When Los Angeles-born, Oakland-based pianist-turned-producer Gene Russell co-founded Black Jazz in 1971, the 39-year-old journeyman was just two years removed from a small-trio release on Decca that landed squarely in the lighthearted, pop-friendly, ‘Up-Up And Away’ and ‘Born Free’-covering world of cocktail-bar jazz. But with the turn-of-the-seventies emergence of revolutionary developments from electric Miles to the spiritual directions of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane – and all sorts of funky mutations in Russell’s soul-jazz wheelhouse, to boot – the tight-knit collection of artists he assembled took full advantage of all the possibilities that lay ahead for jazz in the young decade.

Officially released for the first time ever, a previously unknown half-hour from cosmic mythologist and sound scientist Sun Ra's 1971 U.C. Berkeley course "The Black Man in the Cosmos." Ra's soft-spoken intensity is underscored by the sound of chalk on the board as he ambles effortlessly through his potent and prescient ideas. The class session closes with two musical tracks, a piano version of "Love In Outer Space" and a blistering Moog solo.A very cool document of the great Sun Ra – and a set that combines both music and a spoken passage from a class that Ra was teaching at the University of California in the 70s! The spoken work is fascinating – as it really captured Ra as he lived, but in ways that are different than you might expect – still as intellectual as any of his writings, and ideas you might have picked up from other sources – but with a very down-to-earth approach that maybe makes the man seem more human than some of his future-thinking music, or the cosmic garb that he's usually wearing on a record cover! Ra is completely captivating during the 30 minute lecture – which was part of a cours titled The Black Man & The Cosmos – then the set moves into a wonderful five minute solo piano piece, and an extra cool solo Moog performance that runs for over sixteen minutes in length – mindblowing analog electronics that has Ra getting some very noisy sounds from the Moog!

Listen to the heartbeat of Africa and South American continents, to the pulsing jazz beat of the most mysterious land, and share the excitement of this, LES BAXTER S thrilling adventure in stereo sound: African and Jungle Jazz. Les Baxter s music here echoes the basic ceremonial and message patterns of tribes throughout Africa, using the basic rhythms, tribal chants, drums, even the Watusi nanigo rhythms of their ceremonial rites as the beginning for a dozen original, Africa-inspired compositions. In this series of vivid impressions, he employs the talents of some outstanding jazz virtuosos, including Larry Bunker on vibraphone, xylophone, and marimba, Milt Bernhart on trombone, with the great Plas Johnson on tenor. It is all part of the Les Baxter genius for creating the rich, singular, arresting kind of music in AFRICAN JAZZ. On Jungle Jazz, he captures the teeming, steaming excitement of South America s jungles in twelve of his original compositions. His vibrant orchestrations present the wild, exotic sounds of the primitive forest in striking contrast to singularly arresting jazz interpretations featuring Plas Johnson alternating on tenor sax and alto flute. This is the music of high adventure with a beat exotically presented in a Baxter blend of JUNGLE JAZZ.

Super rare compilation one early 70s Italian library jazz/funk and easy listening scores. Very limited pressing, tough to find on vinyl!
One of the erliest italian libraries compilation made. The compiler put together psychedelic beat and bossa tunes from albums that were pressed in very tiny quantities (Bixio diamonds is actually an exeption as it's from a soundtrack…) great photographic cover too from italian Playman magazine collection.

Swirling guitars and proto-ambient electronica sounds from many light years away! The Astro-Sound of Magnificence, From Beyond the Year 2000…a unique capsule of a funky, psychedelic rhythm section jamming, with snarling, stabbing and swooshing cranked-up-to-infinity electric guitar voyages piloted by Wrecking Crew veteran Jerry Cole, polished and primed for takeoff with a string section playing eerie, beckoning melodies in unison. These are the sounds of epiphanies concerning the future, space and sounds on the horizon, circa 1969. The tracks for this album were recorded by Cole and other players during sessions for a separate longplayer and were deemed to be outtakes; the details as to how they became Astro Sounds From Beyond the Year 2000 are dark and distant, but the 10 tracks here were first issued sans strings in 1967 as The Animated Egg, with alternate song titles. Two years later the recordings were overdubbed with the swirling, piercing phase-shifted strings mix you hear here, creating a spectacular fusion of psych-rock, R&B, easy listening and fuzz guitar, with hints of the coming worlds of ambient and electronica. These truly are the far out sounds of tomorrow’s unchartered trip, as the original album jacket proclaims "come aboard, launch and listen."

Individually, Kronos Quartet and Sun Ra are two of the most groundbreaking names in contemporary music. The former is the legendary San Francisco-based string quartet that laid a blueprint for what concert music could become, working with the likes of John Cage, Tanya Tagaq, and Astor Piazzolla. The latter was a singular jazz and avant-garde bandleader, as well as a philosopher and poet, who honed an extraordinary strain of cosmic experimental music from the 1950s until his ascension in 1993. As a capstone to Kronos Quartet’s 50th anniversary, the group has joined forces with the Red Hot Organization for the new album Outer Spaceways Incorporated: Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra. It’s stacked with some of the most innovative artists active today — everyone from multidimensional electronic musician Jlin, to Moor Mother and DJ Haram’s radical noise / rap project 700 Bliss, to abstract hip hop luminaries Armand Hammer, to avant-garde hero Laurie Anderson, to minimalist pioneer Terry Riley.

‘Lounge Psychédélique’ takes you on a journey into the world of Lounge, Exotica and Space Age Bachelor Pad Music, from its early days in the 1950s and 1960s to the current crop of artists championing the Lounge & Exotica sounds today. Compiled by Spencer Hickman & Mark McQuillan for Two-Piers.

Now-Again Records, in conjunction with Jazzman Records, presents an expanded version of the compilation that introduced many listeners to the sound of the unsung musicians who, in the midst of the Vietnam War and the fallout of the Civil Rights struggle, created some of the most beautiful spiritual and meditative music of the era. The music was at times funky, at times contemplative, but it always strived to say something about the world in which the musicians lived.

SUN RA AT THE SHOWCASE: LIVE IN CHICAGO contains previously unissued live recordings of the legendary intergalactic composer/pianist Sun Ra captured live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago, IL between November 4-10, 1977. This is an official release on producer Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective record label, in partnership with Elemental Music, and in cooperation with the Sun Ra Trust. Researched and compiled by longtime Sun Ra archivist Michael D. Anderson, and transferred from the original tape reels, includes an extensive insert with rarephotographs from the actual concerts byHal Rammel; liner notes by James Corbett, and interviews and statements from photographers Hal Rammel, Michael Weiss, Marshall Allen, Thurston Moore, Jack DeJohnette, David Murray, Dave Burrell, Matthew Shipp, AminaClaudine Myers, and Reggie Workman.

Sun Ra and the Arkestra played a week of eleven concerts at the Detroit Jazz Center. The shows were organized and soundboard recorded by Rick Steiger (a collaborator of John Sinclair). On New Year's Eve the Arkestra performed nearly a hundred Sun Ra compositions in three different sets. Remastered from the original cassette soundboard recordings by Christopher Eddy. Limited edition of 500 copies, originally a 28 cd-r set from 2007 in an edition of 400.

Sun Ra was a true innovator, releasing music that was a bit different to his peers from his earliest output. But what would Sun Ra have made of today’s music scene? If he is looking down from his cosmic realm, he’ll be pleased to know that his music from the past still sounds eerily futuristic. Recorded in just one day, on October 10, 1961, The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra features 11 tracks. Among the selections is the Latin-influenced opener, “Bassism,” the bluesy “Of Sounds and Something Else,” and the aptly named, “What’s That?,” which breaks into a four-saxophone improvisation, stands out as an example of Ra’s early experimental work.

In the '50s, pianist Martin Denny was playing a residency at an open-air nightclub in Hawaii when he and his band (including Arthur Lyman on vibraphone, Augie Colón on percussion, and John Kramer on bass) began incorporating the sounds of nature into their songs (Colón had a knack for emulating bird calls), as well as embracing melodies and arrangements influenced by the sounds of the Pacific and the Far East. Denny and his combo landed a record deal for their unique music, and the song "Quiet Village" became a major pop hit in 1958, kicking off a new style of music that was dubbed "exotica" for its use of unconventional sounds and moods. Denny was a common presence on the sales charts for the next several years, and this box set features eight albums by Denny on four CDs (two albums on each disc) chronicling his most popular and productive period. Eight Classic Albums includes the albums Exotica (1958), Exotica 2 (1958), Forbidden Island (1958), Primitiva (1958), Exotica 3 (1959), The Enchanted Sea (1960), Exotic Percussion (1960), and Romantica (1961).

Although he is best known for lounge-oriented film scores like Svezia Inferno E Paradiso and Angeli Bianchi…Angeli Neri, Italian composer Piero Umiliani was also a prolific composer of easy listening pop. His finest effort in this vein was To-Day's Sound, a 1971 instrumental double album. This adventurous undertaking manages to justify its length by dishing up 21 tight, punchy instrumentals that mix lounge, jazz, easy listening, and pop hooks in equal measure. To-Day's Sound is also notable because it incorporates the then-new Moog synthesizer into a large number of its tracks. Indeed, the fast-paced samba of "Caretera Panamerica" and the mellow jazziness of "Coast to Coast" get added sonic kick from the thick but artfully integrated synthesizer textures that layer their arrangements. Another one of the Moog-oriented tunes, "Lady Magnolia," has become a favorite of remixers on the modern lounge music scene thanks to its effective combination of funky rhythms and bubbly synthesizer lines.

When is the musical project of Norwegian artist Lars Pedersen. Lars Pedersen was born in 1961, in Oslo, Norway. His father, Tore Pedersen, was a Norwegian musical composer. At an early age, the younger Pedersen performed with his four older sisters and older brother; they were often compared to the Jackson 5 and The Partridge Family, popular bands of the time. Being in the spotlight at a young age, Pedersen met Chuck Berry and other stars. In the late 1970s, Pedersen played in Hærverk, one of the first Norwegian punk bands, and later – as the 1980s arrived – went on to form the band The Last James. The Last James explored The Beatles/Beach Boys sound, releasing three albums, Grape, The Last James and Kindergarten. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Pedersen was also a member of the renowned experimental/industrial/new wave group Holy Toy, together with Andrej D. Nebb.

Lounge Psychédélique takes you on a journey into the world of Lounge, Exotica and Space Age Bachelor Pad Music, from its early days in the 1950s and 1960s to the current crop of artists championing the Lounge and Exotica sounds today. Compiled by Spencer Hickman and Mark McQuillan for Two-Piers Lounge Psychédélique (The Best of Lounge and Exotica 1954-2022) is the third instalment in the Psychédélique Compilation series on Two-Piers, following the critically acclaimed Pop Psychédélique (The Best of French Psychedelic Pop 1964-2019) and Garage Psychédélique (The Best of Garage Psych and Pzyk Rock 1965-2019).