VA - A New Awakening - Adventures In British Jazz 1966-1971 (2025)

• 48-track box set celebrating an exciting, revolutionary time in British jazz when musical boundaries were stretched or ignored and new identities forged.

• With British jazz back in the news through genre stretching artists such as Ezra Collective and Shabaka Hutchings it’s a perfect time to rediscover this influential period in British jazz history.

• Featuring celebrated jazz figures such as Dick Morrissey, Tubby Hayes, Don Rendell, Ian Carr, Joe Harriott and Graham Collier alongside bands such as Colosseum, Satisfaction and Keef Hartley Band that merged jazz and rock.

This box set tells a story of British Jazz at a time of cultural change, a period of experimentation and transformation in music, from the swinging hard bop of The Dick Morrissey Quartet to the pioneering jazz rock fusion of Nucleus (featuring Ian Carr), If (who included Dick Morrissey) and Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express.

Key artists include The Dick Morrissey Quartet, The Don Rendell / Ian Carr Quintet, The Joe Harriott Double Quintet, The John Dankworth Orchestra, The Graham Bond Organization, The Mike Westbrook Concert Band, The Tubby Hayes Quartet, The Graham Collier Sextet, John McLaughlin, Nucleus, Brian Auger, Jack Bruce, If and Julie Driscoll.

British jaaz established its own distinct identity and this compilation shows the interaction between jazz and rock during the period covered. Fusions weren’t just made with rock though, the Indo-Jazz of The Joe Harriott Double Quintet with John Mayer blended Western jazz with Indian music and Georgie Fame mixed vocal jazz, R&B and pop, bringing him popularity in both clubs such as London’s The Flamingo and the pop charts. Progressive rock bands Jethro Tull and Spooky Tooth used single B sides to explore jazz, Tull’s ‘One For John Gee’ being named in tribute to The Marquee club’s jazz loving manager. Brian Auger and The Trinity, who made the charts in 1968 with Julie Driscoll, were rooted in jazz and their brilliant take on Herbie Hancock’s ‘Maiden Voyage’ is included here, while Affinity are captured live at legendary jazz club Ronnie Scott’s, with a take on The Beatles’ ‘A Day In The Life’.

Includes an introductory essay by Duncan Heining, Graham Collier biographer and author of Trad Dads, Dirty Boppers And Free Fusioneers: British Jazz 1960-1975, plus artist biogs provided by MOJO magazine’s Lois Wilson.