Jazz | Fusion Vinyl 397 Items

180 Gram 45RPM Audiophile Vinyl, Numbered Limited-Edition

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

180g vinyl.

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

Pressed at Pallas in Germany

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

Pressed to 180g audiophile vinyl.

180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl, limited & numbered!

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

180 gram vinyl!

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

180g audiophile pressing.

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

Saar Records, through its famous Music subsidiary, re-releases the second Chet Baker’s LP, recorded with his sextet and quartet and originally released in March 1960; one of the rare occasions for our musicians to team together with an American trumpet player for a rather long period.

Chet Baker is one of the most important and essential characters of modern jazz and over the years he has not lost his strength and colour, a fact that’s clearly demonstrated by this release, indeed showing us a quite different Chet Baker. His style has become less slender, more excited, more precise, more violent, and several tracks of this record prove it.

The musicians here accompanying Chet Baker are the very best the Italian jazz scene of the time could offer: Glauco Masetti on alto sax, Gianni Basso on tenor sax, Renato Sellani on piano, Franco Cerri on double bass, together with the Italian-American Gene Victory on drums. As usual in such situations, arrangements were entrusted to Giulio Libano, who wisely provided the musicians with ample space for their solos. Chet Baker is undoubtedly the protagonist, but a lot of freedom of expression is granted to his fellow adventurers.

The album was recorded on 25 and 26 September and on 6 October 1959 at the Guertler Bros studio.

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

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

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



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

Tracklisting: Space Flight (1960)

Complex, emotive, and straddling several genres, Sketches Of Spain is one of Miles Davis’ masterpieces, a landmark of orchestrated jazz. The third of his collaborations with Gil Evans, Sketches was inspired by the classical ‘Concierto de Aranjuez,’ which sparked the suite that makes up the LP. Drummers Jimmy Cobb and Elvin Jones and bassist Paul Chambers reconfigured their approaches to blend with the orchestra under Evans’ command and Davis uses a muted flugelhorn for the epic opener; his solo on ‘Saeta’ is blinding and the adapted Andalusian folk song ‘Solea’ draws on flamenco. This absolute stunner is a must-have!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ahmed Abdul-Malik was best known to jazz listeners as a bassist with Thelonious Monk, Randy Weston, Coleman Hawkins, and many others. He made a few records as a leader, with this one being his most exotic. The Brooklyn native was of Sudanese descent; in addition to playing bass, he also plays oud, the forerunner to the lute. Originally released in 1960 the album is rich and heady, a multi-layered set of tonal grooves that are wrapped tight beneath the melody lines. The musicians on Malik's eight originals vary from track to track. On the mournful "La Ibky (Don't Cry)," Malik's oud shares the spotlight with a tenor sax (either Benny Golson or Johnny Griffin) plus trumpeter Lee Morgan. "Rooh (The Soul)" features the 72-string kanoon (which is sort of a brittle sounding and much smaller harp) played by Ahmed Yetman, along with Malik's arco bass and the droning violin of Naim Karacand. His ability to fuse Western Jazz with the driving rhythms created by his oud that seems almost sequenced, are startling.

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