Released in 1995, Sarala marked it's time by generating a genuine enthusiasm for Mandingo music, encouraging many Western musicians to go to Mali and explore this music at it's very source. Fruit of the reunion of Hank Jones (an African-American musician and one of the most gifted pianists of his generation) and Cheick-Tidiane Seck (a reputed arranger, band-leader, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Mali) the album is a symbiosis - one of the spirit and the heart - of two genres.

LOVE FOR SALE BENNETT & GAGA - Celebrating 10 years since they first recorded together, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga returned to the studio for another collaboration featuring the very best of the Cole Porter Songbook. Continuing the musical legacy that began with "Lady Is A Tramp, " followed by the GRAMMY winning album, Cheek To Cheek, this new recording captures the evolution of the singular creative and personal relationship of these two world famous artists. Tony, who turns 95 on August 3, 2021, has spent over 7 decades dedicated to performing the Great American Songbook and Lady Gaga who, with Tony by her side, renewed her love of the popular standard and redefined herself in the process. The album features duets as well as solo performances by both artists accompanied by Tony Bennett's quartet, The Brian Newman Quintet, along with big band and orchestral arrangements by Marion Evans and Jorge Callandrelli.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. What happens when you combine Stanley Turrentine's blues-drenched tenor saxophone with Les McCann's soulful, funky piano? You end up with one of their best albums, considered to be a foundational session of soul jazz. They are joined by bassist Herbie Lewis and drummer Otis "Candy" Finch. With standout tracks "Smile, Stacey," the deep blue groove "Soft Pedal Blues" and "Light Blue."

Chet Baker is highly regarded as one of jazz's greatest trumpet players recording numerous albums over his 35-year recording career. Recorded in in 1969, Albert's House features 11 instrumental compositions by Steve Allen who produced the recording session to assist Baker in restarting his career after a horrific dental injury in '68. The LP hasn't been in release for vinyl reissue for years.

Spyro Gyra started out with the rhythms of the world. From the samba rhythms and Caribbean feel of their early hits to the latest album, they have made it a point to embrace the music of the places they have visited. Their new album, a FOREIGN AFFAIR, is ready to take you around the world from the Caribbean to South America, and even to South Africa, India and Japan. Besides the memorable instrumentals, there are also three vocal tunes, one of which features Grammy winning Keb' Mo.

Live archive release from the jazz legend. Moments In Time includes previously unreleased music recorded in 1976 at San Francisco's Keystone Korner. The booklet includes essays by Ted Panken, Steve Getz, Joanne Brackeen (pianist), Billy Hart (drummer), Todd Parkan (producer) and Zev Feldman (producer). The booklet also includes rare unpublished photographs. Cover art by Japanese artist Takao Fujioka. This release is endorsed by the Stan Getz Estate.

In 1999, for the 2nd year in a row, Brad Mehldau's piano trio topped the Down Beat Critic's Poll for Best Acoustic Jazz Group in the Talent Deserving Wider Recognition category. Art Of The Trio 4: Back At The Vanguard further justifies those accolades. This live set, the newest installment of his trio releases, will continue to build Mehldau's growing public recognition (marked by a recent article in Time Magazine) and his stellar profile in the jazz world. Features "Solar," "London Blues" and "Exit Music (For A Film)."

Hiromi's 2021 album, Silver Lining Suite, pairs her virtuosic and emotive piano with a string quartet assembled by violinist Tatsuo Nishie, concertmaster of the New Japan Philharmonic. Devised for a series of live-streamed concerts at the Blue Note Tokyo during the Covid pandemic, the results blur the lines between classical music and jazz, crafting a vibrant hybrid possessed of the fervent, rock-inspired energy and cinematic beauty that Hiromi has always instilled in her music

OURS

Vinyl LP pressing. Jackie McLean pushed boundaries in this 1961 recording of A Fickle Sonance. McLean shows his artistry by being one of the few Jazz artists to incorporate freer jazz melodies into his hard-bop style. He raised the bar with his style's evolution was backed by an incredibly talented group of musicians which included Tommy Turrentine on Trumpet, pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Butch Warren, and Billy Higgins on drums.

Norah Jones releases her third and most personal statement-to-date, NOT TOO LATE is a collection of 13 original songs either written or co-written by Norah, and produced by Lee Alexander, her longtime songwriting partner and bass player. With NOT TOO LATE, Norah's songwriting takes center stage, allowing for a much more complete picture of Norah herself, her personality, her humor and her mind.

Vinyl LP pressing. Travelogue through a cybernetical soundscape! The future rendered here by Ra seems more dystopian than utopian, and these 1975 guided improvisations are imbued with an underlying violence, alternate twists, bank turns, headchoppers, loops, rolls, sidewinders and drops. It's a dark & glorious journey. Featuring the debut of the complete version of 'Extension Out,' Pathways has been exquisitely mastered from the four-track session reel and includes an insert offering an enlightening glimpse at Ra & co.'s plans for their major label lucre.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. While Joe Henderson seemed to arrive fully formed on his auspicious 1963 debut Page One, the album was really a showcase for the transcendent collaboration between the tenor saxophonist and trumpeter Kenny Dorham who would form a potent frontline team on numerous classics. Opens with a pair of indelible Dorham compositions (Blue Bossa/La Mesha), the 6-song set penned by Henderson includes "Recorda-Me."

Vinyl LP pressing. Kenny Dorham's 1964 album Trompeta Toccata would be the final album that the great underrated trumpeter and composer would record as a leader, and it stands as a fitting testament to his prodigious talent. The album featured a stellar quintet with Dorham and his frequent collaborator Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone along with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath.

Careless Love, first released in 2004, is a rich collection of covers, with tunes from Bob Dylan to James P. Johnson and including a milestone rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love." Featuring the original, "Don't Wait Too Long" co-written by Jesse Harris & Larry Klein. With over half a million albums sold, it shifted Peyroux from the jazz realm into the mainstream arena and remains her most popular release. Deluxe Edition includes the previously unreleased 2005 live set, recorded by Basque Public Radio for the Festival de Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain. - Madeleine performs the repertoire from Careless Love, plus additional bonus songs.

Vinyl LP pressing. After trumpeter Lee Morgan set the music world on fire with the runaway success of his hit soul-jazz single "The Sidewinder", many artists tried to duplicate his triumphant feat. Morgan himself cooked up funky follow-up "The Rumproller," which was recorded the next year. The quintet featured Joe Henderson, Ronnie Mathews, Victor Sproles & Billy Higgins. The album covers diverse territory from the post-bop of "Desert Moonlight" to mournful closing ballad "The Lady" dedicated to Billie Holiday.

ALONE

Jazz chanteuse Anita O'Day gives Cole Porter classics the treatment with a little help from Billy Mays on numbers such as "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," "Just One of those Things," "Night and Day" and more.

Vinyl LP pressing. Two days after recording his best-selling album, Go!, Dexter Gordon followed with another classic, A Swingin' Affair. The tracks are full of Gordon's unique and innovative improvisations supported by his returning line-up, with Sonny Clark on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and drummer Billy Higgins. A Swingin' Affair brings a relaxed and upbeat feeling to a hard-bop influenced band.

Vinyl LP pressing. Recorded in 1964, the music of A Boy Named Charlie Brown contains Vince Guaraldi's earliest Peanuts creations, including the first appearance of "Charlie Brown's Theme" and "Linus and Lucy," which became the defining song of all the early TV specials. This LP re-issue features the 1972 artwork depicting a helpless Charlie Brown on a pitcher's mound and comes with 8 newly created baseball cards of favorite Peanuts characters. The album was mastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray.

Vinyl LP pressing. Released in 1969, Herbie Hancock's album, The Prisoner, is a powerful but overlooked masterpiece. A moving tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, this nonet session features some of the most exceptional instrumentalists in jazz including Joe Henderson, Johnny Coles and more. Hancock said of The Prisoner: "I've been able to get closer to the real me with this album than on any other previous one." Blue Note Tone Poet Series features all-analog, remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

NIGHT LIGHTS

One challenge of this frustrating time has been finding methods to handle grief. The loss of loved ones, enforced isolation, and abounding uncertainty have only heightened anxiety and it's painful effects. Learning how to cope with grief and work through it is imperative for one's mental health. // Saxophonist and composer Caroline Davis has done much to try to allay her own emotions after the harsh period she dealt with in 2019. Davis lost her father early in the year and was trying to cope with this devastating event when the pandemic descended. She turned to research and creation to work herself out again. Her new recording, Portals, Volume 1: Mourning, is a culmination of a year of suffering, accepting, and channeling her mourning through a unique process to find equilibrium through composition and reflection. // Davis has always found ways to deepen her musical work by allowing her current preoccupations drive the generation of her art. When her father suddenly passed, Davis was stunned and needed to find a way to express her feelings. She read about grief and trauma, studying the work of Bessel van der Kolk, Mary Oliver, Resmaa Menakem, and Margaret Stroebe. Kübler-Ross's five stages of grief did not occur in a similar sequence for Davis, so she looked toward the self-help and mystical teachings her father expressed interest in, even up until his passing. // Looking back on her time with her father, Davis began to realize that she must deal not only with the immediate results of his passing but with the legacy of residual pain that he inflicted, intentionally or not. Living at a distance from one another, and his workaholic lifestyle, made things difficult in their relationship. Davis was still wrestling with this. // A welcome aid to Davis's recovery and work was a residency at the McDowell Artists' Colony in New Hampshire. At McDowell, she was able to begin sculpting what would become the pieces on Portals, Volume 1. A grant from the Jerome Foundation made it possible for her to complete the remainder of the compositions and recording in 2020. // Portals, Volume 1 is a collection of pieces that Davis wrote for her current quintet along with a string quartet, her first time orchestrating for this instrumentation. The quintet has been her regular group since 2019 and features trumpeter Marquis Hill, pianist Julian Shore, bassist Chris Tordini, and drummer Allan Mednard. For the string quartet, Davis knew that she desired string players who placed improvisation at the center of their practice. Having had the good fortune to work previously with a number of multi-talented players, she was able to recruit violinists Mazz Swift and Josh Henderson along with violist Joanna Mattrey and cellist Mariel Roberts. // The recording was made at Oktaven Audio in Mt. Vernon, New York during December 2020. The studio was a perfect environment for the musicians, and each had COVID tests prior to the dates. Engineer Ryan Streber offered advantageous assistance, helping with pacing and following the musical scores, insuring that every nuance was captured. // The experience of trauma is remembering, and reflecting on the past helps to consolidate, as feelings can be complicated and change over time. Examining her bodily reactions and re-drawing physical elements like heart rate, breathing, and eye movements, became a central part of Davis's practice. These strategies recognized the full scope of using her body as a portal in the process of healing.

Elvin Jones - "Mr. Jones" In 1968, after six years with the seminal John Coltrane Quartet, the mighty drummer Elvin Jones signed with Blue Note Records, releasing 10 fantastic albums, including 1972's Mr. Jones. Features saxophonists Dave Liebman, Steve Grossman and Pepper Adams, Thad Jones on flugelhorn and bassist Gene Perla. The music delves into expansive post-bop with Latin influences and includes an impassioned version of Tadd Dameron's ballad, "Soultrane," in dedication to Coltrane. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl.

Digitally remastered and expanded edition. Recorded in 1982, after moving to Paris, Fodder On My Wings was one of Nina Simone's favorite and most obscure albums. Released under a small French label and only sporadically available since then, this is the original album version making a long overdue appearance. Expanded with three bonus tracks. Fodder On My Wings is an essential Simone album, which came at a time when Simone was rejuvenated by her surroundings and by the African musicians she met in her newly adopted France.