THE COMPLETE REMASTERED RECORDINGS ON BLACK SAINT & SOUL NOTE is a monographic box-set collection aimed at recounting the most beautiful chapters that revolutionised the history of jazz. This new series was launched in March 2010 with the simultaneous release of four box-sets, including albums by some of the artists who participated in the success of the outstanding labels. A philological work, beginning with the original recordings on multi-track master tapes, patiently integrally remastered paying strict attention to the sound quality.

No other title could be more certain to describe the music played by this transnational band lead by the Portuguese double bassist and composer Gonçalo Almeida and having Joachim Badenhorst (once again, like on the previous “The Elephant’s Journey”) as special guest. In fact, everything is in permanent inner mutation along the three parts of the suite-like piece “Metamorphosis”, but also the other two, “Comacina Dream” and “Dark Corner”. When you feel that the trio-turned-quartet functions in chamber jazz domain, the music goes to electro-acoustic territories.

Sex Mob Does Bond is the soundtrack to an imaginary James Bond flick, and a tribute, of sorts, to the music of John Barry. Aside from the leadoff track and its reprise ("Dr. Yes," ostensibly the title of the film), the program is a collection of Barry tracks taken from various Bond films. As always, Sex Mob applies its own swaggering brilliance to the proceedings, spicing up the somewhat familiar music with outrageous musicianship and a sly grin. Joined by guests John Medeski (organ) and the Sex Mob Soul Choir (backing vocals), Sex Mob rip through the Barry songbook, infusing each piece with a sexy, almost trashy vibe that was always subdued in the Bond films..

One of the late Thomas Chapin's finest all-round recordings, this set starts out in somewhat startling fashion with screaming by Chapin and John Zorn on altos before settling down into a relatively straight-ahead jam. Zorn is on two selections (including one that includes poetry from Vernon Frazer) but otherwise this is a trio outing, showcasing Chapin on flute, baritone, soprano, and particularly alto while joined by bassist Mario Pavone and drummer Michael Sarin. While there are adventurous and free sections, Chapin also has the opportunity to play the blues (on Thelonious Monk's "Raise Four"), completely rework Duke Ellington's "Daydream" (which is given a Western motif by bassist Pavone), show off the influence of Eric Dolphy, and introduce such intriguing originals as "A Drunken Monkey" and "The Night Hog."

Probably the first of several saxophone-only ensembles who proliferated in jazz after 1975, the WSQ is unquestionably the most commercially (and, arguably, the most creatively) successful. Of course, commercial success is a relative thing in jazz, especially when one is speaking of an avant-garde group. But unlike most free jazz artists, the WSQ managed to attract an audience of significant size; large enough to have garnered a major-label record deal in the '80s, an almost unheard-of occurrence in that retro-jazz decade. Metamorphosis is the tenth album by the World Saxophone Quartet and fourth album on the Elektra/Nonesuch label with added African drummers and electric bassist Melvin Gibbs (after the departure of Julius Hemphill).

Slovenian guitar ace Samo Salamon fronts a European ensemble akin to one of those legendary all-star jazz summits, but of course these colorific works veer off into an experimental wonderland of improvisation with split-second paradigm shifts amid the ensemble's synergistic discourses. Nonetheless, the respective musicians are at the top of their game here, as Salamon arranged for drummers Roberto Dani and Christian Lillinger to generate the seismic currents by staying in synch but not necessarily executing the same patterns.

The aesthetic and cultural merits of Eddie Gale's Ghetto Music cannot be overstated. That it is one of the most obscure recordings in Blue Note's catalog – paid for out of label co-founder Francis Wolff's own pocket – should tell us something. This is an apocryphal album, one that seamlessly blends the new jazz of the '60s – Gale was a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra before and after these sides, and played on Cecil Taylor's Blue Note debut, Unit Structures – with gospel, soul, and the blues. Gale's sextet included two bass players and two drummers – in 1968 – as well as a chorus of 11 voices, male and female.

Dans ce bel objet cartonné tout en rabats se nichent quelques-unes des meilleures formations hexagonales. Hask apparaît au final comme une entreprise qu'on appréciera pour ses partis pris esthétiques (peu d'héritage, beaucoup d'épure…) comme pour sa diversité : les incursions électroniques en profondeur (Ambitronix, Decor 2000), les fascinants jeux rythmiques de Thôt. Des personnalités musicales à découvrir (ou retrouver) avec plaisir (de Gilles Coronado à Jorrit Dijkstra). (Jazzman, Anne Ramade).

Artists like Nick Mazzarella, Matt Ulery and Jeremy Cunningham, the members of Meridian Trio, are keeping the Chicago jazz scene alive and as strong as ever. All of them are highly demanded sidemen and also the leaders of their own projects, including the popular Nick Mazzarella Quintet, Matt Ulery’s folkish, chamber jazz group Loom, and the ambient Jeremy Cunningham Quartet. But this triangular combo organized in 2014 by Mazzarella, the group’s composer, is a vehicle for the three musicians to stretch their respective skills and develop new ideas.

“As Finders Keepers disobedient little-sister-label reaches her 20th (release) anniversaries Cacophonic Records are proud to present a record that will not only leave rare record collectors salivating but will open ambitious ears to a truly pioneering album from the seldom celebrated and individualistic micro-genre that is French free Jazz. Comprising some of the earliest uninhibited performances from key musicians behind records by Serge Gainsbourg, Jef Gilson, Triangle, Don Cherry, Barbara and countless other groundbreaking European jazz records and freakish films, this LP captures the birth of an exciting movement that would soon earn its Parisian birthplace as the go-to European spiritual home of improvised and avant-garde music.

L’assoluto microcosmo evocato dal nome del quartetto apre all’infinitamente grande nel titolo del disco. Ancora una volta affiancato dal pianista Alexander Hawkins, già sodale nel precedente omaggio a Lacy FORGOTTEN MATCHES, Roberto Ottaviano torna con un disco davvero ricco e composito, mutevole e interessante ad ogni riascolto.

Viola-ist Mat Maneri has spent a quarter century carving out an artistic niche that marries avant-garde jazz with microtonal music, crafting off-center masterworks like Blue Decco (Thirsty Ear, 2000), Sustain (Thirsty Ear, 2002), and teaming with pianist Lucian Ban on Transylvanian Concert (ECM Records, 2013) and sitting in on a compelling sideman slot on Ches Smith's The Bell (ECM Records, 2016).

The anthroponym Araminta means “lofty” and “protective.” Araminta was also the given name of one of the most important figures in US and world history, abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Guitarist Brandon Ross, bassist Melvin Gibbs and drummer J.T. Lewis have proudly worn Harriet Tubman’s chosen name as their eponym for nearly 20 years, reaching for the heights of musical expression while preserving elements of their musical path.

A saxophonist of a different order—part griot, theorist, numerologist, and incessant seeker of knowledge— Steve Coleman continues to forge new paths in creative music. He's influenced more of today's forward thinking artists than almost anyone in recent memory with his proven M-Base concepts. His critically acclaimed 2010 recording, Harvesting Semblances and Affinities (Pi Recordings), was a welcome return to the spotlight, and the follow-up, The Mancy of Sound , is even more rewarding.

The music on this excellent album was created by a highly combustible trio consisting of Ken Vandermark on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Mark Tokar on bass and Klaus Kugel on drums and percussion. This album was recorded at the Alchemia Club in Krakow in May of 2016 and begins with "13 Lines" which blasts hard right out of the gate, with Vandermark's expressive saxophone holding court with the elastic bass and drums.