Reissues
L’Ultimo Treno della Notte
"L'Ultimo Treno della Notte" (Last Stop on the Night Train) is a 1975 thriller film directed by Aldo Lado, one of the most violent movies ever produced in Italy in the '70s (and beyond) that actually shows, even in the crudest scenes, for same admission of the director, a harsh attack against the bourgeois society and its powerful rich people. Despite the limited budget, the friendship between Aldo Lado and composer Ennio Morricone made this collaboration possible; nonetheless, only a 45rpm 7" w…
Volo
*2022 stock* "One of the last Goblin-related releases to arrive on CD thanks to the Cinevox label, the notorious `Volo' from 1982 is now reissued. The Eighties was not a banner year for much of anything prog-related, and with bass player Fabio Pignatelli the sole founding member here, he's joined by a mix of related ex-Goblin members and session players, and together they delivered a sleek set of pop/rock/funk pieces very much in the manner of the popular commercial styles of the time. While it'…
Il Gatto
*2022 stock* Reissue of Ennio Morricone's soundtrack to director Luigi Comencini's 1977 film with two previously unreleased bonus tracks added, alternate versions of 'Mariangela E La Seduzione' & 'Il Gatto'. 15 tracks total, with all delicately balanced between being refined classical arias and erotic themes. This is yet another extraordinary soundtrack by the genius master of Ennio Morricone. This is wonderful music that takes you back to the wonderful seventies.
Beat Vol. 2 - Lounge At Cinevox
*2022 stock* "After testing the waters with the solid but unexceptional Lounge at Cinevox: Beat, Vol. 1, Cinevox upped the ante with this more interesting second volume. Lounge at Cinevox: Beat, Vol. 2 has the edge on its predecessor because it boasts a more adventurous set of selections. This combination of factors is apparent from the first cut, a wild slab of psychedelic funk entitled "4 Mosche Di Velluto Grigio (Titoli)": After leaping out the speakers with a jazzy drum intro, this cut then …
Roy Colt & Winchester Jack
*2022 stock* This CD is the first complete soundtrack of the "Spaghetti" western "Roy Colt Winchester Jack" directed in 1970 by the Master of Horror Mario Bava who only rarely abandons his favorite genre to experiment with new ones. Piero Umiliani has composed the soundtrack ranging from the classic western genre to the beat style in fashion at the time of composition, emphasizing the arrangements by organ, drums, electric guitar, brass and bass in lounge style.
Adua E Le Compagne
*2022 stock* In Adua e le Compagne, a desperate drama with no way out, Piero Piccioni's jazz is the master, a constant counterpoint to the story even in its most excruciating moments (Adua's revolt in the pre-final, dressed as a prostitute in front of the clients of the trattoria to discredit the scoundrel who would like to continue exploiting her). A precise relationship of collision between image and music that would characterize much of Pietrangeli's later cinema (La visita, and of course the…
Filet De Sole (Philly Of Soul)
* 2022 stock * Recorded at the Studio Jazz Unité in Paris, France, on June 19, 1981, Filet de Sole / Philly of Soul was the only recording made by brilliant drummer Philly Joe Jones with this exact octet formation.The group plays a variety of tunes, including well-known pieces by Tadd Dameron, Benny Golson, Randy Weston, and the tandem of John Lewis & Dizzy Gillespie, plus an homage to Tadd Dameron composed by the group's tenor saxophonist Charles Davis (a regular with Archie Shepp and Sun Ra), …
Dance With Me Montana
* 2022 stock * "The main point of interest of this album is its session date. Recorded in 1982, this is one of the very few documents of the late Sonny Sharrock's playing between his classic work with Pharoah Sanders and Don Cherry as well as on his own and his re-emergence with Last Exit in 1985. Bill Laswell had already utilized his talents on Material's Memory Serves release from the prior year, but here is Sharrock in a simple trio, playing several of the pieces that would become part of his…
Makrokosmos
** 2022 remastered repress ** Pianist Margaret Leng-Tan - considered the leading exponent of “extended” piano techniques - is at her best with this music. George Crumb and Ms. Tan worked closely on the preparation of these works for the recording. Crumb’s Makrokosmos I & II were written to expand the world of color and sonic possibilities which a single piano and pianist could create. In addition to playing the keyboard, the pianist is required to strum and pluck the strings; apply glass tumbler…
Spirale
Released way back in 1974, the lone, self-titled effort from Spirale is an album notable for its lack of electronic instruments. It also has some of those loveable low-budget production flaws that are so often heard in obscure 1970s Italian progressive music, and the bass quite often seems charmingly out-of-tune. But this was an earnest and quite energetic jazz-rock ensemble excursion, with excellent brass arrangements and improvisation. Other instruments used include violin, drums, piano and va…
Universal Consciousness
Universal Consciousness is the fifth solo album by Alice Coltrane, released in 1971 on Impulse! Records. Universal Consciousness builds nicely on albums that came before it. It grows out of the unbridled celebration of her late husband's life on A Monastic Trio and the soulful wanderings of her most well-known record, Journey in Satchadananda.In The Wire's "100 Records That Set the World on Fire," David Toop writes, "[Universal Consciousness] clearly connects to other dyspeptic jazz traditions –…
'Round About Midnight (Live At The Totem Vol. 2)
* 2022 stock * "Archie Shepp's 1979 quartet of American and European musicians (Clifford Jarvis, drums; Seifried Kessler, piano; Bob Cunningham, bass) put more fire under him as an improviser than anybody since Coltrane. These cats came to play, and they were playing for keeps. It's all Shepp can do to lead the band. Opening with a furiously paced "Donna Lee," with Shepp's solo winding all around the intervals and changing them in mid-phrase, Jarvis double times even his legato. For 16 minutes t…
Live At The Dreher
* 2022 stock * Marge Records presents Live at Dreher by Roy Burrowes Sextet featuring Mal Waldron Roy Burrowes (trompette & bugle), Richard Raux (saxophones ténor et soprano), Mal Waldron (piano), Patrice Caratini (contrebasse) & George Brown (batterie) - On two tracks : Roger Raspail (percussions) Recorded live on 10th march 1980 at Dreher, Paris.
Sunrise
* 2022 stock * New York-born drummer Stu Martin made a name for himself at the age of sixteen by playing with many of the great bands - those of Billy May, Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Maynard Ferguson and Quincy Jones, among others. In the 1960s he moved to Europe where he played with the greatest musicians of the time such as Jean-Luc Ponty, the Kühn brothers, Martial Solal or John McLaughlin. A very complete drummer adapting to all forms of jazz, he was part of the John Surman a…
Aigu - Grave
* 2022 stock * Sunny Murray's Aigu-Grave, a nominal quintet date with percussionist Pablo Sauvage appearing on two of the five tracks; the rest of the group features French tenor saxophonist Richard Raux, Bobby Few and Alan Silva. Its two leading tracks, “Happiness Tears” and “Tree Tops,” are memorable Murray compositions which are given free and satisfying treatments. The theme of “Happiness Tears” searches through some minor intervals before resolving in a cheerful major chord. “Tree Tops” is …
The Awakening
Tip! * 2022 stock * This 1979 date by tenor saxophonist Billy Harper is one of his most transcendent. Rife with his deep study of Coltrane's modalism, and his own deep knowledge of the blues and Eastern music, Harper and his quintet take on three extended pieces: "Soran Bushi-B.H." comes in at over 12 minutes, while "Cry Of Hunger," is over 20; both work out of extended harmonic architectures to place improvisation as a new element (remember, this was 1979), as an extension of the jazz "song." T…
La Chiesa
*2022 stock* This official soundtrack album for the Italian horror movie La Chiesa ("The Church") features four pieces performed by Keith Emerson. These are The Church (Main Theme); Prelude 24 (From Well Tempered Clavier); The Possession, and The Church Revisited, all four of which have also been included on the Keith Emerson "At the Movies" 3CD set. Emerson's contributions add up to about 13 minutes of music all in all.The rest of the music on this soundtrack is by other artists, including seve…
Anche Se Volessi Lavorare, Che Faccio?
"Released in 1972 on the Cinevox record label, Morricone’s score is in a word classic. It contains every musical trademark that we associate with the Maestro, quirky and jaunty backgrounds, romantic and poignant melodies, infectious and haunting musical interludes and emotive and heartrending passages that just melt the listener. The CD re-issue was also on Cinevox, and the company released it in the November of 2003, it contains a little more music than the LP recording in fact there are four …
L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo
*2022 stock* "Touted as being the definitive edition of Ennio Morricone's darkly seductive score for the first motion picture directed by Italian master of the macabre, Dario Argento, this release of L'uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo, or The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, coincides with the film's debut on Blu-ray (see separate review). The entire original soundtrack-album is presented here in stereo for the first time and, not only that, but a very generous helping of bonus and alternate track…
Non Ho Sonno (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
*2022 stock* "Non ho sonno isn’t exactly a return to the glory days of Suspiria and Roller, but it’s very good, and is worthy of purchase before most of the 1980’s soundtracks. Though Goblin managed to hold on to the 1970’s sound even on most of their 1980’s work, this album sounds much more like the 1980’s than the 1970’s or 1990’s, especially the guitar. As far as opening themes go, “Non Ho Sonno” is good. That basically goes for the rest of the music too. It’s all very good, but not as unique…