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LIFE 035LP
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Best known for his proficiency on the oud, John Berberian has been releasing music since the early-1960s. While attending New York's Columbia University, Berberian made his professional musical debut playing the oud in support of violinist Reuben Sarkisian. While completing an MBA from Harvard, Berberian managed to find the time to become a staple on the Manhattan nightclub scene. In 1964 he was signed to Bob Shad's New York-based Mainstream Records, where he recorded a pair of Middle Eastern-themed instrumental collections. Those were followed by a pair of albums for George Goldner's Roulette and Jerry Schoenbaum's Verve Forecast. Music Of The Middle East was originally released in 1966 on Roulette and showcased all of the composer brilliancy. The group he formed to perform the traditional music of Turkey, Armenia, Greece, Arabia and North Africa, succeeded in creating a vividly exotic blend of rhythms, melodies and improvisations into an early global beat. Still a breathtaking experience.
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LIFE 033LP
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Exotica masterpiece finally reissued! This record is produced by Martin Denny, arranged by pianist Paul Conrad and features vintage Exotica's second lady who is only outclassed by the Peruvian chantress Yma Sumac. It's Exotic Dreams, released in 1958, that puts "the enticing voice of Ethel Azama" (1934 -- 1984), a Hawaiian jazz singer, into the spotlight. Martin Denny discovered her a few years later and was able to negotiate with his house label Liberty Records, which granted Azama the opportunity to release one LP on which Denny also provides the liner notes (on a side note, Jimmie Rodgers succeeded with his negotiations as well, granting Azama a contract for a second LP in 1959). Exotic Dreams is one of those superb records that live up to the hype due to both the beautiful voice of the singer and the exotic arrangement alike, causing the listener to execrate the missed opportunities of releasing further material, as Azama faded into obscurity shortly thereafter despite her obvious talent, various gigs in Hawaiian and Australian night clubs and her recurring role in the '70s TV series Hawaii Five-0.
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LIFE 034LP
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Japan goes to Africa! It's more than a bit ironic that Tak Shindo's most "exotic" album, the superb Mganga!, boasts no connection to his own Japanese heritage, instead focusing on the primal rhythms and tribal chants of Africa. Rooted largely in the arranger's experience on the Latin jazz circuit, its Afro-Cuban rhythms, sampled animal sounds, and chants capture an African musical culture based far more in fantasy than reality, much as rival exotica maestros like Martin Denny and Les Baxter conjured interpretations of the Far East driven by suppositions and daydreams. Shindo documents an Africa informed by libraries and dancehalls, not first-hand experience. That said, Mganga! is vibrant and intoxicating, with a rhythmic intensity quite uncommon for its era. For an artificial experience, it packs a genuine wallop.
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LIFE 032LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1962. Sounds of Africa is the fourth album by double bassist and oud player Ahmed Abdul-Malik featuring performances recorded in 1962 (with one track from 1961) and originally released on the New Jazz label. This early '60s Afro-jazz jam with Middle-Eastern and Latin flavors is one of the first in its genre. The album also features Bilal Abdurahman, Andrew Cyrille, and Chief Bey. Seminal!
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LIFE 031LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1961. "This jazz musician of Sudanese descent shows up here and there on recording sessions from the '60s, including a stint as a member of Thelonious Monk's combo. He also played oud and took part in a variety of attempts to blend his roots music with jazz, out of which this is one of the most successful. Indeed, one might overlook the entire fusion nature of this record and look at is as a prime example of how much brilliant jazz is created often by relatively unknown players, despite traditional historical attempts to credit most of the best jazz to a certain pantheon of so-called 'giant' players. The best-known player here is drummer Andrew Cyrille, recorded here early in his career, playing in a more traditional style then he would eventually become known for and playing very well to be sure. The leader's original tunes are catchy and refreshing, revealing new delights with each listen. The version of the standard 'Don't Blame Me' is a wonderful showcase for another undersung player, cellist Calo Scott. Of course, the usual credit should go to recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, whose efforts recording small combo jazz have never been matched." --Eugene Chadbourne, All Music
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LIFE 001LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1971. Can you pick up a better iconic band than Japan's Flower Travellin' Band? Have a look at Julian Cope's Japrocksampler cover with the band bare naked wildly ridin' on their wheels. Is any description more appropriate? A sense of freedom has always enhanced their music, a heavy rock manifesto clearly informed by British stalwarts. Their second album Satori was released on Atlantic Japan in 1971 and still is a masterpiece on its own. The band was made up of Joe Yamanaka (vocals) -- possibly an Eastern version of Rob Tyner of MC5 -- Hideki Ishima (guitars), Jun Kobayashi (bass), and George Wada (drums). By the end of 1970, they had relocated to Toronto, Canada and lived there until March of 1972. In April 1973, the band split up, but they reunited in January 2008 with all original members joined by Nobuhiko.
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LIFE 030LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1960. Recorded in May 1960 this is probably one of Yusef Lateef's more straight jazz releases with almost no trace of his famous Eastern sound experiments. This is a beautiful and dynamic album based on a balanced mix of originals and standards including great numbers by Dvorak, Ellington, and Zawinul and with Lateef who's literally shining on both tenor sax, oboe, and flute. A fine document from a master musician caught during one of the peaks of his career.
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LIFE 028LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1970 on Forward Records, owned by Mike Curb. Markley, A Group is the sixth and final album by the American psychedelic rock group, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. The album was released under another group name, Markley A Group, as decided by the group owner, Bob Markley. It features compositions by Danny Harris, Michael Lloyd, and Shaun Harris with lyrics by Bob himself. The content is simple and soft, reminiscent of the band's earlier work. A gently pop-psych stroke of genius.
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LIFE 029LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1972 on the small imprint Westwood Recordings. Here is another magical achievement of the early '70s counterculture. Songs Of Sunshine has an intimate, predominantly acoustic flavor. Flutes, chimes, and gentle organ sounds all over the place. Tales of faraway lands, sand, sea, castles, kings, queens, and even Peter Pan dominate the scene, imposing a sort of ancestral feel. Rob Armstrong, the leader of Music Box, became a renowned luthier and you can hear the care and love of the acoustic guitar in his music. The short-lived British folk trio released just this single before vanishing. The album consists of nine acoustic folk tracks of their own material and the Bob Dylan's classic "Tom Thumb Blues".
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LIFE 002LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1971. A monster on its own Ceremony-Buddha Meet Rock still is one of the most enigmatic records to have come out of the early seventies Japanese underground. Composers Yusuke Hoguchi and Naoki Tachikawa are the main conspirators here. The album is clearly informed by the flower power counterculture, is full-on mysticism -- with Buddha chants all over the place -- and trippy guitar playing make room for an otherworldly experience. The album opens with a rendition of "Holy Thursday" lifted from David Axelrod's masterpiece Song of Innocence (1968) and sets the mood for a series of ancestral musical performance. Released on Teichiku Records in 1971, this album still stands as one of the most original pieces of art coming from the eastern side.
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LIFE 026LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1972. Possibly one of the most fascinating psychedelic albums that came out of Japan in the early seventies. Published in 1972 on Capitol Records' eastern brand, the album was then fully licensed to both the UK and American market due to his fascinating and lysergic moments. The opener "Beautiful Morning" soon became a classic on its own, showing the western influences of the band all along the spirit of the rising sun counterculture. A revolutionary effort in the end, coming from a different perspective and giving birth to a faint psych/folk/blues scenario.
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LIFE 027LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1975. A rare groove classic finally back in print. Opener "Streets Of Calcutta" has been covered several times (most recently by Japanese wizards Kikagaku Moyo) and is still regarded as an east/west hybrid manifesto. Ananda Shankar (December 11, 1942 - March 26, 1999) was an Indian musician, singer, and composer best known for fusing Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to dancer and choreographer Tanusree Shankar. In the late 1960s, Shankar travelled to Los Angeles, where he played with many contemporary musicians including Jimi Hendrix. There he was signed to Reprise Records and released his first album, Ananda Shankar, in 1970, with original Indian classical material alongside sitar-based cover versions of popular hits, The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and The Doors' "Light My Fire". Returning to India in the early 1970s, Shankar continued to experiment musically and in 1975 released his most critically acclaimed album, Ananda Shankar And his Music, a jazz-funk mix of Eastern sitar, Western rock guitar, tabla, mridangam, drums, and Moog synthesizers.
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LIFE 024LP
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Reissue, originally released in 1970. Terrific session originally licensed on Japanese indie label Nivico in 1970. Recorded at Victor Studio, Aoyama, Tokyo on September 11, the album is the essential work of four wicked minds. Saxophone player Steve Marcus has been cutting his teeth in late sixties with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra, while Miroslav Vitous was the former bass player in jazz-rock pioneers Weather Report. Sonny Sharrock is still considered one of the most original players in creative music, his guitar playing almost as cutting edge as the tenor of his mentor Pharaoh Sanders. The man has been for several years in Herbie Mann band, while collaborating with the likes of Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter. Drummer Daniel Humair is another extraordinary profile, the Swiss musician has been covering the post-bop and avant-garde area collaborating with the likes of John Surman, Henri Texier, and George Gruntz. Hereby a single appointment that made history, navigating the realms of free-funk, hard-bop, and fire music.
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LIFE 023LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of the third album by Japanese rock band Flower Travellin' Band, Made In Japan, originally released in 1972. After meeting Lighthouse at the Expo '70 festival in Osaka, Flower Travellin' Band were invited to visit Canada. While there, the group recorded Made In Japan with Lighthouse keyboardist Paul Hoffert helping produce. Due to George Wada becoming ill with tuberculosis, Canadian drummer Paul DeLong plays on some tracks on this album. The lyrics were written by Yoko Nomura, the wife of the band's manager, who translated conversations she had with the group and their ideas into English. "Heaven and Hell" was written by Yamanaka in Japanese and she translated it. The song "Hiroshima" is a re-imagining of "Satori Part III" from their previous album Satori (1971). The introductory first track is an advertisement for a concert at Stanley Park Stadium by Flower Travellin' Band, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Bob Seger, and Teegarden & Van Winkle, with a clip of "Lucky Man" playing in the background.
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LIFE 025LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of Rich Versus Roach, a 1959 studio album by drummers Buddy Rich and Max Roach with their respective bands of the time. The album is mixed with each of the two bands in a different stereo channel. Two musical geniuses here at work and there is no clear winner. If you listen very closely to the artistries of the two great drummers, this album is very interesting. This legendary meeting was truly a battle of the drummers! Though the set's a very unusual one for Buddy -- as the group here features players normally associated with Max Roach -- bring in some great solo moments when needed! Rich also brings a few of his key men to the set, too -- including Phil Woods on alto and Willie Dennis on trombone -- on titles that include "Sleep", "The Casbah", "Limehouse Blues", and "Big Foot". Buddy Rich band: Buddy Rich - drums, percussion; Phil Woods - alto saxophone; Willie Dennis - trombone; Phil Leshin - double bass; John Bunch - piano. Max Roach: Max Roach - drums; Stanley Turrentine - tenor saxophone; Julian Priester - trombone; Tommy Turrentine - trumpet; Bobby Boswell - double bass.
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LIFE 022LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of Joe Chambers's The Almoravid, originally released in 1974. Terrific session just released on influential independent Muse. A modal masterpiece verging on spiritual jazz with a series of excellent players: from Richard Davis and Cecil McBee on bass to Ray Mantilla on congas and percussion, through Harold Vick's distinctive flute and tenor sax. The major voice on this record belongs to the traps of Joe Chambers. The enormous potency combined with complete authority and tonal clarity that Chambers brings to the drums has made him one of the more distinctive percussive voices in jazz.
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LIFE 016LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of The Mops' Psychedelic Sounds In Japan, originally released in 1968. Welcomed re-issue of this sough-after Japanese masterpiece, just released during the 1968 turmoil. The Mops are one of Japan's best known "group sounds" bands, particularly noted for their psychedelic period. The group was founded in 1966 by high school friends Mikiharu Suzuki (drums), Taro Miyuki (guitar), Masaru Hoshi (lead guitar), and Kaoru Murakami (bass), playing mostly instrumental rock. Their debut album is still considered a cornerstone of the so-called proto-garage revolution. Their flower-power is revealed through a cosmic artwork, ethnic clothing, fuzz guitars and sitar playing. The album includes covers of the Airplane's hits "Someone To Love" and "White Rabbit", the Doors' "Light My Fire", the Animals' "San Franciscan Nights" and "Inside Looking Out", as well as the Mops theme song "I Am Just A Mops".
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LIFE 013LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of The Beat Of The Earth's The Electronic Hole, originally released in 1970. Second album from the cultish experimental jam band formed in 1967 in Orange County, California. Their second effort from 1970 -- The Electronic Hole -- takes a step away from their earlier work, being composed with definite song structures versus the earlier drawn-out freeform jams. Sounding much like a west-coast version of The Velvet Underground & Nico, the album has melodic motifs but is much more primitive and mysterious than its cousin, with loads of fuzz, haunting organ, Phil Pearlman vocals, and even some sitar, acoustic strumming, and ballad-like moments ("Love Will Find A Way, Part I"). The album includes even a wild cover of Frank Zappa's "Trouble Every Day". Had the story ended here it would have been a real tragedy, as Pearlman's finest hour was yet to come. Six years later (with who knows what in between), recording commenced on the majestic Relatively Clean Rivers album with an entirely new band and musical vision.
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LIFE 021LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of Haki R. Madhubuti's Rise Vision Comin, originally released in 1976. A breathtaking self-conscious free-jazz masterwork, Rise Vision Comin summarizes more than 30 years of musical and theoretical/political expression from renowned activist/scholar/free-jazz pioneer Haki R. Standing on the verge of spiritual jazz aesthetic, his music remains timeless and unforgettable after its longstanding creation. The first album by the group NATION Afrikan Liberation Art Ensemble, Rise Vision Comin was released in 1976, and features among others Wallace Roney on trumpet, Clarence Seay on bass, and Agyei Akoto on saxophone who also served as creative director. It features nine tracks with the title track, "Rise, Vision, Comin" a great example of the adhesive comradery between instrumentation and Madhubuti's spoken-word.
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LIFE 019LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of Johnny Rae's Afro-Jazz Septet's Herbie Mann's African Suite, originally released in 1959. Impressive session led jointly by Herbie Mann and John Rae. On side A, the group incessantly shifts from soft vibes-and-flute jazz to percussion-heavy Afro-Cuban rhythms to classic Blue Note hard bop. Side B is the "African Suite", a percussive trip across the Sahara. Personnel: Herbie Mann (flute, bass clarinet); Johnny Rae (vibes); Bob Corwin (piano); Jack Six (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums); Carlos Patato Valdés, Victor Pantoja (conga); José Mangual (bongo). Recorded in New York City, 1959.
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LIFE 020LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of the Herbie Mann Nonet's Flute, Brass, Vibes & Percussion, originally released in 1961. In 1959, flutist Herbie Mann put together a very interesting band that was in its brief existence (before Mann's interests shifted elsewhere) one of the top in Afro-Cuban jazz. Utilizing four trumpets (including Doc Cheatham), up to three percussionists and a flute-vibes-bass-drums quartet, Mann performs four standards (including "Dearly Beloved", "I'll Remember April", and "Autumn Leaves") and two originals in a style that was beyond bop and much more African- and Cuban-oriented. Personnel: Herbie Mann (flute, bass clarinet); Johnny Rae (vibes); Nabil Knobby Totah (bass); Rudy Collins (drums); Ray Mantilla (conga drums); Ray Barretto (bongos); Plus, trumpet section: Doc Cheatham, Siggy Schatz, Jerome Kail, and Leo Ball. Recorded in New York City, 1959.
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LIFE 017LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of Barbara & Ernie's Prelude To..., originally released in 1971. Barbara & Ernie's only release is a complex combination of soul, folk rock, and late '60s psychedelia. The constant use of electric sitars, funk leaning bass e multi-layered vocals offers a different take on contemporary pop music, approaching several jazz and world influence. Soul singer Barbara Massey and jazz guitarist Ernie Calabria paired up for this rare 1971 album. With Calabria having worked with Nina Simone and Harry Belafonte, among others, and Massey having sung backup for artists including Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, and Herbie Hancock, the pairing was an inspired one and resulted in this superb soul-jazz outing. Massey has a dry yet passionate and evocative vocal quality that often brings to mind Grace Slick. Fittingly, the duo takes on Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love", turning the "Summer of Love" anthem into a steamy and hypnotic soul-funk jam. Elsewhere, the duo touches upon such varying styles as folk, Latin, and psychedelic rock with cuts like "For You" and "Do You Know", bringing to mind such similarly inclined acts as the Free Design and Bill Withers.
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LIFE 006LP
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Tin Pan Alley is the name given to a collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Flower District of Manhattan. Haruomi Hosono (Apryl Fool, Happy End, Yellow Magic Orchestra), Masataka Matsutoya (music producer, arranger, keyboard player and composer married to popstar Yumi Arai), Shigeru Suzuki (also guitarist in Happy End) and drummer Tatsuo Hayashi (later on in fusion prog-bands such as Aragon and Parachute) took the name for granted. Their 1975 self-titled debut is still one of the most sophisticated venture in the so-called city pop scene.
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LIFE 018LP
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Life Goes On Records present a reissue of Fred Katz's Folk Songs For Far Out, originally released in 1959. "Folk cellist Fred Katz is best remembered as a sideman with the Chico Hamilton Quintet, Paul Horn, and Pete Rugolo, though on this famous, long unavailable record of his own, he serves as conductor and arranger rather than player. Folk Songs For Far Out Folk consists of his tantalizing, imaginative adaptations of African, Hebrew, and American folk tunes. The musical cast varies with each group of selections. The three African songs, highlighted by the explosive 'Mate'ka', include trumpeters Pete Candoli, Don Fagerquist, and Irving Goodman, with a six-man percussion section that features Larry Bunker and Nat King Cole sideman Jack Costanzo. Four American songs include treatment of 'Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child' that alternates between brooding and upbeat cool, with vibraphonist Gene Estes, pianist Johnny Williams, and guitarist Billy Bean lending a hand. The two Hebrew songs focus on reeds exclusively (excepting Mel Pollen's bass). The playful setting of 'Ray's Nigun' showcases Justin Gordon on bass clarinet with Paul Horn and Buddy Collette providing whimsical accompaniment on flutes." --AllMusic.
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LIFE 009LP
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Jazz Sahara is the debut album by double bassist and oud player Ahmed Abdul-Malik featuring performances recorded in late 1958 and originally released on the Riverside label.
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