"January 30th 2105 marks the anniversary of what would have been Tubby Hayes' 80th birthday. Undoubtedly THE ultimate British jazz legend, Hayes' untimely death, aged 38, in 1973 ended what had been a truly remarkable 23 year career, and, although long...

“A further collection of missing pieces uncovered since the release of the 18 CD Henry Cow Box that fills in parts of the story still undocumented - even on the bootleg circuit.
Contents: 1: the earliest and only known stage recording of the band as it was in June 1972 (Martin Ditcham, Fred Frith, John Greaves and Tim Hodgkinson) at the first Glastonbury Fayre. The recording is quite clean, though the mix heavily favours bass and guitar but, in a way, this makes it of special interest, both...

Mark Holub – drums
Clemens Sainitzer – cello
Irene Kepl – violin
Susanna Gartmayer – bass clarinet
Jakob Gnigler – tenor sax

“Anthropods is the new band from American drummer and composer, Mark Holub. Holub, known mainly as bandleader of the acclaimed and Mercury Prize nominated Led Bib has with ‘Anthropods’ created his first project as a leader since starting Led Bib in 2003. While some of Holub’s trademark Led Bib style is evident here, the album is full of contrasts...

Subtitled: 'Hugh's Compositions In The Hands Of Friends', this features Didier Malherbe, Phil Miller, Hugh and Pip Pyle or Elton Dean, Phil Miller, Gael Horelou, Hugh and Pip Pyle.

"Hugh Hopper’s return to active service following a five-year...

"Let’s Get Deluxe, the third album on Basho Records from transatlantic contemporary jazz supergroup The Impossible Gentlemen, captures a substantial but organic evolution in the group’s sound. Co-leaders Mike Walker and Gwilym Simcock consciously moved to broaden the instrumental palette at the earliest stages of the writing process, using melodies and counter melodies to create an intricate narrative.

By the time the group came to recording, the music had already been thoroughly road-tested on...

“For trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and saxophonist/ clarinetist Steve Treseler, paying tribute to the late Kenny Wheeler was a calling. “Ingrid and I are both devoted Kenny fans and we both had the opportunity to work with him in person,” says Treseler. ‘Invisible Sounds’ reinterprets works from his prolific catalog.
Ingrid’s band - Geoffrey Keezer (piano), Martin Wind (bass) and Jon Wikan (drums) - was playing at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Idaho, so they booked two nights at Seattle’s Royal Room...

Chris Francis – alto sax
James Dvorak - trumpet
Frank Roberts - piano
Ernest Mothle - bass
Keith Bailey – drums

Very good, Afro-jazz styled sounds from some names that Brit-jazz fans will recognize. Until this new reissue, I had never heard this cooker! You like Harry Miller’s Isipingo or Dudu Pukwana’s In The Townships? You will like this one!

“Super rare 1970s British jazz from Joy: Chris Francis, James Dvorak, Frank Roberts, Ernest Mothle, Keith Bailey reflecting the

Chris Laurence is a bassist who has appeared on many Brit-jazz classics in the past. Nice to see a new release from him. This one features Frank Ricotti-vibes, John Parricelli-electric and acoustic guitars, Martin France-drums, Chris on bass and Norma...

Sensible Shoes is the fourth album by this London quartet of dual alto saxes, Fender Rhodes & keyboards, bass and drums. It is a cataclysmic offering of jazz-rock, free-jazz, avant-skronk, funk-rock, art-noise and whatever else they can lay their hands on. A tremendously popular act at home in the UK, where they regularly play large-scale festivals and concert halls (as well as playing the typical club gigs that all musicians play), Sensible Shoes is their first recording to be released outside of the UK...

NOTE: We have exactly 30 copies at this very, very special price and when they are gone, the price will go up to our ‘normal’ ESP price of $14.00!

Alan Skidmore-tenor sax
John Surman-baritone and soprano sax
Peter Lemer-piano
Tony Reeves-bass
Jon Hiseman-drums

The core of this group -- John Surman, Alan Skidmore, Peter Lemer, Tony Reeves, and Jon Hiseman -- recorded an LP titled Local Colour for ESP-Disk' in 1966. Pianist and leader Lemer was one of the founding

Half-correct, pirated versions of test-pressings of this album have circulated among collectors of Brit-jazz for literally 4 decades(!) - I had a cassette of one-such 'test pressing' for over 20 years (on the other side was the unreleased session that...

Despite the fact that for some reason this album was released as being by ‘The Chris McGregor Group’, this is, in fact, the ONLY album ever made by Chris and The Blue Notes in the 1960s (there are some live recordings that were released later, but this is essentially IT!)
These is the only recordings by the band who left apartheid South Africa (McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Mongezi Feza, Ronnie Beer, Johnny Dyani and Louis Moholo) to play at the Antibes Jazz Fest and eventually found their way to London...

Harry Beckett – trumpet
Marc Charig – trumpet
Nick Evans – trombone
Mongezi Feza – trumpet
Malcolm Griffiths – trombone
Chris McGregor – piano
Harry Miller – double bass
Louis Moholo – drums
Mike Osborne – alto sax
Evan Parker – tenor sax
Dudu Pukwana – alto sax
Gary Windo – tenor sax

South African born and raised pianist/bandleader Chris McGregor formed the racially mixed Blue Notes in the early 1960's, touring and trying to get by in extremel

Bo Meson – voice, software instruments
Wolfgang Seel – voice
Peter Rophone – choral voices
Martin Archer – Bb and bass clarinets, software instruments
Graham Clark – violin
Maja Bugge – cello

“Collaborations between poet / composer Bo Meson and composer Martin Archer tend to stray into odd places where neither of them would normally venture, and when they meet up normal rules cease to apply. Quite how the initial idea for this piece, inspired by the odd fact that Matt

Bassist Harry Miller was born in South Africa, but he was the Brit-jazz bassist throughout the 1970s, playing with John Surman, Centipede, Mike Westbrook, Keith Tippett, Mike Osborne, King Crimson, Julie Tippetts, Alan Skidmore and Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, among many others, as well as co-founding the legendary Ogun label, which did so much to document the Brit-jazz scene in the 1970s.
Harry's group, Isipingo, which he led for a number of years, could be compared to a smaller-scale...

Great, live sound and also a great performance. Last time ever on this wonderful release from the wonderful, now gone, Reel Recordings label.

"Pianist Steve Miller (1943-1998) formed his trio in the mid-eighties after a lengthy hiatus for...

Subtitled "Louis Moholo-Moholo meets Mervyn Africa - Pule Pheto - Keith Tippett", this is over 75' of drum and piano duets with Mervyn Africa (14'), Pule Pheto (17') and 45' - a full album in other words - of his work with long time partner and pal Kei...

This mid-sized band, features African-tinged jazz, ala The Brotherhood Of Breath. What a thrill it must have been for Louis to return to South Africa 3 decades after leaving because of apartheid to do this tour! Louis Moholo, leader, drums, vocals; The...

Nearly an hour of vibrant work from Louis'current group includes Jason Yarde on soprano, alto and baritone sax, Ntshuks Bonga on alto and tenor, Pule Pheto on piano, Orphy Robinson on vibes, John Edwards on bass and Francine Luce on vocals.

This double CD presents two seperate sessions, both led by drummer Moholo. Spirits Rejoice is from 1978 and is an all-star Brit-jazz session (Evan Parker, Kenny Wheeler, Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti, Keith Tippett, Johnny Dyani and Harry Miller), while Br...

Stan Tracey is probably the living (grand)father of modern British jazz; starting in the more typical post-bop style and as the house pianist at Ronnie Scott's internationally known club in London, by the late 60's, he was also playing a more adventuro...

Frank van der Kooij - tenor & soprano saxophone / bass clarinet
Hugh Hopper - bass
Robert Jarvis - trombone
Paul Maassen - synths & piano
Kim Weemhoff - drums
Niels Brouwer - guitar
Henk de Laat - double bass (on 'The City')

This is quite a treat to see come out 15 years after the band originally ended! This is a professional sounding live recording of what both Frank and Hugh remembered as being one of the band’s best gigs! Plus Ravel, which is quietly impressive (ju

Mastered from the original Vertigo tapes.

“Another thrilling, funky-prog jazzy-rock fusion beauty from Ian Carr's Nucleus. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians.
Alleycat was the last Nucleus album...

This was issued on CD in 2006 as “Hemispheres” and is high quality soundboard tapes of the original line-up in March 1970 & February 1971.

“The outstanding Solar Plexus, the much-loved third album from Ian Carr and Nucleus, was first released on Vertigo in 1971. Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era.
Ian Carr describes Solar Plexus: "I wrote Solar Plexus last year with the help of an Arts Council grant. It is based on two short themes which are stated at the beginning ('Elements I' and 'II'). The first theme is angular and has a slow, crab-like movement: the second...