★Esp-Disk
Recital
Originally released in 1961. Peruvian singer Yma Sumac glided effortlessly from contralto to coloratura, her voice covering a range of no less than four octaves -- skeptics even suspected studio trickery! Her early repertoire included popular music and jazz pieces, but by this 1961 concert, she was devoting herself to the goal of making known the music of her homeland and neighboring countries. This is the first time ESP-Disk has released this concert on vinyl. To fit it on a single LP, the orch…
The Heliocentric Worlds Vol.3
Heliocentric Worlds Volume 3 is the continuation of the Heliocentric Worlds Volume 2 session, recorded the same day and with the same personnel, that has been lost for nearly 40 years. Recently, the tapes were discovered, digitally remastered, and are now available for the first time. Totally-unreleased studio material -- continuation of the session hailed as a "...masterpiece of free jazz."Sun Ra (piano, tuned bongos, clavioline); Marshall Allen (alto sax, pic, flute); Pat Patrick (bar sax);Wal…
Concert for the Comet Kohoutek
Recorded on December 22, 1973 in New York City at the famous Town Hall, this eclectic ESPDisk-sponsored celebration of the Comet Kohoutek featured a fire eater, talking drums, and dancers in platform shoes, in addition to Sun Ra's Arkestra. After taking the stage ninety minutes late, the band expertly navigates its way through cosmic free playing, big-band romps, and didactic vocal numbers. Compared to the original pressing, this re-issue is digitally remastered by Joe Phillips and includes brie…
Clarity
Before his career defining records on Arista/Novus in the 80s and 90s, jazz and fusion guitaristMichael Gregory Jackson recorded his debut for ESP-Disk'. The sessions, recorded in New York, Connecticut and Los Angeles in the summer of 1976 are wildly meditative and personify the seventies laid-back vibe. A trio of soft, lilting melodies set the mood; David Murray on tenor sax, Oliver Lake on flute, and the album's leader, Michael Gregory Jackson on acoustic guitar. The unfolding stream of ideas …
Black Beings
This version of Black Beings contains of 15 minutes of additional material thought to have been lost. When he started out on ESP-Disk', Frank Lowe was one of those hard-blowing tenor saxophonists we think of when we heard the phrase "free jazz." Born in Memphis, he moved to San Francisco and, while visiting New York, began playing with Alice Coltrane (on whose album World Galaxy he made his recording debut in 1971), Sun Ra, Rashied Ali, and Noah Howard, and eventually moved to the Big Apple. On …
College Tour
50th Anniversary Edition on "Esperanto-Green" colored vinyl. In the Spring of 1966, ESP was given a grant by the New York State Council on the Arts, to tour the five colleges in the state with music departments. Artists for this tour included the Sun Ra Arkestra, Burton Greene, Patty Waters, Giuseppi Logan and Ran Blake. Accompanied by an all star backup group from among the participants, Patty's performances resulted in the album, College Tour, her second recording for ESP-Disk'. The album expa…
Contact High With The Godz
"Contact High With the Godz is the first album, released in 1966, by this NYC-based band. The Godz were part of the Lower East Side scene that produced post-beat avant-hippie rockers/performance artists the Fugs and the Holy Modal Rounders, as well as beat performers like Allen Ginsberg. Sounding like a prototype for Half Japanese or the Shaggs, the Godz play as if they discovered their instruments ten minutes before the tape started rolling. Digitally remastered. Issued in digipak format with o…
The East Village Other
2013 reissue; originally released in 1966. The first North American CD release of the "electric newspaper," an archetypal '60s counterculture "happening" from August 6, 1966, this is also the first edition anywhere since the original vinyl to include the lengthy closing track, "Interview with Hairy." A legendary all-star cast of performers got together to make an anti-war collage of words and sounds that defies mere track listings -- one of the elements is "Silence" by Andy Warhol, which, contr…
The East Village Other
Originally released in 1966. The first North American release of the "electric newspaper," an archetypal '60s counterculture "happening" from August 6, 1966, this is also the first edition anywhere since the original vinyl to include the lengthy closing track, "Interview with Hairy." A legendary all-star cast of performers got together to make an anti-war collage of words and sounds that defies mere track listings -- one of the elements is "Silence" by Andy Warhol, which, contrary to at least on…
Straying On The Watch
The noted west coast composer makes his ESP debut accompanied by his then wife, Barbara Donald, on trumpet, Teddy Smith on bass, John Hicks on piano and Marvin Pattillo on percussion. Recorded August 1966, Staying on the Watch is an important infusion of straight-ahead and avant jazz. Barbara Donald is a superb trumpeter who has made a stern contribution to the legacy of women performers and has been widely written about. Also, pianist John Hicks, who makes his New York debut on the record, went…
Charles Tyler Ensemble
Charles Tyler, from Albert Ayler's band, makes a startling statement on his debut solo record. His group, featuring an unusual instrumentation of cello, bass, drums, orchestra vibes, and saxophone, plays through his original compositions and showcases some heated solos. Although primarily known as a baritone sax player, Charles Tyler is featured on alto sax yet his sound and concept are fully evident on this record. Performers: Charles Tyler: alto sax; Charles Moffett: orchestra vibes;Joel Freed…
Closer
When Oscar Peterson moved from Montreal to New York in 1949, the 17-year-old Paul Bley took over his residency at the Alberta Lounge on Oscar's recommendation; in his twenties, he played withCharlie Parker. Bley started incorporating maverick pianist Lennie Tristano's approach to improvisation and collaborating with Charles Mingus, and in 1958 in Los Angeles Bley famously put together a band with Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins. His move into free improvisation in t…
Spirits Rejoice
Live recording of Albert Ayler's large septet configuration, featuring brother Donald, Charles Tyler, Sunny Murray and both Henry Grimesand Gary Peacock on bass. Compared to the bare trio of Spiritual Unity, this nearly big band of two bass players and a strong horn section allows Ayler's expressive vision depth from the joyous to the aggressive in Ayler's five original compositions. The digitally remastered recording was originally made at 30 ips instead of the usual 15 giving it excellent fide…
Turn On, Turn In, Drop Out
This CD release of Dr. Leary's Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out is the first ever reissue of the ESP-Disk' vinyl edition originally released in 1966. This unadorned spoken word recording of the '60s icon, Timothy Leary ("the most dangerous man alive"), was recorded at the famous Millbrook, New York estate just before his famous residency was ended by repeated raids and arrests by G. Gordon Liddy. Though the album title, Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out, became a clichéd rallying cry for a whole generation, …
New York Eye And Ear Control
Originally released in 1966. Featured artists: Albert Ayler (tenor sax), Ed Blackwell(trumpet), Don Cherry (trumpet, cornet), Sunny Murray (drums), Gary Peacock (bass), Roswell Rudd (trombone), John Tchicai (saxophone, alto sax). Michael Snow is a Canadian national treasure, a true Renaissance man. He assembled a stellar group to improvise a sound track for his art film, titled Walking Woman, featuring a silhouette that is rumored to have been inspired by Carla Bley. Digitally remastered. Manufa…
More
2013 reissue; originally released in 1966. More,Giuseppi Logan's second album, has two tracks from the same legendary May 1st, 1965, Town Hall concert, produced by ESP-Disk' owner Bernard Stollman, that gave us Albert Ayler's Bells. This ESP-Disk' 50th Anniversary Remaster edition of Moreincludes previously unissued music from Logan's set that reissue producer Michael D. Andersondiscovered at the end of the Albert Ayler Bellsmaster tape. The astonishing thing about this ten-minute segment of aud…
Trio
Lowell Davidson recorded this singular session on July 27th, 1965 with Gary Peacock and the ever amazing Milford Graves. Sadly, the only recording ever released by Davidson, it remains fresh and exciting 40 plus years later. On Ornette Coleman’s recommendation, ESP-Disk’ owner Bernard Stollman signed up pianist Lowell Davidson (then majoring in biochemistry at Harvard) for this album without having heard him play. Davidson came to New York and got to work with the elite rhythm section of drummer…
The Giuseppi Logan Quartet
On November 11th, 1964, Giuseppi Logan went to Bell Sound Studios to record his first album for the newly-formed ESP-Disk label. Bernard Stollmandiscovered Giuseppi and others who would form the nucleus of his label at the October Revolution Concert of 1964. For the recording, Giuseppi chose friends and fellow music companions Don Pullenand Milford Graves, and added bassist extraordinaire Eddie Gomez. The session is rich with imagination, and added to the dimension of musicians who would become …
The Byron Allen Trio
Originally released in 1965. The Byron Allen Trio was among the first batch of ESP-Disk' jazz LPs. Recorded on the afternoon of September 25, 1964, at Mirasound Studio in midtown Manhattan, it was Allen's debut. He had been recommended to ESP-Disk' by Ornette Coleman, and one of the tracks, "Decision for the Cole-Man," reflects this connection. Allen and his trio also play in a style somewhat similar to that of Coleman's trio of that era with bassist David Izenzon and drummer Charles Moffett, th…
The New York Art Quartet
“Roswell Rudd assembled the newly formed New York Quartet for an afternoon recording session at Bell Sound Studios in midtown Manhattan. They were joined by a small, youthful appearing individual, the poet Amiri Baraka. Their engineer was the late Art Crist, an accomplished pianist. I was introduced to Lewis Worrell, Amiri Baraka andJohn Tchicai. The group was short lived. I heard them again 40 years later, when they reassembled for a concert at the South Street Seaport in New York City, opening…