Jazz /
Afraid To Speak
Departing from a run of releases for Discus Music featuring mainly large group composition, this stripped down, free-blowing session features a group of great players on top form, delivering music which is in turns heavily incisive and delicately traced. Dunmall himself has never sounded better than he does here.
Live in Europe 1968 & 1972
On Live in Europe 1968 & 1972, Marion Brown leads a borderless quartet through two rare European concerts, pairing his singing alto with Gunter Hampel's vibes, Barre Phillips' bass and Steve McCall's drums in a sound that hovers between lyrical free jazz and chamber‑like intimacy.
Sonic House Reunion
On Sonic House Reunion, Bobby Bradford, Mark Dresser and Hafez Modirzadeh reconvene a long‑running alliance, turning cornet, five‑string bass and hybrid reeds into a quietly radical chamber unit where Ornette‑rooted lyricism, spectral tuning and deep listening pull the music in multiple directions at once.
Sun's Blessings
On Sun’s Blessings, Sunny Murray and Sabu Toyozumi meet as a double‑drum frontline, turning a 1999 Sapporo concert into a two‑part ritual where clattering polyrhythms, rolling thunder and sudden hollows of space make free improvisation feel both volcanic and oddly tender.
Keeping It In Context
On Keeping It In Context, Daniel Carter, Sabir Mateen, William Parker and Lou Grassi turn a 1996 Context Studios session into a blazing, deep‑listening workshop, with twin reeds, singing bass and restless drums stretching free jazz language without losing its earthy pulse.
Tether
In any band there is a constant push and pull. A state of tension and release between written music and improvisation, between leading and following. In the instinctive, unpredictable world of jazz, that push and pull can explode groups and compositions into entirely new forms, yet no matter how far each player might be stretched, there is always something connecting them back to each other and back to the tune. A tether.
For New York-based saxophonist and composer Alden Hellmuth, that innate se…
Raw Dog
One of the leading lights of contemporary creative saxophone music, Jon Irabagon (b. 1978) hails from Chicago, made his name in New York, and has returned to the Windy City with decisive ferocity, joining the city's bustling scene as an active participant and bandleader. Known for many of his groups, including Mostly Other People Do The Killing and PlainsPeak, as well as membership in ensembles led by Mary Halvorson, Dave Douglas, and Barry Altschul, Irabagon is a ceaselessly inventive horn play…
Three for Shepp + Awofofora
A special discounted bundle gathering Marion Brown's two finest reissues of the season. Three For Shepp (Elemental Music, 1966), the Georgia-born saxophonist's Impulse! debut and a cornerstone document of the late-60s New York avant-garde - recorded with an all-star band of Dave Burrell, Stanley Cowell, Grachan Moncur III, Sirone, Beaver Harris, and Bobby Capp, splitting its program between Brown originals and Archie Shepp compositions in a conscious echo of Shepp's own 1964 homage to Coltrane, …
Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts
On Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts, The Cecil Taylor Unit detonates across two uncut Paris sets: a newly unearthed, vividly mastered document of Taylor, Sam Rivers, Jimmy Lyons and Andrew Cyrille stretching free jazz into an overwhelming, architectural storm of sound.
John Zorn's Bagatelles Vol. 8
On The Bagatelles Vol. 8, John Zorn hands nine knotty miniatures from his 300‑tune book to the John Medeski Trio, who turn organ, guitar and drums into a shape‑shifting engine of groove, skronk and sly lyricism that makes each Bagatelle feel like a tiny, exploding suite.
John Zorn's Bagatelles Vol. 7
On The Bagatelles Vol. 7, John Zorn hands a batch of his razor‑cut miniatures to pianist Brian Marsella, who turns thirteen terse themes into a 46‑minute solo suite where classical poise, jazz volatility and downtown mischief share the same set of keys.
Alea Iacta Est
On Alea Iacta Est, John Zorn hurls the piano concerto into a maelstrom: Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, Ches Smith and Sae Hashimoto navigate four years of volatile writing where ferocious counterpoint, free‑jazz impact and sudden lyric calm collide with game‑like inevitability.
Three For Shepp
On Three for Shepp, Marion Brown leads a blazing American free‑jazz ensemble with Dave Burrell, Norris “Sirone” Jones and Grachan Moncur III, unleashing high‑energy fire music that shows the Impulse! era at full boil yet still somehow under‑sung.
Buttercorn Lady
On Buttercorn Lady, Art Blakey leads a brief but blazing mid‑60s Jazz Messengers lineup at The Lighthouse, launching a young Keith Jarrett and Chuck Mangione in a hard‑bop set that feels both like a proving ground and a joyous passing of the torch.
Inception
Using the crème de la crème of sound engineers and the unsurpassed production quality of Quality Record Pressings, the Acoustic Sounds series is mastered from the original tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged in high-quality gatefold covers produced by Stoughton Printing Co., where — as was customary on records of the era — the printed paper sheet is applied to the cardboard (so the cardboard itself is not directly inked). All this is overseen by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the…
The Complete Birth of the Cool
*2026 repress* "With the reissue of the Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool sessions, accompanied by recordings of this seminal nonet’s slightly earlier live dates at New York City’s Royal Roost, we now have as complete as possible an account of this still fresh sounding and beautiful music. The array of talent alone is startling: Miles Davis in transition between his earlier bebop stylings, and his later gorgeous tone and sparer choice of notes; Lee Konitz on alto sax playing startling melodic inven…
Jazz Harpist
*2026 repress!* This is Dorothy Ashby's debut album, originally released in 1957 by the Regent label. Recognized as the woman who gave the harp a jazz voice, here Ashby is at the head of a highly distinctive combo featuring Frank Wess on flute, Eddie Jones or Wendell Marshall on bass and master Ed Thigpen on drums. The Jazz Harpist is an unprecedented mix of evocative classic sounds and jazz soul, awarded by Allmusic as her first and best album, period!
Hip Harp
*2026 repress!* Born in Detroit in 1932 Dorothy Ashby can be easily recognized as the woman who gave the harp a Jazz voice. In her hands, the harp, an originally classical instrument which seemed to just scare people, became a highly versatile swinging voice able to drive a whole jazz rhythm section. Recorded in 1958 by master Rudy Van Gelder and originally released on the Prestige label, Hip Harp is a perfect example of Ashby’s artistry. At the head of a fine quartet featuring the great Frank …
Mana
Mana is the International Anthem debut by composer, trombonist and vocalist Kalia Vandever. This new full length carries on the expansive and dazed spirit of their first solo album, We Fell In Turn, while entering a new landscape of spacious songwriting. Vandever’s music has quickly and widely gained traction in the last few years despite the fact that their style has been consistently difficult to pin down, boasting a compositional scope ranging from the cinematic modern jazz of their quartet w…
The Ear Behind The Airport
Pianist Jonas Cambien, bassist Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard and drummer Dag Erik Knedal Andersen have been indispensable to followers of the eclectic creative music scene in Oslo for years; among others with bands such as The Handover, Reôlo, Maca Conu, Delish, Cortex and Sulida. Until now, only lucky concertgoers have been able to experience their excellent improvising trio, but fortunately Motvind Records are doing something about that! "The Ear Behind the Airport" is a multifaceted being. Between…