Finally we are more than happy to announce this Pharoah Sanders 7" for this year's RecordStoreDay release!

This limited-edition Japanese radio edit single of gHarvest Time / Love Will Find a
Wayh is a complement to Pharoah Sandersf seminal album from 1977 Pharoah,
which was recently re-released for the first time since its original pressing, in a
deluxe 2 LP box set (Luaka Bop, Fall 2023).
At times ambient and serene, at others funky and modal, Pharoah has long been
a holy grail for collectors, seen as one of the artistfs most beloved records and
one of the great works of the 20th century. Released after forty-five years with
Pharoahfs blessing, MOJO (ššššš) called it gan ethereal masterpiece,h Pitchfork
(8.9) deemed it gunearthly magic,h and The New York Times (Critics Pick) said that
Pharoah gbeckoned the Gods on the intimate Pharoah.h
Included here are two unreleased radio edits of gHarvest Timeh and gLove Will
Find a Wayh.packaged in a limited, eye-catching Japanese sleeve exclusively for
Record Store Day, pressed on Black Power Black vinyl.

ƒgƒ‰ƒbƒNƒŠƒXƒg
A. Harvest Time (ŽûŠnŽžŠú . Radio Edit)
B. Love Will Find a Way (ƒ‰ƒ”EƒEƒBƒ‹Eƒtƒ@ƒCƒ“ƒhEƒAE
ƒEƒFƒC. Radio Edit)

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With Pharoah Sanders’ blessing, we present the definitive, remastered version of PHAROAH, his seminal record from 1977, in an embossed 2 LP box set. Alongside the original record, we’re including two previously unreleased live performances of his masterpiece, “Harvest Time," and a 24-page booklet with rarely seen photographs and ephemera, which tell the story of this album and this moment in Pharoah’s life in a way that has never been done before—including through interviews with many of the participants and a conversation with Pharoah himself.

For those of you who already know this record, then you know that its origin story is as elusive as Pharoah was about everything Pharoah. It was born out of a misunderstanding between him and the India Navigation producer Bob Cummins, and was recorded when he was at a crossroads in his career with an unlikely crew. Among them was a guitarist who was also a spiritual guru, an organist who would go on to co-write and produce “The Message,” and a classically trained pianist—his wife at the time, Bedria Sanders—who played the harmonium despite never having seen one. At times ambient and serene, at others funky and modal, PHAROAH radically departed from his earlier work. And it became beloved.



Tracklist:

Pharoah

A1. Harvest Time
B1. Love Will Find a Way
B2. Memories of Edith Johnson

Harvest Time Live 1977

C1. Harvest Time Live – Version 1
D1. Harvest Time Live – Version 2

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Alongside a remastered version of PHAROAH, his seminal record from 1977, this 2 CD box set includes two previously unreleased live performances of his masterpiece, “Harvest Time." Includes a 70-page booklet with rarely seen photographs and interviews with many of the participants, as well as a conversation with Pharoah himself.


Tracklist:

Pharoah

1. Harvest Time
2. Love Will Find a Way
3. Memories of Edith Johnson

Harvest Time Live 1977

1. Harvest Time Live – Version 1
2. Harvest Time Live – Version 2

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This is tenor sax giant Pharoah Sanders caught live in France in summer 1971, when the man was still in full post-Coltrane mood. At the head of a strong quintet featuring: Lonnie Liston Smith - piano, Cecil McBee - bass, Jimmy Hopps - drums, and Lawrence Killian - congas, Pharoah delivers two very intense yet serene versions of his milestone piece "The Creator Has A Master Plan" and "Let Us Go In The House Of The Lord", a traditional gospel hymn arranged by Lonnie Liston Smith. This is deep spiritual music kissed by the sun of a splendid southern France summer.

Tracklist:

Side A
The Creator Has A Master Plan (Pharoah Sanders, Leon Thomas) 21:35

Side B
Let Us Go In The House Of The Lord (Traditional, arr. Lonnie Liston Smith) 25:24

Line up:

Pharoah Sanders (tenor sax)
Lonnie Liston Smith (piano)
Cecil McBee (bass)
Jimmy Hopps (drums)
Lawrence Killian (congas)

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Australian Michael Ozone, currently operating out of Melbourne, is an artist embodying the purest form of absurdist energy. This debut offering, is but of a fraction of the entertainment we can expect as his career zig-zags forward. "Perfect Systems" is a tuff native track based on the idea of man-made tools, technology and borrowed languages. Imagine failed cities overtaken by jungle life as you're swallowed by this utopian island groove. A not-so-distant relative on side-b, "Hetrotopia" leads us on a nomadic journey, exploring vast new landscapes and uncharted territories. References to New Beat and Horror soundtracks are apparent, but no matter what fantasies we infer from Ozone's music, his talent for crafting such fiction is a welcome addition to the ESP institute

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Last year's acclaimed Sea Power & Change EP, a melancholic project from the mind of celebrated Portuguese powerhouse Tiago, is now revisited through the lens of three essential ESP Institute artists. Side A gives us a take on Strange Fruit by our heroes Soft Rocks — a smacked up dub/boogie rendition leaving the beautifully dark mood intact whilst twisting the the rhythms toward the tough side. On side B, Secret Circuit (Eddie Ruscha of Laughing Light of Plenty, and soon to release his solo release for ESP) stuffs Wild Combination in his saddle and takes us for a ride through a futuristic version of the Wild West with a funky bassline and distant whistles, only to be rounded out by a blissed-out epic re-rendering of Yesterday Is Gone by Somberero Galaxy's Jonny Nash. Its a family affair.

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BBE Music continues its highly acclaimed J Jazz Masterclass Series with Kemo Sabe, the debut album from pianist Masao Nakajima. Recorded in 1979 on Yupiteru Records, it’s an elusive beast in the field of J Jazz and balances delicate and refined playing with power and vigour.


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Repress!

In February 2021, Jan Jelinek's seminal album "Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records" turned 20. The anniversary repress, a double LP with two bonus tracks (B-sides from the Tendency EP, 2000), is a little late to the party.

What the press said about Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records:

“Don’t be misled by the title, though for there isn’t a finger-snapping rhythm c bebop lead anywhere on the album. Instead, Jelinek chooses to explore the visual effect moiré - two shifting patterns creating an implied third dimension - in the audio realm.” (Alternative Press)

“The title acts as explanation for the studio technique that provided the basis for this album, snippets of other people’s arrangements deconstructed through a sampler into loops and then splashed onto an audio canvas.” (ATM)

“Jelinek’s sound evolved out of his dislike for (and inability to play) keyboards.” (RPM)

“Jelinek has abstracted his sources beyond recognition, looping his millisecond samples into flickering patterns of sonic moiré laid atop a dub Techno framework. (...) Jelinek might as well have sampled a horn player’s hissing intake of breath – it would have been ‘jazz’ enough for his purposes.“ (The Wire)

“It’s a perfect inversion of conventional music, a sonic negative. Everything that would typically be foreground is moved back or pushed off the screen altogether, and the flecks of sonic debris that would normally be covered by other sounds are left to carry the melody and rhythm.” (Pitchfork)

“All you need to know is that these onomatopoeic non-specific songs (...) are warm, paradisical creations”. (NME)

“Listen carefully and you’ll hear textures slowly unfolding and mutating. Presuming you’ve not fallen asleep of course.” (iDJ)

“At times, it’s all a bit dripping tap Japanese water torture; so sedentary it drowns in its own motionlessness” (DJ)

“Loop Finding Jazz Records' is a genuine modern classic whose re-release is anything but a cynical mortgage repayment exercise. Consider this a second chance, then pretend you had it all along.” (Boomkat)

PS:

“I’ve been fortunate enough to see Jan Jelinek live once, at Tonic NYC (...). Wearing a black and white striped shirt, he looked like a nihilistic Charlie Brown.” (beachsloth)

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Research Records indicate their inclination for cosmic instrumentation and kraut pervaded polyrhythms once again with an introduction to newcomer Glass Beams. Recorded at the beginning of 2020, Mirage is the first release from the artist, issuing four compositions that lend from a profusion of sounds and influences. The album's opener and title Mirage arrives with a coiling vocal mantra that conspires with a sliding bassline and transcendent synthwork, reminiscent of early 70's prog jams yet inverted and futuristic. Taurus is a brisk arrangement, steeped with spaghetti-western elements and space-jazz to pave the way for the agile Kong. Rife with psych-fusion guitar phrases and instrumentation, Kong unfolds like a forecast lysergic voyage. The finale Rattlesnake nudges the serpent with intergalactic scales and spellbinding riffs. We may not know much about the enigmatic Glass Beams but Mirage is one epic inauguration, leaving the listener with more questions than answers.

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Chicago's TUGBOAT EDITS drops this killer 2 track 7" from SOUL SUPREME (AKA LOVE'S HIGH) featuring two used to be hip hop now boogie disco jams. Def! You may have seen him flip these cuts on ISTAGRAM now TUGBOAT has flipped 'em on wax. Don't sleep on these jazzy, instrumental hip hop boogie gems!

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At the start of the 60s, a new wave of gospel-influenced jazz started to emerge, with hits such as Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' "Moanin'" and Cannonball Adderley's "Work Song" epitomizing this evolution in the genre. The terms "soul jazz" and "funky jazz" were coined as a way to describe this new sound that was making an impact in the US and also on the other sides of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.In 1964, Ray Charles made his first visit to Japan. Then, in 1968, Martha & The Vandellas and Stevie Wonder set foot in the country, followed by Sam & Dave in 1969, Ike & Tina Turner in 1970, and B.B. King in 1971. The TV show "Soul Train" also began airing in Japan in the early 1970s. A watershed moment happened in 1973 when Sammy Davis Jr. was cast in a TV commercial for Suntory whisky — and the influence of the US Black entertainment world had really landed, with soul, jazz, and funk artists becoming household names.Nippon Columbia played a pivotal role during this turning point. The company had contracts with Buddah Records and Blue Thumb Records, releasing notable works by artists such as Gladys Knight & The Pips, Curtis Mayfield, The Crusaders, and The Pointer Sisters. At the same time, the label was also releasing several Japanese soul, jazz, and funk projects under the lead of music director Jiro Inagaki. Inagaki, a saxophonist who began his professional career in the early 1950s, honed his skills at U.S. military camps, where he shared his love of music with the Black servicemen. In the 1960s, he played with drummer Hideo Shiraki's band, which was widely considered to be Japan's representative group of the funky jazz movement. Later, Inagaki went on to pursue more cutting-edge sounds with his Soul Media project, including being a pioneering figure in the "jazz rock" genre. By working closely with Inagaki and his various musical projects, Nippon Columbia really placed the company at the center of an exciting and important period in Japanese music.In 1965, Nippon Columbia opened a recording studio in Tokyo's Akasaka neighborhood. Akasaka was also home to the first ever discotheque in Japan, the legendary MUGEN, which ran from 1968 to 1987 and where many acts performed, including Con Funk Shun, the Bar-Kays, Ike & Tina Turner, B.B. King, Sam & Dave, Three Degrees, and Edwin Starr, as well as many local Japanese singers and musicians. This melting pot of creativity in the area led to the recording of many singles and albums by Japanese artists that were infused with the sounds of soul and funk. Most of these recordings were not available outside of Japan and remain rare and unknown musical gems. The selection you are holding in your hands is an explosive collection of 10 essential tracks released by the legendary Nippon Columbia label between 1969 and 1977, capturing the raw, unapparelled energy that was flowing through the air of the Akasaka streets at this electrifying time. Enjoy!

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Very little is known about the collective of musicians behind the SAULT project, but their music in many ways speaks for itself. Earlier in the year they delivered Untitled (Black Is), a heartfelt, angry and righteous set of soul, funk, drill and spoken word tracks that provided a brilliant commentary on what it means to be black in 2020. It's a contender for album of the year, for sure, and the good news is that this speedy follow-up is every bit as essential. It's undoubtedly more celebratory than its predecessor, but every bit as musically detailed, combining cutting-edge electronics and all manner of infectious rhythms with enlightening vocals and all manner of live jazz, soul, punk-funk and jazz-funk instrumentation (as well as some seriously evocative orchestration).

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