“… you will never find a superior version. This is IT.” So reads the text introducing Blue Note’s acclaimed Tone Poet series of essential jazz titles. Those who […]
Jazz
Before you start reading this (too late), check out this drum solo from by Roy Haynes, who died Tuesday at 99. It’s a solo from 1966 when he […]
Listen to the bassist’s new album for International Anthem while reading a brilliant Tiffany Ng essay on curation. “As we grow accustomed to the convenience of shuffling a […]
The Way Out of Easy is out November 22 on International Anthem. Join us for a special listening event on October 28th at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ. The […]
Words don’t need to introduce a lovely piece of recorded music. Sometimes, as below, the best curtain-raiser is the thing itself. That’s American choreographer, dancer, actress and educator […]
About 18 months before sitting down at a famously subpar Steinway in Cologne, Germany for his lauded solo album The Köln Concert, Keith Jarrett embarked on his second […]
In conversation with Small Medium Large, a new quintet from the burgeoning new West Coast jazz & improvised music scene. In 2018, LA-based jazz and post-rock guitarist Jeff […]
After a short break, we return with an expanded set of Now Sound favorites. New music continues to be a major focus for us here at In Sheep’s […]
10 Selects from Todd Rundgren pulled from a 1997 Japanese music research book on Todd Rundgren. I recently picked up a Japanese music book titled Todd Rundgren – […]
The Oklahoma City-born, Los Angeles-raised horn player Don Cherry has been consuming a lot of research and turntable time over the past few months, at least in this […]
Bei Ru is an LA-based producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist who’s collected vinyl records for years. His collection mirrors elements of his releases, characterized by a fusion of […]
Step into one of the oldest standing jazz kissas in Japan. Founded in 1933 by a 20-year old jazz lover named Mamoru Yoshida, Jazz Cafe Chigusa in Yokohama […]
British pianist/keyboardist Greg Foat has been releasing records at a steady clip since 2011, when he and his Greg Foat Group connected with UK label Jazzman Records for […]
Eilon Paz shares five selects from John Abercrombie, Cannonball Adderley, Kutiman, Quincy Jones, and King Britt. Eilon Paz is a publisher, photographer, collector, selector, and the eyes and […]
Those fortunate enough to have seen the brilliant jazz pianist Austin Peralta before his heart wrenching death in 2011 at 22 understand the bittersweet thrills of listening to […]
To truly appreciate our conversation below with the brilliant Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas, you should get a sense of the artist’s approach to his instrument. The video at […]
It’s safe to say that few record labels have been as sampled as Blue Note. The classic New York jazz label, which was founded by Alfred Leon and […]
Piano-cello duo Salenta + Topu share five favorites ahead of their live performance this Friday at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ. “Two old souls creating music not of this […]
Join us this Friday at Sound & Vision for a listening party and solo performance from Anenon aka Brian Allen Simon. Anenon is the ongoing solo studio and […]
Feel like watching an A+ drummer let loose? On Friday, British musician Yussef Dayes released the second in a series of live sets, Live in Malibu, to streaming […]
ISC NYC will feature Hancock’s classic records during today’s dedicated listening session. It’s been a little more than 40 years since keyboardist Herbie Hancock, searching for new sounds […]
Turn up the volume on a newly discovered take on the Christmas classic, recorded at the Village Gate with Eric Dolphy. Did you know that “Greensleeves,” a song […]
“One night in a Japanese jazz kissa changed music listening for me forever.” Every now and then, a listening session turns into something more. You lose yourself for […]
Her new album, There is only love and fear, is driven by what she calls ‘messy minimalism.’ You should go deep with the percussionist Bex Burch’s new album, […]
Daniel Villarreal’s Lados B is out now on International Anthem. Panama-born, Chicago-based percussionist Daniel Villarreal’s new album, Lados B, is powered by a mere three players — him, […]
The late composer co-founded “a kind of musical version of the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, with every entry registering like a report from some farflung orbital station.“ […]
So much Zorn! The Tzadik Records catalog is now available on streaming… Last week, more than 25 years after it launched, the crucial New York label Tzadik released […]
Josh Dibb aka Deakin shares five favorites with us in celebration of Animal Collective’s new album. Animal Collective’s Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, and Geologist meet genius producer […]
Our friend Sam Wilkes shares some favorites w/ personal write-ups on each pick… You could be forgiven for scratching your head at news that the Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist […]
Brilliant Corners’ Aneesh will be playing the Sound of Make Believe party this Saturday, September 23rd! Aneesh, along with his brother Amit, are founders and owner of the […]
Inside the Harvest Time Project, an ambitious archival initiative created for Pharoah Sanders’ website, is a simple story about the birth of ‘Love Will Find a Way,’ the […]
John Carroll Kirby continues to expand the world of his Huell Howser-inspired travelogue series. John Carroll Kirby has been keeping busy this past year. Since we hosted him […]
Many deep listeners and hi-fi heads have been inculcated into the Church of Spiritual Jazz through prominent disciples including Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra, all travelers […]
Join us for a dedicated listening session today 2-5pm at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC. As we continue our opening days at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC, we thought we’d […]
The Akron-based “Lemon friends” have a new album coming soon on London’s Last Resort. In Akron, Ohio, four friends get together every Tuesday with gas station snacks and […]
Ever the explorer, the British folk guitarist and songwriter carved a singular path, mixing jazz, dub and Echoplex textures. Few testimonials carry more weight than that of the […]
Planet Q is available for pre-order now via In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi Selects and Pure Person Press! To explore and absorb Planet Q, the new record by artists […]
Munich-based Mongolian singer Enji Erkhem expands her sound with an international quintet. Following up on her amazing 2021 album Ursgal, Mongolian singer Enji Erkhem dives further inward on […]
Join our ECM Dedicated Listening at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC today from 3-7pm! On Monday at our new location in Lower Manhattan, we’ll officially resume our regular programming […]
A breathtaking new vinyl version of John Coltrane’s ‘Coltrane’s Sound’ comes to the market. Over the past five years, a growing number of specialized labels or sublabels have […]
Phi-Psonics sophomore album ‘Octava’ is out now via Matthew Halsall‘s Gondwana Records. Longtime friends of In Sheep’s Clothing, Phi-Psonics is a rising jazz group from Los Angeles, led […]
Don’t miss Eli Winter this Sunday, June 25th at the Lodge Room in Highland Park. Over the past half-decade, the Houston-born, Chicago-based instrumental guitarist and writer Eli Winter […]
Ally O’Neil chats with jazz legend Azar Lawrence. Los Angeles saxophone player Azar Lawrence is known for his work with McCoy Tyner and Miles Davis, but that just […]
Listen to one of the great jazz quartets from the CD era. The 1990s will never be known as a decade of great jazz. An era in which […]
Recent favorites from Chicago, Brooklyn, New Zealand, Basque, Amsterdam, Munich, Tokyo, and Sweden. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As […]
The jazz supergroup features Benji B, Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, and more. The new double album London Brew was originally slated to be a 50th anniversary ode to […]
In 1964 as the Beatles were going viral among the kids and remaking youth culture along the way, Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy were ferrying the adults to […]
The long out-of-print holy grail private press album is finally being reissued on vinyl. One of the best parts of being a music freak is having your brain chemistry forever […]
John Jones in conversation with South of North founder Dominik Rodemann. I was first introduced to the Amsterdam-based label South of North by way of their 2018 debut […]
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. A Chance For Peace. Soul And Soledad. The Universal Truth. Today marks the historic return of one of our all-time favorite independent […]
The massive set features new music by Nick Cave, Blake Mills, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Seu Jorge, Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes and dozens more Listen to the birds. That’s […]
Recent ISC favorites from Malmö, Kingston, Newcastle, London, and Los Angeles. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks […]
Ecoustics’ Eric Pye takes a look at a few of the most prominent audiophile jazz labels around. A big bone of contention in audiophile circles is which stage […]
Essential new music from the great Jeff Parker… Starting in 2018, LA-based guitarist Jeff Parker set up camp at the Enfield Tennis Academy in Highland Park for an […]
A deep dive into Albert Ayler’s classic free jazz composition “Ghosts.” Three years before the great free jazz tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler was found dead in the East […]
Sun Ra improvising on a Prophet VS synthesizer in 1986? Pump it straight into our veins. In the summer of that year while in Boston with his band, […]
A collection of interviews with the late great “Astral Traveler,” Pharoah Sanders. This weekend the world lost a giant. Pharoah Sanders, whose singular approach to composition and performance […]
Explore some of Impulse! Records’ latest releases ahead of our in-store listening party 5-7pm tonight. Some logos hold a special kind of power. Even design elements – color […]
A potent alchemy of texture and rhythm akin to ‘My Life in the Bush of Ghosts’ or early Material albums. During the spring of 1984 in a semi-rural […]
Fly or Die. Rest in peace jaimie branch. Like the rest of the world, Tuesday afternoon turned dark for us as news broke that trumpeter, bandleader, and composer […]
Our good friend Lauren Fay returns with the second edition of her summer heat playlist series! The 1st summer installment was Island in the Sun. Consider this sequel: […]
It’s been almost two decades since Sun Ra, the enigmatic artist who reported Saturn as his birthplace, left our planet and yet – the cosmic jazz pioneer’s Afrofuturist […]
A ‘straight ahead’ mix from Naffi’s Brenda Ray including an unreleased track titled “As Time Passes By.” There are many pathways into the world of Brenda Kenny a.k.a. […]
30-minutes of pure cosmic joy and wonder from Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Arkestra. By 1972, Sun Ra had firmly established his Arkestra as a formidable presence on […]
The great Miles Davis delivers a heartbreaking performance of Cyndi Lauper’s pop classic. In 1985, the “king of cool” Miles Davis released You’re Under Arrest, a collection of […]
Though criminally underrated as a player, jazz pianist Marian McPartland served a crucial role in facilitating conversations with geniuses. As the host of Piano Jazz, an hour-long interview […]
No one interpreted classics like her. Here are five great ones. When it comes to adapting other writers’ songs, there’s Nina Simone, and everyone else. Raised as a […]
Watch the first part of a two-part doc portrait of the unorthodox Jazz piano great, featuring live performances at the Village Vanguard and intimate BTS footage of 1967 […]
The genius keyboardist’s jazz-funk band was on fire – and a pro film crew captured the moment. In 1973, a restless Herbie Hancock, fresh from his cosmically free […]
Tana Yonas speaks to the great Hailu Mergia before his June 24th performance at The Regent, Los Angeles. Haliu Mergia’s story started in an unassuming small village just […]
A living legend and one of the all-time great sonic explorers, Bill Laswell, needs our help. It is no exaggeration to say that we are huge fans of […]
The journey of a beat from Nigeria to New York to Paris to ‘New York – U.S.A.’ Long before he established a reputation as a clever songwriter who […]
Before he died at 44 in 1998, the brilliant experimental player was a central figure in ‘80s and ‘90s New York avant-jazz scene. Next year will mark the […]
Crates LA is back for another record pop-up this Saturday 1-7pm at In Sheep’s Clothing Records. In anticipation of the record sale this Saturday, Crates LA has sent […]
The Mermaid’s Purse captures a brilliant group of uncategorizable musical explorers. Core member Wall Matthews recalls their work. To best introduce the work of the Entourage Music and […]
Pino, Blake, and Sam’s ‘Live at Sound City’ is out today via ISC Hi-Fi Selects. Generations apart, Pino Palladino, Blake Mills, and Sam Gendel are in many ways […]
With her recent signing to Nonesuch, the MacArthur-winning musician flexes her creative muscles. At this point the electric guitar has been around long enough that, stylistically, it sometimes […]
An overview of one of the greatest drummers you’ve (likely) never heard. Let’s talk about Susie Ibarra, perhaps the greatest percussionist you’ve never heard. Across three-plus decades, the […]
Recent favorites from New York, Detroit, Akron, and Ukraine. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks who read […]
Brilliant footage of the Miles Davis Quintet at peak power. Between Feb. 1969 and Feb. 1970, Miles Davis released eight albums. Near the tail end of that amazing […]
In Sheep’s Clothing announces the first edition of our ISC Hi-FI Selects series. Back in 2018, Pino Palladino, Blake Mills, and Sam Gendel played one of the first […]
The prolific head of Tzadik’s sublime work mixes jazz, Hebrew melodies and genre-bending beauty. In 1995, the New York composer, saxophonist and visionary John Zorn embarked on a […]
Archie Shepp, Jack J, Troth, Psychic TV, and more selects from In Sheep’s Clothing. Hello friends… It seems a dark cloud is forming just as a bit of […]
John Jones chats with Lifted’s Andrew Field-Pickering (Max D) and Matt Papich. Lifted is an ever-shifting music ensemble anchored by their two founding members, Andrew Field-Pickering (Max D) […]
Instrumental magic from the Chicago underground. Though it’s always been a crucial music center, in the past half-decade a bunch of Chicago avant-jazz players have been commanding the […]
In celebration of his 82nd birthday today, here is a retrospective on Eberhard Weber, the eminent bass innovator, ECM mainstay, and ISC favorite. It’s hard to define the […]
Quiet reflection and pensive sounds to ease you through the winter. Hey friends, how have you been? It’s been a cold winter (not just the weather) even in […]
The great Jeff Parker shares five diverse selections from psychedelic jazz to visionary hip-hop. Jeff Parker is a musician that deals in many worlds. Equally adept at soloing […]
Art Don’t Sleep’s jazz series is back at The Lodge Room on March 13 with The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. If you’re a jazz fan in Los Angeles, […]
Part 3 of our series highlighting hidden gems from your local record store’s bargain bin. In the record collecting community, there’s an idea that to build a great […]
“A fusion of sounds.” More selections from the Armenian Diaspora (1971-1982). Darone Sassounian is an Armenian-American DJ, selector, and producer in Los Angeles who spent three years tracking […]
An eclectic selection of new favorites from Séance Centre, Warp Records, Club Romantico, Nothing But Net, and Into The Light Records. Each week the global listening community gets […]
Haunted jazz, voodoo dub, devil’s dance, and ghostly guitars. What makes a song spooky? Does the spook come from particular melodies or instruments – eerie synthesizers, ghostly strings, […]
The Promises saga continues with new behind the scenes footage released by Luaka Bop. From the very first notes of Promises, it’s clear that something magical is about […]
For our next Art & Design: In Focus feature, we take a look at iconic New York free jazz label, Impulse! When Creed Taylor launched Impulse! Records in […]
Better late than never… A new playlist from all of us at In Sheep’s Clothing. Oh my October has creeped up on us! Apologies for the missing September […]
Younge hosted the last night of the ISC residency at Neuehouse, and this ARTFORM video shows a glimpse of his world and way of thinking. The In Sheep’s […]
Recent reissues and new releases shared by your friends at In Sheep’s Clothing. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As […]
Five new releases we’re extremely excited about. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks who read these missives […]
New Tara Clerkin Trio, spiritual free jazz, Chinese dreamscapes, and more of that “Now Sound” selected by the team behind In Sheep’s Clothing. Each week the global listening […]
Hey friends! Somehow we’re still here and still listening. We hope you are too <3 Here’s some music we’ve been listening to this past month. This month’s playlist […]
Amaro Freitas’ spiritual quest into the forgotten stories, philosophies and figures of Black Brazil. The Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas drew the title of his exquisite new jazz trio […]
The team behind In Sheep’s Clothing is very much looking forward to hosting a night of music tomorrow from English-Nigerian chanteuse Sade. “Make Some Room” bookends the second […]
Smiling C shares an intimate documentary on Mexican experimental jazz artist Germán Bringas. For the past few years, the Santa Cruz-based archival project (and one of our absolute […]
Contemplating summer with moody guitars, sunset electronics, and vanishing ambience. Hello friends! It’s been over a full month since we’ve started our dedicated listening residency at Neuehouse. Apologies […]
The newly formed Fresh Hold imprint teams up with fellow Melbourne-based label Efficient Space to present a long-lost jazz grail. Michael Kucyk’s always reliable Efficient Space has teamed […]
Watch a brand new colorized version of this iconic performance filmed in Liège, Belgium. There is something enrapturing about black and white film and photography, in that it […]
Maximalist experimental jazz from four heroes of the genre. For eight years starting in 1986, the searing free jazz quartet of Sonny Sharrock (electric guitar), Peter Brötzmann (sax), […]
Thousand-year-old Mongolian music traditions meet folk and jazz on Squama Recordings’ latest. An undeniable magic inhabits the melodies and sounds of our youth. Lullabies, folk songs, the music of […]
A deep dive on our favorite dollar bin jazz man, aka the professor of cool, and a selection of essential songs from his decades-spanning career. When you’re in […]
Shared listening selections from ISC staff including tracks from Melody as Truth, Harold Budd, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and more! Hello friends! We’re back with another staff listening playlist […]
Charles Lloyd and Keith Jarrett push jazz into new territories on Jazz Casual. Ralph Gleason’s TV show Jazz Casual featured some of the most entertaining jazz recordings of […]
Was Rahsaan Roland Kirk the coolest person who ever lived? Rahsaan Roland Kirk unapologetically rode the edge of absurdity his entire life and regularly left audiences gobsmacked in […]
Take a look inside Chokuritsu Enjin, a small, strictly jazz bar named after Mingus’ Pithecanthropus Erectus. Via Chasing the Sun Moments, a documentary travel series telling stories from […]
During a rare heatwave in San Francisco, Bola Sete and the Vince Guaraldi trio give an equally sweltering performance. It wouldn’t be too far of stretch to say […]
Exploring the vast catalog of jazz records pressed in Japan with a selection of our favorite OBI’s. If you have records in your collection with an OBI, you […]
A beautiful portrait of the magnetic artist and educator who played with Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, and many others. Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean is a true […]
Step into the studio with Ornette Coleman and his Trio. Ornette Coleman’s 1959 breakout record The Shape of Jazz to Come legitimized free jazz and lit the match […]
Shared listening selections from ISC staff including tracks from Music from Memory, Joe Zawinul, Selda Bağcan, and more! Hello friends! Excited to announce that we’re bringing back our […]
Third Side Music has announced their signing of tenor sax legend Pharoah Sanders to a worldwide deal. Some more incredible Pharoah Sanders news… Following the release of his […]
Our favorite rarities from the queen of smooth soul jazz and one of the most iconic singers from the 1980s and 1990s, Sade. Born in Ibadan, Nigeria to […]
Fish scales. Video Stores. Jazz. The multi-layered world of Munich-based label Squama Recordings. Martin Brugger is a producer and bass player for the modern jazz quintet Fazer. Max […]
A look into the genius singer-songwriter who explored northern soul, “new folk sounds” and jazz, while always flying just below the radar. Terry Callier seemed destined to play […]
This thirty-minute Monk performance reminds us why we love and miss live jazz. For music lovers that have been starved of concerts and gigs for over a year […]
Tana Yonas speaks to Blue Note’s Joe Harley on his history with jazz and the upcoming releases in their Tone Poet hi-fi series. Blue Note’s recent Tone Poet […]
A new full length-album from G.S. Schray arrives March 5th on Last Resort. We’ve been closely following Akron musician G.S. Schray ever since his album Gabriel was released […]
The final segment of The Broad’s three-part video series dedicated to the famed New York City artist is available now. Time Decorated: The Musical Influences of Jean-Michel Basquiat […]
Filmmaker Robert Mugge profiles Sun Ra, jazz musician, bandleader and self-styled poet and philosopher. “They say that history repeats itself. But history is only his story. You haven’t […]
From Sun Ra to Lena Platonos, here is a selection of songs featuring words not sung but spoken.
Here’s a rare 2.5 hour recording of Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band live at the Strata Concert Gallery in Detroit. The performance opens with an incredible rendition of “Hidden […]
Celebrating 50 years of Mwandishi with a retrospective on the albums beyond the group’s legendary trilogy. Herbie Hancock’s electronics-heavy free jazz group Mwandishi has in recent years attained […]
“Some of the sounds that filled the abode of James Baldwin in St. Paulde-Vence, a town in the south of France. These songs document the vinyl records left […]
Jazz’s evolution over the decades has begat a series of subgenres: be-bop, post-bop, free-jazz, spiritual jazz and fusion, to name a few. But by the end of the […]
New documentary shows how six African American women – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – changed American culture. American Masters: How […]
Revisiting one of our favorite labels with Aquarium Drunkard’s excellent three part ‘Guide to ECM’ series. To celebrate the anniversary of our ECM Listening Party with Aquarium Drunkard, […]
Essential lockdown viewing and the perfect gateway into “cool jazz” legend Chet Baker. Let’s Get Lost, Bruce Weber’s monochromatic masterpiece on “cool jazz” great Chet Baker, is a […]
Happy Holidays! Here’s a second helping of ISC playlists. Compiled by our newest staff member Tana Yonas, More Christmas Sounds focuses on festive jazz, funk, and soul classics […]
