Jazz | Fusion Vinyl 322 Items

Here's a true West Coast soul-jazz gem originally released on pacific jazz in 1961. Les McCann's warm and emotional singing shines over some gorgeous big band arrangements signed by the great conductor and bandleader Gerald Wilson. McCann's usual trio with Herbie Lewis on bass and Ron Jefferson on drums is augmented by a phenomenal bunch of West Coast top musicians including clarinetist Buddy Collette, tenor sax lions Charles Lloyd, Teddy Edward, and Harold Land, and two absolute guest stars: tenor sax giant Ben Webster and organ stylist Richard "groove" Holmes, what else?

Soul-jazz and blues at their best. Allmusic Guide

Flutist Prince Lasha and alto saxophonist Sonny Simmons were one of the great teams in the "New Thing" era. Recorded in New York in May 1963 these early studio sessions feature great contributions from trumpeter Don Cherry and tenor sax giant Clifford Jordan, plus the rhythm section of Orville Harrison and Bill Wood on bass, Charles Moffett on drums, and producer Fred Lyman on flugelhorn. This is a great snapshot of the NYC music scene in the 60's, when a bunch of young, creative, uncompromising musicians invaded the city and began to change the rules of Jazz.

Originally released in 1963, this is a majestic piece of work. Considered as one of Ellington's best studio recordings of the Sixties this is also an essential mosaic piece within Duke's open wide afro-centric vision. Performed by a top version of his famous big band, Afro Bossa sounds as a sophisticated, sensual blend of orchestral Jazz arrangements and black bossa flavoured grooves. Among the players, many of Duke's historical sidemen such as trumpeter Ray Nance, sax giants Paul Gonsalves and Johnny Hodges, drummer extraordinaire Sam Woodyard and last but not least, Ellington's alter ego Billy Strayhorn, what else?

First released on Pacific Jazz in 1963 "Jazz Waltz" brings together the talent of pianist Les Mc Cann and the legendary Jazz Crusaders featuring the great late Joe Sample - piano, organ, the horn frontline of Wayne Henderson – trombone and Wilton Felder - tenor saxophone and the super tight rhythm section of Bobby Haynes - bass and Stix Hooper - drums. One of those great soul-Jazz records where every track is pure gold!

The last of the collaborative LPs Miles Davis recorded with Gil Evans for Columbia, Quiet Nights is easily the most controversial. Following the success of Sketches Of Spain, Davis and Evans aimed to further the Latin explorations, this time pointing to Brazil, as heard on the adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s ‘Corcovado’ and Joao Gilberto’s ‘Aos Pés Da Cruz,’ with its stellar Ron Carter bass accompaniment, though some were surprised by the brevity of the proceedings, including Miles himself. Nevertheless, those who get to know the album will appreciate its intricacies, the product of the pair’s unique creative chemistry.

Puerto Rican composer, bandleader and percussionist Willie Rosario was a giant of Latin music, known as Senor Afinque or Mr. Tight for the strength of his musical arrangements. Born in Coamo in 1930, Rosario had already formed the Coamex band, prior to his emigration to New York in 1947, where he played in various orchestras, forming his own band in Spanish Harlem in 1959 and also presenting a Spanish-language music show on radio station Wado. Signing to Alegre in 1962, he began touring widely, the label issuing this sought-after debut in 1963; mixing covers and original, the hot salsa here features the dulcet tones of lead singer, Frankie Figueroa.

A grab-bag of hot John Coltrane performances executed in the early 1960s, Impressions is comprised of four Trane killers, all highlighting his versatility and a concerted effort not to be constrained by any given form, the music delivered with aplomb by Trane and an impressive supporting cast that includes the unfettered drummer Elvin Jones. The extended versions of ‘India’ and the title track were taken from Coltrane’s celebrated residency at the Village Vanguard with bass clarinettist Eric Dolphy in the fold; ‘Up Against The Wall’ holds a kind of tense optimism and ‘After The Rain’ is a melancholic classic. Top-notch Coltrane, superb!

When stars collide, sparks will fly. At least that's the theory. Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington accepted the invitation to record together with dignity and polite courtesy. While keen to see what this pairing might produce artistically speaking, it was certainly an historic occasion. As the red light went on and the tapes rolled, Duke on piano and Louis on trumpet and vocals, backed by the Armstrong All-Stars began to play. As Ellington hits the keys on a riff that sounds suspiciously like C Jam Blues and Satchmo sings cheerfully 'Baby, take me down to Duke's Place!' the champions are ready to exchange ideas rather than blows. Perhaps unsurprisingly Louis soon emerged from this unique musical gathering as the natural born leader. But all the source material was firmly Ellingtonian. Both men had enjoyed extraordinary careers and were world renowned figures when the idea of bringing them together was first proposed.

Saxophonist Eddie Harris – a favorite sample staple of jazz-leaning hip-hop producers of the ‘90s – was a very busy man in the 1960s, releasing albums at a brisk pace since his first as a leader in 1961. By the late ‘60s he had fully hit his stride, as both a performer and an innovator.
A case in point is heard very clearly on this gem from Harris’ expansive catalog – 1968’s Plug Me In, which features his pioneering use of the Varitone saxophone effects processor unit (first heard on his 1967 album, The Tender Storm). The effect, used on “It’s Crazy” and “Ballad (For My Love),” never gets in the way, but gives the proceedings a feeling of “the next.” 1968 saw jazz entering a new era, influenced by electronic advances as well as the soul music dominating the pop charts of the day. Plug Me In slid perfectly into the vanguard of the day.
There is a soulful warmth to the proceedings on this classic LP, starting with album opener “Live Right Now,” which builds and swirls to a beautiful crescendo, with notes ricocheting back and forth amongst a top level crew of players including Jodie Christian, Chuck Rainey and Richard Smith. “Lovely Is Today” and “It’s Crazy” also feature waves of sunshiney brass and group interplay, alongside album ballads like “Winter Meeting” and “Ballad (For My Love).”
Eddie Harris’ catalog can be daunting, considering his impressive input throughout the 60s and 70s, but there’s a reason fans old and new come back to Plug Me In again and again. Innovation and soul is a combination that never fails, and this reissue is destined to bring more fans into the fold.

One of the most important Jazz Albums from the mighty Amiga catalogue is back in print!

The West Indian-born alto saxophonist Joe Harriott was one of the most convincing boppers outside of the USA, though by the end of the 1950s he was exploring freer musical pastures, and the quintet with which he undertook the exploration was an outgrowth of the hard bop band with which he'd made a name on the British scene. Often in the past the group's music, in which trumpet and flugelhorn player Shake Keane figured alongside Harriott in the front line, has been compared with that of the early Ornette Coleman quartets, but here it's far more interactive, a fact borne out most obviously by the lack of soloists. Here on Free Form (1961) is where the rhythm of that indigenously West Indian form is extraordinarily maintained in the midst of characteristic group exchanges.

Collecting recordings made between 1953 and 1956, Miles Davis Plays For Lovers is a look at the more sensitive and sensual side of the great trumpeter, focusing on his sultry and smoky late night ballads. Mostly featuring his legendary mid-50s quintet of Coltrane, Garland, Chambers, and Jones, this collection highlights that groups ability to slow things down to a soulful, brilliant simmer. Classic jazz ballads that swing, perfect for late nights with a lover at your side.

Unorthodox saxophonist Albert Ayler straddled different jazz streams during his brief career. After playing with Stanley Turrentine and Harold Budd in the late 1950s, a move to Sweden brought him into the limelight, fronting his own trio. Debut album Something Different!!!!!! comprised four dissonant songs delivered live with bassist Torbjörn Hultcrantz and drummer Sune Spångberg, with a barely recognisable rendition of showtune “I’ll Remember April,” an off-kilter take of Sonny Rollins’ “The Stopper” (retitled “Rollins’ Tune”) and a wobbly cut of Miles Davis’ “Tune Up,” along with the original “Free.” An exceptional musical experience!

Recorded in Stockholm in 1962, and originally released on Sonet Records, these sessions stand as Ayler's first step into a new sonic world. This was when Ayler was still dealing with classic Jazz standards such as "I'll remember April", M Davis's "Tune Up" and "Rollins Tune", a declared tribute to the older master Sonny Rollins. His already super-strong tenor sax voice dominates a quiet, almost shy, local rhythm section featuring Torbjorn Hultcrant on bass and Sune Spangberg on drums. This was just before stepping into his unique, hyper energetic and ecstatic form of Free Jazz. This was Ayler sowing the seeds of a revolution to come!

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

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

180g vinyl.

Blind musician Hrant Kenkulian (1901-1978), generally known as Oudi Hrant was a master of the oud (fretless lute) who was probably best known for his taksims. He was an Armenian born in Adapazar, a city close to Istanbul which had a large Armenian population before the Genocide of 1915. After WWI, Hrant's family settled in Istanbul. Hrant started out singing in the church choir, but soon moved on to the oud. He made his career in Istanbul, but he toured the US in 1950, and did a world tour in 1963 to Paris, Beirut, Greece, America, and Yerevan, Soviet Armenia. He was a teacher of many Armenian-American oudists including Richard Hagopian. He was the pride of the Armenian people, and many consider him to be the most soulful oudist ever to emerge from Turkey. Released in 1964 on jazz label Prestige the record shows the stunning classical inspiration of the musician.

Gilberto with Turrentine is an album by Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer Astrud Gilberto and American saxophonist Stanley Turrentine featuring performances recorded in 1971 released on the CTI label. The album can be described as a blend of jazz, pop, and tropicalia. It was arranged by Eumir Deodato and features appearances by A-list jazz performers including Airto Moreira, Ron Carter, Sam Brown, Hubert Laws, and Toots Thielemans.

Shape of Things to Come is the fifth studio album by the American guitarist George Benson, recorded in 1968 and arranged by Don Sebesky. It was his first album for A&M Records and his first album to be produced by Creed Taylor, who would remain his producer until 1976. After four years and three different labels, Benson signed with the A&M/CTI label in 1968. He was to be the replacement for their star Wes Montgomery, who had died earlier in the year. For his first album with the label, producer Taylor brought in all of the labels heavyweights, arranger Sebesky, engineer Rudy Van Gelder, and guest artists Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter. The album is mostly cover songs from artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, The Monkees and Glenn Miller. It also contains a pair of original compositions and some reworkings of movie soundtracks.

Depending on the nature of the person involved, success either dictates more and more compulsive activity, or else it permits relaxation. With Cannonball Adderley, the latter certainly appears to be the case; and this album can, among other things, serve as a testimonial to the truth of the impression. In a peculiar way, the present album is a result of that success. For it is something that Adderley might well not have dared attempt in the past, and that he might not have been able to convince his record company to do. This his most satisfying LP. The nature of this album should be immediately apparent from Adderley's choice of associates. Cannonball feels, and many agree, that pianist Bill Evans is unexcelled when moody delicacy is called for.

The virtuoso trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff was one of the prominent figures of European Jazz of the 60s – 70s. Eastern influences with a perfect blend of Western culture characterized this album recorded in Frank- furt after the groups Asian tour. “Now Jazz Ramwong” sees the group in its best shape: alto saxophonist Gunther Kronberg, tenor saxophonist Heinz Sauer, bassist Gunter Lenz and drummer Ralf Hubner. A really mind-blowing mix of jazz, folk and Eastern sounds. The album contains “Three Jazz Moods”, a jazz adaptation of Ravi Shankar’s music.

Never before reissued, this legendary 1968 EMI recording is a revered Indian jazz rarity; a collectors’ holy grail.

Raga Jazz Style is an original Indian excursion into Indo-jazz fusion. A one-away recording from the almost unknown Bombay jazz scene, it is among the few jazz LPs to hail from the subcontinent.

Helen Merrill with Piero Umiliani!

A few copies arrived with a seamsplit Cover. We're therefore selling it on a reduced price.

Sahib, besides being an undisputed leader and releasing records for prestigious European and American labels, was one of the key members of the prestigious Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band.

Deliberately presented as a dance music release, this brilliant Quincy Jones album - first released on Mercury label in 1961 - comprises material from two marvelous big band performances recorded the year before in Paris and New York. Here the great composer and arranger leads a first class "dance organization", a top-flight big band featuring the cream of NY Jazz musicians, among them: Clark Terry and Freddie Hubbard - trumpets, Curtis Fuller and Melba Liston - trombones, Phil Woods, Oliver Nelson and Sahib Shihab - saxes, Stu Martin - drums. An exquisite platter of highly swinging and danceable grooves signed by the genius of Quincy Jones