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Arrangements by Ernie Wilkins, Frank Comstock, and Bob Florence – with trumpet by Charlie Shavers, and vocals from Ken Loring on one track.... read more

Brick City vet and Artifacts affiliate Beneficience delivers a sharp set of hip hop in Concrete Soul for Ill Adrenaline – featuring an impressive roster of guests – but to Bene's credit, he's never overshadowed here! Guests include Lord Tariq, Masta Ace, Chubb Rock, Roc Marciano, El Da... read more

Warm backings from Marty Manning – and a set that really has Tony Bennett coming into his own for the 60s! Titles include the classics "I Wanna Be Around" and 'The Good Life" – plus "Once Upon A Summertime", "If You Were Mine", "Someone To... read more

A real "lost" session from Tony Bennett – recorded after his long stint at Columbia, but before his own label – although the set's produced by Tony himself! Don Costa handles arrangements, and titles include "If I Could Go Back", "Love Is The Thing", "... read more

An overlooked gem! The set's got Tony singing to some great mellow backings from the Ralph Sharon trio – nice and jazzy, with versions of "Rules Of The Road", "Green Dolphin Street", "When Lights Are Low", and "Speak Low".... read more

Titles include "Strike Up The Band", "Guess I'll Have To Change My Plans", "Poor Little Rich Girl", "Are You Havin Any Fun", "Anyting Goes", and "With Plenty Of Money".... read more

Boogaloo – and nothing but! This is the kind of groovy Latin soul record you always hope to find when digging for Latin sides – and it's got that perfect mix of soul vocals and sock-boogaloo grooves that some of the best young combos were turning out in the late 60s. Bennito and crew... read more

Yipes! This one made everyone a bucket of money – especially Quincy Jones, whose new Qwest imprint the record was one of the first to grace. George has come a long way from his roots with Jack McDuff here – but in a way that kind of has us impressed, as he's grooving away slickly on... read more

Benson plays his guitar and also sings on some of these tracks. He is joined by Phil Upchurch on rhythm guitar, Ronnie Foster on electric piano & mini-moog, Jorge Dalto on clavinet & acoustic piano, Stanley Banks on bass, Harvey Mason on drums and Ralph MacDonald. Claus Ogerman arranged and... read more

Sweetly jazzy soul from George Benson – a key classic from his great run at Warner Brothers Records, and the kind of record that George did better than anyone else at the time! Back in the 60s, we'd never have guessed that Benson's sweetly crackling vocals would dominate popular jazz more... read more

An early George Benson groover from the A&M years of CTI – a set that's quite different than his famous 70s sets, with a really unique sound overall! The arrangements here are by Latin Soul maestro Marty Sheller – who brings some of the vibe to the set that he brought to his 60s... read more

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Groovy Eastern sounds from John Berberian – a musician we know from more rockish projects, but who steps out here on a relatively traditional set of tunes! As you'd guess from the title, Berberian's instrument is the oud – that weird stringed instrument we probably know best from Ahmed... read more

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A raw raw party from Richard Berry & The Soul Searchers – caught live at HD Hover Century Restaurant, a place so funky, the food must have jumped off the table! The album's a really unusual one, even for the time – as Berry and the group are captured in a live small club setting,... read more

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Tripped out electronics meet progressive rock jamming – all in a weird and wonderful film score from the early 70s! The record's one of the best by French experimentalist Philippe Besombes from the time – and it's got a style that sort of starts in the territory of Francois De Roubaix... read more

A classic vocal set from Justo Betancourt – sung to arrangements by Bobby Valentin and Javier Vazquez, both of whom really set him up with some nice little tracks! The album is Justo's first solo album for Fania away from the group La Sonora Matancera, and it's mostly traditionally styled... read more

Titles include "Mariana Mariana", "Pra Dizer Adeus", "Ronda", "Coracao Ateu", "Olhos Nos Olhos", and "Cheiro De Amor".... read more

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One of the rare few records recorded by a young Andy Bey and his sisters! The group was an obscure jazz harmony trio formed by Andy in his earlier years – and it features him on piano, joining with the vocals of his two sisters Salome and Geradine Bey – in a soulful, moody style that's... read more

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One of the wildest albums by the funky conga player. The title track, "Lion Walk" runs through all of side one, and has a weird, tripped-out sloppy funk feel, with guitar and sax solos over Big Black's moody congas. Side two has three long songs, with a groove that's not as good, but... read more

Big Boi's got plenty of help this time around – a huge array of guest talents that includes Sleepy Brown, Phantogram, TI, Ludacris, Kelly Rowland, Killer Mike, Bosko, and many others – but there's still a nicely unified feel to the set – a strength of vision that holds on even in... read more

Cheap Thrills, maybe – but they cut deeply and last forever! This is one of the greatest albums by Big Brother & The Holding Company – and it's also one of the most important in cementing the legacy of singer Janis Joplin. The raw manic energy of the group at their live best is... read more

Cheap Thrills, maybe – but they cut deeply and last forever! This is one of the greatest albums by Big Brother & The Holding Company – and it's also one of the most important in cementing the legacy of singer Janis Joplin. The raw manic energy of the group at their live best is... read more

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Now a classic, and pretty tough to get a hold of on vinyl. Beats by Buckwild, Showbiz and Lord Finesse, rhymes by Harlem's finest. Big L didn't leave behind much recorded work, but if this LP has to stand as his legacy, it's a mighty fine statement. Alongside some of the latter day QB hip hop,... read more

Way more than you might expect from the legendary Big Maybelle – a smoking collection of soulful tunes that goes way beyond her early blues of the 50s, and shows the lady to be one heck of a funky singer – on a par with the best 60s work from Etta James at Chess! The cuts here are... read more

A nice Blast First compilation – featuring the first two wild EP releases from Big Stick!... read more

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The sun shines brightly on Mario Biondi – really making this record sparkle with a charm that goes way beyond Mario's previous albums – a quality that's less retro than before, and which shows Biondi as a growing soul star with really universal appeal! There's still some of the old... read more

A dream band indeed – as the set features a cast of excellent players who manage to come together tightly as a unit, then break out in really strong and hard-blown solos! Even by a "pulled together for this jam session by the record label"-type group there's a swinging style firmly... read more

Tripped out funky soul from the great Edwin Birdsong – a rare indie album released between his years at Polydor and Philly International! The set's got a wilder sound than any of his other work – kind of a righteous funk set for the dancefloor – recorded with lots of weird... read more

A fantastic record – one of Birdsong's rare early ones, with a messed-up approach to funk that he rarely matched again! The album was cut at the time Birdsong was working with Roy Ayers – but it was produced by Birdsong himself, and he also handled all the keyboards on the set. The... read more

An album on Muse, but one with the same hip grooves as Walter Bishop's excellent work on the Black Jazz label! Like those gems, this set features Bishop working on Fender Rhodes – hitting a groove we never would have expected in the old days, and really going for a style that's at the... read more

Biz's last album for Cold Chillin', before semi-retiring from the scene for a couple of years. As you'd guess from the title, the Biz is smarting a bit from the brouhaha over "Alone Again", but the album's still filled with his typical madness, which to us, is a good thing! 12 tracks in... read more

Biz's second LP from 1989 – what can we tell you about the Biz that you don't already know? As far as we're concerned there's a lot of MC's that could learn a lesson or two from the Biz, and producers too. Good time middle school hip hop, with nice sample based production and a great sense... read more

One of the earliest albums on Arhoolie Records – an amazing document of steel guitar bluesman Black Ace! Ace plays just like he sits on the cover – really leaning into the instrument in ways that bring out all these cool, deep inflections – completely hypnotizing on their own,... read more

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A searing debut from Black Heat – one of the best funk acts to record for Atlantic during the 70s, and a tight little group with a sound that's a mixture of New Orleans funk and New York heavy! The album's got a bit of vocals – figuring in on about half the tracks – but the main... read more

A stone classic from Black Heat – the group's second album, and even tighter than their first! The group's size has dropped a bit between albums – but that only helps them cook even more – dropping a bit of the horn section from before, which allows even more emphasis on their... read more

Fantastic ballad soul from one of the greatest groups from the east coast 70s scene! Black Ivory may not have scored as big as some of their contemporaries on the charts – but to fans of harmony soul, they'll always be kings, and this record is the sort that forever gave them keys to the... read more

A pivotal album for the group – released at a time when Black Ivory, like so many other east coast vocal groups, was making the transition away from an older sweet soul style to a more sophisticated club vocal sound. The group's producing themselves here – and we're guessing that most... read more

Revolution-minded hip hop from the Black Opera collective – with production by J-Bizness, 14KT, Astronote and Nick Speed. Titles include "The Black Opera" with Melody Betts, "Manute Boll", "Dark Comedy" with scratches by Rhettmatic, "Monstors And... read more

An ambition Black Opera – Libretto from Black Opera and producer Astronote – featuring guests Melody Betts, Mayer Hawthorne, Boog Brown,Lalibella, Rasheeda Ali and 14KT. Includes "End Of The Beginning", "Grand Endtrance", "Rich Blood", "Kings... read more

Huge! Dark, heavy – an album of mythical proportions, and that's a lot to say for a mainstream LP! It would be hard to imagine the modern rock landscape without this album or group, who provided the template for so much music to follow, and the soundtrack to many bong-fueled excursions to... read more

The fourth nearly flawless album of heavy genius from Black Sabbath – featuring some of the mightiest rock riffs ever! Vol 4 is just the tiniest of notches below Master Of Reality and Paranoid in overall greatness – which is the tiniest of possible complaints given that those previous... read more

The third album by Black Sabbath – the album that put the heavy in metal – one of the most influential rock albums of all time and a record that finds Sabbath at absolute peak perfection! This is the one that set the Sabbath style in stone, honing in the the heavy riffs, thundering... read more

Quite possibly the greatest moment of genius ever from Black Sabbath – and a genre-changing record that influenced generations! The group are at their lean, raw best here – free from any cliches at all, and working in an incredibly heady brew of fuzzy guitar, romping bass, and dark... read more

The grandest scale and most elaborately furnished Black Sabbath album to this point – but they still bring the heavy! The title track is one of the most influential metal songs ever, with the foreboding lyrics, trudging stomp of a rhythmic pace and those bridges that are almost pretty –... read more

Black Sabbath going strong – very much in their own space by this point in their career, setting a sound that countless others would try to follow – but never match for fierceness like this! The fuzz is definitely turned up to 11, the rhythms move at a breakneck speed, and Ozzy's... read more

A pretty darn cool little record – even if it is a bunch of cover versions! As the title proclaims, the set presents the winners of a US Army competition for its members stationed in Europe in the early 70s – one that chose The Black Seeds for side one of the album, and Sound Trek for... read more

Wow! The one-and-only album by Trinidadian combo Black Truth Rhythm Band – a completely incredible one at that – hypnotic Caribbean funky soul, jazz and wildly impressive musicianship all around by this group led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Oluko Imo. The record was made in... read more

The debut album from the second lineup of Black Uhuru, with Duckie Simpson, Michael Rose and Errol Nelson. Produced by Prince Jammy, this is a tremendous slice of rootsy rockers, even if it doesn't quite top the later version of the group with Puma Jones and Sly & Robbie's production. This... read more

A chilling statement from the west coast scene of the 70s – the first album from The Watts Prophets, the ultra-powerful group who emerged from the LA turmoil of the 60s. Like the Last Poets, the group blends together righteous spoken word passages and some spare rhythms and a touch of jazz... read more

A great little sleeper from the Blackbyrds – a record that never gets as much due as their earlier records that have a hard funky feel, but offer instead a tasty batch of smoother jazz funk numbers that show the group still continuing to grow. Donald Byrd's still at the production helm... read more

A fantastic album from this legendary jazz funk combo – a bit smoother than their first, but that's the great thing about it! The record has the band getting even tighter than before – coming up with an amazing jazz-inflected funk groove that still leaves us breathless after all these... read more

A great album of funky dancefloor tunes! Originally issued in 1978, and clearly for the New York dancefloor crowd – the record takes the earlier work of funk group The Blackbyrds, and remixes the tracks slightly to pump up the groove a bit for the dancers. While the approach might not sound... read more

A solid duo instrumentals project from Georgia Anne Muldow and DJ Romes – working together as Blackhouse – and delivering one of the best records yet on the prolific Mello Music Group label! Georgia's a restless creative spirit, and true to form, the beats and production she delivers... read more

A jazz funk masterpiece, and THE record by the legendary Don Blackman – the only one issued under his own name for many many years, and a famous little set that's been sampled endlessly over the years, and for good reason! The vibe here is one that's barely been matched again – a blend... read more

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Nicely-structured performances between pianist Ran Blake and guitarist David Knife Fabris – done with plenty of free-thinking elements, including those bold-ringing tones that we've always loved in Blake's recordings – yet still based around some relatively tight song structures overall!... read more

Killer work from the classic late 50s years of the Jazz Messengers – and an album that Blue Note didn't choose to release until the end of the 70s! The record's a historic one – as it mark's Wayne Shorter's first session with the group, and the first time that they recorded his great... read more

One of Art Blakey's first true moments of genius! This transitional version of the Jazz Messengers included two parts – Lee Morgan and Bobby Timmons – of the holy Morgan/Shorter/Timmons trilogy, and it's also got the added bonus of Benny Golson on tenor, who was at the height of his... read more

One of the most obscure mid 60s sides by Blakey – but a great one! The record features a strangely-chosen lineup of the Jazz Messengers that includes Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Lucky Thompson, and John Hicks. Thompson's in his very soulful "just returned from Europe" phase, and... read more

One of Art Blakey's best non-Blue Note albums of the 60s – a hard-wailing live set that fully exploits the best talents of the six-piece version of the Jazz Messengers! The group here is that tremendous sextet that featured Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Wayne Shorter... read more

One of Art Blakey's best non-Blue Note albums of the 60s – a hard-wailing live set that fully exploits the best talents of the six-piece version of the Jazz Messengers! The group here is that tremendous sextet that featured Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Wayne Shorter... read more

A landmark concert from the mid 80s – one held to honor the resurrection of the Blue Note label, featuring a wealth of some of the best players for the label – from the 80s back to the 50s bebop years. This is the third of 4 LPs, issued both separately and in a box set format. This... read more

Brilliant later work by Bobby Blue Bland – done with backings that are much fuller than on his earlier albums – a mixture of strings and horns that really expand the sound! That doesn't keep things from being soulful, though – as Bobby's in incredible form vocally, really rising... read more

A fantastic bit of soul and house that was woefully overlooked at the time of its release – and one of our favorite albums of the past 25 years! The Blaze production team had been hitting the underground club scene hard for a few years with their raw New Jersey house singles – then... read more

Other players include Roswell Rudd on trombone, Carlos Ward on alto and tenor, Michael Mantler on trumpet, Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree on guitars, and Richard Tee on piano and electric piano.... read more

A 70s Afro Funk classic from Blo – really trippy grooves from this legendary Nigerian trio – and arguably their greatest album ever! Rhythms here are tremendous – not the usual sort of Afro style, and instead tightly focused at the roots, and coming off with this blistering blend... read more

Nocturnal boombap from Blockhead – a sleepless, samples and electic-beats heavy survey of an after hours metropolis – finding Blockhead as insistently inventive and timeless in approach as ever! We love that Blockhead's work kind of exists in it's own world, yet clearly shows love for... read more

Out of New York rock and roll ideas, Debbie Harry decides to pilfer the subcultures to make her sound a bit more interesting! Fortunately for us, she got some help from guitar maestro Chris Stein on the track "Rapture" – and Stein's real interest in the music gave it a stone old... read more

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