Jazz | Fusion 374 Items

Bobby Hutcherson’s cutting-edge 1969 session "Medina" found the vibraphonist with a remarkable band featuring Harold Land on tenor saxophone & flute, Stanley Cowell on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. The set presents original compositions by Hutcherson, Cowell, and Chambers.
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 single sleeve with deluxe tip-on jacket.

“Is that what you wanted, Alfred?” we hear in Miles Davis’ unmistakable rasp at the end of “One for Daddy-O,” making it clear that the legendary (and assertive) trumpeter was not just playing the role of sideman on Somethin’ Else, the sole Blue Note album by Cannonball Adderley. The alto saxophonist was a memb¬er of Davis’ band at the time and the depth of their musical camaraderie lifts this session up to rarefied heights throughout, from the breathtaking performance of “Autumn Leaves” that opens the album to the thrilling call-and-response theme of the title track. Pianist Hank Jones, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Art Blakey round out the quintet on this timeless classic.

Nobody had expected the extraordinary success of this album and its funky title track. When Blue Note released trumpeter Lee Morgan's “The Sidewinder” in 1964, the label “only” pressed 4,000 copies, but they were completely sold out within three days. The instrumental album reached number 25 in the pop charts and number 10 in the rhythm'n'blues charts, while the soul-jazzy title track, which was shortened for that, was also successful as a single. The album, recorded with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist Barry Harris, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Billy Higgins, is now a classic album that should be in every jazz collection.

1964 was one of the most momentous years in the musical life of Wayne Shorter. Early in the year the saxophonist was still a member of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, appearing on classic Blue Note albums like Free for All and Indestructible. Shorter made his own auspicious label debut that spring with Night Dreamer and quickly recorded the impressive follow-up JuJu. That summer he joined the Miles Davis Quintet, cementing a line-up that would become one of the seminal bands in jazz history. And when Shorter entered Van Gelder Studio with Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Elvin Jones on Christmas Eve 1964 they created a masterpiece with Speak No Evil, a transcendent set of six Shorter originals including the swinging title track, “Witch Hunt,” and sublime ballad “Infant Eyes.”

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.

1step Process 180g 45rpm Double LP Pressed on VR900-Supreme Vinyl! Mastered From The Original Analogue Master Tapes by Bernie Grundman! Super-Luxe "Monster Pak" Jacket with a Rich 36-Page Booklet & Striking Outer Slipcase!

New lacquers cut for every 500 pressings!

Strictly Limited To 7,500 Numbered Pressings!

There have been more than 40 U.S. releases (and hundreds more worldwide) of Stan Getz's cultural touchstone album and for good reason: few recordings better capture the breezy warmth and easy-going sophistication of Brazilian bossa nova for an American jazz audience. Fewer recordings can replicate the you-are-there presence and flawlessly tight studio acoustics. Only Getz/Gilberto has Billboard Top-10-charting singles like "The Girl from Ipanema." When Impex Records jumps into this densely-populated fray with our own production, we need to bring maximum value and prestige to it. Challenge accepted. We worked directly with Stan's wife Monica Getz and their son Nicolaus to create the most authentic, best-presented Getz/Gilberto ever.

Exclusive to Impex's 1step Getz/Gilberto includes an insightful new interview/essay by Charles Granata featuring Monica reminiscences of the making of this record, the subsequent cultural phenomenon, and Stan's battles with some pretty heavy demons. Also unique to this release are two bonus tracks: an alternate mono 7" mix of "The Girl from Ipanema" (without the added echo, thank you very much) and a live recording of "Corcovado" from Carnegie Hall. Finally, the large-format, 36-page booklet features dozens of rare photos, the original album notes, and a fascinating personal remembrance from Monica Getz herself, celebrating her late husband's work and an inside look at Stan's family life while making the record!

Using the original analog master tapes and no computers at all, Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering sought to keep the sense of space and tone on the master tape intact without unnecessary embellishment. Impex 1steps get you closer to the source, not the ideal.

We know you have many choices when it comes to enjoying this singular album. The Impex 1step of Getz/Gilberto cuts above all other releases with added-value content that takes you deeper into Stan Getz's life and process in a way never previously possible.

The 1step Process:



The Impex 1step process relies on short, tightly-controlled runs that require a new lacquer after each 500 pressings. This unforgiving format has the lacquer skipping the regular father-mother process, going right to a single convert and then pressing. Though this dramatically increases mastering and production costs, it also assures each run is more consistent from disc to disc, with less noise, clearer details and deeper bass.

Reducing production complexity to just a single "convert" disc between the lacquer and the press greatly improves groove integrity, diminishes non-fill anomalies and increases signal integrity from the master tape to your system.

Features:



The only release of this fundamental jazz classic crafted with the full participation of the Getz family, including never-before-seen photos and notes from Monica and Nick Getz Exclusive new interview essay about Getz's life and the recording of the album by noted producer and historian Charles L. Granata Exclusive ultra-luxe Impex 1step packaging featuring a deluxe 36-page booklet within a heavy-stock two-sleeve Monster Pack jacket and striking colour-matched slip case Two all-analogue bonus tracks: an alternate mono 7" mix of "The Girl from Ipanema" and a live recording of "Corcovado" from Carnegie Hall Limited to 7,500 copies



Musicians:



Stan Getz- tenor saxophone Joao Gilberto - guitar, vocals Antonio Carlos - Jobim piano Tommy William - bass Milton Banana - drums Astrud Gilberto - vocals

Originally issued in Stereo on Prestige LP (PR 7190) Subsequently reissued in the Prestige/New Jazz budget subsidiary label Status (ST 7190) The John Wright Trio John Wright (piano), Wendell Roberts (bass), Walter McCants (drums). Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliff, New Jersey, August 30, 1960 Engineered & mastered by Rudy Van Gelder Cover photo & design: Esmond Edwards Back-liner notes: LeRoi Jones Recording supervised by Esmond Edwards

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.

Der Saxophonist Sam Rivers hatte sich schon sehr früh in seiner Karriere durch bemerkenswerte Originalität ausgezeichnet. Nach einem kurzen Intermezzo im zweiten großen Quintett von Miles Davis, spielte Rivers im Dezember 1964 für Blue Note sein Debütalbum “Fuchsia Swing Song” ein. Das Repertoire bestand aus sechs Kompositionen von Rivers, die zwar fest im Post-Bop und Blues wurzelten, aber die avantgardistischen Tendenzen des Saxophonisten auch nicht leugnen konnten. Das Highlight des Albums ist die atemberaubende Ballade “Beatrice”, die später sogar von den Tenor-Giganten Joe Henderson und Stan Getz aufgegriffen und interpretiert wurde.

BLUE NOTE CLASSIC VINYL EDITION: Stereo, komplett analog von Kevin Gray von den Originalbändern gemastert, Optimal-Pressung (180 g), wattierte Innenhülle.

Jewels of Thought is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It was recorded at Plaza Sound Studios in New York City on October 20, 1969, and was released on Impulse! Records in the same year.

Wayne Shorter stepped out as a Blue Note artist on his masterful 1964 label debut Night Dreamer, a sublime set that signalled the arrival of one of the most important saxophonists and composers in jazz history. Timeless Shorter compositions are given transcendent performances by a quintet with Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, and Elvin Jones.



Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition: Stereo, mastered from a digital source by Kevin Gray, manufactured at Optimal (180 g), padded inner sleeves.

An avant-garde masterpiece, a vocal-instrumental suite, a work of collective improvisation, directly addressing the racial and political issues of it’s day, We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite is one of the most important artistic statements of Civil Rights Movement and one of the most groundbreaking jazz albums of all time. Max Roach was already almost a decade into his career as one of the most influential jazz drummers and composers when he teamed up with lyricist Oscar Brown Jr. to collaborate on a piece they planned to perform at the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1963. Recorded just months after the February 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, the album stands as an early musical testament to the burgeoning rage, anger and passion that would take the Civil Rights Movement from its early victory in Montgomery in 1955 into a future that would dramatically alter race relations in the United States.

The second release from the newly launched New York City based jazz label Candid Records, and produced by label co-founder, famed music critic and social activist, Nat Hentoff, the album is a bold statement, focused on civil injustices in black history ranging from slavery to contemporary racial prejudices, and featuring some of the finest jazz musicians ever, including Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, and Michael Babatunde Olatunji.

The five movements of the work are organized as a historical progression through African-American history, a shape similar to the one in Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige. The Freedom Now Suite moves from slavery to Emancipation Day to the contemporary civil-rights struggle and African independence.

The LP includes extraordinary liner notes written by Hentoff himself, giving a context and insight that adds to the experience of hearing these magnificent performances.

The Latin Jazz classic that started it all! Mandatory!

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley had already led nine dates for Blue Note Records by the time he arrived at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio on February 7, 1960 with pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey, but on that day the quartet laid down what would become his masterpiece: Soul Station.

The crystalline six-song set was a showcase for Mobley’s lyrical flow from the breezy opening take on Irving Berlin’s “Remember” through bluesy originals like “Dig Dis” and the title track, and the swinging up-tempo numbers “This I Dig of You” and “Split Feelin’s.” Soul Station endures as a jazz classic for the ages..

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Master jazz pianist Tenorio Jr aka Francisco Tenório Júnior only recorded this one album, 'Embalo', originally released on RGE in 1964. Rumour has it that he was arrested and thrown in jail (and possibly even murdered) while on tour with Toquinho and Vinicius de Moraes in Argentina in 1976. He has not been seen since...
Soon after the disappearance of Tenorio Jr. filmmaker Rogerio Lima produced a short film entitled "Balada para Tenorio," which chronicles the disappearance with interviews with family and friends.
Júnior played on Gal Costa’s classic song ’Pontos De Luz’, as sampled by Kaytranada on Lite Spots.
This classic album has long been on our list to reissue and we are delighted to be able to present it at last with replica original artwork. As regularly played by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Floating Points and co.

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.

Best known for his work with Charles Mingus, pianist Horace Parlan began recording for Blue Note in 1960 with an excellent run of hard bop classics including Speakin’ My Piece, a quintet date featuring a frontline of Stanley Turrentine on saxophone and Tommy Turrentine on trumpet with the rhythm team of George Tucker on bass and Al Harewood on drums.



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.

Fat Albert Rotunda is the venture into jazz-funk by keyboardist Herbie Hancock. The record is
centered around the music Hancock wrote the Fat Albert cartoon show. It’s one of the records which
appeared in the period between his landmark album Maiden Voyage of 1965 and his 1973 classic
Head Hunters. Fat Albert Rotunda is a unique item in Herbie Hancock’s long and diverse catalog, with
funky tracks like "Fat Mama" and modern jazz-oriented tunes like "Tell Me A Bedtime Story". The
sextet which is backing Hancock consists of some of the most prominent musicians of that time, like
Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Johnny Coles on trumpet and Buster Williams on the bass.
Herbie Hancock is one of the most prolific jazz pianists of the 20th century. A child prodigy, he played
with the greats such as Donald Byrd and Miles Davis. As he was a bit of a geek, he enjoyed gadgets &
buttons and he was one of the first to embrace and master the electric piano, but he always stayed
true to the acoustic sound. In fact, he always bounced back and forth between his electronic and
acoustic sound, touching upon almost every development in R&B, Funk and Jazz while retaining an
original and distinctive voice.

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with Barney Wilen provide an essential jazz soundtrack to an extended ‘surprise party’ scene in director Roger Vadim’s 'Les liaisons dangereuses'. Originally released on the Fontana label, Blakey’s lively hard-bop and latin originals were used specifically as night club and party music in the film and his ‘No Problem’ became a classic with Blakey’s band in full flight. Decca France present the original soundtrack recording on 180gm vinyl in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket with English translation of the original liner notes, and a photo from the film of Gérard Philippe and Jeanne Moreau. Included is a 2pp insert with additional notes by recording producer Marcel Romano from 1988.

All of You is a live album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal featuring performances recorded at Jamal's own club in Chicago in 1961 and released originally on the Argo label. Jamal's group had a personal sound of its own, often playing quietly and leaving space but never losing the passion. These versions of "Time on My Hands," "Star Eyes" and "All of You" in particular are well worth hearing. On the cover, photographed by Don Bronstein, one of the first staff photographers for Playboy magazine, Jamal sits in an MAA chair, designed by George Nelson.

The Orient Express' sole LP from 1969 stands today as an early experiment in world fusion - and a pretty successful one at that, at least artistically. Guitarist Guy Duris is a Frenchman who became enamored with the oud, a classical Arabian guitar. Belgian Bruno Giet is a bass player with a rock background. Iranian Farshid Golesorkhi is an award-winning percussionist in the Persian tradition. As a trio, they only left 35 minutes for posterity, but these minutes are filled with interesting ideas and kitschy songs, all originals.

An avant-garde masterpiece, a vocal-instrumental suite, a work of collective improvisation, directly addressing the racial and political issues of it’s day, We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite is one of the most important artistic statements of Civil Rights Movement and one of the most groundbreaking jazz albums of all time. Max Roach was already almost a decade into his career as one of the most influential jazz drummers and composers when he teamed up with lyricist Oscar Brown Jr. to collaborate on a piece they planned to perform at the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1963. Recorded just months after the February 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, the album stands as an early musical testament to the burgeoning rage, anger and passion that would take the Civil Rights Movement from its early victory in Montgomery in 1955 into a future that would dramatically alter race relations in the United States.

The second release from the newly launched New York City based jazz label Candid Records, and produced by label co-founder, famed music critic and social activist, Nat Hentoff, the album is a bold statement, focused on civil injustices in black history ranging from slavery to contemporary racial prejudices, and featuring some of the finest jazz musicians ever, including Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, and Michael Babatunde Olatunji.

The five movements of the work are organized as a historical progression through African-American history, a shape similar to the one in Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige. The Freedom Now Suite moves from slavery to Emancipation Day to the contemporary civil-rights struggle and African independence.

The LP includes extraordinary liner notes written by Hentoff himself, giving a context and insight that adds to the experience of hearing these magnificent performances.

"Trumpet Africaine" was Hugh Masekela's debut album, recorded in New York and released in 1962, two years after Masekela had left South Afrika as reaction to the increasing inhumanity of the apartheid regime. Masekela's trumpet shines on top of Hugo Montenegro's fine orchestral arrangements while the tracklist includes, among others, five fresh instrumental versions of Miriam Makeba's songs. Trumpet Africaine was an important early statement from one of the most representative South African musicians of its time.

Under-recognized trumpeter Johnny Coles recorded only one album for Blue Note but 1963’s Little Johnny C is a little-known treasure of the catalog featuring Coles at the helm of a dynamic sextet with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, alto saxophonist Leo Wright, pianist Duke Pearson, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummers Walter Perkins & Pete La Roca.



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.

“Gabor Szabo exploded onto the American jazz scene in the early sixties. His unusual approach and unique sound brought something startling and new to jazz. With Chico Hamilton, Charles Lloyd and Gary McFarland, Szabo offered something few in jazz had ever heard before: guitarist as enchanter and conjurer and musician as storyteller and mesmerist. Once Szabo declared his independence in 1966, he also proved how seamlessly jazz can blend the Beatles and Bacharach with Latin and Indian styles. The guitarist released a string of albums on Impulse that challenged many assumptions about jazz and stand out today as some of the most radical, yet appealing music of the period. But the times were woefully a-changing. Szabo biographer Károly Libisch considers the year 1969 a “turning point” for the guitarist. The spell Szabo weaved in the press was beginning to wane. The blizzard of coverage he generated in the previous few years began to trickle off. Perhaps the rise of rock – and rock-guitar heroes – tamped down the guitarist’s exotic allure and faddish charm. Then, too, Szabo’s erratic behavior started attracting poor notices and hastened the demise of his storied quintet, featuring guitarist Jimmy Stewart and percussionist Hal Gordon, in late 1968. Now, both Gabor Szabo, the artist and businessman, needed a hit. 1969 was his response to the call of 1969.

The album was released in August 1969, initial reviews were positive. Cash Box raved that Gabor Szabo 1969 “is magnificent music, and an album that deserves great success” while Record World called it “luscious guitaring” that features “lots of contemporary material, which he makes completely his own.” Gabor Szabo 1969 never did find the success it was seeking. But it remains a lovely listening experience that finds the guitarist at his melodic best at an important crossroads in his recording career. “

"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."