Vinyl, CD & Tape 351 Items

Why you'll love it...
Straight Ahead, featuring saxophonists Oliver Nelson and Eric Dolphy, is the VMP Classics Record of the Month for April 2024. It's pressed on 180g black vinyl, with lacquers cut from master tapes (AAA) by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.

Why you'll love it...
Freddie Roach’s first three albums introduced him to the world, but Brown Sugar showed it who he was. It was the album that Roach made to capture the energy of soul jazz. To somehow take the sounds in the city, in the clubs, and bring them to a record. In his original liner notes, Roach writes that the album is an ode to late nights and loud clubs, to backs damp with sweat, arms wrapped around waists. ‘’Not caring for the moment about troubles or problems,'' he wrote of people dancing, ‘’their bodies quivering under smiles that seemed to promise ‘after the dance.’'' After talking to Alfred Lion, president of Blue Note, they decided that the album needed to be made up of standards — not the standards of the stage or screen, but the standards of the people. ‘’To get the ‘soul,’'' Roach wrote, ‘’I decided to do show soul tunes.''

Coisas is an album recorded in 1965. The album was listed by Ben Ratliff in his 100 most important recordings and by Rolling Stone in their 100 Greatest Brazilian Music Records.Although the album was not met with acclaim when first released, it has gone on to receive praise. Many reviews by The New York Times, Village Voice and Allmusic described the album as "one of the great accomplishments of modern Brazilian music, a brilliant unification of large-ensemble jazz arranging, wickedly persuasive songwriting and Afro-Brazilian rhythm. An album that melds the various tonalities and flavors of creative jazz to the heart of Brazil's folkloric and emergent musical traditions."

New York based Jazz singer Helen Merrill moved to Europe after her London debut concert in 1959. as she is living in Italy for 4 years, Helen also performed Japan in 1960 and 1963.

An extraordinary album where Algerian pianist and composer Mustapha Skandrani improvises and varies Andalusian folk melodies on the piano. Algerian classical music is a blend of Andalusian court music, originating from the Arab-Islamic rulers of Spain, and Turkish classical music, along with Western, African, and Jewish influences. Skandrani pioneered a style of performance, which was considered unconventional. Before him, solo piano performances were unheard of in Andalusian music concerts, and playing "Istikhbar" on the piano was revolutionary at the time.

Infectious rock&roll, surf, beat, girl group and ye-yé sounds by LAS Mosquitas, the first female beat band from Argentina.

Including their rare album from 1965 for the Music Hall label plus bonus tracks from singles and their impossible to find split EP with Los Gatos Salvajes.

Las Mosquitas (“The Little Flies”) consisted of Stella Maris Conde (Pupé) on vocals and guitar, María Cristina Medina (Nita) on bass, Ana María Millán (Nené) on vocals and guitar and Beatriz Cabrera (Dina) on drums. They performed their original compositions as well as Spanish sung covers of hits from the era. Producer Ricardo Romero of pioneering rock&roll Argentinean band Los Cinco Latinos took them under his wing and secured a deal with the Music Hall label.

They toured nationally and internationally, sometimes supporting Los Cinco Latinos, other times as the main act. Not only that, but they conquered every city they performed in, they were received by fans, ambassadors, presidents and their daughters, all eager to see Las Mosquitas on stage. Tours through Panamá, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Puerto Rico, Chile, Uruguay, Brasil, Curazao and Argentina were completed with fantastic public response and TV appearances.

The “Mosquitamania” was born and a string of singles and a full album on the Music Hall label followed. All of them are compiled here for the first time.

“Their music was a mix of ye-yé and beat and they dressed how you would expect the Beatles to dress if they had been women” - Gareth Wynne (Ugly Things)

This October marks the 60th Anniversary of The Animals' self-titled debut album. Having never been reissued on vinyl before, the 60th Anniversary Edition sees the album pressed on yellow vinyl and adds the hit 'House of the Rising Sun' to the track list. Limited to 750 copies for National Album Day UK.

Donald Byrd was off to the races after joining Blue Note in 1958 and had fully hit his hard bop stride by 1961 with his excellent album "Royal Flush". Joining the trumpeter was a state-of-the-art rhythm section featuring Herbie Hancock on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums plus Byrd’s frequent collaborator Pepper Adams on bari sax.

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

RSD First, Limitation: 10000

With a million orders for “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in the UK, the single shot to #1 in December 1963 knocking The Beatles’ own “She Loves You” from the top spot. This was to be the first official single for The Beatles on Capitol records and was backed by an extraordinary marketing campaign. With “I Saw Her Standing There” replacing “This Boy” for the other side, the single was rush-released in the USA in January 1964, climbing to #1 on the Hot 100 by February 1st. Remaining on the chart for 15 weeks, it went on to sell more than 12 million copies worldwide, and with that, an unstoppable force was unleashed and Beatlemania had truly arrived. This RSD Black Friday reissue single was cut from the original US version of the master tapes –- the same masters as used for the albums in the 1964 box set -- by Kevin Reeves in Nashville, using an all-analog cutting process and on the same 1970 lathe that was in Capitol and has been used on many classic album cuts over the years.

RSD First, Limitation: 2500

This limited-edition 3” single and Beatles-branded vinyl carrying case celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Beatles’ 1964 American Tour and appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. With the release of "All My Loving," the 3" record set of all five of the songs the band played on the Ed Sullivan Show is complete. Like the previous 3" record releases of "I Want To Hold Your Had," "'Til There Was You," "She Loves You, and "I Saw Her Standing There," this 3” vinyl record is housed in a picture sleeve and includes a limited-edition poster, while the carrying case is made to hold all of your 3" Beatles records.

RSD First, Limitation: 1250

Recorded in 1965 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey, Roland Kirk's album Rip, Rig and Panic finds him teamed with the most awesome rhythm section he ever recorded with: pianist Jaki Byard, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones. It received a 5 stars rating on AllMusic, with reviewer Thom Jurek stating that "Rip, Rig, and Panic may be pre-Rahsaan Roland Kirk's greatest outing. Kirk and his quartet moved through a series of musicological changes that defined him as an artist at the time. Five of the seven compositions are his, and reach through each of the phases that Kirk was interested in integrating into his compositional and improvisational voice. Positively smashing."

The collaborative album 5 Na Bossa was originally released in 1965 on Philips Brazil and featured some of the top player of the genre. If you are into the sound of Nara Leão, Edu Lobo and Tamba Trio this is a magical encounter, bringing together Nara's soft voice, Edu's battering guitar and Tamba's swinging vocals. Featuring classic compositions like ‘Reza’ and ‘Zambi’ this album is a must have for any fans of the latin jazz legacy. The set was recorded live at the Paramount Theater in Sao Paulo.

Even by the high-water marks set by Herbie Hancock’s tremendous 1960s Blue Note output, 1965’s Maiden Voyage remains one of the pinnacle artistic achievements of the great pianist’s career. Hancock is joined here by his Miles Davis Quintet bandmates Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums, along with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and George Coleman on tenor saxophone. The quintet embarks on an oceanic exploration of five original Hancock compositions, several of which have since become enduring standards of the jazz lexicon including the title track, “Eye of the Hurricane,” and “Dolphin Dance.”

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.

No one can doubt that Lightnin' Hopkins is the king of Texas country blues. P-vine is reissuing on LP for the first time in 35 years the classic album, which was originally released on Crown in 1961 and is a compilation of Modern/Kent recordings from 1950-51, one of the pinnacles of the Lonesome & Dirty Blues world. With its deep, withering vocals, which sometimes sounded even terrific, and a guitar that moved nimbly and uninhibitedly, this is one of Lightnin's top-class recordings in his storytelling style. No one can escape the devilish charm of these dense blues.

Sourced From The Original Master Tapes; Out of print since the 1960s

Now joining Jackpot Record's ever-expanding collection of Martin Denny re-issues is the hypnotic "visual sound" of Exotic Percussion, which has not been on vinyl since its original release in 1961.

His production on Exotic Percussion is ambitious, adventurous, and fascinatingly futuristic, especially when a tumbler with ice was still the preferred way to let loose. Xylophones and chimes swim from ear to ear; traditional jazz instrumentation collides with such musical oddities as boo bas, shamisens, Manga harp, and Burmese gongs.

As always, the choice of compositions on a Martin Denny record is a bizarre yet exciting spin around the globe, but this one is even weirder than usual. From the faster-than-light of "Cumana" to the luscious groove of "Moonlight On The Ganges" (made famous by Frank Sinatra and a track that is still being played on a loop at Disneylan's Jungle Cruise attraction), it's a whiplash of a ride. But the stand-out on the record is the combo of "Misirlou" (which would be made famous a few years later by Dick Dale and even decades later with its appearance in Pulp Fiction).

So join the conga line and head out into the street as Martin Denny once again creates a world we yearn to return to and an album we can always revisit.

Reissue of this incredibly wild proto-punk garage 45 released in Mexico in 1965!!! 500 copies only!!!

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.”

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.

Blisterin’ bleach blonde garage punk from Long Beach’s Emperors!

Previously limited to a handful of singles, this full length LP includes all of their material, including 4 unissued tracks! From the maniacal laughter on “Laughin’ Linda” to their foot-tappin’ cover of the Zombies’ “You Make Me Feel So Good” it’s easy to see why this group of teens were hailed as Long Beach’s favorite group.

Susan Gilmore, an Emperor fan, recollects, “The highlight of the dances were when they played. While attendance was pretty good for other bands, the Emperors packed the place every time. The buzz would start during the week at school. ‘The Emperors are playing this weekend. Are you going to go?’”

The wild teenage sound of the original Emperors is still the greatest. “It's just a lifetime experience,” concluded Randall. “In a way, I felt that we were ahead of our time. The way we played and the way we presented everything on stage, nobody was shy. It was a wonderful experience.”

A new version of the band rebranded as simply Emperor, led by Steve Watts and Randy Budihas, would record for RCA, then Private Stock during the ‘70s. After a 20-year break, The Emperors reformed in 2002 and are still performing and entertaining fans today.

Vinyl LP pressing.

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.

“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.

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