Jazz & Improvisation / Modal

Long lost 1968 album from visionary South African jazz composer incorporating traditional African music sources and instruments. Officially licensed from the Nxumalo family and reissued with inner sleeve containing archival photographs and new liner notes by Francis Gooding. Gideon Nxumalo’s Gideon Plays might just be the most mythologised and sought-after LP in the whole South African canon. A sophisticated bop excursion with a distinctive African edge, it was only Nxumalo’s second LP as leader…

Nice, and official reissue of the rarest LP at cult Strata East label! John Gordon’s ‘Erotica Suite’ is one of the holy grail for deep and spiritual jazz fans, check the superb ‘Neleh’! A great later label effort under the leadership of trombonist John Gordon, with work by James Spaulding on alto and flute, John Miller on piano and keyboards, Waymond Reed on trumpet, Lyle Atkinson on bass, and Frank Derrick on drums and bells

“Fetén” brings together a selection of recordings made in Spain between 1961 and 1974. The tracks selected were originally released on records that have become impossible to find, and which, in most cases, have never been reissued. These are unique recordings spanning modal jazz, hard bop and even avant-garde jazz by Spanish musicians such as Mantequilla, Juan Carlos Calderón, Ricard Roda and Vlady Bas, as well as by international jazzmen like Dusko Goykovich, Lou Bennett and Tino Contreras. Th…

**Strictly limited to 500 copies. Digipak with bonus tracks and liner notes by Richard Williams** Jazz in Britain presents Forget To Remember: Live Vol​.​2 1970 by The Ray Russell Sextet featuring Harry Beckett. Previously unreleased live session recorded at the Aeolian Hall 2, New Bond Street, London on the 2nd January 1970. All tracks from the Ray Russell tape archive.

This is a wonderful rediscovery, and one of the great lost sessions of the 60s. Drummer Pete LaRoca made only three albums as a leader during his heyday in the 1960s and now this long forgotten session is available once again. Although best known for his Blue Note debut Basra in 1965, LaRoca recorded two albums for Douglas Recordings in 1967, the previously released Bliss! and this obscure date. This session is a fascinating slice of late-60s modally influenced Jazz featuring an especially welco…

Double CD Edition. Recorded at Ronnie Scott's, London, on either the 17th or 18th October 1972. Double CD in digipak with 24 page booklet containing previously unseen images and an extensive essay researched and written by Simon Spillett. From the Ron Mathewson tape archive. This previously unissued live recording features one of the final appearances by the ‘classic’ Tubby Hayes Quartet featuring pianist Mick Pyne, bassist Ron Mathewson (who made the original recording) and drummer Tony Levin, …

TIp! *Tone Poet serie. Highly recommended audiophiles new master* An album as representative as ever of the most avant-garde wing within that extraordinary laboratory called Blue Note: the reinventor of the vibraphone Bobby Hutcherson here (this is 1966) joins Joe Henderson on tenor sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Herbie Lewis on double bass and Billy Higgins on drums to record a memorable album, including original compositions and a danceable 'Una muy bonita', a well-known Tex-Mex flavour track by O…

** In process of stocking ** Craftman records presents One For Duke by Masaru Imada Trio. Recorded May 27, 1975. Art Direction – Ben Nishizawa, Bass – Isoo Fukui, Drums – Tetsujiro Obara, Engineer – Yoshihiko Kannari, Piano – Masaru Imada, Producer – Takeshi Fujii.

When any recording made by George Coleman is issued, it's an instant event. Though Coleman has always been busy performing, writing, and especially teaching, scant few LPs or CDs have come listeners' way. It is especially thrilling to hear him live in concert performance at the initial site of the then newly minted Yoshi's in Oakland, CA, as his extended techniques and heightened sense of tonal ideas come fully to the fore. Coleman and pianist Harold Mabern, both originally from the fertile jazz…

The definitive Jazz Mass! Never before heard second day takes, includes alternate version of Duke & Trane! Second day take of the acclaimed 1978 New Hope Jazz Mass recording from Helsinki Finland, newly remastered and never before released, features different soloist and a performance believed to be better than the original release. Featuring Heikki Sarmanto, Seppo Paakkunainen, Pekka Pöyry, Esko Rosnell, Pekka Sarmanto, Maija Hapuoja, Gregg Smith Vocal Quartet and Long Island Symphonic Choral A…

*2022 stock* The Kenny Clarke-Fancy Boland Ensemble has its headquarter and management in Cologne. Many international recordings and releases presents the lineup of the Clarke-Boland in trio, quartet, sextet and in bands with 13 and 21 musicians from all over Europe. This time, they were a sextet that traveled to Rolandseck, a German ensemble with no Germans.Kenny “Klook” Clarke is one of the heads of the bebop movement. He was also one of the founders of the Modern Jazz Quartet and he is consid…

*2022 stock.* Here is music for your strange mood. The piano starts the first track, slow tempo beat, a strict beat, a swinging beat. Lillemor—here minor harmonies give the tune a rural, romantic feeling of some place in Spain or France. The tempo changes to medium fast—the flute solos. Light phrasing contrasts beauti¬fully to the earthy, swinging beat of the rhythm section and the repeating piano figures. The trombone adds a new color, a counterpoint of sound and phrasing, backed by the pulsati…

*2022 stock* Gianni Basso represents one of the most solid institutions of the Italian jazz. He has been like this since the beginning, when he appeared in Milan after some years abroad. At that time he already had a long story behind him as an activist jazz musician: he started playing during his childhood in his hometown of Asti (where he was born in 1931) and then in Belgium, where his father emigrated with his family to work in the mines. It was there that he discovered the jazz music at its…

*2022 stock* They called him the “Little Giant” long ago in Chicago – they still call him so. In order to understand why “Little” you have to see him – it’s enough to hear him to understand why “Giant”. But just to listen to him means missing out on so much. “I just look at Johnny and feel the power of positive swinging”, the “producer” says. Like most small people (let’s not exaggerate the “small” – he’s not exactly a dwarf) Johnny appears to have been blessed with an extra portion of energy. H…

*2022 stock* Jazz music has more than its fair share of overshadowed figures that whilst contributing much to the music have little presence in its collective conscious. One such musician is the talented multi-reedist, Sahib Shihab. Born Edmond Gregory, as he was known before he adopted the Muslim faith in 1946, Sahib Shihab’s music background shows a deep and significant evolution, influenced by Thelonious Monk, Dizzie Gillespie (his experience in Dizzie’s band marked Sahib’s switch to Baritone…

*2022 stock* Myths take a long time dying, especially in jazz where the ability to confuse fact and fantasy has marked several generations of both critics and listeners. Perhaps the great Buddy Bolden could be heard for 14 miles on a clear night, but those who still believe that old one deserves to be interned in the same kind of institutions that housed Buddy in his latter days. The European jazz musicians, despite years of recorded evidence stretching right back to the wonderful Django Reinhar…

*2022 stock* It was a really great idea to search for pieces, with the taste of a collector, and to produce this compilation, with jazz pieces and pieces extracted from refined sound tracks which have a subtle and intelligent taste, among the production of some of the biggest Italian composers in this sector. It is a piece that has never been reedited and it is of great taste, and consequent will to give works to an audience that otherwise are difficult to discover.  And therefore has taste for …

*2022 stock* «Crucial moment» the title assigned by Giorgio Azzolini. And as a fact, jazz in the past years has been going through a crucial, decisive period. On one side the conservation of traditional values of the language and its well-known inspiring of the cause; on the other side the intentions, sometimes only foolish aspirations, of subversion and reorganization, on quite different bases, of jazz expression. The transformed historical – environmental conditions in which the American jazzm…

*2022 stock* 1999 Release. A lost Italian gem from the 60s! Bassist Giorgio Azzolini was one of Italy's best players during the postwar years, and this handsome reissue brings to light one of his rarer sessions from the 60s. The record's a lyrical septet session, with Azzolini's warm round basslines right up front, and beautiful solo work by a young Gato Barbieri on tenor, Franco Ambrosetti on trumpet, and Renato Sellani on piano. The session has the warmth and sensitivity of some of Horace Silv…

** Limited Edition of 300 Clear Vinyl ** This is Jack Wilson's debut album as a bandleader, originally released in 1963 for Atlantic label, featuring a young Roy Ayers on vibraphone, bassist Al McKibbons and drummer Nick Martinis. Jack Wilson was a fine and often underrated pianist and composer who played with many great names such as Gene Ammons, Jacki Mclean, Esther Phillips, Lou Rawls, Johnny Griffin, Ertha Kitt, Lambert Hendricks & Ross, Antonio Carlos Jobim... This is a lively studio sessio…

Previously only available on tape cassette in 1975, now remastered and available as a download and on limited edition CD for the first time. Released with the cooperation of Chris Laurence, Stan Sulzmann, Chris Bolton Levin, Mark Wheeler, Norma Winstone and John Taylor’s sons.  This is John Taylor’s third album as leader. John’s first was ‘Pause, And Think Again’, released on Turtle Records in 1971. Stan Sulzmann, Kenny Wheeler, Chris Pyne, Chris Laurence and Tony Levin make up the sextet on bot…

Recorded live in-studio, London, on the 26th October 1970. All tracks previously unreleased. Ian Carr, Harold Beckett - trumpet/flugelhorn Brian Smith - tenor/soprano sax Tony Roberts - tenor sax/bass clarinet Karl Jenkins - electric piano/oboe Chris Spedding - guitar Ron Matthewson - bass guitar Jeff Clyne - bass John Marshall - drums Chris Karan - congas Keith Winter - VCS3

Jazz In Britain presents Revisiting Tanglewood 63: The Early Tapes by Mike Gibbs, entirely recorded in two sessions, back in 1970. Brit-jazz composer and arranger Michael Gibbs was born in 1937 in Zimbabwe. Starting in 1959, he studied in Boston at the Berklee College of Music, the Boston Conservatory , Tanglewood and the Lenox School of Music, where he studied with a who's who of contemporary jazz and modern composition: George Russell, Gunther Schuller, Iannis Xenakis, Aaron Copland, Lukas Fos…

*In process of stocking* "Recorded on the 1963 tour of Europe, this is the definitive John Coltrane Quartet at its musical peak.  My edition of the Penguin Guide to Jazz suggests that the 1963 tour was ‘slightly anti-climactic’; on the basis of these tracks, I have to disagree. Although, compared with say, the Stockholm recording of the same tour, this set feels much stronger (even though the pieces are more or less the same, taken from the short set list that the Quartet toured in the October a…

When Matthew Halsall released Salute to the Sun in November 2020, his first new album in five years, he shared the first fruits from an especially fertile period of writing and recording, which also gave birth to the music released here as The Temple Within. The recording sessions featured Halsall's then brand new band of hand-picked local musicians, brought together through weekly rehearsals and a monthly residency at Yes in Manchester, they forged an immersive, communal sound, drawing on spiri…

*300 copies limited release* In 1963 Eric Dolphy recorded some sessions in New York with producer Alan Douglas, the fruits of which were issued on small labels as the LPs Conversations and Iron Man. They've been reissued a number of times on various labels, occasionally compiled together, but never with quite the treatment they deserve (which is perhaps why they're not as celebrated as they should be). In whatever form, though, it's classic, essential Dolphy that stands as some of his finest wor…

** 2022 much needed repress ** Milestone! Recorded in 1972 at the legendary Landsdowne Studios in London, Cosmic Eye is an extraordinary piece of recorded music. Led by Indian born guitarist Amancio D’Silva, Cosmic Eye was a highly innovative studio experiment in which ‘Jazz Meets World’. Following in the footsteps of other pioneering Landsdowne jazz recordings such as Joe Harriott & John Mayer’s Indo Jazz sessions, Cosmic Eye is modal, but is also under-pinned with traditional Indian instrument…

LP version. 180 gram vinyl; Half speed mastered; Heavy sleev and obi. We Release Jazz announce the official reissue of Ryo Fukui's New York sessions with Lisle Atkinson and Leroy Williams, the aptly titled album Ryo Fukui in New York, sourced from the original masters. Recorded in February 1999 at Avatar Recording Studios in New York and inspired by Ryo Fukui's idol and mentor Barry Harris, the fourth album from the famed Sapporo pianist captures memorable sessions with seasoned American jazz mu…

LP version. 180 gram vinyl; Half speed mastered; Heavy sleeve and obi. We Release Jazz announce the official reissue of Ryo Fukui's final album, the very personal contemporary jazz offering, A Letter from Slowboat, sourced from the original masters. Known for his miraculous albums 1976's Scenery (WRJ 001CD/LP) and 1977's Mellow Dream (WRJ 002CD/LP), legendary Hokkaido pianist Ryo Fukui, with the help of his wife Yasuko, opened his very own jazz club in Sapporo in 1995, Slowboat. This is where Ry…

** LP version. 180 gram vinyl. Heavy sleeve and obi ** We Release Jazz announce the official reissue of Ryo Fukui's only solo piano album, recorded live, June 4-5, 1994 at The Lutheran Hall in Sapporo. Originally released on CD only by Sapporo Jazz Create in 1994, My Favorite Tune is a beautiful bop adventure which includes two superb compositions that Ryo Fukui wrote as an homage to his beloved Hokkaido region, the fan-favorite "Nord" and "Voyage", a tribute to his mentor Barry Harris ("Nobody'…

** LP version. 180 gram vinyl; Half speed mastered; Heavy sleeve and obi ** We Release Jazz is ecstatic to announce the official reissue of Hiroshi Suzuki’s glorious jazz-fusion-funk Holy Grail Cat (originally released in 1976), sourced from the original masters and available on limited edition 180 gram vinyl mastered at half speed for full audiophile sound, as well as on digipack CD. Both versions come with liner notes by Teruo Isono. Cat was recorded in October 1975 at at Nippon Columbia Studi…

Pharoah ‘Farrell’ Sanders (born 1940) is a leading figure in the world of jazz and one of the last living legends with connections to players like Sun Ra and John Coltrane. His tenor saxophone playing has earned him royal status amongst free jazz players, critics and collectors. ​Originally Sanders was interested in urban blues music, but his high school teacher exposed him to jazz and this took Farrell in an entirely new direction. Once completing high school Sanders quickly packed his belongin…

Saxophonist, flautist Chip Wickham takes us to Cloud 10 with his most soulful and lyrical album to date Chip Wickham is a jazz musician and producer who divides his time between Spain, UK and the Middle-East and who has made a name for himself with a series of beautifully crafted solo albums that draw equally on the hard swinging spiritual jazz of Roland Kirk, Yusef Lateef and Sahih Shihab, alongside the music of British jazz legends such as Tubby Hayes and Harold McNair and the more contemporar…

** Strictly limited to 500 copies ** Jazz In Britain presents Mandala by The Mike Taylor Quartet with extensive liner notes by Duncan Heining. Recorded live by Jon Hiiseman on Friday, 8th January 1965 at the Studio Club, Westcliff-On-Sea, Southend. Previously unheard. These are the only known live recordings of the The Mike Taylor Quartet. Mike Taylor – pianoDave Tomlin – soprano saxTony Reeves – bassJon Hiseman – drums

TAO Forms is rather stoked to present this astonishing new work from the fertile creative mind of tenor saxophonist–composer James Brandon Lewis. Performed by the Red Lily Quintet, an exceptional & singular inter-generational ensemble, this album speaks to the forever-evolving continuum of the jazz tradition.

Reissue of Norwegian post-bop from early seventies -  holy grail among jazz collectors. Limited to 500 copies. Recorded in 1970 and released on Arne Bendiksen’s Flower label in 1971, this Norwegian post-bop gen has today become a highly priced collectors item. Featuring Erik Andresen on Alto-Sax, Roy Hellvin on Piano, Tore Nordlie double bass and Svein Christiansen on drums. This reissue comes with with CD inside sleeve, improved sound, new liner-notes and one bonus track.

Reissue of 'Step By Step' by trombonist John Gordon - a deep jazz classic on the legendary Strata-East label! Features the likes of Charles Tolliver on trumpet and Stanley Cowell on piano! John Gordon, a trombone master, brings us another gem from that most renowned of 70’s record labels, Strata-East. The trombone is a difficult instrument. In the hands of an artist like John Gordon, however, it can create vivid images and conjure up beautiful music.

Sending My Love (2008) and Colour Yes (2009) were his first releases and document Halsall’s first great bands featuring the likes of flautist Chip Wickham, saxophonist Nat Birchall, harpist Rachael Gladwin, bassist Gavin Barras and drummer Gaz Hughes. Joyful, life-enhancing albums, drawing on UK jazz and spiritual jazz influences but with a decidedly modern bounce, they introduced Halsall’s music to the world gathering support from the likes of Gilles Peterson and Jamie Cullum, Mojo, Straight No…

Salute to the Sun features lush wholly improvised tunes inspired by ambient rainforest and jungle field recordings, deeply soulful tunes built around hypnotic harp and kalimba patterns, deep Strata-East inspired spiritual jazz grooves and some of Halsall’s most beautiful playing and inspiring healing melodies yet recorded. The album was recorded at the band’s weekly sessions, using Halsall’s own recording set-up, giving the recordings a relaxed vibe and unforced energy that really lets the music…

* 2022 stock * Recorded in 2001 and originally released by Marge in France. Sonny Simmons (born in 1933 on Sicily Island, Louisiana), who has shown his vitality in recent years by releasing new works on QWest and CIMP, is an excellent free alto player with a hard-edged and profound spiritual style. This time, the quintet with Eddie Henderson and John Hicks is more into the new mainstream hard bop style. The quintet's music is a well-balanced mixture of the bright, crisp, Dolphy-like new jazz wor…