London saxophonist Sean Khan has recorded possibly his finest album to date, a tribute to his mentor and inspiration John Coltrane. 'Supreme Love' really is a journey through Coltrane, featuring tracks from each of his different periods complemented by some original Khan compositions in a coherent manner. Sean is accompanied by some stalwarts of the UK Jazz scene Jim Mullen and the late saxophonist Peter King who passed during the making of the album plus friends from the Broken Beat scene Kaidi Tatham and Daz I Kue and regular band members drummer Laurie Lowe, keyboardist Andy Noble and the incredible...
Lee Morgan - Caramba! In May 1968 when he entered Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to record his album ¡Caramba!, trumpeter Lee Morgan was still two months shy of his 30th birthday, which makes the fact that this was his 23rd Blue Note recording all the more astounding. Having cut his first Blue Note date as a precocious 18-year-old hot shot, Morgan was by now a full-fledged master, his technical prowess on his horn matched equally by the expressiveness and emotional depth of his playing. He had also continued to grow as a composer who could conjure myriad different moods and styles...
Larry Douglas has ruled as one of San Francisco’s top trumpet/flugelhorn players for more than three decades. A native of Statesboro, Georgia, Douglas found early inspiration in the music of his older brother Gary (who played trumpet) and his high school teacher James Blakely (who played alto saxophone). While in college, he and his group Funk, Incorporated (a self-proclaimed Earth, Wind, & Fire pre-cursor band), took first place in the national and international levels of the Budweiser Music Festival competition. He moved to San Francisco, as a member of the United States Army’s Sixth Division Band, in 1975. With his...
Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes - Cosmic Funk Lonnie Liston Smith’s second album ‘Cosmic Funk’ was released in 1974 on the Flying Dutchman label. The title track is a spacey funky jazz number reminiscent of Miles Davis ‘On the Corner’. ‘Footprints’ is a brilliant percussive version of the Wayne Shorter track featuring Lonnie’s textured keyboards, George Barron on Soprano Sax, propelled by Al Anderson’s bass. ‘Beautiful Woman’ is a beautiful track featuring Donald Smith harmonic vocals. ‘Sais (Egypt)’is a lovely atmospheric Spiritual Jazz track written by Mtume. Donald Smith appears again on the slower and reflective...
Moonchild return with their 5th studio album 'Starfruit' giving us a welcome new Soul album.Dan Berkson has a nice new Jazz album and there is a good EP from Quiet Dawn on First Word.There are some great vinyl reissues this week from Lonnie Liston Smith, Kool and the Gang, Don Julian, Oliver Nelson and Larry Douglas. The latest in Tramp's Praise Poems series volume 8 is now available and Ray Alexander Technique rare Funk album is available on CD. The recent albums from Kenny G and Bob James are available on CD and LP. Bobby Cole's jazz classic 'Perfect Day' has a welcome...
Moonchild return with their 5th album 'Starfruit' . Amber Navran's cute voice is complimented by musicians Andris Mattson and Max Bryk and many guest singers and musicians making a very hypnotic laid back album. Lalah Hathaway sings on the strutting mid tempo 'Tell Him'. Alex Isley guests on the head nodder 'You Got Me' and Chantae Caan 'The Long Way' which also has a sax solo from Josh Johnson. 'I'll Be Here' and 'Too Good' are also nice headnodders. 'Love You Need' is slightly funkier with nice flugelhorn from Mattson but features an unnecessary rap by Rapsody. Overall a good album....
Check out this amazing selection of Smokey Robinson albums, some as part of the Miracles, others as a solo artist plus the Miracles albums after he left. The large collection contained almost all of the albums he recorded from the early 60's through to the late 80's. The records are all in great condition and the covers have average wear for their age, as individually graded. All are one off's so please order early to avoid disappointment. You can combine titles from the same collection last week HERE to optimize postage costs. Records can be ordered on-line, over the phone...
Sunbear only released one outing during their short-lived career, the self-titled release "Sunbear" for Don Cornelius and Dick Griffey's Soul Train records, melding together Disco, Jazz-Funk and Soul and drawing heavily upon influences such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Tower of Power and El Chicano. Principally comprised by founding members Sun (Arnie Oliver a.k.a Ahaguna G. Sun) on drums, percussion, fender rhodes and clavinet—and Bear (Werner Schuchner) on electric and acoustic guitars, bass, fender rhodes and percussion—the little known group recorded their sole release in Los Angeles in 1977, featuring the likes of Oscar Brashear on trumpet, Ernie Watts on...
Kahil El Zabar Quartet contemporary Spiritual Jazz opus 'A Time For Healing' is very apt for these times and it is finally available on limited edition Double LP as well as CD. Kenny Cox unreleased Strata Lp 'Clap Clap Your Hands' also gets a first issue on vinyl in a deluxe double LP on BBE and we still have a few copies of the CD left. Ornette Coleman Tone Poet 6LP box set is now available in limited numbers. Sunbear Soul/Jazz-Funk album on Soul train is reissued on vinyl and we have back in stock after a long time out Chick Corea 'Return To...
Bay Area jazz guitar legend Calvin Keys released his debut solo record, Shawn-Neeq, in 1971, and it remains one of the most beloved albums on the Black Jazz label. But that record was mere prelude for 1974"s Proceed with Caution; this time around, the arrangements were more complex, the instrumentation more diverse. In short, a quantum leap forward; indeed, as Calvin tells Pat Thomas in his liner notes for the release, 'I started going to the Los Angeles School of Music studying orchestrations and I was putting it to use!' And he recruited the band to fulfill his ambitious musical visions...
