Free Classic Album

Back in the late 1960s, Free was just one of hundreds of blues-based bands that grew up under the shadow of the Rolling Stones and, later, Cream. Like Fleetwood Mac, Free came together with a little help from those twin founders of the British blues boom–John Mayall and Alexis Korner–and like Led Zeppelin, they hit lucky–and big–early on…

Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One is the eighth studio album by The Kinks, one of the most influential rock acts of all time, and was recorded and released in 1970. A concept album, it is a satirical appraisal of the music industry, including song publishers, unions, the press, accountants, business managers, and life on the road. This classic album appeared during a transitional period for the Kinks, and was a critical and commercial success. 50th anniversary Digipack CD release contains the original album new remaster from original HD master tapes plus alternate mono track versions and two new Ray Davies mixes. Features the hit singles Lola and Apeman. Produced in association with The Kinks, with audio and visual content curated by Ray Davies.

Sonny Rollins - Our Man In Jazz (1962) {Classic Compact Discs 24 Karat Gold CD LSPCD-2612}
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© 1962, 1995 RCA / BMG / Classic Compact Discs | 24 Karat Gold CD / Special Edition | LSPCD-2612
Jazz / Post Bop / Hard Bop / Free Improvisation / Saxophone

Our Man in Jazz is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded for the RCA Victor label, featuring July 1962 performances by Rollins with Don Cherry, Bob Cranshaw, and Billy Higgins. These performances have been described as contrasting from Rollins' previous style by moving to "very long free-form fancies, swaggering and impetuous".

Benny Golson - Free (1962) {Chess Reissue GRD-816 rel 1998}
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© 1960-62, 1998 Chess / MCA / GRP | GRD-816
Jazz / Hard Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone

This 1998 CD reissues tenor-saxophonist Benny Golson's excellent Free album of 1962 plus seven of the ten selections from his Take A Number From 1 To 10 project of 1960. Although one wishes that both sets could have been reissued in full (the CD is just 62 minutes long), it is a joy to have Free available again. Golson's last album as a leader in which he plays in his Don Byas/Lucky Thompson style (he would soon become a fulltime arranger and, by the time he led his next playing date in 1977, Golson's sound was quite a bit different) finds him in top form.

Miles Davis - Free Trade Hall Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (1960) {2CD Magnetic MRCD 102/3}
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© 1960 Magnetic Records | MRCD 102/3
Jazz / Modal Music / Hard Bop / Trumpet

A rare 1960 appearance by the Miles Davis quintet in England! Featuring Sonny Stitt, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers & Jimmy Cobb. Includes the concert at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, on September 27, 1960 in its integrity. Stitt plays alto saxophone on "All of You," "Well, You Needn't," "Autumn Leaves," and "The Theme." He plays tenor on the remaining tunes unless indicated otherwise.

Listen to the very first cut on Freefall and you'll understand the basic problem with the Alvin Lee Band: the track is a nice piece of mid-tempo rock, rather catchy, but is Alvin Lee in there anywhere? Repeated listenings reveal that he might be singing background vocals, and that guitar lead sounds like a slick studio player who listened to a few Ten Years After records one afternoon. From the sound of the whole track, the rest of the band had been listening to Foreigner. Not everything on this album is as anonymous as the first track, and some of it sounds pretty good. This band probably should have been called the Lee/Gould band, as former Rare Bird vocalist Steve Gould has at least as much to do with the sound of the band on those first few tracks.

John Zorn - The Classic Guide To Strategy, Volume 4 (2016) {Tzadik TZ 8349}
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© 2016 Tzadik | TZ 8349 | Tzadik Archival Series
Jazz / Avant-Garde / Free Improvisation / Real-Time Improvisation / Alto Saxophone

After over 40 years there is still no one who plays the sax quite like John Zorn. Using the instrument as sound maker, he commands a saxophone language of unmatched versatility. Collected under the enigmatic title of “The Classic Guide to Strategy,” five volumes were planned—“Volume 1” (1983), “Volume 2’ (1986), “Volume 3’ (2003) and now the penultimate “Volume 4” is finally made available on Tzadik. Filled with wit, drama, playfulness and intensity, the composer’s legendary virtuosity and powerful improvisational logic is on full display in this astonishing release recorded at EMPAC in early 2013. You have to hear it to believe it!