Jazz for aficionados

My interest in jazz on LP was revived by digging into so-called "spiritual jazz"- the Heath Bros. "Marchin' On" on Strata-East (many very cool records on that label but now pricey) and Lloyd McNeill's "Washington Suite," also expensive as an original pressing. Don't know about the CDs. 

I've been on this Nathan Davis kick lately- aside from that recent issue of previously unreleased material from Paris on Sam Records that Mike Fremer reviewed, some of the albums he recorded once he returned to the US, and took a position as the head of jazz studies at Pitt, are pretty marvelous. "6th Sense in the 11th House" is beautiful and "Makatuka" which was the first album he recorded when he returned to the US (and features a vocal track) really show how adept Davis was at pretty much every style. 
There was a guy on e-Bay who had a stash of these old records, still sealed, that he grabbed when the studio went bankrupt. There is a recent issue of Makatuka, but I'm not sure of its provenance. It may be a 'Scorpio'-
Glass Bead Games has been reissued by Pure Pleasure- who is always a little cagey about sources they use, but they tend to sound good. The original Strata-East pressings are now crazy money. I haven't received my copy of this latest release but am looking forward to it. A friend has an original and we may do a shoot-out. I can almost predict the outcome-- the original sounds better at X the price. Such is life.
I was pleasantly surprised by the Speakers Corner re-do of Herbie Hancock's Crossings, a kind of funk/spiritual jazz thing that sounded great on Warner green label. The Speakers Corner, which is relatively cheap compared to a time vault original (I had to go thru 3 copies to find a clean player) is punchier, and has more sparkle. Maybe a little less 'organic' sounding, but Kevin Gray's work on this really brings out the sound of the Rhodes.  

thanks, I do want to avoid the socio-cultural issues raised by the film. So, I guess the better question, more broadly, is classical piano influenced jazz- I found some Jacques Loussier Bach. Others? I guess we all have in our mind's eye (or ear) what works and what seems contrived. 

OK, so riddle me this. I just saw the Green Book and liked it. (I'm not much for Hollywood 'big' movies but thought it was good). I was aware of Don Shirley as a name before and when the movie was first released, researched his recordings, most all of which seemed to be sappy covers of pop tunes rather than classical influenced jazz- the only one that seems to fit that bill, maybe, is Orpheus in the Underwood, which looks like it never got reissued. So, it seems like the movie story line that Shirley had to cater to popular taste rather than do his own thing seems accurate. I'm not posting this as social commentary, but more as a question of catalog. Are there any recordings of Don Shirley that are more in the classical music style of playing improvisational jazz (or original compositions?) I gather he did perform some straight classical pieces at one point, but am less interested in that than classical music influenced jazz, if you get my drift. Thanks, all. 

@rok2id - ever run into Tim Trainor? Very nice man. We knew him when we lived in NY through family connections of his. 

I got to hear Chick play at a private dinner years ago-- long story.
Sad he’s gone.
Here’s an obscurity that will soon be reissued so it is available at reasonable cost. It is fairly rare-- took me several months to find a copy. Milt Ward & Virgo Spectrum. Killer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNALO--tChU

Abdul Wadud[ "by Myself" crazy money as an OG, soon to be reissued, cut by the notorious BG, though involves some DSD. He was on a lot of records as a sideman. Classical- Free Jazz. RARE. 30 bucks. Quality unknown until I get a copy. Now Again release. by End of April, 23.

@stuartk said "BTW, the "spiritual Jazz" series is on the British label "Jazzman"

I quickly scanned the various albums-- there's some material on these that is simply unobtanium these days as OG LPs. Great introduction to the genre.

I'm a huge Cecil McBee fan, he didn't limit himself to spiritual jazz but was part of the old NYC "loft" scene, which crossed over into free jazz as well as more mainstream stuff. 

I was fortunate to buy some of these before the prices went through the roof. The Ronnie Boykins piece is a hoot. It sounds like they are totally out of tune at the beginning but they suddenly get very focused and play their asses off. 

Are you using the CeeDees or vinyl? Curious to know what the quality of the pressings is like. GZ can make a decent record-- they typically use digital masters, but in a lot of cases, who knows where the master tapes are or if they even exist. 

One of my personal favs is Milt Ward & Virgo Spectrum. It was reissued as a needle drop, the OG is serious money. 

This can give somebody entry into a rarified sub-genre for little money and they can then go chase the originals they like! 

I listen to a lot of post-bop stuff from the '70s- not fusion, more in the vein of spiritual or soul jazz. Cecil McBee appeared on a huge number of records (and is still with us as far as I know). The jazz scene went sort of underground-- the "loft scene" in NYC, the various private and "collective" labels--Gary Bartz did a direct to disc recording a few years ago with a ensemble called "Maisha" that was heavily influenced by the period and Bartz is on the recording. Good sonics, and good playing. He was first generation of this style which made the record cool.