Reissues
Think!
One of the funkiest & most inventive organists to ever walk the earth, Dr. Lonnie Smith made his name on Blue Note beginning with his 1968 label debut Think! Produced by Francis Wolff, the album featured trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist David Newman, guitarist Melvin Sparks, and drummer Marian Booker Jr., with Henry "Pucho" Brown, William Bivens, and Norberto Apellaniz adding percussion on two tracks. Groove is the thing on this session from the hard-driving opener “Song of Ice Bag” writt…
Blue Mode
For his third Blue Note album Blue Mode (1969), organist Reuben Wilson kept it right in the pocket and laid down one of the funkiest soul jazz workouts of the late-60s. Produced by Francis Wolff, the date featured Wilson at the helm of an airtight quartet with tenor saxophonist John Manning, guitarist Melvin Sparks, and drummer Tommy Derrick. Highlights of the set include Wilson’s grooving originals “Bus Ride,” “Orange Peel,” and “Blue Mode,” along with covers of Eddie Floyd’s “Knock On Wood” an…
Grant's First Stand
Grant Green's debut album, Grant's First Stand, still ranks as one of his greatest pure soul-jazz outings, a set of killer grooves laid down by a hard-swinging organ trio. For having such a small lineup, just organist Baby Face Willette and drummer Ben Dixon -- the group cooks up quite a bit of power, really sinking its teeth into the storming up-tempo numbers, and swinging loose and easy on the ballads. From the first note of "Miss Ann's Tempo," they establish a groove, and swing like hell thro…
Alive!
After a prolific 5-year run from 1961-1965 when he made more than 20 great hard bop & soul jazz albums for Blue Note, guitarist Grant Green took a 4-year hiatus from recording. When he returned to Blue Note in 1969, Green’s style had moved into funkier territory as was perfectly captured on his first-ever live album “Alive!” which captured a hard-driving set of jazz-funk at the Cliché Lounge in Newark, New Jersey in 1970. The band is propelled by drummer Idris Muhammad who keeps a fire burning u…
Blacks And Blues
Flutist Bobbi Humphrey found wide success with Blacks and Blues (1973), her breakout third album for Blue Note, working with the Mizell Brothers (who had recently hooked up with Donald Byrd to produce the trumpeter’s landmark album Black Byrd) to create a jazz-funk classic for the ages featuring the standout track “Harlem River Drive.” Humphrey’s alluring flute and breezy vocals paired with Larry Mizell’s compelling R&B jazz fusion compositions and production proved a winning combination that wo…
Basra
By the time drummer Pete La Roca recorded his debut album Basra in 1965 he had already appeared on 9 Blue Note sessions as a sideman and spent time in bands led by Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. But it was another tenor titan, Joe Henderson, that La Roca brought in as the sole horn voice to front a dynamic quartet that was completed by what liner note writer Ira Gitler called “one of the most attuned rhythm sections in jazz” featuring bassist Steve Swallow and pianist Steve Kuhn. The resulting…
Takin' Off
On his debut album Takin’ Off—recorded and released in 1962—jazz legend Herbie Hancock arrived fully formed at the helm of an impressive quintet with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Billy Higgins. Though rooted firmly in hard bop, the brilliant pianist and composer presented his own strikingly original voice on this 6-song album consisting entirely of his own compositions from the funky hit “Watermelon Man” to the timeless ballad “Alo…
Inventions & Dimensions
For his third Blue Note album Inventions & Dimensions (1963), pianist Herbie Hancock began moving away from the modernist hard bop sound that defined his first two albums Takin’ Off and My Point Of View. Inspired by explorers like Eric Dolphy and Tony Williams, Hancock went in search of greater musical freedom by composing a set of ingenious originals each with their own unique inner logic that did away with what he considered the established jazz “assumptions” of the time. Hancock also pared th…
Dawn of the Dead
**Limited Transparent Lime Vinyl** Rustblade presents Claudio Simonetti and his Goblin playing and reinterpreting the score of one of the most famous horror movies of all times to celebrate 40 years of the idolised film Dawn of the Dead directed by George Romero and produced by Dario Argento. The music that accompanies the movie is a mix of prog and electronic rock full of tension and magic tribalism. Piercing guitars, synth orchestration and virtualism give life to thousands of blood thirsty zo…
Full Circle
A total peach comes back into circulation with Holger Czukay’s beguiling, heavily grooving ‘Full Circle’, starring crucial input from his Can bandmate Jaki Liebzeit on drums and Jah Wobble weilding the bass
Instantly loveable for the grooving punk-disco ear worm of album opener ‘How Much Are They? - a big anthem in mid ‘80s Belgium and elsewhere - listeners will also encounter the muggy dub of ‘Where’s The Money?’ and the playfully exotic concrète-jazz-funk of ‘Full Circle R.P.S. (No. 7)’, along…
Sterntaler
Reissue of 'Sterntaler', the second studio album by the German solo artist Michael Rother. It was released in 1978 and includes the single "Sterntaler" b/w "Sonnenrad".
"The album was recorded between September and November 1977 in Germany at Rother's own studio in Forst and Conny's Studio. Receiving positive reviews the album was released as an LP in 1977 before it was re-released by Polydor in 1982. The album was reissued on CD in 1993 with bonus tracks and having been remastered. The artwork …
Katzenmusik
Reissue of Katzenmusik, the third studio album by the German solo artist Michael Rother. It was released in 1979 and includes the single "Katzenmusik 9" b/w "Katzenmusik 2".
"The album was recorded between March and July 1979 in Germany at Rother's own studio in Forst and Conny's Studio. Receiving positive reviews the album was released as an LP in 1979 before it was re-released by Polydor in 1982. The album was issued on CD in 1990, and then reissued again in 1993 with bonus tracks and having …
Fernwarme
Reissue of Fernwärme, the fourth studio album by the German solo artist Michael Rother. It was released in 1982 and includes the singles "Silberstreif" b/w "Erlkönig" and "Hohe Luft" b/w "Fortuna".
"The album was recorded in 1981 in Germany at Rother's own studio Flammende Herzen Studio in Forst. Receiving positive reviews the album was released as an LP and Cassette in 1982. In some English speaking territories, the album was retitled Silver Streak, which is the English translation of track one…
Demons
**666 copies, deluxe edition on purple vinyl** Definitive release of the Iconic Horror Film soundtrack firmed by Claudio Simonetti for the Horror/Gore movie Demons by Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava.
The lower tones as the main characters move through the dark theater give a distinctly ‘creepy’ air to the movie. A distinctly fightening melody characterizes the ‘transformation’ sequences as the 2nd prostitute slowly becomes a demon. The same melody appears throughout the film in different places.
The End of the Game
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 keyboards and British blues l…
GRM Works 1957-1962
2020 repress, originally released in 2013. Recollection GRM assembles Greek experimental composer Iannis Xenakis' works for Groupe de Recherches Musicales circa 1957-1962. "Concret PH" (1958) was assembled for the Brussels World Fair. The industrialist Philips commissioned Le Corbusier's famous "Philips Pavilion": "I'll create an electronic poem for you, he said. Everything will happen inside: sound, light, color, and rhythm." Iannis Xenakis designed the architectural blueprint and composed "Con…
Distant Radio Transmission
Distant Radio Transmission was recorded as an improvisation by Roscoe Mitchell, Craig Taborn, and Kikanju Baku in 2013 and released as the third composition on Roscoe Mitchell Conversations. It was then transcribed by Stephen P. Harvey, in 2016, with further Transcription and Orchestration of air sounds for Strings by John Ivers, in 2017. Finally, it was fully Orchestrated by Roscoe Mitchell in 2017 and recorded live at the festival Ostrava Days 2017 in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.
"Distant Ra…
Miniatures One & Two
Featuring artists as diverse as The Residents, Robert Fripp, XTC’s Andy Partridge, Pete Seeger, Robert Wyatt and The Pretenders’ Martin Chambers, as well as cover artwork contributed by Ralph Steadman, Morgan Fisher’s 1980 release “Miniatures” truly was a first.
Overwhelmed with concepts for potential releases, Fisher decided to see how many of these ideas he might be able to squeeze onto just one album. Rather than performing everything himself, he invited 50 musicians he admired to send in tra…
Deep Stream
It was way back in 1979 when multi-instrumentalist Dawan Muhammad joined forces with a swathe of talented fellow jazz musicians to record and ultimately release Deep Stream, a private press exploration of spiritual jazz that has long been a must-have among serious collectors. Here High Jazz delivers the reissue we've all been waiting for. The set remains as timeless as ever, with highlights including the breezy bliss of the title track, the epic, reach-for-the-stars flex of "Sun/Moon/Stars" (whi…
A Symphony For Amiga
Music for Amiga is Vito Ricci’s first vinyl record of original music in decades. This project was made on the Commodore Amiga (with it's infamous sound chip) composing all the pieces on Music Mouse - Laurie Spiegel's pioneering software from the mid-80s.