Jazz /
Dream Talk
German pianist Wolfgang Dauner's early session sounds as fantastic as the title suggests! The "dream talk" component comes from Dauner's gentle, yet modern approach to the keys, which is clearly learning from 50s modernists like George Russell or Bill Evans but is stretching out here in some of the bolder freedoms of the European scene at the time. It's a precursor to later modes on MPS and Saba, but performed here with more restraint. The record is acoustic and inventive, with a "set free" soun…
Belonging
Tip! "Belonging is a studio album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, recorded over two days in April 1974 and released on ECM later that year—the debut of Jarrett's "European Quartet", featuring saxophonist Jan Garbarek and rhythm section Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen. Because Jarrett's contract with ABC/Impulse! prevented him from performing with the quartet under his own name, the group became known as the 'Belonging' quartet." - Wikipedia
Karma
Karma is Pharoah Sanders' third recording as a leader, and is among a number of spiritually themed albums the Impulse! Record label released in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Although it is followed by the brief "Colors", the album's main piece is the 32-minute-long "The Creator Has a Master Plan", co-composed by Sanders with vocalist Leon Thomas. Some see this piece as a kind of sequel to Sanders' mentor John Coltrane's legendary 1964 recording A Love Supreme (whose opening it echoes in a muscular…
Quetzalcoatl
Tip! Before coming to Europe, in 1970, pianist Manuel Villarroel was a vet in his native Chili. A few years later, as leader of the Machi Oul Big Band, he returned to the animal kingdom. A very specific kind of animal, for sure, the Quetzalcoatl, also known as the Feathered Serpent. What is behind this title (also the name of one of the three original compositions on this album released on the Palm label in 1976), is first and foremost a sort of homecoming…
After discovering the jazz of Herbie H…
The Legendary Trio At Birdland 1960 „Revisited"
Temporary Super Offer! "This Revisited disc chronicles the trio in transition. Formed in autumn 1959, the group recorded its debut album in December. Following a coast-to-coast tour, it opened at Birdland in March 1960, when the first five tracks here were recorded on two separate dates. Already cooking, by the time of the April and May recordings the trio was touching on the interactive magic heard on ezz-thetics’ At The Village." – Chis May
Live in Paris – The ORTF Recordings 1966/67 (3LP)
A never-before released Nathan Davis 1966/67 live recordings. Official release with the full permission and cooperation of the Nathan Davis Estate & INA (Institut National de l’Audiovisuel). "Style is not a given. Not many musicians reach the level of artistic personality where you can unmistakably recognize them. It takes character, roots, honesty, soulfulness. Nathan Davis had style. His tone on tenor was unique. So was his soprano sound and his distinctive approach to flute. His musical world…
Sahib Shihab And The Danish Radio Jazz Group
Sahib Shihab (Edmund Gregory) played with many of jazz’s finest musicians. Shortly after he became one of the first jazz players to change their names due to an Islamic conversion, he joined Thelonious Monk for his Blue Note sessions. He also played with Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Pettiforn and Quincy Jones. A unique musician, he was at home in every musical style, from the experimentalism of Thelonious Monk to the more direct hard bop of Art Blakey. Sahib Shihab’s distinctive sound was …
Paris ’76
A never-before released The Heath Brothers 1976 live recordings. First official release with the full permission and cooperation of the INA. Sam Records is proud to presents here a live recording the band gave in Paris at Studio 104, Maison de la Radio, on April 16, 1976. In addition to a superb version of ‘One for Juan’, the band perform two tracks from the ‘Marchin’ On! album, ‘Watergate Blues’ and a wonderful version of ‘Smilin’ Billy’.
“That was the first Heath Brothers album. Stanley Cowe…
Antibes '75
Two days after recording the first album ever issued on the Black Saint label, Billy Harper and his quintet were onstage at the Antibes Juan-Les-Pins jazz festival. Though Black Saint is a phenomenal album and is rightfully considered as one of the finest jazz releases of the period, Antibes ’75 shows that Billy and his men gathered momentum to push the boundaries of their studio effort even further. That night, surrounded by stars, pine woods and a captivated audience, the quintet delivered a …
Free Form Suite
Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi (1932 - 1991) was a Japanese jazz / free improvisational musician. He was active in the Japanese jazz scene from the late 1950s. He was one of the earliest noise guitar improvisers, and the first (with Keith Rowe) to use the table-top guitar.
Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises
Recorded in '69, Greek Variations & Other Aegean Exercises is irresistible on two counts. First, for its daringly conceived and brilliantly performed music, inspired by Greek folk songs and instrumental textures and deep enough to reveal all its treasures only after many repeated listenings. Second, for being recorded at the moment when the Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet, a major force in British straight-ahead jazz since '62, had broken up and Carr's equally influential jazz-rock band Nucleus was…
Cassiopeia
"Ville Vannemaa Cassiopeia is an exciting quintet project led by reed player Ville Vannemaa, a key player in UMO Jazz Orchestra and known for his engagement in several other Finnish jazz constellations. With him on this date is vibraphonist Panu Savolainen, Kasperi Sarikoski on trombone, Heikko Remmel on bass and Jaska Lukkarinen on drums. Six sublime songs penned by Ville himself, plenty of detail and swinging from joy to melancholy in a melodic sense aimed for repeated listening. Future classi…
Now Jazz Ramwong
2024 Repress. Eastern-infused outstanding album by German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff – recording here in 1964, but sounding years ahead of his time, with an amazing a blend of jazz and Asian styles! The album's one of Mangelsdorff's best ever – a set of rhythmic tunes that seem clearly informed by the work of Ornette and Joe Harriott, but also based along eastern themes picked up by the group on a tour of the Orient – and performed by a sharp-edged quintet that includes Heinz Sauer on tenor …
Yogi Jazz
2024 Repress. After the excellent New Jazz Ramwong (TB6171), Tiger Bay is back with another almost overlooked gem from the German jazz scene of the 60s. Joki Freund, the composer and multi-instrumentalist is one of its most dazzling figures and Yogi Jazz is without a doubt his masterpiece.The influence of John and Alice Coltrane is clear throughout the album and the sextet, for which he gathered together a group of young European musicians who later would achieve great notoriety, reaches an outs…
Tension
This rare 1963 recording showcases the incredible early work of German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff and his quintet. Featuring Heinz Sauer on tenor saxophone, Gunter Kronberg on alto saxophone, Gunter Lenz on bass, and Ralf Hubner on drums, the ensemble creates a groundbreaking modernist groove comparable to the innovations of Ornette Coleman and Joe Harriott. The absence of piano and the three-horn frontline contribute to a bracing and powerful sound, striking a dynamic balance between freedo…
A Part
*Limited Edition* Embark on a captivating collaboration between Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino and avant-garde bassist Reggie Workman. This partnership, from the early 70s, marked a spiritual awakening in Hino's music. The tracks, expansive and expressive, feature a primarily Japanese ensemble, showcasing a departure from Hino's earlier hardbop recordings.
Matrix
Esteemed pianist Masabumi Kikuchi enjoyed a long and illustrious career in jazz that encompassed many forms. After playing in Lionel Hampton’s Japanese touring band, he played on five Sadao Watanabe albums in mid-1960s and backed Sonny Rollins before studying at the Berklee College of Music. Matrix was the first of five albums recorded with his Sextet and is rightly rated one of the greatest of his entire career, the album mixing well-executed covers of songs by Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Watanab…
Flying To The Sky
*2023 stock* Collaboration between Japanese pianist Takehiro Honda and German saxophonist Gerd Dudek. Recorded March 1, 1971
Farewell My Johnny
*2023 stock* The first album by the Teru Sakamoto Trio, whose beautifully lyrical piano music has enjoyed exceptionally long sales. This is a new standard work of Japanese jazz that is highly acclaimed even overseas.
Evolution
*2024 stock* "This release Shintaro Quintet’s private press release ‘Evolution’. It’s another well-chosen release that comes with superb packaging, high sound quality and some interesting sleeve notes which give a fascinating in-depth insight into the music and the musicians in Japan within the specified time period.
Recorded in New York, the one-off recording by bassist Shintaro Nakamura and his quintet features the brilliant trumpeter Shunzo Ohno, who has played on many of the quintessential J…