Nimbus West US Vinyl & CDs

Review: It would be fair to say that Dadisi Komolafe is not one of American jazz's better-known flautists, having appeared on just a handful of records in the early to mid 1980s. However, his sole album on Nimbus West Records, 1983's "Hassan's Walk", has long been a collector's item amongst serious jazz heads. Happily it has now been given the reissue treatment, with a re-mastering job that guarantees exquisite sound quality throughout. The album's standout moment is undoubtedly the 15-minute title track, where Komolafe's breezy, life-affirming and occasionally powerful flute solos rise above jaunty pianos, loose-limbed drums and memorable double bass. There's plenty to set the pulse racing elsewhere, though, with the vibraphone-sporting "Calvary" and Thelonious Monk cover "Round Midnight" standing out.

Review: Horace Tapscott founded the Pan African Peoples Arkestra in Los Angeles in 1961, foregrounding community and expressions for Black people and their arts. Across their considerable legacy, this live album is one of the Arkestra's standout moments and now it's finally being repressed. Scott's leadership guides the Arkestra on a journey through the most life-affirming spiritual jazz, fuelled by Afro-centric rhythms, meandering basslines and soaring flute and horn arrangements. Recorded at the Immanuel United Church of Christ in LA in 1979, this double album is a stunning document of Tapscott's project during a golden era for underground jazz.