Jazz / Fusion LPs

I use the Record Collector standard to grade my records – as below:

M is ONLY for reissues / new releases
M- is a pretty much unplayed record for me – any obvious signs that a record has been played and I usually downgrade to an EX+
EX+ is a very strong grade for me – just showing some signs of being played but no noise / cue burn / crackle / styrene burn at all.
VG+ is for records that have obviously seen some wear and have had a good few plays and may even have light intro crackle but play very, very well.
VG is for records with quite a bit of wear and surface markings and some noise / crackle but still a very good player
VG- is my lowest grade and VG- records for me are in bad shape – lots of sound quality deterioration and many, many surface marks – not nice.

All media links are directly underneath each item in red – just hover your mouse over the link and when it turns blue click on it and it will take you directly to the YouTube page or my own soundfile / scan.

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Henri Guedon ‘Afro Blue’ (Le Chant Du Monde / France / 1982 / Ex/M-) £20 £10

( Up to this man’s usual standards in general but the BIG track for me is his Bop-happy version of ‘Afro Blue’ here – a real, old-fashioned workout…..absolutely brilliant with big brass and loadsa clever tempo changes – actually, his piano style reminds me a lot of Dollar Brand…strong Afro vibes all over this one…..no YT of this one available yet so here below is Henri’s killer ‘Ritmo Moderno’ track to give you a flava of the man’s talent… )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHha2ODWe3g

Chico Hamilton ‘El Chico’ (ABC-Impulse (gatefold) / USA / 1965 / Ex+/M-) £8 £4

( 1980s repress for this big Chico H LP…with the marvellous ‘Conquistadores’ tune – as sampled by the geniuses that were De La Soul…lovely condition and a top LP….)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq1VYjiiwuU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n1Xj_X-inw

Eddie Henderson ‘Mahal’ (Capitol / USA / 1978 / Ex+/Ex+) £10 £5

( More legendary funky-fusion from the golden age – EH was a master in this genre too…it’s all about ‘Cyclops’ here but EH’s take on Herbie’s ‘Butterfly’ here is also magic…guy’s trumpet playing was up there with Miles at this point, believe DAT…..Herbie and the Headhunters ALL present and correct in the backing band here…still in shrink –  barely ever been played… )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SskYg8sd5IY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JFidKVqzeo

Shake Keane ‘That’s The Noise’ (Ace Of Clubs / UK / 1967 / VG/VG) £8 £4

( Sadly – this ain’t clean…sleeve is grubby / tired and vinyl is marked / scuffed / slightly noisy BUT plays just fine all thru…most of this guy’s work centred around Jazz-centric cover versions of big tunes of the day but sometimes it was his own stuff that was better and ‘Fidel’ from here is just beautiful…almost Modal in tempo and instantly grabs your attention with some great work on the flugelhorn from SK himself…killer cut…sadly no YT clip for this tune exists yet so here’s Shake’s ace version of ‘Green Onions’ instead.. )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUD–89CcZg

The Knut Kieswetter Train ‘Stop! Watch! And Listen!’ (MPS (gatefold) / Germany / 1970 / Ex+/M-) £50 £25

( 99% unplayed copy of this ‘German Jazz-Funk’ gem – despite this guy’s rather unfortunate first name (don’t try and pronounce it after a few steins, eh!) this is very, very tough to find nowadays, even in Germany…amazing line-up actually – Dieter Reith, Sahib Shihab, Ack Van Royen, Kenny Clare, Leo Wright etc etc – killer Club cut on here called ‘Roll On The Left Side’ which was HUGE in the UK back in the early-90s…’Work Song’ on here is also great – beautiful piece – just a joy to have it….condition is stunning, folks… )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-e6fkCoas0

Alphonse Mouzon ‘Mind Transplant’ (Blue Note / USA / 1975 / Ex/Ex+) £12 £6

( Love this kinda ‘Cosmic Funky-Fusion’ that Blue Note were issuing during the 1974 -1977-ish period – stuff like Gene Harris, Donald Byrd etc etc – great area of music, almost P-Funk in many ways…loadsa MOOGs, synths, clavs, vocoders etc etc – genius studio fiddlings…I’ve personally never had this LP before – it’s still in it’s shrink and appears barely played to me… still in shrink but with a bit of tape to seams which looks easily removeable…’Golden Rainbows’ on Side 2 is MY jam….pure trippery and long, waves of grooviness…take the trip with me….AP on all skins and keys…title track is also just stunning… )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyEeELJPbGk

Mark Murphy ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (Muse / USA / 1987 / Ex+/M-) £8 £4

( Promo copy of yet another nice LP from MM and one of the few of his I’ve never had before…this guy’s phrasing is just up there with the best and – like all of the greats – he could literally sing the telephone directory and make it sound good……..the title track here is just stunning – Mark’s voice just sounds SO in control and gorgeous…lovely, lovely stuff…immaculate copy…’Effendi’ on here is also total quality… )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffdtTCt8ls0

Kenny Rankin ‘Like A Seed’ (Little David / USA / 1972 / VG/VG+) £8 £4

( Slightly ruff copy so priced/graded sensibly – sleeve has ringwear and wax is a bit scuffed – pretty minimal… first copy in ages… with ‘Like A Seed’ , ‘Comin’ Down’ etc etc – cool LP on Kenny….man was GOOD… )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHngxawo0oQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYbwzBg9dMo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPU62dg0mcc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC3qNRa71fw

Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson ‘It’s Your World’ (Arista (gatefold) / UK / 1976 / Ex/Ex+) £30 £15

( ‘The Bottle’ (live) , ‘It’s Your World’ , ‘Home Is Where The Hatred Is’ etc etc – what more can ya say? Stunning copy here – minor wear to sleeve, vinyls pretty much A-1…very fair price here… )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaiFd9YQzEc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bujlRZNPh_E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPwnvcxcGrQ

Ramon Tavernier ‘Panpipe In Jazz’ (Electrecord / Rumania / 1975 / Ex/VG+) £75 £40

( RARE Euro piece – not had/seen one of these in about 9/10 years now…wow!! 2 outstanding tracks here for me ‘Non-Stop’ and ‘De-Or Teece Annii’ – lovely sounds…very, very hard to source in Europe…now we’ve heard it all, right? Panpipes playing funky Jazz – you’ll be telling me next that there’s an LP of Bagpipe jazz, or Harp jazz even…!! Sleeve is pretty fragile as nearly all Rumanian (paper) LP sleeves are but has survived pretty well – the vinyl has a few scuffs / marks but also plays well above grade….’Popas’ and ‘Zig-Zag’ also caught my attentions today…nutty, madcap Jazz LP… )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvS_DDzYP3o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4M3pIXLDRk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6e2rONa_uY

Michael Urbaniak ‘Ecstasy’ (Marlin / USA / 1978 / VG+/Ex+) £10 £5

( Staying behind the Iron Curtain a little while longer for this wild Fusion LP from everybody’s favourite electric violinist…trippy as hell and especially off-the-wall on the highly-sonic version of Deneice Williams ‘Free’ – great, great version…’French Kiss’ also very, very nice…a-typical of the sorta stuff coming outta many West Coast studios at this time…pure self-indulgence……dog eared corner hence VG+ sleeve grade but vinyl is close to immaculate…nice one…. )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_NXXKTRncw&feature=fvst

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll3lMGApGtY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQrQsnPCgUM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWU6NvrSei0&feature=fvst