Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

On a Sunday in the early 70s in South LA, you could easily find yourself standing in a high school auditorium, watching Horace Tapscott conduct the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra as they poured out music like a benediction. No tickets, no VIP list—just the community, gathered. This was music as civic duty, as spiritual practice, as revolution by other means. Live at Widney High December 26th, 1971 captures one such afternoon, previously unreleased and now arriving like a dispatch from a parallel u…

Ancient Infinity Orchestra’s It’s Always About Love is a lush outpouring of melodic, communal jazz, where improvisational freedom and thoughtful orchestration balance earthiness with cosmic ambition. Led by double-bassist Ozzy Moysey, the album draws inspiration from spiritual jazz icons and blends folk, jazz, and classical leanings within a 15-member ensemble, presenting a heartfelt meditation on connection and celebration.

The debut albumo of Tasmin is a journey through layers of influences connected by the band members bringing the sound of Ethio-Jazz, Afrobeat, Percussion, Dub and Tribal Music with an electronica sauce are interwoven, all mixed together in a delicate balance that creates a cinematic soulful and one-of a kind aesthetic blend from the connection of several worlds.The name "Tezeta" is taken from the well-known Ethiopian musical scale, which served as a major inspiration for the writing.  This scale…

2025 stock When Lonnie Liston Smith left the Miles Davis band in 1974 for a solo career, he was, like so many of his fellow alumni, embarking on a musical odyssey. For a committed fusioneer, he had no idea at the time that he was about to enter an abyss that it would take him the better part of two decades to return from. Looking back upon his catalog from the period, this is the only record that stands out -- not only from his own work, but also from every sense of the word: It is fully a jazz …

Edition of 100. Leo Suarez (drum set), James McKain (tenor saxophone), and Ian McColm (drum set) let intuition take the wheel. A seamless twenty-three + minute performance of melding minds recorded live at Century Bar in Philadelphia, 2022.

Edition of 100. One may picture a body as it tumbles perpetually down stairs, every bone splintering beyond recognition. Art Heist conjures such imagery on this brash spirited debut via live and studio mayhem.

World Without Form was originally released in 2012 on CD format only, the album is now being made available on vinyl for the first time, in two separate volumes because of the length of the recording. Each of the two volumes also contain a previously unreleased track from the sessions. Volume 1 has ‘Ithnaan’ which is an earlier version of the track released as ‘Man From Varanasi’ on Nat’s ‘Cosmic Language’ album.

Yusuf Mumin's Journey To The Ancient is an archival treasure from a pivotal figure of the 1960s Cleveland free jazz scene. Drawing from previously unheard recordings preserved in his private collection, the album combines spiritual jazz’s expressive depth with experimental intensity. Featuring Mumin's multi-instrumental performance alongside percussionist William Holmes, it conveys a journey through esoteric, Afro-spiritual soundscapes with moments of serene calm and fiery bursts that reflect Mu…

Ramsey Lewis' album Mother Nature's Son, consists exclusively of instrumental versions of songs by The Beatles, featuring ten of the songs from the band's White Album. Recorded in December of 1968, shortly after the November 22, 1968 release of The Beatles' album, it showcases Lewis on piano and keyboards playing with members from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. According to producer and arranger Charles Stepney, Lewis had expressed his admiration for the sounds achieved by The Beatles' producer…

** Deluxe edition, Tip-on jacket, 24 pp booklet ** Sam Records continues its essential reissue series of Transition Records' visionary catalog with Jazz By Sun Ra Vol. 2, the companion piece to Sun Ra's landmark 1957 Jazz by Sun Ra Vol. 1. Originally intended as Transition TRLP-28 but left unreleased when the label folded, these recordings remained in limbo until Bob Koester rescued them for Delmark in 1968 as Sound of Joy [DS-414]. Now, over half a century later, this crucial document of the Ar…

** Deluxe edition, Tip-on jacket, 24 pp booklet ** Did you know that the short-lived Transition label released the first LPs, or first sessions as leaders of three of the greatest performers in modern jazz? Donald Byrd – Byrd Jazz – Transition TRLP 5; Sun Ra – Jazz by Sun Ra Vol. 1 – Transition TRLP 10; Cecil Taylor – Jazz Advance – Transition TRLP 19. Tom Wilson, its founder and manager, was undoubtedly a man of taste more than a businessman as the label had to close its doors after only two ye…

** Deluxe edition, Tip-on jacket, 12 pp booklet ** Sam Records returns with a significant archival gem: the long-awaited reissue of Donald Byrd's Byrd Jazz, originally released on Transition Records in 1955. Capturing the Donald Byrd Sextet's electrifying performance in Detroit on August 23, 1955, organized by the New Jazz Society under the impetus of Kenny Burrell, this recording stands as a crucial document of both Byrd's emerging artistry and the vibrant Detroit jazz scene of the 1950s. The r…

Brooklyn pianist Eva Novoa joins saxophonist Daniel Carter and drummer Francisco Mela for the second volume of The Freedom Suite, a set of twelve pieces blending piano, Rhodes, harpsichord, gongs, and vocals with Carter's multi-reed brilliance and Mela's Cuban-inflected drumming, creating an urgent, intimate, and fluidly improvised dialogue of words, sound, and fearless imagination.

2006 release ** Oversize cardboard sleeve.

"Even if it doesn't sell well, let's create records that carry the scent of culture. I want you to perform Japanese jazz by Japanese people." Inspired by these words from the director, Hiroshi Matsumoto decided to record the album "Megalopolis." The concept is "Tokyo." Drawing inspiration from the rapidly changing cityscape seen from the airplane window, Matsumoto began production. Together with Hideyo Ichikawa, Kunimitsu Inaba, and Motohiko Hino, the four musicians positioned themselves in a ci…

'Strode Road' marks the debut of Japanese pianist Toshiyuki Sekine, recorded on May 3, 1978, at ARU Studio. The album presents a collection of jazz standards delivered with a vibrant and cohesive trio performance. Sekine's piano work, complemented by the rhythm section, offers a fresh take on classic compositions, reflecting the burgeoning Japanese jazz scene of the late 1970s.

This is one of three albums made by one of the best formations led by saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley during his whole career. This “Cannonball” Adderley Quintet included his brother Nat Adderley on cornet, pianist Junior Mance, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Jimmy Cobb.Together they made the classic LPs Sophisticated Swing, Cannonball Enroute and the present album Cannonball’s Sharpshooters.

Originally recorded in 1961 and released on the New Jazz label, 'Into Something' showcases Yusef Lateef's innovative fusion of hard bop with Eastern musical influences. Accompanied by pianist Barry Harris, bassist Herman Wright, and drummer Elvin Jones, Lateef delivers a compelling set that balances lyrical standards with adventurous originals. This limited edition reissue includes two bonus tracks and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl, offering enhanced sound quality for audiophiles and jazz enthusi…

2025 stock Originally released in 1962, jazz multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef’s “Eastern Sounds” fuses hard bop with middle eastern music as he is joined by Barry Harris on piano alongside Ernie Farrow (double bass, rabaab) and Lex Humphries (drums). This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI with all-analogue mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and presented in a Tip-On Jacket.

Sun Ra's first Saturn album, recorded at RCA Studios in Chicago in 1956, expanded with 14 alternate takes and four CD-only bonus tracks. 2CD in tri-fold digipak with 12-page booklet, Cosmic Myth Records, 2025.