MODES AND BLUES - LIVE AT RONNIE SCOTT'S, 8TH

This never-heard- before recording of the legendary tenor sax "Little Giant" Johnny Griffin playing at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and backed by members of Ronnie's House Band (Stan Tracey, Malcolm Cecil and Jackie Dougan) sees a AAA vinyl release. The album was mastered at Gearbox Records using an all-analogue signal chain and cut directly from the original tapes, which were recorded at the club by Les Tomkins in 1964. The sleeve features photography by the esteemed Val Wilmer and liner notes by Richard Williams.

Taken from Abdullah Ibrahim's summer 2023 sold-out headline date at London's Barbican Centre, the new album "3" follows suit and is spread across two performances - the first is recorded without an audience ahead of the concert straight to analogue on a 1" Scully tape machine, which had previously been used by Elvis at the famous Memphis-based Sun Studios. The second recording is taken from the evening's performance itself with Ibrahim performing in a unique trio which includes Cleave Guyton (flute, piccolo, saxophone) who has performed alongside the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, and Joe Henderson, as well as lauded bassist and cellist Noah Jackson, both of which are members of Ekaya and featured on Ibrahim's top 3 Billboard Jazz album "The Balance". 3-LP, gatefold, 140g

CONNECT

In jazz's heyday era of the heady 60s and early 70s, these cats were behind some of the greatest releases of the genre, from Pharaoh Sanders' Karma to Charles Lloyd's Forest Flower. Collectively they've performed and recorded with the likes of Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock, and McCoy Tyner, Together they carry forth this legacy as The Cookers, one of the 21st century's foremost supergroups. Cat's Out The Bag is their first album in 5 years and the first to be recorded at Van Gelder's historic Englewood Cliffs studio. Featuring all original compositions, the music embodies the name of this illustrious ensemble; hot, hard-hitting soul jazz, full of momentum and fire.

2020 release. Jazz trumpet legend, founder of the uber-cool Strata East label that spawned Gil Scott Heron, is back with Connect, his first studio album in 13 years. Recorded to tape at RAK Studios in London last November (2019) by Tony Platt, the four-track album features the Charles Tolliver All-Stars, comprising some of the most experienced jazz musicians of New York: Jesse Davis on alto saxophone, Keith Brown on piano, Buster Williams on double bass, and Lenny White on drums. The album also bridges together New York and London by featuring leading British saxophonist Binker Golding on two tracks, (Binker & Moses, Moses Boyd Exodus, Zara McFarlane).

BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP: REMEMBERING SHIRLEY HORN

Limited 180 gram audiophile vinyl LP pressing including digital download. Prelude To Heart Is A Lotus is a 1968 BBC Jazz in Britain recording now released for the first time. Pianist and composer Michael Garrick was 35 years old and together with close associates - saxophonist Don Rendell and trumpeter Ian Carr - was defining innovative new directions in British jazz. Prelude To Heart Is A Lotus is the precursor to the Argo Records Heart Is A Lotus studio album which was released two years later, and this remarkable music shines a new light on an extraordinary period of creativity in Garrick's long career.

Limited vinyl LP pressing of this EP. Mark Murphy celebrates his close friend Shirley Horn with four of her trademark songs reinterpreted in his inimitable style. It's a warm and sparse sounding session featuring Shirley Horn's longtime drummer Steve Williams, Betty Carter's double bassist Curtis Lundy (brother of Carmen), the sensational young New York pianist Alex Minasian and the German trumpet star Till Br�nner.

The first official release of the June 1970 Montreux Jazz Festival concert featuring trumpeter Ian Carr's pioneering Nucleus performing with US vocalist Leon Thomas on a set of Thomas' repertoire. The collaboration with Thomas is (in Ian Carr's words) a combination of the "rock thing... with the roots of the music".

LIVE IN MORECAMBE 1959 - TIPPIN