Back catalogue: Jazz

Review: 'Great Moments With Pharoah Sanders' is a compilation album spanning the best of Pharoah Sanders' work between the period 1983-1990, when the legendary spiritual jazz musician enjoyed the fallout of some of his best work. Despite his struggles to find quality work as a musician despite his high standing by that time, Sanders composed many great works in the period, such as 'Africa', 'Naima' and 'You've Got To Have Freedom' - all of which feature here.

Review: Pharoah Sanders, the legendary saxophonist known for his spiritual jazz and drummer Norman Connors, another key figure in the genre, deliver a blistering live performance at 1978's Montreux Jazz Festival set. The duo, both with decades of experience shaping the sound of free jazz, blend complex rhythms with expansive melodies, weaving through tracks like 'Babylon' and 'Casino Latino.' Sanders' saxophone improvisations glide between tension and release, while Connors' drumming provides a solid yet dynamic foundation. This recording encapsulates their mastery of blending the spiritual with the free, two jazz icons at the height of their craft, delivering a performance that is at once urgent and transcendental.

Review: Released in 1974, Santana's Lotus stands as a defining live album that brilliantly showcases the band's unique blend of rock, jazz and Latin influences. Recorded during their Japan tour, the album features standout performances recorded over two nights in Osaka, featuring Carlos Santana's exceptional guitar work and the band's vibrant improvisations. Highlights include iconic tracks like 'Black Magic Woman', 'Oye Como Va' and the extended jam 'Toussaint L'Overture', which illustrate the band's remarkable ability to create a cohesive and powerful sound. Originally intended as a Japan-only release, Lotus gained international acclaim as an import, displaying Santana at a pivotal moment in their evolution, with a mix of original and new members. The album's elaborate packaging enhances its appeal, rivaling the artwork of other notable triple live albums. Musically, Lotus focuses on instrumental jazz-rock, with minimal vocal tracks, yet it captures the sheer joy and energy of the band's live performances. While some may find the lengthy drum solo a weak point, the musicianship throughout the album is outstanding, making it an essential listen for fans of the genre. Overall, Lotus remains a testament to Santana's innovative spirit and live prowess, celebrated for its high sound quality and dynamic artistry.

Review: Woody Shaw was one of the more influential jazz musicians of his time. This album was recorded in 1985 and finds him in full flow with his Tone Jansa Quartet. The American jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, and band leader very much shows off his improvisational skills on flugelhorn and trumpet while his sidemen Renato Chico on piano, Peter Herbert on bass, Dragan Gajic on drums and Tone Jansa on tenor sax do not disappoint either. This is the first time the album has been reissued since its original release and comes in limited quantities.

Review: On this new collectors' edition from Music On Vinyl, jazz and swing vocalist Frank Sinatra is honoured with glittering encomium, with a fine ABCD-side double vinyl cycling through the best breadth of his long discography. Recognised by the label as setting the standard for jazz vocalists ever since, Sinatra's influence is heard loud and wide today, in the laryngeal feats of every iterative pop cultural figure to take after him - from Michael Buble to Robbie Williams. The 31 recordings on Collected include not just his most famous songs, but also delves into some of his best album tracks and collaborations with Count Basie, Quincy Jones and his daughter Nancy, all showcasing the versatile artist Sinatra was.

Review: One of two jazz greats going by the name Lonnie Smith, this jovial 1967 jazz-funk opus is most firmly and assiduously credited to the former of the two to claim the name. The renowned organist - whose organ of choice, aside from the heart, was the Hammond B3 - rose to fame as the in-house pipe maestro for George Benson and his quartet during the early 1960s, after which he struck out on his own accord(ion). Aside from its covert KFC brand ambassadorship, Finger Lickin' Good also happens to be a wicked whirl of a jazz record. Smith's plucky organ is as salient as a blue myna flocking among starlings; 'Minor Chant' works as the introductory example of this. The right hand of the Hammond is distinctly clucky and low-midded in the mix, whilst the comparatively drawn-out left hand is centralised and sustained. Eleven prodigious tracks ensue, with the sardonically intoned jive 'Keep Talkin'' standing out among them, its titular chatterbox seemingly mimicked in jest by Smith's mimetic playing.

Review: It's been far too long since this seminal slice of sprightly, swinging jazz from Stanley Turrentine and Milt Jackson was in arms reach. Originally released in 1972, Cherry is a stunning piece of work that also features the mighty Billy Cobham on drums, Ron Carter on bass and Bob James on keys, backing up Jackson's dexterous vibraphone flexing and Turrentine's lyrical sax. This repress on Music On Vinyl comes housed in a numbered, gatefold sleeve with the music itself pressed into gorgeous pink wax.

Review: Dutch keyboard player Fred van Zegveld's 1969 release is a high-voltage display of Hammond organ wizardry, stretching across jazz, soul and r&b with unshakable confidence. His originals, like 'Family Blues' and 'Blue Organ,' are thick with groove, their choppy rhythms and swelling chords bouncing off Ruud Jacobs' steady basslines and Louis de Bey's crisp, unfussy drumming. The title track channels that same energy into a slow-burning, percussive churn, each phrase pulling tighter before van Zegveld lets loose with another spiralling run. His approach to covers is just as striking. 'Misty' drifts into smoky, late-night territory, drenched in shimmering vibrato, while 'I Wanna Be Your Man' ditches the Beatles' pop polish for something grittier, the organ growling over a rolling rhythm section. There's a looseness to the playing, a sense that the band is locked in but always on the edge of cutting loose. The whole record moves with a natural, in-the-room warmthivan Zegveld doesn't just play the Hammond, he makes it breathe, pulling back for hushed, introspective moments before launching into ecstatic swells.

Review: This album was recorded in 1979 at Sound Ideas Studio in New York City with some heavyweights of the time all involved. Cedar Walton was on piano, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Bob Berg on tenor saxophone, Sam Jones on bass and Billy Higgins on drums and between them they had a finely tuned jazz sound that brought to life six strong tracks, all composed by Cedar Walton bar their jazz interpretation of the classic standard 'Never Never Land.' The dynamic interplay between the musicians makes this a tight, impactful collection.

Review: American jazz fusion outfits don't come much more venerated than Weather Report. Fronted by leader Joe Zawinul, the ensemble evolved subtly throughout their career and it was in 1974 that they dropped this album, Sweetnighter. It proved to be a little more funky and influenced by the emerging t&b of the day than its predecessors and it is also noted for being the last long player the band cut with original bassist Miroslav Vitous, as well as being the band's first album to make it into the Top 100 in the US charts of the day. It sodas as good now as ever on this nice heavyweight vinyl pressing.

Review: American fusion group Weather Report were only active for just over 15 years but amassed a fine discography and assured their legacy in that time. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter is the most well-known of the band's members and after starting out as an experimental and free improvising outfit they eventually got more funky and edgy with hints of r&b creeping into their sound. The band always made use of the layettes synth technology and were one of the defining acts of the jazz era of their time as a result. Their eighth album, 1978's Mr Gone, is one of their most loved and ended up at Number 1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart.

Review: Widely acclaimed and much loved American jazz fusion outfit Weather Report very much dominated the jazz landscape of the seventies and early eighties. It had an ever-rotating assembly of musicians throughout its history with the likes of Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitous and American drummer Alphonse Mouzon. 8:30 is their second live album and it came in 1979, swiftly rising to No. 3 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and also winning a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance. Zawinul wrote the majority of the tracks which are all freely improvised and escapist.