Jazz | Fusion Vinyl 712 Items

Masayuki Takayanagi And New Directions

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Continuation of the successful reissue series, this time in 1971

Olympic’s third album was the result of personnel and author changes. The co-founder, bassist and lyricist Pavel Chrastina left the band. Jan Hauser took his place at the instrument and Zdenek Rytir added lyrics to Janda’s melodies. The arrangements became more colourful, the stylistic Olympic anchorage was preserved. The shift took place in a looser compositional form, allowing for songs in previously unconventional lengths of over five minutes.

Jiri Stivin was a surprise guest, adding flute and saxophone passages to the rock. From today’s point of view, the biggest hit was “Bon soir, mademoiselle Paris”, but you will also remember “Kdyz jsem bejval tramp” (When I Was a Tramp), “Blaznivej Kiki” (Crazy Kiki), “Elixir” or “Strazce majaku” (The Lighthouse Keeper).

Not only the music has changed, but also the cover art. After Pacak’s recession-era Turtle and pop-art Wolverine, Olympic dressed up in historical cycling, motoring or aviation costumes to feature a stylish collage of Alan Pajer’s photographs on the cover and inside.

Reconstructing the fold-out packaging was extremely difficult this time, as the source photos were confiscated by the StB during the raid. The surprise will be the vinyl sound, newly recorded this year from the original tapes. The extensive editorial notes by O. Zamostny also push this release into the ultimate form of Olympic album reissues.

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Independence: Tread On Sure Ground

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Cinedelic)

LP | 1976 | UK | Reissue (Mr Bongo)

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Considered the 'Lochness monster' of Japanese free jazz records due to its incredible rarity, this album was the debut recording of Takayanagi Masayuki as leader with The New Directions. Recorded at the Teichiku Kaikan studios on 18 September 1969 (released in 1970) Independence - Tread on Sure Ground, is largely regarded as the first true classic of Japanese free jazz. The group thrashes out an entirely new Japanese methodology for improvisation based on Takayanagi's theories about progressive art. As Alan Cummings explains in his texts to review issues, the group's sonic outburst is pregnant with an urgent intensity similar to a violent rotating windstorm. .....“An electric guitar string is pinged with a sour and markedly unlovely resonance. It is left to fade away naturally, its dying whisper replaced with a wavering feedback tone that grows steadily in volume and thickness. Against the slow feedback wave, a sudden loud percussive crash, urgent staccato rolls across the toms, and the dry rasp of a rattle. A choppy, non-sequential series of chords from the guitar, still mouth-puckeringly bitter is set against the warmer resonance of an alternately bowed and plucked double bass. Each instrument sounds self-contained, like lunar bodies spinning on their own axes at different tempos, but locked together by unfathomably complex rules of motion. Additional percussive rattles and scrapes have been overdubbed to fill in the blank space. Tendrils of feedback snake in and out, like cosmic dust from some cataclysmic celestial event. The playing is exploratory and deliberate, technically adept and keenly judged, easily sustaining interest and motion across the track's eleven minutes. Its sense of focused concentration is more akin to the European free improvisation of AMM or The Spontaneous Music Ensemble than the violent ecstasies of American fire music.”....... (by Alan Cummings) Includes OBI and insert

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Ryo Kawasaki

Juice

LP | 1980 | Reissue (Sonorama)

Release: 1976 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Classic jazz-funk fusion from the late, great Japanese guitarist Ryo Kawasaki. Recorded in New York, and originally released in 1976, 'Juice' presents Ryo at the height of his powers.

Born in Japan in 1947, Ryo had a long and stellar career recording and releasing music up until his passing on 13 April 2020, in Tallinn, Estonia. Ryo is one of the pioneers of the jazz fusion genre, with the Japanese jazz fusion / funk sound becoming extremely influential within the 80s UK club scene and amongst its DJs. His track 'Trinkets & Things' became a bonafide underground classic. In the US he worked with some of the greats of jazz, such as Elvin Jones, Chico Hamilton and Bobbi Humphrey, to name but a few. A forward-thinking and ever-evolving musician, Ryo collaborated with the Roland Corporation and Korg on the 'guitar synthesizer' and later wrote music software for computers. Later in life he relocated to Estonia and worked there, as well as Finland, Sweden, and the Baltic states.

'Juice' has become a much-loved album for crate diggers and jazz-funk enthusiasts, with its tracks frequently being sampled and re-imagined in hip-hop. The smokey, beat-down, spiritual funk jam 'Bamboo Child' has been flipped by Diamond D, Puff Daddy, and Kool G Rap. The album was released in 1976 on RCA Records and features the musicians' drummer Jimmy Young, rhythm guitarist Hugh McCracken, and bassist Stu Woods amongst other luminaries. A solid album throughout that incorporates a heavy dose of tripped-out synths alongside the emerging disco sound of the time. Tracks such as the opener ‘Raisins’, with its drum beat intro and bubbling bass-line, rivals The Headhunters at their finest. A superb album from an underground legend.

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Fitz Gore

Soundmusication

Release: 1980 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1974 | US | Reissue (Real Gone Music)

Doug Carn

Adam's Apple

Release: 1974 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1980 | EU | Reissue (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald)

Alphonse Mouzon

By All Means

Release: 1980 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Suite Nihonkai Black Vinyl Edition

Chisato Yamada

LP | 1981 | EU | Reissue (Cinedelic)

Release: 1981 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Mad About)

Joel Fairstein

Umbra

LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Mad About)

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Hailing from Knoxville, Tennesee, Joel Fairstein has earned critical praise as Jazz pianist, composer, producer, and studio musician. His first album, "Umbra", an LP recorded at age 24 with eighteen sidemen has since become a sought-after collector item. It includes an insert with interview and exclusive photos.

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Tete Mbambisa

Tete's Big Sound

Lee Konitz & Martial Solal

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Tete Mbambisa has performed and recorded with many of the giants of South African Jazz (Bazil ‘Manenberg’ Coetzee, Johnny Dyani, Dick Khoza, Duku Makasi, Gideon Nxumalo, Dudu Pukwana, etc...), and is one of the very few South African jazz musicians that can claim to have played with the three jazz generations of the last fifty years. His work as a pianist, vocalist, composer and arranger is a landmark on South African jazz history.

After a recording hiatus, Mbambisa returned in 1974 with an octet album, 'Tete's Big Sound' released on a newly formed label, As Shams or The Sun, established by South African record store owner and independent producer Rashid Vally. 'Tet's Big Sound' included tracks like 'Unity' and the 'Black Heroes Lamentation', now considered a classic in the South African jazz underground. The sound that Mbambisa carved in this period was wholly acoustic, and is a style that now is often loosely labelled spiritual jazz, a sound that alludes to deep African textures and rhythms balanced with clear nods to American hard bop and modal jazz, sometimes edging toward free improvisation in echoes of John Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders.

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Live At The Berlin Jazz Days 1980

LP | 1982 | EU | Reissue (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald)

Release: 1982 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1980 | EU | Reissue (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald)

Rolf Kühn

Cucu Ear

Release: 1980 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1973 | US | Reissue (Real Gone Music)

Gene Russell

Talk To My Lady

Release: 1973 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1971 | US | Original (Real Gone Music)

Rudolph Johnson

Spring Rain

Release: 1971 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Gelson Oliveira & Luiz Ewerling

Terra

LP | 1983 | EU | Reissue (Mad About)

LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Mad About)

Release: 1983 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Debut album by the influential gaucho musician Gelson Oliveira, in partnership with the drummer Luiz Ewerling, released independently in 1983, with minimal resources. In spite of all this, they made a unique and very beautiful album, with a spectacular musicality, a mix of sounds, ranging from jazz, funk and fusion.

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Mandala

From Left To Right White Vinyl Edition

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Mandala made only one eponymous album, recorded in 1971 but released only in 1976. A very rare and influential album, featuring future members of Grupo Um (Nazário and Zeca Assumpção who also played with Hermeto and Egberto Gismonti) and Pau Brasil (Nelson Ayres) - two seminal bands from the Brazilian instrumental scene of the 80s. The sound is a mix of Jazz Fusion with a Brazilian footprint - with a dash of psychedelic atmosphere and the spiced influence of oriental music.

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Bill Evans

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Klimt)

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Arsivplak)

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In the '60s the jazz pianist Bill Evans would occasionally record an orchestral "easy listening" session to pay the bills, with predictably mediocre results. But From Left TO Right, while certainly easy on the ears, is also one of Evans' most intriguing "lost" records. The novelty is that Evans plays both Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano simultaneously in real time, trading off themes and improvs with deliberative taste and, of course, rare skill. The sessions were produced by Evans' long-time, protective manager Helen Keane, so there was little danger of "selling out." Unobtrusively arranged by Michael Leonard, this 1969 release resembles nothing so much as famed bossa nova composer Antonio Carlos Jobim's series of shimmering instrumental albums with arranger Claus Ogerman, even without those gently relentless rhythms driving every tune. Still, the highlight of this album is the dancing two-part "The Dolphin - Before & After," a non-Jobim bossa nova which allows Evans his only extended improvisations. (allmusic.com)

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Nukhet Ruacan

Ruacan

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Guilherme Coutinho E O Grupo Stalo

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Mad About)

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1983 | EU | Reissue (Be With)

Victor Cavini

Japan

LP | 1973 | UK | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

Release: 1983 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves, Rock & Indie

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The first Be With foray into the archives of revered German library institution Selected Sound is one of our favourites on the label - the super in-demand Japan from Victor Cavini, originally released in 1983. Rare and sought-after for many years now, this is one of those cult library LPs that never turn up. With Daibutsu the giant Buddha of Kamakura’s presence gracing the hefty front cover, this is a record bursting with dope samples for adventurous producers: it’s koto-funk madness! Victor Cavini was the library music pseudonym of prolific German composer and musician Gerhard Trede. He was known for exploring instruments and styles from around the world (he played over 50 different instruments himself) and Japan is his collection of 14 musical sketches painted with traditional Japanese wind and string instruments. These are the sounds of traditional Japanese folk music re-interpreted through Western ears, with the occassional contemporary twist.

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Perception

Mestari

LP | 1973 | UK | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

Release: 1973 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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“To finally become oneself: that was the lesson, in the 1960-1970s, that European musicians attracted to improvisation had learned from American free-jazz. Following this idea, the musicians of Perception, whilst individually accompanying Mal Waldron, Slide Hampton, Johnny Griffin or Hank Mobley when they played in Paris, decided early on to break free from what was going on across the Atlantic and seek their own authenticity.

When Mestari, their third and final album, came out, Yochk'O Seffer, Siegfried Kessler, Didier Levallet and Jean-My Truong had four years of questing and originality behind them developing their own individual language. A language in which the spontaneity of the improvisations did not exclude influences taken from European folk or classical traditions.

Balanced, ethereal and structured, Mestari was a return to the original core quartet (the previous album included numerous guest musicians). It opens infinite perspectives and is totally in phase with what was being produced in France at the same time by Cohelmec Ensemble and the Dharma Quintet.”

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Perception

Perception & Friends

The All American Powerhouse

Release: 1973 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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“After their first album which came out in 1971 on Futura Records, Perception wanted to rapidly record a second, but Gérard Terronès did not want to produce another, especially so soon after the first. Therefore, the only solution was to produce it themselves. It is thus completely logical that it came out on the label of the Association for the Development of Improvised Music (A.D.M.I.) created by Didier Levallet with the aim of promoting creative music ( and, on this subject, it was this same label which also produced the excellent Inter Fréquences by the Free Jazz Workshop).

As the album was entirely created from A to Z by Perception, they decided on a more ambitious project, exploring a wider palette of colours by augmenting the original quartet with additional instruments. So, it was with numerous guests including Teddy Lasry, Jean-Charles Capon, Kent Carter and Jean-François Jenny-Clark, that Perception developed still further the apparently contradictory directions which were their specificity. This is further highlighted by the fact that Siegfried Kessler, largely absent on this recording, is temporarily replaced by Manuel Villaroel, a pianist from Chile with a completely different temperament (and, by-the-by, already the name behind the superb Terremoto with the Matchi-oul Septet).

Contrary to the first album, which seems in comparison much more compact and united this second (and second-to last, not counting the live recordings), with the many different options proposed, would seem to predict the different directions that musicians from Perception would subsequently take. One track, by Yochk'O Seffer, who had already been part of Magma two years previously, looks forward to the more structured Neffesh Music, whilst, in the opposite direction, another track, by Didier Levallet, is more evocative of the future arrangements on Swing Strings System. It is, to sum up, a nice paradox that all these different elements, from tightly written pieces to wild improvisation, work so well together and are one the key attributes of a group free like few others.”

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V.A.

LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Be With)

Ryo Kawasaki & The Golden Dragon

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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They Say: “Driving brass and sax ensemble over funky rhythm section, playing tracks of various feel and style”. We say: From the Lincoln Continental that memorably adorns the cover to the tranquil funk contained within, this glowing ode to the grooving force of 70s American soul music is ice cool all over. With brilliant contributions from the Three Key Alans™ (Hawkshaw, Parker, Tew) as well as Mike Moran, Les Hurdle and Keith Roberts, this is driving music for only the vibiest cats. Originally released in 1976, The All American Powerhouse is one of the very best of the Themes library releases. It’s killer. A feast of dramatic jazz, horizontal, melodic funk and bouncing sunshine-y West-Coast feels throughout, there also lurks an intense injection of the Blaxploitation sound. Understandable, given the subject matter and year it was released.

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Little Tree

LP | 1980 | EU | Reissue (Studio Mule)

LP | 1970 | CA | Reissue (Return To Analog)

Release: 1980 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Japanese legendary jazz guitarist “ryo kawasaki”,some of his famous works are like mellow jazz fusion masterpiece “tarika blue”,dance jazz classic “trinkets&things”,cosmic new wave jazz “lucky lady”.

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Marius Cultier

Release: 1970 / CA – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Mr Bongo)

Minoru Muraoka

Bamboo

Rise And Shine: Live At The Aketa's

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Japanese jazz/breakbeat, folkloric mega-rarity as hallowed the likes of DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Egon and co. Uniquely combines traditional Japanese instrumentation with Western jazz influences. Minoru Muraoka plays ‘shakuhachi’ – a traditional bamboo Japanese flute – joined by his band members accompanying him on the ‘koto’ (strings) and ‘tsu-tsumi’ (drum) amongst others, to create their ‘Shakuhachi Jazz’ sound.

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Fumio Itabashi Trio

LP | 1977 | EU | Reissue (Studio Mule)

LP | 1977 | EU | Reissue (Be With)

Release: 1977 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This is the third reissue of fumio itabashi on mule.

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Alan Hawkshaw

The Road Forward

LP | 1974 | EU | Reissue (Croatia)

Release: 1977 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This release comes on 180g vinyl and was remastered from the original tapes. Be With have raided the KPM archives to re-issue another of our favourites from the KPM 1000 series. They say: A comprehensive collection of descriptive contemporary scores. We say: Just look at the track titles of The Road Forward and swoon: Strangelands, A Man Alone, Sheer Elegance, Mystique Voyage, Cruising. Don’t you just want to hear those? The maestro Alan Hawkshaw really spoils us on this, one of the most sought after KPM greensleeves. This collection from 1977 is a brilliantly varied blend of silky smooth synths, funk-fuelled clavichord grooves and soft focus space beats. Essential. As with all of our KPM re-issues, the audio for The Road Forward comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity. And don’t worry! Those KPM stickers aren’t stuck directly on the sleeves!

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Tihomir "Pop" Asanovic

Majko Zemljo

LP | 1988 | EU | Reissue (Studio Mule)

Release: 1974 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This release comes on 180 gram vinyl in a fold out cover with an insert.

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Doctor Umezu Diva

Diva Feat. Midori Takada

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Studio Mule)

Release: 1988 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Doctor Umezu diva is a japanese sax player Kazutoki Umezu’s one off project which he invited two female artists, one is a legendary marimba player Midori Takada and one more is a vocalist&pianist and half of japanese newwave band colored music in the end of 80’s. This album was one of the best kept secret jazz album from Japan. Dubby from ondas tokyo(he compiled “va/midnight in tokyo vol.2” on studio mule) brought me this record. It was really hard to find as the amount of copies has been very limited. This album is a unique mixture of modern classical sound and avant-garde jazz which is kind of similar with strata east or nimbus.

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Eiji Nakayama

Aya's Samba

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald)

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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One per customer only!

Johnny’s Disk Record is an independent jazz label run by the owner of jazz cafe Kaiunbashi No Johnny located in Rikuzentakata city in Iwate prefecture, Japan. The legendary label released a string of albums of high quality but down-to-earth music, spanning from modern jazz, avant-garde jazz to left-field pop. Albums such as “farewell my johnny / left alone” and “aya’s samba” has reached cult status among fans as some of the best works to come out of the japanese jazz scene. Another japanese jazz classic, Aya’s Samba was a debut effort by bassist Eiji Nakayama, who played as part of elvin jones’ jazz machine and toured with Don Friedman. This album is an important release in the johnny’s disk catalogue, not only because it is the first ever release, but also because the owner hearing the band play was the reason why the label came to be. “Aya’s Samba” is a mellow jazz samba in minor key that’s considered a japanese jazz classic. Slow ballad “yellow living” is drenched in melancholy with emotive keys and sax notes, while the dreamy “sea sea town” impresses with a captivating, expressive sax solo. The 4 tracker ends with “far-away road,” an uptempo tune with rhythmic keys.

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Michael Naura Quartett

Call

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Alan Hawkshaw & Brian Bennett

Synthesizer And Percussion

LP | 1974 | UK | Reissue (Be With)

LP | 1974 | UK | Reissue (Be With)

Release: 1974 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Released in the same year as Synthesis over on KPM, 1974’s Synthesizer and Percussion is its essential companion piece. “This record features the many distinctive sounds of the ARP Synthesizer plus percussion in various moods and tempos” is the even more underwhelming than usual library record sales pitch for Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett’s second collection of what is basically minimal G-funk, with overtones of primitive acid house. This is ridiculously good.

This is one of Hawkshaw and Bennett’s wilder joints and aeons ahead of its time. Bennett’s tough drums provide the underpinnings for the prominent bass, keys and bubbling synths high up in the mix, alongside Hawkshaw’s deranged clavinet-funk-rock. There are heavenly break loops galore.

Opener "Mon Amour" is ultra-smooth funk, all inter-weaving melodic lines whilst the seminal "Oddball" is an incredible hard electro strut with a knocking break. "Mile High Swinger" is a tranquil Spaghetti Western whistling theme over double tempo rhythmic movement and the pulsating "Auto Pilot" has a percussive groove elevated by electric piano and synthesizer. Check "Driving Force”, “Home Run” and "Pacesetter" for electroid prog-funk dripped in acid squelch.

All five final tracks are beatless synth workouts, because they can.

As with all ten re-issues, the audio for Synthesizer and Percussion comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

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James Clarke

Mystery Movie

Big Business / Wind Of Change

Release: 1974 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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James Clarke’s Mystery Movie was released in 1974 as “modern, small group compositions in various moods. Ideally suited to the new Americanised style of T.V. and cinema film where music is used to create the mood and carry the action”.

So this collection covers a lot of bases, but it does so brilliantly and has absolutely no right to be such a fantastic listen from start to finish.

Mystery Movie is best known for the slick drum breaks underpinning the top-notch jazz-funk chase theme “Car Patrol”, the fuzz riffing and ARP soloing of “The Heavies” and the slow-mo strut of “Mystery Moll”. “Study In Fear” and “Empty Streets” are horror soundtrack fodder of the finest sort.

However, it’s the understated, plaintive pieces that we find the most rewarding. Ambient feels and strung-out fried-folk treats, full of cyclical naïve melodies. Music that evokes the ‘downlifting’ Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood instrumentals from their great Mahoney’s Last Stand LP, as well as the beautiful soundtrack work of Jack Nitzsche and Ry Cooder. You might also recognise “Waiting Game” from being sampled by melodic downbeat masters Express Rising.

Check “Relaxed Theme”, “Quiet Girl”, “Routine Procedure” and “Quietness Sustained” for a melodic, melancholic set, with the last three performed on just acoustic guitar and harp. Gorgeous work.

As with all ten re-issues, the audio for Mystery Movie comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

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V.A.

LP | 1973 | UK | Reissue (Be With)

Distinctive Themes / Race To Achievement

Release: 1973 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The two sides of 1973’s Big Business / Wind of Change are mainly the work of the great Keith Mansfield but there’s a killer cameo each from Alan Hawkshaw and David Snell to help deliver “a thematic suite, diverse in mood, applicable to dramatic and environmental situations”. A Be With favourite and truly one for the heads.

The Big Business of side A is all the work of Keith Mansfield. It’s heavy on the suspense and features the vital “Hot Property”, an insistent groove so good that Madlib sampled it to lace the ace “Long Awaited” by Lootpack with Dilated Peoples.

“Sleeping Giant 1” is a more fleshed out version of the equally-dazzling “Fatal Error”, evoking the orchestral magic of David Axelrod. Indeed, it conjures images of Diamond D falling over himself in the early-to-mid 90s to loop its intoxicatingly eerie soundscape. Complete with guitar fills that recall Paris, Texas-era Ry Cooder, you need this record for this piece alone.

The horn-and-flute-led "Tycoon" is a head-nodder and "Power Complex" has some fantastic percussion. Other highlights include the breezy glide of “Whistle Stop Tour” and its sister groove “Clean Air.”

Over on Side B is the more expansive Wind Of Change, which includes the David Snell and the Alan Hawkshaw contributions. But these ain’t no filler. Snell’s shuffling “International Flight” sounds like a smooth Dorothy Ashby track tossed from the heavens. Hawkshaw’s “Road And Rail” is about as luxurious and strung-out as the great man gets and it might just be the highlight of this whole set.

Not to be outdone, if Mansfield’s “Balance Of Power” doesn’t make you feel like king of the world then you must be playing it wrong. Oh, and did we mention “World In Action”?!

As with all ten re-issues, the audio for Big Business / Wind of Change comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

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Nick Ingman

LP | 1976 | UK | Reissue (Be With)

Keith Mansfield & John Cameron

Release: 1976 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Released in 1976, Distinctive Themes / Race To Achievement is legendary arranger Nick Ingman exploring the two distinct ideas of “impressive themes varying in style from ‘Basie to Elgar’” and “a study in the pressure and rewards of achievement”.

Distinctive Themes is a veritable indulgence of variously-tempoed, full orchestra, big band workouts, from relaxed swing to more propulsive themes. The progressively building “Expanding Markets” is a true highlight, with its rolling pianos, contemplative electric guitar solos and moody horns over skipping beats. The dramatic “Against The Odds” is another stand-out.

Race To Achievement is all rugged funk with stabbing chords and strutting horns and it’s probably our favourite side. Of course we have to acknowledge the fantastic “Tense Preparation”, sampled by Prince Paul and Dan The Automator for Handsome Boy Modeling School’s seminal “Magnetizing” with Del Tha Funky Homosapien. But the whole side’s range from tense underscores to fast and punchy chase themes makes this is a gem of the KPM catalogue.

As with all ten re-issues, the audio for Distinctive Themes / Race To Achievement comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

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Voices In Harmony

LP | 1973 | UK | Reissue (Be With)

LP | 1986 | EU | Reissue (BeauMonde)

Release: 1973 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Voices In Harmony was released in 1973 as “a selection of contemporary pop titles featuring voices, brass and rhythm”. We choose to describe this collection of works by Keith Mansfield and John Cameron as “a string-laced, harmony-drenched KPM classic”.

From the bright, lilting harmonies of “Liquid Sunshine” to the melting flutes of “Loving Touch” and “Gentle Persuasion”, this is warm, effervescent soul music for dreamy, idyllic moods. The supreme “Husky Birdsong” is so, so smooth, with its unrelenting bossa bassline and warm keyboards. “Half Forgotten Daydreams” is a gorgeous wordless groove.

As with all ten re-issues, the audio for Voices In Harmony comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. We’ve taken the same care with the sleeves, handing the reproduction duties over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

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Digital Caresse

Demain

LP | 1974 | EU | Reissue (Discmedi)

Release: 1986 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Produced by Serge Fabriano (of Fabriano Fuzion fame) in 1986, Digital Caresse is considered one of the holy grails of West Indies electronics made in Guadeloupe. Fulle remastered and limited to 700 copies!

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Tete Montoliu

Boleros

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald)

Release: 1974 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A reissue of a fine Spanish jazz-album, recorded in 1975. Here Tete Montoliu is accompanied by Manuel Elias (bass), Peer Wyboris (drums) and Rogelio Juárez (percussion).

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Volker Kriegel

Spectrum

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald)

Monty Alexander

Here Comes The Sun

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Oscar Peterson & The Singers Unlimited

In Tune

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald)

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (Cinedelic)

Franco Chiari

Al Sint

LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald)

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves, Soundtracks

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Franco Chiari, born in 1927 in Naples, was an eclectic artist who is considered a bit of a wildcard of keyboard instruments: he played the piano, accordion, synthesizer, vibraphone and marimba in both jazz and symphony. For three consecutive years (1957/58/59) he won the National Jazz referendum, was vibraphonist in the national TV Orchestra and participated in numerous important broadcasts. He received many awards in his career, and numerous are the artists who have wanted to play live alongside him, including Lionel Hampton, Stéphane Grappelli, Django Reinhardt, Piero Piccioni, Armando Trovajoli, Lelio Luttazzi, and more.

In this album released in 1973, the most groovy in his career, and now the most wanted from collectors, he rearranges the compositions of Mario Bertolazzi electronically with the use of synthesizer on rhythms ranging from latin beats to funk.

Numbered limited edition with digital downloads included and an amazing cover with splashes of paint, making each copy unique and unrepeatable.

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Baden Powell

Images On Guitar

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald)

Joe Pass

Intercontinental

Postaeolian Train Robbery

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Joe Pass (born Joseph Passalaqua) knew how to conjoin melody and chords. Moreover, he brought the walking bass line into the jazz guitar repertoire, as heard in his duo performances with Ella Fitzgerald. Deftly accompanied by German bass virtuoso Eberhard Weber and English drummer Kenny Clare, the music runs the gamut of genres – a meditative Jobim bossa nova, a lusciously relaxed version of the jazz standard, “Stompin' at the Savoy”, a blues-drenched rendition of the Bobby Gentry pop classic, “Ode to Belly Joe”, and a display of dynamically controlled guitar pyrotechnics on the exhilarating “I Love You”.

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COS

LP | 1974 | EU | Reissue (Wah Wah)

Montreux II Blue Vinyl Edtion

Release: 1974 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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An obscure classic from the 1970's Belgian jazzy prog scene that has become a much sought after piece in the collector's market since it was originally released in 1974. Highly inspired by both the UK's Canterbury scene and the zeuhl sound, the debut album by Cos has been compared to the likes of Soft Machine, Gong, Hatfield & The North, National Health, Gilgamesh, Egg, Placebo, Magma or Zao, with Pascale Son's unique wordless vocals and nonsense syllables singing in a voice that some sources have compared to Flora Purim's.

The origins of Cos date back to the second half of the sixties when Daniel Schell joined forces with Jean-Paul Musette, Pascale Son and Robert Pernet to form Classroom. When Classroom split, Daniel Schell and Pascale Son moved ahead and formed Cos together with Charles Loos, Alain Goutier and Bob Dartsch. They produced an experimental jazz rock sound linked to the influences above mentioned, but without being mere copycats since they always managed to keep to their own personality. The album was released on the small obscure label Plus, and has arised interest not only among prog-rock psych-heads and jazz experimentalists, but also among those looking for breaks and bits to sample.

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Bill Evans

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Klimt)

The Definitive Album By Louis Armstrong Blue Vinyl Edition

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Recorded live at the Montreux Festival, 1970, and originally released on CTI, this stunning album features a piano trio led by Bill Evans with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morrell.

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Louis Armstrong

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (L.M.L.R.)

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Cosmic Jazz)

The Chitinous Ensemble

Chitinous

Alone White Vinyl Edition

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Certainly one of the most obscure and perhaps one of the most fascinating work of the English jazz revolution. Master of ceremonies is cellist Paul Buckmaster, known for his work with the Third Ear Band and for his (later) collaborations with Miles Davis, David Bowie and Elton John. Chitinous is his the only album as leader and it was recorded between 31 March and 13 April 1970, by an orchestra of no less than 51 players, with violins, violas and cellos. In this enormous line-up we find the cream of English musicians involved, starting with trumpeter Ian Carr and ending with drummer John Marshall. The leader is on cello, his main instrument, but also on keyboards, which he shares with the excellent Pete Robinson. The music is organized in suites, with very broad suggestions that draw from classical and contemporary music and then move back into jazz territory.

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Bill Evans

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Klimt)

Ara Tokatlian & Enrique Villegas

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Alone was recorded at Webster Hall in the East Village, which was reserved for two recording sessions in October 1968. A Steinway & Sons concert grand piano model D-274 was chosen by Bill Evans for this recording. Released in April 1970, the Grammy Award-winning Alone was Bill Evans' first single piano solo album following in the footsteps of his 1963 Verve session Conversations with Myself (three pianos overdubbed) and his 1967 Further Conversations with Myself, also on Verve (two pianos overdubbed).

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Inspiracion

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Altercat)

LP | 1976 | UK | Reissue (Cacophonic / Early Future Records)

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This top-notch spiritual jazz album from Argentina will leave fans of Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane astonished. Recorded in 1975 and still surprisingly off the radar, this is one of the deepest jazz albums from South America.

Inspiración is the meeting of two generations united by music: Ara Tokatlian and Guillermo Bordarampé, members of the influential 70s rock band Arco Iris (which Tokatlian cofounded with the now Oscar award-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla), join forces with Enrique "Mono" Villegas, an admired jazz pianist who had been active since the 1930s.

Meditative, soothing and serene, Inspiración is music your soul yearns for.

Official reissue with sound off the master tapes, including a reproduction of the original 16-page booklet. With the blessing and support from Ara Tokatlian and Guillermo Bordarampe.

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David Wertman

Kara Suite

Un Hombre De Buenos Aires

Release: 1976 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The best kept secret for aficionados who actively choose to blur the lines between spiritual jazz and free jazz with no discrimination against art rock and the genre that might soon be christened punk (but not as we know it). Providing a platform for first-time players like Richard Schatzberg (French horn) and future avant jazz punk participant Ken Simon (tenor/soprano sax) alongside worldly free jazz luminary Charles Tyler (alto sax) and the naturalistic back-beat of Steve Reid himself to complete the dream team. Finally resurrected via the Finders Keepers/Early Future unison, complete with full cooperation and sleeve note narration by David's partner Lynne Meryl. Presented on black wax with illustrated insert.

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Jorge Lopez Ruiz

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Altercat)

Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Here's one for your long, breezy summer afternoons by the sea. Jazz, funk, tango and bossa vibes kiss each other, all wrapped up in JLR's trademark cinematic feel. In his colourful Un Hombre de Buenos Aires, recorded in 1978, JLR puts the political outcry of his early 70s works aside and focuses on his love for the city of Buenos Aires.

As always, Jorge López Ruiz enroled for the recording of Un Hombre de Buenos Aires some of the best musicians in the country. The line-up includes Dino Saluzzi on bandoneon, Domingo Cura on percussion and his lifelong friend Pocho Lapouble on drums.

Jorge López Ruiz gets far less credit than he deserves. His crucial role in shaping Argentina's jazz history should place him right next to Gato Barbieri and Lalo Schifrin, giants who found success abroad. It's an honour do dig deeper into his vast discography after having already reissued his masterpiece Viejas Raíces and his historical milestone album Bronca Buenos Aires.

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Reflections Of A Golden Dream

LP | 1976 | UK | Reissue (BGP)

Singin' In The Midnight Clear Vinyl Edtion

Release: 1976 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Lonnie Liston Smith was one of the most important musicians to emerge in jazz in the 1970s. His 1975 album 'Expansions' is one of the foundation stones of modern dance music and his recordings have been sampled by many of the biggest artists in the world. His music was a cosmically inspired spiritual interpretation of the music he had been making during his time with Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and Miles Davis. Released in 1976,"Reflections On A Golden Dream", the follow-up to "Expansions", was his fifth album for Flying Dutchman and featured the core band of the Cosmic Echoes, including his brother Donald Smith, David Hubbard and Wilby Fletcher. As for the music, this album is a classic, with the funky 'Get Down Everybody (It's Time For World Peace)', the reflective 'Quiet Dawn' and 'Meditations' and the sumptuous 'Beautiful Woman'. "Reflections Of A Golden Dream" was also the first of Lonnie's albums to feature his own vocals. It's a lost classic everyone should own.

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Chet Baker Quartet

LP | 1987 | EU | Reissue (Klimt)

Brand New Feeling Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1987 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Recorded during Christmas time 1986 in Holland together with Jon Burr on bass, Ben Riley on drums and Harold Danko on piano, this album will be released only in Japan the following year. It is a rare compilation of mostly standard songs reinterpreted by Chet with his personal decadent, intense and timeless taste.

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The Awakening

LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Cinedelic)

The Battle Of Disco Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Awakening were one of the greatest bands in early '70s jazz blending Spiritual and soul. They combined veterans of Chicago’s R&B sessions and jazz players affiliated with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and were the only "group" on the legendary Black Jazz Records roster. This album includes the most representative tunes from their only two albums released in 1972/1973.

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Bra Sello

LP | 1977 | EU | Reissue (Afrodelic)

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Mad About)

Release: 1977 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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With one foot planted in jazz and the other in the township groove of Mbaqanga, saxophonist Sello Mmutung was a powerful crossover figure in the history of popular music in South Africa. Using the stage name Bra Sello, meaning “brother” and used as a term of affection and respect in the jazz community, he came up in the era of shellac 78s as an exponent of the 1960s sax jive sound that brought the swinging rhythm of kwela into the domain of South African jazz. Despite the injection of American rhythm and blues into South African pop in the late-1960s, Bra Sello’s first releases on vinyl on the
CBS label saw him backed by the group Abafana Bentuthuko and holding down an unapologetic township sound.
Joining the independent Soweto label under producer Cambridge Matiwane in the mid-1970s, Bra Sello recorded two records in the hit-making bump jive style popularised by serious jazz musician Dollar Brand on the one hand and prolific studio group The Movers, operating in funk and soul territory, on the other. Blending modern American and traditional African elements into joyful hip-swinging rhythms, Butterfly (1975) and The Battle of Disco (1977) reflect the vivacity of urban life in South Africa and document an era when dance music was performed by bands as extended jams laced with jawdropping solos. With music trends shifting dramatically in the late-1970s, the title of The Battle of Disco was an ironic call to arms in response to the territory that group musicians were beginning to cede to synthesisers and DJs.
For enthusiasts of African music from the 1970s, a full appreciation of the continent’s output is incomplete without South Africa’s pop-jazz sound providing a regional counterpoint to the funk experimentation of West Africa. Reissued for the very first time, Bra Sello returns in 2023 with limited replica editions from Afrodelic using master tape sources from the As Shams / The Sun collection. Afrodelic’s unique edition of Butterfly features a previously unreleased track on Side B.

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Majoie Hajary

La Passion Selon Judas

25,49 €* 29,99 € -15%

Bemowe Frazy Yellow Vinyl Edtion

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Majoie Hajary is an atypical musician. Born in Paramaribo (Suriname) to Indian parents and raised in Amsterdam. In 1970, in France, accompanied by the best Jazz musicians and with arrangements by Roger Guerin, she recorded “La Passion Selon Judas”.

The result was an incredible fusion of Psych, Funk, Indian and Jazz elements – deep religious Jazz in the vein of Jef Gilson.

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Bemibem

LP | 1974 | EU | Reissue (Warner)

25,64 €* 26,99 € -5%

Release: 1974 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Siegfried Kessler

Solaire

Pop Music Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Solaire, Siegfried Kessler, that is the least we can say! Aged 4: learns piano. Aged 6: his first concert. After this: studies classical music like everyone else... until the jazz of Jack Diéval and Stan Kenton turned everything upside down. So it was goodbye to Bach...

...And hello to Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Ted Curson and Archie Shepp (who he would accompany over a long period). In 1969, with Yochk’o Seffer, Didier Levallet and Jean-My Truong, he formed a group which would mark history and create a sensation: Perception. If French free jazz exists, its thanks to Kessler (and company).

The following year, the pianist recorded his first album: Live at the Gill’s Club. On this one-night concert date can also be heard Barre Phillips and Steve McCall. But it was in 1971 that Kessler would record his greatest album; still in a trio setting, but this time with bassist Gus Nemeth and percussionist Stu Martin: Solaire. Five tracks of extraordinary music, moving back and forth between modal jazz and contemporary music.

Let’s begin at the end, with the title track Solaire, on which Kessler plays a melody on flute and piano which resists all onslaughts. It sends out powerful waves, Kessler’s jazz, bubbling like hot oil (Persécution, Drum), shaking modal jazz to its roots (De l’Orient à Orion) or upsetting the memory of a cantata (Bach Hcab). The piano is an instrument which can provide a tendency towards, demonstrative technique; with Kessler, it is something else: a joyful persecution!

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Structure

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Sommor)

Vivre La Mort Du Vieux Monde

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Cool library-styled French album from 1970. Psychedelic, proggy jazz-funk with Brazilian/Bossa touches! Groovy flute by Bernard Wystraëte plus heavy bass, drums (by André Ceccarelli), violin, occasional fuzz-wah guitar and Urszula Dudziak-like scat vocals. In 1970, the AFA label asked flautist Bernard Wystraëte to register a “pop” album after the worldwide impact of progressive bands like Aphrodite’s Child and Jethro Tull. Bernard recruited some of his friends who were professional musicians and Structure was born. He wrote a collection of songs influenced by progressive rock, jazz and Brazilian music. The “Pop Music” album was recorded live in the studio to give a “live show” feel. It was released later that year housed in a superb psychedelic sleeve. The band even toured across France and several countries at the same time that Bernard and other Structure members started backing famous French singer Marie Laforêt live. After the good reception given to the album, another label asked Bernard to record a Structure 45. “Dilatation” / “Scale” was released under a new line-up. Both tracks of this 45 are included as bonus tracks on the Digital Download version and the CD.

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Maajun

Khan Jamal's Creative Arts Ensemble

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Before Mahjun (of which Souffle Continu reissued, in 2016, the two albums released on Saravah), there was... Maajun. Five musicians (Jean-Pierre Arnoux, Cyril and Jean-Louis Lefebvre, Alain Roux and Roger Scaglia) and three times as many instruments at the service of an electric-poetic guerrilla group moulded from folk and blues. The group’s unique album, “Vivre la Mort du Vieux Monde” evokes an (imaginary) association of Frank Zappa and Jacques Higelin, of Sonny Sharrock and the Art Ensemble Of Chicago. Under these conditions, Long Live Death!

“The most French of all the French groups, determined to take Maurice Chevalier’s place in American hearts.” This was how Rock&Folk presented Mahjun in 1977. So be it. But when “Vivre la Mort du Vieux Monde”, was issued, it was 1971, and the name, though the same group, was still spelled Maajun. So, let’s look back at the story.

At the end of the sixties, five blues fans decided to form a French group ready to break down the barriers: Jean-Pierre Arnoux (drums, vibraphone, saxophone), Cyril Lefebvre (guitar, organ), Jean-Louis Lefebvre (bass, violin, guitar, vocals), Alain Roux (saxophone, flute, harmonica, vocals) and Roger Scaglia (guitar, vocals). This was Maajun, and Vivre la mort du vieux monde would be their only album, but which would (nevertheless) be followed by those of Mahjun created later by Lefebvre (Jean-Louis) and Arnoux.

Recorded for the Vogue label, “Vivre la Mort du Vieux Monde” would disturb a number of people. This is mostly due to the lyrics, many of which were written by Gérald Escot-Bocanegra, who, while summoning the spirit of Lautréamont and Rimbaud, turned the Maajun musicians on to rock and free jazz. Add a bit of politics into the mix, and the release of the album was delayed for several months. But then, wasn’t it worth waiting for?

Because “Vivre la Mort du Vieux Monde”, a real concept-album, is an important and iconoclastic statement made directly in the face of (francophone) dreamers of all countries. Over heavy guitar riffs, psychedelic interludes or fantasy-fuelled digressions, Maajun built mazes on the advice of alchemists known only to themselves before heading off on a long march on the “cracking walls”. It was an ambitious project, but Maajun could handle it, going so far as to proclaim: “Tomorrow will be a huge party!” But as we can see “tomorrow”, is now!

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Drum Dance To The Motherland

LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (Aguirre)

Akira Ishikawa & His Count Buffalos

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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There’s not another album on the planet that sounds even remotely like vibraphonist Khan Jamal’s eccentric, one-of-a-kind masterpiece, Drum Dance To The Motherland. Thirty years after its release, the album’s tapestry of sound, fearless abstractions, relentless grooves, cool swing, flashes of ecstasy, & pan cultural embrace remain powerful & beyond category. One of only three albums released on the Philadelphia-based Dogtown label, it was barely distributed beyond the city’s limits when it came out in the early ‘70s.

Finally available again, a really stunning document of musical exploration, a classic session. In its improbable fusion of free jazz expressionism, black psychedelia, & full-on dub production techniques, Drum Dance remains a bracingly powerful outsider statement fifty years after it was recorded live at the Catacombs Club in Philadelphia, 1972. Comparisons to Sun Ra, King Tubby, Phil Cohran & BYG/Actuel merely hint at the cosmic otherness conjured by The Khan Jamal Creative Arts Ensemble & by sound engineer Mario Falana's real-time enhancements.

Clearly, the members of the Khan Jamal Creative Arts Ensemble saw African American music as a continuum that stretched from the Motherland through the blues, R&B, jazz, & free jazz, & they prided themselves on mastering the continuum. In the early ‘70s, these were fairly new ideas, but they had taken firm root in Philadelphia. The search for an African American music that is modern & culturally progressive but rooted in an African tradition is the music’s heart & soul. Its connection to the specific African American community in Philadelphia is its immediate inspiration. “My ancestors eventually show up in my music every time i play,” Jamal says. “I’ve always said that my backyard is Africa.”

Originally issued by Jamal in 1973 in an edition of three hundred copies on ‘Dogtown’ records, Drum Dance To The Motherland was effectively a myth until eremite’s 2005 CD reissue. With the master tapes long vanished, the audio was transferred at Sony Music's 54th street studio from a minty copy of the original LP. Includes an insert with Ed Hazell's detailed telling of Drum Dance's incredible history. Under License From Eremite Records.

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African Rock

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Cinedelic Orient Series)

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Japanese jazz drummer Akira Ishikawa has recorded countless albums with the band Count Buffalos, though few are quite as revered and sought-after as 1971 set African Rock. Of his albums, this is certainly the most dazzling and impactful, flawlessly produced. More than "African rock" it is psychedelic spiritual jazz with funky veins; the set is a brilliant blend of Akira Ishikawa's favorite styles with juicy, tribal and deep percussive elements - his drums are flanked by Kenji Shiraishi's marimba and Masami Kawahara's percussion - which in some moments they recall Fela Kuti (see the superb "Animals / Mnama") and in many other the electric Miles Davis. He bring a completely new global sound to his music with the inclusion of the electronic component with the ‘ tabbing' Kimio Mizutani's guitar solos and electric piano accompaniment by the great Hiromasa 'Colgen’ Suzuki (also on acoustic piano and composition). Undoubtedly one of the best records produced in Japan in the 70s. Unmissable!

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Francois Tusques

Piano Dazibao N°2

LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Between May and September 1970, pianist François Tusques recorded »Piano Dazibao«, an album on which he multiplied joyful escapades as a critical iconoclast. The following year Tusques recorded »Dazibao N°2«, which shows him as an incisive commentator of his times. Following in the footsteps of Don Cherry, who he had met a few years earlier in Paris, Tusques made a plea for “friendship between all the peoples of the world” to the sound of Universalist hymns which transported us from Africa to Asia. But it is really a song to America, evoking the assassination of the activist George Jackson and the mutiny in Attica prison, before covering “Seize the Time” by Elaine Brown – three years after the release of Dazibao N°2, she became the first (and only) woman to lead the Black Panther Party.

The turmoil of Piano Dazibao, was opposed, on Dazibao N°2, by long, labyrinthine tracks with alternating discords and repetitions. Often using prepared piano, Tusques was more percussive (even heady) than ever, exposing a melody with solid hammer strikes or painting an image which radiated peace in spite of the storms. Piano Dazibao and Dazibao N°2 thus form the two sides of one coin, which displays the effigy of François Tusques, an international national monument.

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Francois Tusques

Piano Dazibao

LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Life Goes On)

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In Paris in 1965, F. Tusques mixed with Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Jean-François Jenny-Clark, Aldo Romano or Jacques Thollot. He also met Don Cherry and above all recorded, with other like-minded Frenchmen (Portal and Jeanneau alongside Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérin and Charles Saudrais), the first album of free jazz in France. Years later his thirst for freedom led him to isolation; between May and September 1970, the pianist recorded, at his home, the first of two albums that he would release on Futura Records: »Piano Dazibao« and »Dazibao N°2«.

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Haki R. Madhubuti

Rise Vision Comin

Jean-Charles Capon / Philippe Maté / Lawrence "Butch" Morris / Serge Rahoerson

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A breathtaking self-conscious free-jazz masterwork, 'Rise Vision Comin'' summarizes more than 30 years of musical and theoretical/political expression from renowned activist/scholar/free-jazz pioneer Haki R. Standing on the verge of spiritual jazz aesthetic, his music remains timeless & unforgettable after it's longstanding creation. The first album by the group Rise Vision Comin was released in 1976, and features among others Wallace Roney on trumpet, Clarence Seay on bass and Agyei Akoto on saxophone who also served as creative director. It features 9 tracks with the title track, “Rise, Vision, Comin” a great example of the adhesive comradery between instrumentation and Madhubuti’s spoken-word.

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Jean-Charles Capon - Philippe Maté - Lawrence "Butch" Morris - Serge Rahoerson

LP | 1977 | EU | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

Release: 1977 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Courtial With Errol Knowles

Don't You Think It's Time

LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Mad About)

The Franklin Street Arterial

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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First time worldwide reissue on 180 gram vinyl with original 6 pages insert book with lyrics. Cult LP including rare groove classics like “Losing You”, “Don’t You Think It’s Time” or “Love Nevermore” Released in 1976 on Pipeline, a small label from Woodside, California.

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The Franklin Street Arterial Colored Vinyl Edition

LP | 1980 | EU | Reissue (Petit Cherie)

Capon - Maté - Morris - Rahoerson

Release: 1980 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Franklin Street Arterial were from Portland, Maine and are the type of band to appreciate since the beginning of A Side. Late 70s and early 80s light fusion sound (but not smooth jazz!). Definitely more on the jazz side rather than rock, but with well crafted melodies and solid professional playing from all. Sublime synthesizer, fine guitar, and fantastic sax gives an honest and touchable value to this record.

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LP | 1977 | EU | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Music On Vinyl)

Release: 1977 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In November 1976, Jef Gilson’s phone rang. What a surprise! It was Serge Rahoerson, one of the musicians he had met in Madagascar at the end of the 60s and who had played on his first album “Malagasy”. Rahoerson announced that he was in Paris for a few days.

Immediately, Jef wanted to organise a recording session, starting the next day. He thought of a trio including Serge, Eddy Louiss on organ and cellist Jean-Charles Capon, who had also been on one of the trips to Tananarive and so had also known Rahoerson there. Unfortunately, Eddy Louiss –who had already played with Gilson and Capon on the album “Bill Coleman Sings And Plays 12 Negro Spirituals” in 1968- had to drop out at the last minute: he was delayed by a session with Claude Nougaro. Jean-Charles Capon had also become a sought-after studio musician since his trip to Madagascar in 1969. He appeared on several key albums on the Saravah label including the now famous “Comme À La Radio” by Brigitte Fontaine, “Un Beau Matin” by Areski and “Chorus” by Michel Roques, without mentioning the album by his own Baroque Jazz Trio. He was also to be found with Jef Gilson for his album on Vogue with the ex-drummer from Miles Davis’ first great quintet, Philly Joe Jones, or also in the orchestra led by Jean-Claude Vannier for the album “Nino Ferrer & Leggs”. He also played regularly on albums by Georges Moustaki.

Jean-Charles Capon and Serge Rahoerson found themselves thus in the studio, with Jef at the controls. He had decided to record the rhythmic structure right away. He would find the soloists later, that didn’t worry him. Serge Rahoerson was on drums. Though a saxophonist by training, Jef remembered that Serge was also capable of great things behind a drum kit: he was the improvised drummer on their cover of “The Creator Has A Master Plan” on the album “Malagasy”... The great memories came flooding back (the nod on the title “Orly - Ivato”), and the old magic worked again.

Brought in momentarily from Europamerica, Gilson’s new big band, in which JC Capon also played, the saxophonists Philippe Maté, from France (another Saravah stablemate) and the American Butch Morris (soon to be a key member of David Murray’s band) were invited to record their parts later and Gilson mixed it all as if it had been one single session (as he had already done on other albums, with the tracks by Christian Vander recorded before the creation and success of Magma).

The album would not appear until 1977, on Palm, Jef’s own label, and was dedicated to the memory of Georges Rahoerson, Serge’s father, who had also played on the album “Malagasy” and who had died prematurely at the age of 51 in 1974. “I only received my own copy of the album in 1981 when I came to live in France definitively”, a still-moved Serge Rahoerson told us in 2013. “I was playing in a club one night and Jef turned up by surprise with a copy of the album for me, I was so pleased to see him again. When I arrived in France, I told everyone that I had played with Jef Gilson a few years previously, and I was surprised to learn that so few people knew of him. For us, he was of one of the great jazz visionaries.” (Jérôme "Kalcha" Simonneau)

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Eddie Marshall

Dance Of The Sun

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1977 | EU | Reissue (Dialogo)

Steve Lacy

Straws

LP | 1974 | CA | Reissue (Return To Analog)

Release: 1977 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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At long last, after remaining out of print for decades, the Milan based imprint, Dialogo, dives into the legendary catalog of Cramps, bringing forth the first ever vinyl reissue of Steve Lacy’s LP, "Straws", issued as the sixth instalment of the label’s DIVerso series in 1977. Truly singular in the legendary American saxophonist’s discography - featuring stunning solo excursions and dialogs with himself - it remains one of the great documents of 1970s improvisation, and is as engrossing, creatively riveting, and as ahead of its time today as it was when it was laid to tape. Complete with original liner notes penned by Lacy himself, it’s not to be missed!

Steve Lacy (July 23, 1934 – June 4, 2004) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone. His career has been long and prolific; Lacy worked extensively in experimental jazz and to a lesser extent in free improvisation, but his music was typically melodic and tightly-structured. Lacy also became a highly distinctive composer, with compositions often built out of little more than a single questioning phrase, repeated several times. In 1977 he released a one-off record titled Straws for the Italian Cramps Records label, as the 6th volume of the DIVerso series (which included, among others, Demetrio Stratos’ solo albums) dedicated to contemporary avant-garde composers. Straws is now made available again on Dialogo in a faithful reproduction of the original gatefold cover artwork and inner sleeve.

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Sonny Greenwich

Sun Song

Release: 1974 / CA – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Ted Curson

Pop Wine

Akuma Ga Kitarite Fue Wo Fuku

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Originally from Philadelphia, invited to New York by Miles Davis, playing at Antibes in 1960 with Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy, here is trumpeter Ted Curson in 1971... in Paris. With him, a legendary trio: Georges Arvanitas (piano), Jacky Samson (double bass) and Charles Saudrais (drums). A new transatlantic alliance in the service of jazz of all kinds: classic, modal, fusion and even free... Pop Wine is – between Coltrane and Miles with a nod to roots in the club the Caveau de la Huchette – an explosive cocktail but which leaves no stains!

In 1960, trumpeter Ted Curson played with Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy on stage at the Antibes jazz festival. Eleven years later he was in Paris to record one of the gems of his discography, with a hard-hitting French trio: Georges Arvanitas (piano), Jacky Samson (double bass) and Charles Saudrais (drums).

Arvanitas was also someone who had travelled widely. Originally from Marseille, he had accompanied visiting American musicians in Paris before moving to the States. It was when he came back that the charismatic trio was created with Samson and Saudrais and who recorded, in 1970 on Futura, the unforgettable In Concert and then, the following year, Pop Wine with Ted Curson.

Pop Wine: don’t be fooled into thinking you are going to hear jazz musicians trying to play pop after uncorking too many bottles. For, although the album occasionally tends toward fusion, it is first and foremost a wonderful jazz recording; and a recording with enough fizz to make your head spin!

There are five tracks in total: Quartier Latin reminds us a little of Olé Coltrane (Curson, like the saxophonist, is originally from Philadelphia), Flip Top where the trumpet and piano play out a chase scene through the streets of Paris, Pop Wine where funk and cool jazz meet on the barricades of black and white, L.S.D. Takes A Holiday which breaks out in a style close to free jazz, and finally Lonely One, with the impression that ends this unclassifiable album. Unclassifiable, unless we decide to elevate Pop Wine to the rank of a great vintage.

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Hozan Yamamoto & Yu Imai

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (Mr Bongo)

Malagasy At Newport-Paris

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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We've got a bit of an obsession with Hozan Yamamoto here at Mr Bongo! A legend of Japanese jazz, he is rightly regarded as a true master and was recognised as a "living national treasure" by the Japanese government in 2002. Over five decades he pushed the genre into new directions, absorbing fusion, funk, spiritual jazz and many other sounds, resulting in a discography studded with gems of rare beauty. Exploring his back catalogue has taken us on an engrossing journey that now sees us reissuing another work from this ground-breaking musician.

Though not translating perfectly into English 'Akuma Ga Kitarite Fue Wo Fuku', (kitarite has not been a modern expression in Japanese) roughly means 'The Devil Comes Playing The Flute' / 'The Devil Is Coming While Blowing The Whistle' or 'Devils Flute’. It is the original soundtrack to Kôsei Saitô’s 1979 mystery and suspense movie, ‘Devil’s Flute’. The film is based on a story by the famous author, Seishi Yokomizo, and is centred around a much-loved fictional Japanese detective, Kosuke Kindaichi. A Japanese Sherlock Holmes that has been popular for generations.

Hozan Yamamoto was invited to compose the soundtrack directly by the producer of the film, Haruki Kadokawa. Mr Kadokawa also hired keyboard player and producer Yu Imai as assistant producer on the project, resulting in a stunning cosmic, breaks and beats-laden, funk, disco soundtrack extravaganza.

When it comes to the soundtrack and the technology of the time, Hozan Yamamoto and Yu Imai got inventive, tripped out, funked up, and experimented, creating a quirky soundtrack masterpiece that needed to be heard more outside of Japan. Differing from the more traditional Japanese music orientation of some of his other albums such as 'Beautiful Bamboo-Flute' (also released on Mr Bongo) the album showcases a number of genres, from lush atmospheric incidental music to disco and funk grooves, experimental nuggets, drum and flute workouts, to neo-classical and more.

A special record that showcases the further depths of this wonderful musician's talents.

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Jef Gilson

LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

Sylvin Marc / Del Rabenja

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In 1973, Jef Gilson gave new impetus to his already long career by reforming ‘Malagasy’ with young musicians from Madagascar exiled in Paris. The group was very successful and played in clubs and festivals on the same bill as Ray Charles, Sun Ra, Terry Riley, Hal Singer or Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath. The meeting between two generations and two cultures created a new mix between jazz, traditional music and electric funk. Jef Gilson had reinvented himself yet again, and it wouldn’t be the last time.

"In May 1972, the wave of anger and the thirst for freedom that had swept the world in 1968 arrived in Madagascar. The Malagasy youth took the opportunity to exile in search of a brighter future. Several of them, all jazz musicians and often polyintrumentalists, came to Paris with their afro hair and bellbottoms. Their names were Sylvin Marc, his cousin Ange "Zizi" Japhet, Del Rabenja, Gérard Rakotoarivony and Frank Raholison.

By chance, they crossed paths with pianist and bandleader Jef Gilson, who they had already met as kids during a series of concert and workshops in Tananarive four years earlier. Gilson was far from an unknown on the French jazz scene. He had played with Boris Vian and André Hodeir at the end of the forties, he was one of the first French composers to move away from the New-Orleans style to try his hand at bebop, had launched numerous young stars (Ponty, Texier, Portal...), was a polemical critic for Jazz Hot, had opened for Coltrane at Antibes/Juan Les Pins, and was part of the Double Six... But it was tough to make a living playing personal compositions and Jef, who didn’t have enough money to return to the island and continue mining the seam of Malagasy jazz, saw an opportunity to relaunch ‘Malagasy’.

He had his recording studio in the Les Halles area, at the Foyer Montorgueil, where he was teaching jazz to a choir. He set to work with the new Malagasy group, working on a repertoire and reviving some of his compositions from the 50s/60s ("Requiem Pour Django", "Dizzy 48", "Anamorphose" here renamed "Salegy Jef" as a nod to an ancestral rhythm reworked in a contemporary style...), and also included more recent tunes ("Newport Bounce" which opens this current album is a reworking of a track called "Interlude", recorded in 69 with the drummer from Miles Davis’ first quintet, Philly Joe Jones). The group Malagasy 73 gigged a lot. One of their concerts was recorded on the 14 March in a club, ‘Le Newport’, in rue Grégoire de Tours, Saint Germain des Prés, not far from the ‘Kiosque d'Orphée’ where Gilson worked at the beginning of the 60s when he brought bebop and avant-garde jazz to the attention of a generation of musicians with his records imported from USA.

This meeting between two generations and two cultures created a new mix between jazz, traditional music and electric funk. Jef Gilson had reinvented himself yet again, and it wouldn’t be the last time." --- Jérôme « Kalcha » Simonneau

Album Release

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Madagascar Now

LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (Souffle Continu)

LP | 1982 | EU | Reissue (Verve)

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Key players on the mythical albums, "Funny Funky Rib Crib" by Byard Lancaster, "Soul Of Africa" by Hal Singer & Jef Gilson and "Malagasy At Newport-Paris" by Jef Gilson, the young Malagasy musicians Del Rabenja and Sylvin Marc were able to develop their own compositions on an album for Palm in 1973. Del Rabenja takes us to the depth of spirituality with his valiha (a small Malagasy harp) while Sylvin Marc oscillates between free jazz and electro-groove.

"While he was working on the repertoire for the new version of his group Malagasy, with young Malagasy musicians he had met in Paris in 1972 (and who can be heard on the album "Malagasy At Newport-Paris"), Jef Gilson realised that two of his new discoveries, in addition to being established polyinstrumentalists (who both had sharpened their skills in the legendary seja-jazz band from La Réunion, Le Club Rythmique), were also skilled composers. They were capable of reinventing jazz and traditional Malagasy music, adding influences from the new generation inspired by pop, rock and funk into the mix. He offered them the chance to share the two sides of an album recorded on his own label, Palm, alongside their compatriots. Ange "Zizi" Japhet, Gérard Rakotoarivony and Frank Raholison.

This is how Del Rabenja and Sylvin Marc came to record this "Madagascar Now / Maintenant 'Zao". The first side really showcases the valiha (a small Malagasy harp) of Del Rabenja who uses the occasion to pay homage to the sadly missed Rakotozafy, often called the Django Reinhardt of the instrument. His three compositions are full of spirituality and invite an almost trance-like state. But Rabenja is equally a very good tenor saxophonist and organist on the other tracks. The other side displays the full range of talents of the multi-instrumentalist and composer Sylvin Marc, who moves from bass to drums, from vocals to percussion and offers four compositions ranging from free jazz to cosmic groove.

At the same period the five men could also be found amongst the cast list of the mythical albums, "Funny Funky Rib Crib" by Byard Lancaster and "Soul Of Africa" by Hal Singer & Jef Gilson. Later, Sylvin Marc would play bass for Nina Simone on her album "Fodder On My Wings" in 1982, then join the team of violinist Didier Lockwood, while Del Rabenja would be part of Manu Dibango’s and Eddy Louiss’ orchestras for a long time and would even be at the front of the top 50 at the end of the 80s with David Koven. He would also be the special guest of the Palm Unit trio (Fred Escoffier, Lionel Martin, Philippe "Pipon" Garcia) on their first album, an homage to the œuvre of Jef Gilson, in 2018." --- Jérôme "Kalcha" Simonneau

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Nina Simone

Fodder On My Wings

Release: 1982 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (Blue Note)

Elvin Jones

Mr.Jones

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1970 | US | Reissue (Blue Note)

Reuben Wilson

Blue Mode

LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (Verve)

Release: 1970 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

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Stan Getz & Bill Evans

2LP | 1980 | UK | Reissue (BBE)

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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More information coming soon.

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Ralph Thomas

Eastern Standard Time

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Sevenmen)

Release: 1980 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Following hard on the heels of BBE delving into the archives of
Detroit’s Strata Records and delivering their widely acclaimed
and hugely in-demand exploration of J-Jazz, comes another
crate digger’s delight- Ralph Thomas’ ‘Eastern Standard Time’,
which dropped the USA back in in 1980, on the obscure Zebra
Jazz imprint.
This is the is the kind of “spiritual’ jazz gem that appears on You
Tube and upon checking it out on Discogs reveals a price well in
excess of £150.00. To have it widely available in its original
vinyl format, as well as digitally and on CD, is a real treat. So,
who is Ralph Thomas?
The self-produced ‘Eastern Standard Time’ features Thomas on
baritone, alto and tenor saxophones as well as flute and
percussion. He describes himself as a practicing ethnomusicologist
who’s musical vision evolved during the Sixties and
it’s Thomas’ multifaceted, global approach that gives the music
on Eastern Standard Time’ an engaging and distinct flavour.
"My music has always been open to different cultures and
sounds Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Mexican, Peruvian, American,
Hebrew, Turkish, African, Indian and Japanese,” declares the
Chicago born musician. While attending the Chicago
conservatory of music in 1969 he became a member of the
Chicago A.A.C.M, studying with master musicians Phil Cohran
and Richard Muhal Abrams. He also recorded with well-known
blues legends, Howlin' Wolf and Mighty Joe Young for the Cadet
imprint of Chess records.
In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles and was employed as a
session player with both 20th Century Fox and Motown – where
he recorded with Marvin Gaye, Jermaine Jackson, Smokey
Robinson and Rick James. In the early Eighties he was working
for Quincy Jones Productions appearing on the soundtrack of
Roots and The Color Purple but a passion for reggae music led
him to Jamaica where he recorded with producer Jack Ruby and
artists like Augustus Pablo and Gregory Isaacs.
In ’86 he moved to NYC where he collaborated with Boogaloo
legend Johnny Colon and played with like-minded musical
explorers Sun Ra, Don Cherry and Olatunji. However, by 1993
his restless spirit carried him to Paris where studied
Ethnomusicology and performed with trumpeter Mra Oma and
film-maker Ranaivo-Rajaona Hery. There were also gigs with
percussionist Trilok Gurtu as well as drummer Sunny Murray
and saxophone legend Archie Shepp. Upon moving to the
South of France Thomas ran an art gallery and initiated his
MusArt project – which has since toured in the US, Canada and
Japan
After a productive stint in Chiang Mai, Thailand – where he
immersed himself in Issan culture – Ralph Thomas recently relocated
back to the US to live and work.

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I Marc 4

Gary Burton & Chick Corea

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This rather mysterious Jazz recording, which dates back to 1971, was quickly put together in a studio session sandwiched between RAI orchestra rehearsals, film soundtrack recordings and various other projects that make up this incredible musical library, all recorded in that period by our best musicians. The unique particulars of this record are that the musicians are not named, except for a mythical “Plakoti” but also the rights and the tapes seemed tohave strangely disappeared. After a period of accurate research, thanks to Maurizio Majorana (bass player for the Marc 4) we have been able to find the original recordings and also the musicians that played on it. Even though this recording was accredited to the Marc 4, by semi-official sources of the time, strangely enough only two of them are effectively present on this record Antonello Vannucchi on the Hammond Organ, Vibraphone and Piano and Roberto Podio on the Drums. The other two musicians are Giovanni Tommaso playing his mythical “Pedrazzini” (ndr) double bass who already played together with Vannucchi as part of the famous “Lucca Quartet” and then as the bass player of the group “Perigeo” and Enzo Grillini, part of the Rai orchestra and a favorite guitar player of both Armando Trovajoli and Gianni Ferrio who, at the time, was considered one of the best Italian Jazz guitar player and who rarely recorded music outside of the RAI orchestra. The style of this record, thanks to this very particular group of musicians, contrary to many other Library recordings, is very jazzy and the very special sound reminds us of the Jazz organ of the Verve/Blue Note labels made in the Sixties. The Seven Men Label, another characteristic of this new edition, born from a partnership of 7 mysterious producers and musicians in order to produce background music, in fact, only produced four recordings and they are : “1” that you are already listening to, 2, AKA “Il Cinghialetto” directed by Gianni Ferrio and played by the very best popular and classical musicians of the day, as the soundtrack of a theatre piece written by Grazia Deledda and to conclude there are two recordings made in the 1970’s written by Bruno Canfora: “Musiche di scena n°1” and “Musiche di scena n°2”. To have been able to bring this recording out again, knowing about its ups and downs and how it was made, is even more important now, as we have been able to add yet another gem to the numerous reeditions of the “Italian Library Music“ over these past years.

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Crystal Silence

LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (ECM)

LP | 1973 | EU | Reissue (ECM)

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The Corea/Burton duo was brought together by producer Manfred Eicher, and “Crystal Silence” brought a new chamber music sensibility into jazz improvisation, distinguished by an effervescence of melody and countermelody, with synchronized cascades of sound in continually changing harmonic movement.

It all begins here, with “Crystal Silence”. The title says it all: silence crystallized into dazzling melodic gems, each its own prismatic doorway into improvisatory translucence. Corea offers a fine set of five compositions (the most notable being the slick opener "Señor Mouse"), along with three beautifully realized tunes by bassist Steve Swallow ("Arise, Her Eyes" being a personal favorite), and another by Mike Gibbs (the somber "Feelings And Things"). In spite of the variety of voices represented here, the album grows like one long, extended story, a dynamic that seems to shadow the musicians wherever they set foot.

The title track is a subdued tour de force in style, presentation, and content. "Falling Grace" (Swallow) is one of the shorter pieces on tap, but what it lacks in time it makes up for in exhilaration. The album ends with an instrumental version of another Return classic, "What Game Shall We Play Today." Each piece is rendered with such dynamic sensitivity that one can immediately recognize the effect Crystal Silence must have had when originally released, and no doubt continues to have to this day. Connected as they are by the same mellow fuse, these tunes need hardly a spark to set them to glowing.

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Dave Holland Quartet

Conference Of The Birds

LP | 1978 | EU | Reissue (ECM)

Release: 1973 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This was Dave Holland's first album as a full-fledged leader. An album of driving, progressive jazz, it is also of historical significance as the only occasion when Rivers and Braxton, two of the music's most strikingly original saxophonists, recorded together. This summit meeting received raves from the press.

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Jan Garbarek

Places

LP | 1977 | EU | Reissue (ECM)

Release: 1978 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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“Places” is an important album for the Norwegian saxophonist with its stellar transatlantic line-up.

“Places” brings together another congregation of musicians that could only come from ECM. Drummer Jack DeJohnette lassoes his scurrying loops to the acoustic hooks of guitarist Bill Connors, while John Taylor supplements most of the cargo with organ. At the helm of this vessel is Jan Garbarek, whose saxophonism starts high and goes only higher. With cumulative notecraft and a heartfelt commitment to atmosphere, he and Taylor unwrap a lush nexus in the stunning opener. The occasional harmonic falls like a dandelion seed onto this pool of night as cymbals splash all around us. Taylor weaves a fine spread, anchoring us with sustained bass lines and attentive chording, leaving Garbarek to seal every crack with his sonic caulk. Connors seeks to light his surroundings, striking at the flint with his percussive gesticulations in hopes that one spark might show the way. Garbarek sharpens himself with arid flavor and carves out a miniature oasis in the crumbling image of exotic desire. The organ weaves in and out like a halo circumscribing us with subtle urgency until it pulls us beyond the point of no return, where dwells only silence in these “Reflections.” We then find the organ “Entering” into an electric guitar embrace. Bass and drums give us footholds where we might not expect to find them. Thus, what began as an elegy turns into a far-reaching journey that is over too soon. But in the next track we’re still “Going Places,” spurred by DeJohnette’s steady pulse and Garbarek’s hidden thermals. The energy comes in waves, subsiding here for a guitar solo and swelling there at Garbarek’s call. “Passing” ends where the album began, in a fluid ostinato of organ over which Connors looses his wavering song. Garbarek draws an ascendant pattern between those quiet strings, lifting us to an arena in which age curls into a semblance of time.

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Keith Jarrett

The Survivors' Suite

LP | 1981 | EU | Reissue (ECM)

Release: 1977 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The 1977 released album is considered to be the crowning achievement of Jarrett's American Quartet consisting of himself, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian.

"A brilliantly organized and full-blooded work... a very complete record. It creates its own universe and explores it thoroughly, leaving the listener awed and satisfied... An unashamedly ardent album." - Melody Maker

"The labyrnthine composition seems to redefine 'intensity' each time it turns a corner. The drive toward the climax of Side Two is among the most moving in modern music." - The Wire

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Miroslav Vitous Group

Release: 1981 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Keith Jarrett / Dennis Russell Davies

Ritual / Piano

LP | 1977 | EU | Reissue (ECM)

Release: 1977 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (ECM)

Keith Jarrett

Arbour Zena

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Seven Songs For Quartet And Chamber

Gary Burton

LP | 1974 | EU | Reissue (ECM)

Release: 1974 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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LP | 1980 | US | Reissue (Muse)

Vic Juris

Horizon Drive

Companionship Jazz Joint 2

Release: 1980 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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sampled by DJ Premier for Gang Starr 'mass appeal'

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Sahib Shihab

LP | 1971 | EU | Reissue (Rearward)

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes

Astral Travelling

LP | 1973 | UK | Reissue (BGP / Flying Dutchman)

De Las Colonias Del Rio De La Plata Splattered Vinyl Edition

Release: 1973 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, keyboard player Lonnie Liston Smith moved to New York in 1963 playing with the likes of Dakota Staton, Al Hibbler, Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln and Roland Kirk. He made his first recordings with Kirk and in 1968 entered into a mutually rewarding and instructive partnership with Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas. In 1971-2 he toured Europe with saxophonist Gato Barbieri appearing on his 1973 albums “Under Fire” and “Bolivia”. His growing reputation was also burnished by playing Fender Rhodes with Miles Davis electric band.

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Viejas Raices

LP | 1976 | EU | Reissue (Altercat)

LP | 1977 | US | Reissue (Superior Viaduct)

Release: 1976 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Altercat proudly presents the definitive reissue of one of the crown jewels of South American jazz. Essentially the brainchild of Argentinian jazz's leading figure Jorge López Ruiz, the project Viejas Raíces marked Lopez Ruiz's departure from the traditional forms of jazz. The trio that recorded this album, consisting of López Ruiz joined by his life-long friend drummer Pocho Lapouble and gifted Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro, created a thrilling blend of jazz and Uruguayan candombe, surrounded by an undeniable cinematic feel spurred by López Ruiz's long experience in the soundtrack field. When read as one element, the cleverly chosen combination of group name and album title (in English: 'Old Roots of the Colonies of the River Plate') readily hints at the kind of sounds the listener will be challenged with when diving into this LP.

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Joe McPhee

Tenor