Vendor: ROM
Type: Jazz
Price:
22.99
Catalogue number: GONDLP18CL
Condition: New
Label: Gondwana Records
Vendor: ROM
Type: Jazz
Price:
27.99
Catalogue number: GONDLP9SELG
Condition: New
Label: Gondwana Records
Vendor: ROM
Type: Jazz
Price:
24.99
Pre-order. Due 8th September.
Catalogue number: IARC70LP
Condition: New
Label: International Anthem
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
23.99
Pre-order. Due 21st July.
Catalogue number: 5523404
Condition: New
Label: Blue Note
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
23.99
Pre-order. Due 21st July.
Catalogue number: 5523396
Condition: New
Label: Blue Note
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
29.99
Pre-order. Due 21st July.
Cream vinyl.
Catalogue number: 5566399
Condition: New
Label: Verve
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
35.99
Pre-order. Due 14th July.
Catalogue number: 7247454
Condition: New
Label: Craft
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
35.99
Pre-order. Due 14th July.
Catalogue number: 7242066
Condition: New
Label: Craft
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
35.99
Pre-order. Due 14th July.
Catalogue number: 7244082
Condition: New
Label: Craft
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
35.99
Pre-order. Due 14th July.
Catalogue number: 7242064
Condition: New
Label: Craft
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
32.49
Pre-order. Due 14th July.
Catalogue number: 5521236
Condition: New
Label: Verve
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
32.49
Pre-order. Due 14th July.
Catalogue number: 5521238
Condition: New
Label: Verve
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
34.99
Pre-order. Due 14th July.
Catalogue number: 5551419
Condition: New
Label: Impulse
Vendor: Cargo
Type: Jazz
Price:
32.49
Catalogue number: LR183LP
Condition: New
Label: Leaving Records
Vendor: SRD
Type: Jazz
Price:
21.49
More than once Jay Richford and Gary Stevan’s Feelings has been described as the greatest library record ever released. Of course Be With can’t be seen to be playing favourites, but we have to admit, it’s pretty good. Insanely rare and immensely sought-after, it’s a tough funk, street jazz masterpiece coveted for many years by collectors of all musical genres.
Since its original release on Italian label Carosello in 1974, Feelings has appeared on several labels with different sleeves and even under a different artist. Indeed cult library label Conroy put it out in one of their iconic red sleeves in 1976 and yes, Feelings has indeed had more than one modern re-issue since these “original” releases. But a record this special deserves to be kept in press and we think it deserves the Be With treatment.
No, Jay Richford and Gary Stevan aren’t two of the most Italian sounding names. As the story goes these were the pseudonyms adopted by Stefano Torossi and Giancarlo Gazzani who wrote the album but couldn’t use their real names on the original release for legal reasons. But Stefano Torossi himself later both clarified and confused the tale further by explaining that Feelings was the work of four people not just Gazzani and himself. Fellow composers and musicians Sandro Brugnolini and Puccio Roelens also worked on the album and as Torossi himself explained “we all worked together”, with all four gents “dividing the royalties in equal parts… that’s the story.” Right, so, with that all sorted out let’s get back to talking about the music. And what music it is.
Long hailed as a holy grail of library music, Feelings is the epitome of the sort of cinematic orchestral jazzy funk that is “that 70s library music sound”. Infectiously funky, deliciously melodic and with impeccible, elegant production, this record is the showcase for a stunning set of compositions and arrangements and with performances that are nothing short of virtuoso.
The record’s first side lifts off with “Flying High”, soaring brilliant and shimmering. Funk licks, menacing strings and swaggering horns combine for an ice-cold intro groove that Isaac Hayes would surely have envied, before the steady-paced drums deliver the slo-mo TKO. The string-drenched cop-funk of “Going Home” raises the tempo. All funky quick-fire bass lines and killer electric guitar soloing. A real thriller.
“Walking In The Dark” positively drips in blaxploitation-funk drama strings and horn struts, all laced with delicate drums, velvet piano and more filthy wah-wah. “Fighting For Life” is another funk-fuelled workout built around an effortlessly relentless drum track that refuses to give up until even the stiffest-necked head is nodding.
The loping, open drum break that guides the much-loved “Feeling Tense” through its early stages would be good enough on its own. The heavy bass gloss, swirling strings and ominous horns that follow take things to the next level.
The second side opens with another favourite “Running Fast”, and the track does precisely that. This is one fine rollicking chase theme underpinned by frenetic (yet funky) Fender Rhodes and skipping bass and drums. Those sweeping strings are a gorgeous extra. It’s a deliciously feel-good groove that sets the heart racing.
“Loving Tenderly” envelops us in warm, velvety night-time vibes with easy listening horns and slinky strings dialing up the seduction. Definitely one for the lithe lovers out there. The pace picks up on the electrifying “Fearing Much” where strings dart around deep bass, buzzing guitars and another funky drum break. The lush, melancholic “Being Friendly” is another easy beauty, all warm Rhodes and strings. Majestic stuff that puts an aural arm around you. The climactic “Having Fun” rides a pulsating, bass-heavy drum break with snatches of a funky guitar refrain, some luxurious keys, sweeping strings and triumphant horns. Sensational.
“Feelings” is a profoundly appropriate title for such an emotionally funky and genuinely affecting record. Groove-laden bass, irrepressible horns, sweet flute lines, warm Rhodes, lush string arrangements, blaxploitation-styled wah-wah guitars and so, so much more make this one of the finest instrumental soul LPs of the 70s, if not of all time.
The audio for this re-issue of Feelings comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis and cut by Pete Norman. The same care has been taken by the Be With team to restore that glorious original Carosello sleeve. Feelings is almost too good to be true. Feels good all over.
Vendor: ROM
Type: Jazz
Price:
24.99
Green marble vinyl.
In July of 2022, just one month before jaimie branch’s death sent shockwaves around the world, the trumpet player and composer was in Chicago at International Anthem (IARC) studios putting finishing touches on an album. It was a suite of music she had composed and then recorded with her flagship ensemble, Fly or Die, over the course of a residency at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska. In her wake, the album was near complete, with only mixing tweaks, final titles, and artwork to be fully realized. In the months following, her family (led by sister Kate Branch), her band (Jason Ajemian, Lester St. Louis, and Chad Taylor), and her collaborators at IARC (engineers Dave Vettraino and David Allen, comrades Alejandro Ayala and Scott McNiece) banded together to gather memories, texts, emails, photographs, artwork and fragments belonging to jaimie to light the path forward. The goal was always to do what jaimie would have done. Packaged in stunning artwork by John Herndon, Damon Locks, and branch herself, Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) is jaimie’s final album with the quartet.
Catalogue number: IARC66LPI
Condition: New
Label: International Anthem
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
42.99
Pre-order. Due 7th July.
This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI with all-analogue mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and presented in a Tip-On Sleeve.
Recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961, shortly before Scott LaFaro's death, Waltz for Debby is the second album issued from that historic session, and the final one from that legendary trio that also contained drummer Paul Motian. While the Sunday at the Village Vanguard album focused on material where LaFaro soloed prominently, this is far more a portrait of the trio on those dates. Evans chose the material here, and, possibly, in some unconscious way, revealed on these sessions - and the two following LaFaro's death (Moonbeams and How My Heart Sings!) - a different side of his musical personality that had never been displayed on his earlier solo recordings or during his tenures with Miles Davis and George Russell.
Evans was an intensely romantic player, flagrantly emotional, and that is revealed here in spades on tunes such as "My Foolish Heart" and "Detour Ahead." There is a kind of impressionistic construction to his harmonic architecture that plays off the middle registers and goes deeper into its sonances in order to set into motion numerous melodic fragments simultaneously. The rhythmic intensity that he displayed as a sideman is evident here in "Milestones," with its muscular shifting time signature and those large, flatted ninths with the right hand. The trio's most impressive interplay is in "My Romance," after Evans' opening moments introducing the changes. Here Motian's brushwork is delicate, flighty and elegant, and LaFaro controls the dynamic of the tune with his light as a feather pizzicato work and makes Evans' deeply emotional statements swing effortlessly. Of the many recordings Evans issued, the two Vanguard dates and Explorations are the ultimate expressions of his legendary trio.
Catalogue number: 7250484
Condition: New
Label: Craft Recordings
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
35.99
Pre-order. Due 7th July.
Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley had been recording for Blue Note for a decade when he made his excellent 1965 album A Caddy for Daddy featuring a first-class sextet with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, McCoy Tyner on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums.
This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.
Catalogue number: 3896362
Condition: New
Label: Blue Note
Vendor: Universal
Type: Jazz
Price:
35.99
Pre-order. Due 7th July.
The supremely swinging pianist Sonny Clark hit the Blue Note scene in 1957 with a burst of creativity recording three albums in three months including the sublime Sonny Clark Trio, a six-song set of bebop themes and standards featuring bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones.
This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.
Catalogue number: 3879835
Condition: New
Label: Blue Note
Vendor: Warner
Type: Jazz
Price:
214.99
2022 marked the 100th birthday of Charles Mingus, renowned American composer and bassist in the jazz genre. After his death in 1979, he was acknowledged as one of the most important jazz composers, alongside Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Mingus was innovative in his use of melody, rhythm, harmony, and form, and his compositions have become a core part of jazz repertoire.
This boxset includes his final studio recordings for Atlantic Records, spanning from the 1970s, featuring previously unreleased outtakes of “Big Alice”, “The Call” and “Music For Todo Modo”. Mingus had two periods of recording with Atlantic Records, the first being in the 1950s and 1960s, and the second in the 1970s, which marked his last phase of music.
Catalogue number: 0603497838370
Condition: New
Label: Rhino
Vendor: Essential
Type: Jazz
Price:
31.49
In association with DJ Amir’s 180 Proof Records, BBE is honoured to present another gem from the small yet significant Strata catalogue. A precursor to New York’s Strata East, Detroit’s Strata Records was founded in the late 1960s by former Blue Note artist Kenny Cox. Starting life as a music-led community organisation, coffee shop studio and venue, Strata released only a few titles as a record label, gaining the imprint a cult following among record collectors and jazz lovers across the globe.
Possibly the best known of Strata’s releases, The Lyman Woodard Organization’s ‘Saturday Night Special’ is rightly heralded as a jazz fusion classic. Recorded in 1975, ‘Saturday Night Special’ features organ, electric piano and Mellotron by bandleader Lyman Woodard alongside guitar and bass by Ron English, with drums and percussion by Leonard King, Bud Spangler & Lorenzo “Mr. Rhythm” Brown respectively. Despite the fairly sparse instrumentation, ‘Saturday Night Special’ lays down an impressive wall of sound, powerfully atmospheric in its almost low-fi aesthetic. Hinting at more traditional jazz, rhythm & blues, afro-cuban styles and more, the uniqueness of this album is surely in its feel: summoning up images of a vast industrial landscape, assembly lines and urban decay. In other words, this record sounds like Detroit.
No great album artwork is complete without a good story to match, and ‘Saturday Night Special’ does not disappoint. Snapped by photographer and political activist Leni Sinclair (responsible for seminal pictures of Miles Davis, Fela Kuti and John Coltrane and many others), the cover image shows the contents of Lyman Woodard’s pockets placed on the hotel bed after a show: cigarette papers, cash and a pistol.
Following Woodard’s death in 2009, this incredible album was reissued in highly limited numbers by Wax Poetics; now just as hard to come by as the original pressings. It’s our pleasure to make this important and influential chapter in the story of contemporary jazz available on vinyl once again.
Catalogue number: BBE414ALPB
Condition: New
Label: BBE
Vendor: Essential
Type: Jazz
Price:
31.49
Catalogue number: BBE671ALP
Condition: New
Label: BBE
Vendor: Proper
Type: Jazz
Price:
41.49
Listen to Impressions and dive into a kaleidoscope of sonorities coming from the wide-open vision of musical concepts of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble.
For more than thirty years, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble has carried the American tradition of percussive jazz onward from a distinctly African-ChicagoAmerican perspective. Founded in 1973 by percussionist Kahil El'Zabar, this, their second album and first for Red Records (1982), is a much sought-after LP by collectors, with second-hand copies changing hands at incredibly high prices.
Now reissued on both CD and LP, this long out of print masterpiece will be snapped up in a trice.
Catalogue number: RR1231561
Condition: New
Label: Red Records
Vendor: Proper
Type: Jazz
Price:
29.99
Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell came together to celebrate the work of mentor Ornette Coleman, but the repertoire of their Old and New Dreams quartet soon blossomed into a project of much wider scope, addressing also the musical experiences the players had made individually in their travels around the world.
As well as superlative versions of Ornette's "Lonely Woman" and "Open or Close" this highly influential album, now regard as a classic of new jazz, includes pieces by Cherry and Blackwell inspired by African music, Redman's enigmatic "Orbit of La-Ba", and Haden's impressionistic "Song for the Whales".
Recorded in Oslo in August 1979 and produced by Manfred Eicher, this vinyl reissue includes new liner notes providing historical context and background information.
Catalogue number: 4505344
Condition: New
Label: ECM
Vendor: Proper
Type: Jazz
Price:
29.99
As well as being the great vibes innovator of the era, Gary Burton has been a most astute talent scout. In 1973, The New Quartet introduced Abraham Laboriel: this was the first recording of the bassist who would shortly become one of the most in-demand session players across all genres. “It must be emphasised that Laboriel sounds like a major ar st in the making with his astonishing bass work,” wrote Melody Maker. Guitarist Mick Goodrick also emerged as a player to watch with this album, shining in a well-conceived programme with compositions of Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Carla Bley, Mike Gibbs and bandleader Burton.
Personnel: Gary Burton (vibraphone); Mick Goodrick (guitar); Abraham Laboriel (bass); Harry Blazer (drums)
Catalogue number: 4505324
Condition: New
Label: ECM