Before Afrobeat, there was Highlife-Jazz and Afro-Soul. Highlife music, originally from Ghana and widely popular across West Africa, dominated the music scene in Lagos when Fela Kuti returned to the newly independent Nigeria in 1963. Fela had been studying trumpet at Trinity College of Music in London where he met drummer Tony Allen, who also joined him in new group Koola Lobitos as they sought to mix things up by introducing the sounds they had heard in the capital's jazz clubs. The music of Fe…
Elis & Tom is a bossa nova album, released in 1974, recorded by Brazilian singer Elis Regina and singer-songwriter Antônio Carlos Jobim. Recorded over a 16-day period at MGM Studios in Los Angeles, California, the album was an old wish of Regina, who always wanted to record a full album of Jobim's songs with him. This finally came true in 1974, when Elis was celebrating her 10th anniversary as an artist of Philips Records. The label approved the project as a gift for her.
*2026 repress* The soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's 1986 film Down By Law is composed and performed by John Lurie, who also plays the pimp Jack in the movie. His world-weary avant-jazz pieces like "Please Come to My House," "What Do You Know About Music, You're Not a Lawyer," "Strangers in the Day," and "Fork in the Road" convey the film's seedy but humorous crime story.
*2025 much needed repress!* Reissue of Don Cherry's 'Relativity Suite', recorded with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra in 1973. At this time, Cherry was becoming increasingly interested in Middle Eastern and traditional African and Indian music, having traveled extensively and studied with Indian musician Vasant Rai. This suite of songs was particularly influenced by the Indian karnatic singing tradition, as can be heard from the very opening moments of the album. Featuring Carla Bley on piano, Cha…
Viva is the seminal second album by the German band La Düsseldorf, originally released in 1978 and widely regarded as their most successful work to date. The album features the hit singles "Rheinita," which stands as their most popular track, and "Cha Cha 2000," an expansive and utopian composition blending hypnotic repetition, delicate piano passages, evocative chants, and rich electronic textures. This track has become the band’s signature anthem and a dreamy manifesto envisioning a more ideal…
This live jazz album, recorded on June 15, 1968, at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, showcases the extraordinary artistry of Bill Evans on piano, accompanied by Eddie Gómez on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Capturing the trio at a peak of creative interplay, the album presents a captivating blend of original compositions and classic standards.
The repertoire features Evans originals such as “One for Helen” and “Nardis”, alongside his masterful interpretations of timeless pieces lik…
Massada is a dynamic Dutch Latin band with deep roots in the Moluccan community, renowned for their unique blend of African, Brazilian, and Balearic grooves fused with soulful world music styles. Their music is a rich tapestry of rhythms and melodies that seamlessly cross cultural boundaries, captivating audiences with its infectious energy and heartfelt emotion. Since their formation, Massada has been celebrated for their ability to innovate within the Latin and world music genres, creating sou…
"Hotmosphere" is a 1976 album by iconic Brazilian percussionist and composer Dom Um Romão. Renowned for his contributions to Weather Report and collaborations with legends in the jazz fusion world, Romão brings together the best of Brazilian rhythms, jazz fusion, and funk on this vibrant, electrifying record. On "Hotmosphere," Dom Um Romão showcases his deep roots in samba and Brazilian folk traditions, while also pushing the boundaries of contemporary jazz. Listeners are treated to layers of ri…
* Red Vinyl edition *Led by visionary keyboardist Alan Gowen, Gilgamesh emerged from the fertile British jazz fusion underground of the 1970s as one of the Canterbury scene's most innovative and uncompromising groups. This special red vinyl edition celebrates a band that, despite their brief existence, left an indelible mark on the progressive music landscape. Formed around the core partnership of Alan Gowen and drummer Mike Travis, Gilgamesh's journey began as an ambitious band project that wou…
*2025 repress* The third album by Canterbury's own Caravan, originally released in 1971, reissued with two full sides of bonus outtakes taken from the album's original recording sessions at A.I.R. and Decca studios in London in 1970-71. This was the last album to feature the original Caravan line-up, before David Sinclair left to form Matching Mole with Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine) later that year.
"In the Land of Grey and Pink is considered by many to be a pinnacle release from Caravan. The albu…
Tin Pan Alley is the iconic name given to a collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated popular music in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally, it referred to a specific location: West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan’s Flower District.
Drawing inspiration from this historic music landmark, renowned Japanese musicians Haruomi Hosono (Apryl Fool, Happy End, Yellow Magic Orchestra), Masataka Matsutoya (mus…
*2025 repress* Yellow Magic Orchestra is the first official studio album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra. The album was an early example of synth-pop,a genre that the band helped pioneer. It contributed to the development of electro, hip hop and even techno. The album's innovations in electronic music included its use of the microprocessor-based Roland MC-8 Microcomposer music sequencer which allowed the creation of new electronic sounds,and its sampling of video game so…
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Released in the United Kingdom in June 1968 by Track Records and in the United States in September 1968 through Atlantic, the album was an international success, propelled by the transatlantic hit single "Fire". It was the only album released during the Crazy World's original incarnation.
A psychedelic soul album, its style is defined by frontman Arthur Brown's wide-ranging theatri…
"One of Shorter's best-selling albums from the '70s was Native Dancer, a Brazilian-oriented jazz-fusion masterpiece that boasts Herbie Hancock on acoustic piano and electric keyboards, and employs such Brazilian talent as singer Milton Nascimento (a superstar in Brazil) and percussionist Airto Moreira. Everything on this melodic, consistently lyrical effort is a jewel, and that includes Hancock's "Joanna's Theme," as well as pieces by Nascimento ("From the Lonely Afternoons" and "Ponta de Areia"…
Tropical is Jorge Ben's fifteenth album, a “muscular” mix of previously unreleased material and rearranged covers such as “Taj Mahal” and “País tropical”. The openness to more Pop, more Western arrangements, foreshadows his future work oriented towards the stereotypical World-Dance of the 1980s. Tropical was originally intended for the market outside Brazil, and was not distributed there until 1977. A very fine confirming his immense talent and ability to adapt to the zeitgeist by intelligently …
Six Pianos is a minimalist piece for six pianos by the American composer Steve Reich. It was completed in March 1973. Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ – again – emerged in the same year. The piece is scored for glockenspiels, marimbas, metallophone (vibraphone without resonator fans), women's voices and organ. The piece is in four sections, played without a break, marked off by changes in key and meter.
Sun Ra's legendary 1978 Italian studio sessions, now available together for the first time ever on vinyl! Long sought-after by collectors, these extremely rare studio sessions were originally released in 1978 as two double LPs (New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues) on the mysterious Italian jazz label, Horo Records. They have never been reissued on vinyl (and only partially reissued on CD) until now! With the help of trumpet player, Michael Ray, drummer, Luqman Ali and saxophonist John Gilmor…
Before morphing into the excellent psych trio, B.F. Trike, Hickory Wind (from Evansville, Indiana), released one brilliant, and extremely rare, country psych album in 1969. Just 100 copies were pressed for the Gigantic label, and originals have been known to change hands for a small fortune. The album features excellent vocals, plus an interesting mix of fuzz guitar, and droning organ, as well as some wonderfully melodic songs. This reissue also features four bonus tracks from the B.F. Trike alb…
"Quatermass' only album is a must-have for prog rock enthusiasts, especially lovers of the keyboard-dominated style which flourished in the early '70s. Although there are only three members of the band, their histories are just as colorful as the music they produced. Keyboard player Pete Robinson and bass man Johnny Gustafson met drummer Mick Underwood and founded Episode Six, a band which included Ian Gillan who later fronted Deep Purple. Underwood was also involved with the Outlaws as well as …
As with Directstep (recorded one week previously), this album was recorded, and originally only released, in Japan. It was one of Hancock's most successful albums in Japan, perhaps because it was entirely solo piano. Hancock tackles jazz standards such as "My Funny Valentine", "On Green Dolphin Street" and "Some Day My Prince Will Come" while also performing four original compositions.
Rare Bird are perhaps best remembered for having the distinction of being the first act to be released on Tony Stratton Smith’s gloriously eclectic label Charisma records (also the home of Genesis, The Nice and Van Der Graaf Generator to name but a few) and for their excellent 1970 hit single ‘Sympathy’. Like fellow future Charisma stable mates Van Der Graaf Generator, Rare Bird was formed around the principle of keyboard dominated progressive rock which eschewed the use of guitars. In December …
The Open Mind was an English psychedelic rock band formed in London, and active in the 1960s and 1970s. The band was formed in 1963 by four musicians from Putney, South West London. Initially named The Apaches and formed by Tim du Feu, Mike Brancaccio and Philip Fox and their friend Ray Nye. Nye left in 1965 and another friend, Terry Schindler, joined instead. The band became The Drag Set, who released a little-known single in February 1967, "Day and Night" / "Get Out of My Way". Shortly thereaf…
* Temporary nice price * Blue Vinyl edition. Easily one of the most prolific film composers of all time, Ennio Morricone enjoys a revered status in the world of eccentric music lovers second to no other. While he is probably best known for his unmistakable music in Sergio Leone's Man with No Name trilogy, much of his work has been of a subtler and somewhat less broadly accessible variety. Because of this, his oeuvre represents a treasure trove for film music lovers, and now, with Dissonance, Kli…
* Temporary nice price * Ever-Green Vinyl edition. Easily one of the most prolific film composers of all time, Ennio Morricone enjoys a revered status in the world of eccentric music lovers second to no other. While he is probably best known for his unmistakable music in Sergio Leone's Man with No Name trilogy, much of his work has been of a subtler and somewhat less broadly accessible variety. Because of this, his oeuvre represents a treasure trove for film music lovers, and now, with Crime, Kl…
*In process of stocking* Recorded in 1969, these White Plains NY kids created a horror show of late psych, which they fully admitted to on “Freak Show,” a slow bluesy creeper with spirally spiderweb organ and the fantastic and sexy sorceress vocals of Lynn Boccumini. Recorded in New York’s Record Plant under the guidance of cult producers Jimmy Curtiss and Steve Kanyon (best-known for their involvement with popsike favourites the Hobbits and the New Hobbits), this Italian-American psych rarity …
Hear and Now's cover depicts a smiling Cherry posing like Buddha, and holding a trumpet with a bent mouthpiece -- an indication of some meditative sounds, but it's really a mishmash of styles with a leaning toward African rhythms. An underlying social message runs through the album of Cherry compositions (except one) produced by Narada Michael Walden. Cherry plays very little trumpet on "Universal Mother"; the African-based excursion is carried by Neil Jason's bass, Sammy Figueroa's congas, and …
If Eternal Rhythm was Don Cherry's world fusion masterpiece of the '60s, then Brown Rice is its equivalent for the '70s. But where Eternal Rhythm set global influences in a free jazz framework, Brown Rice's core sound is substantially different, wedding Indian, African, and Arabic music to Miles Davis' electrified jazz-rock innovations. And although purists will likely react here the same way they did to post-Bitches Brew Davis, Brown Rice is a stunning success by any other standard. By turns hy…
Something of a sequel to Eternal Rhythm, his classic meeting of free jazz and world music from five years prior, Eternal Now found Don Cherry entering the studio for the tiny Sonet label, once again with members of the European avant-garde scene (this time from Sweden).
This time around, though, the focus swings decidedly to the world-folk end of things: The only standard Western instrument is the piano, featured on only two of the five pieces (one of which is a non-traditional, African-styled r…
* Royal Blue Vinyl edition * To Keep from Crying is the second album by progressive folk band Comus, released in 1974. It featured a notably different lineup from their other releases, with the violin/viola and woodwind spots replaced by keyboards and a conventional drum kit. The album's content has also been noted as sounding more mainstream than their earlier work, which centred more in conventional progressive rock and folk
Avant-garde jazz drummer Rashied Ali played with John Coltrane up until his death in 1967, appearing on final recordings like The Olatunji Concert and Interstellar Space. After Coltrane's death, Ali soon formed his own quartet, with Fred Simmons on piano, Stafford James on bass violin and Carlos Ward on alto sax and flute. The quartet's first release, New Directions In Modern Music, released on Ali's own Survival Records in 1973, exploded onto the free jazz scene, influencing the likes of Don Ch…
** Clear LP ** Edu Lobo has to be considered one of the great mysteries of MPB. Already in the early hours of Bossa Nova, he has mainly worked for the renewal and development of the Brazilian Bossa Nova post. Edu Lobo remains a character in the shadows, discreet but effective. Known as a writer "complex and sophisticated", he is part of the circle of composers "melodist" like Tom Jobim, Marcos Valle and Francis Hime. On this 1981 album the duo with Anton Jobim works perfectly, offering classical…
** Clear LP ** Originally released in 1973, Joao Gilberto aka The White Album, is as a timeless classic of the genre and one of Joao's definitive masterpieces. Featuring only the minimalist drumming of NY jazz drummer Sonny Carr (and the backing vocals of 'Miucha', Gilberto's second wife and sister of Chico Buarque on the final track), Joao spins a delicate web of sound that from the first notes of Tom Jobim's anthem 'Aguas De Marco' has the listener dreaming of Bahia, even though the album was …
**Royal blue vinyl edition** Ken Elliott was the keyboard player for Second Hand and Seventh Wave, two obscure and elusive bands from the Seventies British underground scene, and this is the first ever reissue of his ultra rare gem released in the UK in 1979. After fourty years Body Music still sounds as a highly eclectic album. This is groove oriented music based on a series of both motoric and infectious Electro Funk rhythms and Synth Pop Disco elements. In other words this is great fuel for d…
One of the great lost albums of British psychedelia, original copies of Arzachel's 1969 self-titled debut fetch huge sums on the collectors' market and it is not difficult to understand why. Originally released in 1969 on the small Evolution label, this album quite simply contains some of the best psych to ever come out of the UK. However, like so many other great albums of the era, it soon dropped entirely from the radar due to bad promotion. In fact, it may not have ever been rediscovered at a…
**Clear vinyl edition** In 1971, following the departure of his bandmate Jerry Cole, bassist Alan Henderson joined forces with U.S. guitarist Jim Parker and drummer John Stark to make this lost power trio classic - the last to be issued under the legendary Them moniker. It opens with a searing medley of the Them classics Gloria and Baby Please Don't Go, boasting superb interplay and savage psychedelic guitar throughout. Elsewhere, Stark and Parker flex their songwriting muscles on a series of po…
**White vinyl edition** Peter Green's legendary debut album was released in June 1970, only a month after leaving Fleetwood Mac, the iconic band he formed in 1967. The End of the Game takes a radical shift from Green's previous works with the band. The music, produced through a long free form studio session based on almost non existent structures, takes us through a deep hypnotic sonic experience. Green on guitar was joined by Alex Dmochowski on bass, Godfrey Maclean on drums, Nick Buck on keybo…
**Edition of 500 copies, pressed on color vinyl LP with a bonus track** From the 70's Canterbury scene, one of the greatest pieces of work in the genre. Matching Mole was the first band formed by Robert Wyatt after the seminal Soft Machine experience. An incredibly tight unit featuring Phil Miller (Hatfield and the North) on guitar, Dave McRae (Nucleus) on keyboards, Bill McCormick (Quiet Sun, 801) on bass and Wyatt himself on drums and vocals. Released in 1971 Little Red Record was Mole's secon…
2025 stock The classic self-titled LP from Canterbury super group Matching Mole, originally released in 1972, is now reissued on White Vinyl, with the addition of the bonus track 'Memories Membrane'! The line-up included former Soft Machine-drummer Robert Wyatt, David Sinclair of Caravan on organ and piano, Phil Miller on guitar and Bill MacCormick (formerly of Quiet Sun) on bass.