Jazz | Fusion Vinyl 307 Items

On his sole album as a leader, bassist Melvin Jackson - a veteran of the Eddie Harris band (this album includes two Harris originals) - plays with a bow, plucks and plugs his upright bass into a Maestro G-2 filter box, a Boomerang, an Echoplex, and an Ampeg amp. The result is soulful, psychedelic, and of course, funky – at once one of the grooviest and most avant-garde albums you’ll ever hear.



Verve BY Request Series: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, gatefold sleeve.

Originally issued in Stereo as MetroJazz LP (SE 1013)

Quantity: 1000
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release

With his big, warm, round-toned sound, sophisticated phrasing, and hip quotes, Dexter Gordon was one of the major forces on the tenor saxophone from the mid-1940s until his death in 1990. Gordon was cited by both Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane as a major influence on their playing and is acknowledged as a jazz icon.

The popularity of mainstream jazz was on the decline in the States during the 1960s. The Vietnam war and racial turmoil were in high gear, and many of the music’s top-flight musicians, including Gordon, migrated to Europe in order both to escape and to make a living playing jazz. Gordon eventually settled in Copenhagen, Denmark. During this period, he usually played and recorded backed by a piano trio, but this 1969 recording is different. The usual quartet has been expanded with some of those premiere jazz ‘refugees’, each a major voice on his instrument, assembled for the session.

One of the great modern jazz trombonists, Slide Hampton, is also a composer/arranger of note. The album was a collaborative venture between Gordon and Hampton, and three of the compositions and all the arrangements on the album are his. The classy Jamaican trumpeter Dizzy Reese completes the front line. The rhythm section includes two jazz giants who were Gordon’s constant companions at Copenhagen’s famous Club Montmartre, fellow American expatriate pianist Kenny Drew and the great Danish bassist N-H Örsted-Peterson. The Gordon/Drew pairing is one of the classic horn-/piano matchups in jazz, and has often been compared with the Miles Davis/Red Garland and John Coltrane/McCoy Tyner pairings. Art Taylor, who “helped define the sound of modern drumming”, was brought in from Paris to complete the all-star rhythm section.

Wayne Shorter stepped out as a Blue Note artist on his masterful 1964 label debut Night Dreamer, a sublime set that signalled the arrival of one of the most important saxophonists and composers in jazz history. Timeless Shorter compositions are given transcendent performances by a quintet with Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, and Elvin Jones.



Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition: Stereo, mastered from a digital source by Kevin Gray, manufactured at Optimal (180 g), padded inner sleeves.

In the late 1960s, vibraphonist Roy Ayers was among the top young talents in jazz, thriving during a remarkable era for the genre. While Ayers would later become a jazz-funk pioneer and delve heavily into R&B fusions, his third album Stoned Soul Picnic is a masterful showcase of soul-jazz grooves. Produced by Herbie Mann, Stoned Soul Picnic features a memorable Laura Nyro-penned title track, along with an exceptional lineup of musicians, including Gary Bartz, Hubert Laws, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, and Grady Tate. Originally released in 1968, this early Roy Ayers classic is now receiving an official reissue via Nature Sounds.

With her tenure on Verve drawing to a close, Astrud Gilberto steps further away from her bossa nova roots with I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do, an intimate, nocturnal set closer in scope and spirit to the Baroque pop of Burt Bacharach, whose "Trains and Boats and Planes" is beautifully rendered here. In the liner notes Gilberto dubs it "my fireplace album," and indeed the record is immediately warm and comforting, despite the melancholy that colors all of the selections. Albert Gorgoni's arrangements are sumptuously romantic, perfectly complementing the simple, poignant vocals. Mistakenly considered a minor entry in the Gilberto canon, I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do is instead a minor masterpiece.

Vinyl reissue of the live album by American jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. Featuring tracks recorded in Italy in 1961, during an extensive European tour that also resulted in recordings from Paris. The album was originally released on the Riverside label in 1963 and would be Monk's final recording for the label before signing with Columbia. Includes the tracks 'Straight No Chaser', 'Bemsha Swing' and 'Rhythm-A-Ning.

Recorded in 1957, Kenny Burrell’s third session as a leader for Blue Note presented the guitarist’s signature stylings with a crack team of hard boppers featuring Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins, and Louis Hayes. Previously only issued on vinyl in Japan (1979) this swinging set is given a new shine with this mono Tone Poet Vinyl Edition.



BLUE NOTE TONE POET EDITION: Mono, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

Another legendary Lateef session cut in 1960 for the New Jazz imprint. The co-leader - bassist Doug Watkins - died tragically in a car accident in 1962 at the age of 27. However, prior to his early demise, he recorded dozens of wonderful sessions with some of the greatest jazzmen of his time, among them Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and the Horace Silver Quintet. Imagination ! marked his second and final album as a leader, and features Watkins on cello instead of bass. The use of cello - and oboe on some numbers - makes the date stand out a bit from the usual hard bop sessions of the period and straight-ahead jazz fans will want to get this.

Masterful Finnish jazz available on wax again!

Odysseus, Eero Koivistoinen's first proper jazz album, gets its title from the wandering spirit of its songs, traveling from one mood to another. Performed by the Eero Koivistoinen Quintet & Sextet, because Koivistoinen wanted to extend his standard quartet (Koivistoinen-Sarmanto-Laine-Hietanen) to a quintet and invited trumpetist Bertil Lövgren to join. Also Juhani Aaltonen is questing on two tracks. Odysseus is an excellent, youthful package of forward-thinking jazz played by ambitious young jazz superstars-to-come. The compositions are at times lyrical, at others furious and complex, but ever captivating.

The original Odysseus LP, released by the book publisher Otava Kustannus in 1969, is among the ten most expensive pieces of Finnish vinyl. Jazzpuu/Sähkö Recordings reissued Odysseus in 2006 as did we in 2016, yet both of these releases have been hard to find ever since. This time around Svart brings the masterful album back on the market on a limited Svart exclusive transparent red vinyl edition, classic black vinyl and CD.

Re-mastered from a copy of the Mono Master Tapes. Limited edition 2000 copies. 180 gr vinyl pressed by Pallas in Germany. Deluxe high-gloss flipback album jacket. Facsimile reissue using the original photo by JP Leloir. Double insert using an original photo by JP Leloir from 1959. Each record has been visually checked to prevent defects.

Recorded October 1959, Paris.

Original LP issue: Decca 153.924

Critics often complain that small-group sessions comprised of members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra are somewhat disappointing; this is definitely not the case with this session led by Clark Terry, recorded during a 1959 tour of Europe in the final month of the trumpeter’s almost eight-year tenure with the band. Fellow Ellington sidemen Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Woode, and Sam Woodyard are present, along with Raymond Fol at the piano. Terry was one of the most gifted trumpeters to grace the Ellington band and he blossoms when he has more opportunities to solo in a small group setting like this one. Gonsalves proves to be the perfect foil for Terry as they trade lines on several of the numbers. Unlike many dates led by Ellington veterans, this one doesn’t rely heavily on songs from the vast Ellington songbook; instead, Terry includes only ‘Satin Doll’, a Monk’s tune, one by Babs Gonzales and three of his own compositions, with ‘Serenade to a Bus Seat’ (a remake of his upbeat instrumental interpretation of the hectic life of a touring musician) proving to be the most memorable.

This studio date was recorded for French Decca label and was almost impossible to find until now.

Clark Terry (Trumpet) Paul Gonsalves (Tenor saxophone) Raymond Fol (Piano) Jimmy Woode (Bass) G. T. Hogan (Drums)

1968’s Love Cry mixes Albert Ayler’s free jazz with a catchy combination of nursery rhythms and brass band marches, resulting in a peak example of experimental jazz of the period. This was Ayler’s last recording with his brother, Donald, who keeps the pace fiery along with the rhythm section of bassist Alan Silva and drummer Milford Graves, and harpsichordist Call Cobbs.



Verve BY Request Series: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, gatefold sleeve.

180g

On June 27th, 1969, Michel Portal pushed the door of the Pathé Marconi studios. With him were drummers Jacques Thollot and Aldo Romano, bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark and pianist Joachim Kühn. They hadn"t rehearsed anything, as if entering the studio to record an album without any plan was something normal. The musicians were obviously very used to playing with each other, as the five tracks on Our Meanings And Our Feelings seem to flow perfectly without any hint of improvisation. The zokra, an oriental clarinet that Michel Portal plays on "Walking through the land" and "Dear old Morocco" brings a singular touch to this album. This singularity is transcended by Joachim Kühn"s ability to easily go from the piano to the saxophone alto, from supporting to soloing, before playing the bells, then the tambourine, opening the soundscape. Our Meanings And Our Feelings may not be the first French free jazz record - as it was preceded by the fantastic Free Jazz by François Tusques, released in 1965 and on which Michel Portal plays as well - but it remains one of the most important. Its incredible outburst of sounds and melodies is completely free yet never turns into cacophony. 44 years after its release, it is still urgent to listen to Our Meanings And Our Feelings and what these five talented musicians had to tell us.

Unorthodox saxophonist Albert Ayler straddled different jazz streams during his brief career. After playing with Stanley Turrentine and Harold Budd in the late 1950s, a move to Sweden brought him into the limelight, fronting his own trio. Debut album Something Different!!!!!! comprised four dissonant songs delivered live with bassist Torbjörn Hultcrantz and drummer Sune Spångberg, with a barely recognisable rendition of showtune “I’ll Remember April,” an off-kilter take of Sonny Rollins’ “The Stopper” (retitled “Rollins’ Tune”) and a wobbly cut of Miles Davis’ “Tune Up,” along with the original “Free.” An exceptional musical experience!

In the mid-'60s, Albert Ayler found himself at the center of major transformations within jazz. On his albums for ESP-Disk', his delivery was radically aggressive and his tone blistering – aiming for something beyond the New Thing. His music would be further energized when (at the behest of John Coltrane) Bob Thiele signed him to Impulse! As Ayler told The Plain Dealer at the time, "It's not about notes anymore. It's a sound – a feeling. The approach we're taking will discontinue the use of the word 'jazz.'" In Greenwich Village, Ayler's first LP on Impulse!, perfectly captures the Cleveland-born saxophonist's radiant intensity. Sourced from a pair of live engagements – February '67 at the Village Theatre on New York's Lower East Side and December '66 at the Village Vanguard – these recordings show an improved clarity in production and performance. Both sets feature two basses (including Alan Silva and Henry Grimes) which allowed the ensemble to go in different harmonic directions while maintaining an organic unity. Of particular interest are "For John Coltrane," a tribute to Ayler's mentor who would pass later that year, and "Truth Is Marching In" where trumpeter Donald Ayler joins his brother to celebrate and ultimately deconstruct several jazz traditions to stunning effect. Vibrant in sound and vision, Albert Ayler's In Greenwich Village is a landmark statement in free jazz and a career high-point for this truly original artist. Superior Viaduct is honored to present this classic album on vinyl for the first time domestically in 30 years.

Donald Byrd’s 1967 album Slow Drag was one of the last pure hard bop records the trumpeter would make before his music began evolving towards fusion. Byrd flies high on this gratifying set featuring alto saxophonist Sonny Red, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Walter Booker & drummer Billy Higgins.



BLUE NOTE TONE POET EDITION: Stereo, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

Originally released in 1963, this is a majestic piece of work. Considered as one of Ellington's best studio recordings of the Sixties this is also an essential mosaic piece within Duke's open wide afro-centric vision. Performed by a top version of his famous big band, Afro Bossa sounds as a sophisticated, sensual blend of orchestral Jazz arrangements and black bossa flavoured grooves. Among the players, many of Duke's historical sidemen such as trumpeter Ray Nance, sax giants Paul Gonsalves and Johnny Hodges, drummer extraordinaire Sam Woodyard and last but not least, Ellington's alter ego Billy Strayhorn, what else?

While stationed in Germany in the RAF during the late 1950s and early 1960s, York-born alto and soprano saxophonist Trevor Watts met the drummer John Stevens, with whom he would form the Spontaneous Music Ensemble upon returning to the UK in 1965, which became an important vehicle for British free improvisation. Watts’ spin-off project Amalgam came two years later with Stevens and bassist Jeff Clyne, previously in the Jazz Couriers with Ronnie Scott; their debut LP Prayer For Peace is jazz improv at its most melodic, an unpredictable album of varying shades, with three unique takes of the song ‘Judy’s Smile.’

"Gilles Peterson has been given the keys to Warner’s impressive Jazz back-catalogue and hand-selected Yusef Lateef’s legendary Detroit Latitude 42° 30' Longitude 83° for Arc Records next release. This is the first time the album has been reissued on vinyl since its originally came out in 1969. The album is Lateef’s nostalgic love-letter to his hometown and one of the rawest works in his catalogue but the record looks forward as well as back. The compositions are laced with the seeds of 70s Jazz Funk that would come to dominate the following decade. Arc Records have given this overlooked piece in Lateef’s oeuvre a bespoke reissue treatment. The audio has been remastered in mono from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bernie Grundman - best known for personally mastering industry landmarks such as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” among many others. The artwork, printed on heavy-weight card, is faithful to the original down to the 1960’s-style tip on sleeve and features the original sleeve notes alongside updated liner notes. The record itself is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl. The release is physical only and limited to just 2000 copies."

The most important artists in the history of Japanese free jazz, Masahiko Togashi, Masayuki Takayanagi, Mototeru Takagi and Motoharu Yoshizawa. A solemn and crazy improvisation work originally recorded in 1969! "It was not until 1969, when this album was recorded, that the quality of Japanese free jazz works reached a world-class level. The most important artists in the history of Japanese free jazz feast the solemn and insane improvisation has not faded away even in the present age of 2022." - Kouki Hanawa (Craftman Records)

Limited Clear Vinyl edition, 300 copies! In 1959, at the time of this recording session, Yusef Lateef was already approaching a new and more open form of Jazz. A sophisticated, spiritual yet urban music form informed by non western languages and cultures. Cry Tender! is a deeply inventive, mostly contemplative album inspired by an original cosmopolitan vision of Jazz and based on masterful playing from a bunch of solid Jazz musicians including among others: Wilbur Harden – flugelhorn, Hugh Lawson – piano, Herman Wright – bass and Oliver Jackson – drums, percussion, all under the direction of master of ceremonies Yusef Lateef on tenor sax, flute and oboe.

This 1967 set, recorded live at Boston’s Jazz Workshop, showcases virtuoso guitarist Szabó—a veteran of Chico Hamilton’s and Charles Lloyd’s bands—at the top of his game on a diverse program featuring standards (“What Is This Thing Called Love”) and pop hits (“The Beat Goes On”) as well as the original and psychedelic-tinged jam, “Space.”



Verve BY Request Series: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, gatefold sleeve.

Der Saxophonist Sam Rivers hatte sich schon sehr früh in seiner Karriere durch bemerkenswerte Originalität ausgezeichnet. Nach einem kurzen Intermezzo im zweiten großen Quintett von Miles Davis, spielte Rivers im Dezember 1964 für Blue Note sein Debütalbum “Fuchsia Swing Song” ein. Das Repertoire bestand aus sechs Kompositionen von Rivers, die zwar fest im Post-Bop und Blues wurzelten, aber die avantgardistischen Tendenzen des Saxophonisten auch nicht leugnen konnten. Das Highlight des Albums ist die atemberaubende Ballade “Beatrice”, die später sogar von den Tenor-Giganten Joe Henderson und Stan Getz aufgegriffen und interpretiert wurde.

BLUE NOTE CLASSIC VINYL EDITION: Stereo, komplett analog von Kevin Gray von den Originalbändern gemastert, Optimal-Pressung (180 g), wattierte Innenhülle.

Elis Regina one of the greatest Brazilian interpreters of all time! Originally released in 1963 when she was not even 20 years old, this was her fourth album and second for Columbia records. Still a few steps before she became a star, here Elis Regina's fresh and extremely ductile voice shines on top of sophisticated Jazz arrangements by Astor Silva and a mixed repertoire based on charming romantic songs and vibrant sambas, all composed by Brazilian authors, among them a couple of highlights such as Baden Powell's "Se Você. Quiser" and "O Ben do Amor" the title track composed by guitarist Rildo Hora. This is an an early and fine statement in Regina's fast way to the peak of Brazilian music history.

The album that started it all! Spanky Wilson’s legendary debut from Mother’s Records saw Philadelphia’s soon to be soul diva teaming up with legendary producer/arranger H.B. Barnum to deliver a killer 11-track LP! From the opening notes of “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, to the final fading chimes of “The Last Day of Summer”, Spanky Wilson’s beautiful voice is always on full display. Despite the fullness of her voice, there’s a surprising tenderness - undercutting soulful funky numbers with an element of emotionality unlike anything her peers would ever put out. As Spanky’s voice soars, her backing band, at times as sparse as a single piano, and at times as full as a big band, is always tight, giving Spanky plenty of room to shine while showing off their own immense talents. Don’t miss the album that started it all for legendary soul diva Spanky Wilson, now available on limited edition vinyl with a special Japanese Obi-strip!

In his 1967 DownBeat review of the initial release, Amiri Baraka wrote: "The music is beautiful on this album... These two players... are making some of the deepest music anywhere. It wants nothing."

Peter Margasak included the album in his list of "Favorite Albums of 2020," and wrote: "Essential coupling of two insanely rare duo albums from a 1966 concert at Yale University: Pullen at his most ferocious and probing, Graves making a huge step in establishing his radical approach to polymetric movement."

In a review for Point of Departure, John Sharpe commented: "The five pieces represent a true dialogue... Although intensity levels vary, the exchanges remain resolutely non-melodic and non-metric throughout... Even after all this time the music still challenges preconceptions. It remains a classic of the genre and deserves to be widely heard."

Thurston Moore included Nommo in his "Top Ten From The Free Jazz Underground" list, first published in 1995 in the second issue of the defunct Grand Royal magazine, calling the interplay between the musicians "remarkable."

180g Vinyl LP pressing. High Priestess of Soul is the last album Simone released under Philips Records. The songs are accompanied by a large band directed by Hal Mooney. The album contains popular songs, such as "Don't You Pay Them No Mind" and African American gospel and folk related songs written by Simone herself, such as "Take Me to the Water" and "Come Ye." After this album title, Nina Simone was sometimes referred to as "the high priestess of soul." Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist who worked in a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Simone's musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.

First Lady of Song Ella Fitzgerald overcame the challenges of a tumultuous youth through music, her performances with the Chick Webb Orchestra at the Savoy Ballroom and distinctive scat singing leading to early recordings and the 1938 breakthrough, ‘A Tisket A Tasket.’ After recording bebop LPs for Decca, manager Norman Granz launched the Verve label to allow her to broaden her musical horizons, exploring the Great American Songbook. Released in 1960, Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas sees her tackle Christmas classics as only Ella can, the lavish orchestration overseen by noted conductor Frank de Vol.

In 1963, tenor saxophonist Harold Vick made his sole album as a leader for Blue Note, the underrated soul jazz gem „Steppin’ Out“. The record finds its groove from the first downbeat and stays firmly in the pocket throughout this set featuring Blue Mitchell, Grant Green, John Patton, and Ben Dixon.



Blue Note Tone Poet Edition: Stereo, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket



Harold Vick (tenor saxophone); Big John Patton (organ);

Grant Green (guitar); Ben Dixon (drums); Blue Mitchell (trumpet)

Blue Note’s 1960s roster boasted numerous Hammond B3 organ whizzes including the soulful Kansas City born master Big John Patton. The dynamic quintet that Patton assembled for his 1965 album Oh Baby! packed a punch with the B3 master joined by trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Harold Vick, guitarist Grant Green, and drummer Ben Dixon.

Big John Patton (organ); Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Harold Vick (tenor sax); Grant Green (guitar); Ben Dixon (drums)

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.

A multi-instrumentalist who reconfigured jazz many times during his long career, Yusef Lateef came to prominence in the late 1950s, after having toured with Dizzy Gillespie. Jazz Mood dates from 1957, when his Quintet had some of Detroit's finest, including Alice Coltrane's brother Ernest Farrow on bass and future Jazz Messenger Curtis Fuller on trombone. The use of an argol on 'Metaphor' and a rabat and finger cymbals on 'Morning' point to Lateef's Islamic grounding and his belief that music serves a higher purpose; this edition has bonus track 'Passion,' from the equally excellent Before Dawn. Rich, deep, and varied, this is required listening for all serious jazz heads.