Jazz | Fusion Vinyl 312 Items

Pressed at Pallas in Germany

This 1961 set of standards, favoring ballads, is Gene Ammons in his prime. For the most part, this session is tight and structured, keeping Ammons firmly locked in the groove more so than on some of his more wandering dates. His big-as-a-house tone stands center stage in front of a sympathetic piano-bass-drums trio of Richard Wyands, Doug Watkins and J.C. Heard, respectively.

e-mastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London



'Basie at Birdland' is a 1961 live album featuring Count Basie and his famed orchestra playing at Birdland in New York City. Recorded on June 27-28th of 1961, and released just one month later in July of that year, 'Basie at Birdland' proved once again that Count Basie was one of the world's best players, band leaders, and flag bearers of Jazz. Birdland, the self-proclaimed, 'Jazz Corner of the World' provides a raucous, lively backdrop to the band's soulful Kansas City style Jazz, on tunes like, 'Blue Backstage', and 'Good Time Blues' alongside their harder hitting, big band bop. 'Basie at Birdland' features the Count at the height of his prowess, and he and his band's fervent, swinging performance cannot be missed - it's perfect for novices and aficionados alike.



This is a jaw-dropping recording of Basie's band in 1961. The band is so tight and swings so hard it sounds at times as if one is listening to a Wurlitzer organ. There simply was no band that swung as hard as Basie's - at least not as recorded on this live date. Amazing.



Simply the best live recording of a big band ever!

Dolphy had left his native California and come east as part of Chico Hamilton's group, settling in New York in 1960 and becoming part of Charles Mingus's group. This first recording as a leader brought comparisons with Ornette Coleman but the two were really parallel figures in the then-emerging avant-garde. Dolphy did not eschew 'changes', as Coleman did, but he used them in new ways. This LP was significant not only for his alto saxophone but introduced his individual approach to the flute and, particularly, the bass clarinet.

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.

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)

In the 1950s, the Big Four, led by George Kawaguchi, was a pioneering force in Japan's modern jazz scene, gaining immense popularity. Despite changes in its lineup, the group continued to make a significant impact on Japanese jazz. The album 'George & Sleepy' was originally released in 1969 as part of Victor's Japanese Jazz series. While the original liner notes described it as an attempt to recreate the nostalgia of the George Kawaguchi Big Four, this album is far from just a retrospective. Tracks like "Lover" and "Charade" nostalgically evoke the classic Big Four, offering pure enjoyment. Meanwhile, the album also impresses with more contemporary elements, such as the refined groove of "Tuesday Samba" and the exotic, beat-driven "Vietnam." This thrilling album masterfully showcases the timeless appeal of jazz, blending the past and present through the deep, skillful performances of these jazz veterans.

Sharps and Flats, led by Nobuo Hara, has been a driving force in Japan's big band jazz scene with its diverse activities and distinctive musicality. Among the many works produced throughout their long career, 'Little Giant' stands out as one of their most iconic albums. Originally released in 1970 as part of Victor's Japanese Jazz series, this album is notable for the participation of renowned composers and arrangers such as Masao Yagi, Kiyoshi Yamaya, Norio Maeda, and Masahiko Sato. In addition to their original compositions, the album features unique arrangements of pieces by Oliver Nelson, who had a close connection with Sharps and Flats.

The album's intricate and adventurous arrangements, combined with the band's high-level performance quality, are truly remarkable. You'll be captivated by the hipness of "Little Giant," the strength of "Dark Horse," the cutting-edge sound of "Orbit 8:11," and the sophistication of "Flexibility." This dynamic performance, marked by a perfect balance of tension and relaxation, showcases the full potential and allure of Sharps and Flats. This album is a masterpiece that brings out the best in the band.

"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."

Kenny Burrell's album "Guitar Forms" stands as Burrell’s definitive musical statement. It was nominated for three Grammys in 1965, is considered one of the true masterpieces in the Verve catalog. This is partly due to the outstanding performance of the guitarist himself, of course, but also to the unforgettable arrangements that Gil Evans wrote for five of the album's nine tracks. According to AllMusic, these were in no way inferior to the brilliant arrangements that Evans had made for Miles Davis classics such as "Birth Of The Cool", "Porgy And Bess" and "Sketches Of Spain".



Verve Acoustic Sounds Series: mastered fully analogue from the original tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, QPR pressing (180 g), firm tip-on gatefold (Stoughton Printing), padded inner sleeve, Gatefold Sleeve.

Der frühreife und begnadete Schlagzeuger und Komponist Tony Williams war bereits Mitglied des Miles Davis Quintet und wirkte an zahlreichen bahnbrechenden Blue-Note-Aufnahmen mit, darunter Herbie Hancock "Empyrean Isles", Eric Dolphy "Out To Lunch", Andrew Hill "Point Of Departure", Jackie McLean "One Step Beyond" und Grachan Moncur III "Evolution", als er im August 1964 sein eigenes abenteuerliches Debütalbum "Life Time" aufnahm, als er gerade einmal 18 Jahre alt war.

Williams hatte nicht die Absicht, auf seiner Jungfernfahrt als Leader auf Nummer sicher zu gehen und machte sich daran, seinen kompromisslosen Ausdruck auf diesem Programm mit innovativen Originalkompositionen zu dokumentieren. Seite 1 präsentiert die ausgedehnte zweisätzige Suite "2 Pieces of One", bei der der Schlagzeuger von dem Tenorsaxophonisten Sam Rivers und den Bassisten Gary Peacock und Richard Davis unterstützt wird. Seite 2 beginnt mit dem fröhlichen "Tomorrow Afternoon", bei dem Williams, Rivers und Peacock mitwirken. Auf dem frei improvisierten "Memory", bei dem Herbie Hancock am Klavier und Bobby Hutcherson am Vibraphon mitwirken, spielt Williams verschiedene Perkussionsinstrumente, und das nachdenkliche Klavier-Bass-Duett "Barb's Song to the Wizard", das von Hancock und Ron Carter gespielt wird und das Album abschließt, ist ganz auf ihn zugeschnitten.

Diese Stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition wurde von Joe Harley produziert, von Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) von den originalen analogen Masterbändern gemastert, bei Record Technology Inc. (RTI) auf 180g Vinyl gepresst und in einer luxuriösen Gatefold-Tip-on-Hülle verpackt.

Trumpeter Blue Mitchell had a soulful, swinging style and was equally at home in jazz, R&B, and funk settings. This 1965 date featured his Horace Silver bandmates Junior Cook on tenor sax and Gene Taylor on bass along with a 24-year-old Chick Corea on piano and 22-year-old Al Foster on drums.

“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.

180g

Jorge López Ruiz is one of most versatile of musical talents to emerge from Argentina. As a bass player, composer, performer and arranger he has worked across many genres including jazz, pop as well as stage productions and feature films. The "B.A. Jazz" album has been a rarity for years and original pressings attract huge amounts from collectors. It's rarity is matched by the fantastic music contained with its grooves. It's a genuinely important record in the development of jazz in South America.

Bobby Hutcherson’s cutting-edge 1969 session "Medina" found the vibraphonist with a remarkable band featuring Harold Land on tenor saxophone & flute, Stanley Cowell on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. The set presents original compositions by Hutcherson, Cowell, and Chambers.
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, and packaged in a single sleeve with deluxe tip-on jacket.

The term 'free jazz' was already in existence – but it had a quite different meaning, namely jazz without paying for an entrance ticket. The album "Free Jazz", however, was intended to lend its name to a quite different style of jazz. 'Free' playing – now this meant that no one was bound to conventions, you could let your imagination run loose. Free jazz gave one the chance to find new rules for every new composition. And it was to be the greatest boost to innovation in the world of jazz. Ornette Coleman’s album from December 1960 stands at the beginning of the free jazz era like a massive portal. Coleman thought big: he brought two quartets into the studio at the same time, both with two wind instruments and no piano, and let them play together for 36 minutes without a break – a collective improvisation. There aren’t any precise themes, although short, fanfare-like motifs do exist in which the winds come together. A continuous dense rhythmic beat underlies the music almost throughout – and the pulse is felt rather than heard. One musician after the other comes into the foreground to improvise, almost like at a jam session. First Coleman, then Dolphy, then the two trumpeters. The other winds, however, never remain silent, then make comments and support one another continually – the energy level is immense the whole time (it was cold in the studio ...). Only when it is the turn of the bass and drum players do the winds remain silent for about eleven minutes. This album is not only a historic caesura, but a truly great experience over and over again.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under www.pure-analogue.com. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: December 1961 in A&R Studios, New York City, by Tom Dowd Production: Nesuhi Ertegun

This 180g reissue comes with a download code.

This 180g reissue comes with a download code.

Why you'll love it...
Freddie Roach’s first three albums introduced him to the world, but Brown Sugar showed it who he was. It was the album that Roach made to capture the energy of soul jazz. To somehow take the sounds in the city, in the clubs, and bring them to a record. In his original liner notes, Roach writes that the album is an ode to late nights and loud clubs, to backs damp with sweat, arms wrapped around waists. ‘’Not caring for the moment about troubles or problems,'' he wrote of people dancing, ‘’their bodies quivering under smiles that seemed to promise ‘after the dance.’'' After talking to Alfred Lion, president of Blue Note, they decided that the album needed to be made up of standards — not the standards of the stage or screen, but the standards of the people. ‘’To get the ‘soul,’'' Roach wrote, ‘’I decided to do show soul tunes.''

Why you'll love it...
Straight Ahead, featuring saxophonists Oliver Nelson and Eric Dolphy, is the VMP Classics Record of the Month for April 2024. It's pressed on 180g black vinyl, with lacquers cut from master tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.

Why you'll love it...
Ray Barretto’s songs are cinematic. Artfully composed, richly orchestrated, each one feels like something deserving of big-screen wonderment. And, indeed, from Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets (''Ritmo Sabroso'') and Oliver Stone’s JFK (''El Watusi'') to Lee Daniels’ Precious (''Teacher of Love'') to Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight (''Cocinando Suave''), his music as a bandleader made it into movies of major importance across the decades. Of course, you don’t need to be a card-carrying cinephile to appreciate the moods and magnitudes expressed by his work, especially his seminal 1968 album Acid for Fania Records.

It takes more than a minute into ‘’Acid'' before Barretto begins showing off on the congas, leading into a nearly three-minute solo marked by fabulous flourishes that culminates with the full band, including pianist Cruz, showing their united might. Elsewhere on Acid, the group would have dutifully jumped headfirst into this mode, but here it is just a spectacular finish to a rhythmic story — Barretto’s story — told like the best film you’ve never seen.

"Space Flight" was the debut recording by the mysterious organist Sam Lazar, who disappeared from the music scene after just a few recordings in the 1960s. Issued on Argo in 1960, it features guitar wizard Grant Green—on only his second recording—as well as Chicago blues legend Willie Dixon on bass.



Verve BY Request Series: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, Single Sleeve

Tracklisting: Space Flight (1960)

Mostly improvised by clarinettist Scott, backed by Hozan Yamamoto and Shinichi Yuize — on the Japanese instruments shakuhachi and koto — this 1964 album is a precursor to later movements in ambient and new age music, from in and out of the jazz world.



VERVE BY REQUEST SERIES: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, Single Sleeve.

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.

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!

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

This is one of Eddie Harris' great records. The playing is inspired! What a band! Cedar Walton (piano) and Billy Higgins (drums), Lee Morgan's favourite rhythm section. The underrated but popular tenor saxophonist introduces his "Freedom Jazz Dance," which would become a jazz standard after featuring on Miles Davis' album Miles Smiles. Plays one of the earlier versions of "The Shadow of Your Smile," romps on "Love for Sale" and "'S Wonderful," and also performs "Born to Be Blue" and his own "Cryin' Blues." Harris is heard in prime form in a quartet/quintet with pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Billy Higgins, and part-time trumpeter Ray Codrington. A gem. - Scott Yanow/AMG

Recorded 1965
Engineer – Tom Dowd

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

Clifford Jordan hailed from Chicago, hometown of hard-driving, so-called ‘tough tenorists’ like Gene Ammons and Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis. While Jordan shared their unnerving bravado, his tone is different, an alluring tone, simultaneously rough around the edges and ephemeral. A sought-after sideman, Jordan recorded with stalwarts as Lee Morgan and Max Roach in the late fifties and early sixties, as well as a series of high standard solo albums. Like age matures wine, Jordan’s style ripened in the early seventies, his lines becoming fluent like ripples of lake water. Jordan kept recording and performing steadily until his death in 1993.

Maybe this album, filled with interpretations of such classic tunes as Take This Hammer and Goodnight Irene, is not such a surprise act after all. The preceding year, Jordan had been part of Charles Mingus’ outfit (appearing on the hi-voltage live album Right Now: Live At The Jazz Workshop) Musical gobbler Mingus’ unfazed search for new vistas while retaining an all-embracing sense of the past’s relevance and blend of harmonic finesse with unbridled juke joint tumult surely rubbed off on Jordan.

Da Gray Goose is one of the cases in point. Tasteful harmony over the stop-time theme kicks it into action, strongly plucked bass and fiery drums inspire the soloists, creating an atmosphere of abandon. Lusty shout choruses stoke up the fire as the tune progresses. There are also some, yes, virtuoso banjo parts.

The gloomy folk blues music of Huddie ‘Leadbelly’ Ledbetter, whose life story reads like a combined effort of Shakespeare and James Baldwin, including oppression, hardship, addiction, treachery, murder and prison life, is excellently cast in a jazz frame. But not too jazzy, often the sound of Jordan’s top-notch group is as tough-as-nails as the sound of any one group that enlivened the back alley bars way back when. Jordan’s unpredictable phrasing overcomes the restrictions of the rigid folk blues form.

Craftily uncrafted, These Are My Roots is a spirited album of earnest, raw and ebullient swing.

Recorded on February 1 & 17, 1965 in NYC

Hardly any other musician has released so little as Hasaan Ibn Ali, born William Henry Langford Jr., in 1931, who died in 1980. Just seven titles in all are his complete output, all of which he composed himself, all of them on the present Atlantic LP, and all recorded in December 1964. The saxophonist Odean Pope, who often practised with him, talks of a second recording session in 1965 for Atlantic, but the recordings were never released because Hasaan was sent to jail shortly afterwards; rumour has it that the tapes were destroyed in a fire – and it might well be that recordings with John Coltrane still exist somewhere or other.
Until then, one should enjoy the Max Roach Trio with Art Davis on the bass to the full. We have here a recording that will astound and fascinate your ears with its originality. A first impression conjures up reminiscences of Cecil Taylor and Herbie Nichols, while Hasaan himself talks of the pianist Elmo Hope as the man who brought him closer to the 'mystery of music'. When asked how the recording session with maestro Max Roach went, Hasaan said: »They scared me to death.«
According to Odean Pope, Hasaan was not an easy person to get on with, and he was convinced of his talent to the point of arrogance. But despite this – or perhaps because of this – one listens spellbound to the 40 minutes on this LP, a legacy and never-fulfilled promise of an extremely talented man. We are indebted to Max Roach, who persuaded the bosses of Atlantic Records to make these recordings. For many, many years they had vanished from the record market, but fortunately they are now available as an audiophile re-release to be listened to and admired.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under www.pure-analogue.com.
All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

It's 1964 and the first Berlin Jazz Festival is about to reach its absolute peak: the final concert on the night of Friday, 25th September by Miles Davis. And the European subsidiary of Columbia Records, CBS, couldn’t wait to release this legendary event on LP.
The new quintet, for the first time with Wayne Shorter on the tenor sax (and not yet as composer), thrilled and roused the audience in the Philharmonie from the first minute to the very end. The classics "Miles(tones)", "So What" and "Walkin’" were performed at an astonishingly fast pace, the ballads were tender and dreamy. Such a magical atmosphere was rarely evoked at later concerts, which was probably due to the excellent acoustics of the large concert hall. The audience were also seated behind the stage, so Miles couldn't turn his back provokingly on people; sometimes he just squatted on the stage. However, this didn’t prevent him from performing his solos lyrically and tenderly, most of them finely nuanced, soft and gentle, yet audible right into the furthest corner. The rhythmic structure created by the young drummer Anthony Williams provided the necessary excitement.
Miles at the top of his form, an enthusiastic audience, impressive acoustics and, to top it all, excellent recording technology and a fantastic pressing on virgin vinyl - what more does a jazz fan want? Now’s the time to dig out your credit card!

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

There is nothing hurried about this disc. That said, the music is focused and will stretch your mind. Lewis employed masterful melodic improvisers here: Paul Gonsalves, Eric Dolphy, Jim Hall among others. Listen to "Body And Soul" as it builds powerfully and the soloists explore every possible melodic theme, where the quiet power of these master musicians is almost too much to take. Listen to "I Remember Clifford" where the players are essentially the MJQ with Jim Hall replacing Milt Jackson. This set swings, but oh-so-elegantly. Just like Mr. Lewis.
S.C.Berry
Whether you're an old-time jazz afficionado or new to the genre, this album is essential. In my opinion, Lewis' lovely solo on "Body & Soul" makes his version virtually definitive - 15 minutes of bliss. The rest of the album, particularly "Afternoon In Paris", is at the same level. "Wonderful" is the perfect title for this record.
E Barrios

Recording: July and September 1960
Production: Nesuhi Ertegun & Tom Dowd

In 1969, Sahib Shihab and five leading members of the Clarke-Boland Big Band, including Francy Boland, Jimmy Woode, Kenny Clarke, and Fats Sadi, recorded this album for West Germany's Vogue label. The album features the exquisite Latin jazz track "Seeds," the waltz number "Peter's Waltz" dedicated to his son, and the modal piece "Mauve." Each track is highly stylish and sophisticated, showcasing a pinnacle of European jazz that could only be achieved by this exceptional lineup.

One of the key 60s free jazz recordings!

Why you'll love it...
During the pagan hours of an otherwise uneventful Harlem pre-dawn in 1963, Gary Bartz glimpsed a galactic mystery that conventional aeronautics could not explain. Only a few weeks prior, the nascent alto saxophone virtuoso had acquired his first telescope to pursue a newfound passion for astronomy. The purchase was already yielding dividends.

The recent Juilliard graduate’s fascination with the heavens began with astrology, but the then 22-year-old quickly realized that those celestial sketches were just photographs of the sky as captured during a specific orbit. Why bother with the rough blueprint when you could witness the entire electromagnetic spectrum in its full glory?

1961 Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers made their only recording for the label Impulse! Records. It marked a turning point for the popular hard bop formation as it was their first appearance as a sextet with trombonist Curtis Fuller, and secondly their last recording with pianist Bobby Timmons. Also unusual is the fact that only one piece by a band member was on the program and otherwise only standards were played.
VERVE BY REQUEST SERIES: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, Gatefold Sleeve.

Terumasa Hino is undoubtedly one of the most famous Japanese jazzmen. Learning the trumpet at the age of 9, he began his career as a professional musician by playing in the orchestra of an US Army base, before joining Hideo Shiraki"s Quintet and then forming his own band in 1964. On Hi-Nology we find his brother Motohiko Hino on drums, Hiroma Suzuki on electric piano, Kumitsu Inaba on electric bass and Takeru Muraoka ontenor sax. The inspiration from the "electric period" of Miles Davis (notably Miles In The Sky released in 1968) is felt and is even accepted, since the opening piece is entitled "Like Miles". Coincidentally, Hi-Nology was recorded on July 31, 1969, the day after the release of In a Silent Way and has nothing to envy of this great record by Miles Davis.