Jazz | Fusion Vinyl 542 Items

Originally released in 1981, the second release from Wendell Harrison’s Wenha label (following Dreams of A Love Supreme), Organic Dream is one of the finest records to come out of Detroit’s DIY jazz scene in the 80’s. Album opener “Ginseng Love” is as smooth as butter, with warm analog synth strings and a gentle groove, over which Harrison plays saxophone, clarinet, and flute. His playing is as energetic as ever, with his free jazz tendencies tempered by mellow R&B influenced phrases. This is followed by “Winter”, a ballad that sees Harrison on clarinet playing with acoustic backing, showing off a softer side of Harrison’s playing that rarely gets the attention it deserves. However, things quickly pick up with “Love Juice”, a disco-boogie number perfect for any dance party. Staccato guitar rhythms, and a bouncing bassline combine to create a groove so perfect you’ll be nodding your head even just thinking about it. Harrison’s playing is louder and freer, with lines clearly inspired by the great R&B and pop saxophonists of the 80’s. “The Wok”, highly regarded by many as one of Harrison’s best compositions, is a mellow funk track, and despite its brevity, contains some of the deepest grooves in Harrison’s 80’s discography. As the name would suggest, oriental sounds are incorporated with funk grooves to create a sound that defies immediate characterization, but is fantastic nonetheless. With modern remastering and an obi-strip this album has never looked or sounded this good! Don’t miss Wendell Harrison’s Organic Dream, from P-vine Records!

Originally released in 1975, Norwegian jazz singer Karin Krog’s We Could Be Flying has long been called an underrated masterpiece. Although Krog is listed as the sole leader on the album, pianist Steve Kuhn’s presence is felt throughout. Composing four out of nine tunes and playing on all nine, the New York pianist’s brand of mellow jazz is on full display from beginning to end. Album opener and title track “We Could Be Love” sets the tone for the record, as spiritual chimes and rolling piano arpeggios make way for a gentle groove, over which Krog’s vocals soar. “The Meaning of Love” is a Kuhn composition, and sees the pianist take an understated, yet fantastic solo. However, the true highlights are the bass playing from Steve Swallow and drumming from John Christensen. The two are perfectly locked in, and you can practically imagine the two of them locking eyes as they create a rhythmic bedrock. The cover of Joni Mitchell’s “All I Want”, is another highlight of the record, with 70’s sensibilities oozing from practically every aspect of the performance. Despite that, the track has aged well, and perfectly shows the interplay between Krog and the immensely talented rhythm section. That’s not to say that the rest of the record is lacking in any way. From the loungey interpretation of Carla Bley’s “Sing Me Softly Of The Blues”, to the danceable samba-inspired “Raindrops, Raindrops” and “Hold Out Your Hand”, fans of all kinds of jazz are sure to be delighted from beginning to end. Reissued on vinyl with an obi-strip for the first time ever, this record is a must-have for any jazz fan!

Following the April 2022 reissue of the album Shrimp Boats, We Are Busy Bodies presents companion titles Plum and Cherry and Deeper in Black to round out a Lionel Pillay and Basil Mannenberg Coetzee “trilogy” as part of the label’s As-Shams South African jazz archive series. The connection between these three albums is tight as the 1987 release Shrimp Boats compiled unreleased recordings from both the 1979 session for Plum and Cherry and the 1980 session for Deeper in Black. These two rare records have been carefully remastered from their original tapes and are back in print for the very first time in over 40 years.Shrimp Boats and Plum and Cherry capture the extraordinary musical chemistry that existed between pianist Lionel Pillay and tenor saxophonist Basil Coetzee in the late 1970s. The respective album showpieces “Shrimp Boats” and “Cherry” each occupy an entire side of vinyl with both exquisite musical journeys clocking in at an epic 25 minutes a piece. While “Shrimp Boats” was an instrumental reimagining of the popular 1951 song by American singer Jo Stafford, “Cherry” drew inspiration from Abdullah Ibrahim at the behest of producer Rashid Vally, who wanted to emulate the success of the famous track that had helped launch his independent As-Shams/The Sun record label in 1974. Ibrahim’s hit “Mannenberg” had also featured Basil Coetzee and it was this zeitgeist South African jazz recording that had given rise to his stage name.Capturing the grace and vitality of working-class township life on the city fringe, “Cherry” channels the type of laid-back Cape groove that Abdullah Ibrahim, recording as Dollar Brand, introduced to South African jazz in the 1970s. On the flip side, “Plum” appears to take its own simple chord change in the same direction before breaking into a chugging 20-minute romp that verges on proto-electronica and on which Pillay hangs all manner of savage keyboard riffing and experimentation. The two distinct flavours of Plum and Cherry make for a well-rounded platter with an iconic cover featuring the work of abstract expressionist painter and As-Shams/The Sun collaborator Hargreaves Ntukwana.

The musical partnership between vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and tenor saxophonist Harold Land fully blossomed on the 1970 album San Francisco, which found the musicians moving into fusion territory with relentlessly grooving tunes like “Goin’ Down South” and “Ummh” counterbalanced by exploratory pieces like the mesmerizing “Prints Tie.”



This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.