Jazz The World Forgot, Jazz Classics of the 1920s Early Roots and Branches of Jazz - Vol.1 [1996]

This groundbreaking series brings together some of the greatest performances of early jazz, illustrating that before jazz became a listener's music of improvised solos it was the rhythm-driven dance music of America, the rock and roll of its day. This album shows the incredible variety of the 1920s jazz by bringing together diverse, often obscure masterpieces by legendary small groups and large bands from both city and country. Highlighted is the rich regional flavor of early American jazz with showpieces by territory bands such as Ross De Luxe Syncopaters, Taylor's Dixie Serenaders, and Roy Johnson's Happy Pals along with classics by the pioneer New Orleans band of Louis Dumaine, Sam Morgan and much more. This is an entertaining and illuminating exploration of early jazz which traces its roots back to marching bands, ragtime and vaudeville.

Enjoy!

African Spirits - A Spiritual Jazz Journey Looking Back to Africa [2004]

This album consists of 10 tracks that represent a spiritual jazz journey looking back to Africa: the motherland, the roots of jazz, the birthplace of black music and the ancestral origins of the musicians themselves.
Individually the tracks - some of the best music of its type ever recorded - are in demand in their own right, with most being compiled for the first time. In the 1960's and 1970's many Afro Americans started to look back to their roots and the roots of the music for inspiration, direction and confirmation. Musicians including Yusef Lateef, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and many of the artists on this compilation experimented with African instruments and sounds during this period. It was a time of black celebration, the 'Afro' hairstyle was a prerequisite for hipness. The drum - the most basic rhythm instrument and the foundation that almost all modern music rests on - came from Africa. Indeed, Jazz music itself can also trace its origins back to Africa; in fact scientists, historians and archaeologists have suggested that the entire human race took its first steps in Africa and evolved from there. The music contained on this album, whilst rhythmically strong is also imbued with haunting melodies and spiritually uplifting shades. A major factor behind the making of this music was a reaction against a society based on commercialism and insincerity: this is music with a message, music of substance, music that demands the listener be drawn in. It's music that you can really feel…music that moves and fulfils you, leaving you spiritually uplifted. This album is not just about selecting and bringing together a collection of in demand Jazz cuts…it's about inviting the listener on a musical journey back to Africa, back to ancient civilisation. Enjoy the ride.

Enjoy!

V/A - Pioneers of the Jazz Guitar [1992]

This anthology features the predecessors and contemporaries of Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian with an emphasis on the jazz guitar duet. Working within their seldom recorded solo or duet performances, master guitarists such as Eddie Lang, Lonnie Johnson, John Cali and others couple melodic sophistication with the kind of economy and restraint rarely achieved today in such compositions as Teasin' The Frets, handful Of Riffs, Chicken A La Swing, Feeling My Way and others.

                                                     

Enjoy!

       

Various ‎– Jazz Meets The World [1975]

Today, “World Music” has become a standard concept and the surpassing of borders between jazz musicians and other musical cultures goes without saying. One of the foundations for the development of jazz into world music was established by MPS during the sixties. With the series “Jazz meets the world”, initiated by Joachim-Ernst Berendt, meetings between jazz musicians and other musical cultures were started. The Irene Schweizer Trio played with musicians from India, George Gruntz worked with Arabic and Toni Scott with musicians from Bali. The MPS-series “Jazz meets the world” is still one of the most important concepts between jazz and traditional music from India, Bali, Cuba, Tunisia, Spain, Brazil and Japan. 

                                                                               Enjoy!

Tommy McCook & The Supersonics ‎– Down On Bond Street [1993]

 'Down on Bond Street' compiles 20 tracks from 1966-1968.Like Roland Alphonso did while leading Clement Dodd's own Soul Vendors outfit (with organist Jackie Mittoo), McCook and the Supersonics cut several instrumental sides, focusing on groove-heavy beats and tasty horn and organ solos. Trojan's Down on Bond Street brings together 20 of these gems, ranging from late ska cuts like "A Yellow Basket (A Tisket a Tasket)" to early reggae sides such as "Second Fiddle." Focusing primarily on rocksteady material, McCook also delves into some updated Jamaican R&B ("Heatwave (Moving)"), several choice covers ("Ode to Billie Joe"), and a few breezy originals ("Real Cool"). Showing off his considerable jazz chops, McCook is ever present with his vaporously tart and sinewy tenor lines (he turns in impressive flute work on a handful of cuts as well). Also part of that select crew of Jamaican jazz musicians, many being fellow Skatalite alums as well, the Supersonics featured alto saxophonist Lester Sterling, trumpeter Johnny "Dizzy" Moore, trombonist Vin "Don Drummond, Jr." Gordon, guitarist Lynn Taitt (whose Jets found work with producer Joe Gibbs), and organist Winston Wright. While Heartbeat's fine Tribute to Tommy and a few albums with the Aggrovators cover ska and reggae ground respectively, this McCook title is one of the few, if not the only wide-ranging collection of the saxophonist's instrumental output during the '60s. Highly recommended. 

                                                                                 Enjoy!

Dizzy Gillespie ‎– Matrix (The Perception Sessions '70-'71) [2005]

Excellent funk from Dizzy Gillespie – featuring all 3 of his albums for the legendary Perception label! The Real Thing is an amazing mix of funky jazz, cool rhythms, and some nice Latin-tinged grooves – and it's a stunning representation of the way that Dizzy kept on growing as a musician, long after his bebop years were over. James Moody sits in with some very funky tenor, and Mike Longo is on piano. Tracks include "N'Bani", "Matrix", "Soul Kiss", "Ding A Ling", and "Alligator" – all short, hard, and funky! Next up is Portrait Of Jenny, which has a cool electric feel that you don't really associate with Diz. The whole album has a sly sweet funky sound that's part CTI/part Latin-tinged Dizzy – and the real strength is the great Mike Longo, who plays some amazing stretched out piano lines, which work perfectly with the basslines on the record as a foil for Dizzy's sparkling trumpet solos. The album's got 4 long cuts – including the excellent "Me N Them", plus "Olinga" and "Diddy Wa Diddy". The last set is Giants – a live recording that features Dizzy with Mary Lou Williams and Bobby Hackett, in a pretty mellow, pretty straight setting that shows that Diz could still play straight jazz when he wanted to. Titles include "Love For Sale", "Caravan", "My Man", and "Birks Works". 2 CDs, with 21 tracks in all!

                                            

                                                       Enjoy!   CD1  &  CD2

Kostas Skarvelis - I [1999]

Kostas Skarvelis (1880 – 1942) was a Greek composer of popular music, οf the genre of rembetiko (ρεμπέτικο) in particular. He also wrote the lyrics for his songs and was an excellent guitar player, having participated in many recordings.
 Skarvelis composed hundreds of songs (recordings survive of over 200 of them). The voices he collaborated with for the recording of his songs include Giorgos Kavouras, Rita Abatzi, Kostas Roukounas, Stellakis Perpiniadis, Marika Frantzeskopoulou, Kostas Tsanakos, Markos Vamvakaris, Apostolos Chatzichristos. Among those, the lion's share belongs to Kavouras.
As a lyricist, Skarvelis mostly wrote songs about love. The majority belong to the sub-genre of hasapiko (χασάπικο), of which he explored all variations. His musical signature is considered most representative of the Constantinopolitan urban musical tradition.

                                                               Enjoy!

V/A - Apo to dimotiko sto rebetiko (1925-1939) [1998]

This is a compilation, made for Difono magazine by record collector Panayiotis Kounadis,with rare songs rom 78rpm records between the borders of traditional and rembetiko.The recordings made in Athens,New York and Chicago showing the first period of rembetiko where it was played with the use of some 'traditional' instrunents like clarinet and violin.Many of the songs are sung by legendary singer,composer and record company owner Tetos Demitriades.

                                                                               Enjoy!

V/A - Malaguena all over

Hi folks!I decided to make a selection of songs for you,actually of the same song!It is Malagueña,written by Ernesto Lecuona for his sixth movement of the Suite Andalucia,an old favorite of mine.There are quite numberous versions of this song,so I picked up some of the less known versions,but still interesting enough,across different styles.Hope you like it!

                                                                               Enjoy!

Wizard – Rare Jazz Fusion Gems From The Czechoslovakian Vaults Vol 2 [2000]

Excellent funky jazz work from Eastern Europe – very much in the spirit of recent compilations on the Jazzanova label, or similar sets on Cosmic Sounds. The album collects sublime material from the vaults of Supraphon, a hip Czech label that cut records so cool they're beyond description. The 8 tunes on the set are a mixture of Latin jazz, big band grooves, and funky electric fusion – but they all share a wonderfully fresh approach to arrangements, with modal bits hitting straighter jazz bits hitting choppy rhythmic grooving, in a blend so cool it'll have you digging through record shops for all things Czech. There's a lot of similar styles to some of the best 70s MPS work on the record – and you can also hear the influence of the music on some of the current European groove scene.

                            
                               

                                                                             Enjoy!

VA - Jazz & Hijaz 1 & 2 [1998]

‘Ethno-jazz’ tracks,recorded in USA in 60’s and 70’s..The artists are Greeks, Armenians, Hebrews, Americans and others..Released with the Greek magazine ‘Jazz & Tzaz’. Rare stuff!

                                      Enjoy!   Vol.1   &   Vol.2

Manu Dibango - B-Sides [2002]

We had never heard Manu Dibango as melodic as this, and chances are you haven't either unless you have collected all the B-Sides from his singles and vinyl releases between '71 and '83.  Happily, Melodie has done this for us.  "No Sax Here" states the linear notes, and how true they are.  If you thought Manu Dibango was a great sax player, wait until you here him on the marimba,xylophone and vibraphone.  His mastery of melody and composition are all the more evident on the lush and varied songs provided here.  "Miango Ma Tumba (village news)" starts off mellow enough, but builds into quite an orchestration.  Standouts include "Dakar Streets," the Latin flavored "Besoka on salsa" and the solitude of "African Night Blues." 

                                                                                Enjoy!

Afro Blues Quintet Plus 1 - New Directions In Sound

A great compilation of songs from this vibes heavy group.A mid-'60s sextet with a Latin edge, the Afro-Blues Quintet + 1 featured a vibes/sax front line and a rhythm section augmented by congas and timbales assisting the standard piano/bass/drums instrumentation. The group's albums included political and protest pieces, originals, remakes of standards like "Green Dolphin Street," religious/spiritual numbers, soul/jazz and R&B hits, plus some challenging tunes such as "3/4-5/4-7-2." 
Not a funky or even jazzy group as the name may suggest but an almost pop jazz hybrid with some catchy melody throughout. Some of the songs sound a bit playful and some have a great "nightime" feel, with a constant heavy vibe sound going on. 

                                                               Enjoy!

Ouelele - Another collection of modern afro rhythms [1999]

It's unclear what is supposed to unite the tracks on Ouelele, an eclectic anthology of African and African-derived music, aside from the announcement in the too-sparse liner notes that all the tracks are "rare" and "obscure." But there is a theme here, intentional or not: All these songs -- from 12 different artists from the late '60s to the late '90s -- fuse Africa's native music with the jazz and funk devised by the descendants of Africans living in the West. And so we have South African Letta M'Bulu's "What's Wrong With Groovin'," which swings as much as it grooves; Henri Guéon's "Volcano," which marries Antillean drums to American brass; and "World War IV" by Antibalas, a band that plays hardcore Afrobeat -- in New York City. By the time Smahila and the S.B.'s concluded the nearly 19-minute "African Movement," it wasn't clear just who was being channeled, Fela Kuti or James Brown. There are no weak tracks on this album, but the best is "Unity" by Philip Cohran and the African Heritage Ensemble. From a droning, hypnotic violin line, Cohran builds a piece that would sound equally at home a million years in the past and a million years in the future.

                                                                              Enjoy!

Rembetika - Songs Of The Greek Underground 1925-1947

 Rembetika is  originated during the late 19th century in Greece, becoming the folk music of the cities, sung by the social outcast, the criminal and the dispossessed, the so-called "rembetes" and "manges", in the illegal hashish taverns of the urban underground. Hard gut-wrenching songs of passion, drugs, jail, disease and death. The blues of the Greek peninsular.

Rembetika seems to be the Greek cultural equivalent to Spanish Flamenco, Portuguese Fado, to Latin American Tango/Mambo/ChaChaCha/Cumbia or to American Blues.
'Rembetika' means the folkmusic from the suburbs of Greece, the music of the outlaws. This musical phenomenon, performed by people from proletarian background, has its origins in the oppression of subversive thinking of all those people/outlaws and foreigners who moved into Greece during the 30s.

They created their own culture down in the suburbs, near the harbours of Thessaloniki and Pirus. The Rembetes loved to sing about drugs and jail, where the police put them far too often for smoking their pot. Other recurring themes were disease, passion, surviving in the suburbs and of course: dope, that is using/smoking the Arjiles (Greek dope/water pipe). The Rembetes were the true 'dopeheads' long before BeBop-God Charlie Parker or the Beatniks came along.

The story of Rembetika represents the unofficial side of Greek history: It tells the story of how the military government during the dictatorship mistreated and abused the Rembetes and their music.

Most of these wonderful songs on this double CD were recorded during the period between 1926 and 1937 when Rembetika was really 'hip' and 'big'. Then the dictator Metaxa and the Nazis took over: the lovely gais country and the whole Rembetika movement came to a complete standstill until the end of the war.

Rembetika is the music of the Greek underground. Songs about love, dope and survival.

                                            


                                                        Enjoy!    Disk 1   &   Disk 2

The Bombay Jazz Palace [2002]

  

The Bombay Jazz Palace is a compilation album released on CD in the UK by Outcaste Records on 2002. The fourteen tracks featured on the CD are all influenced by both traditional Indian music, and various species of jazz and funk. The majority of the album's music dates from 1970s or late 60s, forming part of the Western counterculture's growing interest in Asian culture.

The first ten songs are by European and American musicians exploring the instrumentation, rhythms, and scales of Indian music, with varying degrees of authenticity. The final four songs show a kind of mirror-image, with Indian musicians taking influence from popular idioms of Western music from the 1970s.

                                                                              Enjoy!

Morphine Mambo Jazz Club [2000]

This compilation of "thrilling sexy '60s Spectre Jazz Noir Club" library music from De Wolfe recording studios is one of the best ever produced and long out of print (the short-lived Plastic Records out of Italy only released a few comps and this may have been the best of the lot). With track titles like "Mobster Scene," "Anaesthesia," "Dr. Witch-wot," and "Armed Escort" how could you not love it? Great sound quality, too. A true collector's item.

                                                                             Enjoy!

Suns of Arqa - Brief History of S.O.A. [1998]

A Brief History of SOA is a retrospective compilation album, featuring tracks from all the releases prior to signing a major deal with EMI records. It serves as a brilliant introduction to SUNS OF ARQA, or simply a good way to plug those holes in your SOA collection. This album reflects very well the diversity of SUNS OF ARQA’S music, and emphasises that their commitment to style and spirituality has been there from the start.

Unpredictable to the end A Brief History’ begins with two tracks, which have been changing people’s musical perspectives around the globe, a superb blend of Indian melodies, dub reggae bass line and sheer dance power. Featuring N.MAGRIEL, mastering India’s most exotic bowed instrument the Sarangi ‘voice of a hundred colours’, with its 35 sympathetic strings. On drums sees the return of their original sticksman CHRIS JOYCE, back after many years in purgatory with Simply Red. With impressive dub mixes from the likes of YOUTH and ADRIAN SHERWOOD make this essential listening.

Introducing many of the artists who have recorded with the SUNS’ over their epic musical career, including the mighty powerful vocals of PRINCE FAR-I, from a long deleted 12”single, and the closing song from his last live show. SANYOGITA KUMARI’s ethereal vocals on the YAM YAM mix of Govinda’s Dream. The ancient dhrupad lyrics from Indian classical artist REBA BHADURI and the awesome heavy dub bass from leading light WADADA. This is a ‘must have’ CD for any collection.

                                
                                                                         
                                                                            Enjoy!

Alvin Robinson - Shine On [1988]

    Classic New Orleans soul from Alvin Robinson. Alvin's got a voice that's completely unique – full and proud, but with this kind of raspy, shallow quality too – a blend that really sets him apart from anyone else we can think of, and which has always made his cuts instantly memorable! The material here is one of the first full collections we've seen of Alvin's great music – a mixture of singles from the Red Bird, Blue Cat, Tiger, and Imperial labels. Most grooves are nice and chunky – that gritty New Orleans funky mode of the 60s, but inflected with an even harder New York approach too.

                                                                               Enjoy!

V/A - Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal

  A killer killer compilation – the sort we've been dying to own for years! It's a well known fact that there's plenty of funky nuggets hidden amidst 70s gospel recordings – massive grooves and break-heavy tracks that rank right up there with the best indie funk from the same time. Yet tracking down these tunes has always been plenty tough – given that most gospel records sold in different circles, had different distribution, and often are less easy to decipher for the crate digger than more conventional funk and soul. Enter the folks at Numero – who have really gone all out this time around, and dug through piles and piles of rare gospel records to come up with a whopping batch of great tracks! This set is definitely ground zero for getting into funky gospel – and it's filled with far more obscure work than the Soul Gospel set on Soul Jazz – all indie numbers from small labels that only got minor distribution at the time. As usual with Numero, the notes and package match the soulful depth and righteousness of the music – and the set is one of the most perfectly wrapped-up genre compilations we've ever seen! 

                                                     Enjoy!