Jazz | Fusion 193 Items

First Word Records is incredibly proud to bring you an exclusive vinyl-only re-issue of Takuya Kuroda's highly-sought after album 'Rising Son'.

'Rising Son' was first released on the seminal Blue Note Records imprint 10 years ago in 2014, with Takuya being the first Japanese artist to sign to the label. The record received widespread critical acclaim, hitting No.1 on Japan's jazz charts at the time, with original copies now fetching hundreds of pounds on Discogs and the like. There has long been high demand for a re-press of this album, and we're very pleased to say it's finally here, a decade on.

The re-issue is to be released via London-based Worldwide Award-winning label First Word Records, who coincidentally celebrate their 20th year running in 2024. First Word released Takuya's highly-revered previous two albums, 'Fly Moon Die Soon' (2020) and 'Midnight Crisp' (2022).

For those that don't know, Takuya Kuroda is a Kobe-born, Brooklyn-based trumpeter and musician, who was also a longtime player for Akoya Afrobeat as well as DJ Premier's Badder band. Initially playing on the Japanese circuit with his trombonist brother, Takuya went on to relocate to New York City, where he has largely remained to this day, becoming a prominent player in the jazz scene there.

The original album featured several Roy Ayers covers, including the all-time classic 'Everybody Loves The Sunshine', and this 2024 pressing also includes a brand new remix of the track from keys player & producer, Joe Armon-Jones. Joe is hugely-acclaimed in his own right as a solo artist, as well as his recent collaborations with Mala (who has a track named after him on this very project, as Takuya was influenced heavily by his 2012 Brownswood album 'Mala in Cuba'), and as an integral member of the legendary Ezra Collective, winners of the 2023 Mercury Music Prize in the UK.

Flitting between the genres of jazz fusion, soul, r&b, hip hop and afrobeat, the album was predominantly produced by a previous Takuya collaborator, vocalist José James, while also featuring phenomenal accompaniment from Nate Smith (drums), Solomon Dorsey (bass), Corey King (trombone) and Kris Bowers (keys).

In the words of José James, "no one sounds like Takuya. His tone, warmth and most of all his storytelling have inspired me for years. His writing is soulful, modern, and effortlessly bridges the gap between jazz and soul, and between history and tomorrow."

Previous reviews and accolades for Takuya's third album 'Rising Son' include AllMusic's Best of 2014, NPR Music, Jazz Weekly, Leo Weekly, All About Jazz, Icon, Relix, Pop Matters, Jay Z's Life + Times, Wbgo, Upscale, The Revivalist, East Bay Express and The Jazz Line, to name just a few.

Yeah, this is the 1st real album by Matthew Tavares (Keys), Chester Hansen (Bass) & Alex Sowinski (Drums).

Piaf is a legend who lived a life straight from a Hollywood movie, enduring hardships and acclaim in equal measure, her music is testament to a spectacular life. Never has an artist embodied the material they performed as much as Edith Piaf; enjoy her legacy in this definitive 2LP set.

Record Store Day 2021 Release. Extensive booklet with rare fotos / first re-pressing after the 2014 release / Limited 180g Gatefold Vinyl, new remastered

Indigos is a seminal Jazz album by big band superstar Duke Ellington, originally released in 1958. Ellington chose a set of easy listening ballads to be performed by his ace Big Band, putting less emphasis on the uptempo and danceable Swing the group was revered for. A timeless classic!

180g vinyl.

With a crunching sound that is as teeth-chatteringly heavy as metal icons like Slayer and Megadeth or ferocious grindcore groups like Napalm Death and Brutal Truth, yet is imbued with the freedom principle of such avant garde jazz icons as saxophonists Marshall Allen, Albert Ayler and Peter Brotzman, the formidable instrumental power trio from Scotland known as Free Nelson Mandoom Jazz debuts on the London-based RareNoise label with a provocative double EP that will confound jazz critics as it challenges the thrashmetalgrindcore community.

Jointly named for the late South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela and the genre of fuzz-bass-inflected heavy-duty improvisation dubbed oomjazz', this renegade trio of bassist Colin Stewart, drummer Paul Archibald and alto saxophonist Rebecca Sneddon rattles the very grey matter of your brain on their imposing Shape of Doomjazz to Come/Saxophone Giganticus.

Collected is a definitive journey through the vast work of Morricone, stopping by landmark spaghetti westerns like A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad & The Ugly, Once Upon A Time In America and most recently, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

180g audiophile vinyl in gatefold sleeve.

Released in 2014, Humbert Humbert's 8th original album "Mukashi Boku wa Mijime Datta" is being made into an LP! The album includes the title track "Boku no Ohisama", which serves as the theme song for the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard entry "Boku no Ohisama". It also features self-covers of songs provided to NHK E-Tele's children's program, such as "Honmatsu Tentoumushi" and "Pont Neuf no Tamago", as well as covers of masterpieces left by the little-known music producer Noboru Abe, including "Nani mo Kangaenai" and "Oi Oi". Sound produced by Tim O'Brien and recorded in Nashville, this album is a must-have for fans, boasting different artwork from the CD version. This release is a limited edition, so don't miss out!

Record with just a few paper scuffs.
Includes original inner sleeve.

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

Limited edition, celebrating 15 years of Gondwanan records!

A fascinating album by American sax player Chris Potter and his Underground Orchestra.

Compilation of 13 original 70's Killer tracks from the legendery Cavendish Music Library UK Label selected by Mister Modo & Ugly Mac Beer p&c 2023 Cavendish under licence to Beatsqueeze Records, All tracks published by Cavendish

Limited edition, celebrating 15 years of Gondwanan records!

Brand new vinyl re-issue for the 2015 album ! While most ensembles are driven by personalities, the Necks are powered by an idea. A very large and simple idea - which now seems completely obvious…. but only because the Necks thought of it and made it work. Now their pleasure (and ours) is sequentially to re-imagine and explore that idea – the prime directive of which seems to be to be that each unfolding step and every passing detail of any performance be allowed to evolve organically out of the musical conditions established at its moment of departure. In other words, we are in the territory of chaos and catastrophe theory; of hurricanes and butterfly wings… And, since one can never step twice into the same river, each beginning has led to wildly unpredictable and variant outcomes; and imperceptibly: you never hear the changes until somehow they have already happened. “We end up, Lloyd Swanton writes, ‘in a very different place from whatever our initial notion … had been.” In the case of Vertigo, we are dropped straight into an almost Feldmanesque musical universe, in which sounds - seemingly disconnected - are already there; creating space rather than inhabiting it. Then, without trying, they mutate. Not mechanically and not according to any pre-determined process - because it’s always clear that what we hear is being played by human beings; that it’s music. A special kind of music that is not pushy or demanding or demonstrative, but rather co-operative, spatial, ambiguous. A music that leaves room for its listeners.

Over the course of five albums, Manchester based trumpeter, composer, arranger and band-leader Matthew Halsall has carved out a niche for himself on the UK music scene as one of it's brightest talents. His languid, soulful music has won friends from Jamie Cullum and Gilles Peterson to Jazz FM and Mojo as well as an ever-growing international following. His new album Into Forever, puts the spotlight on Halsall the composer, arranger and producer. Halsall draws on a diverse range of influences from Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, Phil Cohran and Leon Thomas to the more contemporary sounds of The Cinematic Orchestra, Max Richter and Nils Frahm to deliver his most complete recording to date. Into Forever features renowned Manchester based soul poet Josephine Oniyama and rising star vocalist Bryony Jarman-Pinto (Werkha) as well as regular collaborators, flautist Lisa Mallett, harpist Rachael Gladwin, koto player Keiko Kitamura, pianist Taz Modi, bassist Gavin Barras and drummer Luke Flowers (The Cinematic Orchestra) and two percussionists Sam Bell and Chris Cruiks. The result is arguably Halsall's finest record, asublime melding of stripped back soulful funk and deep, minimalist, spiritual jazz, that will take you on a journey deep into forever!

Leo Kottke, Bob James, James Last, Map Of Africa, Massive Attack, Outkast & others are featured. Another tasty selection!

Following up on last year’s collection In The Orbit Of Ra we’re diving headfirst back into the vast universe of Sun Ra with a a newly curated set from the Ra’s immense 125 LP back catalog, compiled by Gilles Peterson. The BBC 6Music / Worldwide DJ is a long-time champion of Ra’s music and the UK’s leading tastemaker for jazz-based sounds. It serves as perhaps the best introduction yet to the music of Sun Ra for a whole new generation of converts.

For the CD version, Peterson picks personal favourites, classics and unreleased tracks and weaves them into a flowing piece across 2CDs, showcasing the incredible variety of Ra’s work. The 2LP version features full-length versions of selected tracks from the mix (and also includes the full CD mixed version), while the digital version features a full unmixed selection with Peterson’s mix available within the album bundle. Sleeve notes on physical formats come from Gilles Peterson with a full Ra career biography by author Robert L. Campbell. The album also features previously unseen photos from the archives of Val Wilmer alongside full musician line-ups and session details.

Clear purple vinyl. Copy close to NM

Reissue of Makaya McCraven"s modern classic, International Anthem debut "In The Moment" (2015) One venue, 28 shows and 48 hours of live, improvised music. These are the ingredients for Chicago-based drumme Makaya McCraven"s album In the Moment. However, McCraven, as the producer he also is, has not just thrown some random sounds together. Instead, he has carefully culled, cut and remixed the music into a coherent whole and 19 complex and catchy compositions emerge from his hands.

Tropical rhythms from Latin America and the Caribbean. Meridian Brothers are back with a new studio album, the bizarre and wonderful ‘Salvadora Robot’. Heading deeper into the tropical rhythms of Latin America and the Caribbean each song on the album focuses on a different style and playfully twists it into Meridian Brothers’s surreal landscape.

Earlier this year, Micha Acher and his band The Notwist returned with their latest full-length “Close To The Glass” and received rave reviews around the globe. Yet, it’s not the only album he’s going to release this year, since Acher’s about to introduce his latest musical entity – the Alien Ensemble. It’s an all-acoustic line-up, devoid of electronic enhancements. And even though all members have a background in jazz, this is no classic “jazz music” either – there’s simply no need to show off technical skills… Since you’ll hear anything from Minimal Music to Krautrock influences, from delicate brass sections to the sound of New Orleans, it’s pretty much impossible to pigeonhole Alien Ensemble’s sound or slap a genre term on it.

Strut presents a limited transparent vinyl pressing of the seminal album by one of the all-time legends of Nigerian music, the late, great Orlando Julius, in a mouth-watering collaboration with London super-group The Heliocentrics, originally released in 2014.

Recorded at Electric Lady Studios in February 1978 and issued on the CTI label in 1979, "Big Blues" finds flugelhornist Art Farmer and guitarist Jim Hall pairing up for one of their first sessions together since their collaborations in the mid-60s and they literally don't miss a beat. The unique quintet project is rounded out by Mike Mainieri (vibraphone), Michael Moore (bass) and Steve Gadd (drums) and the results are as relaxed as they are lyrical.
The rich 4-track affair opens with a textured take on Benny Golson’s “Whisper Not” and then waltzes through Thad Jones' “A Child Is Born” before running down Jim Hall's own cool/bop title cut "Big Blues" and concluding with a first-rate jazz adaptation of Maurice Ravel's classical standard "Pavane For A Dead Princess."
Now this classic recording gets ORG Music’s audiophile treatment with this 180gram double LP 45 rpm reissue, mastered from the original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman Mastering and pressed at Pallas Group in Germany. Each copy of this limited edition release of 1500 copies will be individually numbered with a gold foil-stamp.

180g vinyl including two bonus tracks!

2014 anthology of classics & rarities curated by longest serving member & current Arkestra leader, Marshall Allen. Newly mastered from the original tapes.