Born in Detroit in 1932, Dorothy Ashby can be easily recognized as the woman who gave the harp a jazz voice. In her hands, the harp, an originally classical instrument which seemed to just scare people, became a highly versatile swinging voice able to drive a whole jazz rhythm section. Recorded in 1958 by master Rudy Van Gelder and originally released on the Prestige label, Hip Harp is a perfect example of Ashby's artistry. At the head of a fine quartet featuring the great Frank Wess on flute, Herman Wright on bass, and master Art Taylor on drums, Ashby creates a unique combination of deeply jazz elements expressed through a totally new sound.

As a follow-up to her last recording, If You Could Read My Mind, Nicki Parrott digs deep into the 60s–an era of peace, love and discovery as told by a few of the finest songwriters of the time. Feelin' Groovy represents a first-ever for Arbors Records in that it's an all-Aussie band.

Turning his attention to dance for his latest album, Fearless Movement out this May on Young, Kamasi Washington resumes his ongoing study of music as a means of connection. His 2015 album The Epic, as well as 2018’s Heaven and Earth were received by critics and audiences as a reimagination of modern jazz showcasing Washington’s larger-than-lift compositions full of celestial grandeur and his distinct blend of jazz, Latin, funk, classical, hip-hop and soul. Fearless Movement, however, offers something different: terrestrial rhythms and collaborations from rappers, musical icons and even Washington’s own daughter. Features include: Thundercat, Taj Austin, Ras Austin, Patrice Quinn, DJ Battlecat, Brandon Coleman, D-Smoke, George Clinton, Bj the Chicago Kid, and Andre 3000.

A truly sensational find, Atlantis Lullaby presents a never-before-heard performance recorded in Avignon, France. Featuring Yusef Lateef in a quartet set with fellow stars Kenny Barron, Bob Cunningham and Albert “Tootie” Heath. Among the highlights are a fantastic flute/piano duet by Lateef and Barron playing the pianist’s beautiful ballad, “A Flower,” as well as extended readings of the classic, “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” Lateef’s “Yusef’s Mood,” and Barron’s “The Untitled.” This project was produced by the renowned Zev Feldman and released in collaboration with the Yusef Lateef Estate. The audio has been transferred and newly remastered from the original concert tapes licensed from the archives of the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA).

Spanning a three-year period between 2017-2019, Keith Tippett and Matthew Bourne performed a series of two-piano concerts - nearly all of which were recorded. Discus Music is incredibly proud to make the fruits of this vital work available as a double album, comprising of two beautifully-recorded performances from 2019: a set of individual studio pieces recorded at Leeds Conservatoire is paired with a remarkable live performance from Daylight Music at Union Chapel, London; which sadly proved to be Keith's final public statement.

The term beatnik with its implied allusion to Communism was to inspire fear and loathing in every God-fearing, white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant the length and breadth of 1950s America when it emerged with the disillusionment felt by many young people in post-WWII America who had begun to realize the futility of war, the emptiness of materialism and the brutality of organized religion. In 1943 New York, three men came together and formed the most potent underground art phenomenon of the post war world. Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs would, between them, create the notion of youth culture, without which rock & roll and all that followed in its wake would be unthinkable. This 5 CD box set celebrates the Beat Generation, the art it produced and the influences from which it borrowed. Disc One & Two - The Complete Jack Kerouac; The three albums Kerouac recorded in the late 1950s plus bonus cuts. Disc Three & Four - Beat Generation Jazz; Two CDs featuring the jazz that inspired the Beat Generation. Disc 5 - Diggin' The New Breed; Featuring Interviews with the Beats themselves, plus the testimonials of fellow writers, friends and lovers.

Although it lacked a hit single to match "Poetry Man," Phoebe Snow's second album was another folk-pop-jazz confection that effectively showcased her one-of-a-kind voice in musical settings featuring the cream of New York's session musicians, and produced by Phil Ramone. It was a classy job on which Snow contributed seven originals and displayed her versatility on covers ranging from Motown to Gershwin.

60 unforgettable hits from the decade that brought us Top Gun and The Breakfast Club. Spectrum Music, Universal, Sony Music Entertainment! There was no greater era for movie soundtracks than the 80s! Featuring some of the most iconic and memorable soundtrack moments from artists and movies such as Kenny Loggins with the title track to Footloose, Survivor with ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ from Rocky III, Huey Lewis & The News with ‘The Power Of Love’ in Back To The Future, Simple Minds’ ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ from the Breakfast Club and Gladys Knight’s classic Bond theme from Licence To Kill plus many more. This epic 3CD product will have you reminiscing on those beloved 80s film classics and their amazing music.

Following the 2021 release '1st Movement', hailed by Swedish National Radio as one of the best of the year, Adam Forkelid's latest upcoming work, 'Turning Point', offers a contemporary Nordic mirror into the journey of life. The music represents a sonic exploration of life's inevitable changes that make up each of our personal stories. Written across a month and recorded in a single day, the record showcases a poignant fusion of the piano and guitar - a collaborative interplay central to the record's identity.

The much-loved Balearic Biscuits-series from Music For Dreams compiled by Kenneth Bager is being revived for a fourth edition, gathering a new batch of eccentric balearica from the label’s recent catalogue.The Balearic style is a famously elusive one, born from eclectic tastes converging on a utopian idea. Different styles orbiting the same principle: forget the rules and just have a good time.For those following the Music For Dreams label, not a wholly unfamiliar dictum. And on that note, let’s break open this Balearic Biscuits Vol. 4 and have a look inside.

A perpetual favorite among Jackie McLean’s earlier recordings, Lights Out finds the hard-swinging young alto saxophonist in 1956 still very much under the wing of Charlie Parker, who had died less than a year earlier. Yet McLean was beginning to find ways out of the seductive artistic security of Bird imitations. For one thing, he was experimenting with tonal variations. For another, he was working with Charles Mingus, and Mingus’s genius as a leader included forcing musicians to look deeply into their most cherished stylistic practices. The McLean of Lights Out is the hot young bebopper with a slightly acid edge to his sound and a solid blues foundation under everything he played. McLean and trumpeter Donald Byrd occasionally engage in the "pecking" technique of mutual improvisation they developed as members of the George Wallington Quintet. Hybrid Mono SACD for sale individually and as part of Analogue Productions’ Prestige Mono Series. Mini "old style" gatefold jacket packaging.

One in a long series of Julie London records, this set features the sultry but subtle singer on a dozen standards, each of which she dedicates to a different male singer. No dates or personnel information are given other than the LP stating that Andre Previn arranged for the backing orchestra. Although not essential, this is a worthwhile set, with London adding sensuality to such songs as "Learnin' the Blues," "When I Fall in Love," "The More I See You," and "Angel Eyes."

Named after the Japanese word for chameleon, Susan Wong’s twelfth album Kamereon highlights the Hong Kong-born singer’s unerring ability to bring a fresh, new complexion to a wide range of songs taken from different musical genres. Aided by her producer, the Osaka-born saxophonist Hisatsugu Suzuki, and his band, Wong has created a stylish jazz album brimming with her trademark soulful vocals drizzled over syncopated grooves.

This incredibly light, fun, and surprisingly hip three-CD collection featured by Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Django Reinhardt, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan and many more.

James Carter celebrated 2000 by putting out two vastly different albums at the same time, an amazing concession from a major label for a jazz artist who doesn't sell in Kenny G-like proportions. Chasin' the Gypsy, as you might guess, is an homage to Django Reinhardt, whose music Carter used to dig on Detroit radio when he was a teenager, but Carter doesn't take the predictable reverent path in paying his respects. He rummages through his closet and pulls out a rarely used bass saxophone on three cuts - the bumpy sounds are often comic yet a comfortable fit for his antic style - and even tries out an F mezzo sax on the exotically relaxed "Oriental Shuffle." Back on tenor, Carter's slippery playing often doesn't hesitate to approach the outside; he keeps his sense of humor and his individual quirks intact…