Canned Heat - Future Blues (1970) {Iconoclassic Records ICON1046 rel 2016}

The final Canned Heat album to feature co-founder Alan Wilson, Future Blues was also one of their best, surprisingly restrained as a studio creation by the band, the whole thing clocking in at under 36 minutes, as long as some single jams on their live discs. It was also one of their most stylistically diverse efforts. Most of what's here is very concise and accessible, even the one group-composed jam – Alan Wilson's "Shake It and Break It" and his prophetically titled "My Time Ain't Long" (he would be dead the year this record was issued), which also sounds a lot like a follow-up to "Going up the Country" until its final, very heavy, and up-close guitar coda.

Elvin Jones - Puttin' It Together (1968) {2014 Japan SHM-CD Blue Note 24-192 Remaster}

Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. Proof that Elvin Jones wasn't just riding on the laurels of the Great One during his years with John Coltrane – as the album's a breakout date that has Jones firmly establishing his own voice in jazz! There's an explosive power here that makes us think that Elvin must have really just been biding his time with Coltrane – waiting for the chance to try out his own new ideas in music, and finding the perfect accompanists here in a trio that includes Jimmy Garrison on bass and a young Joe Farrell on tenor, soprano sax, and flute! The lack of a piano in the group really makes for a sense of new freedom that's totally great – not dreamy, melodic piano-less work, as in some of the LA groups of earlier years – but a searing, soaring intensity that Farrell was a perfect choice to head up.

Masahiko Satoh - All-In, All-Out (1979) {Sony Music Japan SRCL1978 rel 1991}

This unkown gem - that will amaze casual listeners and still conquer regular ones - stars both Masahiko Sato's talent in displaying a wide variety of tones and fusion scales and Dave Liebman's fierce and intense saxophone playing. Sometimes "All-in, All-Out" recalls Weather Report's edgy style of abstract fusion, and Sato's work here serves that purpose very well,which means, painting soundscapes simultaneously dreamy and cerebral. "Sapajou Walk" begins like an orchestrated blues lament, but by the time we reach "Fallout", the last track, we realize that this is not just a pop-oriented jazz thing, but a trip to something much deeper. This is truly great stuff, so check it out.

Archie Shepp - I Didn't Know About You (1990) {2015 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}

Reissue with the latest remastering. Features original cover artwork. Comes with a descripton in Japanese. Straight, soulful work from Archie Shepp – an overlooked gem from the start of the 90s, and a set that we'd rank right up there with his classics from his great "straight" period of the late 70s! The album's got frequent partner Horace Parlan on piano – who already helps things get grounded in all the right territory – and the excellent Wayne Dockery is on bass, a player with subtle power that really helps give the album all the right depth. George Brown completes the group on drums – and Shepp blows both tenor and alto sax – the latter of which has this raspy quality that's maybe overblown, but in this really powerful way. Title sinclude "Ask Me Now", "Party Time", "Billie's Bossa", "Go Down Moses", and "Now's The Time".

Jan Boerman - The Complete Tape Music (1998) {5CD Set Donemus CV NEAR 04-08 rec 1959-1997}

Jan Boerman (born 30 June 1923) has been a composer working in electronic music studios since 1959. He was born in The Hague. The Delft Polytechnic in Utrecht, from which the Institute of Sonology was developed, housed the first electronic music studio in the Netherlands after the Philips laboratory in Eindhoven, which was not generally open to composers.

A select few composers were invited to work at Eindhoven, including Edgard Varèse (who created his Poème électronique there in 1958) but, by 1960, Philips decided to close the facilities. It passed its equipment on to the Delft Polytechnic, which became the primary site for electronic music in the Netherlands. Administrative problems, however, caused both Boerman and Dick Raaijmakers to leave Utrecht in 1963, whereupon they began setting up a private studio in the Hague. Their facility eventually became incorporated into the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and both men became members of the faculty. Years later, in 1986, the Institute of Sonology echoed their move by transferring from Utrecht to the Royal Conservatory in the Hague.

Boerman was trained in the traditional manner as a pianist and composer, and his initial exposure to the electronic music studio was both a shock and a revelation. There was relatively little "repertoire" in this new domain, so, while he had been struggling with serialism and "finding his voice", Boerman intuited that here was a vast new terrain to explore, free from the stylistic pressures (i.e., the triumvirate of Paris, Darmstadt, and Cologne) that were so powerfully felt at that time in Europe. Raaijmakers, on the other hand, had been studying broadcasting, recording, and applied electronics at Philips, so was more drawn into the world of studio composition.

The James Hunter Six - Hold On! (2016) {Daptone Records DAP-040}

Hold On! is the fourth album by the rocking soul man James Hunter and his stalwart sextet. Daptone's Gabriel Roth produced the excellent Minute by Minute in 2013, but this is the band's debut for the label. Hold On! was recorded live in the studio, but Roth and Hunter decided on mono to best capture the immediacy of the performances. The songwriter has recorded only original material since 2006, and these ten tracks are no exception. What separates this date from previous outings – excellent though they all were – isn't the mono production, but the diversity in songwriting, rhythmic invention, and arranging. "This Is Where We Came In" may contain a simmering organ, but doo wop-esque backing vocals from Gregory Lee, Alex Desert, and Malik Moore elevate it (and the two other cuts they appear on) beyond the early pop-soul framework that it comes adorned in. So do the cha-cha rhythms, rhumba fills, and comps from Andrew Kingslow's piano.

Batsumi - Batsumi (1974) {Panai, Japan Bonus Tracks Edition rel 2011}

“Batsumi” Is A South African Gem Made In The Face of Oppression. During the brutal era in South African history known as Apartheid, the minority-white ruling party forcibly moved millions of black South Africans from their homes to segregated areas, stripping them of their citizenship and reassigning them to tribal Bantu status. But even in the face of this outrageous oppression, South African music thrived. Artists like pianist Abdullah Ibrahim (formerly known as Dollar Brand), and multi-instrumentalist Hugh Masekela gained fame both within the country and beyond. But Ibrahim and Masekela were the exceptions, rather than the rule. Because they both lived and toured abroad, it was easier for their music to get attention. For local South African musicians, operating under the threat of state violence, breaking through to European and American audiences was much harder.

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Himmelfahrt - 1st Stunde aus Klang (2006) {Stockhausen-Verlag No. 83}

Since 1991, a complete edition of all recordings in which Karlheinz Stockhausen has personally participated is being released on compact discs. Each CD in this series is identified by Stockhausen's signature followed by an encircled number. The numbers indicate the general historical order of the works. Stockhausen realised the electronic music and participated in these recordings as conductor, performer, sound projectionist, and musical director. He personally mixed down the recordings, mastered them for CDs, wrote the texts and drew the covers.

Grant Green - Feelin' The Spirit plus 1 (1962) {Blue Note Japan, CP32-9527, Early Press, rel 1987}

Soulful, spiritual work from guitarist Grant Green – an exploration of older tunes with a hip Blue Note 60s soul jazz approach! The album features Grant working in a quartet with Herbie Hancock, Billy Higgins, and Butch Warren – plus some added tambourine on a number of tracks – and the overall approach is extremely laidback and open, with Green soloing in a personal style that's a bit less frenetic than some of his other work of the period.

Holger Czukay - Cinema (2018) {5CD+DVD Box Set Grönland Records CDGRON180 }

LIMITED EDITION : (5CD+DVD) 2018 retrospective of the Can co-founder's solo works with bonus DVD "Krieg Der Töne" (War Of The Sounds) a late-'80s experimental film that he scored & starred in. Also includes booklet with unseen photos & a biography.

FLAC, DVD, ARTWORK

Dizzy Gillespie with Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt - Duets (1957) {Verve 835 253-2 rel 1988}

One of the greatest jam session records on Verve! Although some of the label's "big horn talent" albums tended to be a bit snoozy, this one crackles with energy, and features three different classes of boppers working together perfectly on long, lively tracks with Ray Bryant on piano, Tommy Bryant on bass, and Charlie Persip on drums. In fact, it's probably the soulful rhythm section that makes the whole thing so darn good – as they really chop up some nice rhythms on cuts like "Wheatleigh Hall", "Haute Mon", and the album's classic version of "Con Alma". Great stuff, and essential for fans of Diz and Rollins especially!

Dizzy Gillespie - The Verve/Philips Dizzy Gillespie Small Group Sessions (1954-1964) {7CD Box Set Mosaic MCD7-234 rel 2006}

These sessions document unequivocally why Dizzy Gillespie is still considered one of the greatest improvisers in the history of jazz, for his mastery of the instrument, his command of time, his control over musical ideas, and his ability to entertain. He was blessed during this period, which spans 1954 to 1963, with stellar sidemen, unparalleled arrangements, and a surge of excitement for making music.

Various Artists - Famous Organ Music from Europe (2013) {10CD Box Set Ars Musici 233793}

The 10-CD set ‘Famous Organ Music from Europe’ presents organ music from six centuries played on famous organs in Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Holland, and Transylvania. The instruments on which the pieces are played are among the greatest in existence and were built by names such as Silbermann, Schnitger, Hillebrand, and Grenzing.

The organ works featured in this collection are by celebrated organ composers like J.S. Bach, Buxtehude and Sweelink as well as lesser-known masters. The music is performed by renowned organists including Harald Vogel, Michael Radulescu, Lorenzo Ghielmi, Jozef Sluys, Christoph Bossert, Horst Gehann, Oskar Gottlieb Blarr, Jean Ferrard, Xavier Deprez, and Andreas Liebig.

Andreas Schaerer & Lucas Niggli - Arcanum (2014) {Intakt CD 232}

Just vocals and drums – that’s the line-up of the dream team of Andreas Schaerer and Lucas Niggli. Outstanding virtuosity and enormous creativity combined with the intuition of sleepwalkers, produces an astonishing sound universe full of surprises.

The imagination and ability of the two musicians to communicate and react is key to their free improvisations, which nevertheless are very precise.

The album was recorded in the legendary “Loft” club in Cologne and is a mixture of live and studio recordings. The result is music played on the first instruments of mankind – voice and drum – which is opulent and impulsive, direct and delicate.

The Turtles - The Complete Original Albums Collection (2016) {6CD Set FloEdCo MFO 48047 Official Digital Download rec 1965-70}

Judging from their radio hits, the Turtles were one of the best American pop bands of the '60s, crafting a series of engaging singles that were tuneful, witty, and fueled by a potent mix of Brill Building professionalism and knowing musical experimentation. But while one could certainly get a perspective on their genius through hits like "Happy Together," "Eleanor," "She's Rather Be with Me," and "You Baby," it was on their albums (and the B-sides of their 45s) where they let their imaginations run free and cut their wittiest and most ambitious material.