Jazz

A two disc (cd/dvd) release of two live sets by this typically eclectic Bill Laswell led combo, featuring Bernie Worrell, Toshinori Kondo, Guy Licata, and Dr Israel.

A digi-pack presentation.

'Somewhere between dub and ambient drum'n'bass, although both rock and dancehall stick an occasional oar in.' - The Quietus

Twice Grammy-nominated Animation (Bob Belden, Tim Hagans, Scott Kinsey, Matt Garrison, DJ Logic and Guy Licata) re-invent the 'electric Miles' breakthrough release Bitches Brew in surprising ways.

Audiophile label Simply Vinyl has re-emerged with an exclusive release of John Martyn's 1973 masterpiece, Solid Air.

Using the latest re-mastered audio, this 180g reissue comes in a heavy duty plastic wallet and features the original gatefold design with a replica of the original Island Records label.

A magical fusion of singer-songwriter, Jazz, Ambient, Folk and Blues styles, the album features the all-time classic May You Never and the sublime title track (written about Martyn's friend Nick Drake).

"It sounds fabulous......The vinyl lets you hear the quality of playing from the whole ensemble and revels in the tone of Martyn's velvet voice placed deep in centre stage......Totally essential"- Hi-Fi Choice (5/5)

"Solid Air flows beautifully" - Sounds

"Martyn was so far ahead of everything else, it was inconceivable." - Eric Clapton

Two original albums from 1969 and 1971 from the Strand label showing the legendary singer at the peak of her career.

Two original Nina Simone albums on one CD.

Simone's tribute to the jazz great from 1972 including her versions of Fine And Mellow and Strange Fruit, alongside her 1973 gospel-tinged album.

'Simone's classic debut album for the Bethelhem label 'has freshness and vitality that reflects Simone's youth and optimism...'.'..an essential album for anyone who wants to share the sense of unfettered possibilities that flow through Simone's youthful music.' ' RECORD COLLECTOR

Two original albums recorded for the BYG label in 1969 highlighting the Art Ensemble's incredible energy and eclecticism.

Double cd of live material from the avant-garde jazz pioneers, recorded for the BYG label in 1969.

Including sleevenotes by The Wire's Edwin Pouncey.

Digitally-remastered double-CD set from Cherry, the world music pioneer and revered jazz musician, comprising two of his finest albums, recorded for the BYG label in 1969.

Two classic albums for BYG from 1969, MU first part and MU second part by the inspirational multi-instrumentalist, combined on one disc.

This re-mastered double cd set comprises two original albums recorded by Sun Ra at the end of the 60's for the esteemed French jazz label BYG.

It marks the first release of the complete recordings relating to this major work.

Sleeve notes from The Wire contributor Edwin Pouncey.

The evocative and exploratory Dance Of The Shadow Planets is US 'cloud guitarist' Jon Durant's seventh album.

Operating in the creative grey areas between Ambient, ECM Jazz, ethnic and atmospheric Rock, the album was recorded live in the studio with a quartet including Colin Edwin on fretless bass, Caryn Lin on violin and Jerry Leake on percussion.

"If you like David Torn, Michael Brook, Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, Eno, Steve Tibbetts each at their infinite guitar, textural guitar, guitar soundscaping, echo delay, loops, sustainesque best . . . then Jon Durant is for you." - EER Reviews

Initially formed to play three dates at the 2010 Estonian Jazz Festival, Slow Electric is a new project from Tim Bowness and Peter Chilvers, and the Estonian duo UMA (guitarist Robert Jurjendal and trumpeter Aleksei Saks).

Using recordings from the concerts as a basis, Bowness recorded new vocals and Chilvers contributed additional keyboards and atmospherics. King Crimson’s Tony Levin added bass/chapman stick to two of the album's six songs, and the multi-tracks were mixed by ace Zurich-based percussionist/producer Andi Pupato (Nik Bartsch’s Ronin).

From the elegiac opener Towards The Shore to the 5/4 groove of Criminal Caught In The Crime, the quartet combines its collective influences - singer-songwriter, electronica/ambient and European jazz - with gracefully empathetic performances.

The Carl Glover designed digipack comes with a booklet featuring sleeve notes by Tim Bowness.

Bitches Brew Live contains recordings from two performances.

The first three songs on this release were recorded in July 1969, prior to the Bitches Brew Sessions, while the remaining pieces are drawn from the band's electric Isle of Wight performance in 1970.

A fascinating before and after insight into one of the most influential albums of all time.

* 180g audiophile vinyl
* 12 page booklet with expert analysis
* Etched D-Side

Recorded in August 1969, the peerless Bitches Brew paved the way for the 1970s Fusion movement to come.

An impressionistic and uncompromising hybrid of Rock textures and Jazz spontaneity, bearing the immortal tagline 'Directions In Music by Miles Davis', the album went on to be one of the most successful albums in either genre, exerting a huge influence over the musical landscape for decades to come.

An acknowledged inspiration for Soft Machine, Can and Brian Eno, and containing the future players and musical seeds of Weather Report, Mwandishi, Return To Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra, Bitches Brew is a truly must-own album.

180g double LP in a glorious gatefold sleeve.

The second album from The Michael Giles MAD Band adds pianist supreme (and occasional King Crimson collaborator) Keith Tippett into the mix.

Sometimes challenging, sometimes lyrical, and sometimes playfully humorous, In The Moment is a collection of contemporary improvised music, which moves skilfully between Free Jazz and Free Rock territory.

"In a spirit of freedom, The MAD Band explores the universe of sound, silence, space and time." - Michael Giles

A visceral, experimental delta-jazz-noise-improv-and featuring Doug Hirlinger on drums,
flute, mbira, and percussion. Barry Meehan on bass, and Tim Motzer on baritone and electric guitars, pedals, and loops. fans

An unplanned spontaneous session recorded in a day in November 2007, Base3 evokes the spirits of Marc Ribot and Derek Bailey in an explosive trio format.

Comprising two exquisitely crafted long-form pieces, Dreams Of Tall Buildings debut on their own Museum label is an intimate and sonically adventurous collaboration with ECM label trumpeter and David Sylvian collaborator Arve Henriksen.

A gloriously cinematic and ethereal suite-like work, in the ECM tradition, from two of the world's most acclaimed double bassists, Jon Thorne (Lamb) and Danny Thompson.

"Jon Thorne was inspired to become a bassist by hearing Danny Thompson on Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. Now with a healthy career of his own, Thorne has composed a piece to highlight Thompson's sumptuous playing. A grand, enchanting creation it is too." - Uncut

All I Know: An Anthology is the first ever Theo Travis compilation.

The album features tracks from all of Theo's solo albums, in addition to recordings with Soft Machine Legacy, Palle Mikkelborg, Steve Lawson and the short lived improv trio, Marshall Travis Wood.

Musicians featured include John Etheridge, Hugh Hopper, John Marshall and Daevid Allen, and the album is presented in a deluxe digipack with a beautiful 20 page booklet featuring many previously unseen photos of Theo and his various groups.

Soft Machine's third album from 1970 was a double LP, with each vinyl side featuring a lengthy single composition.

Immediately considered the band's most accomplished achievement, Third explored aspects of the emerging Miles Davis/Bitches Brew influenced Jazz Fusion sound, and marked the most major of Soft Machine's stylistic shifts, completing the band's transition from Psychedelic gurus to giants of Jazz.

A significant milestone of the Canterbury scene, the album contains Robert Wyatt's celebrated long-form song, Moon In June.

* 180 grams audiophile vinyl
* Gatefold Sleeve

The final live recordings to be released by Soft Machine during its lifetime, Alive & Well was the product of a series of concerts at Le Palace Theatre in Monmartre, Paris in July 1978.

Initially released as a single album, the discovery of multi-track masters of a concert in the archives has resulted in this deluxe expanded edition containing a CD of additional material recorded during the same set of performances.

Unavailable officially on CD for nearly fifteen years, this reissue has been re-mastered from the original master tapes and fully restores the original artwork.

Soft Machine's final studio album, from 1981, featured the duo of Karl Jenkins and John Marshall being joined by the likes of Jack Bruce, Allan Holdsworth and Dick Morrissey.

A sophisticated release dominated by the compositional prowess of Jenkins, Land Of Cockayne remains an overlooked part of this legendary band's catalogue.

This remastered edition features a booklet including restored artwork, rare photos and sleeve notes by Sid Smith.

Esoteric's long overdue re-release of the 1976 Soft Machine classic, Softs.

The band's second for the Harvest label, Softs featured a line-up of Mike Ratledge (keyboards), Karl Jenkins (Oboe, Piano, Soprano Sax), John Marshall (Drums), Roy Babbington (Bass) and new member, John Etheridge (Guitar).

An accessible set that provided a more lyrical companion to Bundles, this was the final album to feature founder member Mike Ratledge.

Unavailable on CD for 15 years, this reissue has been re-mastered from the original tapes, features comprehensive Sid Smith sleeve notes and fully restores the original artwork.

Esoteric Records long overdue, re-mastered, release of Soft Machine's classic 1975 album, Bundles.

An accessible and highly praised collection, the album featured the classic Mike Ratledge, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Roy Babbington quartet augmented by new member, Allan Holdsworth.

Unavailable on CD for nearly 15 years, this reissue has been re-mastered from the original tapes, restores the original artwork and features sleeve notes by Sid Smith (with contributions from John Marshall).

Recorded live in Japan and the US during 1998, Blue Nights is the acclaimed double cd release from Bruford and Levin's Jazz-tinged Art Rock supergroup project, B.L.U.E..

An ideal companion piece to King Crimson's innovative, contemporaneous ProjeKct series of releases.

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Bill Bruford - drums, percussion
Tony Levin - basses, stick
David Torn - guitars, loops, oud
Chris Botti - trumpet

The astonishing 1977 debut album from drumming legend Bill Bruford.

Featuring a stellar line up including guitarists Allan Holdsworth and John Goodsall, bassist Jeff Berlin, keyboardist Dave Stewart, ECM flügelhorn maestro, Kenny Wheeler, and singer-songwriter Annette Peacock.

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Features bonus track, Joe Frazier.

Estonian duo UMA's second album, Hymn To Undiscovered Land, is a mesmerising and inventive merging of atmospheric European Jazz and electronic influences, that highlights the evolving abilities of guitarist Robert Jürjendal and trumpet player Aleksei Saks.

Recorded and mixed by celebrated percussion player Andi Pupato (from ECM band, Nik Bärtsch's Ronin), who performs throughout, the album also features an evocative vocal contribution from No-Man's Tim Bowness.

THE VERY BEST OF THE FRENCH GUITAR MAESTRO – 143 TIMELESS TRACKS ON 7 DISCS

'Double Talk' is the eighth solo release by renowned British saxophonist, flautist, composer and improviser, Theo Travis.

Featuring a dynamic new band and special guest Robert Fripp, the music is a highly contemporary evocation of the experimental Progressive, Jazz and Psychedelic music Travis was influenced by in his formative years.

The album also features a unique Travis take on the Pink Floyd classic, See Emily Play.

Earth to Ether is British saxophonist/flautist/ composer Theo Travis's sixth album for the 33 Records label and features Theo's regular touring band, including pianist Simon Colam (recently performing with Trilok Gurtu and touring with Mercury nominee Ty), bassist Andy Hamill (Mark Murphy, Carleen Anderson, 4 Hero), and drummer Marc Parnell (Francis Dunnery, Jethro Tull, Damien Rice, Trevor Watts)

Special guest on the CD is ex-Caravan/Hatfield & The North singer and guitarist Richard Sinclair, one of the most unique talents of the 1970s English progressive/Canterbury music scene. The album was mixed by Steven Wilson at No Man's Land.

In 2003, ex-Soft Machine 'fuzz-bass' innovator Hugh Hopper gifted Burning Shed one of the albums of his long and distinguished career.

A computer manipulated collage of live and studio performances, 'Jazzloops' possessed the fizz and energy of classic Soft Machine along with an astute awareness the possibilities of contemporary technology that occasionally brought to mind the jazzier extremes of post-Trip-Hoppers DJ Shadow and Koop.

Featuring mangled contributions from Robert Wyatt, Elton Dean and John Marshall (amongst many others).

Acclaimed director and gifted trumpeter/composer Mike Figgis makes his Burning Shed debut with the enigmatic and haunted soundtrack to his revolutionary movie, Hotel.

Featuring contributions from legendary drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, the album additionally contains a devastating 10 minute collaboration with Skunk Anansie's Skin.

The fourth solo album from the UK’s leading solo bass guitarist, ‘Behind Every Word’ is Steve Lawson’s most complete statement as a composer and performer to date. Nine of the Eleven tracks are completely solo tunes, combining the ambient improvs of his previous work with more structurally composed music and a greater emphasis on melody. The album features two very special guests - pedal steel guitar legend, BJ Cole and one of London's finest jazz singers, Julie McKee.