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What do jazz improvisation, Polish Radio, dingy rap from Memphis, cassette tapes, trap, drill elements and hip-hop loops have in common? These are the ingredients that the Błoto quartet used in their lab to cook an explosive mixture for their third LP entitled “Kwasy i zasady” (eng,“Acids and bases”). Nobody thought that a band who appeared suddenly and unexpectedly on the jazz scene would develop so rapidly and in such an unforeseen direction. A year ago, critics and music journalists treated …
After the very well received, both by the audience and critics, debut album Repetitions (Letters to Krzysztof Komeda), focusing on the lesser-known works of the legendary Polish composer, the Wrocław-based EABS decided to further expand this lead and released two more vinyl records, "live" and "on tape", which crowned the "Komeda triptych". The astounding reception of the band's debut whet listeners' appetite for completely new recordings. It took 2 years for the new album to materialise, this t…
We already passed one millennium, in fact, we passed the apocalypse: we are living in End Time, all right, but in the last daze. It’s after the end of the world. Don’t you know that yet?” - considered Sun Ra a few decades ago. We are clearly living in a borrowed time. In a time plunged in darkness and ignorance when we need at least a little light and love… and that can come with the cosmic music of Sun Ra, which is deconstructed by EABS on their third album. In October 2019, after more than 33 …
The Rendell/Carr Quintet has long been regarded as among the most iconic ensembles in 1960s British jazz, famed for its unique blend of musical personalities and the equally singular ‘style’ which resulted from its blend of experience, youth and creative ambition. This, the second R&B release of previously unissued material by the band, captures a moment of genuine jazz history with its inclusion of Michael Garrick’s debut broadcast with the quintet. Two further radio appearances find the band h…
Long before he carved his dual legend as both popular jazz-funkster and the ultimate peripatetic guest soloist, beloved by fusion and straight-ahead fans alike, tenor saxophonist Dick Morrissey had been one of the UK’s brightest and best modern jazzmen. During the 1960s his regular quartet explored very nearly every aspect of the jazz genre, from down home blues to the fringes of the avant-garde, as is displayed in these previously unreleased radio recordings from 1967. Over two fascinating sets…
This bundle includes both the Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble LPs released by Holidays Records, namely:Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble "Music for Angela Davis" (LP, single-sided, 1971)Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble "Heliopolis" (LP, 1970)Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble "Music for Angela Davis" (LP, single-sided, 1971)**500 copies. Deluxe edition with special printed inner and insert** One of the legendary projects of 20th Century Egyptian jazz, the Cairo FreeJazz Ensemble was formed by Hartmut Geerken - who sadly left thi…
**500 copies, one-time pressing. Deluxe edition with special printed inner and insert** One of the legendary projects of 20th Century Egyptian jazz, the Cairo FreeJazz Ensemble was formed by Hartmut Geerken - who sadly left this planet on October 21st - as an avant-garde offshoot of The Cairo Jazz Band - the first jazz big band in the country - formed by Salah Ragab in 1968.Sinfully under-documented, in 1970 the band issued Heliopolis, what has since become one of the rarest, most celebrated and…
Tip! **300 copies, with Obi and translucent insert** Diving forward into a mind-blowing, contemporary expressions of improvisation, the next offering in Holidays’ latest batch of releases, And Life Also Same, captures a recent collaborative artefact from the long-standing, prolific partnership between the seminal Japanese saxophonist, Akira Sakata, and the Italian pianist and composer Giovanni Di Domenico.Born in 1945 and trained as a marine biologist, for decades Akira Sakata has stood at the f…
Temporary Super Offer! A couple of the pieces on Nick Fraser's If There Were No Opposites, the quartet’s fourth album, were adapted from Fraser's compositions for dance productions by Decidedly Jazz Danceworks." But while the original versions of “Shoe Dance” and “The Fashion Show” had to adhere to rigid timing requirements in order to coordinate with the rest of the stage production, the quartet lets the music flow in more free-wheeling fashion. The quartet first recorded in 2012, and its perso…
* Originally Recorded at Chalk Farm Studio 12 March 1974. First ever reissue on CD * It’s been a real Joy to bring this long-lost classic back to life. There’s not much more can be said about Harry Beckett’s beautiful talent. He lifted the atmosphere wherever he played and was a gentleman, always softly spoken, but a presence in the room. I remember, as a callow youth, interviewing him for a sleeve note in the basement of Mole Jazz. He was thoughtful, listened to my questions and answered with a…
"The music in this album is a result of our belief in a continuum that links the present with the past. Our spontaneous improvisations are true to those well defined principles basic to African American culture. Thank you for listening." - Max Roach / Anthony Braxton. This recording was the first to document their collaboration. All of the tracks are improvisations and it appears that the younger Braxton was the one taking the lead. If he keeps himself a bit restrained, steering clear of the ext…
At long last, after remaining out of print for decades, the Milan based imprint, Dialogo, dives into the legendary catalog of Cramps, bringing forth the first ever vinyl reissue of Steve Lacy’s LP, "Straws", issued as the sixth instalment of the label’s DIVerso series in 1977. Truly singular in the legendary American saxophonist’s discography - featuring stunning solo excursions and dialogs with himself - it remains one of the great documents of 1970s improvisation, and is as engrossing, creativ…
"It's almost a given that any new release on the Lithuanian No Business label is going to be a bit out of the ordinary. As the catalogue grows, so does its depth and breadth. Turbina Anthem vouchsafes that proposition, comprising an unusual guitar and trumpet duet by two Portuguese improvisers who deserve a wider audience. Trumpeter Sei Miguel boasts a discography stretching back to 1998 in the company of compatriots, but in recent years has made a number of appearances with American free guitar…
From March 8th-14th, 2020, Kuzu was on a seven-concert tour of the United States in the South and Midwest. During that week it became apparent in this country that the world was on the brink of a crisis unknown to humanity for almost exactly a century. In those seven days, the feeling on the street changed from one of anxiety to one of impending doom. By the time the band arrived at Elastic Arts on Thursday, March 12th, their home base in Chicago, it was clear that these would be the last concer…
After two years of preparation, we are thrilled to announce the reissue of the most precious hidden gems of Soul Jazz / Spoken Word albums from a key era. Originally released in 1974 as a private pressing of fewer that 100 copies, Touching Your Feelings by Jim Marks is a crucial missing piece of the proto-rap era lying firmly between Gil Scott Heron and Amiri Baraka, with whom he made a strong friendship. Jym Marks' mix of deep, expressive poetry and solid jazz sits on the edge of works by The L…
A grand reunion of sorts in Berlin on the first day of November, 1996. Under the auspices of Free Music Production, Cecil Taylor, the great pianist and one of the premier musical minds of the 20th century, joined forces with his early comrade, drummer Sunny Murray, for a set of improvised duets. Murray was part of Taylor's important groups starting in 1959, including the trio with alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, with which Taylor toured Europe in 1962 and 1963, recording the seminal Nefertiti, the…
Danish pianist Tom Prehn was one of the first Europeans to deeply explore free music. With his quartet featuring Fritz Krogh on tenor saxophone, Poul Ehlers on bass, and Finn Slumstrup on drums, Prehn recorded Axiom in October, 1963, for Sonet, though it went unreleased until 2015 because the band felt that their music had moved beyond it already. To hear the music they were talking about, one could only turn to two privately-made reel-to-reel tapes, Centrifuga and Sohlverv, recorded in August, …