Jazz & Improvisation / Avant-Garde Jazz

Impulse! is releasing a virtually unreleased work by the legendary and late jazz godmother Alice Coltrane, a 1981 recording titled Kirtan: Turiya Sings. The album, to be released on 16 July 2021 as part of the historic label's 60th anniversary celebrations, comprises nine devotional songs originally released in 1982 only on cassette for ashram students. In addition to Alice's voice and instrument, those recordings included parts for synthesizer, strings and effects. In 2004, Alice's son (and pro…

* 45th Timeless Records anniversary edition of 1000 individually numbered copies* To celebrate the legacy of Wim Wigt’s Timeless Records, Music On Vinyl is releasing a 45th anniversary jazz series. The series features albums that are part of the Timeless Records legacy and will be released throughout 2021/2022. To kick off this series, Pharoah Sanders’ Africa is released on the 19th of November 2021.Pharoah Sanders possesses one of the most distinctive tenor saxophone sounds in jazz, which has e…

** In process of Stocking ** For many years Evan Parker, one of the greatest post-Coltrane saxophonists, has played a monthly gig at the London club The Vortex. These gigs in part illustrate Evan’s close ties with the fragile ecosystem of clubs that support the jazz world; the small venues that allow an intimate and powerful connection between the artist and audience that is at the heart of jazz creativity. Evan called these events his ‘jazz’ gigs, the knowing hyphenation an indication of the pr…

**New 3LP Deluxe Edition** Makaya McCraven's early 2015 offering In The Moment was pared from nearly 48 hours of live, improvised performance recorded at 1 venue over 12 months and 28 shows. Working with instrumental contributions from an array of Chicago jazz players (including Jeff Parker, Joshua Abrams, Marquis Hill, and Matt Ulery), Makaya culled, cut, rendered and remixed the mass of sounds into 19 potent pieces of organic beat music for the original 80-minute, 2xLP issue.At the close of a …

* Edition of 100. Solid Turquoise Shell Cassette with J Card and clear plastic casing * Free Jazz pioneer, Evan Parker returns to Walthamstow to record an album taking inspiration from the renowned designer and activist, William Morris at the home of the socialist campaigner, which now houses the William Morris Gallery. The original working title for the album was 'Barbarism Once More', taken from a longer quotation from Morris, which reflects the passion, spontaneity and iconoclastic nature of …

Recorded last summer at The Sugar Maple, in Milwaukee, the latest release from Ken Vandermark and Nate Wooley, All Directions Home, wastes exactly no time getting going. The opener, Vandermark’s “Another Lecture (For Walter Benjamin),” is a hearty, up-tempo blues that absolutely swings. Vandermark and Wooley trade solos woven between unison lines. They rapidly bound ideas back and forth, with Vandermark on baritone sax and Wooley playing to the middle. About a minute in, they lock into a fantast…

Newly discovered recording of two British Jazz Legends gets a welcome first release! This double album consists of, for the first time ever on CD, the Stan Tracey solo recording Live at Wigmore Hall, made for Cadillac Records in 1974. The re-release of this set is valuable enough in itself, but added golddust comes in the shape of the additional material - the previously unreleased second half of the evening - a duo recording with alto saxist Mike Osborne. Two of the greats of the English jazz s…

Cadillac presents The Crane River Jazz Band. John Jack reissued this album in 1996 as part of a projected series in honour of his friend and mentor Doug Dobell. This compilation brings together rare live and studio recordings from the early 1950s and includes extensive notes from Bill Colyer and Pat Hawes and rare photos from the Pat Hawes archive. This is the first time the album has been made digitally available. Instruments [Suitcase], Liner Notes – Bill Colyer, Executive-Producer [Assistant]…

Cadillac presents For Heaven's Sake by The New Stan Tracey Quartet. Recorded in Wembley, 14 September 1995. Engineered and mixed 3 October 1995. The opportunity to present this first recording by the New Stan Tracey Quartet has been an event of great importance to me for a number of reasons. It perfectly fulfils the motivation for the Cadillac Label's creation and continuance since 1973, to wit the documentation and dissemination worldwide of unique moments of creative music making by artists wi…

Cadillac presents The Real Ken Colyer by Ken Colyer's Jazzmen featuring Pat Hawes, recorded live at The White Horse, Willesden, London, February 27, 1964. John Jack reissued this album in 2000 as part of a projected reissue of a number of 77 albums in honour of his friend and mentor Doug Dobell. Extra takes were added from the original session acetate. This is the first time the album has been made digitally available. Ken Colyer's life and musical career have been well documented, but many youn…

The Seventies should be acknowledged as a landmark period in creative music making in Britain and a potent influence throughout Europe. Whilst not economic paradise there was quite a bit of public funding beginning to come to jazz but the most important support was (and still is) the networks of dedicated Individuals throughout the country that provided unstinting support and platforms for the artists. A prime mover amongst these was the group of people in the Midlands that in 1976 came together…

Ogun presents Bush Fire by Louis Moholo, Evan Parker, Pule Pheto, Gibo Pheto, Barry Guy Quintet. Recorded at Gateway Studio, London in July, 1995 and released in 1997. "Musicians who refuse to follow passing fashions represent a vital rejuvenating force on any music scene, and perhaps especially today in a jazz world dominated by nostalgia and revisits to the past. The influence of South African musicians on the British jazz scene has been a crucial inspiration to that kind of independence. Loui…

Ogun presents Spiritual Knowledge and Grace. Transport hassles threatened to spoil the opening night of the Blue Notes 1979 Dutch tour, as Chris McGregor was delayed in reaching Eindhoven. Frank Wright was in town however and accepted Louis's invited to join him, Dudu and Johnny for a blow. And, blessed be, the gig was taped... Louis Moholo-Moholo - drums, voice. Dudu Pukwana - alto sax, piano, whistle, voice. Johnny Dyani - bass, piano, voice. Rev. Frank Wright - tenor sax, bass, voice.

At the behest of Elton Dean's widow, Ogun was (in 2017) delighted to release this live recording of the Elton Dean Quintet from their Brazilian tour of 1986. The first track, the epic 43 minute "Welcomet" had originally been put out on LP by Impetus but was long deleted. The CD reissue included a second track "Rio Rules" which comes in at a mere just-shy-of 34 minutes.

“Procession” captures Chris McGregor’s Anglo/South African big band in explosive form. Originally released on LP in 1978, this historic recording has been painstakingly restored from the original two-track analogue masters for this 2013 CD edition, which features an additional 23 minutes of music.

Ogun presents Bò Kay La Vi​-​a by Francine Luce. One of the lesser-known gems in the Ogun catalogue - check the the list of participating musicians to start with! Francine, originally from Martinique but a long-time resident of the UK, has contributed her unique vocals to Louis Moholo-Moholo's Unit and Septet, and to the Dedication Orchestra, but this her debut album from 1999 remains her only recorded output under her name on Ogun.

Ogun presents Live at the Purcell Room by Keith Tippett & Julie Tippett. Released on CD in 2010 but currently out of print, this album sees the Couple in Spirit caught live in concert at the Purcell Room in London's South Bank Centre on 14th November 2008, as part of the London Jazz Festival. The recording was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 3's 'Jazz on 3' programme. Released on CD in 2010 but currently out of print, this album sees the Couple in Spirit caught live in concert at the Purcell R…

The phenomenal trio of Mike Osborne, Harry Miller and Louis Moholo-Moholo at their fiery best. Tracks 1-6 were recorded at the Willisau festival in Switzerland in April 1975. Track 7 is of vague origin but is of a similar vintage, recorded live in Europe (somewhere...)

“The meeting of three improvisers. The first time. Three couples, two of whom already know each other. The meeting is open. They start, scrutinize, smell and listen to each other. In between, skins and cymbals bind the strings and the air, speaking thickly. Listening. Commenting. Unite. The sound other. The other and the sound. The circle closes. The music opens.” Music by M. Doneda, A. Grossi & F. Monico. Liner notes by M. Doneda. On cover collage by Michel Doneda. Inside photo by Gianni Grossi…

**300 copies** "The second side of this beautiful duo album was recorded more or less half a year after The Swiftest Traveller in Vilnius, while the first one in December 2019. The recordings took place live during the concert series dedicated to improvised music, "Improdimensija", at MAMAstudio. The music is a little less exploratory than this recorded with Don Malfon or Torben Snekkestad. It sounds for me more like a 21st century response to the late music of Jimmy Giuffre music from the end o…

**300 copies** "FTR is proud to present what is only the second solo album by Borbetomagus' sax giant, Don Dietrich. Crazily, Option documents the first solo performance Don ever did. It was recorded in 2019 as part of the Option series in Chicago, where Dietrich appeared at the invitation of Ken Vandermark (who also wrote the liner notes). The cover photo shows one of Don's polycarbonate sculptures, after which the album is partially named. Twisted, compressed, and strangely inviting, it is emb…

** 2021 Stock ** Another jazz gem unearthed from the Strata archives by Amir Abdullah for his magnificent 180 Proof imprint. From garage rock roots as a founding member of the Woolies, to tours backing the Four Tops, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Mary Wilson, Ron English has enjoyed a storied life in music, effortlessly moving between genres with chameleon-like malleability. English found his calling with 1970s work on Detroit’s Tribe and Strata labels that blended styles such as funk, be-…

2014 expanded reissue. Mono. Spiritual Unity, recorded on July 10, 1964, is the album that made Albert Ayler and ESP-Disk' famous (or, in some people's eyes/ears, infamous). Mr. Ayler had already recorded in Europe and, in February '64, in New York, but this was the first album on which neither he nor his collaborators held back. It was also ESP's first jazz recording. Spiritual Unity presented a new improvisation paradigm: looser structure, less regard for standard pitch, and no obligation to p…

** Texts in English and French ** 169 fundamental free jazzrecords recommended in 180 pages by Maurizio & Roberto Opalio (My Cat Is An Alien) and Philippe Robert, from must-have classics to indispensable curiosities. Free Jazz Manifesto is not simply a list of 169 recommended records, but a poetic vision, a parallel universe based on a personal aesthetics of perception and an in-nite love for the most creative, incendiary, spiritual music. If Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman or Anthony Braxton are well p…

** 2021 Stock ** Two outstanding performers, Carlos Santana and Alice Coltrane, collaborated to record their fantastic trip through time called Illuminations. Santana's interest in the Indian culture and different musical styles led him to the musician Alice Coltrane.

Duo improvisations recorded unedited in Montreal in 2011 by bass clarinettist Lori Freedman and drummer and percussionist John Heward, the third set of duos featuring Heward on Mode/Avant.

** Remastered. Housed in Gatefold Sleeve with 20 Page Booklet ** Deluxe reissue of Frank Foster's The Loud Minority LP for RSD. Released on Bob Shad's Mainstream Records in 1972, it's a landmark album and one of the key political works of the 70s. Featuring an all-star cast of superb musicians including Elvin Jones, Stanley Clarke, Airto, Cecil Bridgewater and Marvin 'Hannibal' Peterson, it is also Dee Dee Bridgewater's earliest full recordings. This special edition includes a 20-page booklet fe…

** Limited Edition* 140-gram "Shades of Night in Gold" color vinyl LP inside a reverse-board jacket (artwork by Damon Locks), with Eastside IARC obi strip, 17"x22" folded broadsheet insert (with liner notes, photos, and illustrations), and dome patterned inner-sleeve **  Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble’s new album "Now" was created in the final throes of Summer 2020, following months of pandemic-induced fear & isolation, the explosion of social unrest, struggle & violence in the streets, a…

** John Fordham It would make an absorbing blindfold test to present a panel of interested listeners with a track from this disc and one from the same pianist's Little Klunk trio session for Decca, 40 years ago, and invite them to decide which one's played by the 71 year-old. Not that the early record didn't sound as fresh, witty and jostling with clamorous harmonies and sidelong melody as Tracey has done for most of his life, but that the later one is, miraculously, fresher still. If there's an…

** In process of Stocking. 2021 Stock ** Cadillac presents Night Time Is The Right Time - 60s' Soho Sounds by Dudu Pukwana & Bob Stuckey. Recorded at the legendary Ronnie Scott's Old Place, Gerrard Street, Soho, 1967/68 - Recordings from the artists' archives. These rare recordings feature the great South African altoist Dudu Pukwana in a combo with some of the key young players on the 60s London scene at the time and playing more like a young Jackie McLean than the free player of the Brotherhoo…

Decca presents Journeys In Modern Jazz: Britain 1961-1973. The rediscovery of British jazz of the 60s & 70s is a phenomenon of our days. Some time ago this music seemed forgotten, today it is cult and artists like Shabaka Hutchings and Kamasi Washington call it a formative influence on their own music. British Jazz is cool again! Now, under the title British Jazz Explosion, Universal Music is diving deep into its jazz archives and reissuing the most sought-after, hip and collector-market pricele…

** 2021 Stock ** A rare recording from an under recorded period of Bobby Bradford's music. This date stems from a California radio broadcast. The line up is Bobby Bradford on trumpet, James Newton (flute), Richard Rehwald (bass) and John Goldsmith (drums). Includes a bonus track duet with Vinny Golia (clarinet) from a 2003 gig.

Impulse! presents Black To The Future by Sons Of Kemet. Fire and Fury! We're so hyped to welcome back Sons of Kemet with a whole host of guests too. The follow up to 2018’s Mercury Prize nominated breakout release Your Queen Is A Reptile. This is their 4th record, and 2nd on impulse! Compared with ”Your Queen is a Reptile”, this album has featured vocalists and more of an emphasis on fuller compositions and arrangements. Guest artists include Kojey Radical, Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid, Joshua I…

** Limited Edition 500 Copies Individually Numbered On Clear Vinyl! ** Despite the futurism that the title of the set might imply, the material on this LP is actually some of Sun Ra's earliest, and dates back to the years when the Arkestra was first beginning to make itself heard in Chicago. That doesn't stop the material from being amazing, though, as these prime early tracks really show how strong Ra's vision was, even when it was being applied to material that might look more simple on the su…

** In process of Stocking. 2021 Stock ** Cadillac presents The London Concert by David Murray. Remastered from the original 2LP set (released in 1979) and including 2 previously unreleased tracks, Nairobia and Flowers For Albert (and reuniting the two halves of Murray’s Steps…). Recorded live at the Collegiate Theatre, London, England on August 11, 1978. Tenor Saxophone – David Murray, Cornet – Lawrence 'Butch' Morris, Piano – Curtis Clark, Bass – Brian Smith, Drums – Clifford Jarvis. Design [Or…

In 1970 Miles Davis unleashed “Bitches Brew”. It sold a million and launched a new style of music: jazz rock. It was the culmination of the work of Miles and his musicians over the previous two years. “Directions In Music” illustrates its conception and immediate aftermath.

Founders Pino Minafra and Roberto Ottaviano remain at the core of Canto General but since the 1990s there have been many meetings and collaborations. Here they link up with the great South African drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo, recorded live at Tivoli, Italy (with track 8 from a festival in Perpignan, France) in 2007.

For its appearance at the 2004 edition of the Ruvo Festival, Canto General founder and festival director Pino Minafra invited Keith Tippett, Tippetts and Louis Moholo-Moholo to guest with the orchestra and the Faraualla singers. With a repertoire drawn from Mongezi Feza, Dudu Pukwana, Harry Miller and some Keith Tippett originals, the musicians paid tribute to those who had sought to bring forth light and sound through jazz from beneath the desperate dark shadow of apartheid.

A second volume of valuable documents from the Ogun archives by label co-founder Harry Miller. the tracks come from three sessions spanning 1977-1982. All feature Harry on bass with Louis Moholo-Moholo behind the drum kit and Trevor Watts on sax, other musicians included are Alan Wakeman (sax), Bernie Holland (guitar), Keith Tippett (piano), Alan Tomlinson (trombone), Dave Holdsworth (trumpet). This joyful music, at times rough around the edges but full of life and spirit, conviction and enthusi…

Ogun presents An Open Letter to my Wife Mpumi by Louis Moholo-Moholo Unit.  Louis Moholo-Moholo - drums and vocals. Jason Yarde - soprano, alto & baritone saxophones. Ntshuks Bonga - alto & tenor saxophones. Pule Pheto - piano. Orphy Robinson - vibraphone. John Edwards - bass. Francine Luce - vocals. Recorded in London, Nov 2008. "It's a ragged and jam-like studio set with a raucous live feel - but it confirms Moholo-Moholo's presence on the scene as a blast of fresh air." - The Guardian