Jazz /
Sextant
* 180 gram vinyl * Herbie Hancock is one of the most prolific jazz pianists of the 20th century. A child prodigy, he played with the greats such as Donald Byrd and Miles Davis. He was one of the first to embrace and master the electric piano, but he always stayed true to the acoustic sound. In fact, he always bounced back and forth between his electronic and acoustic sound, touching upon almost every development in R&B, Funk and Jazz while retaining an original and distinctive voice.
Sextant fro…
New Grass
Albert Ayler's 1969 album New Grass has been misunderstood from the day of its release. The album finds Ayler experimenting with soul music and digging back into his R&B roots (he started his career playing saxophone with Chicago bluesman Little Walter), fusing it with the avant-garde free jazz (the one element of the record which garnered consistent praise) and adding the vocals of Rose Marie McCoy, The Soul Singers and Ayler himself. As if predicting the divisiveness of the record to follow, A…
Drumsville
Earl Palmer the man behind the evolution of the backbeat from Jazz and R&B to Rock 'n' Roll. One of the great figures in the New Orleans music scene and one of the most-recorded drummers ever. His highly dynamic drums style has served hundreds of hitmakers such as Fats Domino, Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, The Beach Boys, Eddie Cochran, Dinah Washington, Dizzy Gillespie, you name it. "Drumsville" originally released on Liberty Records in 1961 features a selection of rare gems produced …
Bells of Kyoto
Mitsuko & Svetlana Records present the first reissue of Bells Of Kyoto's self-titled album, originally released in 1984. Archival reissue of rare 1984 jazz-funk fusion diamond in the rough by German-Australian-British madcap ensemble Bells Of Kyoto, produced by Ollie Marland of De-Lite and Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart fame. Fusions grooves with Orient-funk detours and looking out the window of a Swissair aircraft moments of cool mid 1980s contemplation. Highly recommended to porthole dream…
Sagittarius
**2019 stock, reduced price** Frank Cunimondo has an extensive discography, having recorded with nearly every artist from Pittsburgh. In addition, he has shared the stage with a number of jazz stars including: Sonny Stitt, Lou Donaldson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Urbie Green, Lee Konitz, Louie Bellson, Joshua Redman, Phil Woods and Frank Rosolino. The Frank Cunimondo Trio is also a fixture of the Pittsburgh Jazz scene. Frank's most popular recording Feelin' Good (from the album The Frank Cunimondo Trio…
Ethiopian Knights
Right from the stop-start bass groove that opens The Emperor, it's immediately clear that Ethiopian Knights is more indebted to funk - not just funky jazz, but the straight-up James Brown / Sly Stone variety - than any previous Donald Byrd project. And, like a true funk band, Byrd and his group work the same driving, polyrhythmic grooves over and over, making rhythm the focal point of the music. Although the musicians do improvise, their main objective is to keep the grooves pumping, using their…
Mr. Shing-A-Ling
This 1967 recording was always the best of Lou Donaldson's funky albums. It's just amazing that Blue Note put this back into circulation on 180 gram vinyl. Mr. Shing-A-Ling is worth the investment for the ultra-funking Peepin' alone. Composer and organist Lonnie Smith lays down a basic fatback groove and manages to glean a funk anthem that set the foundation for a whole decade worth of Lou Donaldson LPs (Midnight Creeper is a mere rewrite of this classic). Among Donaldson's big funk classics - t…
Psychedelic Sanza 1982-1984
* Repress! Includes printed inner sleeves * Double LP version with printed inner sleeve. Born Bad Records presents the music of Cameroonian musician Francis Bebey, circa 1982-1984. "The first time I saw a sanza (a type of African 'thumb piano'), it was just sitting there on a piece of furniture in my family's living room/dining room -- a space that our father also transformed into a recording studio every day. It seemed more like a box than a musical instrument: a mysterious instrument, which ar…
3rd Version
3rd Version is Eero Koivistoinen's seventh album and finds him in the company of other excellent Finnish musicians: pianist Heikki Sarmanto, guitarist Jukka Tolonen, bassist Pekka Sarmanto and drummer Reino Laine, plus American drummer Craig Herndon. Except for Tolonen, who is mostly associated with jazz-rock fusion due to his membership in the legendary Finnish bands Tasavallan Presidentti and Wigwam, the rest of the players are all pillars of the Finnish modern jazz scene and all are vi…
Let The Sun Shine In
Long out of print, few copies available. Beautiful material from this legendary Bay Area soul jazz combo! The Sons & Daughters of Lite have an incredibly spiritual sound – one that sounds sort of like the best groups on the Strata East label, with touches of Roy Ayers or James Mason-esque soulfulness, but with a little less polish. Many of the cuts have sweet female vocals in the lead – with backing that includes vibe, electric piano, tenor, alto, and percussion by Babatunde. The record's a grea…