Jazz /
In The Mouth - A Hand
Rune Grammofon presents the third album from Swedish trio Fire! -- something of a supergroup with members from already well-known projects. And again, it's a collaboration, this time with the extraordinary and prolific guitarist Oren Ambarchi. With their heavy, hypnotic, psychedelic rock'n'jazz explorations, they have carved out a different sound than any of the groups they are normally associated with. Sax player, improviser, composer and fervent record collector Mats Gustafsson is proba…
Father of Origin
Deep archeology into a long buried and previously undocumented chapter in the history of the early '70s loft era brings forth the revelatory Father of Origin, Eremite's box set retrospective of percussionist/bassist Juma Sultan's Aboriginal Music Society. Drawn from Sultan's mammoth private archive of recordings, this ground-breaking set includes two audiophile LPs and a CD, a 28 page 12x12' book featuring previously unpublished photographs and ephemera and a detailed historical essay by jazz sc…
Freedom Of Speech
The second album of the Phantom Band is quite different to the predecessor. The line-up features the spoken word performer Sheldon Ancel on the microphone instead of bass player Rosko Gee. Whilst the debut album revealed many Caribbean or African influences and a generally positive frame of mind, "Freedom of Speech" is a somewhat darker avant-garde rock manifesto, interspersed with individual dub or reggae pieces. All they have in common are Jaki Liebezeit's inimitable monotone polyrhythm…
Meetings With Remarkable Saxophonists - Volume 1
Meetings with Remarkable Saxophonists - Volume 1. John Edwards, double bass. Evan Parker, tenor saxophone. Eddie Prévost, drums. First of a series of recordings made at The Network Theatre, London on 30th May 2011.
Impossibility In Its Purest Form
Percussionist Eddie Prévost not only co-founded the British improvising collective AMM more than 45 years ago, he is its chief annotator and its sole consistent member. With these dual roles he has both explained the aesthetic, political and ethical dimensions of an enterprise dedicated to constant self-examination and on-stage negotiation, and ensured the music’s immediacy through the agency of his exactingly tuned-in playing. But before he did any of that, he was a fine jazz drummer wit…
Live At The Montreaux / Detroit Jazz Festival, 1983
An overlooked performance from Roy Brooks and his legendary Artistic Truth ensemble – recorded back in Detroit in the early 80s – and smoking with the energy of a lost 70s spiritual jazz session! The group's got a leaner feel here, and even more fire than on some of Brooks' other sessions of the period – especially on the solos, which really stretch out boldly – especially on piano from Geri Allen, and trumpet from Rayse Biggs! Other group members include Vincent Bowens on tenor and flute, Mario…
At Huseyin's
Rare music from a legendary trio – one who cut two studio albums in the 70s, and reunited for this smoking live date in the early 90s! The lineup is heavy on percussion from Huseyn Ertunc – and from both Phil Musra and Michael Cosmic – although both of those players handle plenty of reeds as well – making for a performance that's really incredible – as the musicians shift effortlessly between instruments, often with this sense of urgency to find new expressions – a creative free play that…
The unknown knowns
Klaus Ellerhusen Holm, alto saxophone & clarinet. Tor Haugerud, drums & percussion. Kim Myhr, guitars & objects. Martin Taxt, tuba. Muringa navigates playfully in a polarized world of opposites. Between speed and tranquility, industry and flora, violence and tenderness, noise and silence, chaos and order; Muringa gives the listener the hegelian third choice. The group consists of four of the most active improvising musicians from Norway. All occupied with other SOFA-projects such as Mural…
Cristallisation
Over 4 hours of improvisations were recorded over these two days in april 2010. We then trimmed the sound sequences and the silence, while keeping our specific interactions and phrasing of sounds between us and with the location. But sound is a flexible material and what remains of this session are frequencies that are like vestiges to be reinvented. To help this there is some 'presence'. The acoustic character and the intense immobility that fill the air of the chapel of Las Planques, in the da…
Armageddon
Yet another masterpiece from the archives of Phil Cohran. Armageddon was conceived in 1958 and written down in 1963. After performing with Sun Ra and benefiting from the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Phil Cohran's compositions changed decidedly, and he began to focus on cosmology and culture. This particular performance was recorded live at the Afro Arts Theater at 3900 S. Drexel in Chicago on February 11th, 1968. It has never been released and practically unheard in over 40 years.…
The Spanish Suite
"The Spanish Suite was written to magnify the contribution that Moorish Spain made on the European Renaissance. The relationship of music to cosmic rhythms and harmony was altered from the original state of Spanish music and eventually distorted down to the 12 tone equi-temperment system of tuning. The Artistic Heritage Ensemble was taught to play outside of the 12-tone system and to recognize natural tone relationships. The musicians had to be dedicated to music for life in order to reac…
The Naked Truth
LP version with bonus 7". Every once in a while, a record presents itself so defiant in its refusal of categorization that it becomes the bane of those poor vinyl archaeologists whose business it is to file and classify. The aptly-named The Naked Truth (1975) is one such artifact; a wayfaring stray of an album that weaves its insouciant magic through the edgelands of sound. The musical provenance is palpable -- an electric blend of spiritual jazz, rhythmic black psychedelia and far-out ex…
Our Prayer
Another previously-unreleased gem from South African pianist/composer Chris McGregor and his cohorts in '60s UK free jazz. Our Prayer was culled from the same sessions that produced the also never-released Up To Earth in 1969 and was produced by Joe Boyd and engineered by John Wood at Sound Techniques studio. The previous year they had signed to Joe Boyd's illustrious Witchseason production company alongside Fairport Convention, John and Beverley Martyn, Nick Drake and the Incredible String Ba…
Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath
Reissued by Fledg'ling in 2007, this is a classic title from 1971 by Chris McGregor's magnificent big band -- Brotherhood Of Breath. Arguably one of the most influential albums to emerge from the London jazz scene of the early 1970s, the Brotherhood of Breath was an exuberant big-band created by South African-born pianist and composer, Chris McGregor. In South Africa, McGregor had formed the racially mixed Blue Notes in the early 1960s. By 1964, finding it very difficult to work at home, t…
Very Urgent
Originally released on Polydor in 1968. During this year, The Chris McGregor Group were riding high on the London jazz scene, playing and hanging out with all the rising stars of British free jazz. Very Urgent, their eagerly-awaited debut recording, was a joyful call of intent. The album mixes simple but utterly unstoppable tunes and exhilarating horn charts -- immediately establishing a vitality and exuberance that would continue to define the group. Nevertheless, their evident preference f…
Spiritual Jazz 2: Europe
As the '60s progressed, cultural and political revolutions occurred both in the U.S. and in Europe. Jazz was both a victim and a savior, with radical developments in the music occurring on both continents. In the U.S., artists took control of their own musical destiny as small labels broke away from the mainstream, expressing new and creative visions of freedom and peace against a backdrop of civil unrest, repression and war. In '60s Europe, the jazz community forged ahead with a different…
Kelan Philip Cohran & The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
2018 repress; double LP version. For the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, the voyage to where they are now -- whether tearing up festivals from Glastonbury to Melbourne, or touring with Gorillaz, or recording their first album on Honest Jon's -- has involved a necessary stepping away from their father's shadow. Phil Cohran is the first to recognize this, happily allowing their sound -- heavy on the funk, with the urgency of hip-hop never far away -- to blossom. But likewise this album is for all of them…
Brotherhood
Reissued by Fledg'ling in 2007. The long-overdue release on CD of Brotherhood -- a classic title from 1972 by Chris McGregor's magnificent big band Brotherhood Of Breath. Never before officially reissued, this wonderful album continues the ground-breaking music of their debut album. Mighty music for the head, the heart and the feet. "The Brotherhood of Breath is the kind of band you want to tell people about. It's not for private enjoyment, or for worship by a elitist cult. The Brotherhood'…
Daylight
Following on from their highly acclaimed appearance on the Treader Duos, here is a whole CD devoted to the highly compatible and innovative duo of saxophonist John Butcher and percussionist Mark Sanders. Their varied improvisations are heard at two afternoon concerts - one at the 2010 Freedom of the City festival in London, the other nearly a year later at Southampton University
Vivaces
GGRIL [Le Grand Groupe Regional d'Improvisation Libérée] launches Vivaces, recorded concert conducted by famous British saxophone player Evan Parker. Going for seven years now, ''Le GGRIL'' is Tour de Bras' home big band, based in Rimouski, Québec, located hundreds kilometers east from urban centers. GGRIL is an eclectic reunion of improvisation enthusiasts from a large array of ages and musical traditions. The band features a dozen musicians living in Lower St-Lawrence region. They worked with …