Jazz /
3
Taken from Abdullah Ibrahim’s summer 2023 sold-out headline date at London’s Barbican Centre, the new album “3” follows suit and is spread across two performances – the first is recorded without an audience ahead of the concert straight to analogue on a 1” Scully tape machine, which had previously been used by Elvis at the famous Memphis-based Sun Studios.
The second recording is taken from the evening’s performance itself with Ibrahim performing in a unique trio which includes Cleave Guyton (fl…
Phase III
Endless Happiness reissues the 1968 British jazz classic Phase III by The Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet, showcasing their creative peak and innovative spirit.
One Flight Up
One Flight Up by the legendary Dexter Gordon. Recorded in Paris on June 2, 1964, this album stands as a testament to Gordon’s leadership and the vibrant European jazz scene of the era.
Domino - Live At Radio Bremen Tv-studios 1963
On September 30, 1963, American saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk and his quartet gave a small concert in the TV studios of Radio Bremen. The concert was broadcast on ARD in the spring of 1964 as part of the popular "Domino" series.
Now the original tapes have resurfaced in the station's archives. Sensational! The former sideman of Charles Mingus, Gil Evans and Quincy Jones had come to Germany not only with his successful Mercury albums "Domino" and "We Free Kings" in his…
The Straight Horn Of Steve Lacy
Some of soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy's most interesting recordings are his earliest ones. After spending periods of time playing with Dixieland groups and then with Cecil Taylor (which was quite a jump), Lacy made several recordings that displayed his love of Thelonious Monk's music plus his varied experiences. On this particular set, Lacy's soprano contrasts well with Charles Davis' baritone (they are backed by bassist John Ore and drummer Roy Haynes) on three of the most difficult Monk tunes…
Sands
2025 stock Tzadik is proud to release a new recording by Steve Lacy, MacArthur Fellow and for 40 years the undisputed master of the soprano saxophone. Recorded at his home in Paris from February to April 1998, Sands is Steve Lacy's most personal and remarkable solo document, and explores a wide variety of musical and dramatic subjects. Portraits of close friends Barney Wilen and William Burroughs; collaborations with the texts of Allen Ginsberg and Samuel Beckett; and of course his own peculiar…
The Relatives
2025 stock If you went looking for a poster-child for Chicago's multidirectional, cross- pollinating, interstylistic music scene, you couldn't find a better one than Jeff Parker. Parker: jazz guitarist with pro credentials, widely travelled and prized by top soul-jazzers and hard-boppers. Parker: inveterate rocker who revitalized Tortoise with his ferocious improvising and tasty licks. Parker: experimentalist willing to try new dub, hip- hop, electronic, collage, free, chamber - anything worthwh…
The Body & The Soul
In his last release for the Impulse label, Hubbard’s ambitious 1963 recording The Body & The Soul includes both an all-star septet and an orchestra with strings. Including a number of Hubbard originals and such notables as Curtis Fuller (trombone), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone), Cedar Walton (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), and Louis Hayes (drums), the album stands alone as one of the most unique productions in Freddie’s substantive discography and as a showcase fo…
Cymbalism
A legendary album by one of the masters of modern jazz drumming! Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in 1963, Cymbalism is among the albums Roy Haynes provided for Prestige's New Jazz series. This session features the drummer leading an acoustic quartet with Frank Strozier (alto sax, flute) Ronnie Mathews (piano) and Larry Ridley (bass). An unpredictable Hard Bop-Post Bop transitional album with different colors and moods. From the primary influence of Charlie Parker through a kind of expanded sound ins…
In a Minor Groove
'Dorothy Ashby was the very best and most swinging performer on the multi-stringed instrument associated with the gates of heaven. Here on Earth, Ashby adeptly plucked and strummed the harp like nobody else, as evidenced on a single reissue containing her two best LPs for the Prestige and Prestige/New Jazz labels from 1958 -- Hip Harp and In a Minor Groove. Alongside her prior efforts for the Savoy label, they collectively represent a small but substantive discography for the Detroit native in s…
Holiday For Soul Dance
"Holiday For Soul Dance" by Sun Ra & His Arkestra, recorded in 1960, showcases soulful jazz standards reimagined with cosmic flair, revealing a rare, earthbound side of Sun Ra’s visionary artistry.
Mingus Plays Piano
One of Mingus' most straightforwardly beautiful recordings, there is a meditative calm found in Mingus' piano work, touching on shades of Debussy, Satie, Bill Evans, and Duke Ellington. There's no showboating, and not an ounce of amateurism considering Mingus was primarily known as a bassist. Making its way through standards, original compositions, and the blues, Mingus Plays Piano is a true document of the man's inherent musical genius, and a crucial LP for anyone wishing to dig a little deeper…
Jazz Composers Workshop
Charlie Mingus’s 1956 Jazz Composers Workshop showcases his visionary blend of hard bop, classical, gospel, and avant-garde. The album captures Mingus’s restless innovation—by turns explosive, tender, and genre-defying.
Montreux II – Recorded Live At The Montreux Festival, 1970
Recorded at the 1970 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and produced by Helen Keane, Montreux II (originally issued on the CTI label) was the second of Bill Evans’ Montreux concert recordings to be released, following the Grammy Award-winning Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival (1968). It features the leader accompanied by Eddie Gomez on bass, and Marty Morell on drums. According to AllMusic writer Ken Dryden, the concert finds “the pianist in peak form” presenting “a terrific live perfo…
Further Conversations With Myself
Further Conversations with Myself, released on the Verve label in 1967, was Bill Evans’ sequel to his 1963 Grammy Award LP Conversations with Myself. As on that initial album, here all the pieces are unaccompanied solos with piano overdubs. On Further, however, he plays just two pianos instead of the three he had previously employed. According to AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow, “The program is brief, but Evans plays quite well throughout. In particular, his versions of Johnny Mandel's ‘Emily’ an…
...How Time Passes...
A fascinating blend of jazz and contemporary classical influences, How Time Passes is the debut album from the envelope pushing trumpeter and composer Don Ellis.
Known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures, Ellis began his long career in the New York Citys post bop and avant-garde jazz scenes of late 1950s. Most notably he appeared on Charles Mingus Mingus Dynasty, and albums by George Russell and Maynard Feguson. But he also worked with, among ot…
Blues For Smoke
Jaki Byard was a visionary multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, teacher, and pianist. His early experiences with classical music fused seamlessly with a deep passion for jazz, shaping his unique style. While he mastered numerous instruments including trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and drums the piano became his main voice. By the early 1960s, he had established himself as a dynamic and forward-thinking player, joining Charles Mingus's ensemble and contributing to seminal works like Mingus, …
The Endangered Species
In 1980 Bobby Wellins was commissioned to write a suite of music, which he called ‘The Endangered Species’ because, in his words: “Some years ago there was an oil spillage which washed ashore in Bognar Regis where I live. The guillemots were being pulled out in a dreadful state. One reads about such things, but to see for oneself a bird's life being taken away from it is quite horrific. Their lives are short enough anyway. It brought home to me very directly the damage we are inflicting on ourse…
Blue Train
"We’re listening to Blue Train, which to me is one of the most beautiful pieces on one of the most beautiful records that Coltrane recorded in the fifties. It’s his first real mature statement and he wrote all but one of the tunes on this album which was very rare in the fifties and each one is a gem, particularly the title tune Blue Train. And while it’s kind of easy to play the blues, this has a suspended and haunting kind of quality to it." - Michael Cuscuna
Coltrane
*2025 stock* Coltrane is a studio album by the jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer John Coltrane. It was released in July 1962 through Impulse! Records. The recording was made in April and June 1962 at the Van Gelder Studio. At the time of release it was overlooked by the music press, but has since come to be regarded as a significant recording in Coltrane's discography.