Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Verve By Request repress Elvin Jones and Richard Davis' Heavy Sounds, one of the few recorded collaborations between the drummer and bassist ever laid to disc. The title is debatable if not misleading, as we'd wager that most listeners would typify this record as decidedly 'light' in feel. Recorded for Impulse in 1967, a session originally intended to be a trio date morphed into an 11 1/2-minute duet, on the album Summertime, between drummer Jones and bassist Davis, after the guitarist did not appear. The following day, saxophonist Frank Foster and pianist Billy Greene joined in to round out the rest of the cuts including 'Elvin's Guitar Blues', which features Jones' only recorded guitar performance.

Review: American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player Roy Hargrove made his most enduring mark as a fusionist, poking holes in the barriers between every genre between gospel to hip-hop, and this is a legacy more than cemented on one of his many great LPs, Hard Groove, titularly playing on his name while amounting to a paragon in the art of genre-busting. Running the entire gamut of styles Hargrove was interested and involved in at the turn of the millennium, the album brings together many covers and renditions, with D'Angelo appearing on the cover of Funkadelic's 'I'll Stay' and Q-Tip on 'Poetry', among many other greats.

Review: Verve/Universal Music Enterprises proudly introduces the 2024 Acoustic Sounds Series reissues, a monthly celebration of the world's most iconic jazz records. Mastered by Ryan K Smith at Sterling Sound from the original analog tapes, these 180-gram LPs are meticulously pressed at Quality Record Pressings. Each release features Stoughton Printing gatefold old-style tip-on jackets, ensuring a premium presentation. This series is expertly supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds. A standout in this collection is East Broadway Run Down, a heavyweight entry in Sonny Rollins' discography. Recorded in 1966 and released the following year by Impulse Records, this album marks Rollins' last project before his six-year hiatus due to industry pressures. The Acoustic Sounds Series seeks to deliver definitive audiophile-grade versions of these historic jazz records, blending top-tier mastering and production with superior packaging to satisfy discerning listeners.

Review: In April 1998, shortly after winning the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Performance with their debut album Habana, Roy Hargrove's Crisol entered a studio in Guadalupe to record their second. Until now though, that album - Grande-Terre - has remained unreleased. Featuring a stellar lineup of Hargrove's longtime collaboratorsitrombonist Frank Lacy, pianist Larry Willis and drummer Willie Jones IIIiGrande-Terre captures the essence of Hargrove's dynamic playing and masterful compositions, showcasing the band's powerful synergy and distinctive Latin jazz style. Hargrove's sudden passing in 2018 leaves us to ponder what further accomplishments this innovative band might have achieved had they continued to evolve their groundbreaking approach. Grande-Terre not only highlights Hargrove's exceptional talent but also serves as a poignant reminder of what was lost with his untimely death.

Review: It's no mean feat to be amongst the most recorded drummers in jazz, but Roy Haynes is right up there thanks to a career spanning a mighty 80 years. Given his debut was in 1942 in Boston, by the time he recorded Out Of The Afternoon in 1962 he was already what many would consider a veteran. The Quartet he assembled for the album included Henry Grimes on bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano and none other than Roland Kirk on tenor sax and a host of other less obvious instruments. It's a stunning slice of post-bop from one of jazz's all-time greats, now reissued on heavyweight audiophile vinyl.