Jazz /
Sketch Of My Life
The first-ever reissue on Studio Mule of the debut album by Japanese jazz legend and bassist Yoshio Ikeda. Having performed with such illustrious figures as Sadao Watanabe, Masabumi Kikuchi, and Terumasa Hino, Ikeda’s first album as a leader features pianist and vocalist Ichiko Hashimoto—also known for her involvement with YMO—Berlin-based jazz pianist Aki Takase, and leading Japanese drummer Motohiko Hino.
Avant-garde yet imbued with a distinctly Japanese sense of melancholy, this is a work tha…
Nineteen Seventy Seven
Brazilian avant-jazz vanguardists Grupo Um celebrate their 50th anniversary, sharing a second previously lost 1970s album from the vaults. Nineteen Seventy Seven (titled after the year it was recorded) is another rip-roaring instrumental fusion treasure from the band which spawned from within Hermeto Pascoal’s famed mid-1970s São Paulo collective.
Like their debut album Starting Point, Grupo Um’s Nineteen Seventy Seven was recorded when Brazil's military dictatorship was at its most repressive. …
Seeking Other Beauty
Bayeté Umbra Zindiko’s Seeking Other Beauty is a visionary statement from keyboardist and composer Bayeté, also known as Todd Cochran, newly available in a definitive all‑analog reissue that brings its futuristic spiritual jazz into sharp contemporary focus.
Recorded in 1973 for Prestige, Seeking Other Beauty channels the electricity of early‑70s Miles Davis while drawing on the cosmic funk of Parliament‑Funkadelic and the astral explorations of Lonnie Liston Smith—only with a fuzzed‑out clavine…
Black Suite
First issued in 1971 on BYG Records’ Actuel series, Black Suite stands as a defining statement of diasporic jazz and political consciousness. Recorded in Paris in 1969, the album brings together a transatlantic ensemble led by Jacques Coursil, uniting figures from the American avant-garde and postcolonial Europe, including Anthony Braxton, Arthur Jones, Burton Greene, Beb Guérin and Claude Delcloo.
Structured around two extended, meditative movements, Black Suite reframes jazz as a philosophical…
Katcharpari
** Audiophile reissue from the original masters, 180gm vinyl pressed by Pallas, laminated hand-glued gatefold cover. Limited Edition. ** Katcharpari is the second solo album by Italian jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava, recorded and released in January 1973 and considered a cornerstone of the jazz-rock/fusion genre. Recorded in Milan and released on the German label BASF, Rava himself described it as his "breakthrough album." Thanks to the critical acclaim this work received, Rava caught the attention …
Who Cares
The Takashi Mizuhashi Quartet proudly announces the reissue of their legendary 1974 album Who Cares, a cornerstone of Japanese post-bop jazz now available in a stunning remastered vinyl edition via Three Blind Mice Records. Originally recorded on August 28, 1974, at Aoi Studio in Tokyo, this vibrant LP captures the quartet's unparalleled synergy during jazz's golden era in Japan.
Led by bassist and composer Takashi Mizuhashi, the quartet features saxophonist Yoshio Otomo on alto and soprano sax,…
Yellow Carcass In The Blue
Legendary Japanese jazz vocalist Kimiko Kasai, one of the most innovative singers of the 1970s, joins forces with the fiery Kosuke Mine Quartet on the newly reissued Yellow Carcass in the Blue, originally released in 1971 on the esteemed Three Blind Mice (TBM) label. This rare leader album captures Kasai at her peak, blending her husky, soulful voice with avant-garde improvisation and fusion grooves, featuring standout tracks like the title song—Masabumi Kikuchi's composition elevated by Kasai's…
Black Orpheus
The legendary Isao Suzuki Trio's iconic 1976 album Black Orpheus, a cornerstone of Japanese jazz, receives a stunning 180g vinyl reissue, bringing its soulful modal and soul-jazz grooves back to life for a new generation of listeners.
Originally released on Three Blind Mice (TBM-63) and recorded on February 20, 1976, at Aoi Studio in Tokyo, Black Orpheus showcases bassist and cellist Isao Suzuki leading a powerhouse trio with pianist Tsuyoshi Yamamoto on piano and electric piano, and drummer Don…
Morning Flight
Japanese jazz enthusiasts rejoice: the Hiroshi Fukumura Quintet’s landmark 1973 album Morning Flight, originally released on the iconic Three Blind Mice label, is being reissued for a new generation of listeners. This trombone-led masterpiece captures the raw energy and improvisational spirit of early 1970s Japanese jazz, blending free-form exploration with lyrical standards.
Blackpool Cool
Head’s Blackpool Cool was self-released in 1977 on the band’s own Head Records, marking the Scottish group’s third and final album. Long prized by collectors, it stands as a distinctive entry in UK jazz-rock and fusion, driven by an inventive interplay of trumpet and keyboards and a sharp, forward-moving sense of rhythm.
Influenced by the exploratory edge of groups such as Nucleus, the album showcases the band’s creative confidence and the multi-instrumental talents of John Davies. The sound is …
Never Let It End
Jazz enthusiasts rejoice: the legendary Never Let It End by Albert Mangelsdorff Quartet, a seminal 1970 album hailed as one of the most important in the European jazz canon, receives a fresh vinyl pressing from MPS Records. Originally recorded on March 23, 1970, at Walldorf Studio in Frankfurt under producer Joachim Ernst Berendt, this free jazz masterpiece captures Mangelsdorff's innovative trombone mastery alongside Heinz Sauer on saxophones, Günter Lenz on bass, and Ralf Hübner on drums.
The…
Sweet Sister Funk
Next up in Mr Bongo's Groove Merchant Records reissue series, we present the only solo album saxophonist Ramon Morris recorded as a bandleader. Having cut his teeth playing with the iconic band Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and working with other jazz greats, including Reuben Wilson, Shirley Scott, Rashied Ali Quintet, and Woody Shaw, 1973 saw Ramon take the step into solo territory. The resulting album Sweet Sister Funk became a certified classic and a landmark showcase of the cherished ‘70s…
My Kind Of Music
Our latest Holy Grail reissue is this private press spiritual jazz gem out of California from Rickey Kelly and his vibes & marimba. Features Diane Reeves (vocals) & Adele Sebastian (flute)!
Quinteplus
This first-time reissue of Quinteplus’ 1971 album revives a key moment in Argentine jazz, featuring crisp trumpet and tenor sax, electric piano-driven funk and modal grooves, and a tight, spacious rhythm section. It showcases prominent figures like Jorge Anders and “Pocho” Lapouble.
Quinteplus was born in Buenos Aires at the end of the 1960s, emerging directly from the ideas and experiments of the legendary Agrupación Nuevo Jazz. Founded in the early ’60s, this collective brought together some o…
The Sisters
A heretical symbol of Rare Groove, with its alternative and avant-garde ferocity! Irvine Weldon's 1973 masterpiece, which continues to have a wide influence around the world even today! Although it is based on jazz, it is a work released in 1973 that is more soul/funk than the first album, and reflects more experimental and political aspects and ideas. For over 30 years, it has been loved by diggers all over the world and reigns at the top of the rare groove as a most wanted item, and today the …
Voyage From Jericho
Step into the wild heart of New York’s underground avant-garde jazz scene with Voyage from Jericho.
Tilaye's Saxophone With The Dahlak Band
Tilaye Gebre was a central figure in Ethiopian music during the mid- to late 1970s, a period now hard to document but rich with talent. His saxophone and arrangements are likely featured on many recordings from Addis Ababa of that era. Despite Ethiopia’s limited formal musical institutions, Tilaye trained at the Haile Selassie First Theatre music school, where he began studying saxophone instead of guitar under mentor Ato Aymre Gemeda. This instrument became his lifelong expressive voice.
Tilaye…
Jyväskylä Workshop Band 1970
A previously unissued post-bop document from 1970, Jyväskylä Workshop Band 1970 assembles American saxophonist Charlie Mariano, Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen and Finnish luminaries Heikki Sarmanto, Eero Koivistoinen, Paroni Paakkunainen, Seppo Ranniko, Pekka Pöyry, Edward Vesala and Matti Koskiala. Professionally captured in concert, the album delivers a vibrant set of groovy, exploratory and subtly exotic tunes that helped assert Finland’s place on the international jazz map.
Sangoma
Matsuli Music is proud to announce the first vinyl reissue of Philip Tabane’s Sangoma ("Spiritual Healer") since its 1978 release. Remastered from the original tapes with lacquers cut by Frank Merrit and pressed on 180g heavyweight vinyl at Pallas in Germany, this definitive edition re-asserts the power of one of South Africa’s landmark recordings. Featuring new liner notes by cultural critic Kwanele Sosibo and artwork restoration by Siemon Allen, Sangoma returns in full force through an extende…
Indefinitive Atmosphere
Giovanni Tommaso is the greatest Italian Jazz bassist and founder and member of the most important ever Italian Jazz Rock ensembles, the Perigeo band. Sonor entirely restored the full session from the original tapes found, and digitally remastered the sound for a greater sound experience, chasing the original analog source