Jazz /
Quetzalcoatl
Tip! Before coming to Europe, in 1970, pianist Manuel Villarroel was a vet in his native Chili. A few years later, as leader of the Machi Oul Big Band, he returned to the animal kingdom. A very specific kind of animal, for sure, the Quetzalcoatl, also known as the Feathered Serpent. What is behind this title (also the name of one of the three original compositions on this album released on the Palm label in 1976), is first and foremost a sort of homecoming…
After discovering the jazz of Herbie H…
Watching A Dog. Smiling
*300 copies limited edition*New release on NoBusiness from two of the best reed instruments' veterans.
Mats Gustafsson – slide flute, flute, baritone sax and live electronicsLiudas Mockūnas – sopranino, soprano, reedless soprano, overtone, bass sax and contrabass clarinet
Gnu High
A vinyl reissue, in Ecm new audiophile Luminessence series, for Kenny Wheeler’s sensational ECM leader debut. Recorded in New York in 1975, and produced by Manfred Eicher, Gnu High brought Canadian trumpeter Wheeler to a new level of international acclaim, for both his impassioned playing and his profoundly lyrical writing. Here Kenny is fronting an extraordinary quartet, with Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, all masterful improvisers who had shaped their intuitive collective und…
The New Quartet
As well as being the great vibraphone innovator of the era, Gary Burton is known for his unparalleled intuition as a talent scout. In 1973, The New Quartet introduced Abraham Laboriel: this was the first recording of the bassist who would soon become one of the most in-demand session players across all genres. “It must be emphasised that Laboriel sounds like a major artist in the making with his astonishing bass work,” wrote Melody Maker. Guitarist Mick Goodrick also emerged as a player to watc…
Saudades
Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos’s Saudades album, recorded in March 1979, was the culmination of a dream for a musician who had long yearned to hear the berimbau in an orchestral context. This ‘concerto’ for an innovative player of a traditional instrument was made possible with the creative input of Egberto Gismonti, here the arranger of the material for strings, as well as co-composer and supporting soloist. The Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart was conducted by Mladen Gutesha (who h…
Old And New Dreams
Hot on the heels of Old Friends, New Friends comes Old And New Dreams, an operation meant as a new flagship for Ornette Coleman, whose lack of enthusiasm for the project left a gap duly filled by Dewey Redman. The result is this delightful excursion into post-bop outlands that sounds as alive as ever. Two Coleman pieces comprise nearly half of its duration—which is saying much, for like many of ECM’s joints of the 70s, this one breezes by in under 50 minutes. The first Coleman piece, “Lonely Wom…
Live at the Hillcrest Club 1958
This record marks a turning point in jazz history. It may be the earliest recorded example of what Ornette Coleman later called "free jazz," and it represents the first rumblings of the revolutionary movement which eventually shifted jazz thinking away from bebop. This double LP includes the complete show recorded live at The Hillcrest Club of Los Angeles in 1958.
Ballet Etudes
Recorded at the 1962 Jazz Jamboree festival in Warsaw and originally released in 1963 on Danish Metronome label, here's a true gem from one of the most important figures in Polish music and a founding father of European Jazz. "Ballet Etudes" was one of the three full LPs released during Komeda' short lifetime. His fluent modern jazz conception was a perfect synthesis between the American influence and the European harmonic complexity, a unique kind of marriage colored by a clear Slavic lyricism.…
Live in Paris - 1971 (The ORTF Recordings)
"Don Cherry delves into Turkish rhythms, accompanied by his long-time Don Cherry Trio members: Turkish drummer Okay Temiz and South African bassist Johnny Dyani. The vinyl LP is manufactured in Istanbul under the guidance of Mr. Okay Temiz, the only living member of this iteration of the Don Cherry Trio. The LP has been remastered from original material housed in BYG Records' vaults by Okay Temiz & Mert Ucer and licensed from BYG Records, France.
This LP features the recording by the Don Cherry …
Star Of The Future
*300 copies limited edition*
Xenia Ende - vocalsJulius Gabriel - saxophoneAchim Zepezauer - electronicsGabor Bodolay - bass guitarKarl F.-Degenhardt - drums & sensory percussion
All music by Das Behälter. All lyrics by Xenia Ende. Recorded by Pablo Paredes at Tucapel Studio. Mastered by Filipe Louro at Arda Recorders. Artwork by Rosh Zeeba. Design by Thomas Spallek.
Skultura
*300 copies limited edition* Composition, improvisation, and performance are no longer the only elements at play in Dunston’s recorded work. On Skultura, he continuously shapes the music with various sound-manipulation techniques to create an album that is meticulous as it is visceral. To quote Jacob Garchik’s liner notes, the ‘work is made of continuous waves of inspiration and creation, strata of improvisations madepermanent, each layer related to the one below, or not’. Skultura is revered in…
Circular Temple
"On a good day it is strenuous to stay current with pianist Matthew Shipp's imposing and voluminous output. On an even better day it is a fool's hardy errand to say the least. Now with the planned re-issuing of some of his great early deconstructions of musical thought and theory, starting here with 1990's daringly incongruous yet hypnotically accessible, Circular Temple, keeping up just got a whole lot harder. With William Parker on bass and Whit Dickey on drums, this four-movement suite for pi…
Preparation For Sleep
*200 copies limited edition* All written, mixed by Tsuadatta
Spectral Fiction
For the first time, a compact version of Rob Mazurek's magisterial Exploding Star Orchestra – Exploding Star Orchestra/Small Unit – commits its music to CD.
Recorded live at Corbett vs. Dempsey's Chicago gallery space in March, 2023, the six-piece band featured Mazurek on trumpet, Tomeka Reid on cello, Damon Locks on voice and electronics, Angélica Sánchez on Wurlitzer, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on bass, and Chad Taylor on drums. Spectral Fiction consists of two tracks, the deeply exploratory "Equ…
Hum Dono
Released in 1969, 'Hum Dono' is a legendary 'lost' British jazz plate, described by Trunk as the best modern British jazz LP of all time that will set you back a good £2000 second hand - if you're lucky enough to find a copy. Its beguiling mix of East meets West rhythms, ideas and joy pits Jamaican free jazz virtuoso Joe Harriott and Indian guitarist Amancio D'Silva against some of the UK jazz elite's most essential players. Blending library-style exotica with tabla rhythms, cascading vocals and…
Call It Art
5LP deluxe box and a 156-page clothbound book packaged in a custom white-birch wood box, limited to 665 hand-numbered copies The book features music manuscripts and notebook pages from the musicians' archives, an extensive itinerary, the complete history of the NYAQ, artists' bios, and musical analysis. 2013 release. Five LPs of entirely uncirculated music by the New York Art Quartet, featuring Roswell Rudd, John Tchicai, and Milford Graves; the bass chair is alternatively occupied by Lewis Wor…
Le Sud
Tip! Le Sud trio works from the concept of lower-case free music, which has been a common European currency since the mid-1970s. Despite Brexit, violist Benedict Taylor asserts himself during this continental concert by sawing, sweeping and stretching distinctive patterns from his strings. During the two over half-hour each improvisations however there’s no lead instrument. Positioned power strokes, steel string plinks and diverted chords from Dirk Serries plus Friso Van Wyck hollow pops, metal …
Baritone Saxophone Solo "Sakai"
The baritone sax solo performance that Ryuichi Yoshida has been working on as his life's work is finally released on CD as "SAKAI-Sakai" from doubtmusic. It is based on his approach to the regular live "Sakai" that he has been performing since the summer of 2019 as part of his tea party, and is the culmination of many years of solo performances. "Singing with baritone saxophone" music. Enjoy a live performance to commemorate it.
Kind Mind
Following the live Kind Mind recording from 2020 that focused on the 'intimate and inventive' style of improvisation the trio had been engaged in up till that point, this new full length studio album dramatically shifts the approach. Built around 6 new compositions by Josh Cole and guided by a heightened interest in shaping improvisations with electronics and samples (aided by Matthew Pencer and Sandro Perri), the music is intentionally distilled, the compositions presented with clarity, restrai…
Mephistopheles To Orgasm (Revisited)
“He was nomadic. The strongest and most lasting thing you can say about Alan is that he was
an original, as original as you can get. He didn’t want any academic guidelines to equip him to
reinvent the wheel. If he saw something like that, he’d go the other way.” – Wayne Shorter