Decca Schallplatten & CDs

Review: It's the late 1950s and modernism reigns. The fires of World War II have been extinguished, leaving behind scorched earth, half-ruined cities, and a firm focus on looking ahead to a better world. How little they knew. From this Cold War setting, wherein the lines between good and bad appear deceptively clear, a new form of jazz begins to emerge. Smooth, cool, and unarguably inviting, Miles Davis was among the greatest proponents of the 'modal' movement - whereby long, linear melodic movements were favoured over the nervous energy and tension of what had come before. The legendary trumpeter, bandleader and composer gave us a lot of landmark sounds, and his score to the Louis Malle film, Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud, isn't one of the best known. Nevertheless, it defines everything that was great and timeless about the iconic brass man.

Review: Legendary UK label Decca is busy reissuing some of the most distinctive British jazz albums ever made. Here comes another one that has had a full remaster job before being pressed to heavyweight wax and housed in an even heavier weight sleeve. Don Rendell was in no uncertain terms a towering figure in British modern jazz for more than 50 years. He was not only there when the genre evolved into what it is today, but was driving that evolution with his masterful playing and compositional skills as part of this famous quintet. New liner notes are also included in this stone cold classic reissue.

Review: Le Onde is an album from 1996 that marked the solo debut for piano virtuoso Ludovico Einaudi. Upon its original release, the album came with a quote from the artist that said if it was a story "it would be set on the seafront of a long beach. A beach without beginning and without end. The story of a man who walks along this shore and perhaps never meets anyone." What that means is that it's a meditative work that sends you into deep contemplation as you're lost in his soaring melodies and moving chords. This reissue is presented by Decca on limited gatefold grey marbled vinyl across four sides.

Review: Released in 1964, groundbreaking hard bop classic Breaking Point! marked a departure for trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard. Having established himself with The Jazz Messengers, this album showed him breaking out as a player with some daring and expressive playing that went full tilt into modal sequences and rapid fire notes that shook up the state of play and showed new possibilities for jazz as the 60s progressed. In its position between wild experimentation and tradition, it retains musical form which makes the edgier angles go down very smoothly indeed. You can see why this would be a candidate for Decca's Tone Poet series - Hubbard's expression has rarely been matched, in composition or execution.

Review: Bobby Hutcherson was one of the greatest vibraphone and marimba players in jazz, and he left behind a staggering legacy. By 1965 he was already recording his first album as bandleader for Blue Note, and just three years later he recorded Stick-Up!, his fifth for the label and one of his all time finest. Decca clearly agree as they now present the album again in their Tone Poet series. Backing Hutcherson up is Joe Henderson on tenor sax, McCoy Turner on piano, Billy Higgins on drums and Herbie Lewis on bass, and in that ensemble you get a golden example of post bop perfection.

Review: Milt Jackson was a legendary jazz vibraphonist who performed and recorded extensively with The Modern Jazz Quartet as well as working as a sideman with many of the greats throughout his life. This compilation, originally released on Blue Note, went through a variety of iterations originally starting out as Wizard of the Vibes in 1952 before getting an update in '55 as Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet. As well as the dazzling music, the cover design was the first Reid Miles completed for Blue Note, marking the start of an iconic meeting between music and graphics which remains influential to this day.

Review: Director Max Kestner's documentary film portrait Copenhagen Dreams is a tribute to the Danish capital. That also happened to be the place acclaimed composer Johann Johannsson was living at the time he was asked to score the movie. As always he does so with real aplomb and devastating emotionality. This now classic soundtrack features celestial keyboard sounds, emotive string quartets, clarinet, subtle electronic and plenty of melodic magic that both swells and breaks the heart. Academy Award winner Hildur Gudnadottir plays on the soundtrack with various other of Johann's favourite Icelandic talents.

Review: Punctuation aside, The Rolling Stones set a precedent with Get Yer Ya Ya's Out. At the time, concert albums were still something of a novel ideal, but when the iconic British rock 'n' rollers unleashed this it proved to the industry just how much people wanted on-stage magic captured for posterity. The first live record to hit number one in the UK charts, it was recorded at shows in New York City and Baltimore in 1969, just ahead of the landmark Let It Bleed LP arriving. It also proves the power of a bootleg, with an unofficial record, Live'r Then You'll Ever Be, reportedly persuading the band's then-label, Decca, to cash in on the clear demand for the group's exceptional live show, on vinyl. Captured on their first tour with Mick Taylor, Brian Jones having left, it presents the outfit as they sounded at the very top of their game - energetic, rule breaking, and packed with the soul of blues six stringers.

Review: .Blue Note's Tone Poet looks back in the legendary jazz label's archives all the way to 1965 for this next reissue, which has been produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes and comes in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. Sonny Clark was one of the most swinging pianists of his era. He hit Blue Note in 1957 with three albums in quick succession in just three months. The six-song set of the sublime Sonny Clarke Trip is one of them and with its bebop themes and standards features bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones.

Review: Erik Truffaz is a master of cinematic funk and jazz fusions sounds and now after the first entry, Roll, here comes a second part of his cinema stories series. He once again repeats the trick of subbing in his own images for those conjured up by the original soundtracks. Movie director Bruno Nuyten described the project thusly, "beyond the memories of the films that are mentioned, Erik Truffaz's interpretation opens the imagination to other films that have never been made". He's damn right and the sis another superb LP.

Review: Ken Wheeler was a musician who was more than well schooled in the conventions of charts and dance bands. But for this project he cut loose and show a more improvisational skill and free will to go off-grid It's his debut album and was recorded with the John Dankworth Orchestra featuring a young John McLaughlin on guitar, Dave Holland on bass and various other talents who all helped make this such a fine example of modern jazz, big band and orchestral styles. Tunes like 'Propheticape' swell and build to tune peaks before all energy is dissipated and the trumpet is left to rebuild. 'Altisidora' is more quiet and subtle with oboes and gelt percussion setting the mood. 'Bachelor Sam' is a wandering wonder. Lovely.

Review: For many people, the wait for the latest Bond movie to finally be released after long Covid delays has been excruciating. But for a certain group of us, the soundtrack will always be more anticipated, especially when it is by a modern great like Hans Zimmer. On this one, the masterful composer captures all the glamour, danger, high drama, class and suspense you would expect, but all in his own unique way. Johnny Marr, who is also the featured guitarist on the album, helps with the score and of course Billie Eilish's electrifying title track 'No Time To Die' also makes the cut.

Review: For many people, the wait for the latest Bond movie to finally be released after long Covid delays has been excruciating. But for a certain group of us, the soundtrack will always be more anticipated, especially when it is by a modern great like Hans Zimmer. On this one, the masterful composer captures all the glamour, danger, high drama, class and suspense you would expect, but all in his own unique way. Johnny Marr, who is also the featured guitarist on the album, helps with the score and of course Billie Eilish's electrifying title track 'No Time To Die' also makes the cut.