★Klimt
Spellbound
Of Sudanese heritage, the bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik (1927-1993) was born Jonathan Timms in Brooklyn. After working with Art Blakey and Thelonious Monk, among others, Abdul-Malik studied music of other cultures. He was among the first to incorporate Middle Eastern and Indian influences into Jazz.A mindblowing mix of jazz and Middle Eastern influences— and a rare ‘60s treasure from Thelonious Monk’s former bassist! Ahmed Abdul-Malik blends together percussion, bass, and oud with some soulfu…
Plays Brown, Cage & Feldman
An accomplished group in the world of chamber music, the Concord String Quartet, active from 1971-1987, gained almost immediate attention from the press as well as a dedicated following, after winning the prestigious Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award in 1972. Although the quartet was a classical string quartet, these rare 1973 recordings show the groups affinity for the "New York School" of avant-garde composers, like Earle Brown, John Cage and Morton Feldman, as well. Side B is entirely co…
The Trio
Featuring two American ex-pats on bass (Barre Phillips) and drums (Stu Martin), and English saxophonist (John Surman), The Trio is a monster 2LP of avant-garde and free jazz originally released on the Dawn label in 1970. By the time this double album was recorded, the various band members had developed quite a pedigree having played with the likes of Archie Shepp, Paul Bley, Bob James, Mike Westbrook, Attila Zoller, Gong, Marion Brown, and more! Their experience and expertise are visible here as…
Tales of the Algonquin
Originally released in 1971, 'Tales Of The Algonquin', is one of the finest artifacts of the British modal and free jazz scene of the 1960s/1970s. Johns Surman and Warren, like their contemporary Mike Westbrook, take the big band form and flip it on its head by incorporating elements of modal, free, and progressive jazz. The results are powerful and this album is perhaps the greatest example of that quintessentially British jazz style. Long sought after by jazz collectors across the globe, this …
Celebration
Originally released on Deram in 1967, 'Celebration' is one of the most important albums of the 1960s British progressive and avant-garde Jazz scene. The Mike Westbrook Concert Band included some of the UKs most important jazz figures of the time, including John Surman, Mike Osborne, and Harry Miller. These recordings, culled from two days of studio work, are equal parts swinging and experimental, boundary pushing and accessible. Original copies on Deram now fetch a hefty sum, thankfully the folk…
Oud
Oud virtuoso and composer Salman Shukur was the Head of the Music Department and Professor of Oud (the Arab lute) at the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts for over 30 years. However, despite his long and illustrious career, Shukur made only one LP, recorded in London in 1976 at Rosslyn Hill Chapel. Shukur's compositions, while based on the Arab classical musical tradition, attempt to bridge the gap between eastern and western music, and may be described as tone-poems, embodying both free and formal…
Septober Energy
A mammoth, fifty-person enterprise featuring the cream of the early-seventies jazz-rock brigade, Centipede's 1971 album 'Septober Energy' proved to be an exercise in both gargantuan excess and instrumental brilliance. Naturally, opinions on the release are divided. The line-up is far too numerous to list here, though it did include the likes of Soft Machine alumni Marc Charig(cornet), Elton Dean (sax), Roy Babbington(bass), Robert Wyatt (drums), Nick Evans(trombone), John Marshall(drums,…
The Sensational Guitars Of Dan & Dale: Batman And Robin
"This novelty album, released in 1966 during the height of the Batman & Robin craze, was initially credited to the 'The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale' and featured an album full of tracks based on the popular TV show like 'The Batman Theme Song', 'The Penguin Chase', and 'The Batcave'. The album is entirely instrumental, except for someone singing 'Batmaaaan!' in the theme song. But the interesting thing about this album, and what makes it an absolute cult gem, are the musicians who…
Electronic Noise Improvisation 1999
After spending the first half of the 1970s globetrotting with Asia's premiere avant-garde band--Takehisa Kosugi's Taj Mahal Travellers (where Seiji Nagai played trumpet and keyboards)--Nagai continued to study and play music, particularly Indian music (drones) and electronic/computer generated music. In 1999 he finally released Electronic Noise Improvisation, with the help of Koichi Watanabe, Koji Kawai and Minoru Yonemoto. Here, as in the days of TMT, Nagai concentrates on creating dense …
The New Eternal Rhythm Orchestra
Recorded live at the Donaueschingen Music Festival in Germany on October 17, 1971, this rare concert has not been available on vinyl since the seventies! This recording, while still firmly rooted in the American free jazz tradition of Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler (with whom Don Cherry frequently recorded), brings in elements of traditional Indian, African, Chinese, Mayan and Balinese music. Of the three pieces found here, the first two are composed by Cherry and feature an internationa…
Swing Low Sweet Spiritual
Following a few years spent living and playing in Scandinavia, an unknown saxophone player by the name of Albert Ayler returned home to the USA to begin imposing his revolutionary style of jazz on the world. Having recorded his debut album, My Name Is Albert Ayler for the Danish label, Debut Records, this session (which took place in New York City on 24 February 1964) was his first American effort, resulting in the eventual release of two albums: Spirits (released in 1964 on Debut) and Swi…
Spirits
After a few years spent living in Sweden and touring with Cecil Taylor's Jazz Unit, Ayler moved to NYC to begin imposing his revolutionary style of jazz on the world through a number of groundbreaking records. Spirits, recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York City on 24 February 1964, was his first effort. Recorded a few months prior to his landmark album for ESP-Disk, Spiritual Unity (but only released in Europe on Denmark's Debut Records), for the occasion Ayler recruited Norman Howard …