by turns mournful, eerie, and boldly declamatory; the band responds with solos…
It's Time!
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** It’s Time! finds Jackie McLean in the company of Charles Tolliver (trumpet), Herbie Hancock(piano), Cecil McBee (bass), and Roy Haynes (drums), fully committed to pushing forward. The compositions carry spiritual and political weight, and the arrangements make room for assertive horn lines, driving rhythms, and moments of unexpected lyricism. McLean’s playing is as biting as ever, but his navigation of more open, modal spaces shows an expanded vocabulary. Hancock…
Destination Out
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Destination... Out! sees Jackie McLean stepping decisively into less charted territory, flanked by Grachan Moncur III on trombone, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Larry Ridley on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. Moncur’s compositions stretch form and harmony to the point where the music hovers at the edge of abstraction while still clinging to memorable themes. McLean responds with heightened intensity; his alto lines slice through the ensemble’s cool, translucent textu…
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…
Total Eclipse
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Total Eclipse, Bobby Hutcherson leads a band featuring Harold Land on reeds, Chick Corea on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. The tunes are more expansive, the structures less immediately obvious; the interplay between vibes and saxophone often feels like a conversation unfolding on the spot. Even brighter passages seem to carry a shadow, a lingering sense of unresolved tension that Hutcherson’s solos trace without trying to dispel. Cor…
Oblique
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Oblique deepens Bobby Hutcherson’s quartet explorations with Herbie Hancock on piano, Albert Stinson on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. The inclusion of harpsichord as well as piano opens up unusual timbral possibilities, allowing chords to glisten, clatter, or hang in space in unexpected ways. Hutcherson favours tunes that sidestep predictable resolutions, keeping the listener pleasantly off balance and heightening attention. The group plays with chamber‑like s…
Happenings
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Happenings, Bobby Hutcherson pares things back to a quartet with Herbie Hancock on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. The transparency of the setting throws every gesture into relief: a single vibraphone note, a piano chord, a cymbal swell can tilt the whole mood. The tunes hover between impressionistic and singable, their harmonies unfolding slowly, their rhythms shifting between gentle propulsion and suspended drift. Hutcherson’s tone is…
Dialogue
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Dialogue finds Bobby Hutcherson at the centre of a forward‑looking sextet: Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Sam Rivers on reeds, Andrew Hill on piano, Richard Davis on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. The compositions are exploratory, blending post‑bop, free jazz, and avant‑garde impulses into structures that encourage risk‑taking. Hutcherson’s vibes oscillate between delicate, bell‑like patterns and sharply articulated lines, often bridging Rivers’ angular statements…
San Francisco
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On San Francisco, Bobby Hutcherson joins forces with saxophonist Harold Land, plus Joe Sampleon electric piano, John Williams on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums, to chart a different kind of urban landscape. The record weaves elements of soul, funk, and freer jazz into a set that’s as rhythmically grounded as it is harmonically curious. Hutcherson’s vibes and Land’s reeds trade phrases with conversational ease, while the rhythm section mixes backbeat, swing, and …