Each album newly remastered from the original master tapes. The set containing these five classic, influential John Coltrane albums: Africa/Brass (1961), Live At The Village Vanguard (1961), Coltrane (1962), Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (1962), Ballads (1962). If you like jazz and you don't own this then your a mug. Coltrane plays like a nutcase on this record. Coltrane is undoubtedly the scariest pair of lungs to ever touch a Sax. The whole album drags every emotion from your soul and creates something which will either make musicians hesitant to pick up their instruments or forever play with an unimaginable, inexplicable love for this insane thing called music.
First among many ensembles in different genres that have chosen the name Air, this trio specializing in collective improvisation grew directly from the membership of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Throughout 11 albums that appeared over a span of one dozen years this group operated in modes comparable to that of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and at times some of Albert Ayler's early trio realizations. Its inception occurred in 1971, when saxophonist Henry Threadgill agreed to fulfill a request from the theater department at Chicago's Columbia College to devise modern arrangements based upon ragtime compositions of Scott Joplin (a concept borne to fruition by Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams in 1976). Threadgill joined forces with bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall, and named the trio Reflection…
Audience was a London-based group that recorded their first album in 69 and had their eponymous debut pulled from the stores a few months after its release, which makes the album a major collectible (CD versions were also hard to come by until a recent reissue). They got signed by Tony Stratton-Smith of the Charisma label (Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator, The Nice and a few others) but although not a purely progressive group, they bore a lot of characteristics of the masters. Among which , a profound (and somewhat derangesome) singer whose voice reminds you a bit of Peter Hammill, a great wind players able to switch to from flutes to saxes and oboe and a bassist…
French TV is a Louisville, Kentucky based progressive rock band that has been in existence since 1983. Over the years, members have come and gone, but founder, bassist and main composer Mike Sary continues to drag the band into the next millennium. The band deftly nod to prog-masters like National Health, Soft Machine, Zappa, Brudford, Brand X, Happy the Man, and Samla Mammas Manna, among others. The history of French TV is complex, filled with lineup changes, missed opportunities, delays, and disillusions. And yet, a growing body of work testifies to one man's sagacity and stubbornness. Blending elements of progressive rock, fusion, cartoon music, and Rock in Opposition (RIO), the music of his group has been described as being "simultaneously hilarious and highly challenging, making it one of the most original American prog rock outfits."
Esoteric Recordings label is proud to announce the release of the very first 4CD collection of every album and single track recorded by the legendary Atomic Rooster between 1970-1974. Sleeping for Years is a clamshell boxed set anthologising all the recordings made by the band on the classic albums Atomic Rooster, Death Walks Behind You, In Hearing of Atomic Rooster, Made In England and Nice n’ Greasy and on such hit singles as Tomorrow Night and Devil’s Answer.
Atomic Rooster was formed by former Crazy World of Arthur Brown members Vincent Crane (Organ, Piano, Keyboards) and Carl Palmer (drums). Their self-titled first album was recorded in 1970 with Nick Graham on bass, vocals & flute, but the band soon splintered when Carl Palmer departed to join ELP…
This group from Norway is strongly evocative of King Crimson, Genesis, Gentle Giant along with newer symphonic prog bands like Anglagard and Anekdoten with a dash of Scandinavian folk and classical influences thrown into the mix.
Their albums contain long and complex tracks featuring lush, vintage keyboard sounds, making extensive use of Mellotron, Mini-Moog, Hammond C-3 and harpsichord, along with beautiful electric and acoustic guitar playing, a complex rhythm section along with flutes, recorder, saxophones, mandolins and various other instruments providing a very full, symphonic sound.
Highly recommended for fans of the early progressive greats and symphonic prog music.
Light Coorporation were formed as a five-piece Polish experimental ensemble (featuring guitar, fretless bass, drums, violin, baritone and alto sax, with guest keyboard and electronics) for shooting progressive rock blended with freely-improvised/avantgarde jazz. They say their performance combines music with projection of visual clips. The combination of Progressive music of the 70's with the Free Jazz & Avant-garde, ushers the audience into a unique climate of the band's music. In 2011 they've launched their debut release "Rare Dialect" via a renowned RIO distributor ReR Megacorp.
A UK rock combo Psychoyogi have been founded as an avantgarde/ jazz/Canterbury rock trio by Chris Ramsing (voices, guitar), Chris Sansom (bass), and Jonas Golland (drums, percussion) around 2010.
Psychoyogi's music is a diverse mixture of instrumental colours, melodies, and words. The songs present social and political critique alongside personal moments and moods. In the words of Mike O'Toole (Beat Magazine) "Their sound is unparalleled and cannot be categorised. It is a rejection of docile adherence to a single musical style".
In the early seventies, the British-American group Carmen broke new ground in rock music, combining the British flair for progressive rock with traditional Spanish folk themes into a very fresh, energetic and powerful new mix. The sound is centered around guitar, keyboards are used subtly but to good effect. On the whole, they are a rather hard band to describe… Some vague comparisons could be made to Jethro Tull, Mezquita (some of the Spanish themes), and Triana (the flamenco/prog combination).