Candid Vinyl, CD & Tape 62 Items

The music Charles Mingus and his group recorded during his landmark 1960 sessions for Candid Records produced three of the most revered jazz albums of the era. Incarnations is a new masterpiece thoughtfully assembled from rare and unreleased material from those sessions that stands proudly in the Mingus canon of masterworks.

All but one of the tracks here are from the November 11th, 1960 sessions Mingus and producer Nate Hentoff put together. The date was split into two halves: one a pure Mingus-led date, featuring a six-piece band that expanded into an octet for two additional tunes, and another, a partial reunion of a collective that had assembled in opposition against George Wein’s Newport Jazz Festival that past July. (That collective, calling themselves The Jazz Artist Guild, would release the album Newport Rebels, on Candid in 1961.)

Of special note here is the one track recorded during the Mingus October 20th 1960 sessions. It is a previously unreleased track titled “All The Things You Are (All.)” Found on a tape that contained material from both of these fall 1960 dates, the piece has its roots in an Art Tatum rendition of “All the Things You Are,” which Mingus had recorded before in various settings.

Featuring Booker Ervin, Eric Dolphy, Charles McPherson, Ted Curson Lonnie Hillyer, Roy Eldridge, Jimmy Knepper, Britt Woodman, Tommy Flanagan, Paul Bley, Dannie Richmond and Jo Jones. With audio restored and remastered by Bernie Grundman, and liner notes by Pitchfork and New York Times contributor Hank Shteamer, this album is a must have for any Mingus fan.

An avant-garde masterpiece, a vocal-instrumental suite, a work of collective improvisation, directly addressing the racial and political issues of it’s day, We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite is one of the most important artistic statements of Civil Rights Movement and one of the most groundbreaking jazz albums of all time. Max Roach was already almost a decade into his career as one of the most influential jazz drummers and composers when he teamed up with lyricist Oscar Brown Jr. to collaborate on a piece they planned to perform at the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1963. Recorded just months after the February 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, the album stands as an early musical testament to the burgeoning rage, anger and passion that would take the Civil Rights Movement from its early victory in Montgomery in 1955 into a future that would dramatically alter race relations in the United States.

The second release from the newly launched New York City based jazz label Candid Records, and produced by label co-founder, famed music critic and social activist, Nat Hentoff, the album is a bold statement, focused on civil injustices in black history ranging from slavery to contemporary racial prejudices, and featuring some of the finest jazz musicians ever, including Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, and Michael Babatunde Olatunji.

The five movements of the work are organized as a historical progression through African-American history, a shape similar to the one in Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige. The Freedom Now Suite moves from slavery to Emancipation Day to the contemporary civil-rights struggle and African independence.

The LP includes extraordinary liner notes written by Hentoff himself, giving a context and insight that adds to the experience of hearing these magnificent performances.

Quantity: 3400 Release type: RSD Exclusive Release / Rare Mingus tracks unavailable on vinyl for decades, reassembled as a stand-alone album as a sequel to Incarnations, which came out for RSD Black Friday 2024. 180g vinyl, remastered by Bernie Grundman.

Any list of the greatest jazz artists of all time includes the legendary Charles Mingus. Bassist, composer, outspoken jazz pioneer, Mingus was an innovator whose legacy continues to inspire us. Over a 100 years after his birth year, we still celebrate his genius.

In conjunction with the Charles Mingus Estate, Candid Records is proud to present MINGUS AT MONTEREY for official reissue.

This tour de force live performance from the 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival captures Mingus at the top of his form and the height of his powers. Out of print for more than 40 years, this landmark recording was originally released on Mingus’ own short-lived mail-order label. It has consistently been the most requested reissue by Mingus fans.

This 2 LP disc set has been remastered by five-time Grammy Award Winning Engineer Michael Graves, with lacquers cut by Jeff Powell, and pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Original gatefold jacket artwork has meticulously restored and reproduced.

This is a 2025 Record Store Day release.

An avant-garde masterpiece, a vocal-instrumental suite, a work of collective improvisation, directly addressing the racial and political issues of it’s day, We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite is one of the most important artistic statements of Civil Rights Movement and one of the most groundbreaking jazz albums of all time. Max Roach was already almost a decade into his career as one of the most influential jazz drummers and composers when he teamed up with lyricist Oscar Brown Jr. to collaborate on a piece they planned to perform at the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1963. Recorded just months after the February 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, the album stands as an early musical testament to the burgeoning rage, anger and passion that would take the Civil Rights Movement from its early victory in Montgomery in 1955 into a future that would dramatically alter race relations in the United States.

The second release from the newly launched New York City based jazz label Candid Records, and produced by label co-founder, famed music critic and social activist, Nat Hentoff, the album is a bold statement, focused on civil injustices in black history ranging from slavery to contemporary racial prejudices, and featuring some of the finest jazz musicians ever, including Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, and Michael Babatunde Olatunji.

The five movements of the work are organized as a historical progression through African-American history, a shape similar to the one in Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige. The Freedom Now Suite moves from slavery to Emancipation Day to the contemporary civil-rights struggle and African independence.

The LP includes extraordinary liner notes written by Hentoff himself, giving a context and insight that adds to the experience of hearing these magnificent performances.

In 2020, Chick Corea—27-time GRAMMY® winner, National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, and one of the most iconic figures in jazz—hit the road with his powerhouse trio of Christian McBride and Brian Blade, and embarked on what would be his final tour. Candid Records and Chick Corea Productions proudly present the recordings from that tour as Trilogy 3, the third installment from this extraordinary group. This unforgettable double live album showcases their unparalleled chemistry and cements their legacy in contemporary jazz history.

With years of collaboration to draw from, 9-time GRAMMY®-winning bassist Christian McBride and 4-time GRAMMY®-winning drummer Brian Blade bring a profound musical connection to their work with Corea. Their longstanding partnership fuels a dynamic, ever-evolving soundscape that elevates the art of the jazz trio to new heights.

Following the critically acclaimed Trilogy (2013) and Trilogy 2 (2018) albums, which each earned two GRAMMY Awards® including Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Trilogy 3 marks yet another milestone for this celebrated ensemble. The release brings together live performances from their February-March 2020 tour, cut short by the onset of the pandemic, capturing the trio’s extraordinary interplay and artistic brilliance. The album features fresh interpretations of jazz standards and Chick Corea originals, including the first trio recording of Corea’s iconic composition "Windows" since its appearance on the album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, nearly six decades ago.

Widely regarded as one of Chick’s most acclaimed ensembles, this trio has consistently pushed the boundaries of jazz with technical brilliance, playful camaraderie, and deep emotional resonance. Trilogy 3 invites listeners to join these masters on a journey through music that is both timeless and groundbreaking.

Led by the legendary pianist and composer Chick Corea - the venerated 27-time Grammy winner and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master - The Elektric Band stormed onto the jazz scene in the mid-1980s, making an immediate and lasting impact on the genre. With their electrifying performances and innovative blend of jazz fusion, the group produced a series of albums that set the bar for excellence in contemporary jazz. Featuring a core lineup of virtuosic musicians - John Patitucci on bass, Dave Weckl on drums, Eric Marienthal on saxophone and Frank Gambale on guitar - the group created a dynamic and electrifying sound that came to define the jazz fusion style. Their collective musicianship was on full display on each album, as they seamlessly blended complex compositions with captivating improvisations. After releasing five legendary albums in the span of 6 years (now available form Candid Records on all streaming platforms, CD, and the vinyl box set The Complete Studio Recordings 1986-1991), Corea, always interested in expanding the scope of his work, devoted himself to a myriad of other musical projects. Compiled and completed by Corea before his death in February of 2021, this incredible and previously unreleased album of live recordings with the reunited original Elekteric Band, was captured during tour stops in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Produced by Corea with original Elektric Band recording engineer Bernie Kirsch, and mastered by Bernie Grundman, the 3 disc vinyl LP and 2 disc CD features in depth liner notes from Corea, and all of the Elektric Band members. It is a fitting closing chapter, a must have for any fan of this dynamic and game changing group.

An avant-garde masterpiece, a vocal-instrumental suite, a work of collective improvisation, directly addressing the racial and political issues of it's day, We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite is one of the most important artistic statements of the Civil Rights Movement and one of the most groundbreaking jazz albums of all time.The second release from the newly launched New York City based jazz label Candid Records, and produced by label co-founder, famed music critic and social activist, Nat Hentoff, the album is a bold statement, focussed on civil injustices in black history ranging from slavery to contemporary racial prejudices, and featuring some of the finest jazz musicians ever, including Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, and Michael Babatunde Olatunji.

Abbey Lincoln's distinctive vocal style, thought-provoking writing, and spirited personality has secured her a place among the jazz greats.Though she made her first recording for Riverside, and later in life for Verve, it was with the young and audacious Candid Records that she made her biggest musical statement, 1961's Straight Ahead. Straight Ahead is one of Abbey Lincoln's greatest and most important recordings. A testament to her credibility and talents, the section on this album includes saxophone giant Colman Hawkins, the great Eric Dolphy on flute alto, trumpeter Booker Little, pianist Mal Waldron and the iconic drummer Max Roach.

The debut recording from one of jazz music's most revered pianists!

"Byard is absolutely brilliant...highly recommended." - All Music

Originally recorded in 1960, briefly released in Japan in the early ’70s, it wasn’t until 1988 that Jaki Byard’s solo debut, Blues For Smoke, was widely released. Even then it was more of a secret handshake among fans than the catalog cornerstone it should have always been. Now, Candid has finally created the definitive edition of this lost masterpiece for all to experience.

Byard backed generations of jazz icons, including Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Roland Kirk, and Quincy Jones. As a bandleader and soloist, he went on to build his own catalog of iconic recordings across three decades while establishing himself as an educator and mentor to the next generation of artists, most notably, Grayson Hugh, Fred Hersch, and Jason Moran. Blues For Smoke is where it all began.

Recorded as a solo-piano showcase for Byard’s incredible gifts as a player, composer, and jazz historian, the exquisitely engineered session is given new life by Bernie Grundman’s sensitive remastering. With this release, Candid is hoping to make Jaki Byard’s very first album the rosetta-stone of jazz piano it was intended to be.

NEA Jazz Master Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr. is one of finest saxophonists of his generation. His resume includes long associations with Terrance Blanchard and Art Blakey throughout the 1980s. But the foundation of Harrison's music, and it’s the soul of his music, comes from his lifelong participation in the culture of New Orleans, his home town.

Here he pays tribute to that rich culture, and accompanied by non other than the legendary Dr. John. Both artists, the embodiment of New Orleans’ music in their own right.

The album features a mix of original compositions and jazz standards, all infused with the spirit and energy of New Orleans. Featuring the Mardi Gras Indian chants of The Guardians Of The Flame, this recording captures the magic of heritage New Orleans Mardi Gras music and wraps it all up in one package.

Originally recorded at BMG Studios in New York City, May of 1991. Remastered by Bernie Grumman.

Perhaps best known for his long association with the legendary Muddy Waters, Otis Spann is largely recognized as one of the greatest blues pianists of all time, if not the greatest.

Although Spann made a name for himself in Chicago by the mid 1940s, it wasn’t until 1960 that he got the opportunity to record an album of his own. The sessions Spann did with Candid Records co-founder Nat Hentoff that year resulted in the legendary album Otis Spann Is The Blues. (Incidentally, this was also the first album ever recorded for the fledgling New York City based label.)

The tracks on Walking The Blues were recorded during those same sessions in August of 1960 in New York City. Left on the cutting room floor, they would not be officially released until 1972, two years after Spann’s untimely death.

Robert Lockwood Jr., also from Muddy Water’s group, accompanies Spann on guitar here as he does on the Is The Blues album. But Walking The Blues also features Spann’s close friend, veteran singer and composer James Oden, better known to blues fans as St. Louis Jimmy.

Stripped down to just the these musicians, this magnificently performed and produced set showcases Spann’s voice as well as piano. Spann stretches out with his pulsing two-handed rhythmic attack, and brings the barrelhouse piano style of his youth in line with the modern Chicago style he embodied.

During a spectacular, six-decade career, multi-Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Carlos Santana has thrilled and mesmerized generations of fans across the globe. His powerfully emotive and mystical alchemy of rock and roll, blues, jazz and Latin music has become that rarity in art: a sound all his own, instantly identifiable yet constantly evolving. For Santana, each song and album represents a lifetime commitment toward expanding all creative boundaries, and in the process he takes listeners on a journey that celebrates life, love and spiritual connection.

Santana’s new album, Sentient, is a retrospective of 11 adventurous and altogether mesmerizing tracks – three of them previously unreleased – compiled by the virtuoso guitarist, remastered and sequenced in a way that allows a new and dramatic story to emerge. As is often the case when the spark of musical magic strikes, Santana was surprised, delighted and receptive. “I’m always driven by passion, emotion and inner instinct,” he says. “When I first heard these tracks floating around in the house, I said, ‘Why don’t we put these all in one place?’”

As Santana continued to listen and began forming the record in his mind, he zeroed in on a point of view that he calls “multi-dimensional.” Quoting one of his idols, Wayne Shorter, it’s “completely new yet totally familiar.” With his senses fully engaged, he seized on the word that perfectly summed up everything he was feeling: Sentient. “It’s someone who’s evolved and has graduated from the animal,” he explains. “Or it’s like a Christmas tree, and all the ornaments are the attributes a sentient man has: gratitude, patience, humility, generosity and consideration.”

The songs that make up Sentient are complex compositionally, but they float by like a dream. There are brilliant collaborations with Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Miles Davis, Paolo Rustichelli, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Cindy Blackman Santana, but no matter the mood or genre – whether it’s lush pop or high-intensity cosmic jazz – it’s all part of a common thread. “That’s another thing I learned from Wayne Shorter,” Santana says. “From Stravinsky to James Brown, it's all the same song, meaning it's all connected to the umbilical cord of humanity and planet Earth.”

The album gives us a first listen to a live instrumental cover of Michael Jackson’s haunting ballad “Stranger in Moscow,” recorded in 2007 with producer and drummer Narada Michael Walden’s band. It’s a devastating masterclass performance – Santana’s guitar playing is by turns soulful and poetic, blitzing and blinding, and always breathtakingly imaginative. “Narada knew that I loved the song, so he arranged it with his band,” he remembers. “I showed up and we played it with no rehearsal. I’m basically singing it with my guitar. I’m visualizing Michael Jackson and what he would do – I got pretty close. I think when Michael listened to it, wherever he is, he smiled and said, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’”

We’re treated to a new view of “Please Don’t Take Your Love,” the heavenly slice of funky, soulful seduction that paired Santana with the incomparable Smokey Robinson. The original version, featured on Robinson’s 2009 album, Time Flies When You’re Having Fun, saw Santana contrast Robinson’s shimmering vibrato with searing, soul-shaking soloing. The alternate take on Sentient is no less emotionally wrenching, but as Santana notes, it boasts a never-before-heard guitar performance. “I went to the studio and did my own thing. I said, ‘Let’s just roll it.’ I did another take with Smokey sort of guiding me. Smokey loved them both, so he wound up combining the two. What’s on Sentient is the first version.”

Sentient offers listeners a tantalizing preview of Cindy Blackman Santana’s next album with “Coherence,” a remarkable musical exchange between two peerless players – Carlos reaching for points unknown with wah-drenched, freak flag-flying fearlessness, and Cindy locking down an epic groove while also breaking out lethal jabs, uppercuts and hooks. “Cindy is a godsend because she’s such a great mentor,” Santana says. “I learn things from her Art Blakey, Tony Williams and Roy Haynes, because I’m a drummer at heart. We bring what we love out of each other without words. It’s a marriage made in seventh heaven.”

Another impeccable match – Michael Jackson and Carlos Santana – resulted in “Whatever Happens,” the haunting, Latin-infused ballad that was one of the most critically acclaimed singles from the late singer’s 2001 album, Invincible. Jackson enlisted Santana to lend his signature guitar work on the track, and here it’s been remastered in a way that makes each note more present – more passionate. “As I do with any singer, whether it’s Smokey Robinson or Michael Jackson, I try to honor their voice,” Santana says.

In 1996, Santana received an invitation from noted Italian jazz-rock composer and producer Paolo Rustichelli to participate in the recording of his new album, Mystic Man. “He even wrote a song for me,” Santana says. “I felt so grateful.” The guitarist not only performed on the hypnotic cut “Full Moon,” but he also collaborated on three more – the romantic ballad “Vers Le Soleil,” the Latin jazz groover “Get On” and the transporting “Rastafario,” the latter two featuring none other than trailblazing trumpet legend Miles Davis. The intuitive interplay among these master musicians, the way they weave ideas and emotions and never repeat themselves, is positively thrilling. All four cuts are accounted for on Sentient.

Santana’s dynamic and uplifting “Let the Guitar Play,” a wondrous reimagining of his earlier “Song for Cindy,” features a poetic mid-song rap by Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run DMC. The guitarist teamed with producers Narada Michael Walden, Lino Nicolosi and the Nicolosi Team to create this message of positivity, and the remastered Radio Version heard here is a sparkling sonic joy.

“I’ll Be Waiting” goes back to 1977, from the Santana album Moonflower. It’s a luscious soul-pop confection punctuated with the guitarist’s effervescent soloing. “That one has a special sentimental value to me,” Santana says. “The sound of the guitar and the singer [Greg Walker] sound like a hug – a very personal, intimate hug.”

Sentient concludes with the title cut to Santana’s 1987 album Blues for Salvador. This striking duet with keyboardist Chester D. Thompson sizzles with the guitarist’s forceful and poignant leads. “That song is all about the love I have for my son, Salvador,” Santana reveals. “It also represents my lifetime of learning the blues from the Kings – B.B., Freddie and Albert – and others like Buddy Guy and Otis Rush.” “Blues for Salvador” won Santana his first Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental.

For Santana, Sentient represents select snapshots and treasured moments in time. He marvels, “I can listen to this album and go, ‘Did this really happen? To be with Miles, Smokey, Michael Jackson and Paolo – is this really real? Here I am, living the dream.’” And that dream continues as he eyes more creative highs: “I'm almost 80 years old, and I'm happy to tell you that I'm still relevant. I can still go in there with Wyclef Jean or any of the rappers, or Taylor Swift or whoever, and still be relevant. I’m not a stick on a refrigerator

An intimate recording from the Blues hall-of-famer that puts you in the room with 3 Blues legends!

Remastered by multiple Grammy winner Michael Graves.

One of Candid’s historic blues releases, Memphis Slim, U.S.A. finds the Blues Hall Of Fame inductee in a rare, relaxed setting with two close friends and fellow blues icons, Jazz Gillum and Arbee Stidham. The intimacy—from their loose interplay and improvisation to the eerie realism of the recording—is palpable and feels more like an invitation to their inner circle than a commercial release.

Grammy-winner Michael Graves’ sensitive remastering brings Memphis Slim, U.S.A. to life, letting listeners in as the piano legend and his buddies offer a musical history of the blues from its Southern juke-joint roots up to its Chicago-style move toward R&B.

Memphis Slim, U.S.A. is an essential document that Candid is proud to bring back to the blues canon.

Hot off her 2022 GRAMMY win for Best Latin Jazz Album, Mirror Mirrorwith Chick Corea and Chucho Valdés, superstar pianist, singer, composer and arranger Eliane Elias returns to her Brazilian bossa nova roots with her forthcoming album Quietude. A luscious collection showcasing her alluring vocals with her virtuosic instrumental jazz and piano mastery, the recording features songs by such legendary composers as Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Dorival Caymmi along with Dori Caymmi who joins her on vocals for the closing track of the recording.

The World Of Cecil Taylor is the fifth studio album by radical, free jazz pianist pioneer, Cecil Taylor.Taylor's music is often described as ahead of its time. And it's easy to imagine what the reaction of the average jazz fan was to this 1961 recording. It is arguably a tremendous departure from what jazz was widely considered to be at the time. At once a modern approach to standard material and a genre pushing exploration, it is a document of an artist pushing the boundaries of what jazz meant and where it was capable of going. This brand new reissue is available on CD and LP (180g) and has been remastered from the original Candid Records master tapes by Bernie Grundman.

Otis Spann is widely recognised as one of the greatest blues pianists of all time.Although Spann made a name for himself in Chicago by the mid 1940s, it wasn't until 1960 that he got the opportunity to record an album of his own. Otis Spann Is The Blues is not only the first solo album ever recorded by Otis Spann, it is also the first album ever recorded for the fledgling New York City based Candid Records label. Stripped down to just the two musicians this magnificent set showcases Spann's voice and piano.

Recorded November 15, 1960 at the Nola Penthouse Sound Studios in New York, Lightnin' In New York captures the legendary bluesman in classic form, including some rare solos on the piano.Produced by Candid Records label co- founder, famed music critic and social activist, Nat Hentoff, and recorded at a time when Hopkins was being "rediscovered" by white audiences, the bluesman was reluctant in accepting his new role as an "artist" before predominantly white audiences.

During a spectacular, six-decade career, multi-Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Carlos Santana has thrilled and mesmerized generations of fans across the globe. His powerfully emotive and mystical alchemy of rock and roll, blues, jazz and Latin music has become that rarity in art: a sound all his own, instantly identifiable yet constantly evolving. For Santana, each song and album represents a lifetime commitment toward expanding all creative boundaries, and in the process he takes listeners on a journey that celebrates life, love and spiritual connection.

Santana’s new album, Sentient, is a retrospective of 11 adventurous and altogether mesmerizing tracks – three of them previously unreleased – compiled by the virtuoso guitarist, remastered and sequenced in a way that allows a new and dramatic story to emerge. As is often the case when the spark of musical magic strikes, Santana was surprised, delighted and receptive. “I’m always driven by passion, emotion and inner instinct,” he says. “When I first heard these tracks floating around in the house, I said, ‘Why don’t we put these all in one place?’”

As Santana continued to listen and began forming the record in his mind, he zeroed in on a point of view that he calls “multi-dimensional.” Quoting one of his idols, Wayne Shorter, it’s “completely new yet totally familiar.” With his senses fully engaged, he seized on the word that perfectly summed up everything he was feeling: Sentient. “It’s someone who’s evolved and has graduated from the animal,” he explains. “Or it’s like a Christmas tree, and all the ornaments are the attributes a sentient man has: gratitude, patience, humility, generosity and consideration.”

The songs that make up Sentient are complex compositionally, but they float by like a dream. There are brilliant collaborations with Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Miles Davis, Paolo Rustichelli, Darryl “dmc” McDaniels and Cindy Blackman Santana, but no matter the mood or genre – whether it’s lush pop or high-intensity cosmic jazz – it’s all part of a common thread. “That’s another thing I learned from Wayne Shorter,” Santana says. “From Stravinsky to James Brown, it's all the same song, meaning it's all connected to the umbilical cord of humanity and planet Earth.”

The album gives us a first listen to a live instrumental cover of Michael Jackson’s haunting ballad “Stranger in Moscow,” recorded in 2007 with producer and drummer Narada Michael Walden’s band. It’s a devastating masterclass performance – Santana’s guitar playing is by turns soulful and poetic, blitzing and blinding, and always breathtakingly imaginative. “Narada knew that I loved the song, so he arranged it with his band,” he remembers. “I showed up and we played it with no rehearsal. I’m basically singing it with my guitar. I’m visualizing Michael Jackson and what he would do – I got pretty close. I think when Michael listened to it, wherever he is, he smiled and said, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’”

We’re treated to a new view of “Please Don’t Take Your Love,” the heavenly slice of funky, soulful seduction that paired Santana with the incomparable Smokey Robinson. The original version, featured on Robinson’s 2009 album, Time Flies When You’re Having Fun, saw Santana contrast Robinson’s shimmering vibrato with searing, soul-shaking soloing. The alternate take on Sentient is no less emotionally wrenching, but as Santana notes, it boasts a never-before-heard guitar performance. “I went to the studio and did my own thing. I said, ‘Let’s just roll it.’ I did another take with Smokey sort of guiding me. Smokey loved them both, so he wound up combining the two. What’s on Sentient is the first version.”

Sentient offers listeners a tantalizing preview of Cindy Blackman Santana’s next album with “Coherence,” a remarkable musical exchange between two peerless players – Carlos reaching for points unknown with wah-drenched, freak flag-flying fearlessness, and Cindy locking down an epic groove while also breaking out lethal jabs, uppercuts and hooks. “Cindy is a godsend because she’s such a great mentor,” Santana says. “I learn things from her Art Blakey, Tony Williams and Roy Haynes, because I’m a drummer at heart. We bring what we love out of each other without words. It’s a marriage made in seventh heaven.”

Another impeccable match – Michael Jackson and Carlos Santana – resulted in “Whatever Happens,” the haunting, Latin-infused ballad that was one of the most critically acclaimed singles from the late singer’s 2001 album, Invincible. Jackson enlisted Santana to lend his signature guitar work on the track, and here it’s been remastered in a way that makes each note more present – more passionate. “As I do with any singer, whether it’s Smokey Robinson or Michael Jackson, I try to honor their voice,” Santana says.

In 1996, Santana received an invitation from noted Italian jazz-rock composer and producer Paolo Rustichelli to participate in the recording of his new album, Mystic Man. “He even wrote a song for me,” Santana says. “I felt so grateful.” The guitarist not only performed on the hypnotic cut “Full Moon,” but he also collaborated on three more – the romantic ballad “Vers Le Soleil,” the Latin jazz groover “Get On” and the transporting “Rastafario,” the latter two featuring none other than trailblazing trumpet legend Miles Davis. The intuitive interplay among these master musicians, the way they weave ideas and emotions and never repeat themselves, is positively thrilling. All four cuts are accounted for on Sentient.

Santana’s dynamic and uplifting “Let the Guitar Play,” a wondrous reimagining of his earlier “Song for Cindy,” features a poetic mid-song rap by Darryl “dmc” McDaniels of Run DMC. The guitarist teamed with producers Narada Michael Walden, Lino Nicolosi and the Nicolosi Team to create this message of positivity, and the remastered Radio Version heard here is a sparkling sonic joy.

“I’ll Be Waiting” goes back to 1977, from the Santana album Moonflower. It’s a luscious soul-pop confection punctuated with the guitarist’s effervescent soloing. “That one has a special sentimental value to me,” Santana says. “The sound of the guitar and the singer [Greg Walker] sound like a hug – a very personal, intimate hug.”

Sentient concludes with the title cut to Santana’s 1987 album Blues for Salvador. This striking duet with keyboardist Chester D. Thompson sizzles with the guitarist’s forceful and poignant leads. “That song is all about the love I have for my son, Salvador,” Santana reveals. “It also represents my lifetime of learning the blues from the Kings – B.B., Freddie and Albert – and others like Buddy Guy and Otis Rush.” “Blues for Salvador” won Santana his first Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental.

For Santana, Sentient represents select snapshots and treasured moments in time. He marvels, “I can listen to this album and go, ‘Did this really happen? To be with Miles, Smokey, Michael Jackson and Paolo – is this really real? Here I am, living the dream.’” And that dream continues as he eyes more creative highs: “I'm almost 80 years old, and I'm happy to tell you that I'm still relevant. I can still go in there with Wyclef Jean or any of the rappers, or Taylor Swift or whoever, and still be relevant. I’m not a stick on a refrigerator.”

Turquoise Opaque 180 gram Vinyl Edition.
Record is slightly warped, otherwise close to NM. Cover has a seam split at the upper edge.

The legendary vocalist's debut album!

"A 100% must for my record of the year" - Jazz Journal Review

Remastered by multiple Grammy winner Michael Graves.

The fist time Candid founder Nat Hentoff heard Harrow sing, he decided on the spot that if he were to ever have a label of his own, he would have to cut a record with her. Both of his dreams came true, resulting in a jazz vocal album as easily appealing as anything you’re likely to hear. Despite its accessibility, it’s also a showcase for Harrow’s utterly unique style. One of the few vocalists of her generation that didn’t emulate the voices of the icons that came before her.

When the Washington Post reviewed this album, they got so much right about Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues and Nancy Harrow herself: “She sings for the sheer fun of it - not to be glamorous, not to knock our musicians, but just because she’s got a feeling she wants to get across. Repeated hearings bear this out - her long, strong phrases; the ironic power of her understated emotions; the stripped, supple timbre of her voice, straight as a clipper’s keel. And I say we’ve got a rare thing here - a woman who has made grand what’s common to us all. I think that’s what they call art.”

After this album, Harrow went on a 12-year hiatus to raise her children (one of which is Galaxie 500’s Damon Krukowski) before re-emerging to even greater acclaim on the jazz scene. This reissue finally gives her debut the shot it always deserved to find its way into the collections of aficionados and casual listeners alike.

Still shrink wrapped but opened.
Record with just a few paper scuffs.

RSD First, Limitation: 1500

For more than five decades Carlos Santana has been the visionary force behind artistry that transcends musical genres and generational, cultural, and geographical boundaries. To date, Santana has won ten GRAMMY Awards and three Latin GRAMMY Awards, received the Billboard Century Award, is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, received the Billboard Latin Music Awards’ Lifetime Achievement honor, is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors Award, and has been cited by Rolling Stone as #11 on their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”
For RSD Black Friday 2024, Santana teams up with producers Lino Nicolosi, Nicolosi Team, and Narada Michael Walden (Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey), to present three distinct versions of his composition “Let The Guitar Play”: The Radio Version, The Soul Radio Version, and The 70's Version. The first two feature Run DMC's Darryl McDaniels, who delivers a poetic rap over an EDM-style drum beat, serving as a dynamic catalyst for Santana to intricately weave his signature guitar magic.
This limited edition three song 12” is pressed on tie-dye vinyl.

For more than five decades Carlos Santana has been the visionary force behind artistry that transcends musical genres and generational, cultural, and geographical boundaries. To date, Santana has won ten GRAMMY Awards and three Latin GRAMMY Awards, received the Billboard Century Award, is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, received the Billboard Latin Music Awards’ Lifetime Achievement honor, is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors Award, and has been cited by Rolling Stone as #11 on their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.” Teaming up with producers Lino Nicolosi, Nicolosi Team, and Narada Michael Walden (Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey), Santana presents three distinct versions of his composition “Let The Guitar Play” - The Radio Version, The Soul Radio Version, and The 70's Version. The first two feature Run DMC's Darryl McDaniels who delivers a poetic rap over an EDM-style drum beat, serving as a dynamic catalyst for Santana to intricately weave his signature guitar magic. This limited edition three song 12” is pressed on tie-dye vinyl. This is a 2024 Black Friday Record Store Day release.

Paquito D’Rivera's - NEA Jazz Master, multiple Gramm winner, Downbeat Hall of Fame Inductee - gained worldwide attention as member of the Grammy Award winning Cuban group Irakere, a revolutionary ensemble co-founded with Chucho Valdés in the early 1970s. Blending Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz, the band was a seminal force and marked a new era in Cuban music. His defection to the United States in 1980 was a turning point, as he became an ambassador of Latin jazz around the world, fusing cultures and genres effortlessly.

A decade into his new status, D’Rivera entered a New York studio to record an homage to Bebop. He enlisted Grammy award winner and Dizzy Gillespie alum James Moody, distinguished straight ahead jazzers Mark Morganelli, Harvey Swartz and Al Foster, and major Latin-jazz players of the day Claudio Roditi, Danilo Perez, and Pedrito Lopez. While his intentions may have been to make an album like “Monk, Bird, and Dizzy” as he states in the liner notes, the results here are undeniably in D’Rivera’s signature style.

The album features a mix of original compositions from featured players, alongside the ensembles take on Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”, and Monks “I Mean You,” all delivered with D’Rivera’s unique perspective and deep understanding of traditional jazz and Latin music traditions.

Rare Mingus tracks unavailable on vinyl for decades, reassembled as a stand-alone album
The sequel to Incarnations , which charted in the CIMS Top 40 for RSD Black Friday 2023
180g vinyl remastered by Bernie Grundman