On October 15, 1965, tenor saxophone master and composer Wayne Shorter recorded The All Seeing Eye, a brilliant and ambitiously multi-layered album for Blue Note. Shorter’s goal for the album was to use “a wider range of colors and textures” while continuing his explorations of “life and the universe and God.” Joining Shorter in his quest are Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Grachan Moncur III on trombone, James Spaulding on alto saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Joe Chambers on drums, and, on one track, Wayne’s brother Alan Shorter on flugelhorn.

Houston Person is the real deal. With a lifetime of experience Houston continues to grace concert stages with his expressive style which stubbornly defies categorization. One moment he is letting loose with some hard-driving swing and the next he is caressing your ears with his mellifluous, baritonal utterances on a beautiful ballad.

With bassist Eric Wheeler grounding the proceedings with humungous tones and agile lines, pianist Donald Vega bringing harmonic freshness in his comping and excitement in his solos and Watts underscoring the proceedings with his inimitable polyrhythmic touch on the kit, Wyatt is on firm footing here. Trumpeters Theo Croker and Chris Lowery, trombonist Clifton Anderson and percussionist Kahlil Owame Bell all contribute mightily to A Song of Hope, which resonates as a kind of healing balm for these stressful times.

Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA) is an African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African people, as well as for his work with The New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and his collaborations with his "New Thing" contemporaries, most notably Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane.

The soulful and elegant pianist Sonny Clark brings his A-game to My Conception, a program of all-Clark originals recorded in 1959 but not released until 1979. Joining the pianist are a cast of hard bop masters including Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. Highlights from this session include the lead-off track “Junka,” the fiery brilliance of “Minor Meeting,” and Hank Mobley’s sublime soloing on “Royal Flush.”

Gene Harris is mainly known for his part of the legendary soul jazz piano trio, The Three Sounds. Blues n' Ballads compiles 15 tracks released through Resonance including 9 from his 2 Live in London sets and 6 from the rare Groovin’ Hard: Live at the Penthouse 1964-68 recordings from the Three Sounds. The set includes a dazzling array of piano interpretations of classic standards and more.

Star Bright is an album by Jamaican-born jazz trumpeter Dizzy Reece, featuring performances recorded in 1959 shortly after his move to New York City and released on the Blue Note label. So far, it has been released on CD only in Japan…

Tomes are available annotating the importance of this recording. The musical and social impact of Miles Davis, his collaborative efforts with Gil Evans, and in particular their reinvention of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess are indeed profound. However, the most efficient method of extricating the rhetoric and opining is to experience the recording…

Proof positive that any well-executed idea translates to the jazz idiom – snobs and purists be damned – The Swing's to TV pairs altoist Bud Shank and tenorist Bob Cooper for a moody, nuanced collection of late-'50s television theme songs…

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley had already led nine dates for Blue Note Records by the time he arrived at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio on February 7, 1960 with pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey, but on that day the quartet laid down what would become his masterpiece: Soul Station.

Recorded in 1961, but not released until 1967, The Witch Doctor features one of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers’ all-time great line-ups: Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass. Shorter and Morgan each contribute two tunes, with Timmons penning one. Highlights include Morgan’s spectacular 6/8 modal piece “Afrique” and Shorter’s minor masterpiece “Those Who Sit And Wait.” Bobby Timmons brings the deep soul goods on his composition “A Little Busy,” and the album closes with a fleet-footed romp through Clifford Jordan’s tune “Lost and Found.”

In the summer of 1955, after Davis performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, he was approached by Columbia Records executive George Avakian, who offered him a contract if he could form a regular band. Davis assembled his first regular quintet to meet a commitment at the Café Bohemia in July with Sonny Rollins on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. By the autumn, Rollins had left to deal with his heroin addiction, and later in the year joined the hard bop quintet led by Clifford Brown and Max Roach.

Carnegie Hall is a live album by flautist Hubert Laws recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1973 and released on the CTI label. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars stating "This interesting live set features flutist Hubert Laws at the height of his powers and fame".

Kenny Dorham’s classic 1959 album on New Jazz recorded by Rudy Van Gelder and featuring an all-star lineup including Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor. ALL-ANALOG mastering from the original MONO tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at RTI and housed in a tip-on jacket.

With long-standing stints in Tower of Power and Santana, Chester Thompson just might be the most decorated and distinguished keyboardist in all of rock and R&B, let alone of the Bay Area musical scene.