Elsie Bianchi Trio - Trio Elsie Bianchi 1962 (Atlantis Basel)

Label : Atlantis Basel

Value :

A rare early session from the lovely Elsie Bianchi! The set features Elsie working with her combo from the Swiss Atlantis nightclub in the early 60s – and was originally issued as a limited-number 10" LP, used only as a promotional item by the club! As on her classic Sweetest Sound album, Elsie sings on a number of tunes – always in English, and in a laidback and mellow way that sounds wonderfully sweet next to her work on piano. The rest of the group includes a bit of clarinet next to the bass and drums – and on a few tracks, Elsie's even overdubbed with a bit of accordion as well! 

Taste :

Elsie Bianchi Trio - No Moon At All

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By Electric Looser

Dusko Goykovich – Swinging Macedonia 1967 (Philips)

Label : Philips

Value :

A legendary German session from the 60s – and a record that really showcases the unusual criss-crossing of modes that was going on in the European scene at the time! There's a very strong MPS vibe here – as trumpeter Dusko Goykovich leads a swinging sextet that includes Nathan Davis on flute, soprano, and tenor – blowing some tremendously soulful reed lines – plus incredible rhythms from Mal Waldron on piano, Peter Trunk on bass, and Cees See on drums. The record's an attempt to bring traditional Macedonian rhythms into a jazz perspective – but with players like these, it swings in a way any Macedonian album never could – damn soulful, and with a great exotic vibe. Davis is especially great, and plays in a soaring modal vein that's similar to his work on his classic MPS sides, and on the records he cut in America in the early 70s.  

Rip Dusko Goykovich (14 October 1931 – 5 April 2023)

Taste :

Dusko Goykovich – Macedonia

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By Electric Looser

Max Roach His Chorus And Orchestra – It's Time 1962 (Impulse!)

 

Label : Impulse

Value :

This Max Roach date is an unusual set. The outing featured the drummer's all-star sextet (which consisted of trumpeter Richard Williams, tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, trombonist Julian Priester, pianist Mal Waldron, and bassist Art Davis) joined by a vocal choir conducted by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson and orchestrated by Roach (who contributed all six originals). Unlike most other collaborations, the choir was not overly gospel-oriented and was utilized as a sort of jazz ensemble. Each of the horn players has a feature or two and singer Abbey Lincoln stars on "Lonesome Lover." 

Taste : 

Max Roach His Chorus And Orchestra - Lonesome Lover

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By Electric Looser

The Dudley Moore Trio – The Dudley Moore Trio 1969 (Decca)

Label : Decca

Value :

Moore really extended his compositional range with this late 60s LP. He improvises over more exotic song structures with an ease and melody that bring home strongly what jazz missed when he started composing and recording less regularly. A subtle, bustling rhythm section frames his stylish keys beautifully.

Taste :

The Dudley Moore Trio - 120 Plus Optional Magic Exploding Cadence

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By Electric Looser

Georg Riedel - Riedaiglia 1967 (Sveriges Radio)

 

Label : Sveriges Radio

Value :

Far out Scandinavian jazz session ! The music was supposed to be used for a ballet on TV, can you imagine that ? It’s so groovy, so psychedelic… Well, and there are some abstract funk breaks here too, and a superb cover.

Taste :

Georg Riedel - Gluttony 

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By Electric Looser

Sahib Shihab – Sahib's Jazz Party 1964 (Debut Records)

Label : Dabut 

Value :

One of the first European recordings from Sahib Shihab – a classic set that's the start of an amazing 60s run on the continent! Shihab here is quite different than his American dates of the 50s – bolder, and blowing with a really open, fluid sort of groove that marks a great development in his sound – using baritone sax, soprano, and flute – a range of instruments that really creates a wide range of feeling in the set! The performance is a live one, and the group is great too – with Allen Botschinsky on flugelhorn, Ole Molin on guitar, Niles Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and both Alex Riel and Bjarne Rostvold on drums. 

Taste :

Sahib Shihab - 4070 Blues

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By Electric Looser

Mankunku Quartet – Yakhal' Inkomo 1968 (World Record Co.)

Label : World Record Co.

Value :

A real treasure from the South African scene of the 60s – and the kind of record that we thought wasn't being made until the following decade! Tenorist Winston Mankunku Ngozi rivals the genius of Coltrane and Wayne Shorter here – both artists to whom he dedicates a key track on the album – and the record's hardly just a South African jazz effort, as it's got this long-flowing spiritual energy that rivals some of the best American work on Impulse or Blue Note at the time – but, like the best of those records, never does so in any sort of slavish way at all! Instead, Ngozi really finds his own voice here – blowing tenor with a great amount of depth, in a quartet that often hits these modal currents that work great with his horn – a lineup that features Lionel Pillay on piano, Agrippa Magwaza on bass, and Early Mabuza on drums.

Taste :

Mankunku Quartet – Yakhal' Inkomo

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By Electric Looser

George Otsuka Quintet – Sea Breeze 1971 (Union Records)

 

Label : Union Records

Value :

Part of a great move forward for Japanese drummer George Otsuka in the 70s – a player who'd really made some great waves with his trio material at the end of the 60s, but who found a way deepen his groove with a larger group on records like this – really standing out as one of the most spiritual players on his scene at the time! The players are all in Japanese, so we can't tell you their names – but the quintet feature an excellent reedman who blows both soprano sax and tenor, a deep-voiced trumpeter, and a pianist who also serves up a fair bit of Fender Rhodes too – both elements used in a really strong way over these long tracks on the set, which have a similar blend of soul and spirit as the best Japanese Columbia jazz sessions of the time.

Taste :

George Otsuka Quintet - Jumping Cats

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By Electric Looser

The Metronome Quintet ‎– Plays Swinging Mahagonny And Something Else 1967 (Columbia)

Label : Columbia

Value :

Legendary first Modern Jazz Album by the Swiss Metronome Quintet, recorded 1965 and 1967 in Zurich, with saxophonist Bruno Spoerri, pianist Martin Hugelshofer and vibraphonist Ueli Staub. Lost LP including Spoerri's unique jazz arrangements based on motifs of the music for "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" by Kurt Weill, together with some own tunes played in an exceptional style by one of the few European high-class ensembles of the era.

Taste :

The Metronome Quintet ‎– Ach Bedenken Sie, Herr Jakob Schmidt

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By Electric Looser

Boillat Thérace Quintet - Boillat Thérace Quintet 1974 (PMP Pierre Maire Productions)

Label : PMP Pierre Maire Productions

Value :

One of those great European jazz records that never fully got its due back in the 70s – but which would have stood right next to classics on the Black Jazz label, if it were issued in the US! The group here are wonderfully soulful, and have a fluid, open sort of energy – never avant, and spiritual more in nature than execution – but very individual and very personal, as they serve up a mix of original songs and a few very well-chosen cuts by others! Jean Francois Boillat leads the group on Fender Rhodes and piano, in tandem with reedman Raymond Therace – who blows both tenor and flute, alongside bass, drums, and added percussion. Boillat's approach to the Rhodes is great – chunky and ringing out with a strong current of soul – and Therace clearly follows the vibe, especially on his tenor solos.

Taste :

Boillat Thérace Quintet - Cenovis

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By Electric Looser

Pete La Roca - Turkish Women At The Bath 1967 (Douglas)

Label : Douglas

Value :

Despite the stupid name (or perhaps because of it), this is one of the great lost sessions of the 60s! Drummer Pete LaRoca originally cut this set for the tiny Douglas label, and the session's an amazing bit of modernist jazz that features a rare non-Sun Ra appearance by tenorist John Gilmore. Gilmore's playing is fantastic, and quite different from that on some of his Ra albums – probably because the rest of the quartet features Chick Corea and Walter Booker, who groove in a very modal vein. The material's out, but not too out – and although Corea and Gilmore's solos are quite far-reaching, they also snap back nicely into the tight playing of the ensemble. And forget all of your biases against Corea – because at this young age, his playing is great!

Taste :

Pete La Roca - Dancing Girls

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By Electric Looser

John Gordon - Erotica Suite 1978 (Strata East)

Lebal : Strata East 

Value : 

A fantastic little record – and very much the kind of set that the Strata East label was created to represent! The music here would hardly have found a home on the bigger jazz labels of the period – not because it's too avant garde or non-commercial, but just because it's so deeply personal and powerful – the boldest vision on record of trombonist John Gordon, who composed a mindblowing suite of tracks for the first side of the album, as well as some equally great tunes for the second half! Gordon leads the group on trombone – with solos that are soaring and soulful, alongside work by the great James Spaulding on alto and flute, Waymond Reed on trumpet, John Miller on piano and keyboards, Lyle Atkinson on bass, and Frank Derrick on drums! If you know some of the other players here from their own work of the time, you know you're in for a treat – as the music has this fantastic sound of strong individual voices coming together, instruments lifted high on a mission of music – with results that are as fantastic all these many years as they were in the 70s.

Taste :

John Gordon - Neleh 

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By Electric Looser

Descendants Of Mike & Phoebe - A Spirit Speaks 1974 (Strata-East)

Label : Strata-East

Value :

One of the most unique albums on the Strata East label – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the creative energies flowing through that legendary jazz outlet! Descendents Of Mike & Phoebe is a righteous little project put together by Spike Lee's father, Bill Lee, and his brothers and sisters (Cliff Lee, Grace Lee Mims, and Consuela Lee Moorhead) – working here in a group named after their slave ancestors, who are paid tribute in a beautifully flowing batch of tunes! Lee's round, warm bass tones are firmly at the head of the group on most numbers – recorded at a similar level to his excellent work with Clifford Jordan on Strata East during the same time – and other instrumentation includes piano from Consuela, flugelhorn from Cliff, and percussion from Sonny Brown and Billy Higgins – all used in a wonderfully evocative style that's even better than some of Lee's later soundtrack work. A few numbers feature vocals from Grace – singing wordlessly and with a really heavenly sort of quality – and together, the whole group have a undeniable sense of power and majesty, yet also one that's touched by a really personal sense of poetry too. Titles include a great version of Lee's "Coltrane", which was more famously recorded with Clifford Jordan – plus "Chick Chick", "Attica", "Too Little, Too Late", "Boll Weevil", "Don't Be A Stranger", and "Well Done, Weldon". 

Taste :

Descendants Of Mike & Phoebe - Coltrane

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By Electric Looser