Jazz /
Color Systems
Rob Mazurek’s creations, dedicated to these six artists offered to Tomeka Reid, Angelica Sanchez, and Chad Taylor, to interpret freely. A foundation laid for these improvisations in the foursome’s forays into Mazurek’s music with the larger ensemble. Here something becomes distilled. Interaction is direct. The unit is unitary, the dynamics are gently modulated, the sounds are tendered with deliberation love and inter-ensemble generosity.
Stumps
Sven-Ake Johansson has referred to the book of compositions used for his Stumps project as the magnum opus of his small group writing. The top-notch quintet he assembled for the project includes some of his most trusted collaborators in trumpeter Axel Dörner and double bassist Joel Grip, complemented by the involvement of two younger but equally compelling French improvisers, pianist Simon Sieger and alto saxophonist Pierre Borel. A set of recordings made at the Berlin club Au Topsi Pohl were re…
Manteca
We are excited to announce the first reissue of Tony Scott's iconic “Manteca” album originally released in 1973. This 180-gram vinyl audiophile edition captures the essence of a true master of contaminated jazz, allowing listeners to experience Tony Scott's vibrant artistry like never before.
Originally described in the album’s liner notes by Sam Charters, "Manteca" embodies the spirit of the jazz musician’s journey—a testament to durability, warmth, and exuberance. Charters notes, “You have to …
Meets the World
“Embryo meets the world” is a new compilation with previously unreleased Embryo's Ethno Jazz from 1979/80, recorded on the German band`s trip to Asia and recently discovered in the archives. It includes seven unknown studio sessions from Kabul, Essaouira, Cairo and Athens, produced with members of the Kabul Radio Orchestra or oud players and singers from Eritrea, Syria and Iraq. Eastern meet Western musicians, improvising with an astonishing deepness over wonderful traditional melodies from Afgh…
Swift Are The Winds Of Life
Part of Rashied Ali’s artistic strength involved turning improbable sound combinations into unchallenged masterpieces. After the pattern established by John Coltrane’s Interstellar Space, and Duo Exchange with Frank Lowe, the drummer stepped into a rather unlikely duet with violinist Leroy Jenkins for Swift are the Winds of Life. Five years with the Revolutionary Ensemble had established Jenkins as a composer; he designed all the pieces played on these 1975 duets with Ali. That record is issued …
Sidewalks in Motion
Rashied Ali stood as a magnetic force for the musical environment around him. In his last decades he sponsored rehearsal opportunities for young musicians, tightened up neighborhood street-corner drum circles he happened to pass, and for years would pull promising young talents into his orbit. One unique group that Ali led at the 2002 Vision Festival in NYC, along with with Frank Lowe, he also took into the studio—and the moment you hear on Sidewalks in Motion features Ali and Lowe along with yo…
Premonitions
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Britain's Free Jazz Quartet is comprised of trombonist Paul Rutherford, reed and woodwind man Harrison Smith, cellist Tony Moore, and drummer Eddie Prévost. Recorded in 1989 in Oxford, the offering here, a series of mid-length improv pieces, bears up well under the free jazz moniker and leaves all the "new music" clichés to another day. Here, the dictates of a European free jazz mapped out by Evan Parker, Tony Coe, Lol Coxhill, and othe…
Band On The Wall
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Recorded in 1994 at a concert in Manchester, England, Band on the Wall -- which is literally where they played -- features the divine dancing of Eddie Prévost's drumming in tandem with the piano of Marilyn Crispell, who was just then emerging out from under the shadows of her two mentors, Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton. Since Crispell was used to working with Gerry Hemingway, this set provides an amazing contrast for the pianist, in t…
Ptow!!
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** The West Coast Rova Saxophone quartet in a 7 track studio album from 1995, from Jon Raskin on alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, sopranino saxophone, Steve Adams on alto saxophone, sopranino saxophone, Bruce Ackley on soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone and Larry Ochs on tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone.
Illuminate
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "This quartet date pairing alto saxophonist Rob Brown with guitar madman Joe Morris dates from 1993 with William Parker, the ubiquitous New York bassist in the avant-garde, and the lesser-known, but very able drummer Jackson Krall. Recorded by Tommy Tedesco (not the guitarist), this set has all the elements that many of Morris' other dates are missing: cohesiveness. Here he is merely part of the band. Sure, he solos, but no more or less …
Red Rope - 3 Pieces For 2 Players
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "On this set recorded live at the Knitting Factory, George Cartwright (switching between various saxophones) and clarinetist Michael Lytle battle it out on three lengthy free improvisations."
FINland
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Alto saxophonist Christopher Cauley's debut recording as a leader carries with it all of the weight of a major talent announcing its "coming out" into a room full of aggressive challengers. To accomplish this, he has enlisted the assistance of a veritable tank of a rhythm section in drummer Gregg Bendian and bassist William Parker, and the occasional help of trombonist Steve Swell. Cauley's approach to improvising has been deeply inspir…
A White Line
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "A White Line is, in many ways, Austrian composer, arranger, flugelhorn player, and bandleader Franz Koglmann's most controversial work because in it, he dares to use race as a compositional element. His is not merely a cultural dissension but a musical one. A White Line is Koglmann's salute to the white lineage in jazz, from Bix Beiderbecke through to Chet Baker, and including perhaps even one of his guests on this recording: pianist an…
Music For Organ & Saxophone
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.
Plays Be Bop Vol.2
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.
Berlin Images
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Futterman's restless churning lines are countered by the questing trumpet of former Cecil Taylor associate Raphé Malik, who, along with drummer Robert Adkins makes The World Watched and Ask The Price enticing, thought provoking experiences. The collection's closing title, There Is Peace, provides the listener with a intensely swirling, though decidedly less harrowing, aural imagery."
Mars Song
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "This duet performance between improvisational soprano saxophone wizard Evan Parker and Tuvan jazz and new music vocalist Sainkho Namtchylak was recorded live in 1996 at the Toronto Music Gallery. It was not the first time they had played together, though it was the first as a duo. The recording is aptly titled, not because the music is spaced out, but because it appears beyond the scope and breadth of human language to encompass, let al…
End To Slavery
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "These "Ends to Slavery" Eugene Chadbourne refers to in his title are just that: the pieces he played to end his own cultural and musical slavery. To this end, in the liner notes, he discusses -- sometimes at length -- what happens in particular works, or, more interestingly, what they're about and who they're for. The opening track, "Amber," is about a family cocker spaniel who had to be gassed because of her age -- and the fact that sh…
Live In Lausanne
Rare CD 2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.
From The Bureau Of Both
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "One of the better albums in Rova's confusingly expansive discography, From the Bureau of Both features some of the quartet's most immediately rewarding moments, as well as a few on the opposite end of the spectrum. Rova can be surprisingly accessible when the group's free explorations are tethered to strong frameworks, and that's the case with much of this album. "Swang" became something of a signature piece for the group, featuring a j…