Jazz | Fusion Vinyl 535 Items

The debut album by a prolific musician, ‘Grant’s First Stand’ is a significant work that set out the Blue Note musician’s highly personal manifesto.

Though Grant’s First Stand was guitarist Grant Green’s maiden release for Blue Note Records it wasn’t his debut recording session for the famous New York jazz label. The St Louis guitarist had, in fact, gone into Rudy Van Gelder’s legendary studio at Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey – where Blue Note did the majority of their recordings from 1959 onwards – on two previous occasions. For some reason, however, the music recorded on two days across October and November 1960 was shelved. It wasn’t until Saturday, 28 January 1961, that Green got to lay down the six tracks that became his debut album for the label.

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley had already led nine dates for Blue Note Records by the time he arrived at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio on February 7, 1960 with pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey, but on that day the quartet laid down what would become his masterpiece: Soul Station.

The crystalline six-song set was a showcase for Mobley’s lyrical flow from the breezy opening take on Irving Berlin’s “Remember” through bluesy originals like “Dig Dis” and the title track, and the swinging up-tempo numbers “This I Dig of You” and “Split Feelin’s.” Soul Station endures as a jazz classic for the ages..

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

This release comes with a download code.
180g Vinyl

"Tenor saxophonist Harold Land and trumpeter Kenny Dorham make for a potent front line on this session, a superior hard bop set. With an obscure and quietly boppish rhythm section (pianist Amos Trice, bassist Clarence Jones, and drummer Joe Peters) giving suitable backup, Land and Dorham stretch out on five selections, most notably Cole Porter's "So in Love," "On a Little Street in Singapore," and Land's "O.K. Blues," which was dedicated to producer Orrin Keepnews. A fine effort that serves as a strong example of Harold Land's early work." Scott Yanow -All Music Guide

"Due to his decision to settle in Los Angeles, tenor saxophonist Harold Land has long been underrated. A strong bop stylist who later on would be influenced a great deal by John Coltrane, Land in 1959 had a sound closer to Sonny Rollins. For this excellent straight-ahead quintet set with trumpeter Dupree Bolton and pianist Elmo Hope, Land performs four of Hope's superior but little-known compositions along with two of his own. This is high-quality hard bop, easily recommended to fans of straight-ahead jazz." Scott Yanow -All Music Guide

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)

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.

Helen Merrill with Piero Umiliani!

"Comin’ Home Baby" – that’s how the LP begins and that’s what catapulted it right into the charts. Not to one of the top places, but from this time on Herbie Mann was one of the superstars in Atlantic’s collection of jazz musicians. He was known as 'our man with the flute', and the critics in the early Sixties were full of praise for him. He became even more famous, and probably richer, through soundtracks and later on sometimes rather commercialised productions. Well, good for him. 'The Man' serves up jazz pure on this recording, made live at the legendary Village Gate club, which is no wonder considering the rhythm group that includes Ahmad Abdul-Malik and Rudy Collins. The composer of "Comin’ Home Baby", Ben Tucker, also makes an appearance as a guest soloist before the two Gershwin numbers from "Porgy And Bess" offer a wealth of rhythm pure. On the cover text of the LP, Willis Conover, who hosted the Newport Jazz Festival as a sideline (older jazz fans will know his baritone voice from AFN broadcasts), describes in detail the ethnic background of the musicians who come from all over the world – from Romania to Puerto Rico. The three numbers are by no means commonplace. Perhaps a tasty flute cocktail would be a good description. This true rarity from Atlantic’s treasure trove in the early Sixties has long been marked down on the wish list of many fans and at long last it’s available again.

In 1959, flutist Herbie Mann put together a very interesting band that was in its brief existence (before Mann's interests shifted elsewhere) one of the top in Afro-Cuban jazz. Utilizing four trumpets (including Doc Cheatham), up to three percussionists and a flute-vibes-bass-drums quartet, Mann performs four standards (including "Dearly Beloved," "I'll Remember April" and "Autumn Leaves") and two originals in a style that was beyond bop and much more African- and Cuban-oriented.

Personnel: Herbie Mann (flute, bass clarinet), Johnny Rae (vibes), Nabil Knobby Totah (bass), Rudy Collins (drums), Ray Mantilla (conga drums), Ray Barretto (bongos except on #8 and #12). Plus trumpet section: Doc Cheatham, Siggy Schatz, Jerome Kail and Leo Ball. Recorded in New York City, 1959

Best known for his work with Charles Mingus, pianist Horace Parlan began recording for Blue Note in 1960 with an excellent run of hard bop classics including Speakin’ My Piece, a quintet date featuring a frontline of Stanley Turrentine on saxophone and Tommy Turrentine on trumpet with the rhythm team of George Tucker on bass and Al Harewood on drums.



Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition: stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal, padded inner sleeve.

"Silver’s Serenade" was the last album Horace Silver made with his celebrated Quintet with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor and Roy Brooks. These five Silver tunes epitomize his compositional style: captivating melodies, sophisticated harmonies and intricate rhythms with an unerring sense of swing.



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 deluxe tip-on jacket.

"Trumpet Africaine" was Hugh Masekela's debut album, recorded in New York and released in 1962, two years after Masekela had left South Afrika as reaction to the increasing inhumanity of the apartheid regime. Masekela's trumpet shines on top of Hugo Montenegro's fine orchestral arrangements while the tracklist includes, among others, five fresh instrumental versions of Miriam Makeba's songs. Trumpet Africaine was an important early statement from one of the most representative South African musicians of its time.

After the demise of LOS Shakers, brothers Hugo & Osvaldo Fattoruso released in 1969 "La Bossa Nova de Hugo & Osvaldo".

Here, they paid homage to the music they grew-up with: jazz, bossa nova and candombe but adding Beatlesque pop-psych and Brazilian/Latin sounds to the mix, following what they had already done with Los Shakers in songs like "Never Never" or "Adorable Lola".

Cool covers of Burt Bacharach, George Harrison and candombe pioneer Manolo Guardia blend together with lovely self-penned songs and even new, bossa-styled versions from Los Shakers catalogue.

Recorded in 1968 mostly by Hugo and Osvaldo playing all the instruments by themselves, it was originally released in 1969 in a tiny edition of 400 copies, making it one of the most desirable collectable albums related to Los Shakers.

The missing link between "Toto's Bar" and OPA's "Goldenwings"?

“South Africa’s lost jazz history contains many an overlooked classic. But even within that hidden tradition, there are few albums that suffered such an unlucky fate as Spring, the monumental 1968 debut album by pianist Ibrahim Khalil Shihab, formerly Chris Schilder.

Though Shihab was only twenty-two when Spring was recorded, he was already a lynchpin of the Cape Town scene, and the album was to be his first major statement as leader and composer. It is a magnum opus gilded by the presence of the upcoming saxophonist Winston ‘Mankunku’ Ngozi, who was soon to find huge acclaim with the hit album Yakhal’ Inkomo.

Three months of touring southern Africa in 1968 honed the band to the point that this entire album was recorded within the just two hours of allocated studio time. This album was repressed just once before the master tapes were destroyed by an ignorant record company executive. While it has remained out of print since then, the album was ‘kept alive’ as an ‘add-on’ to a 1996 CD of Mankunku’s Yakhal’ Inkomo. As a result, many modern jazz lovers still incorrectly believe these five compositions come from Yakhal’ Inkomo.

With this edition of Spring, Matsuli Music corrects an historic wrong. This edition of Shihab’s stunning debut, produced with the blessing of the man himself, is the first time it has been properly available in over forty years, and the first time it has ever been available outside South Africa. Restored and presented with new liner notes by Valmont Layne, Spring can now be seen for what it is: a peerless masterwork of Cape Jazz, blessed by the presence of the great Mankunku, but truly animated by the subtle vision and original musical spirit of its creator, Ibrahim Khalil Shihab.”

• The monumental 1968 debut album by pianist Ibrahim Khalil Shihab, formerly Chris Schilder.

• Almost lost recording is back on vinyl after more than 50 years.

• Heavyweight 180g vinyl with remastered audio, inner sleeve with photographs and new notes by Valmont Layne

"Heavy Soul" can be easily considered as one of Ike Quebec's best showcases. Recorded in 1961 by master Rudy Van Gelder and originally released on Blue Note, this fine studio session sounds as a perfect mixture of down-home blues spirit and warm, sensual ballads, with Quebec's big tenor sax voice as the leading force of a hard swinging quartet featuring Freddie Roach - organ, Milt Hinton - bass and Al Harewood - drums.

Ingfried Hoffmann - Hammond organ, Pierre Cavalli - 12-string guitar, Volker Kriegel - guitar, Peter Trunk - bass, Rafi Lüderitz - drums



The grooviest James Bond sounds ever! Ingfried Hoffmann had the reputation of being Europe’s best Hammond B-3 organist, a talent that has occasionally overshadowed his equal skill as a pianist, arranger and composer. As a member of Klaus Doldinger’s famed quartet, Hoffmann won several polls as Germany’s best jazz organist and pianist. “Soul Bond” was first released in Germany in 1966 under the title “From Twen With Love’, when the James Bond craze was at its height, following the worldwide success of ‘Thunderball’. Inspired by the first four Bond films, Hoffmann not only laid down fantastically swinging interpretations of Bond themes, but also shone with compositions of his own dedicated to the famous super spy. This is the first LP reissue of the rare Polydor album.



1-lp, 180g, Pallas pressing, padded inner sleeve.

Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean had the blues on his mind when he went into Van Gelder Studio in 1961 to record his hard bop masterpiece Bluesnik with a blazing quintet featuring Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Pete La Roca on drums. The six-song set of bluesy originals brims with immediacy and vibrancy.

Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition: stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal, padded inner sleeve.

"James Clay's debut album as a leader (and one of only two that he cut before moving back to Dallas for nearly 30 years) matches him with fellow Texas tenor David 'Fathead' Newman, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Art Taylor. Cannonball Adderley supervised the session, putting the spotlight on the competitive horns who really battle it out on the Babs Gonzales blues "Wide Open Spaces." Clay, who plays flute on the date's lone standard "What's New," holds his own with Newman and plenty of sparks fly." —Scott Yanow (All Music Guide)

180g