Vinyl LP pressing. 2010 album from the legendary Urban poet/musician, his first release in 13 years. Gil Scott-Heron came to prominence in the late 60s and early 70s and is cited as a supreme influence on countless Hip Hop vocalists and producers. Despite an incredible and influential body of work, he has not released an album since the '90s. Produced by XL label owner Richard Russell, I'm New Here sees Gil reflecting on his life with his trademark vocal power and insight, sharing his visions among Russell's flickering, electronic soundscapes; which at various times conjure up thoughts of Burial and the XX, as well as a host of Hip Hop influenced sounds. The album is brave, contemporary and quintessentially Gil Scott-Heron.
Vinyl LP pressing. As far as B-3 Hammond organ is concerned, Jimmy Smith is the greatest ever at that instrument. Like the best recordings of the greatest period for improvisational jazz that lasted from about 1950 to the late 1960's, The Sermon is only one example of the numerous sessions that many top notch players gathered for, taking turns as leaders and sidemen. On The Sermon, Smith is accompanied by the likes such as Kenny Burrell, Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson, Tina Brooks and Art Blakey. It was produced by Rudy Van Gelder for Blue Note, and was Smith's fifteenth album in three years. The Sermon is a bebop-hardbop masterclass and at least a decade ahead of it's time.
First volume of a live recording from July 1961 at The Five Spot with Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet and Booker Little on trumpet backed by the rhythm section of pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Ed Blackwell.
Vinyl LP pressing. Live archive release. On A Monday Evening is an unreleased (and never bootlegged!) 1976 concert recording of The Bill Evans Trio, featuring Eddie Gomez and Eliot Zigmund, captured live at Madison, WI's Union Theater. The 12-track album offers both contemporary compositions from that era, as well as longstanding signature tunes of Evans', and includes new liner notes by Grammy Award-winning jazz historian Ashley Kahn, with commentary by Gomez and Zigmund. A jazz legend, Evans' use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block chords, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines continue to influence jazz pianists today.
Vinyl LP pressing housed in a gatefold sleeve, includes digital download. Strut presents a new definitive collection of Singles released by jazz maverick Sun Ra during his Earth years, spanning 1952 to 1991. Released prolifically during the 1950s and more sporadically thereafter, primarily on the Saturn label, the 45s offer one-off meteorites from Ra's prolific cosmic journey, tracing the development of his forward-thinking "Space-Bop" and his unique take on jazz and blues traditions which sounded unlike anything else from the period. As with his LPs, most 45s were only pressed in small runs and were sold at gigs and have since become extremely rare and sought after. Only a small handful of copies of "Love In Outer Space" b/w "Mayan Temple" and "The Blue One" b/w "Orbitration In Blue" have ever been seen; some have only been discovered in physical form in recent years; some were planned and penciled in but allegedly never made it to vinyl (including "Saturn" and "Velvet" from the Jazz In Silhouette LP) and some appeared as limited one-off magazine singles and posthumous releases, including "Hell #1" aka "Out There A Minute." The set is the most comprehensive collection of Ra's singles to date. Sleeve note writers Francis Gooding and Paul Griffiths brilliantly illustrate the role of the single within Ra's career and break down each release with detailed track by track notes. Working with Sun Ra LLC and Sun Raarchivist Michael D. Anderson, Strut has also assembled the best possible master sources for each track.
Matana Roberts is one of the most acclaimed, socio-politically conscious and aesthetically intrepid avant-jazz practitioners of the 21st century. The critical accolades for her multi-chapter Coin Coin work place her at the vanguard of stylistic innovation and radicalization, while confirming the deep substance and soul that guides her compositional agenda. Roberts has long employed the phrase "panoramic sound quilting" to describe Coin Coin, and with this third chapter in the series she implements this metaphor most overtly.
Bluesman Jon Hendricks is in Superb Form Here. Featuring such major sidemen as Pony Poindexter and Billy Mitchell, this spirited album is essential to any audiophile's collection. Jon Hendricks helped to originate vocalese, which is the art form of adding lyrics to existing instrumentals and replacing instruments with vocalists. He is also considered to be one of the best scat performers. Jazz critic and historian Leonard Feather called him the "Poet Laureate of Jazz". Al Jarreau has called him "pound-for-pound the best jazz singer on the planet - maybe that's ever been". Mastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog master tapes & pressed at RTI. Numbered deluxe laminated gatefold jackets. Only 2500 limited edition copies worldwide on 180 gram audiophile vinyl.
