On March 6, 1963, John Coltrane and his Classic Quartet - McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones - recorded an entire studio album at the legendary Van Gelder Studios. This music, which features unheard originals, was finally released 55 years later in June of 2018. To commemorate this event, we are releasing a very unique and collectable 12' Die Cut single on orange vinyl which features two very distinctive triangular die cuts directly into the vinyl.

Digitally remastered using 20-bit technology by Erick Labson (MCA Music Media Studios). Recorded at the Coltrane Studio, Dix Hills, New York on November 8, 1970 and live at the Village Gate, New York, New York on July 4, 1970. Originally released on Impulse (9203). Includes liner notes by Alice Coltrane. The death of John Coltrane left not only a musical, but a spiritual void among his many followers and admirers. By aligning himself with the searchers among the new generation, John Coltrane legitimized their quest and set a daunting standard of excellence for those who experiment outside the mainstream of modern jazz. Among those searchers was young Alice McLeod of Detroit, a virtuoso on the vibraphone, piano, organ and harp. John Coltrane had always expressed a fondness for the harp, and while young McLeod never did bring that instrument into the context of Trane's working groups, she did bring her rolling, ecstatic style of piano to bear in the saxophonist's last quartets and quintets as Mrs. Alice Coltrane. JOURNEY IN SATCHIDANANDA, recorded in the fall of 1970, is a serene, composed meditation on the lessons of the 1960's, a mystical work of enduring sweetness and spiritual longing. The concluding cut "Isis And Osiris" (recorded earlier that summer at the Village Gate), is a global village of texture and song, animated by Pharaoh Sanders' gently wafting soprano and Rashied Ali's quicksilver brushwork, as Vishnu Wood's feathery oud, Charlie Haden's woody bass and Coltrane's sweeping harp combine to create a dreamy vortex of sound. The title cut and "Shiva-Loka"-centered around Cecil McBee's sonorous, lyric bass vamps and Tulsi's droning tambourine-are gorgeous evocations of modal jazz and Indian ragas, again exploiting the contrast between Sanders' reedy chants and Coltrane's blissful arpeggios. And then there's "Stopover Bombay" and "Something About John Coltrane, " which reveal the melodious symmetry of Alice Coltrane's piano playing, a singular style deeply imbued in the old time testimonies of the spirituals and the blues.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2024 release. After putting down the saxophone, the instrument he has become synonymous with, Shabaka returns with his first full length album under his own name. Expanding off the meditative 2022 EP Afrikan Culture, his new album Perceive it's beauty, Acknowledge it's Grace is a deeply moving suite of primarily instrumental music.

Alice Coltrane - "The Carnegie Hall Concert" / Alice Coltrane's "The Carnegie Hall Concert" is a previously unreleased recording of a historic 1971 concert. The original multi-track recording was commissioned by Impulse but wasn't released at the time. Features an all-star group including Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Jimmy Garrison, Cecil McBee, Ed Blackwell and others. This was a triple bill placing her in the company of Laura Nyro and The Rascals. Concert produced by Sid Bernstein, who promoted the first Beatles concert in the US. 2 LP.

John Coltrane -"Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy" / In August of 1961, the John Coltrane Quintet played an engagement at the legendary Village Gate in Greenwich Village, New York. Eighty minutes of never-before-heard music from this group were recently discovered at the New York Public Library. In addition to some well-known Coltrane material ("Impressions"), there is a breathtaking feature for Dolphy's bass clarinet on "When Lights Are Low" and the only known non-studio recording of Coltrane's composition "Africa", from the Africa/Brass album.

Double vinyl LP pressing. Sons of Kemet returns in 2021 with their album Black To The Future. This release finds the UK-based quartet at their most dynamic - showcasing harmonically elegant arrangements and compositions, coupled with fierce, driving material that will be familiar to initiated fans. This album features prominent UK vocalists and a strong emphasis on lush compositions and arrangements. Guest artists include Kojey Radical, Moor Mother, and more.

Limited 180 gm vinyl LP pressing. Recorded in 1968 and intended as a tribute to her late husband, Alice Coltrane is supported in her first solo outing by Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison and Rashied Ali - all members of John Coltrane's last quintet. While initial reviews to the album were lukewarm upon release, looking at it in the context of her larger body of work, A Monastic Trio serves as a delightful foreshadowing of what was to come. The Verve By Request Series features 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Third Man in Detroit.

The Comet Is Coming returns with their 2nd full-length album on Impulse! Records. King Shabaka, Danalogue, and Betamax's newest effort finds the trio creating a musical landscape that is equally cerebral as it is physically enthralling. While containing elements of jazz throughout, this release leans further into heavy dancehall themes, providing hypnotic, electronic soundscapes to dance to while keeping you intellectually stimulated.

OPERNARIEN

KINDER- UND WIEGENLIEDER

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. 2023 release. Drummer and composer Kendrick Scott returns with the release of Corridors, his third album for Blue Note Records, and first compositional treatment of trio context: saxophone, bass, and drums. Corridors unveils an exposed rumination from the Houston-born artist and his acclaimed collaborators: saxophonist Walter Smith III and bassist Reuben Rogers. Born during the pandemic lockdown, the record focuses on posing outward questions instead of inward contemplation.

Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk - Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk is a studio album originally released in 1958 by Atlantic Records. It is a collaboration between the Jazz Messengers, the group led by drummer Art Blakey, and Thelonious Monk on piano. Throughout the preceding decade, on sessions for both Blue Note and Riverside, Blakey had supported Monk on various occasions. Monk returned the favor on this one-off session for Atlantic. Blakey was on the verge of beginning a long-term contract with Blue Note, while Monk was in the middle of his stay on Riverside. One month after these recordings, Monk would begin his summer and autumn residency at the Five Spot on Cooper Square after regaining his cabaret card, without which he had been barred from playing in most of New York City's clubs. Monk's quartet featuring John Coltrane at that residency would bring Monk fame beyond the inner circle of jazz aficionados. Atlantic released this album over a year after it was recorded, thereby capitalizing on Monk's increased visibility.

The Best Of The MPS Years presents you all the classics and highlights of Osacr Peterson's time at the Black Forest label on one album. It was 1961 when Oscar Peterson came to Villingen, Germany the first time. Hans-Georg Brunner-Schwer, former owner of the hifi dynasty SABA, had just set up the first version of his studio, equipped with the most advanced recording technology of the time. This was the bait used by the piano enthusiast to attract the famous pianist to the Black Forest. After a performance in Zurich, Peterson climbed into a limousine and embarked on a journey across the mountains. As soon as he arrived, along with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen, the international star was led to the Steinway grand in the living-room where a number of excited guests were eagerly waiting. "I listened to him play 'til four o'clock in the morning and lost the desire to ever hear the Beatles again!", says Matthias Brunner-Schwer, HGBS' son, still starry-eyed half a century later. The legendary pianist himself was equally delighted when he listened to the recording of the nocturnal living-room performance, never before having heard such a direct and pristine piano sound on tape. Peterson's enthusiastic response marked the beginning of a long-term friendship and spiritual kinship with Brunner-Schwer. In the following years, the Canadian pianist returned again and again with various line-ups to capture his musical vision on tape. The legendary "Exclusively For My Friends" live series was the very first release for Brunner-Schwer's newly-established MPS label with many studio albums to follow.

THEORY OF BECOMING

Recorded in 1985 after a break from the studio and time spent living in Barbados and Liberia, this one-of-a-kind album in Nina's catalog features standards as well as original compositions revisited by a rejuvenated Nina. Horns and backups singers join her on "Porgy," "It's Cold Out Here," "You Must Have Another Lover," "For a While," "Touching and Caring" and more. CD or vinyl, with new artwork! Verve.