Music from United States

Philip Glass’s seminal 1982 album Glassworks remains one of the most influential and accessible works in contemporary classical and minimalist music, bridging the worlds of concert hall and popular listening with timeless elegance. Originally conceived as a “Walkman‑suitable” work, Glassworks was designed for intimate, personal listening on cassette, with a special headphone‑oriented mix that brought listeners deep inside Glass’s intricate, pulsing sound world. The album’s six short, vividly con…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On The All Seeing Eye, Wayne Shorter expands his canvas to a large ensemble that includes Freddie Hubbard, James Spaulding, Grachan Moncur III, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Joe Chambers, Alan Shorter, and Gene Bertoncini. Conceived as a musical cosmology, the album uses layered brass and reeds, intricate voicings, and shifting rhythmic underpinnings to explore themes of creation, judgement, and human frailty. Shorter’s own solos rise out of dense textures rather t…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Juju finds Wayne Shorter working with McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – essentially the John Coltrane Quartet’s engine repurposed. The tunes, many with subtly African‑inflected rhythmic ideas, open broad spaces for exploration while maintaining clear thematic profiles. Shorter’s improvisations wind through these spaces with a storyteller’s sense of pacing, lingering on simple motifs before leaping into unexpected intervals. …

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Speak No Evil, Wayne Shorter fronts a quintet of Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Herbie Hancockon piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Shorter’s compositions are haunted and luminous: melodies that are instantly memorable yet subtly elusive, harmonies rich with unresolved tension, forms deceptively straightforward. His tenor lines slide between inside and outside, often stating a theme in stark tones before twisting it into ambiguous shapes. The ba…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Newk’s Time captures Sonny Rollins in a quartet with Wynton Kelly on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and “Philly” Joe Jones on drums, midway through one of the most fertile stretches any saxophonist has enjoyed. Rollins brings his huge, flexible sound and restless imagination to a set of standards and originals, bending them to his will without ever disrespecting the material. Rhythmic play is central: he toys with the beat, displaces phrases, and locates unexpected…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Genius of Modern Music gathers early recordings that reveal just how far ahead Thelonious Monk was thinking, with different sessions featuring combinations of Idrees Sulieman, Milt Jackson, Gene Ramey, Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, and others. The tunes – “’Round Midnight,” “Epistrophy,” “Ruby, My Dear” and more – present themselves as puzzles: jagged melodies, off‑kilter accents, harmonies that jab when one expects glide. Monk’s pianism, all percussive attack and un…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** It’s Time! finds Jackie McLean in the company of Charles Tolliver (trumpet), Herbie Hancock(piano), Cecil McBee (bass), and Roy Haynes (drums), fully committed to pushing forward. The compositions carry spiritual and political weight, and the arrangements make room for assertive horn lines, driving rhythms, and moments of unexpected lyricism. McLean’s playing is as biting as ever, but his navigation of more open, modal spaces shows an expanded vocabulary. Hancock…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Let Freedom Ring, Jackie McLean fronts a quartet with Walter Davis Jr. on piano, Herbie Lewison bass, and Billy Higgins on drums, and turns the LP format into a manifesto. Stark, ringing themes and open, modal frameworks give the music a declamatory character, while McLean’s alto pushes into the upper register with cries and shouts that go beyond tidy bebop language. Higgins and Lewis oscillate between march‑like insistence and freer undercurrents, and Davis’ …

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Destination... Out! sees Jackie McLean stepping decisively into less charted territory, flanked by Grachan Moncur III on trombone, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Larry Ridley on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. Moncur’s compositions stretch form and harmony to the point where the music hovers at the edge of abstraction while still clinging to memorable themes. McLean responds with heightened intensity; his alto lines slice through the ensemble’s cool, translucent textu…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Bluesnik, Jackie McLean teams with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Pete La Roca on drums to prove there is still plenty to say within the twelve‑bar form. The band leans heavily on the blues but treats it as a living language, shifting tempos from strolling to urgent and varying the feel from tough swagger to reflective drag. McLean’s solos are full of sharp edges and vocal inflections, while Hubbard brings a more ext…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Demon’s Dance (often mis‑typed in catalogues) captures Jackie McLean with a younger, firebreathing band: Woody Shaw on trumpet, LaMont Johnson at the piano, Scott Holt on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. The tunes are packed with rhythmic snaps and melodic hooks, yet the improvisations regularly veer into more angular, exploratory territory. McLean’s alto tone is piercing and urgent, cutting through the ensemble with authority, while Shaw’s harmonically advanc…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Inner Urge finds Joe Henderson pushing his quartet – McCoy Tyner (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums) – into more intense and complex territory. The title track’s driving rhythm and restless harmonic motion set the tone for a session where the stakes feel higher and the edges a bit sharper. Henderson probes motifs, worrying them from different angles, unafraid of jagged contours or sudden leaps. Tyner’s dense voicings and rolling left hand, Crans…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Page One, Joe Henderson introduces his tenor alongside Kenny Dorham on trumpet, McCoy Tyner on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and Pete La Roca on drums. Together they bring to life a set of tunes – including future standards – that balance memorable themes with ample improvisational room. Henderson’s tone is earthy yet flexible, his lines combining logical development with sudden, surprising detours. Dorham’s lyrical, slightly tart trumpet provides a perfect foi…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** The Prisoner is one of Herbie Hancock’s most ambitious large‑ensemble works, featuring Johnny Coles and Thad Jones on trumpet/flugelhorn, Garnett Brown and Jack Rains on trombones, Joe Newman on bass trombone, Hubert Laws and Romeo Penque on reeds, Tony Studd on tuba, Ron Carter on bass, and Grady Tate on drums, among others. Written in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the music uses orchestral textures to explore themes of oppression and …

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Speak Like a Child, Herbie Hancock opts for subtler shades with an unusual front line of Thad Jones on flugelhorn, Peter Phillips (or Jerry Dodgion) on alto flute, and Jackie McLean on alto sax, supported by Ron Carter on bass and Mickey Roker on drums. Carefully voiced harmonies create a soft‑focus glow around lullaby‑like themes that harbour unexpected harmonic turns. Hancock’s piano is restrained and lyrical, often leaving wide spaces around simple phrases,…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** My Point of View shows Herbie Hancock widening his palette with a larger band: Donald Byrd on trumpet, Garnett Brown on trombone, Hank Mobley on tenor, Grant Green on guitar, Chuck Israels on bass, Tony Williams on drums, and Patricia “Patty” T. on vocals on one track. The writing is richer and more layered, from soulful vamps to waltz‑like lyricism, yet unified by Hancock’s sense of structure and colour. The horns are given space to develop ideas; Green’s guitar…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Maiden Voyage, Herbie Hancock turns the small jazz group into an ocean vessel, steering a dream team of Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), George Coleman (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) through a suite of sea‑evoking pieces. Modal harmonies, open forms, and long, swelling melodies create a sense of expanse; Carter and Williams suggest tides and undertows, while Hubbard and Coleman trace arcs that feel both exploratory and inevitable. Hancock’…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Out to Lunch! remains one of the most strikingly original statements on Blue Note. Eric Dolphy marshals Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, Richard Davis on bass, and Tony Williams on drums into a unit that treats his knotty compositions as springboards rather than straitjackets. Themes like “Hat and Beard” arrive full of angular intervals and odd accents, while the rhythm team tilts and lurches under them, propelled by Williams’ restless …

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Volume 2, Miles Davis again fronts shifting line‑ups – including Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, and Horace Silver – in a programme that continues the exploration begun on its companion. The arrangements juxtapose brisk, tightly coiled numbers with more relaxed pieces that give Davis room to stretch his lyrical side. His phrasing shows a growing command of silence and attack; a single, slightly bent note can carry as much weight as a flurry of scales. The band’s in…

** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Volume 1 presents Miles Davis in a transitional bebop/hard‑bop setting, surrounded by players hungry to prove themselves: J. J. Johnson on trombone, Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Sonny Rollins on tenor, Horace Silver at the piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums on the original 10" sessions. Later tracks add different personnel, but the through‑line is Davis’ preference for space and contour over sheer velocity. Even at brisk tempos, his muted p…