Jazz /
Happiness Is... Takin' Care Of Natural Business... Dig?
First released back in 1967 on the Touche label and impossible to find on vinyl ever since, Happiness Is Taking Care of Business, Dig was the sole album from the short-lived Al Tanner Quintet. Yet as this much-needed Jazzman reissue proves, it remains an inspired selection of spiritually enriching modal workouts that makes the most of its talented ensemble. While pianist and bandleader Al Tanner naturally makes his presence felt throughout, flautist/trumpeter George Alexander and tenor saxophoni…
Trio (LP)
Back in print by popular demand ! The expressive English pianist Mike Taylor recorded a couple of excellent albums in the mid-1960s, at the request of Denis Preston of Lansdowne Studios, before drug use got the better of him, resulting in a long period of homelessness and a tragically early death from drowning at the age of 30, in 1970. Trio, the only album Taylor cut with the jazz trio he fronted, has strikingly original renditions of jazz standards such as “Stella By Starlight” and “The End Of…
The Big 4
*2023 stock* Japan's legendary drummer steps out here with a killer combo – definitely a "big 4", given that the group features excellent tenor work from Hidehiko "Sleepy" Matsumoto, plus Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano from Hideo Ichikawa! George Kawaguchi's famous sense of swing really gets the whole thing going – that big, round approach to the drums that was somewhere in a space between Art Blakey and Buddy Rich – and which was definitely hitting some of its hipper tones by the time of this…
Ptah, The El Daoud
* Recorded in the basement studio of the Coltrane family home in Dix Hills in 1970, Alice Coltrane’s fourth album is a transcendent masterpiece of spiritual jazz. The title track is an ode to the Egyptian God, Ptah (the El Daoud meaning “the beloved”). Many moments on the album reach what Coltrane herself defined the term Turiya as: “A state of consciousness — the high state of Nirvana, the goal of human life.” Verve By Request Series features 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Third Man in Detroit.. *…
A Love Supreme
2023 Official reissue. Transfers from the analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging. One of the most important records ever made, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme was his pinnacle studio outing, that at once compiled all of the innovations from his past, spoke to the current of deep spirituality that liberated him from addictions to drugs and alcohol, and glimpsed at the future innovations of his final two and a half years. Recorded over two days in December 1964, Tra…
The Gow-Dow Experience
"Following my recent phone call with Prof. Benson, I left him to continue his 92nd birthday celebrations with his family. We’d talked about his life, his music, his achievements. Throughout our conversation it struck me what a kind, humble and pleasant man he was. I felt that I was in the presence of greatness – not the egotistical greatness that emanates so often from high achievers, but that of someone who had simply won at life.“I was a music teacher. I wasn’t trying to make a record to compe…
The Gow-Dow Experience
"Following my recent phone call with Prof. Benson, I left him to continue his 92nd birthday celebrations with his family. We’d talked about his life, his music, his achievements. Throughout our conversation it struck me what a kind, humble and pleasant man he was. I felt that I was in the presence of greatness – not the egotistical greatness that emanates so often from high achievers, but that of someone who had simply won at life.“I was a music teacher. I wasn’t trying to make a record to compe…
Night Bird
*2023 stock* First recording of Eric Le Lann under his name in 1983. Around him, a group composed of Césarius Alvim on bass, André Ceccarelli on drums and Olivier Hutman on piano and Rhodes which escorts the sublime phrasing of a trumpet entirely placed on the melody. The quartet is of a remarkable flexibility, sonority and unity. A hell of a quartet!
Early-Mart
Gideon Nxumalo was a key figure during the formative years of South African jazz in the 1950s and 60s, helping shape a modern African jazz sound as a composer, arranger and pianist and contributing to the scene as a music teacher and radio presenter. His recorded output as solo artist/bandleader is comprised of a trilogy of iconic albums from Jazz Fantasia (1962) to Gideon Plays (1968) to Early-Mart (1970).Early-Mart was Gideon Nxumalo's tribute to friend and musical compatriot, drummer Early Ma…
For Future Reference
Never-before-released early 1980s sessions by a band of top British players and composers which never released an album, led by drummer Trevor Tomkins. This is, in effect, the late Trevor Tomkins debut album release as leader, as well as his memorial. We were working on this with Trevor when he died last last year and it's now released with the help and support of his family.
Fanfar!
The Lars Lystedt Quintet from Sweden played international Jazz festivals in the early 60s. On this session they feature the astonishing Leif Hellman on sax. Most tracks were composed and arranged by pianist Berndt Egerbladh, giving a fair indication of the considerable talents of this prolific writer. On the second side of this 10inch record is a recording of his "Arctic Suite". All these tracks were recorded during an August 1962 session. This reissue on LP was newly remastered for optimal soun…
Nefertiti
'Nefertiti, the fourth album by Miles Davis' second classic quintet, continues the forward motion of Sorcerer, as the group settles into a low-key, exploratory groove, offering music with recognizable themes -- but themes that were deliberately dissonant, slightly unsettling even as they burrowed their way into the consciousness. In a sense, this is mood music, since, like on much of Sorcerer, the individual parts mesh in unpredictable ways, creating evocative, floating soundscapes. This music a…
Healing Force
*2023 stock* Healing Force is an album by American jazz pianist Don Pullen recorded in 1976 for the Italian Black Saint label.
Carvings
The William Penn Jazz Ensemble was formed by American composer and flutist Leslie Burrs. Throughout the 1970s, Leslie performed with several major jazz and funk artists, including Grover Washington Jr., Kool & The Gang, and most notably, with Del Jones for the now cult album Positive Vibes.
Carvings, recorded in 1982, holds a special place in Leslie's career. This album showcases Leslie's musical versatility and features clear influences of both jazz and classical music. The Ensemble's uncommon …
Compass Rises
Tip! When artsts self-releases their own recordings, they do so in the hopes that a hit might develop, or even better, a sphere of influence might form. In a lot of cases these records provide a stamp of existence and intent – a sonic business card showing what musicians were made of. Compass Rises (1973), the privately pressed sole LP by Oneonta, New York’s Compass, is both a sampling of versatility and a declaration of straight-ahead purpose.
Regularly active in upstate New York between 1969 …
Dusk Fire
Limited 2022 repress. Due to overwhelming demand for Jazzman Records' five-LP boxset, here are the first ever official individual reissues of all five of the iconic Lansdowne recording sessions by the legendary UK jazz combo, the Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet. The five albums; 1965's Shades Of Blues (JMAN 107X-LP), 1966's Dusk Fire, 1968's Phase III (JMAN 109X-LP), 1969's Change Is (JMAN 111X-LP), and 1969's Live (JMAN 110X-LP), have reached almost mythical status in the collector's world. Regard…
Shades of Blue
Limited 2022 repress. Due to overwhelming demand for Jazzman Records' five-LP boxset, here are the first ever official individual reissues of all five of the iconic Lansdowne recording sessions by the legendary UK jazz combo, the Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet. The five albums; 1965's Shades Of Blues, 1966's Dusk Fire (JMAN 108X-LP), 1968's Phase III (JMAN 109X-LP), 1969's Change Is (JMAN 111X-LP), and 1969's Live (JMAN 110X-LP), have reached almost mythical status in the collector's world. Regard…
Warm Up: The Complete Live At The Highwayman 1965
Limited edition double compact disc, in a gatefold digipack, of the never-before-released complete performance of the Don Rendell - Ian Carr Quintet at The Highwayman in November 1965. Includes a 20 page booklet with an essay written by Simon Spillett and previously unseen photographs. Only 1,000 copies available worldwide. The never-before-released complete performance of the Rendell-Carr Quintet at The Highwayman in November 1965.
“Live. Up close and personal. Palpable. Almost within reach. T…
Peace Treaty
*2022 stock. In process of stocking* “One of the first true moments of genius from saxophonist Nathan Davis – originally released in the mid 60s for the tiny SFP label – and a record that’s even rarer than his early classics for MPS! The sound here is similar to the MPS sides – a mixture of soul jazz and modal jazz – served up with a bit more freedoms than Davis might have gotten on the US scene, and featuring a lineup that includes Woody Shaw on trumpet, Jean-Louis Chautemps on baritone sax, Re…
Hoarded Dreams
*2022 stock* Graham Collier is one of the best known and most important British jazz composers and over a 40 year career, his list of compositions and commissions has grown to encompass ensembles around the world. He is well-known as an author and educator, having written seven books on jazz. Hoarded Dreams is a previously unreleased long-form composition heard here in a powerful live performance from 1983 by an international all-star band that includes Tomasz Stanko, Conny Bauer, Malcolm Griffi…