Over to our friends at Soundohm in Milan…

‘The album begins with the throbbing three parts of its title track, collectively clocking in at just under 17 minutes. Underpinned by a tambura drone, heavily rooted in the percussive and rhythmic drive of the ensemble, Sanders soars through modal lines on saxophone (and sometimes voice) in a dance with Sedatrius Brown’s largely wordless vocals… some of the most engrossing and boundary-pushing spiritual jazz ever recorded…. before rounding out the first side with the brilliant, drone-like Myth, which features the bulk of the ensemble in states of chant… The second side begins with the ethereal spiritual jazz piece Mansion Worlds, featuring the majority of the ensemble making up the rhythm section while Joe Bonner delivers shimmering lines on piano and Sanders threads himself through it all… before drifting into the balladic and dreamy Memories Of Lee Morgan. The finale Went Like It Came takes a brilliant and unexpected turn, nodding to Sanders’ roots with Sun Ra. Swinging and raucous — taking on elements from classic R&B — it’s one of the those rare pieces by the saxophonist that makes you want to tap your foot and dance, while still retaining the heat of free jazz fire.
‘Truly staggering on every count, Village of the Pharoahs is one hell of a journey. Unquestionably one of our favourite Pharoah Sanders records of all time.’

‘A deeply expressive, stylistically expansive performance. The set opens with a meditative improvisation on pipe organ, followed by the sweeping three- part suite Love is Here, the driving pulse of Pharoah’s ‘Blues, and a transcendent reading of I Want to Talk About You. Coltrane’s influence is honoured through high-octane renditions of Moment’s Notice and Lazy Bird, before reaching an ecstatic, participatory climax with Love Is Everywhere, shared joyfully with the audience.’
Twenty-page booklet.

After two years’ preoccupation with the Miles Davis Quartet, here is Herbie in 1968, ready for the seventies, the old, uptight bebop instincts melting into the balmy, open, innocent textures of fluegelhorn, bass trombone and alto flute, and his own lightly beautiful playing.
‘Classic Vinyl series.’

‘Classic Vinyl Series.’

‘Classic Vinyl Series.’

Timelessly killer, essential music, and a humongous commercial success, this is the key record bar none in the binding of jazz into funk.

‘A playful, joyous album in which Hancock clearly had a great time, this music was composed for the pilot of a children’s TV show, redirecting the post-bop of his five-year stint with Miles towards new r&b and funk styles. Flying high with three horn players — Joe Henderson, Garrett Brown and Johnny Coles — alongside Hancock’s soaring Fender Rhodes, the group could swing freely on a track like the rousing Fat Mama and emote precisely on the subtle Tell Me A Bedtime Story.’

This is the sublime, eleven-minute version, featuring vocalist Gavin Christopher.
Big Theo Parrish record.
Backed with the promo-only disco mix of Saturday Night, lavished with percussion by Sheila E.
Murders.

Classical, no-frills, piano-trio jazz, recorded in 1977 in San Francisco, though released only in Japan at the time. VSOP without horns; more hard-bitten and introspective.
With Ron Carter and Tony Williams in Milestones and four Herbies, including a gnarled Speak Like A Child.

Takin’ Off, My Point Of View, Inventions & Dimensions, Speak Like A Child, The Prisoner.

1963-66, live in Europe, with different lineups drawn from Don Cherry, Henry Grimes, Billy Higgins, Milt Jackson, Kenny Drew, Percy Heath, Art Blakey, Jimmy Meritt, and Max Roach.

Rollins’ LPs for Impulse! are neglected. Here is the first of three he recorded in 1965-66, taking fierce flight from five standards. It’s all wonderful, but check the scorching calypso, Hold ‘Em Joe — with Rollins’ characteristic carnivalesque, askance danceability, his ‘impudent swing’, writ large — and the deconstruction of Three Little Words to close, as if to say, Okay, enough of that, now watch this space.
Great sound, too, this Acoustic Sounds issue.