Box Set with 8 CDs of exciting and adventurous New Jazz recorded live at the Altena New Jazz Meetings from 1972 and 1973. More than 8 hours of music recorded live at the Altena Castle, West Germany. Two 28-page booklets with concert pictures, flyers and newspaper clippings (in German and English). Includes complete performances and improvisations by Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath, Michal Urbaniak Group, Phil Woods, Wolfgang Dauner’s Et Cetera and many more!

This incredibly diverse collection was Chicago’s sixth studio album and their final studio-recorded double album to date. Cited for its jazz excursions, Chicago VII reached No. 1 in the US and included three stand-out hits including Searchin’ So Long, Wishing You Were Here and the first single penned by trumpeter Lee Loughnane Call on Me, which reached No. 6 in the US.

A holiday album for anyone who truly wants to rock around the Christmas tree! Includes Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, Steve Vai, Joe Perry, Alex Lifeson, Richie Sambora, and Hotei.

One of the greatest jazz-rock guitarists of the '80s and '90s provides this classic Christmas guitar album. A hugely successful guitarist and composer, Larry Carlton emerged from the Los Angeles studio scene of the late '60s, eventually becoming a popular contemporary jazz artist in his own right. Noted for his lithe technique, sweet-toned, blues-inflected sound, and distinctive use of volume pedals, Carlton first came to prominence as a member of crossover jazz and R&B outfit the Crusaders. From there, he developed into an in-demand session player, recording on up to 500 albums a year and appearing on over 100 gold albums. His studio credits from the '70s and early '80s include work with musicians and groups like Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Sammy Davis, Jr., Herb Alpert, Quincy Jones, Bobby Bland, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and literally dozens of others.

The Comet is Coming returns with their second full length album on Impulse! Records. King Shabaka, Danalogue, and Betamax’s newest effort finds the Mercury Prize-nominated 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 dance-hall themes, providing hypnotic, electronic soundscapes to dance to while keeping you intellectually stimulated.

This release from the BGO label combines two of Gino Vannelli's albums for A&M, Powerful People (1974) and Storm at Sunup (1975). Both releases peaked in the Top 60 of the Billboard 200, while “People Gotta Move” – the lead song on the former – was one of Vannelli’s biggest singles and narrowly missed the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Those who pick up a well-chosen Vannelli compilation can get the essential songs, but soft rock diehards can obtain a fair amount of Vannelli’s choice album-bound material right here.

Bobby Keys was an American saxophonist, born December 18, 1943, in Slaton, Lubbock County, Texas, and died December 2, 2014, in Franklin (Tennessee). Not knowing how to read music, he learned to play the saxophone on his own. At the age of fourteen, he met Buddy Holly - also from Lubbock - and saxophonist King Curtis. During his teenage years, he accompanied singer Bobby Vee on the Caravan of Stars tour, organized by television host, Dick Clark.

Returning for his third album on Edition Records, 'Dahab Days' demonstrates the British guitarist's signature sound with fresh and lyrical new music. Featuring long-time collaborators Alice Zawadzki, Byron Wallen and Steve Buckley, the new record pushes the envelope and establishes Rob as one of the key members of the UK's thriving jazz scene.

When Cicadas appear in the area they cause a huge uproar. It’s hard to escape the distinctive noise these critters make, reaching up to 120 decibels. The hypnotic, trance-inducing sound disappears with the insects. A few months after Cykada's explosive debut, the world was hit by turbulence and from Cykada there was silence - fortunately only seemingly, because the next cycle began underground, in the privacy of the studio. It was there that the cicadas matured, waiting for a metamorphosis.

An essential force in the West Coast Jazz scene of the ’50s and ’60s, drummer/bandleader Chico Hamilton possessed a subtle yet immensely creative style that would come to define the cool jazz movement. After getting his start drumming for the likes of Charles Mingus while still in high school in Los Angeles (Hamilton’s hometown and the epicenter of cool jazz), he went on to work with legends like Count Basie, tour as Lena Horne’s drummer, and become a charter member of baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan’s highly influential quartet. In a rare move for a drummer in the ’50s, Hamilton founded his own quintet in 1955 and instantly achieved major success, with the Chico Hamilton Quintet quickly emerging as one of the most popular jazz groups of the time — and later gaining recognition as one of the last important West Coast Jazz bands in music history.

From the orchestrated introduction of "New America" to the closing ballad, "Born to Love You," Flim & the BB's showcase their impeccable chops. Of course, great musicianship does not necessarily result in great, or even good, music; but Big Notes is overflowing with good music and immaculate production. "Boogie Palace" and "Atosha" are highlights among the 11 tracks. A sense of humor also helps to make this package a big noteworthy success.

Pat Martino on the way up. Mostly quartet recordings for the brilliant guitarist. "Willow," a dark, understated gem. Contains seven tracks, three by Martino, three standards, and Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now." Guitar students should study this one.

Emboldened by the popularity of Inner Mounting Flame among rock audiences, the first Mahavishnu Orchestra set out to further define and refine its blistering jazz-rock direction in its second - and, no thanks to internal feuding, last - studio album. Although it has much of the screaming rock energy and sometimes exaggerated competitive frenzy of its predecessor, Birds of Fire is audibly more varied in texture, even more tightly organized, and thankfully more musical in content. A remarkable example of precisely choreographed, high-speed solo trading - with John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, and Jan Hammer all of one mind, supported by Billy Cobham's machine-gun drumming and Rick Laird's dancing bass - can be heard on the aptly named "One Word," and the title track is a defining moment of the group's nearly atonal fury…

The third album from Levon Eskenian’s remarkable ensemble is its most adventurous to date. As well as reclaiming the music of esoteric teacher G. I. Gurdjieff for folk instrumentation, Zartir situates Gurdjieff in a tradition of Armenian bards and troubadours including Ashugh Jivani, Baghdasar Tbir and the legendary Sayat-Nova. In parallel, an emphasis on pieces for sacred dance reaches its apex in The Great Prayer, an entrancing collaboration between the Gurdjieff Ensemble and the National Chamber Choir of Armenia, which draws upon ritual music of multiple faiths. Arranger Eskenian says, “I believe The Great Prayer is more than a mere ‘composition’. It is one of the most profound and transformative pieces I have encountered in Gurdjieff’s work.” Zartir was recorded in Yerevan in 2021 and mixed and completed in Munich in November 2022 by Levon Eskenian, Tigran Kuzikyan, and Manfred Eicher.

Song of Innocence is the debut album of American composer and producer David Axelrod. It was released in October 1968 by Capitol Records. Axelrod sought to capitalize on the experimental climate of popular music at the time and composed the album as a suite-like tone poem based on Songs of Innocence, a 1789 illustrated collection of poems by William Blake. It was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles with an orchestra and a variety of studio musicians, including keyboardist and conductor Don Randi, guitarist Al Casey, bassist Carol Kaye, and drummer Earl Palmer. Song of Innocence is an instrumental jazz fusion record that incorporates elements of classical, rock, funk, pop, and theatre music. It is arranged for bass, drums, and string instruments, written in the rock idiom with tempos centered on rock-based patterns by Palmer. Axelrod used contrast in his orchestral compositions and interspersed the album's euphoric psychedelic R&B form with dramatic, harrowing arrangements to reflect the supernatural themes found in Blake's poems. The music's reverent, psychedelic overtones evoke their themes of innocence and spirituality.