Jazz | Fusion Vinyl 294 Items

The first studio date of the Charles Lloyd Quartet, with Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee, and Jack DeJohnette, was recorded and released just a few days before the band took both the European and American festival circuits by storm. First came Europe, which was just getting the disc as the band was tearing up its stages. While the live dates are now the stuff of legend, it's easy to overlook the recordings, but to do so would be a mistake. "Dream Weaver" is a fully realized project by a band -- a real band -- in which each member has a unique part of the whole to contribute. Jarrett's unusual piano style fits musically with Lloyd's lyricism in a way that it shouldn't. Jarrett was even then an iconoclast, playing harmonic figures from the inside out and relying on counterpoint to create new spaces, not fill them in. (Just listen to "Autumn Sequence", where his solos and his backing harmonics are equally strident and inventive as Lloyd's Eastern explorations of mood and mode.) And then there's the rhythm section of McBee and DeJohnette, whose modal inventions on the intervals make the "Dream Weaver" suite an exercise in open time, allowing all players to wander around inside it and take what they want out. The set closes with a group party jam on "Sombrero Sam", with Lloyd and Jarrett trading eights on a Cuban variation on a fantasia. There were no records like this one by new groups in 1966.

„Hot Rats“, originally released 1969, is Zappa’s second album. It‘s considered to be one of the first Jazzrock albums ever and mostly contains instrumental compositions except from one track.

In 1960, the free jazz pioneered by Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Horace Tapscott and a very few others was rejected by many musicians and most listeners. For the visionary saxophonist, clarinetist and flutist Eric Dolphy, it was simply new music fed by the mainstream, a logical extension of the jazz tradition. In "Far Cry" without leaving form behind, he incorporated the spirit of adventure and abandon with which free jazz at its best infused freshness into jazz. Recording with a pianoless quartet that used Ron Carter’s cello as the other melody instrument, Dolphy worked from chord patterns developed within structures that depart from ordinary 32-bar jazz and popular song forms. He used 30-bar, 35-bar and 18-bar structures, but he also observed standard practice with 12-bar blues, “Serene”. Dolphy’s speech-like improvisations and Carter’s bowed or plucked cello solos soar over the impeccable and responsive accompaniments of bassist George Duvivier and drummer Roy Haynes.

It was a clever move by George Avakian, producer at Atlantic Records, to record live the Charles Lloyd Quartet during their appearance in Monterey, and to release the LP under the title "Forest Flower". Although the hippy flower-power movement tended towards a rather different musical genre at the end of the Sixties, they were blown away by this music. The four artists attracted masses of people and ensured that every seat was taken and all standing room filled at jazz festivals such as Newport, Molde (Norway), Antibes (France) and the Fillmore East and West. The super group also appeared in Monterey, 120 Km south of San Francisco, the centre of the hippy movement, on 18 September 1966.
On the LP we have the almost 18-minute-long title piece and the standard work "East Of The Sun", which were recorded at the festival. The disc is complemented by a Keith Jarrett composition and one by Cecil McBee, both of which were recorded in the studio ten days before the festival.
Of particular note is the rich interplay, the energy that is palpable throughout, the perfect harmony in each and every change of mood, and the intensity. Even 50 years later, it is quite clear that Charles Lloyd managed to break down the barriers between pop and jazz.
Charles Lloyd is committed to this objective to this very day! All four musicians are still active, although they no longer appear together as a group. Such a special treat for the ears is offered by this newly mastered disc only.

John Coltrane brought a new sound and style to jazz, and he applied it in his own unique way to the standard material of the storehouse of American music gathered from Broadway, Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley. With the excellent rhythm team of Red Garland, Paul Chambers (both of whom had done so many concert, club and recording dates with him) and Jimmy Cobb and the Miles-directed flugelhorn of Wilbur Harden, Trane puts his personal stamp on numbers not done that often like Henry Nemo's "Don't Take Your Love from Me", Fred Ahlert's "I'll Get By" and two more familiar yet still not overdone songs, Richard Rodgers' "Spring Is Here" and Bronislau Kaper's "Invitation."

One night during a one-time, two-week engagement at the Five Spot produced enough music of lasting merit for three albums. When Rudy Van Gelder took his portable equipment down to the fabled Cooper Square jazz club on July 16, 1961, he captured the interaction of an extraordinary quintet.
Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, Mal Waldron, Richard Davis and Ed Blackwell had formed a cooperative group and, if LIttle had not died in October 1961, there is no doubt that it would have been a potent force in the music of the 1960s and beyond. Dolphy himself died in June 1964, after establishing himself as one of the important contemporary reedmen. Here his alto saxophone and bass clarinet and Little’s trumpet explore three originals: "The Prophet" by Dolphy, "Bee Vamp" by Little, and "Fire Waltz" by Waldron. It’s time caught in a bottle — music for the ages.

From the time Coleman Hawkins firmly established the tenor saxophone on the jazz map, it has been one of the most potent forces in the music, its best practitioners able to raise the roof with a jumping blues, soothe the savage beast with a tender love ballad, and do just about anything in between. At the time of this recording (1961), Jimmy Forrest, the St. Louis-born reedman, was a veteran of the Fate Marable, Jay McShann, Andy Kirk, and Duke Ellington bands. Later in his career he starred with Count Basie. Here he leads a quartet of teammates from the combo of 'Sweets' Edison, including the young Austrian pianist Joe Zawinul, through a gamut of the aforementioned moods from "Crash Program" to the caressing "That's All", with a few tips of the cap to Ben Webster along the way. With Joe Zawinul, Tommy Potter and Clarence Johnston.

Nina Simone ably picked a variety of compositional classics from the new Rock era for her 1969 LP To Love Somebody. Opening with a beautiful, introspective version of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," Simone shows an obvious affinity for social statements with the Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" and a trio of Dylan standards: "I Shall Be Released," "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," plus a dramatic, meditative "The Times They Are A-Changin'."

180g vinyl.

180 Gram 45RPM Audiophile Vinyl, Numbered Limited-Edition

The wonderful Post-Bop album Miles Smiles (1967) was recorded by Davis's second great quintet, which featured saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams. The album showcases Davis' deeper exploration of modal performance with looser forms, tempos, and meters. Although it did not follow the conventions of Bop, the album did not follow the formlessness of Free Jazz.

180g vinyl.

2LP, 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl, Numbered Limited-Edition

Although the beautiful sound, mutual understanding and harmonic balance mostly predominate, the music of alto saxophonist Paul Desmond performing together with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan is far from what one calls 'easy listening'. For many, it is even difficult to identify the melody of evergreens such as "Stardust" and "The Way You Look Tonight". (And what theme is tucked away in "Two Of A Mind"????)
The recording in the RCA Victor Studio took place over several days in 1962, and this is why different bass players and percussionists are heard – Wendell Marshall, Joe Benjamin and John Beal each take their turn on the bass, while Connie Kay and Mel Lewis change places behind the drum set. These musicians form a brilliant team, and that there is no piano is both deliberate and inevitable for Gerry Mulligan recordings of the day. By the way, the second saxophonist in "The Way You Look Tonight" is Paul Desmond – by means of over-dubbing in the middle of the stereo recording!
The present LP could certainly take a rightful place in a 'Best Of' collection alongside the other recordings by Gerry Mulligan with Ben Webster and Stan Getz.

Pressed to 180g audiophile vinyl.

180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl, limited & numbered!

Sylvie Vartans seminal 1962 debut LP transformed the 18-year-old collegiénne du twist into the French pop diva, whose songs (and high-profile marriage to Johnny Hallyday) would dominate the European pop charts throughout the 1960s. Songs like Est-ce que tu le sais and Le Loco-motion remakes of Ray Charles What Id Say and Little Evas Locomotionbecame two of her first smash hits.

180 gram vinyl!

A composer, a theorist, and an innovator, Harry
Partch stands out among so many other
American classical artists as one of the most
eccentric. He notably rejected the tradition of
composers like Beethoven and Bach for a lack
of theatricality and drama, and took his greatest
inspirations from Eastern Noh theater,
frequently incorporating speecn and dance into
his pieces, as well as requiring participants to
perform multiple parts. His theories reflected
this dismissal, which sought to return musical
tradition to those of the pre-Classical era, with a
heavy focus on microtonality, and octave
intervals beyond what was traditionally utilized.
Many of the pieces he composed would
prominently feature instruments of his own
invention, including heavily modified string
instruments, mallet instruments, and
pipe organs.
Over the course of his life, Partch released a
number of records, soundtracked numerous
films by Madeline Tourtelot, and wrote the highly
influential text Genesis Of A Music, which would
introduce his theories to a contemporary
audience, and inspire fellow avant-garde
composers as Lou Harrison, Ben Johnston,
James Tenney, and even the famed
experimental collective The Residents.

180g audiophile pressing.

'Miles in Tokyo' is a live album recorded on July 14, 1964, by the Miles Davis Quintet (featuring Sam Rivers, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams) at the Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It is the first recording of Davis in Japan and the only album to showcase an early incarnation of his Second Great Quintet featuring Sam Rivers on tenor saxophone, following George Coleman's departure. After this, Wayne Shorter's appointment completed the classic line-up which recorded such albums as 'ESP' and 'Miles Smiles', through to 'Miles in the Sky'. The legendary 'Miles in Tokyo' album is now available on vinyl in Europe for the first time. The heavyweight gatefold contains a 4 page-booklet glued inside, like the original 1969 Japanese LP version.

The first and best out of just two collaborative albums by organist Jimmy Smith and guitarist Wes Montgomery, Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo was recorded in 1966 and features arrangements by Oliver Nelson. It is frequently listed among Jimmy Smith's best albums. The duo's follow-up record, Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes, was taped during the same sessions and released in 1968. Al/Music critic Richard S. Ginell gave The Dynamic Duo the maximum * * * * * rating, stating that "Creed Taylor matched two of his most famous artists, Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith, on this session (Montgomery's last for Verve), and the results are incendiary- a near-ideal meeting of yin a.nd yang. Smith comes at your throat with his big attacks and blues runs while Montgomery responds with rounder, smoother octaves and single notes that still convey much heat. They are an amazing pair."

Released in 1967, California Dreaming was Wes Montgomery's last album for Verve (other than an exciting collaboration with Jimmy Smith). It’s an extraordinary orchestral date featuring arrangements by Don Sebesky that showcases soloists such as pianist Herbie Hancock and percussionist Ray Barretto. The songs (which include "Sunny" and the title tune "California Dreaming") are in this case mostly pop material of the era, from which the great performer extracts magic sounds. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard jazz album chart and No. 4 on the R&B chart, and was one of the last great works by Montgomery, whose later guitar style influenced jazz fusion and smooth jazz. At the peak of his popularity, the guitarist unexpectedly died of a heart attack on June 15, 1968, at the age of 45.

« Lush Life » (1958) is among John Coltrane’s best endeavors on the Prestige (and Music) label.

One reason can easily be attributed to the interesting personnel and the subsequent lack of a keyboard player for the August 16, 1957 session that yielded the majority of the material.

Coltrane (tenor sax) had to essentially lead the compact trio of himself, Earl May (bass) and Art Taylor (drums). The intimate setting is perfect for ballads such as the opener ‘Like Someone in Love ».

John Coltrane doesn’t have to supplement the frequent redundancy inherent in pianists, so he has plenty of room to express himself through simple and ornate passages. Unifying the slippery syncopation and slightly Eastern feel of « I Love You » is the tenor’s prevalent capacity for flawless, if not downright inspired on-the-spot « head » arrangements that emerge singular and clear, never sounding preconceived. Even at an accelerated pace, the rhythm section ably prods the backbeat without interfering. A careful comparison will reveal that « Trane’s Slow Blues » is actually a fairly évident derivation (or possibly a different take) of « Slowtrane ». But don’t let the title fool you as the mid-tempo blues is undergirded by a lightheartedness.

May provides a platform for Coltrane’s even keeled runs before the tenor drops out, allowing both Earl May and then Art Taylor a chance to shine. The fun cat-and-mouse-like antics continue as Taylor can be heard encouraging the tenor player to raise the stakes and the tempo – which he does to great effect.

LP issued to celebrate more European artists than ever before winning the annual “Downbeat” polls in 1969. On this release they all perform as a unit.

Flutist Herbie Mann is backed by a large rhythm section and a small horn section on this Creed Taylor-produced A&M set (which has been reissued on CD). Actually the most interesting aspect of the R&B-oriented date (which includes such songs as “Hold on, I’m Comin’,” “House of the Risin’ Sun” and “Unchain My Heart”) is that the up-and-coming flutist Hubert Laws is matched with Mann on several tracks.

Reissued on vinyl for the first time! A milestone of the Black music movement, originally released on Vault in 1969. The debut album of Elaine Brown was arranged by piano player amd composer Horace Tapscott, conducting the Californian Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. A true political manifesto, the album is an accurate meeting between black poetry and spiritual jazz. After her debut Elaine went to release an eponymous second album on Motown. Elaine Brown is an African American activist and a former leader of the Black Panther Party - Minister of Information and Chairman.

Beat poetry influence free form jazz collective, formed in Montreal in 1967, L'Infonie existed officially until 1974. Lead by composer Walter Boudreau (aka retlaW uaerduoB) and poet, singer, trumpeter Raôul Duguay (aka luôaR yauguD) this very loose collective featured up to 33 artists from various backgrounds ranging from free jazz, classical, contemporary, rock, visual arts and poetry.

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.

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.