Resonance releasing unissued live recordings by Joe Henderson, Yusef Lateef, Mal Waldron

Joe Henderson's Consonance 3LP set kicks off a series of Resonance releases from Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase club archives.

Here's the scoop...

UNISSUED JOE HENDERSON LIVE at JOE SEGAL'S JAZZ SHOWCASE in 1978! This is a major announcement for Resonance. Producer and Resonance co-president, Zev Feldman, began going through the massive tape archives of the legendary jazz impresario of Chicago, Joe Segal, back in 2011. Now, 15 years later, Resonance Records is launching a series of releases from Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase for Record Store Day (April 18, 2026) starting with Joe Henderson "Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase."

This is the first-ever release of saxophone titan Joe Henderson and his quartet featuring pianist Joanne Brackeen, bassist Steve Rodby and drummer Danny Spencer captured live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago, IL in February of 1978. The limited-edition 180-gram 3-LP (and 2-CD, out April 24th) set was mastered from the original tapes by engineer and Resonance founder George Klabin and Resonance general counsel and co-producer of this album, John Koenig, with lacquers cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, KS, and pressed at Quebec's boutique audiophile pressing plant Le Vinylist.

This is part of Resonance's debut launch of releases from Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase, marking the beginning of what will hopefully be a long line of incredible releases from the club's archives. The deluxe package includes newly curated liner notes by John Koenig, plus interviews with Joanne Brackeen, Steve Rodby, Danny Spencer, Joe Segal's son Wayne Segal and more. The striking cover photo was taken by Raymond Ross (CTSIMAGES), with design by Burton Yount.

JOE HENDERSON - CONSONANCE: LIVE AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE

A1 - Mr. P. C. (24:00)

B1 - Inner Urge (26:46)

C1 - Invitation (22:15)

C2 - Relaxin' at Camarillo (7:41)

D1 - Recorda Me (23:33)

E1 - 'Round Midnight (16:10)

E2 - Good Morning Heartache (9:30)

F1 - Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise (23:39)

F2 - Isotope (6:37)

• Resonance’s First Release from Joe Segal’s Extensive Archives Captures a Master at Full Stretch
• Limited-Edition 180 gram 3-LP package with liner notes by John Koenig, reflections by musicians on the album: Joanne Brackeen, Steve Rodby, Danny Spencer, plus Jazz Showcase owner Joe Segal’s son Wayne Segal
• Available Exclusively for Record Store Day on April 18, 2026
• 2000 vinyl copies

Some nights don’t just fade away after the last note has dissipated. They linger in the marrow, waiting for the right moment to be heard again. Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase is one of those nights. Recorded in February of 1978 at Joe Segal’s storied Jazz Showcase in Chicago, this newly unearthed performance captures saxophone titan Joe Henderson in bracing communion with a quartet that knew how to listen as hard as it played. Nearly five decades later, the music arrives as a revelation. It feels alive, active, and fiercely contemporary.

This limited-edition, 180-gram 3-LP set marks Resonance’s first-ever release from the Jazz Showcase archives, inaugurating a new chapter in producer Zev Feldman’s archival mission.

“Joe's archives comprise one of the greatest libraries of previously unissued jazz recordings in existence and we're very lucky that these documents were made and preserved,” says Feldman, who first discovered the treasure trove of recordings when he was introduced to Segal in 2011. The vinyl will be available for Record Store Day, April 18, 2026 with a 2-CD set to follow on April 24, what would have been Joe Segal’s 100th birthday.

Mastered from the original tapes by George Klabin and John Koenig, with lacquers cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, Kansas, and pressed at Quebec’s boutique audiophile plant Le Vinylist, Consonance brings Henderson’s sound into the room with startling presence.

By 1978, Henderson had long since secured his place in the pantheon of jazz royalty. But categorizing him by era misses the point. His greatness wasn’t static, and he had the rare ability to be of his time without being trapped by it, to absorb the currents around him and redirect them through a singular voice. On Consonance, Henderson stands at a crossroads — post-bop wisdom in one hand, a restless future in the other — testing the strength of melody and rhythm in real time.

The quartet is essential to that alchemy. Pianist Joanne Brackeen brings a crystalline intelligence to the music, her lines darting and doubling back with a logic that’s as emotional as it is analytical. Bassist Steve Rodby — years before his work with Pat Metheny would bring him wider acclaim — anchors the band with a deep, elastic pulse. Drummer Danny Spencer rounds out the group with propulsion and nuance, never crowding the space Henderson leaves open, but never letting it cool either. Together, they form a unit that thrives on risk, the kind of ensemble that understands the weight of the music.

Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase, the setting for this encounter, was no mere backdrop. It was a proving ground and a listening room where seriousness was a prerequisite and flash alone wouldn’t save you. Segal, a tireless advocate for the music, built a sanctuary for artists to stretch out and work through ideas in front of an audience that knew how to hold silence. The room’s intimacy sharpened the exchange between band and crowd, a feedback loop of concentration and release that’s palpable on tape.

Consonance is the sound of Henderson responding to that environment — probing, pressing, then laying back just enough to let the music breathe. His tenor carries that unmistakable mix of muscle and mercy: a burnished tone that can cut through steel, then soften into a whisper without losing authority. He phrases like someone telling the truth slowly, not leaving room for interruption. There’s urgency here, but also patience, and confidence that will give you everything.

The deluxe package deepens that story with newly curated liner notes by co-producer John Koenig, alongside interviews with Brackeen, Rodby, Spencer, and Wayne Segal, son of Joe Segal. Their reflections sketch a fuller portrait of the night and the ecosystem that made it possible: the trust between musicians, the discipline of the room, and the sense that something important could happen if everyone stayed present long enough.

For Brackeen, the date stands as a testament to Henderson’s generosity as a bandleader; his willingness to invite ideas rather than dictate them. Rodby recalls the elasticity of the set, how the music seemed to lengthen and contract in response to the moment. Spencer speaks to the balance required to drive the band without overwhelming it. And Wayne Segal situates the performance within his father’s lifelong commitment to creating space for artists to be fully themselves. These voices don’t annotate the music so much as echo it, extending the conversation across time.

Consonance feels especially vital now as it reframes Henderson as both a monument and collaborator. It reminds us that Henderson’s brilliance wasn’t just in his compositions or his résumé, but in his capacity to meet musicians where they were, and then push them somewhere new.

The sound quality honours the performance as well. Klabin and Koenig’s mastering preserves the dynamic range and tonal depth of the original tapes, while Lutthans’ lacquers translate that fidelity into a vinyl experience that rewards close listening. Le Vinylist’s pressing completes the chain with quiet surfaces and weighty presence, the kind that invites you to drop the needle and stay awhile.

As Resonance’s first release from the Jazz Showcase archives, Consonance sets a high bar and signals a future rich with possibility. These recordings are dispatched from rooms where the music was still being figured out, night by night. And to hear Henderson in that context is to understand jazz as a living practice that resists closure even as it accumulates history.

In the end, Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about the kind of continuity that resonates long after the last note fades. Through his work, Henderson asked questions with rigor and grace, and on this Chicago night in 1978, he found answers that still ring true. For listeners willing to meet the music on its own terms, the reward is profound: a front-row seat to a master at work, listening forward.

Yusef Lateef – Alight Upon The Lake: Live at The Jazz Showcase

A1 - The Untitled (28:04)

B1- Mutually Exclusive (14:20)

B2 - Eboness (13:02)

C1- Inside Atlantis (19:40)

C2 - I Remember Webster (8:18)

D1- Dunia (10:21)

D2 - Opus 1 & 2 (17:09)

E1 - Golden Goddess (13:44)

E2 - Straighten Up & Fly Right (13:37)

F1- Yusef's Mood (24:00)

• Limited-Edition 180 gram 3-LP package with liner notes by Lateef biographer Herb Boyd plus an interview with Bennie Maupin 
• Available Exclusively for Record Store Day on April 18, 2026
• 1800 vinyl copies

Alight Upon the Lake: Live at the Jazz Showcase is a previously unissued recording of woodwind multi-instrumentalist icon Yusef Lateef featuring pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Bob Cunningham and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath captured live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago, IL in June of 1975. The limited-edition 180g, 3-LP set was mastered from the original tapes by engineer Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, KS, and pressed at Quebec's boutique audiophile pressing plant Le Vinylist. The deluxe package includes newly curated liner notes by Lateef biographer Herb Boyd, plus interviews with woodwind master and Lateef mentee, Bennie Maupin, Joe Segal's son Wayne Segal and more.

Remembering jazz great Yusef Lateef on his birthday

Remembering saxophonist/flautist Yusef Lateef on his birthday with a few typically stellar European performances and more. 

Remembering Richard Tee on his birthday

Remembering pianist Richard Tee with a few performances with Stuff and a couple of his stellar studio sessions. 

Keyboardist Mike Nock talks jazz with Sounds Visual Radio

Forward-looking keyboardist Mike Nock, who played with Yusef Lateef and The Fourth Way, hasn't stopped exploring new sounds. 

Here's the scoop...

"The whole thing about jazz is self-expression...it's almost like a trance..." Episode 182 w/ MIKE NOCK is now available right here. 

Mike Nock is a widely respected New Zealand-born jazz pianist, currently based in Australia. Nock has played alongside artists like Yusef Lateef, Dionne Warwick, John Handy, and many others.

He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and began studying piano at 11. He attended Nelson College for one term in 1955. By the age of 18, he was performing in Australia. In Sydney he played in The Three Out trio with Freddy Logan and Chris Karan who toured England in 1961 before Nock left to attend Berklee College of Music.

He was a member of Yusef Lateef’s group from 1963 to 1965. During 1968–1970, Nock was involved with fusion, leading the Fourth Way band. The Fourth Way were early pioneers of electric jazz fusion, with Nock’s Fender Rhodes piano run through many mind-bending effects pedals including ring modulation. His 1971 MPS record, Between or Beyond, has become a cult classic of seventies jazz-funk.

After a few years, he became a studio musician in New York (1975–1985) and then returned to Australia.

His 1987 album Open Door with drummer Frank Gibson, Jr. was named that year’s Best Jazz Album in the New Zealand Music Awards.

In the 2003 New Year Honours, Nock was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to jazz. He currently lives in New South Wales where he taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music until 2018 and performs with his trio, big band, and various one-off ensembles. His compositions include orchestral music, woodwind / percussion ensembles, electronic / choral works etc., and have been recorded and performed by a range of jazz & non-jazz performers.

Yusef Lateef's Detroit concept album being recirculated for RSD

A bespoke limited-edition of Yusef Lateef's Detroit Latitude 42° 30′ Longitude 83° from '69 is being released on April 22. 

Here's the scoop...

Jet-setting UK DJ and Brownswood Recordings head honcho Gilles Peterson has dug deep into the Warner Music archives to uncover Yusef Lateef's  1969 concept album about his hometown, Detroit Latitude 42° 30′ Longitude 83° despite the fact that you can still find copies of the Joel Dorn-produced spiritual jazz swinger in second-hand shops selling for under $20. 

Of course, Arc Records' new bespoke version of Lateef's overlooked gem – remastered from the original analog tapes by audio engineer deluxe Bernie Grundman on 180 gram noir vinyl resplendently housed in a thick cardboard sleeve reproducing the original artwork with new liner notes by Dexter Gordon's widow Maxine Gordon – is clearly aimed at the deep-pocketed vinyl collector nouveau market who dare not frequent establishments that deal in previously owned recordings and typically restrict their purchases to Record Store Day events. 

With that specific target audience in mind, it makes perfect sense then that this new limited edition of Yusef Lateef's Detroit album will be strictly limited to 2000 copies and on sale for UK Record Store Day which is coming up on Saturday, April 22. Some British mail order sites are already listing copies at anywhere from £36 to £60 (that's $60 to $100 Canadian!) so when shipping costs are added, you can expect to pay a hefty sum here in North America. And once the opportunistic speculators get involved, who knows to what heights the price may soar at resale sites online. Or you could just keep an eye out for a considerably less pricey red label Atlantic original Canuck copy and support your local vinyl shop in the process. Wasn't that the purported reason for creating a "record store day" in the first place? Maybe not. 

Hopefully Peterson will turn up some harder-to-find artifacts for his Arc Records imprint in the future. Perhaps some previously unreleased material might be nice but even a lesser known private-press corker from the late 70s or early 80s – there's loads of great stuff waiting to be discovered – would be a more worthwhile pursuit for the entire vinyl eco-system than re-releasing an album that's already been reissued numerous times and is still widely available on vinyl and CD formats. 

For those interested in what Yusef Lateef himself had to say about his Detroit project, check out the Wax Poetics feature interview right here. Listen to a few tracks off the Detroit album below.    

 

Happy Birthday James Black!

Remembering New Orleans drummer/composer James Black with the Guardian of the Groove doc and some classic recordings.

Strut taps John Sinclair's jazz archives for Detroit Artists Workshop comp

The Detroit Artists Workshop 2LP set boasts rare gems from Yusef Lateef, Donald Byrd, Bennie Maupin, Lyman Woodard, etc.

Here's the scoop...

Strut and Art Yard present the culmination of a 5-year project researching the archives of author, DJ and activist John Sinclair with the first ever retrospective of the influential Detroit Artists Workshop spanning 1965 to 1981. 

“In the mid-‘60s, Detroit was nowhere,” explains Sinclair. “A decaying jazz scene, no community of poets, painters or writers so a group of young Detroit artists, most of us students at Wayne State University, got together in the late Summer of 1964.” Led by Sinclair and trumpeter Charles Moore, the Artists Workshop Society was formed as a co-operative community, drawing upon the resources of every participating individual in order to perpetuate itself. They began to provide spaces in Detroit for musicians to rehearse and to promote live concerts showcasing a range progressive jazz artists across the city. 

Between the mid-‘60s and the early ‘80s, Sinclair amassed a huge archive of recordings from the Workshop concerts featuring Detroit residents like Moore’s Contemporary 5, Ron English and Lyman Woodard alongside many other US jazz luminaries including Donald Byrd, Sun Ra Arkestra and Herbie Hancock. Dormant in the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Brooklyn for many years, Strut and Art Yard began their research into the archives in 2017. 

This first compilation of Detroit Artists Workshop is a revelation for any fan of jazz, featuring previously unreleased recordings by Byrd, Moore, English, Woodard, Bennie Maupin and Teddy Harris accompanied by extensive sleeve notes from John Sinclair, Robin Eichele and Herb Boyd. All tracks are remastered from the original tapes by Technology Works. 

Get a copy of the Detroit Artists Workshop compilation via Bandcamp right here. Listen to the Bennie Maupin Quartet perform "Water Torture" and Lyman Woodard's "Déjà Vu" below. 

Detroit Artists Workshop: Community, Jazz and Art in the Motor City, 1965-1981

A1. YUSEF LATEEF – HAPPYOLOGY 4.04 

A2. DONALD BYRD – CHRISTO REDENTOR 05:43

A3. DONALD BYRD – BLACKJACK 04:30

B1. DETROIT CONTEMPORARY 4 – EFFI 08:46 

B2. DETROIT CONTEMPORARY 4 – THE PROMISE 08:40

C1. BENNIE MAUPIN QUARTET – WATER TORTURE 08:52 

C2. RON ENGLISH - BEES 10:21

D1. TEDDY HARRIS – PASSION DANCE 07:55 

D2 LYMAN WOODARD – DÉJÀ VU 05:54 

D3. LYMAN WOODARD ORGANISATION – HELP ME GET AWAY 5.30

DJ Luke Una's É Soul Cultura comp moves beyond typical dancefloor jams

While offering few head-turning discoveries, Luke Una's slightly offbeat track selection admirably bucks club convention.  

Here's the scoop...

With some of the best DJs and selectors there is a certain mysterious sound or underlying feeling which unites the music they play, regardless of genre, year or tempo. Luke Una is a master of telling a story through music and this compilation is a perfect example of his musical alchemy in action. Featuring tracks from Yusef Lateef, Airto Moreira, Crooked Man, Henri Texier and many more, it is a collection of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world, all united by Luke under the banner of “E-Soul Cultura”. 

It’s best described by Luke himself, who writes: “As the 5AM city sleeps and the strobe lights are slowly turned off, we gather on the wrong side of town in a transcendental journey alone together. We are the late night disenfranchised holding on in various after parties, flats, lofts, random kitchens and basements into the outer cosmos with É Soul Cultura. Music from exotic tear jerkers, Afro-spiritual jazz, cosmic Brazilian celestial grooves, machine street soul, dark horses, lost B-sides, £1 bargain-bin bombs, hidden gems, late night Italo dubbing, deep velvet N.Y.C garage, bass buggin sonic futurism, wrong speed 33BPM pitched up +8 new beat, majestic sunset strings, sweet vocals from heaven, no half steppin' jazz dancing in outer-space and odd numbers. Yes… magical moments, together, holding on in witness protection suburban cul-de-sacs and Castle Court flats. Cosmic É high, 3000ft above the city getting evangelical to murky, wonky timeless beautiful music. This thing of ours dreaming of better days. Fail we may, sail we must, the sun will come up again.”

Beginning his career as an original Sheffield house young blood in the mid 1980s, Luke’s move to Manchester and partnership with Justin Crawford saw the birth of Electric Chair, a cornerstone cult night in the UK underground club scene, and later Electric Elephant, a Croatian festival paying homage to their wild eclecticism from Balearic to Brazilian to E soul, house, disco and techno. Luke’s much loved, long running Homoelectric night and more recently Homobloc sell out festival for 10,000 souls has been at the forefront of Manchester’s LGBTQ cultural landscape. 

Luke’s Friday evening show on Worldwide FM has captured imaginations and has already become a cult four hour must-listen monthly journey with fans all over the world. Today Luke remains, as ever, at the forefront of a changing scene, pairing the momentous legacy of Manchester’s 80s and 90s scene with the delivery of what today’s club communities need to get down. 

Get a copy of Luke Una's new É Soul Cultura compilation via Bandcamp right here. Check out Yusef Lateef's performance of "Robot Man" – which is more entertaining that hearing the audio clip of the studio version – along with a few tunes from the collection followed by the track list and a recent interview with Daniel Dylan Wray for The Guardian below. 

Various Artists – Luke Una presents É Soul Cultura

1. Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti – Eva 5:45

2. Chêne noir - Le Train 4:36

3. Metropolis – Every Time I See Him 4:02

4. The Brand New Heavies feat. N'Dea Davenport – Stay This Way (Lunar Dub) 5:26

5. Typesun - The P.L. (Extended Edit) 5:17

6. King Errisson - Space Queen 7:04

7. Yusef Lateef - Robot Man 6:35

8.  Henri Texier, Daniel Humair, François Jeanneau - Le Cyclope 4:47

9. Airto Moreira - O Galho Da Roseira 7:54

10. Francisco - Waché 6:07

11. Nar'Chiveol - Apocalypse Now Ho 4:42

12. On - Southern Freeez 8:03

13. Soylent Green - After All 6:24

14. Crooked Man - B&E 5:34

15. Michael J. Blood & Samizdat – Love Locked 8:52

LINKS
The Guardian DJ Luke Una: "With ADHD, life can be torturous. Music stops the noise"

BGP celebrates 45 years of Ace with swingin' Yusef Lateef two-sider

BGP's 7-inch reissue of Yusef's "Love Theme From Spartacus" comes backed with "Brother John." Get it here.

Nat Birchall salutes Yusef Lateef on new album The Storyteller

The Storyteller: A Musical Tribute To Yusef Lateef is out September 13 on Jazzman Records. 

Here's the scoop...
With 20 years passing since his first foray into recorded jazz, Nat Birchall now ranks as one of the premier saxophonists of his generation. With several highly acclaimed albums in the locker, he now returns with his most ambitious project yet – a tribute to the legend that is Yusef Lateef.

“When Jazzman Gerald first mentioned to me the idea of doing an album as a tribute to the jazz giant Dr Yusef A. Lateef, my first thought was "Where on earth do I start?" Lateef was such a colossus of music, and his scope so broad, that I couldn't hope to begin to cover his musical universe. He was a master of the tenor saxophone, a master of the flute, a master ballad player, a master blues player. Not to mention his skills as a composer and arranger and of course his exploration and use of musical methodology and instruments from all over the world.“

“I’ve always been a great admirer of Lateef, and the challenge was intriguing, so I decided to give it go. We interpreted some of his own compositions (Brother John, Morning & Ching Miau) as well as some compositions by others that he made his own by careful arrangement and interpretation (Love Theme from Spartacus, Ringo Oiwake). I also wrote some original songs that, while certainly not written in his style, might be said to fall into his very broad approach to music making.”

“I also wanted to utilise as many different instruments as possible, something I hadn't explored too much until this album. So it was a nice opportunity to finally get around to playing some of the many small instruments I've collected over the years; the Turkish zurna, the mbira from Zimbabwe, the balaphon from Mali and the arghul from Egypt. We have also tried to use varied time signatures in the music, so we have songs in 3/4, 5/4 and 7/4 time, as well as the standard 4/4.”

“Ultimately the best music tells a story to the listener and takes them to places they might not have imagined themselves. Yusef Lateef certainly did that, and as such was a master storyteller.”

- Nat Birchall

You can pre-order a copy of Nat Birchall's forthcoming album The Storyteller right here. Listen to the lead track "Tales of Saba" below.

Overlooked Yusef Lateef 80s recording reissued by Key System Records

Recorded in 1983, Yusef Lateef's Hikima: Creativity has been reissued by the Key System label run by Jonathan Sklute of Good Records fame.

Here's the scoop from Key System Records... In the early 1980s, famed jazz saxophonist and musical luminary Yusef Lateef traveled to Nigeria as a Senior Research Fellow to study, write, and teach at the Centre For Nigerian Cultural Studies at Ahmadu Bello University. He cut this record with students and local musicians while there; it only got a small local press, and remained virtually unknown by jazz fans and collectors for over 30 years. On Hikima: Creativity, Lateef leads a nonet of African musicians in seven compositions that fuse his deep blues and jazz roots with native Nigerian instruments, drums and chants. The sounds stretch from meditative and melancholic to urgent and unrelenting. A singular recording impossible to classify or box in.  Recordings licensed from the family of the late Yusef Lateef. Remastered by Jessica Thompson. Pressed at RTI; Printed cardboard sleeve done at Dorado. Initial edition of 800 copies. Silk screen sleeve version limited to 100 copies. Listen below. 

Happy Birthday James Black

Remembering New Orleans drumming legend James Black on his day with the Guardian Of The Groove documentary. 

Happy Birthday Julian "Cannonball" Adderley

Remembering saxophone great Cannonball Adderley with a live performance of Brother John.

Happy Birthday Curtis Fuller!

Celebrating Curtis Fuller's birthday with a couple of his stellar performances from 1960 and 1957. 

RIP Yusef Lateef, 1920-2013

Check out Yusef w/ Kahlid Moss, bassist Steve Neil and drummer Gregg Bandy in Norway 1978