Jazz | Fusion 375 Items

180g vinyl including download code.

Helen Merrill with Piero Umiliani!

Re-mastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering!

Oscar Peterson's Frank Sinatra tribute features his trio with bassist Ray Brown & drummer Ed Thigpen. The renditions are all under four minutes and are highlighted by "Come Dance with Me," "Just in Time," "I Get a Kick Out of You," and "How About You?" This is one of Oscar Peterson's most essential dates—swinging and enjoyable.

VERVE BY REQUEST SERIES: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, Single Sleeve

Yes, *that* Al Hirt record. Featuring the godlike "Harlem Hendoo", looped unforgettably by De La Soul for the legendary Buhloone Mind State cut, "Ego Trippin' (Part Two)"!

Al Hirt's infamous Soul In The Horn is inextricably tangled up in crate-digger lore. Originally released in 1967, the album has been in heavy, heavy demand for over 30 years, entirely down to the majestic soul-jazz fire of "Harlem Hendoo". And it's a song so good, so vital, so timeless, that it will always tower above everything else in its proximity. This one track alone is worth the price of admission - even if the cost of entry were $100 or even $1000.

However, it would be an error to dismiss this record as merely a one tracker, loaded as it is with dope samples for adventurous beat makers. Certainly the funkiest Al Hirt record, it definitely lives up to the "soul" in the title. Thanks to composer Paul Griffin and arranger Teacho Wiltshire, Hirt got uncharacteristically free and groovy throughout. It comes on more like an obscure KPM library funk record than the easy listening Al was notorious for.

A Louisiana trumpeter and band leader who made Allen Toussaint’s “Java” famous, Al Hirt was also known for TV themes, Dixieland, Swing and being a minority owner of the New Orleans Saints. Unlike every other Al Hirt record - and despite most "diggers" claiming otherwise - this here gem is genuinely hard to come across "in the wild". Normally, you can't give Al Hirt records away, except this particular one, which raises pulses in the crate digging community to life-threatening levels. For every owner claiming to have found their copy for a dollar, there's scores more claiming to have *never* unearthed one in the field. So, paradoxically, you can consider this the most tricky-to-pull "thrift store record", ever. This is why we're finally making it available for everyone, not just those with endless hours to spend scouring the global goodwills!

Soul In The Horn represented an expressive detour into authentic soul-jazz for Al Hirt. Throughout, we're struck by a fierce, fiery energy that's otherwise absent from his typically easy listening work. Without question, the slinky, magical "Harlem Hendoo" is the standout, here. It's also the reason why the record is so scarce and commands awe among crate diggers, sounding like something from an obscure and deeply revered spiritual jazz record. As is often the case, the true genius of the song is tricky to do justice to; it's like a minor miracle of songwriting and performance that simply swooned down from the heavens on the back of horns, bells and harpsichord. It's one of the sweetest musical compositions ever recorded inside a studio - it's only failing is that it's just too short. Sampled brilliantly by De La Soul, it has also been used by The Roots for "Stay Cool" and Nightmares On Wax for "Damn".

The rest of the record makes for a mighty fine listen. From the opening cover of Booker T. & The MG's "Honey Pot", to the propulsive, ultra-funky "Mess Around", it's nothing but a good time. Given its title, the elegant stepper "Calypsoul" sounds exactly as you'd hope whilst the melancholic, wistful "Long Gone" hurts so good. Truly, this is just dying to be looped up, Al's muted playing capturing a soulful longing only horns can often achieve. The bluesy, slo-mo swing of "Sweetlips" oscillates between cool disaffection and swelling pride whilst the graceful, low-key funky "Girl" closes out the A-Side in the fine style. Ushering in the B-Side, the brief but brilliant strut of "Love Ya' Baby" shines brightly before the skipping funky-jazz of true highlight "Sunday-Goin' To Meetin' Time" demands both your attention and your dancing shoes. The mellifluous piano-funk of bass and horn-drenched "Snap Back" serves as the sumptuous prelude to "Harlem Hendoo"'s main character energy before the irrepressible, upbeat R&B of "Ludwig" closes out this quite remarkable album. An album deserving of a place in every serious record collection.

The audio for Soul In The Horn has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue. This is after-hours music. Let it speak for itself. Listen. Listen to the soul in Al Hirt's horn.

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.

Released on the Verve label in 1968, Giblet Gravy marked jazz/soul guitarist George Benson's fourth album as a leader. It features Benson backed by an all-star group arranged and conducted by Tom Mcintosh, that includes such jazz luminaries as Ernie Royal, Pepper Adams, Johnny Pacheco, Billy Cobham, Ron Carter, and Herbie Hancock. According to AllMusic reviewer Richard S. Ginell, the label's "immediate goal was to groom Benson as the next Wes Montgomery (who was about to leave Verve) - and so he covers hit tunes of the day, playing either with a big band plus voices or a neat quintet anchored by Herbie Hancock, and the sound is contoured to give his guitar a warm mellow ambience. But the eclectic Benson is his own man, as his infectious repeated-interval rhythm trademark tells us on his self-composed title track. George's work is always tasty and irresistibly melodic."

In April 1966, the duo of Graves and pianist Don Pullen played at Yale University. As John Corbett writes in the liner notes, "This performance was something of a turning point for Graves. Until then he had been working in other people's bands or collective ensembles. He was phenomenally busy. In 1965 alone, he recorded with Nyaq (two LPs), Giuseppi Logan Quartet, Paul Bley Quintet and Lowell Davidson Trio, and he made his first recording released under his own name, Percussion Ensemble. Every one of these is important in its own way, but none of them quite anticipate how radical was the music that he and Pullen would unleash that evening in New Haven." Originally released on the artists' own Self-Reliance Program label, this legendary one-night performance would be split into two volumes: In Concert At Yale University and Nommo. While rooted in African rhythms, Graves' music has its own sense of time. As the drummer stated in a 1966 DownBeat interview, "Time was always there, and the time I see is not the same as what man says time is. It works by impulsion."

"Easterly Winds"—the second of three Blue Note albums Jack Wilson recorded for Blue Note in the late-1960s—found the pianist at the helm of a first-rate hard bop sextet with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Garnett Brown on trombone, Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums.



BLUE NOTE TONE POET EDITION: Stereo, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

Recorded in 1957, Kenny Burrell’s third session as a leader for Blue Note presented the guitarist’s signature stylings with a crack team of hard boppers featuring Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins, and Louis Hayes. Previously only issued on vinyl in Japan (1979) this swinging set is given a new shine with this mono Tone Poet Vinyl Edition.



BLUE NOTE TONE POET EDITION: Mono, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

In the late 1960s, vibraphonist Roy Ayers was among the top young talents in jazz, thriving during a remarkable era for the genre. While Ayers would later become a jazz-funk pioneer and delve heavily into R&B fusions, his third album Stoned Soul Picnic is a masterful showcase of soul-jazz grooves. Produced by Herbie Mann, Stoned Soul Picnic features a memorable Laura Nyro-penned title track, along with an exceptional lineup of musicians, including Gary Bartz, Hubert Laws, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, and Grady Tate. Originally released in 1968, this early Roy Ayers classic is now receiving an official reissue via Nature Sounds.

Reissue for this classic album from '67 on Orange Impulse Rec. Considered to be the last Coltrane's lifetime release it includes the all-time classic "Welcome", as defined by Coltrane himself “the song is that feeling you have when you finally do reach an awareness, an understanding which you have earned through struggle. It is a feeling of peace. A welcome feeling of peace."

With her tenure on Verve drawing to a close, Astrud Gilberto steps further away from her bossa nova roots with I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do, an intimate, nocturnal set closer in scope and spirit to the Baroque pop of Burt Bacharach, whose "Trains and Boats and Planes" is beautifully rendered here. In the liner notes Gilberto dubs it "my fireplace album," and indeed the record is immediately warm and comforting, despite the melancholy that colors all of the selections. Albert Gorgoni's arrangements are sumptuously romantic, perfectly complementing the simple, poignant vocals. Mistakenly considered a minor entry in the Gilberto canon, I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do is instead a minor masterpiece.

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.

1961 Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers made their only recording for the label Impulse! Records. It marked a turning point for the popular hard bop formation as it was their first appearance as a sextet with trombonist Curtis Fuller, and secondly their last recording with pianist Bobby Timmons. Also unusual is the fact that only one piece by a band member was on the program and otherwise only standards were played.
VERVE BY REQUEST SERIES: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, Gatefold Sleeve.

Jazz snare & ride cymbal meet classical Indian tabla & pakhawaj!

What happens when one of the best jazz drummers of all time combines efforts with one of India’s most renowned tabla players? Voilà! Rich À La Rakha. Calypso-flavored compositions, spontaneous jams, and a genuine instrumental dialogue between the two greats truly makes this a one-of-a-kind listen. Cut all analog and pressed on colored vinyl!

Sacd

This 1967 set, recorded live at Boston’s Jazz Workshop, showcases virtuoso guitarist Szabó—a veteran of Chico Hamilton’s and Charles Lloyd’s bands—at the top of his game on a diverse program featuring standards (“What Is This Thing Called Love”) and pop hits (“The Beat Goes On”) as well as the original and psychedelic-tinged jam, “Space.”



Verve BY Request Series: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, gatefold sleeve.

Canadian composer Bruce Haack one of the true pioneers in the field of electronic and children's music. Originally released in 1962 "Dance, Sing & Listen" was Haack's debut album. Following instructions from children dance teacher Esther Nelson the album comes as a hyper-eclectic work based on a great variety of sound material. A hybrid soup of medieval, country, classical, and pop styles including tons of electronic effects, guitars, banjos and other acoustic string instruments and bongos!!! This is open minded music for children at its best.

180g

First time officially reissue, sourced from the original master tapes in a new edition, the Milan based imprint Dialogo, returns with this compilation published in Italy by RCA Victor in 1962 - a precious historical document of some important international jazz and pop artists who came to Italy and left their marks, influencing the generations of those golden years. The RCA artists on this LP record have only two things in common: “Inter-continental Airport Rome-Fiumicino” stamped on their passports and a great love for Italy. As a tribute to the country which gave them a friendly welcome and where they spent unforgettable vacations and reaped enthusiastic applause, all of them chose to sing songs in Italian or perform - in the case of Perez Prado - a number of outstanding Italian hits. The dazzling trumpets and electrifying rhythms of Perez Prado, the captivating voice of Helen Merrill, rightly considered the top-notch white jazz singer by critics over the world, the young, all-time best-sellers, Paul Anka and Neil Sedaka, the fantastic trumpet of Chet Baker and his mysterious swinging style of singing, and lastly Antonio Prieto, the Latin-American singer-songwriter who wrote “LA Novia”, are the guest stars of this “passport TO Italy”, which, more than a record, is a full-fledged musical show, with a vast assortment of voices, of musical styles and songs. The Italian pronunciation of these North and South American recording artists is virtually perfect and particularly praiseworthy, if for no other reason than for the effort they have made in getting around, in just a few days, the difficult twists and turns of the Italian language. Their accent is naturally somewhat exotic but it only adds to the charm and the originality of the interpretations. The “show” opens with the already classic “arrivederci Roma”, which, though turned into an overpowering “chunga” by Perez Prado, has kept all its original melody intact. Prado, the wizard of Latin-American dance music, is an extremely refined blender of sounds and rhythms, and without any difficulty can take even a Neapolitan song, change it into a mambo and adapt it to his orchestra. In “guaglione”, for example, the “corruption” comes off perfectly and testifies to the everfresh inventiveness and the unmistakable personality of the Cuban-born pianist arranger. Helen Merrill prefers quality over quantity and so has made very few records but they already occupy a place of their own in the annals of jazz. She consented to record two popular ballads only because Armando Trovajoli, the most qualified exponent of Italian jazz as well as a far-out modernist, was to conduct the orchestra. Furthermore, the two songs, “nessuno AL Mondo” and “estate” are particularly congenial to her musical temperament, for she is most of all concerned with creating subtle and seductive moods, making an intelligent use of her vocal resources in that she tries to “add” her voice to the orchestra as though it were another instrument. Canadian-born Paul Anka, by now a regular member of the exclusive club of top-selling vocal artists of America, presents one of his own songs, “ogni Giorno” originally entitled “love ME Warm AND Tender”, the most requested hit in his present-day repertoire. And the young singing star’s interpretation of “voglio Sapere” (“i’d Like TO Know”) once again makes clear why his name became a permanent fixture as all-time best-seller. Neil Sedaka is another representative of the younger generation of American singers. When he was still in high school in Brooklyn, Neil became a close friend of one of schoolmates: Howard Greenfield. The two of them wrote numerous songs together for school shows: Neil handled the music and Howard the words. Their collaboration proved extremely fruitful, and they were soon to make their debut as professional songwriters with two hits of the calibre of “stupid Cupid” and “falling”. The Sedaka-Greenfield team, which in only a few year time has become one of the best-known, presents, in Italian, two songs which in their original tongue have already climbed to the top: “esagerata” (“little Devil”), translated by Leo Chiosso, and “UN Giorno Inutile” (“I Must BE Dreaming”), translated by Gentile and De Simoni. After Sedaka comes one of the big names of cool jazz: Chet Baker. Trumpet-player and singer, he proves here for the nth time that the names “Golden Trumpet” and “Angel Voice”, given him not only by his fans but by the crites as well, are in no way exaggerated. With an at once restless, desperate and almost possessed musical style, Chet sings and plays two songs which he himself wrote: “IL MIO Domani” and “SO CHE TI Perdero”. His reserved, curiously, precarious and profoundly dramatic way of singing, virtually the mirror-image of his life, is the same in both songs and makes them seem almost unconsciously autobiographical. The “show” then closes with Antonio Prieto. Precisely because of his Latin origins (he was born in Chile, but is Argentine by adoption), it is perhaps easier for him than for the others to express himself in Italian. As is well-known, the name of Prieto soared to the Olympic heights of popular music with “LA Novia” which he wrote in collaboration with his brother, Joaquin. He is a typically Latin singer with a warm, melodious and romantic voice, tinged with melancholy, and on more than one occasion he has shown that he thoroughly understands the tastes of the public. Listen to his two most recent compositions: “papà”, written in collaboration with singer-songwriter Sergio Endrigo, the author of “aria DI Neve”, and “baciami” and... judge for yourselves.

Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean had the blues on his mind when he went into Van Gelder Studio in 1961 to record his hard bop masterpiece Bluesnik with a blazing quintet featuring Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Pete La Roca on drums. The six-song set of bluesy originals brims with immediacy and vibrancy.

Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition: stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal, padded inner sleeve.

Reissue as a part of the Start Your Year Off Right Kampagne von Warner. The final album recorded by Coltrane under his own supervision for Atlantic Records, Ole Coltrane features several of the players from Africa/Brass, which was recorded two days earlier, and is widely considered one of the premiere statements of Avant Garde jazz as well as the moment that Coltrane moved from an accessible artist to a more daring and complicated one. (Original RD: November 1961)

Recorded in St. James Norlands church in London in November 1968 and first released in the following year, this work stands as the first solo bass album in the history of Jazz and improvised music. Born in 1934 in San Francisco, Barre Phillips is one the most influential bassists of his generation. In his long career Phillips has played and recorded with almost everyone in the world of Jazz and beyond, a long list of forward thinking music icons including Don Ellis, Bobby Hutcherson, Dave Holland, Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, John Surman, Paul Bley, Evan Parker just to name a few! Originally recorded as part of a 3 hours session this solo tour-de force expresses the true essence of a genius. A multifaceted, kaleidoscopic journey through a myriad of melodic, rhythmic, fretted and bowed lines. In other words: a true master class and a seminal statement from one of the greatest figures in creative music! ‘...Not just an improviser of the highest order; but a true sound sculptor capable of drawing from his instrument such a vast array of shapes and colours that his creation is almost a form of visual art for the ears.’ Jazzwise

Ingfried Hoffmann - Hammond organ, Pierre Cavalli - 12-string guitar, Volker Kriegel - guitar, Peter Trunk - bass, Rafi Lüderitz - drums



The grooviest James Bond sounds ever! Ingfried Hoffmann had the reputation of being Europe’s best Hammond B-3 organist, a talent that has occasionally overshadowed his equal skill as a pianist, arranger and composer. As a member of Klaus Doldinger’s famed quartet, Hoffmann won several polls as Germany’s best jazz organist and pianist. “Soul Bond” was first released in Germany in 1966 under the title “From Twen With Love’, when the James Bond craze was at its height, following the worldwide success of ‘Thunderball’. Inspired by the first four Bond films, Hoffmann not only laid down fantastically swinging interpretations of Bond themes, but also shone with compositions of his own dedicated to the famous super spy. This is the first LP reissue of the rare Polydor album.



1-lp, 180g, Pallas pressing, padded inner sleeve.