Impulse Jazz | Fusion 51 Items

Shabaka Hutchings recently announced that he would give his bands Sons Of Kemet, Shabaka And The Ancestors and The Comet Is Coming, as well as his saxophone, a break for an unspecified period of time. His first solo album is a moving suite of primarily instrumental, meditative music that features Shabaka playing a variety of flutes. He invited artists such as Andre 3000, Lianne La Havas, Moses Sumney, Floating Points and others as guests. Shabaka plays Flutes, Clarinet and Shakuhachi.

1. End of Innocence
Jason Moran (Piano) , Nasheet Waits (Drums), Carlos Niño (Percussion)

2. As the Planets and the Stars Collapse
Brandee Younger (Harp), Charles Overton (Harp), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (Strings)

3. Insecurities
Moses Sumney (Vox), Charles Overton (Harp)

4. Managing my Breath, What Fear Had Become
Saul Williams (Vox), Charles Overton (Harp)

5. The Wounded Need to be Replenished
Nduduzo Makhathini (Piano), Surya Botofasina (Synthesizer), Carlos Niño (Percussion)

6. Body to Inhabit
Elucid (Vox), Brandee Younger (Harp), Charles Overton (Harp), Esperanza Spalding (Bass), Chris Scholar (Electronics)

7. I’ll Do Whatever You Want
Floating Points (Electronics), Laraaji (Vox), Tom Herbert (Bass), Dave Okumu (Guitar), Andre 3000 (Flute), Esperanza Spalding (Bass), Marcus Gilmore (Drums), Carlos Niño (Percussion)

8. Living
Eska (Vox), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (Strings), Brandee Younger (Harp), Charles Overton (Harp)

9. Breathing
Rajna Swaminathan (Mrudangam)

10. Kiss Me Before I Forget
Lianne La Havas (Vox), Jason Moran (Piano) , Nasheet Waits (Drums) , Carlos Nino (Percussion)

11. Song of the Motherland
Anum Lyapo (Vox), Charles Overton (Harp)

Kicking off what will be an Alice Coltrane year with more releases to come in the next 12 months, is a previously unreleased, killer live recording from 1971. Recorded live, by Impulse! at a charity gala given at Carnegie Hall for the benefit of the Integral Yoga Institute in 1971, this incredible set never saw commercial release until now. The gala concert was one of two halves with the first two transcendental tunes by Alice taken from the album she had just released on Impulse! and then two explosive tunes by her late husband John Coltrane. Naturally, la Coltrane/Dolphy at the Gate, which picked up the recent Grammy nomination for Best Liner Notes, the package includes some knockout editorial, with essays by Lauren Du Graf and Alice's producer Ed Michel

Indie only edition! Saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings has rocked the global jazz and club music scene with three bands: Sons Of Kemet, Shabaka And The Ancestors and his electro-jazz trio The Comet Is Coming with Danalogue (keyboards/electronics) and Betamax (drums), which now returns with its 2nd full length album on Impulse! Records. While still featuring elements of jazz throughout, the new album leans further into heavy dance-hall themes, providing hypnotic, electronic soundscapes.

Sons Of Kemet are born of many vital elements – including a name that nods to ancient Egyptian culture, and a line-up that comprises some of the most progressive 21st-century talents in British jazz and beyond. Band-leader/composer/sax/clarinet don Shabaka Hutchings (himself named after a Nubian pharaoh-philosopher) brings together his fiery vision alongside London-based bandmates Tom Skinner and Max Hallet (forming a dynamo duo on drums) and Theon Cross on tuba. On their third studio album, Your Queen Is a Reptile, they bring a genre defying approach which celebrates the restless exploration of identity within the Caribbean diaspora within the U.K. The collection was recorded in London with a host of guests spanning the breadth of the UK scene including jungle legend Congo Natty and poet Joshua Idehen.

"Brand New Life" is Brandee Younger's second album on Impulse! Records. Younger is quite often noted for standing on the shoulders of the very woman who ushered in the harp as a clear and distinct voice in jazz - particularly Dorothy Ashby. Having studied her life and music intensely, this would be accurate. As an artist, Brandee continues to bring new life to her work while simultaneously introducing a unique voice and seamlessly integrating contemporary genres that extend the instrument into yet a new life, breaking down barriers for future harpists to come.

The intersection of Younger’s identity through race, gender, and locale, offers her the unique experience of accessing the instrument within the richness of Black creative expression, culture, and community. This meaningful, contextual distinction is beautifully evident in Younger's music across every album and performance. Like her predecessors, Younger is a reflection of and commitment to the continuum of Black music.



Brandee Younger - Harp (and vocals on track 5)

Rashaan Carter - Bass / Makaya McCraven - Drums / Joel Ross - Vibraphone / DeSean Jones - Flute / Yuri Popowycz - Strings / Mumu Fresh - Vocals (Track 2) / Pete Rock - Drum Programming (Track 2) / Linda McNease-Younger - Vocals (Track 5) / Sharon McNease-Griggs - Vocals (Track 5) / Meshell Ndegeocello - Vocals (Track 8) / Junius Paul - Bass (Track 9) / 9th Wonder - Drum Programming Additional Production

Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda, named for her spiritual adviser Swami Satchidananda, is just that: a journey: one of transition and transcendence; it is one of emotion, and one of being human and of divine flow.



VERVE ACOUSTIC SOUNDS SERIES: Stereo, mastered fully analogue from the original tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, QPR pressing (180 g), firm tip-on gatefold (Stoughton Printing), padded inner sleeve.

These 1969 recordings (released 5 years later) combine Shepp’s free jazz bonafides and a blend of blues and funk through an African lens, all in a big band setting. The all-star brass section, featuring James Spaulding and Charles Davis on sax along with trombonist Graham Moncur III lead the way on stand outs including “New Africa” and “Spoo Pee Doo”.



This Verve By Request LP features transfers from analog tapes and remastered on 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Third Man in Detroit.

By 1970, pianist Ahmad Jamal's style had changed a bit since the 1950s, becoming denser and more adventurous while still retaining his musical identity and signature elegance. Jamal’s trio - bassist Jamil Nasser (whose double-timing lines are sometimes furious) and drummer Frank Gant, deliver intriguing performances, showing that Jamal was continuing to evolve.



This Verve By Request Series features a remastered transfer on 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Third Man in Detroit.

Pharoah Sanders’ third Impulse! album, 1969’s „Karma“, is a milestone of the Spiritual Jazz movement and a natural progression in the sonic exploration that Sanders, along with John and Alice Coltrane, had spearheaded over the previous five years. "The Creator Has a Master Plan", one of the two long tracks on the album, is as close as Spiritual Jazz comes to having its own anthem.



Verve Acoustic Sounds Series: Stereo, mastered fully analogue from the original tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, QPR pressing (180 g), firm tip-on gatefold (Stoughton Printing), padded inner sleeve.

Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda, named for her spiritual adviser Swami Satchidananda, is just that: a journey: one of transition and transcendence; it is one of emotion, and one of being human and of divine flow.

This 1967 set, recorded live at Boston’s Jazz Workshop, showcases virtuoso guitarist Szabó—a veteran of Chico Hamilton’s and Charles Lloyd’s bands—at the top of his game on a diverse program featuring standards (“What Is This Thing Called Love”) and pop hits (“The Beat Goes On”) as well as the original and psychedelic-tinged jam, “Space.”



Verve BY Request Series: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, gatefold sleeve.

This recording was made on November 5, 2007 at the Christuskirche in Mannheim, Germany, during the Enjoy Jazz Festival. It was on a Sunday, on September 19, 1993 to be exact, that Charlie Haden heard Brad Mehldau for the first time. Charlie and I were walking through the halls of the Hidden Valley Resort located in the Laurel Mountains in southwest Pennsylvania. The resort was sponsoring a jazz festival and Charlie had just finished an interview after which we needed to get back to the hotel room in order to prepare for Charlie’s sound-check and concert that night. As we hurried through the hall, one could hear, from behind the closed doors of the auditorium we passed, the sounds of a concert in progress,

Now, Charlie had the biggest ears of anyone in jazz, and while we were walking and talking, Charlie came to a sudden halt and said, “Shhh!"

His eyes opened wide as he crept to the door to listen. Someone was taking a solo. He said to me, "I have to go in and listen." We entered the auditorium and stood at the back to listen to the rest of the concert. It was Joshua Redman’s band with Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride and Brian Blade who, together, in 1994 recorded Joshua’s album Moodswing.

Once the concert was finished Charlie strode to the stage to greet the guys and to speak directly to the young pianist. It was Brad Mehldau who had taken that solo. They spoke for some time, and when Charlie came back to me, he said, “That pianist is brilliant. He is special, so unique.” Charlie would later go on to pronounce Brad one of the most important musicians of his generation because of his unique voice, his depth of knowledge of and facility on the instrument, and how he has moved the language of jazz forward.

Eventually, in 1996, Charlie found a way to bring Brad out to LA to perform with Lee Konitz and him at the Jazz Bakery. This led to a trio recording on Blue Note (1997) called Alone Together. In 2011, he and Brad recorded a live album with Lee Konitz, and Paul Motian for ECM called Live at Birdland. Brad and Charlie remained friends from the time of their first meeting. They had a special connection. In the early days, Charlie, in a sense, mentored this young pianist in life lessons. Personally, I think he saw a bit of himself in this young brilliant player.

The two musicians, however, had never had the chance to perform on stage in duo when, in 2007, Rainer Kern, the director of the Enjoy Jazz Festival in the Heidelberg region of Germany, invited Charlie and Brad to play a duet concert at a beautiful church, the Christuskirche in Mannheim. This was a rare opportunity for the two of them to have a musical dialogue and they both eagerly agreed. Rainer had asked to record the concert but the two artists said an emphatic, “No!” I, however, had a feeling about this concert and was able to talk the two musicians into relenting as Rainer graciously agreed to let us own the tapes. For contractual reasons regarding both musicians, the recording could not be released until now. Charlie listened to the tape often and dearly wanted to release it at some point. I am forever grateful to Rainer Kern for allowing us to record and own the work. As a result we have a dazzling testament to the interaction between two genius musicians: piano and bass, their brilliance resounding through the hallowed space of an art nouveau cathedral, recorded on November 5, 2007.

I must thank, first and foremost, Charlie Haden and Brad Mehldau for their transcendent performances and the devotion they show to the music. A special thanks to Brad Mehldau for being such a wonderful partner throughout this entire project. I must thank our friend, Rainer Kern for organizing this concert, and acknowledge the Enjoy Jazz Festival team for its support. Thank-you Jean-Philippe Allard for believing in the music and agreeing to release this recording on Universal Music, France. JP has been a great friend to Charlie’s music for many years.

It took a lot more people to make this recording happen as several parties had to agree thus many thanks to the hard work our lawyers put in to bring this project to fruition: Fred Ansis of Reed Smith LLP, Paul Bezilla of Fox Rothschild LLP, Valerie Foray and Christelle D’Almeida of Universal Music, Scott Southard and Tom Korkidis of IMN, Nanette Monton of Warner Bros. Records Inc, Bob Hurwitz, Nonesuch Records. Additional thanks to our friends, Farida Bachir, Jenny Defaut, Pascal Bod and Nicolas Pflug of Universal Music, France.

One of the most important aspects of recording is mixing and mastering. Charlie and I have worked with the recording engineer ,Jay Newland, for many years and he, again, worked his magic, bringing us the full experience of this live recording despite the inherent difficulties of such a recording taking place in an echo-resounding cathedral. Thank-you, Jay, for your incredible ears and skill. Many thanks to our mastering engineer, Mark Wilder of Battery Studios for his dedication to sound and his understanding that “Jazz is more than notes on a piece of paper.” Many thanks to Joe D’Ambrosio for facilitating the mixing and mastering process.

I need to mention the cover art. The painting was done by a friend of Charlie’s and mine, the Dutch-American painter, Luc Leestemaker who passed away in 2012. He had a timeless poetic style that Charlie and I really loved. Luc revered Charlie’s music, and we revered Luc’s paintings. We also used one of his paintings for the cover of Charlie’s album Land of the Sun. It feels good that Luc and Charlie get to do a project together again.

Charlie is gone now, and this recording was made “long ago and far away”, yet the music remains immediate. The music is now.

Ruth Cameron Haden, Los Angeles, California, July 2018

Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album is a studio album recorded by saxophonist John Coltrane for Impulse! Records that was first released in 2018. The recordings were made in 1963 during Coltrane's Classic Quartet period and were lost for decades.

Organist Gloria Coleman discovered drummer Pola Roberts and formed a female band with her. In 1963, the "Soul Sisters", joined by guitarist Grant Green and Leo Wright on saxophone recorded this satisfying and soulful album, unique in the Impulse catalog. Produced by Bob Thiele and recorded by Rudy Van Gelder.



Verve BY Request Series: remastered, audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing/Detroit, Single Sleeve.

The first of Sonny’s albums for Impulse!, this 1965 collection caught Rollins at the peak of his creative powers, and is arguably the tenor hero’s best for the label–an intense, freewheeling set, featuring classic takes on ‘On Green Dolphin Street’ and ‘Three Little Words’ in the company of Ray Bryant (piano), Walter Booker (bass) and Mickey Roker (drums).

Verve’s Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Unreleased recording form 1964!

Limited edition for Schwarzer Freitag Record Store Day 2018! Only 1 per customer!

Another friday dedicated to the black gold!