Last year witnessed the opening of the hallowed digital vaults of the ECM label. Long a holdout from digital platforms, the Berlin based ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) was founded in 1969 by Manfred Eicher in […]
Category: Jazz
Sun Ra :: Springtime Again
The spring equinox is upon us – track one to the stratosphere in a silent way. Via Sleeping Beauty , 1979. Sun Ra :: Springtime Again
Abstract Truths: An Evolving Jazz Compendium — Volume Five
Volume five of Abstract Truths . If unfamiliar with the series, please first read here about the its genesis and intention. Bringing us this look at the contemporary Chicago jazz scene is Scottie McNiece, head of the essential International Anthem Recording Co. “For over 100 […]
Abstract Truths: An Evolving Jazz Compendium — Volume Four
Volume four of Abstract Truths . If unfamiliar with the series, please first read here about the its genesis and intention. For this installment we tapped bay area record collector/muso David Katznelson. Katznelson likens the genre to a “wild animal…a cuddle […]
Joe Henderson & Alice Coltrane :: The Elements / World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
The new reissue label Jazz Dispensary did us all a favor this year by bringing, The Elements , Joe Henderson and Alice Coltrane’s lone collaboration, back to the marketplace, rescuing it from wild Discogs prices (even […]
Abstract Truths: An Evolving Jazz Compendium — Volume Three
Volume three of Abstract Truths . If unfamiliar with the series, please first read here about the its genesis and intention. For this installment our friend, record collector and audio archeologist Eothen Alapatt, of Now Again Records , is behind the boards. Below, Alapatt […]
Ryo Fukui :: A Letter From Slowboat
Everyone loves a good origin story. No matter the creative discipline such tales make even the most potent work seem more revelatory. Enter the late Japanese jazz pianist Ryo Fukui . An autodidact, Fukui taught himself piano […]
Sleepwalker :: The Voyage (featuring Pharoah Sanders)
Visiting Tokyo in 2003, Pharoah Sanders sat in with local spiritual jazzists Sleepwalker at a club gig laying down what would become “The Voyage”. Released the following year as a Japanese-only import single, the track later […]
Nina Simone :: A Very Rare Evening
Nina Simone would have been 84 this week — as such, fans the world over have been celebrating the iconoclast’s deep and dynamic catalog. Incredibly, a new highlight of Simone’s career surfaced late last year via the […]
Abstract Truths: An Evolving Jazz Compendium — Volume Two
Volume two of Abstract Truths, An Evolving Jazz Compendium . If unfamiliar with the series, please first read here about the its genesis and intention. As promised, this installment is courtesy of dj/record collector Carlos Nino . Per his selections, Niî±o notes “I was thinking about Bobby […]
The John Coltrane Quartet :: Naima – Paris, 1962
John Coltrane would’ve turned 90 today, and even though he passed on all the way back in 1967, the music he made still reverberates with a power and clarity that refuses to be dimmed by age. His […]
Abstract Truths: An Evolving Jazz Compendium – Volume One
Several months back I happened upon a survey stating that, according to Neilson, jazz now held the dubious honor of being the least listened to genre in the US. The piece went on state that both […]
John Coltrane :: Newport Folk Festival, 1966
I like to ‘check in’ with this clip every now and again. You know, like right now. Footage recorded July, 2 1966, a year prior to Coltrane’s passing the following summer. This is also an […]
Charles Mingus :: Live, 1964 / Belgium, Norway & Sweden
Meditate on this: Charles Mingus and company, European tour 1964, captured in Belgium, Norway & Sweden. Free up a couple of hours and wade into these waters. I assure you they are deep. Related: Charles Mingus :: I’ll Remember April — Antibes Jazz Festival
Nina Simone :: Be My Husband (Live, 1987)
This is everything. Recorded live in Los Angeles, 35 years ago, at the now defunct Vine St. Bar & Grill. Culled from the Verve record Let It Be Me , “Be My Husband” kicks off the set, finding Simone both spirited […]