‘Classic Vinyl’ series.

From 1964, with Pharoah Sanders sitting in for John Gilmore (away working with Paul Bley, Andrew Hill and Art Blakey); also flautist Harold Murray and the brilliant bassist Alan Silva. The debut of The Shadow World.

Organically funky, laced with avant-garde synth textures, and studded with breakbeats, the second Outernational is Jeff Resnick’s unique, ultra-rare, 1978 promotional recording for the School for American Craftsmen, at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Five tracks of soul jazz and modal fusion — re-modelling Trane, and opening with a variation of Norwegian Wood — by a local group including trumpeter Jeff Tyzik and pianist Sonny Kompanek; then Resnick mostly solo for the second side, when the money ran out, multi-tracking synthesizers on his home set-up, in an engrossing blend of reflective abstraction, grooving electro and spiritualised fourth-world tropicalism.
Bim!

Pushing on from his soul-jazz accomplishments — classic burners like Steppin’ Out for Blue Note, with Grant Green — this a terrific set of personal, spiritual funky jazz, self-produced in 1974 (when Vick was working for Aretha). The six original compositions are fully flavoured by an expanded horn section — including Charles Earland’s trumpeter Virgil Jones, and French horn player Kiane Zawadi, fresh from Shepp’s Attica Blues — and the Fender Rhodes of Joe Bonner, in from Pharoah Sanders’ group, and Oneness Of Juju. Vick himself is on fire.

Coming after Nothin To Look At Just A Record, with its densely layered trombones, this is Niblock’s second, rarest LP, from 1984: a collaboration with Joseph Celli (who himself had worked with Cage, Oliveros and Ornette), playing oboe and English horn.
Niblock creates seamless, ringing drones by skilfully cutting all Celli’s breaths and pauses. Play it loud, he says, for its viscerality, and to get its ringing overtones rolling around your room.

‘Twelve frenetic bursts of scrapyard detournement, meticulously stitched together with dubbed-out vocals and disjointed drum machines, at the limits of bedroom electronica and DIY. Originally released in 1982 on his own Record Sluts label, in a single run of five hundred copies. Recommended to fans of Suicide, 20 Jazz Funk Greats and early Cabaret Voltaire.’

Kicks off with the rollicking samba Soy Califa; then a ravishing, bittersweet ballad.
Key Dexter.
Recorded the same week as Go!, with the same crew, including Sonny Clark on top form throughout.
Don’t miss Don’t Explain.
In the Blue Note 80 Vinyl series.

Fourth and last of the classic quintet albums with Shorter, Hancock, Carter and Williams. Mostly written by Herbie and Wayne Shorter — a valediction to hard bop, without the old-school machismo.
LP from Music On Vinyl.

A true lost classic of jazz; heart-stopping turns on baritone saxophone.
‘Chaloff’s masterpiece is both vigorous and moving… Thanks For The Memory is overpoweringly beautiful as Chaloff creates a series of melodic variations which match the improviser’s ideal of fashioning an entirely new song. Stairway To The Stars is almost as fine… This important session has retained all its power’ (The Penguin Guide To Jazz On CD).
Killer band, too — Sonny Clark, Philly Joe Jones, and Leroy Vinnegar.

With bassist Roberto Miranda and drummer Sonship in 1981.
Featuring a tremendous, side-long reading of Dark Tree.

‘Classic Vinyl’ series.