The Bebop Shop : New Releases
180g vinyl pressing. Price: £28.99
The album "Happy" features Neset with a new, top-class quintet. The album is divided into two parts: In the first half, playful, intricate, energetic songs dominate. And in the second part, Neset & Band take the listeners into a calmer suite. What all pieces have in common: You can hear the musicians' pure joy of playing in every note. (ACT Records) Price: £14.99
Key component for the project is the award-winning pianist Zoe Rahman who previously worked on a duet album with Pine entitled 'Song' ( The Ballad Book), her playing here acting as an assured anchor to Pines' bass clarinet. Half of the tracks also feature a string quartet of two violas, violin, and cello.
The music here starts with an original composition 'Black Water' a gospel infused piece that sets the tone of the album. Pine's use of the bass clarinet as the lead voice throughout the album brings an alluring earthy flavour to the performances. Among the covers is the Welsh hymn 'Ayr Hod Y Nos' (All through the night) a song Pine first sung in school assembly as an 8-year-old at primary pupil. The arrangement came about after he performed at the Brecon Jazz Festival, during which he played a cadenza that incorporated the hymn, which unexpectedly, prompted male members of the audience to break out in song. It was then that Pine realised the significance of the song. Other covers include Irving Berlin's 'What'll I Do', Charlie Chaplin's 'Smile', Michel Legrand's 'Windmills Of My Mind' and others, vehicles created for Pine and Rahman to improvise on.
The last track, 'Your Majesty', was composed by Pine in dedication to Queen Elizabeth II. In 2000 he received an OBE from the late Queen and during their brief conversation Pine asked if anyone had composed music in her honour recently. She replied no and Pine's quest to find the ideal composition began. (Proper Music) Price: £14.99
Whether it be during smouldering blues-tinged numbers ("Please Send Me Someone to Love"), up-tempo takes on old favorites ("At Long Last Love," "Moon River"), or steamy, sultry, late-night ballads ("Put Your Head on My Shoulder"), Person never fails to deliver a performance where expressivity is the order of the day. The band is made up of a hand-picked group from Person's cadre of regular colleagues with guitar great Russell Malone adding his imaginative voicings and swinging rhythms to the mix.
The album's title is an homage to Houston's engineer of choice, the legendary Rudy Van Gelder. Person's very first recording as a leader, the 1967 'Underground Soul!', was done at Rudy's fabled Englewood Cliffs studio and they continued their friendship and working relationship until Van Gelder's passing in 2016. But this is a not a backward-looking memorial album. That is not Person's style. If you go by his busy performance schedule and his extensive discography, Houston Person is, like his fans, always looking forward to his next gig. (Proper Music) Price: £13.99
Mike Westbrook is one of the most important composers in jazz with a huge body of work from small band jazz through big bands, cabaret, fusion, chamber works, opera, settings of poetry, creative re-workings of Rossini and The Beatles' Abbey Road, while always retaining his unique character.
Chris Biscoe has worked with Mike and Kate Westbrook since 1979, from Mama Chicago and The Cortege through On Duke's Birthday, London Bridge is Broken Down, Bar Utopia, Art Wolf and many other shows. Their closest and most enduring collaboration is The Trio, which has toured extensively and produced four records.
Arrangements are simple, or even created in the studio in partnership with input from the members of the quintet. The title track, 'Music Is', appears twice, in its original ballad tempo, and in a spontaneous trio recasting as a medium tempo waltz. There are also two unaccompanied sax tracks, one of them a multitrack improvisation for alto sax, alto clarinets and field recording of street sounds. (Proper Music) Price: £14.99
This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. (Blue Note Records) view larger image Price: £36.99
This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. (Blue Note Records) Price: £23.99
Verve By Request Series features 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Third Man in Detroit. (Universal Music) Price: £29.99
Verve By Request Series features 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Third Man in Detroit.. (Universal Music) Price: £29.99
Since the album's original release in 1971, it has continued to be on critics' radars and jazz fans' wants-lists. Featuring a 16-piece band with a 27 year old Surman, it's a rich sound full of twists and turns - some with Surman's heavy Coltrane influenced playing, helped along with John Taylor's beautiful piano, positioned artfully with Warren's band - sixteen members that also include Mike Osborne, Stan Sulzmann, Barre Phillips, Harry Miller, Alan Jackson, Stu Martin, John Taylor, Alan Skidmore, Harry Beckett and Kenny Wheeler, a.o.
Reissued on vinyl as a limited print run with thick card 'flip-back' laminated sleeve plus a 12x12 insert with new in-depth liner notes by Tony Higgins with interviews by Surman, Warren and the album producer Peter Eden. The audio has been lovingly remastered by Gearbox from the original master tapes and is pressed on 180grm vinyl by Optimal. (Universal Music) Price: £36.99
A Barbadian by birth, Beckett learnt the trumpet with the Salvation Army in the early 1950s before embarking to London as a nineteen year old in 1954. He played with Charles Mingus on the 1962 film score All Night Long, and he was the go-to musician for so many key artists including Graham Collier, John Surman, Mike Westbrook, Chris McGregor, Mike Gibbs, Ian Carr's Nucleus, Stan Tracey, Jah Wobble, Ronnie Scott, and many others. Beckett played a big part of the early Jazz Warriors Big Band line up in the 1980s with Courtney Pine, Gary Crosby, Steve Williamson, Orphy Robinson, plus others, who achieved international success as a group and individually. Up until Beckett's death in 2010, he continued to teach trumpet and lecture extensively to the new generation of Jazz Warriors who have gone on to be part of today's UK jazz scene. His reputation is extended globally, especially across Europe and the US.
Continuing the 'British Jazz Explosion' vinyl series, reissued for the very first time on vinyl as a limited print run with thick card 'flip-back' laminated sleeve plus a 12x12 insert with new liner notes by Tony Higgins. The audio has been lovingly remastered by Gearbox from the original master tapes and is pressed on 180grm vinyl by Optimal. (Universal Music) Price: £36.99
What emerged was a remarkable piece of music but only broadcast in Germany. Resteamed producer and Stan's son, Clark, had been aware that NDR had released one of the tracks on their annual compilation of that year's various guests at the studio and decided to dig a little deeper. Fortuitously, he made contact with the relevant people and was able to secure the whole recording which had remained dormant in the German vaults until now.
The standard of recording excellence was typical of NDR so very little was altered by the masterful sonic engineer Derek Nash back in the UK. Resteamed Records are now delighted to offer this extraordinary recording which recaptures the essence of British jazz in the 1960s with the added bonus of the exceptional horn playing of Kenny Wheeler. (Proper Music) Price: £13.99
The eight virtuoso musicians bring the characters and scenes to life, switching from hilarity to pathos with a skill that would have done credit to Dickens himself. A cheery clarinet plays Copperfield, the lost orphan Little Em'ly is a lyrical tenor, Mr Dick flies his kite in the personage of a soaring flugelhorn and trombone, Mr Micawber expresses "Something will turn up!" on the piano and Uriah Heep writhes around on the bass clarinet. Just as we see David progress through the trials of his life, so the movements of this suite seem to develop along with him. (Proper Music) Price: £13.99
Born in 1929 and now 86 years old, Lennie Niehaus complemented his talents as an alto saxophonist with those of an arranger and composer, becoming a well-known figure on the West Coast jazz scene. After playing with the Stan Kenton big band, and various other jazz bands on the West Coast, Niehaus devoted himself to arranging and composing for motion pictures, including several produced by Clint Eastwood.
As a bonus, we have included three small group tracks that constitute Niehaus' only collaborations with Howard Rumsey, as well as a complete album by conductor and arranger Duane Tatro, again in a small group format that features Niehaus on alto on most tracks. (Proper Music) Price: £28.99
While only three tunes from the gig ("Dearly Beloved" in a highly edited form) were included on the famous LP Our Man in Paris (RCA Victor LPM 2612), this 6-CD collection adds all existing music taped during those live sessions, totalling more than three hours of previously unreleased material in brilliant stereo sound.
Among the many highlights here are the unedited "Dearly Beloved" (which is 10 minutes longer than the LP version), the issued "Oleo" with an extra minute at the beginning, Rollins' only known reading of "Alexander's Ragtime Band", and "Home Sweet Home", plus extended renditions of songs he only rarely recorded, such as "Solitude" and "Love Walked In". (Proper Music) Price: £36.99
Superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl. Price: £33.99
Tender songs are pulled from the air, "rousing a community of listening at the edge of silence", as Le Monde put it, "an awareness of time out from the noise and weariness of the world." (Proper Music) Price: £14.99
Double 180g audiophile vinyl release. Price: £36.99
180g vinyl pressing. Price: £26.99
Gatefold 180 gram vinyl LP. Price: £23.99
The first album in the series Trios: Chapel features guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan. The Chapel Trio was named after the group’s inaugural performance in December 2018 at Coates Chapel in San Antonio. Frisell had already cemented his relationship with Lloyd as a charter member of The Marvels when he was invited by Lloyd to join him in a special concert at Coates Chapel on the Southwest School of Arts campus in San Antonio. Lloyd was already familiar with the acoustic properties of the chapel and knew it would not support drums or percussion. He was also aware that Frisell had recorded in a duo context with Morgan, with whom he had developed a close musical rapport, and suggested they might all come together as a trio. The Coates concert left an indelible impression on Lloyd, who later said, “Our first performance has always had a magical place in my memory bank.” (Blue Note Records) Price: £13.99
Instantly recognisable Art Themen's freewheeling and wholly inclusive improvisational approach is the very essence of the jazz soloist. Dave Barry, equally, is unmistakably defined by his own unique voice on his instrument and open and instantly reactive approach to playing. Together they form an indominable team which, completed by Gareth Williams and Dave Green can only create music of the highest order. This album does not disappoint - a tour de force through some familiar jazz themes that is brimming with sparks and inspirational playing. (Proper Music) Price: £14.99
Tone Poet Vinyl Edition produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. (Blue Note Records) view larger image Price: £44.99
An interesting Mulligan trio session from the same period, and all of Baker and Mulligan's known performances from the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival complete this once in a lifetime package. 5CD set that includes a 32-page booklet with new and original liner notes plus rare photographs and memorabilia. (Proper Music) Price: £32.99
Included here are some of Bird's most admired sides, such as "A Night in Tunisia", "Cool Blues" and "All the Things You Are", as well as the troubled "Lover Man" session, after which the saxophonist suffered a mental breakdown. Also issued on Dial was the so-called "Home-Cooking" date, an amateur recording made right after Bird left the Camarillo psychiatric hospital (the session is presented here in its entirety, including the complete version of "I Got Rhythm" for the first time ever).
As a bonus, Bird's Nest have added three additional complete Charlie Parker sessions from the same period, which were originally issued under the names of Sarah Vaughan (including a vocal version of "Lover Man" that predates the instrumental one), a legendary date with Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Clyde Hart and singer Rubberlegs Williams, and an extremely rare (and now newly remastered) studio date recorded on test glass acetates but never commercially issued, featuring Bird with trombonist/singer Clyde Bernhardt, and pianist Jay McShann. (Proper Music) Price: £28.99
This brand new reissue has been remastered from the original Candid master tapes by Bernie Grundman. (Proper Music) Price: £12.99
This brand new reissue has been remastered from the original Candid Records master tapes by Bernie Grundman. (Proper Music) Price: £12.99
Originally produced by the legendary André Francís and transferred from the original Radio France tapes, this is the first official release of this music in cooperation with the Mal Waldron Estate and Ina (The Institut national de l'audiovisuel). The beautifully designed, deluxe 2-CD set includes photos by K. Abe, Brian McMillen and Raymond Ross; an extensive 24-page booklet with a heartfelt statement by Mal's daughter Mala Waldron, plus essays by producer/"Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman, journalist Adam Shatz and Ina's Pascal Rozat; and interviews with modern jazz piano luminaries Ran Blake and Matthew Shipp. (Cargo Records) Price: £28.99
The album was recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the saxophonist is accompanied on all tracks by the same rhythm section, consisting of Jan Johansson on piano, Dan Jordan on bass, and William Schiopffe on drums.
As a bonus, this release presents three additional complete sets by Getz and Johansson in a quartet from the same period, including an extremely rare Swedish Radio broadcast from May 1960, which includes a beautiful rendition of "Ack Värmeland du Sköna," a traditional Swedish folk song which Getz had arranged and introduced to the jazz world as "Dear Old Stockholm" in 1951. (Proper Music) Price: £17.99
As a bonus, we have added the complete album Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May (Verve MGVS-6059), recorded that same week, as well as the only track featuring O'Day from the soundtrack of the film The Gene Krupa Story. (Proper Music) Price: £12.99
This 96-track collection features early recordings with Dave Lambert, Stan Getz & Kai Winding and King Pleasure, plus recordings in France with Les Blue Stars, who became The Swingle Singers. Also included here is her album Jazz Sweet for Barclay in France, followed by the records she made with Verve between 1956 and 1962: Blossom Dearie, Give Him The Ooh-La-La, Once Upon A Summertime, Sings Comden And Green, My Gentleman Friend and Soubrette - Blossom Dearie Sings Broadway Hit Songs. Among the top musicians of the day who appear are: Ray Brown, Jo Jones, Herb Ellis, Mundell Lowe, Ed Thigpen, Cy Coleman Kenny Burrell, Bobby Jaspar, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke. Dearie passed away, from natural causes in her sleep, in 2009. (Trapeze Music) Price: £19.99
Jessica de Boer belongs to the newest generation of Dutch jazz singers. She stands out because of her disarming and narrative style. During her studies at Utrecht Conservatory - from which she graduated in 2019 with honors - she fell in love with the rich harmonies and freedom of jazz. Soon she started writing her own compositions; light, colorful jazz with flexible melody-lines and a hint of world music. Inspired by nature, people, sounds and faith, she is not afraid to tell her story. In a disarming way, her lyrics express important theme's, recognizable for everyone.
Jessica's musical career has led her to perform at a variety of places, including North Sea Jazz Festival and Middelheim Jazz (with Matthew Herbert Brexit Bigband Choir), and Tivoli de Helling. (Proper Music) Price: £14.99
"My dream has finally come true, to make a record in NY with jazz legend, maestro Kenny Barron. I have always loved jazz and New York is its home. It all started by chance, thanks to the friendship that links me to Joe Farnsworth, the king of swing, caused by a situation that we never wanted or imagined we would have to face during the lockdown. After an exchange of music and emails, the much desired project came true and was realized in the most important jazz recording studio in the world, the Rudy Van Gelder Studio.
The common denominator for the songs is love and the sensations experienced during that forced isolation, being alone in the house, uncertainties, the desire to overcome everything through love. I am particularly attached to the only Italian song that I contributed, written by an extraordinary musician and friend, Mario Rosini, a song whose meaning is very close to my father.
The pieces we have chosen resonate beautifully thanks to the piano touch of Kenny Barron, the deep sound of Peter Washington, the poignant notes of Vince Herring and the pressing rhythm of Joe Farnsworth. I have added in my own emotions that I have tried to convey with my voice. I am amazed and happy at the results!" - Patty Lomuscio (Proper Music) Price: £14.99
The quartet had never played together, before they gathered at the scene of the historic jazz club Montmartre in Copenhagen and played the music of the moment at three sold out evenings in August 2021. After these concerts, where musical sparks flew in abundance, the four musicians went directly in the studio for a 6 hours spontaneous recording session. The result is a once in a lifetime jazz voyage. (Proper Music) Price: £13.99
180g high quality pressing. Includes download code. Price: £26.99
September 2020, Stevens was hunkering down in his wife's family's hometown of Pittsburgh, while navigating his way through the crisis. He had with him a vintage Martin 00-17, a small-body mahogany guitar. Practicing daily on the Martin, he began generating a series of short song "starts" - ideas and sketches he thought might lead somewhere. Then one rainy Pittsburgh day, Stevens' bike slid out from under him and he broke his right elbow. Rather than getting derailed musically, he became immersed in a creative process that led straight to 'Pittsburgh': a document of those short song "starts" from the notebook, now hatched as completed compositions. "Playing this music became a big part of my rehab," Stevens recalls.
As the album took shape, it became clear to Stevens that he was headed in the direction of a wholly unaccompanied recital, with no overdubs or sound layering of any kind. Just him and this special Martin, two Neumann U89 mics and enough peace of mind across two separate sessions to make 'Pittsburgh' the triumph that it is. (Proper Music) Price: £13.99
"This concert is all about expression, the deepest emotion of our inner voice. To reach that space where we summon heart and spirit, the soloists must bear their souls - that was the challenge and the achievement of much of the best of the free jazz of the 1960s and beyond. And that's what we're after here." - Tommy Smith (Proper Music) Price: £19.99
This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is mono, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. (Blue Note Records) Price: £23.99
Resonance co-president Zev Feldman, who co-produced the Scott’s material for release with David Weiss, says, “This is a lost chapter in Mingus’s history, originally intended to be an official album release by Mingus that never materialized. Now, we’re thrilled to be able to bring this recording to light for the whole world to hear in all its musical and sonic glory. It’s especially exciting to be celebrating Mingus with this release in his centennial year.”
A statement in the Resonance collection from Jazz Workshop, Inc. says, “In Sue Mingus’s memoir, Tonight at Noon, she recalls receiving the extraordinary tapes [the band] had recorded; the reels remained in the Mingus vault, untouched until now. It is our honor, forty-nine years later, to present, with Resonance Records, this historic performance.” (Resonance Records) Price: £27.99
This concert recording is available officially for the very first time. Remastered from the original tape reels and in cooperation with the Bill Evans Estate, this 2CD set includes an extensive 52-page booklet with rare photos from the actual concert by Tito Villalba. (PIAS/Integral) Price: £23.99
This concert recording is available officially for the very first time. Remastered from the original concert tape reels and in cooperation with the Bill Evans Estate, this deluxe 2CD set includes an extensive 44-page booklet booklet with rare photos from the actual concert by Tito Villalba. (PIAS/Integral) Price: £23.99
The CD edition includes three bonus tracks from the sessions, including the trio’s renditions of the Cole Porter classic “All of You” and the Vincent Youmans standard “Without a Song.” The jovial “Freddie Freeloader,” meanwhile, finds Evans revisiting his early years as a member of Miles Davis’ band. Interestingly, the selection not only features a rare performance by Evans on the electric piano, but also marks the only track on Davis’ Kind of Blue that the pianist did not appear on. (Universal Music) Price: £13.99
Bill Evans co-wrote 'Kind Of Blue' with Miles Davis and is regarded by many as the most influential jazz pianist of his generation. The trio he formed in 1959 with the brilliant, ill-fated young bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motion is surely as fine as any in jazz history.
This three-disc box set edition comprises almost everything this Evans trio recorded; The two miraculous studio albums, 'Portrait In Jazz' and 'Explorations'; the intimate live sets recorded in New York in the summer of 1961, 'Sunday Night At The Village Vanguard' and 'Waltz For Debby'. These masterpieces are complimented by the Birdland sessions - an earlier musical document of the trio in an authentic club setting - with disc three completed by the their first recordings together, with the jazz clarinettist Tony Scott; for the album 'Sung Heroes', his homages to Billie Holiday and the trumpeter "Hot Lips" Page. (Cherry Red Records) Price: £19.99
2 LP deluxe 180g edition.
Price: £39.99
This album is a first in a number of other respects, as well: although she performed regularly at the Bowl, this is the first full-length concert by Ella from this iconic venue to be released. Furthermore, it documents the only time Ella worked in concert with Paul Weston, the gifted arranger-conductor of her Irving Berlin Songbook album. (Universal Music)
Price: £13.99
Blakey had recorded with Monk on various occasions, but this was the first time Monk sat in with the Jazz Messengers. The result is a true meeting of the minds, a beautiful union of Monk's melodies with Blakey's unshakable sense of swing, and Thelonious Monk's only appearance on Atlantic. This 65thanniversary deluxe edition includes an extra disc of previously unreleased outtakes, celebrating the most sensational jazz collaboration of the 1950s.
A Deluxe Edition fully Remastered with a whole extra Disc of Outtakes all but one previously unreleased, with liner notes by Grammy-winner writer Ashley Kahn, photos and Atlantic memorabilia. (Warner Music) Price: £19.99
The mono version of this album, believed lost, was recently found, and is included in this deluxe package, as well as the stereo version, both mastered from the original tapes. The packaging includes liner notes by award-winning writer Ben Ratliff, as well as photos and Atlantic Records ephemera. (Warner Music) Price: £19.99
McCoy Tyner died in March 2020, the recording from 1986 (he was 58 years old at the time) show him at the height of the unmistakable jazz expression that defined him. His piano and the enormous radiance of the Hubbard trumpet (born in the same year as Tyner in 1938, but died in 2008) are the outstanding protagonists. But the recording also features bassist Avery Sharpe, born in 1954 and with excellent acoustic and electrical credentials, as well as Louis Hayes, still today the most indestructible of all modern drummers at well over 80 years of age. Together they refine the nine titles of this two-hour concert on this truly remarkable evening of music! (Proper Music) Price: £25.99
By the 1980s, the Gil Evans Orchestra's repertoire had developed into a distinctive blend of Jimi Hendrix melodies, the band members' own compositions and occasional references to Gil's older recordings. This concert in Hamburg contained four songs by Hendrix, with only one ("Up From The Skies") being part of an original studio album. The regular performances in Europe meant that the audience of the band was getting younger and was also well acquainted with rock music.
A year and a half after this performance, Gil Evans passed away. He will rightly be remembered forever for the brilliant albums he recorded with Miles Davis and under his own name. In reality, however, he lived three quite contrasting musical lives. As was the case with his Monday evening concerts in New York's Sweet Basil, this Hamburg performance is a reminder of the lively late phase of Gil Evans. Here a great all-star ensemble played an outstanding concert of eight pieces in over two hours. (Proper Music) Price: £25.99
Featuring Cherry, Shelly Manne, and either Percy Heath or Red Mitchell on bass, the emphatic, pianoless follow up Tomorrow Is the Question! made it clear that Coleman’s concepts were both insistently innovative and tethered to bedrock African American idioms. Consisting entirely of Coleman originals, the album introduced several more tunes that became an essential part of the jazz canon, including “Tears Inside,” “Rejoicing” and “Turnaround.” (Universal Music) Price: £22.99
