Jazz | Fusion 725 Items

Record Store Day 2021 Drop 2 release

Limited edition of 200 copies for the 2023 Summer of Jazz campaign, focused on South-African jazz. Only available at HHV.

The Mankunku Quartet's 1968 album 'Yakhal' Inkomo’ clocks in at just over 30 minutes of jazz perfection. This compact, and to-the-point, album would sit comfortably in amongst some of the best works in the catalogues of any of the quintessential jazz labels such as Blue Note, Prestige and Impulse. 'Yakhal' Inkomo’, however, was originally released on the South African record label World Record Co., which resulted in it becoming an elusive and sought-after piece for jazz collectors. First press copies sometimes fetch as much as £1,000 on the collectors' market. It has been long regarded as one of the finest South African jazz albums and DJ / broadcaster Gilles Peterson cemented this when he included it in his "best of genre" focussed radio show, 'The 20 - South African Jazz'. Tenor saxophonist Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi recorded the session on 23rd July 1968 at the Manley van Niekerk Studios, in Johannesburg. It was recorded by Dave Challen and produced by Ray Nkwe. The session is built up of two original works by Mankunku on the A-side, 'Yakhal' Inkomo' & 'Dedication (To Daddy Trane and Brother Shorter)', and on the B-side, the Horace Silver composition 'Doodlin', and a John Coltrane number 'Bessie's Blues'. What is striking is how the Mankunku-penned compositions not only hold their own next to Silver and Coltrane but they are, arguably, the better tracks on the record - a testament to the beautiful writing and playing of Mankunku. 'Yakhal' Inkomo' features the great musicians; Agrippa Magwaza on bass, drummer Early Mabuza, and pianist Lionel Pillay. Pillay was of Indian descent, making this a mixed-race group, thus the very recording of the album was an act of resistance as it broke the apartheid restrictions of the time. The title of 'Yakhal’ Inkomo' means “the bellow of the bull”, the Black audience would have understood this as coded community symbolism and an act of protest but it escaped the attention of the white government. For this edition, we have enlisted the services of Abbey Road Studios mastering, and lacquer-cutting engineer Miles Showell to cut a special half-speed master from the audio taken off the original master tapes. Miles has previously worked on our Arthur Verocai, Marcos Valle and Ian Carr re-issues, and once again we are blown away by the richness and clarity of Miles' work. We have also presented it as a replica copy using the cover artwork and labels from the primary World Record Co. original version. On the sleeve notes, Ray Nkwe the producer and the President of the Jazz Appreciation Society of South Africa writes "This is the LP that every jazz fan has been waiting for" and Ray was not wrong, it's a stone-cold timeless jazz classic.

An impressive live album by Marvin Peterson who was one of the finest trumpetersin the 60's-70's is making its return on vinyl format. These tracks were performed by the band led by Hannibal Marvin Peterson, though he had yet to add "Hannibal" to his name at the time of recording. Here, he performed with eight musicians in his hometown of Texas, and theirperformance crossed the boundaries of jazz, soul and funk with skilled musicians. These included organistEugene Carrier who also participated in the BB King Band and drummer Emry Thomas who would later participate in the band led by Johnny "Guitar" Watson.

With a glance at the cover art, you can get a sense of the powerful and passionate live recording that brought joy to its many fans. The opening "Groove for Otis" (m1) with a jazz-funk whose edgy beat excites rare groove fans. "Our Groove" (m4) is also a fine track whichhas a slick bassline and Eugene'sorgan fusing in harmony. P-vine are very proud to be repressing this record with its intimate feeling akin to being there in the crowd as the mighty Peterson walks up to take center stage.

Recorded in November 1969 at Teichiku Kaikan Studio, Tokyo, "Speed and Space - The Concept of Space in Music" is one of those landmark works in which Masahiko Togashi is accompanied by talented musicians who possess a unique style and innovative approach. The album is an exploration of Togashi's notion of the “Time Law" and can be seen as a study of how texture, rhythm and differing rates of change effect our perception of the passage of time in music. Sounding quite obscure and contemplative, the brief introductory theme signed as “Presage” prepares the listener for powerful and scathing Free Jazz. In a pace of increasing intensity, “Panorama” remits us to the liberating ways of an absorbing percussion where the more muscular interventions are interspersed with moments of enormous sensitivity. Grounded by Togashi’s varied percussion, the disconcerting piano of Masahiko Sato and the vigorous bass of Yoshio Ikeda mark the guidelines of this long abstract exercise. Among several solo notes and brilliant moments played through an energetic improvisation, this theme of 14:35 minutes flows into a grand finale with the involvement of all the musicians. “Expectation” closes the A side in a short but intense reverie of percussion, bass and flute, guided by an improvisation free of harmonic prejudices. The floating world of 'Expectation' closes side A in a brief but intense reverie of percussion, bass and flute, guided by an improvisation devoid of harmonic prejudices. At the piano (and gong), Masahiko Sato (another illustrious representative of Japanese music) assumes a mediation function, granting some harmony traits to the, almost always, abstract and corrosive concepts of this collective. Certainly less known, bassist Yoshio Ikeda (which in the 70s recorded, among others, with trumpeter Terumasa Hino and in the early 80s with the renowned pianist Aki Takase) through a valuable contribution, imprints a decisive mark to the robust rhythm-section as to the overall sound of this date. Even with a less active participation, Mototeru Takagi helps impart a tonal diversity and a colorful exoticism through his forays into the tenor saxophone, bass clarinet and flute. Of sharp forms dominated by technique and irreverence, side B continues with the title track, divided in two distinct but equally penetrating parts. With a depth marked by Togashi’s percussion, “Speed & Space # 1” unfolds on a fast tune over 11 minutes of a harsh and incisive improvisation. The interaction of an irreverent rhythm section finds its complement in the disturbing screams of a delirious saxophone. Shorter, the 2nd part gives voice to an ambiental and minimalist concept in which the central role of Togashi finds an interesting matching in Masahiko Sato’s piano as well in the saxophone and flute of Mototeru Takagi. In this challenging exercise, the flank “space” reaches its fullness before culminating in an entrancing performance by Togashi (percussion, vibraphone, bells, etc.). Includes OBI and insert

The most important artists in the history of Japanese free jazz, Masahiko Togashi, Masayuki Takayanagi, Mototeru Takagi and Motoharu Yoshizawa. A solemn and crazy improvisation work originally recorded in 1969! "It was not until 1969, when this album was recorded, that the quality of Japanese free jazz works reached a world-class level. The most important artists in the history of Japanese free jazz feast the solemn and insane improvisation has not faded away even in the present age of 2022." - Kouki Hanawa (Craftman Records)

Small writing on back cover.