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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!

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.

'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.

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

"The Blue Yusef Lateef" - Yusef Lateef (ts, fl, perc, voc); Sonny Red (as); Blue Mitchell (tp); Kenny Burrell (g); Hugh Lawson (p); Buddy Lucas (hca); Cecil McBee, Bob Cranshaw (b); Roy Brooks (dr); strings and vocal group

Yusuf Lateef was a leading representative of world music, long before world music was known as such in the jazz, pop and rock community. He integrated all kinds of oriental instruments in his jazz music, such as the koto, bamboo flute and tambura and also – as in this case – in his blues compositions. His saxophone playing is also flawless too and full of wonderful textures, hard and impulsive at one moment, cool and exotic at the next.
On this album Lateef explores, in a painterly way, the border areas of the blues, in all their various guises and addresses both eastern and western cultures. "Juba Juba" begins with a drumbeat on a slave ship, the tempo builds up slowly and agonizingly, and is only penetrated by Lateef’s plaintive flute and background voices singing »freedom, freedom, freedom«. After such a gloomy beginning the classical blues number "Like It Is" comes over like a breath of fresh air, with its superb string quartet as the foundation. The R&B contributions on the other tracks testify to Lateef’s skilled excursions into the realm of the blues, while the truly adventurous tracks such as "Back Home" and the mystic, Chinese odyssey "Moon Cup" weave a magical net of sheer pleasure. "The Blue Yusef Lateef" is in every possible way absolutely breathtaking. It is a milestone as a jazz album. As a blues album it is quite unique. But as a musical work of art it is a glorious and genial masterpiece.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under www.pure-analogue.com.
All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: April 1968 in RCA Studios, New York City by Ray Hall
Production: Joel Dorn

Hardly any other musician has released so little as Hasaan Ibn Ali, born William Henry Langford Jr., in 1931, who died in 1980. Just seven titles in all are his complete output, all of which he composed himself, all of them on the present Atlantic LP, and all recorded in December 1964. The saxophonist Odean Pope, who often practised with him, talks of a second recording session in 1965 for Atlantic, but the recordings were never released because Hasaan was sent to jail shortly afterwards; rumour has it that the tapes were destroyed in a fire – and it might well be that recordings with John Coltrane still exist somewhere or other.
Until then, one should enjoy the Max Roach Trio with Art Davis on the bass to the full. We have here a recording that will astound and fascinate your ears with its originality. A first impression conjures up reminiscences of Cecil Taylor and Herbie Nichols, while Hasaan himself talks of the pianist Elmo Hope as the man who brought him closer to the 'mystery of music'. When asked how the recording session with maestro Max Roach went, Hasaan said: »They scared me to death.«
According to Odean Pope, Hasaan was not an easy person to get on with, and he was convinced of his talent to the point of arrogance. But despite this – or perhaps because of this – one listens spellbound to the 40 minutes on this LP, a legacy and never-fulfilled promise of an extremely talented man. We are indebted to Max Roach, who persuaded the bosses of Atlantic Records to make these recordings. For many, many years they had vanished from the record market, but fortunately they are now available as an audiophile re-release to be listened to and admired.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under www.pure-analogue.com.
All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

This session is a model of the emotionally intense ballad programs featured on Prestige's Moodsville subsidiary. The great Kenny Burrell receives a major assist from saxophone patriarch Coleman Hawkins (who is in exemplary early-Sixties form), Hawkins' rhythm section of the time (made up exclusively of natives of Burrell's hometown Detroit) and conga drummer Ray Barretto. The choice of material and variety of settings are inspired, with Burrell heard solo on "No More", over just bass and drums on "Guilty", in two different settings and on three titles by the full sextet. Each soloist is fully engaged throughout, with things shifting into even higher gear when Burrell and Hawkins converse on "Montono Blues" and "I Thought About You".

From the time Coleman Hawkins firmly established the tenor saxophone on the jazz map, it has been one of the most potent forces in the music, its best practitioners able to raise the roof with a jumping blues, soothe the savage beast with a tender love ballad, and do just about anything in between. At the time of this recording (1961), Jimmy Forrest, the St. Louis-born reedman, was a veteran of the Fate Marable, Jay McShann, Andy Kirk, and Duke Ellington bands. Later in his career he starred with Count Basie. Here he leads a quartet of teammates from the combo of 'Sweets' Edison, including the young Austrian pianist Joe Zawinul, through a gamut of the aforementioned moods from "Crash Program" to the caressing "That's All", with a few tips of the cap to Ben Webster along the way. With Joe Zawinul, Tommy Potter and Clarence Johnston.

Here is one of the musical giants of the 20th century, poised on the precipice of greatness. Between the spring of 1957 and the winter of 1958, during which time "Lush Life" was recorded, the music of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane (1926-1967) was developing in giant steps, thanks in great part to a six-month 1957 stint with Thelonious Monk that had much to do with sharpening Coltrane’s harmonic conception and torrential attack.
"Lush Life" contains Coltrane’s first recordings as sole leader, his initial date fronting a pianoless trio, and one of his first extended readings of a ballad, Billy Strayhorn’s resplendent title track. We also hear him at the helm of a quartet and quintet, featuring pianist Red Garland, with trumpeter Donald Byrd, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Louis Hayes added to “Lush Life”. Coltrane handles the tune’s delicate complexities with infinite style and finesse.
Coltrane and jazz would never be the same.

Terumasa Hino is undoubtedly one of the most famous Japanese jazzmen. Learning the trumpet at the age of 9, he began his career as a professional musician by playing in the orchestra of an US Army base, before joining Hideo Shiraki"s Quintet and then forming his own band in 1964. On Hi-Nology we find his brother Motohiko Hino on drums, Hiroma Suzuki on electric piano, Kumitsu Inaba on electric bass and Takeru Muraoka ontenor sax. The inspiration from the "electric period" of Miles Davis (notably Miles In The Sky released in 1968) is felt and is even accepted, since the opening piece is entitled "Like Miles". Coincidentally, Hi-Nology was recorded on July 31, 1969, the day after the release of In a Silent Way and has nothing to envy of this great record by Miles Davis.

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.

After the demise of LOS Shakers, brothers Hugo & Osvaldo Fattoruso released in 1969 "La Bossa Nova de Hugo & Osvaldo".

Here, they paid homage to the music they grew-up with: jazz, bossa nova and candombe but adding Beatlesque pop-psych and Brazilian/Latin sounds to the mix, following what they had already done with Los Shakers in songs like "Never Never" or "Adorable Lola".

Cool covers of Burt Bacharach, George Harrison and candombe pioneer Manolo Guardia blend together with lovely self-penned songs and even new, bossa-styled versions from Los Shakers catalogue.

Recorded in 1968 mostly by Hugo and Osvaldo playing all the instruments by themselves, it was originally released in 1969 in a tiny edition of 400 copies, making it one of the most desirable collectable albums related to Los Shakers.

The missing link between "Toto's Bar" and OPA's "Goldenwings"?

An American jazz critic once said that Wes Montgomery was the "best thing that could happen to a guitar." Grand words, one might say quickly racking one's brains to come up with other great names. But after only a few minutes of listening to this live recording made in 1965 at the Half Note in New York, you will forget your brain-storming and concentrate on the unfused performance of this brilliant guitarist and the superb Wynton Kelly Trio. The music which gets down to the nitty-gritty, is always cool and straight with no fuss or frills getting in the way; the message comes over clearly--and it makes the blood surge through one's veins! This legendary session was recorded at a New York nightclub. It captures Montgomery at the height of his improvisational powers. Many consider it the best performance on record by one of the most inventive guitarists in jazz history.

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.

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.

Exclusive reissue for Plattenladenwoche 2011!

Although the name Stan Getz (tenor sax) was initially synonymous with the West Coast cool scene during the mid-to-late 1950s, he likewise became a key component in the Bossa Nova craze of the early 1960s. Getz Au Go Go (1965) is Stan Getz in his prime, recorded with perhaps one of the best quartets of his career, featuring Bossa Nova singer Astrud Gilberto.

180g vinyl.

Recorded in Rome, Italy at RCA's studios, Chet Is back! is the 1962 studio album by the undisputed master of the trumpet, Chet Baker. Backed by a group of up-and-coming European jazz musicians, which included Belgian saxophonist Bobby Jaspar, Belgian guitarist Rene Thomas, Italian pianist Amedeo Tommasi, French bassist Benoit Quersin, and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair, according to critics Chet Baker may have never sounded better.

British Jazz Masterpiece from 1965 featuring Neil Ardley, Ian Carr, Barbara Thompson and John Hiseman

180 gram black vinyl. Reissue for the first time Worldwide In the mid-60’s London scene, the NJO was one of those unavoidable and big-band groups (originally started as Clive Burrows Orchestra), where almost everyone who was anyone on the scene or almost transited through the group, which was normally the vehicle for composer Neil Ardley. You’ll find in the WR album, among others, stellar names like Ian Carr (of RCQ and Nucleus fame), Barb Thompson, Tony Reeves, John Hiseman (all three of future Colosseum fame), Trevor Watts (future Amalgam) plus a bunch more of lesser-known, but no-less gifted musicians like Paul Rutherford, etc. The line-up would fluctuate to include many other household names.

The New Jazz Orchestra was formed in December 1963, its name reflecting both the youth of its members - their average age was only 23 - and their mission to perform the new kind of orchestral jazz that was then developing in America but still to be heard in Britain. The personnel included such (then) non-jazz instruments as flute, horn and tuba in addition to the standard brass, saxes and rhythm line-up of the big band. This is the NJO's first album, recorded in March 1965 before an invited audience to make the young band feel at ease. The NJO was the offspring of a popular weekend jazz club, the "Jazzhouse" based at the Green Man, Blackheath (demolished to make way for Allison Close) where the "house" band was the Ian Bird Quintet (initially comprising Ian Bird, tenor sax; Clive Burrows, baritone sax; Johnny Mealing, piano; Tony Reeves, bass and Trevor Tomkins, drums - Mealing and Tomkins left to join the newly formed Rendell-Carr Quintet and were succeeded by Paul Raymond and Jon Hiseman respectively. The ensemble featured many London-based jazz musicians, such as Harry Beckett, Jack Bruce, Ian Carr, Dave Gelly, Michael Gibbs, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Jon Hiseman, Henry Lowther, Don Rendell, Frank Ricotti, Paul Rutherford, Barbara Thompson, Trevor Tomkins, Michael Phillipson, Les Carter, Tom Harris, Trevor Watts and Lionel Grigson. Ardley, Gibbs, Carter, Rutherford, Michael Garrick, and composer Mike Taylor all contributed pieces and arrangements.

Under exclusive license of Universal Music Portuga

Andrew Hill’s 1968 album Dance With Death stands as one of the most gratifying though under-recognized sessions of the brilliant pianist’s discography featuring his singular compositions performed by a versatile quintet with Charles Tolliver, Joe Farrell, Victor Sproles, and Billy Higgins.

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, packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

Why should you buy this LP? 1. Because of its super sound? Of course! 2. Because Paul Desmond and Jim Hall are playing? Naturally! 3. For "Easy Living"? Surely one of the best numbers in one of the most multifaceted versions! 4. Because you missed out on the first release in 1966? Well, don’t make the same mistake in 2018!
Not everyone wants to purchase all Victor recordings by Paul Desmond and Jim Hall with umpteen alternate takes in a voluminous CD Box, to listen to it all, and to find it just wonderful to show off on the record shelf. The eight numbers on "Easy Living" constitute the height of Desmond’s career anyway after he had at last managed to take his leave from Dave Brubeck’s group. And the change from purely chordal playing and single notes from Jim Hall is more airy and more inspiring than the meaty piano clusters of his former boss. And don’t forget either that half of the Modern Jazz Quartet, namely the bassist Percy Heath and the drummer Connie Kay, deliver an exquisite skeletal structure over which the musicians can improvise brilliantly.
LPs are, and remain, unbeatable, both as regards sound and feel. And happily they are also a safe investment – maybe not all, but "Easy Living" with Paul Desmond and Jim Hall most definitely!

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under www.pure-analogue.com.
All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: June 1963, July and September 1964, June 1965 at RCA Studio, New York City
Production: George Avakian

After his great success as a new discovery through playing on tour and in the studio with Art Blakey’s creative and inspirational group, the Jazz Messengers, Freddie Hubbard made a dozen LPs over 16 years for Blue Note and Impulse under his own direction.
It was no wonder then that a big record company made him a lucrative offer in autumn 1966. All in all, Atlantic Records released six LPs and the very first, entitled "Backlash", is still until today the best of the bunch.
Three numbers by Freddie Hubbard, one by Bob Cunningham, and two by friends, provide the basis for a successful transition between hard bop and soul beat. Hubbard made high demands on his fellow musicians James Spaulding, Albert Dailey and especially the bass player Bob Cunningham and the drummer Ray Appleton because they had to cope with the ever-changing beat. Right from the very first note, it is obvious that Freddie Hubbard had Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown in his heart and fingers. All the titles are excellent. Of special note, however, is "Little Sunflower". The sound colouring of the flute harmonizes particularly well with Hubbard’s brass, and Ray Barretto’s contribution is more than mere decoration. You’re certainly on the right track with this LP, no matter whether it’s the beginning of a Freddie Hubbard collection or a further contribution to a large jazz collection.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: 1967 by Tom Dowd, Phil Jehle and Adrian Barber
Production: Arif Mardin

In 1960, the free jazz pioneered by Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Horace Tapscott and a very few others was rejected by many musicians and most listeners. For the visionary saxophonist, clarinetist and flutist Eric Dolphy, it was simply new music fed by the mainstream, a logical extension of the jazz tradition. In "Far Cry" without leaving form behind, he incorporated the spirit of adventure and abandon with which free jazz at its best infused freshness into jazz. Recording with a pianoless quartet that used Ron Carter’s cello as the other melody instrument, Dolphy worked from chord patterns developed within structures that depart from ordinary 32-bar jazz and popular song forms. He used 30-bar, 35-bar and 18-bar structures, but he also observed standard practice with 12-bar blues, “Serene”. Dolphy’s speech-like improvisations and Carter’s bowed or plucked cello solos soar over the impeccable and responsive accompaniments of bassist George Duvivier and drummer Roy Haynes.

"Gilles Peterson has been given the keys to Warner’s impressive Jazz back-catalogue and hand-selected Yusef Lateef’s legendary Detroit Latitude 42° 30' Longitude 83° for Arc Records next release. This is the first time the album has been reissued on vinyl since its originally came out in 1969. The album is Lateef’s nostalgic love-letter to his hometown and one of the rawest works in his catalogue but the record looks forward as well as back. The compositions are laced with the seeds of 70s Jazz Funk that would come to dominate the following decade. Arc Records have given this overlooked piece in Lateef’s oeuvre a bespoke reissue treatment. The audio has been remastered in mono from the original tapes by legendary engineer Bernie Grundman - best known for personally mastering industry landmarks such as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” among many others. The artwork, printed on heavy-weight card, is faithful to the original down to the 1960’s-style tip on sleeve and features the original sleeve notes alongside updated liner notes. The record itself is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl. The release is physical only and limited to just 2000 copies."

Sacd

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.

This 1961 set of standards, favoring ballads, is Gene Ammons in his prime. For the most part, this session is tight and structured, keeping Ammons firmly locked in the groove more so than on some of his more wandering dates. His big-as-a-house tone stands center stage in front of a sympathetic piano-bass-drums trio of Richard Wyands, Doug Watkins and J.C. Heard, respectively.

We Are Busy Bodies is proud to announce the first official reissue of 'Zodiac' by brilliant French tenor saxophonist, Barney Wilen. Originally released on the Disques Vogue label in 1966, the album has been restored and remastered from Barney Wilen's personal copy of the album. The album was recorded a few years after performing on albums and European tours with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis. The album is an exploration of free jazz, dedicated to the signs of the zodiac. Wilen and his friend, photographer Jean Larivière worked together to create the photos and artwork for his album, Zodiac. The intention at the time was to also create a film with a storyline and characters developed by Jean. Unfortunately, the concept was never fully realized at the time,. Sketches, photos and further context are included in the accompanying album insert.