This was previously available on CD, but wasn't authorized and wasn't from the original masters. This version is from John's original masters and he supervised this reissue!
This minor classic was recorded live December 3, 1973 and features Surman's soprano and baritone sax work in a all-star jazz and jazz/rock setting, with a band consisting of Terje Rypdal-guitar, Chris Lawrence-bass, John Taylor-piano & electric piano, Malcolm Griffiths-trombone, Chris Lawrence-double bass and John Marshall-drums..

Many of you will remember this one from its original lp release on the budget HELP subsidiary of Island, now very happily on CD, as the original lp had a simply awful pressing, which was anathema to the quiet music. This was Surman's first truely solo album, charming pieces for simple synth patterns and a number of reed instruments, recorded through overdubs. Some of it is similar to his later ECM discs.

"Westering Home was originally released in 1972. John Surman plays everything on the album...

"Talinka - such an evocative name - wittily appropriate for this intimate set so sensitively arranged around Tali's straight from the heart, true and soulful voice. Since hearing Ms. Atzmon's discrete contributions to records by Gilad Atzmon and friends I've long wished she would make a record revealing her own deeply personal approach to music, and here, at last, is that record."-Robert Wyatt

John Taylor-Piano
Chris Lawrence-Bass
Tony Levin-Drums

A very nice, rather hip piano trio session from three Brit-jazz masters from MPS. It was recorded in 1972 and 1973 and released in 1973. This was John's second album, after the fantastic "Pause And Think Again".
There was one previous CD version, only in Japan, in 2006 but this is the first time it's been on CD at a reasonable price!

John Taylor – piano
John Surman – soprano sax
Stan Sulzman – alto sax
Kenny Wheeler – trumpet
Chris Pyne – trombone
Chris Laurence – bass
Tony Levin – drums
Norma Winstone – vocals

This stupendous 1971 album is for my money one of the early Brit-jazz classics; tuneful and adventurous, with a great mid-size band who punch way above their weight! Despite being John’s first solo album, he and his compositions are totally assured and spot-on. Hugely recommended.

Mike Taylor (piano)
Dave Tomlin (soprano saxophone)
Tony Reeves (double bass
Jon Hiseman (drums)

I finally got a copy of this and last night I had some quiet time to myself and I played it.
I saw some bitching, somewhere on the Internet about ‘really poor sound’, which had me unnecessarily worried; my god, it’s unprofessional *practice* tapes from 1965!
You can hear ALL the instruments and they are well balanced, even if a bit mid-fi.
The packaging is really nice and t

Keith Tippett: piano
Claudio Gabbiani: acoustic & electric guitars
Roberto Musci: sampler, percussion, theremin, Vx7 (didgeridoo, bass clarinet), electronics
Recorded live at Palazzina Liberty, Milan, Italy October 21, 2000.

“Music for Labyrinths is an open live project for a soundtracks of labyrinths around the world and inside us. A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness: it combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path...

Other than the very famous Centipede, this is the largest ensemble that Keith has ever led, with 22 musicians involved. The sound is very full & lyrical, & does bear resemblence to a smaller version of Centipede. Tippett (piano, harmonium), Stan Tracey...

Finally, a third release from one of the most exciting Brit-jazz ensembles of 1969/1971! And regardless of the caveat below about the condition of the tapes, the final results are more than listenable and enjoyable!

“All tracks previously unreleased. Stereophonic sound.
Featuring the classic KTG frontline of Marc Charig, Nick Evans and Elton Dean with rhythm section appearances by British jazz luminaries Jeff Clyne, Trevor Tomkins, Roy Babbington and Bryan Spring...

Text and solo voice
Julie Tippetts

Saxophone ensemble and improvising soloists
Paul Dunmall - soprano
Kevin Figes - alto
Ben Waghorn - tenor
Chris Biscoe - baritone

The Apollo Saxophone Quartet
Tim Redpath - soprano
Rob Buckland - alto
Andy Scott - tenor
David Roach - baritone

The BBC Singers

Composed and conducted by Keith Tippett

“Keith was commissioned to write this work for the 2004 Norwich and Norf

“The Unlonely Raindancer is undoubtedly a beginning, it is also an enigma. More than its means. The seminal first solo album by Keith Tippett released by Universal Productions in 1980 is a live recording from the previous year’s short tour of the Netherlands. The audience applause was edited out, leaving the listener with the intensity of one lone musician literally improvising into composition.
The word ‘unlonely’ could be described as uneven grammatically, but given nuance by juxtaposing the....

Keith Tippett - piano
Matthew Bourne - piano

"These inspired duets sound so unforced and unconstrained that they blow fresh life into that well-worn image. From the outset, two quite distinct pianists establish common ground, where they interweave and spring surprises. It's wonderfully fertile ground too. Strings of scintillating moments bound seamlessly into musical mesh, now mysteriously chromatic, now alluringly melodic, fractiously dissonant, propulsive or ethereal. Tippett's speaking...

Julie Tippetts is - of course - Julie Tippetts and Martin Archer is a saxophonist and electronics man who has worked with a huge variety of artists from Hornweb to Mick Beck to Combat Astronomy to Radio Massacre International (whose guitarist appears...

A1 Alan Cohen Big Band - The Oracle (Cohen) 10:31
A2 Group Sounds Five - Black & White Raga (Taylor) 10:35
B1 Paz - Dream Sequence (Crouch) 9:11
B2 Ron Mathewson's Mystery Machine - A Luv Supreme (Mathewson) 13:10

ALAN COHEN BIG BAND – LONDON, DECEMBER 1968
Alan Cohen - director, arranger
Kenny Wheeler - trumpet, flugelhorn
Henry Lowther - trumpet, flugelhorn
Mike Osborne - alto sax, clarinet
Alan Skidmore - tenor sax
Brian Smith - soprano sax
John

"An in concert, Virtual Company performance from IST (on this occasion the duo of Simon H. Fell and Mark Wastell due to the snow-bound absence of Rhodri Davies) together with pre-recorded fragments of Derek Bailey and Will Gaines.
IST's Virtual Company calls on "the powers of improvisation" (D. Bailey) to interface with the two musicians of IST with dozens of musical fragments drawn from both Bailey and Gaines performing solo. These are combined with sections of silence of unforeseeable length, and...

“Alan Wakeman is a British saxophonist and clarinettist who has been active since the 1960s. He is associated with Mike Westbrook, Paul Lytton, Soft Machine, and Graham Collier."

"The list of dramatis personae tells its own story: the cream of British jazz of the period assembled to play a series of imaginatively conceived compositions by Wakeman that move between inside and outside playing, swaying majestically between the exposition of powerful, Mingus-like themes that dissolve into...

This compilation, which includes over 20' of music that has never before been released, combines a retrospective with new works. The trio is unique and this is recommended to anyone interested in the Brit-jazz scene at this price.

"MIKE WESTBROOK has led and composed for a succession of big bands and small groups since the 1960's. The Trio is the longest established and most widely travelled of all WESTBROOK ensembles. This collection digitally re-mastered by JON HISEMAN, presents...

Music by Mike Westbrook
Lyrics and singing by Kate Westbrook
Accordion by Kate Street
This is a very stripped down recording by a great, theatrical singer with well-placed, simple accompaniment.

“Kate is a fine writer and performer, with a brilliant approach to text.
The life of choreographer Bronislava Nijinska provides the inspiration for Kate's most recent piece, a collaboration with composer Mike Westbrook and accordionist Karen Street.
It's a moving piece, and Kate's

This is a wonderful find; the original album by Westbrook was released in 1975 by RCA and is a richly orchestrated jazz/rock work filled with the big names of the mid 70s Brit-jazz world.
But here is what I did not know:

“The debut performance of esteemed pianist/composer Mike Westbrook's cult 70s jazz masterpiece 'Citadel/Room 315', recorded live in 1974. Featured soloists throughout the album are the iconic ECM recording artist John Surman plus a crack team of top Scandi jazzers....

Mike Osborne, Bernie Living, George Khan, John Surman-saxophones
Malcolm Griffiths, Paul Rutherford-trombones
Dave Holdsworth-trumpet
Mike Westbrook-piano
Harry Miller-bass
Alan Jackson-drums

This never-before released recording, released on its 50th anniversary, is the final show from the legendary ‘Ronnie Scott’s Old Place’ on May 25, 1968 and is a real piece of history and is quite well recorded for the age, time and circumstances.

One of the hardest to find holly grails of Brit-jazz makes its very first appearance on CD in this excellently packaged and remastered set from BGO. Check out this personnel: Kenny Wheeler: flugelhorn; Derek Watkins: trumpet; Henry Shaw: trumpet; Henry...

This album has a long and complicated history. In April, 1976, saxist Gary Windo, who was working part time for Nick Mason of Pink Floyd as a mechanic for Nick's car collection, was offered the opportunity to record a album at Pink Floyd's brand-new studio. He would be offered this opportunity as a 'test', to allow the engineers to test, with real musicians, the over-all systems and sound.
Between the years 1976-1978, as time allowed, Gary and a number of other musicians, including ...

"Among slowly unravelling coils of oscillations and intermittent fragments of semi-formed loops, instruments both electronic and acoustic resonate gently against each other over an ever-evolving soundbed of textures. A meeting of minds and those exciting first sparks of inspiration soundtracked by celestial, otherworldly tones and free-flowing spoken word.
This was how Virginia Wing and XAM Duo spent two cold days at the start of January 2017. A weekend escape in the frozen industrial district of...

THE great female vocalist of Brit-jazz from the 60s until today!

"CD reissue. Norma Winstone is one of the most recognizable vocalists from the United Kingdom. During her nearly 50-year career, she has performed in many varieties of situations, from the improvisatory world of avant-garde to the classic tastefulness of the jazz songbook.
Recorded in 1997, Winstone's Manhattan In The Rain found her alongside some longtime companions, pianist Steve Gray (of Sky fame), bassist Chris Laurence and.

THE great female vocalist of Brit-jazz from the 60s until today!

"CD reissue. Norma Winstone is one of the most recognizable vocalists from the United Kingdom. During her nearly 50-year career, she has performed in many varieties of situations, from the improvisatory world of avant-garde to the classic tastefulness of the jazz songbook.
It was in the effort of getting permission to write lyrics to The Peacocks that Winstone made the acquaintance of the great pianist/composer Jimmy Rowles...