Jazz & Improvisation / Jazz-Rock

It would not be incorrect to claim that Zawinul was the first Weather Report album with regard to both its concept and sound since all protagonists are already present: Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and Miroslav Vitouš. This album confirms that Zawinul was the primary creative generator of Weather Report, the connecting link between the band and Miles Davis’s keyboard-laden experiments on "In A Silent Way"; indeed, the composition in its complex orchestral form as composed by Zawinul is newly arran…

Drummer Akira Ishikawa and Count Buffalo's 1976 concept album on Okinawa: funk, Afro and disco over standards, Western pop covers and Okinawan folk songs, some arranged by Koichi Sugiyama. First colour vinyl, newly cut from the master tapes.

Third album by the Buenos Aires sextet led by bassist Carlos Quebrada: avant-garde jazz with a Rock in Opposition streak, long ostinati against free forms, recorded in December 2016.

Double album by Miles Davis combining concert recordings from the Cellar Door, Washington, D.C., December 1970, with Gary Bartz, John McLaughlin, Keith Jarrett, Michael Henderson, Jack DeJohnette and Airto Moreira, and 1970 studio pieces by Hermeto Pascoal.

The 1971 debut of Marc Moulin's Belgian jazz group Placebo, recorded on 23-26 August 1971 and produced by Jean Huysmans, with Richard Rousselet, Nicolas Fissette, Alex Scorier, Johnny Dover, Nick Kletchkovsky and Freddy Rottier.

Double album of four side-long pieces by Miles Davis, recorded in New York between November 1969 and June 1972 with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin and Wayne Shorter, assembled by Teo Macero and issued by Columbia in 1974.

180 gram audiophile vinyl pressing. Crossings is the second album in the experimental sextet trilogy Herbie Hancock released early 1970s. His electronic movements are further explored and the whole sound comes alive in the three long tracks this album consists about. The album opens with some African drums before moving on to some of the unearthed sounds the sextet created for this album. Centerpiece "Sleeping Giant" is nearly 25 minutes long and is divided into five funky and groovy parts. A tr…

A delirious cult concept album disguised as pop, first released in 1971, where psychedelic grooves, funk and global rhythms meet phonetic pseudo-Japanese chants, judo-master ritual cries and a children's choir. Sampled by Erykah Badu, Madlib and DopeLemon, and the unlikely spark behind Bananarama's debut. This can only be the fabulous world of Yamasuki. In the spring of 1971, somewhere between Brussels, Paris and a collective pop fever dream, Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki landed on vinyl. It so…

More early-1970s free music from the MND circle, taped mostly at Hamburg's Fabrik: Sven-Åke Johansson, Norbert Eisbrenner and cellist Peter Dyck with guests, on a double LP that follows Freedom Suite.

Akira Ishikawa's 1972 Latin set with Count Buffalo Latin Beats, arranged by Naoya Matsuoka: Cuban, Mexican, Brazilian and Puerto Rican standards pushed through fuzz guitar, Hammond organ and heavy drums.

Along with the due reissue of the Baroque Jazz Trio homonymous album, Souffle Continu Records present a reissue of the group's one and only single which has reached a cult status among the Jazz connoisseurs and collectors. Alongside Alfred Panou & the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Je Suis Un Sauvage (FFL 055EP), Baroque Jazz Trio's Orientasie / Largo is probably one of the hardest-to-find EPs on Saravah. Hitting #2 on Jazzman Records European Jazz 45s top 10 list, this is the finest fusion between f…

Souffle Continu Records present a reissue of Baroque Jazz Trio's self-titled album, original released on Saravah in 1970. This CD also includes tracks from the 7" Orientasie/Largo originally released in 1970, and reissued by Souffle Continue Records. Mixing Baroque, free-jazz, and world music, the unique album of the Baroque Jazz Trio (which is in fact 3/5 of the Bach Modern Quintet) is a difficult-to-label sound object which is far from being typical of the psychedelic sounds associated with th…

3-CD box: Terje Rypdal's complete double album Odyssey (Oslo, August 1975) with Brynjulf Blix, Torbjørn Sunde, Sveinung Hovensjø and Svein Christiansen, plus Unfinished Highballs, recorded live by Swedish Radio with the Radiojazzgruppen in Södertälje, June 1976.

3-CD box collecting Eberhard Weber's Colours albums Yellow Fields (1975), Silent Feet (1977) and Little Movements (1980), with Charlie Mariano, Rainer Brüninghaus, Jon Christensen and John Marshall, recorded at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg.

Listening to the music of Al Doum & The Faryds is always like staying in the pristine nature of an exotic island, in the sacred harmony of a new organic society; imaging all brothers and sisters singing and dancing in the unity of the brotherhood. This is the message of love and joy that pervade this fourth album, Spirit Rejoin. Moving towards accents of jazz ancestry, the Faryds absorb and re-elaborate -- with remarkable insights -- disparate elements and influences of electric jazz of the '70s…

A powerful "electric Miles" sounding band reinterprets a couple of classics  - In A Silent Way and Freedom Jazz Dance - and adds some wholly contemporary improvisation to the mix."2026 Is Miles and Coltrane's Centenary year and if Jazz music needs any Gods then surely they fit the bill without question. When I heard In a Silent Way for the first time back in 1970 when I was 17 (incidentally that was the first year I heard Coltrane as well) it truly was music like nothing I had ever heard before.…

We are pleased to announce the upcoming reissue of “Min Bul”, a milestone of Norwegian rock and jazz, included in the renowned Nurse With Wound list, from the band whose leader was a young Terje Rypdal. Recorded in the Rosenborg studio in September 1970, with Egil Eide as engineer, “Min Bul” is a highly experimental work for its time that grew out of the Samklang projects at the Henie-Onstad Art Center, where director Ole Henrik Moe encouraged adventurous composers and improvising musicians to j…

The 1968 debut album from Norwegian guitar legend Terje Rypdal stands as a significant entry in the late 1960s jazz landscape, exemplifying the transition from psychedelic rock to a more intricate, freeform blend of jazz elements. Collaborating with legendary musicians like Jan Garbarek, Rypdal's work on this album showcases his innovative talent. Recorded during three sessions in Oslo in 1968, Bleak House marks Rypdal’s departure from the psychedelic group The Dream as he ventured into new musi…

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…

** 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 …

*300 copies limited edition* Their previous album Arrival of The New Elders presented a more varied and reflective trio, still as groovy as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented, earning them a 9/10 review in Uncut and a spot in their albums of the year list, noting their telepathic communion and concluding with “this is an Elephant9 you´ll never forget”. Reviews in Jazzwise, Shindig, Prog, Electronic Sound, The Quietus and several others followed in the same fashion. We´re delighted t…

SML is the quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. Their second album, How You Been, finds the supergroup of prolific composer/producers pushing ever further into the hyperrealist, collectivist approach to music creation nascently explored on their debut Small Medium Large, which was lauded as “awe-inspiring” by Glide, “exuberant” by the Los Angeles Times, and “an exciting milestone” by Pi…

Richard Raux's band after Magma, recorded at the Château d'Hérouville in 1974: spiritual jazz, progressive rock and Malagasy rhythms, with his brother Patrice on guitar. Restored and remastered for Souffle Continu's 100th release.

"The shock and awe that Bitches Brew produced within and without the jazz world on its release in March 1970 was largely unexpected, the result of the music’s uncompromising power and what many felt to be its perplexing, eccentric sound and structure. In retrospect, we know how Miles’ unconventional studio methodology and Teo Macero’s subsequent compositional editing of the voluminous taped material innovated the remarkable finished product. But what has only marginally been discussed is the ext…

"In the beginning, the legend goes, it was Miles Davis’ electrifying jazz on In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew – modernizing the ensemble sound as well as reconfiguring compositional flow with repetition and  variation – that begat what was to become known as fusion, exemplified by the subsequent spinoffs Weather Report (Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul), Mahavishnu Orchestra (John McLaughlin), Headhunters (Herbie Hancock), and Return to Forever (Chick Corea), all of which emerged after 1970 and con…

** Edition of 300. In process of stocking ** Recorded in Supraphon's Prague studios in Dejvice in March 1970. Jointly created by the bands Blue Effect and Stivin's Jazz Q Praha. The result of this process is forty minutes of music in which the influence of external environments, the immediate ability of each participant, and the predetermination in regard to traditions which shaped their musical development to-date, are expressed by new beauty which contains both logic as well as free, imaginati…

Debut self-titled album from Melbourne ensemble Standing Circle, led by Larry Crestani (guitar, kraartar, vocals). Eight tracks recorded live at The Grove, Melbourne, mixed and mastered by Nick Herrera. The record moves through spiritual jazz, jazz-funk and groove, with heavy Afro influence running through the rhythm section: congas, percussion and bass locking into rich African undertones throughout. Built around a shifting cast of Melbourne musicians and compositions that never repeat themselv…

Elliott Sharp, Colin Stetson, Billy Martin and Payton MacDonald live at Victoriaville in May 2023: electric guitar and electronics, bass saxophone, drums and mallets in a heavy, groove-driven quartet.

Hamburg, 1969. A drummer recently arrived from Westphalia, known around the Jazzhouse on Brandstwiete as a capable timekeeper who could swing in 4/4 and play rock beats, which is why Klaus Doldinger had hired him for Passport. His name was Udo Lindenberg. Free Jazz Goes Underground, released by MPS in 1970 under the name Free Orbit, is the first studio album of the band he led, and he sings on it, in English, alongside a second vocalist. MPS's own note on the reissue admits you need careful list…

This vinyl album by Micheal Mantler is new old stock from Ecm archives. For light relief from his darker, more existential works, Michael Mantler assembled two fine ensembles at the end of the 1970s to play music that might be described as the Thinking Man’s Answer to Fusion. Imagine walking into an art house cinema where the projector runs without film - the stories unfolding purely through Michael Mantler's haunting trumpet and the alchemy of his stellar ensemble. That's the experience of Movi…

Cosmic jazz from the Canary Islands, recorded by Argentinian pianist Luis Vecchio.

Villingen, 27 and 28 June 1968. Barney Wilen, the tenor of Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, with a young Joachim Kühn on organ and piano, Aldo Romano and Wolfgang Paap on two drum kits, Mimi Lorenzini's guitar and Günter Lenz's bass. Ode to Billie Joe, Respect, Lonely Woman and the Supremes, dedicated to Timothy Leary.

Cologne, Cornet Studios, January 1975. Rolf Kühn on clarinet with a band that reads like a German jazz roll call: his brother Joachim Kühn on piano and electric piano, Philip Catherine on guitar, Gerd Dudek on tenor and soprano, Albert Mangelsdorff on trombone, Bo Stief on bass, and two drummers, Daniel Humair and Kasper Winding. Kühn chose not to record in the MPS studio in the Black Forest and brought in the engineer Wolfgang Hirschmann instead. In his own account, quoted in MPS's reissue note…

Two years after Free Action, a different record. The Oimels, MPS 1969, is the Wolfgang Dauner Quintet playing pop: Dauner on piano, organ and voice, Eberhard Weber on bass, cello and voice, Siegfried Schwab on guitar and sitar, Pierre Cavalli on guitar, and Roland Wittich on drums and voice, who also did the cover art with Dauner. The programme mixes Dauner originals with a Gershwin tune, a traditional, and a Lennon-McCartney song. A RateYourMusic listener puts it plainly: a different kind of ja…

**250 copies, 2020 stock** Sonata Islands is a cultural association, born from an idea of Emilio Galante, that promotes and performs new music and jazz. They organized many concerts and festivals in Italy. After Sonata Islands goes RIO (dedicated to the music of Univers Zero, Fred Frith and Thinking Plague) and Nippon Eldorado Kabarett (with the same musicians, dedicated to Japanese RIO music of the '80s with pieces by After Dinner, Wha Ha Ha, Kiyohiko Semba and Haniwa All Stars), here they pay …

A punk trio that is influenced by middle eastern psych, free jazz, and improvisation. While not recorded in a traditional studio, these recordings represent the first studio-produced sounds from this group. The group is built around Joel Robinson and has had as many as eight to ten members in recordings and live performances, but more recently has been focused on a trio that composes music that challenges every notion of what rock, punk, or psych can be; however, at the same time, the music is c…

A live recording by Akira Sakata (alto sax, clarinet, voice), Masayasu Tsuboguchi (piano, synthesizer), Takeharu Hayakawa (bass), and Masataka Fujikake (drums). An improvisational giant, Akira Sakata, is a direct hit to the brain.

Limited edition CD & download album from Danny Thompson’s group fusing jazz with folk music. The triple CD comes in an 8-panel digisleeve with 28 page booklet detailing the complete history of the band and illustrated with photos and images mainly from Paul Dunmall’s archives. When asked “is it jazz or folk?” about his band Whatever, Danny Thompson replied “well, it’s Whatever!” Hence the name. When Danny started Whatever, a trio with reed player Tony Roberts and guitarist Bernie Holland, and in…

Cush is a raw, genre-blurring journey of drums, trumpet & baritone sax — where musique concrète meets groove-jazz. A sonic rebellion echoing Corto Maltese’s mythos. For fans of Pierre Henry & wild improvisation.

Crossfade Estate was a special, distinct project. It was made in November 2005. Recorded in 10 hours. Edited, mixed and collaged over 18 months. It was a development of Charles Hayward's long term relationship with The Albany in Deptford, London. They asked him to push their recently installed digital recording suite and see what he could make. The approach was a step further from the series Accidents+Emergencies which Hayward had curated in the late 1990's. It was a pulling together of differen…