Jazz | Fusion 297 Items

180g

The album "Night Lights" by American jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan was released in 1963, at the height of the bossa nova boom of the early 1960s. Laid-back rhythms and lyrical compositions leave room for improvisations and charming arrangements of signature solos by his fellow musicians - in addition to three original compositions, there are relaxed versions of Chopin's "Prelude in E Minor" and the Brazilian anthem "Morning of the Carnival" from Luiz Bonfa's "Black Orpheus".



Verve Acoustic Sounds Series: mastered fully analogue from the original tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, QPR pressing (180 g), firm tip-on gatefold (Stoughton Printing), padded inner sleeve, Gatefold Sleeve.

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

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".

Vibes player Johnny Lytle was one of the heroes of the early acid jazz club circuit, with his cut 'Selim' being an anthem of the scene.

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.

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.

Kenny Burrell's album "Guitar Forms" stands as Burrell’s definitive musical statement. It was nominated for three Grammys in 1965, is considered one of the true masterpieces in the Verve catalog. This is partly due to the outstanding performance of the guitarist himself, of course, but also to the unforgettable arrangements that Gil Evans wrote for five of the album's nine tracks. According to AllMusic, these were in no way inferior to the brilliant arrangements that Evans had made for Miles Davis classics such as "Birth Of The Cool", "Porgy And Bess" and "Sketches Of Spain".



Verve Acoustic Sounds Series: mastered fully analogue from the original tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, QPR pressing (180 g), firm tip-on gatefold (Stoughton Printing), padded inner sleeve, Gatefold Sleeve.

Elis Regina one of the greatest Brazilian interpreters of all time! Originally released in 1963 when she was not even 20 years old, this was her fourth album and second for Columbia records. Still a few steps before she became a star, here Elis Regina's fresh and extremely ductile voice shines on top of sophisticated Jazz arrangements by Astor Silva and a mixed repertoire based on charming romantic songs and vibrant sambas, all composed by Brazilian authors, among them a couple of highlights such as Baden Powell's "Se Você. Quiser" and "O Ben do Amor" the title track composed by guitarist Rildo Hora. This is an an early and fine statement in Regina's fast way to the peak of Brazilian music history.

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.

Underrated drummer’s 1965 album
His debut solo album and one of only two Blue Note albums as leader (the second emerged in 1997)
Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio on 19th May 1965
Featuring Blue Note legend Joe Henderson on tenor, Steve Kuhn on piano and Steve Swallow on bass
Showcasing three fine La Roca originals (the title track, ‘Candu’, ‘Tears Come From Heaven’), Steve Swallow’s ‘Eiderdown’ and interesting takes on the standards ‘Malaguena’ and ‘Lazy Afternoon’
 Produced by Alfred Lion
Includes a famous Reid Miles cover, plus photography by Francis Wolff and liner notes by Ira Gitler

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.

Monk's Dream is the first album jazz musician Thelonious Monk released on Columbia Records. Jazz scholars and enthusiasts alike also heralded this combo as the best Monk had been involved with for several years.

180g audiophile vinyl.

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.

"Silver’s Serenade" was the last album Horace Silver made with his celebrated Quintet with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor and Roy Brooks. These five Silver tunes epitomize his compositional style: captivating melodies, sophisticated harmonies and intricate rhythms with an unerring sense of swing.



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 tip-on jacket.

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.

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.

"A quick listen to the lively bop on 'Newer Than New' may enlist a perplexing question: Was this music really recorded 40 years ago? Apparently so, but the music still sounds fresh and exciting. If pianist Harris set out to show bop was still a vital force in 1961, he accomplished his task. Of course he didn't do this alone. Trumpeter Lonnie Hillyer, alto Charles McPherson, bassist Ernie Farrow, and drummer Clifford Jarvis join him on eight tunes that would've made Parker and Gillespie proud. The influence of bop pioneers is evident on tunes like "The Last One" and "Anthropology," both giving the horns lots of room to soar against the backdrop of dynamic rhythm. "Mucho Dinero," one of several Harris originals, has an exuberant Latin feel. After the horns set the piece in motion, Harris takes the first solo, creating colorful textures with his keen sense of harmony. Newer Than New also places special emphasis on the young horn players, providing McPherson and Hillyer lots of room to show what they've got. Both echo Parker and Gillespie without copying them. Hillyer displays a fat rich tone on numbers like "Easy to Love," while McPherson's resonant pitch, no matter how quickly he's playing, always comes across. Farrow and Jarvis keep the shifting rhythms heavy in the mix, pushing each soloist to create something vital. The title 'Newer Than New' perhaps mocks the obsession with the latest thing, as opposed to opting for the timelessness of high-octane improvising. Jazz styles, like all styles, come and go, but great music like 'Newer than New' transcends styles. It's also fun (and illustrative) to listen to an album like this back to back with the latest retro jazz. Barry Harris and his colleagues make great jazz without the least bit of self-consciousness."

—Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. (All Music Guide)

Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson’s 1966 album Stick-Up! found him in the company of a new band line-up with Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Lewis, and Billy Higgins. The quintet covers a vast expanse of post-bop territory on five Hutcherson originals plus Ornette Coleman’s “Una Muy Bonita.”

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.



Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone); Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone); McCoy Tyner (piano); Herbie Lewis (bass); Billy Higgins (drums)

Originally issued as Savoy Records MG 12154

The Booker Ervin Quintet Booker Ervin (tenor sax), Richard Williams (trumpet), Horace Parlan (piano), George Tucker (bass), Dannie Richmond (drums). Recorded at Medallion Studios, Newark, New Jersey, on November 26, 1960

Sound engineer: Paul Cady Cover art: Lee Jack Morton Liner notes & recording supervision by Tom Wilson Album preparation: Herman Lubinsky

Limited Clear Vinyl edition, 300 copies! Dorothy Ashby album from 1961 that also features female vibes player Terry Pollard. Comes with a version of The Skatalites 'Guns of Navarone' which is a pretty surreal listening experience. From the original liner notes: "Dorothy Ashby may not be the first jazz harpist (Caspar Reardon) or the first female jazz harpist (Adele Girard), but her good feeling for time and ability to construct melodic, guitar-like lines, mark her as the most accomplished modern jazz harpist (...) Accompanying her was another Detroit girl, Terry Pollard. Terry's main instrument is the piano and she is one of the best in the country, bar none. She is also a pretty fair country vibraharpist and in this set, Miss Pollard plays vibes exclusively. With them is still another Detroiter, Herman Wright, who like Miss Pollard has worked with Terry Gibbs and Yusef Lateef, and who also served as Miss Ashby's regular bassist. (...) Completing the quartet is Jimmy Cobb, drummer for the Miles Davis group. During the proceedings, Cobb travels between brushes and sticks without upsetting the equilibrium of this essentially quiet set. There is wide range of material presented here, from blues like Benny Goodman's title number, 'Soft Winds', and Miss Ashby's 'With Strings Attached', to movie themes such as 'Laura', 'Wild Is the Wind', and 'The Guns Of Navarone'. Then there are works by such superior writers of standards as Kurt Weill ('My Ship'); Gershwin ('The Man I Love' and 'Love Is Here To Stay')"

With his 1966 debut for Atlantic, jazz vibraphonist and marimba player Dave Pike and an all-star lineup produced a perfect blend of Jazz, Latin, Soul and R&B that stands the test of time. Produced by Pike's frequent collaborator Herbie Mann, ''Jazz for the Jet Set'' featured a young Herbie Hancock on organ (an instrument he rarely played again), Clark Terry on trumpet, Billy Butler on guitar, Grady Tate on drums, and many other talented musicians. From an artistic perspective, the album marked a pivotal time in Pike's career, where he began to move away from straight ahead jazz and forge a relationship with soul music, Latin rhythms, pop arrangements and more experimental styles. With this official reissue courtesy of Nature Sounds, ''Jazz For The Jet Set'' is now back on limited-edition vinyl while supplies last. 1. Blind Man Blind Man 2. Jet Set 3. Sunny 4. When I'm Gone 5. You've Got Your Troubles 6. Sweet Tater Pie 7. Just Say Goodbye 8. Devilette

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!

It is 1960, Rock’n’Roll has just lost a couple of its protagonists during this and the previous year, the time of the great balladeers has just begun but soon will run out due to the new and exciting beat invasion. In US mainstream the tiki culture has reached a certain peak and is about to collapse but still goes strong and with it comes the so called “exotica” music, a crossover between smooth jazz and swing, Latin grooves, haunting melodies that are rooted in the folkloristic sounds from different parts of this world plus weird sound effects that often create a spooky jungle or dreamy island beach atmosphere. It can even bend your mind that far you would see palm trees growing out of your speakers and witness monkeys and parrots having fun in your room. Eden Ahbez, born in 1908, passed in 1995, a man living an even more consistent dropout and hippie lifestyle way before the movement was born in the mid 60s, a beat poet and composer who wrote the hit tune “Nature boy” that gave Nat King Cole his first big success in 1947, approaches the field of exotica music from a different point of view creating an epic concept album about an utopian society living in peace and harmony on an island far away from the modern western world as we know it. And indeed we find many trademarks of the prototypical exotica music beginning with this relaxed groove combining easy listening swing and Latin patterns, peaceful, dreamy and even transcendental vocal melodies, tinges of folk music from around the world including powerful dances and a whole color palette of mind expanding sounds giving the whole music an even greater depth and width.

"Recorded for Berry Gordy's short-lived Workshop Jazz imprint, Roy Brooks' simply but authoritatively titled Beat fuses the intellectual rigors of the modern idiom with the physical prowess of soul-jazz to create a record of uncommon scope and reach. Working with Horace Silver Quintet colleagues Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, and Gene Taylor alongside Detroit contemporaries George Bohanon and Hugh Lawson, Brooks channels influences spanning the breadth of the Motor City scene, resulting in a clutch of challenging but engaging performances with the unmistakable patina of the embryonic Motown sound. While their technical proficiency is stunning, Brooks' rhythms never lose sight of the almighty groove, and for its hard bop stridency, the record has the proverbial good beat and you can dance to it."

The debut album by a prolific musician, ‘Grant’s First Stand’ is a significant work that set out the Blue Note musician’s highly personal manifesto.

Though Grant’s First Stand was guitarist Grant Green’s maiden release for Blue Note Records it wasn’t his debut recording session for the famous New York jazz label. The St Louis guitarist had, in fact, gone into Rudy Van Gelder’s legendary studio at Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey – where Blue Note did the majority of their recordings from 1959 onwards – on two previous occasions. For some reason, however, the music recorded on two days across October and November 1960 was shelved. It wasn’t until Saturday, 28 January 1961, that Green got to lay down the six tracks that became his debut album for the label.

As Finders Keepers disobedient little-sister-label reaches her 20th (release) anniversaries
Cacophonic Records are proud to present a record that will not only leave rare record
collectors salivating but will open ambitious ears to a truly pioneering album from the seldom
celebrated and individualistic micro-genre that is French free Jazz. Comprising some of the
earliest uninhibited performances from key musicians behind records by Serge Gainsbourg,
Jef Gilson, Triangle, Don Cherry, Barbara and countless other groundbreaking European jazz
records and freakish films, this LP captures the birth of an exciting movement that would
soon earn its Parisian birthplace as the go-to European spiritual home of improvised and
avant-garde music. Spearheaded by polymath pianist and composer François Tusques this
1965 French LP coined the phrase “free jazz” before the American genre of the same name
had fully taken shape and packed its suitcase; laying the foundations (alongside Jef Gilson’s
Enfin!) for a unique satellite brand of jazz that would later provide visiting afro American
avant-gardeners with a vibrant Parisian platform. Having recorded a very rare single in
celebration of the architect Le Corbusier in late 1964 Tusques was lucky enough to play
live with Don Cherry (a key player on Ornette Coleman’s 1961 Free Jazz LP) thus planting a
pedigreed seed for this vibrant cultivar.
With this record we not only hear the unique differences within the Gallic approach to the art
form (combining masterful sombre cinematic changes with aerated free-form percussion and
erratic reed and brass) but we also get to witness the early lesser savoured secret ingredients
that would carry France’s mainstream pop culture into truly uncharted and unrivalled
territories throughout the following decades. Best known to faithful Finders Keepers fans as
the soundtrack composer to the horrortica films of Jean Rollin, Tusques is joined here by sax
and flute player Francois Jeanneau, who’s electronic jazz album Such A Weird Plane” would
later lead to his own band Triangle gaining recognition as France’s leading French language
prig-jazz-rock act. Featuring three players from the aforementioned Enfin! LP by French jazz
pioneer and producer Jef Gilson, Free Jazz combines the skills of Jeanneau, with clarinet
player Michel Portal (Gainsbourg Percussions/Claude Nougaro) and trumpeter Bernard Vitet
(whose avant-garde appearances on the Futura label are indispensable). In addition to this,
Free Jazz also boasts the inclusion of Tusques’ sidekick and double bass master Bernard
“Beb” Guérin (of Sonny Sharrock Monkey-Pockie-Boo infamy) who had also appeared on
the earlier Don Cherry/Le Corbusier recording providing further kudos to this LPs historical
importance.
It is by no coincidence that this carefully selected ensemble would around this time become
enlisted as the backing group for politically driven singer-songwriter Colette Magny (an action
which would arguably later influence Brigitte Fontaine’s choice to adopt The Art Ensemble Of
Chicago as her backing band after the Actuel records Pan-African Jazz festival and record
series). The fact that Colette Magny would provide the art direction for this very LP is a cute
small-print signifier of this LPs intended manifesto status. This album also captures a rare
glimpse of percussionist Charles Saudrais in free-form mode after his departure from the
Barney WIlen Quartet (Moshi) - an inclusion that would surely galvanise the relationship
between WIlen and Tusques resulting in the follow-up record Nouveau Jazz for actor Marcel
Mouloudji’s privately funded Disques Mouloudji label (on which both rare LPs were originally
pressed).
This glimpse into a seldom documented underground of a domestic, revolutionary,
uncompromised spiritual art-form successfully reveals the other-side of abstracted French
music which alongside musique concrète, protest pop, symphonic rock and Zeuhl-skool
electronic prog created a homegrown, self-contained music industry that went on to influence
a universe of Gallic magnetic inspiration. “This is free jazz, Jim; but not as we know it.”

It's tempting for "Blues In Orbit" to be overlooked when Duke Ellington's best albums are discussed, but truly it's an undisputed gem. There are 14 tracks, none of them is longer than 4:50 and it is all good stuff. There are some familiar favorites such as "In A Mellotone" and "C Jam Blues" as well as less often heard gems like "Blues In Blueprint and "Sweet And Pungent". It is also in stereo, and the arrangements are superb.
The featured performers include Ellington stalwarts Johnnie Hodges, Ray Nance, Harry Carney and Jimmy Hamilton, as well as the less familiar Booty Wood and Matthew Gee. Johnnie, in particular is well showcased here, taking the lead not only in slow pieces like "Brown Penny" and "Sentimental Lady", but also in the rousing "Smada".
The full Analogue Productions reissue treatment is at work on this smashing LP — famed mastering engineer Bernie Grundman handled the remastering from the original analog tapes. The lacquers were plated and pressed at Quality Record Pressings, maker of the world's finest-sounding LPs. Lastly we've stashed each super-silent 200-gram disc in a premium Stoughton Printing gatefold jacket.
All of the takes were recorded during after midnight sessions recorded over two nights starting on December 2, 1959 in New York at Columbia Record's studio on East 30th Street. Each night Duke's late dinner arrived at 2 a.m. — a sizzling steak, a pot of coffee with lemons in it, portions of American cheese, and grapefruits. After dinner, and a breather for the band, the sessions finished around dawn in a swinging fashion.
If you're just getting into jazz, this album is highly recommended as a great way to initiate your collection. The sound is incredible, with packaging to match. Another audiophile home run.

This release comes with a download code.
180g Vinyl

Jorge López Ruiz is one of most versatile of musical talents to emerge from Argentina. As a bass player, composer, performer and arranger he has worked across many genres including jazz, pop as well as stage productions and feature films. The "B.A. Jazz" album has been a rarity for years and original pressings attract huge amounts from collectors. It's rarity is matched by the fantastic music contained with its grooves. It's a genuinely important record in the development of jazz in South America.

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.