Japanese Blue Note Reissue
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 …
Dance With Death
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Recorded in 1968 but long unreleased, Dance with Death showcases Andrew Hill with Charles Tolliver on trumpet, Joe Farrell on saxes, Victor Sproles on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. Hill’s themes are knotty yet singable, his rhythms subtly displaced, his harmonies rich with ambiguity. He sometimes sketches skeletal frameworks at the piano, sometimes erupts into dense, percussive passages, while the horns and rhythm section navigate shifting tempos and unexpect…
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…
Inner Urge
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Inner Urge finds Joe Henderson pushing his quartet – McCoy Tyner (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums) – into more intense and complex territory. The title track’s driving rhythm and restless harmonic motion set the tone for a session where the stakes feel higher and the edges a bit sharper. Henderson probes motifs, worrying them from different angles, unafraid of jagged contours or sudden leaps. Tyner’s dense voicings and rolling left hand, Crans…
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…
The Prisoner
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** The Prisoner is one of Herbie Hancock’s most ambitious large‑ensemble works, featuring Johnny Coles and Thad Jones on trumpet/flugelhorn, Garnett Brown and Jack Rains on trombones, Joe Newman on bass trombone, Hubert Laws and Romeo Penque on reeds, Tony Studd on tuba, Ron Carter on bass, and Grady Tate on drums, among others. Written in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the music uses orchestral textures to explore themes of oppression and …
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…
My Conception
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** With My Conception, Sonny Clark pushes deeper into his own compositional world, joined by Donald Byrd on trumpet, Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Clifford Jordan on tenor, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones alternating on drums. The music balances intricate structures with a direct, singing quality: heads full of unexpected turns that still lodge in the ear, solo sections that encourage the horns to stretch without losing the thread. Clark…
Cool Struttin'
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Cool Struttin’ remains one of those Blue Note dates that somehow bottle the atmosphere of an era. Sonny Clark leads from the piano with Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Art Farmer on trumpet, Paul Chambers on bass, “Philly” Joe Jones on drums, a line‑up that walks the line between laid‑back and razor‑sharp. Medium‑tempo themes feel designed for city sidewalks and late‑night conversations, while the solos emphasise feel over flash. Clark’s comping is buoyant and s…
Bass On Top
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Bass on Top, Paul Chambers quietly but firmly moves the bass into the spotlight, supported by Hank Jones on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, and Art Taylor on drums. Standards become opportunities for Chambers to state themes and improvise with a singing, resonant tone that never gets lost, even in the lowest register. The rhythm section reverses the usual hierarchy: Jones and Burrell comp and solo with taste, but always leave room for Chambers’ lines to lead. …
A New Perspective
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On A New Perspective, Donald Byrd imagines hard bop through stained glass, fronting a band with Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Donald Best on vibraphone, Butch Warren on bass, Lex Humphries on drums, and a wordless choir led by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. Byrd’s trumpet sits at the crossroads of church, street, and conservatory, with the choir’s sustained voicings bathing the grooves in a luminous, spiritual glow…