Soul — All Formats  

Funky organ, hard tenor sax, and plenty of choppy guitar make this another jazz funk gem in the crown of the legendary Funk Inc! The group are still totally at the top of their game here – stepping out with a deep, soulful Indy-bred blend of jazz and funk – a groove that was easily one of the hippest going in the early 70s Prestige Records scene – and that's saying a lot, given the company the label was keeping at the time! The record's got one track that features some nice soulful vocals – the political cut "Let's Make Peace & Stop The War" – but the best cuts are the instrumentals, grooving along hard in the band's best modal funky tradition! Titles include "The Better Half", "Jung Bungo", and "Running Away".

No hangin out here – because these guys are tighter than ever, and right on the money from the very first note of the set! A snapping drum break opens up the album – followed by a wickedly stepping bassline, a rolling conga part, and a vamping dance between Hammond and tenor sax – all to set the scene for a batch of grooves that's easily one of the finest ever from this Indy combo! The album's got a sharpness and tightness that balances beautifully between funky jazz and instrumental soul – a territory that's a bit like Kool & The Gang at times, but which has a much more jazz-based approach on the solos. The big cuts include "Smokin' At Tiffany's" and "Dirty Red" – and other tracks include a sweet cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Give Me Your Love", plus "We Can Be Friends", "I Can See Clearly Now", and "I'll Be Around".

A full funky session from master drummer Bernard Purdie – a set that expands out his previous Prestige vibe, and almost goes for a soundtrack scope to match the record's Shaft title! The set leads off with a great take on the Isaac Hayes hit – one that follows in the same fully-flowing, slow-building mode as Ike's – but which comes across here as an instrumental with some great solo work from Houston Person – playing here almost in a Stanley Turrentine sort of mode! Other tracks continue the hip mix of jazz and larger backings – and feature a lineup of players that includes Neal Creque on electric piano, Gerry Thomas and Danny Moore on trumpets, Willie Bridges and Houston Person on tenors, Billy Nichols and Lloyd Davis on guitars, Gordon Edwards on Fender bass, and Norman Pride on congas. The sound is warm without ever sounding too smooth – and Purdie's funky drums at the bottom ensure that most tunes are nicely lively. Titles include "Shaft", "Butterfingers", "Summer Melody", "Changes", "Way Back Home", and "Attica".

A great set from Patrice Rushen – very different than her later R&B work from the 80s! The record's her first, and at the time, Patrice was much more of a jazz artist – working here with a cool west coast set of players (Joe Henderson on tenor, Hadley Caliman on alto and soprano, and Oscar Brashear on trumpet), playing a range of keyboards, from acoustic and electric piano, to ARP, and clavinet. The tracks are long, and have a wonderfully composed soul jazz vibe – feeling a heck of a lot like work on labels like Strata East, deeply dipping into a soulful bag that's solid and real, with no fakery or tricks to make the mood happen. Includes the nice moogy groover "Puttered Bopcorn", plus "Shortie's Portion", "7/73", and "Haw Right Now".

Masterful funky soul jazz from the mid 70s – and one of the best solo albums recorded by Headhunter Bill Summers – a sunny batch of Bay Area funk that really grooves with the best of Fantasy Records from the time! The set was produced by Skip Scarborough, and has that great bubbling, stepping, soulful groove that was Scarborough's best contribution to jazz funk – a trademark groove that was every bit as important to the 70s as the work of Bob James or Larry Mizell! Summers' work on congas and percussion is excellent and the players are totally top shelf – the core group features drums by Alphonse Mouzon, bass by Paul Jackson, and keyboards by Scarborough – and vocalists on the set include Dianne Reeves, Mikki Morris, and Charles Meeks. Titles include "Drum Suite", "Come Into My Life", "People Know", "Just A Matter Of Time", "No One", "Check It Out", and "Que Sabroso".

Includes Solomon Burke's "Hold On I'm Coming ", "Knock On Wood" by Eddie Floyd, "Get Up Off A That Funk", "Funky Chicken" and "If There Were No Music" by Rufus Thomas, "Ya Ya" and "Working In A Coalmine" by Lee Dorsey, and much more to get your soul party started.

A pivotal record for Patrice Rushen – a set that has her really tightening things up from her previous Prestige albums – heading much more towards the focused soul-drenched grooves of her Elektra Records years! The set's a stunner – still very much with the hip, west coast funky fusion vibe of Rushen's roots – but even groovier overall, with loads of massive cuts that hold up beautifully over the years – and which still show a side of Patrice that's much different than her later hits. Titles include the classic cuts "The Hump", "Stepping Stones", and "Shout It Out" – all perfect jazz funk gems in the best Prestige/Fantasy mode of the mid 70s – and other tracks include "Roll With The Punches", "Let There Be Funk", "Let Your Heart Be Free", "Yolon", and "Sojourn".

Two funk blacksploitation soundtracks, back to back on one CD! Cornbread, Earl, & Me wasn't exactly a Superfly-type film, but the Blackbyrds do a nice job of playing Donald Byrd's score of funky instrumentals and sweeter jazz themes, written to fit the "coming of age" story of the film. The big sample cuts on here are the short cuts "Wilford's Gone" and "Soulful Source" – but there's a lot of other nice mellower numbers, like "Cornbread", "Riot", "One-Eye Two Step", and "The Gym Fight". Charles Earland did the funky score for Dynamite Brothers – an obscure Kung Fu movie, that was his one entry into the blacksploitation genre of the 70s. The lineup includes a lot of the great players that were helping him on his mid-70's stuff – Eddie Henderson, Dave Hubbard, Patrick Gleeson – and the groove is deeper and funkier than most of his other mid-70s Prestige albums. The album's got a very nice batch of material that really stands on its own away from the movie, with some very funky grooves that stand as some of the best shorter funk tracks cut by Earland from the time. Tracks include "Snake", "Razor J.", "Kunfusion", and "Weedhopper".

A nice 70s reissue two-fer that brings together two sides of jazz King Curtis cut for Prestige. The first set, The New Scene Of King Curtis finds him accompanied by Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Oliver Jackson – plus trumpet from Nat Adderley, billed on the back as "Little Brother" for contractual reasons! The 5 tracks are long and open, with less of King's tenor tricks, and more of a laidback Gene Ammons-ish style of blowing: "Little Brother Soul", "In A Funky Groove", "Have You Heard", "Da Duh Duh" and "Willow Weep For Me". The second LP is another rare early King Curtis jazz session – cut a few months later, but still before he settled down to his tight short soul instrumental recordings for Atlantic. The record is very much in the Prestige soul jazz style of the early 60s with Curtis set up nicely in a group that features Nat Adderley and Wynton Kelly again, but with Sam Jones and Belton Evans in the rhythm section, and it holds together in an easy grooving way. There's 6 tracks in this set: "Soul Meeting", "Lazy Soul", "All The Way", "Jeep's Blues", "What Is This Ting Called Love?" and "Do You Have Soul Now?".

A pivotal record for Patrice Rushen – a set that has her really tightening up the groove from previous albums on Prestige – heading much more towards the focused soul-drenched grooves of her Elektra Records years! The set's a stunner – still very much with the hip, west coast funky fusion vibe of Rushen's roots – but even groovier overall, with loads of massive cuts that hold up beautifully over the years – and which still show a side of Patrice that's much different than her later hits. Titles include the classic cuts "The Hump", "Stepping Stones", and "Shout It Out" – all perfect jazz funk gems in the best Prestige/Fantasy mode of the mid 70s – and other tracks include "Roll With The Punches", "Let There Be Funk", "Let Your Heart Be Free", "Yolon", and "Sojourn". This Soul Brother UK edition includes a bonus single verion of "Let Your Heart Be Free".

One of the hippest funky jazz combos of the 70s – stepping out here in their amazing debut for Cobblestone records! Catalyst had a groove that was unlike most of their contemporaries – a sound that was often jazzier than some of the tighter funk artists on labels like Kudu or Prestige, with some deeply spiritual leanings in the solos – but also a style that was still pretty tight and focused, not as far out as some of the headier groups on the Strata East label. There's loads of great choppy rhythms and tight-edged grooves on the record – thanks to Fender Rhodes from Eddie Green, reeds from Odeon Pop, bass from Al Johnson, and drums and percussion from Sherman Ferguson. Skip Drinkwater produced the session at Sigma Sound, and it's definitely got some of his hallmark appreciation of rhythm in the mix – on titles that include "Ain't It The Truth", "New Found Truths", "East", "Catalyst Is Coming", "Jabali", and "Salaam".

Stellar grooves from Charles Earland – a great mix of jazz, soul, and funk – put together in a way that's quite different from his previous records on Prestige or Mercury Records! The sound here is tight 80s soul – put together by Tom Tom Washington, who gives the whole thing a sophisticated Chicago vibe – and one that matches Charles' sweet keyboard solos with wickedly sharp rhythms, and some occasional vocal bits too. Singers include Larry Blackmon, TC Campell, and Charles himself – but there's still a focus that seems to be more on the instrumentation overall – served up with some mighty nice organ lines from Earland. Titles include "The Only One", "Marcia's Waltz", "You Belong To Me", "Never Knew Love Like This Before", "Guilty", "Laser Lips", "Earland's Jam", and "Animal". CD features "Never Knew Love Like This Before (single)", "Guilty (single)", "Animal (12" version)", and "The Only One (12" version)".

A mighty great little record – a mixture of jazz and soul from the heavy talents of Hilton Felton – and a record that not only features some of his own great work on organ and keyboards, but some great contributions from other members of the DC scene of the 70s! In addition to help from The Blackbyrds in the core combo, and guest tenor from Andrew White, the set also features vocals from a young Angela Winbush on one track – singing backup on some others! But the core charm of the record comes from the grooves – the kind of upbeat, righteous sounds that we've always loved in Felton's keyboards – almost an extension of the Prestige Records jazz funk groove from the start of the 70s, with echoes of records by Funk Inc, Melvin Sparks, and Leon Spencer – but given a particularly hip east coast indie sort of spin! Titles include "Family & Friends", "Spreading Fever", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Family Reunion", "Clay's Way", and "The Power Of Love".

A killer instrumental album of hard organ grooves and funky basslines! This was the album that broke Funk Inc out of their Indianapolis scene, and made them a force to be forever reckoned with in the history of funky jazz. The album grooves hard in the same sound as some of the classic work by Prestige jazz funk giants like Rusty Bryant, Charles Earland, or Ivan Boogaloo Jones – but it's almost even tighter than their work, because the Funk Inc combo as a tightly woven group of players who'd been together for a number of years. The record's filled with monster cuts that you'll recognize immediately, like the group's famous "Kool is Back", which has a monster sample on the intro, and hard heavy Kool & The Gang grooves throughout. Other tracks include "Sister Janie", "The Whipper", and "Bowlegs".

Fantastic jazz funk by one of the best bands in the genre! This is probably Pleasure's most sought-after album, and it includes the classic breakbeat cut "Bouncy Lady", which begins with a nice hard drumbreak, and ends the same way! The record has a tight, smooth, soulful feel – similar to the best stuff coming out of the west coast Fantasy records scene at the time. There's lots of nice Wayne Henderson production on the record – with his trademark talent for snapping the drums nice and tight, while keeping the grooves nice and mellow. Includes the cuts "What Is Slick", "Reality", "Plastic People", and a great cover of "Midnight At the Oasis"! Reissued on very heavy vinyl, in a beautiful cover – and way better than any other Fantasy/Prestige reissues we've had!

A sweeeeeet groover by Patrice Rushen – her first album for Elektra, and a stunning blend of funky jazz and soul! The record really has Patrice stepping out from her earlier years at Prestige – working in some surprisingly great vocals next to tight lines on Fender Rhodes, synth, and clavinet, handled with a smooth and soulful quality that's wonderful all the way through – a blend of soul and jazz that few other players could do this well – no matter how many others tried to copy her style over the years! Rhythms are as hard and heavy as on the Prestige years, and the keyboards have a great sort of focus too – just the right mix of jazz to offset the vocals – which themselves are a wonderful discovery. The whole album's a gem – and tracks include the great funky classic "Hang It Up", plus "Changes (In Your Life)", "When I Found You", "Play", "Didn't You Know?", and "Music Of The Earth".

Magnificent! Charles Earland may well be our favorite-ever jazz organist – and after you hear this set, he'll probably be yours too! Charles really didn't emerge as a name until the beginning of the 70s – and although that decade did some nasty stuff to some of the 60s best organ players, Earland managed to really get a heck of a lot out of the decade, twisting and turning his style with all the changes in arrangements and instrumentation, yet always keeping it real, laying down killer solos and funky grooves that rank with some of the best organ work of his generation! This 2CD set is the first to really pay tribute to Earland's genius – and it's a massive batch of tracks the spans his early years at Prestige Records, and moves into his work for labels like Mercury, Columbia, and Muse. Disc 1 features "funky organ grooves" – 10 tracks from Prestige and Muse with a straight heavy soul jazz funk groove, cut with monster players like Melvin Sparks, Idris Muhammad, Gary Chandler, and Virgil Jones. Tracks on the set include "Murilley", "Spinky", "Betty's Dilemma", "Sing A Simple Song", "Morgan", "My Favorite Things", and "Sing A Simple Song" – and the grooves are hard and funky all the way through! Disc 2 features "jazz funk and beyond" – beginning with Earland's spacier jam cuts on the Leaving This Planet session for Prestige, then moving into his jams on Arp and Electric Piano for Mercury, and some of his later R&B funk cuts for Columbia. Most of this work's never been on CD before – and the wealth of Earland's talent here will take you way past his early Black Talk years. Titles include "Phire", "Coming To You Live", "Red Clay", "Intergalactic Love Song", "Cosmic Fever", "Betty Boop", "Let The Music Play", and "Over & Over".

Stellar grooves from Charles Earland – a great mix of jazz, soul, and funk – put together in a way that's quite different from his previous records on Prestige or Mercury Records! The sound here is tight 80s soul – put together by Tom Tom Washington, who gives the whole thing a sophisticated Chicago vibe – and one that matches Charles' sweet keyboard solos with wickedly sharp rhythms, and some occasional vocal bits too. Singers include Larry Blackmon, TC Campell, and Charles himself – but there's still a focus that seems to be more on the instrumentation overall – served up with some mighty nice organ lines from Earland. Titles include "The Only One", "Marcia's Waltz", "You Belong To Me", "Never Knew Love Like This Before", "Guilty", "Laser Lips", "Earland's Jam", and "Animal".

Two excellent albums from Funk Inc on one CD! Superfunk is one of the band's greatest albums – and a really tight batch of funky tunes given some stellar production by David Axelrod! The band's a bit tighter than on earlier releases – leaving behind the hard jazz-jam sound for a more together soul-oriented one, heard to best effect on the album's enduring classic, "Goodbye, So Long" – a rolling funky tune that features vocals on the chorus, and an unbelievably catchy instrumental sound that you might recognize instantly from its use as a sample over the years. The rest of the record's just as great – and the band runs through The Meters' classic "Message From The Meters", Barry White's funky "I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Babe", and a great rendition of the electric jazz classic "The Hill Where The Lord Hides". Hangin Out features their organ-heavy sound vamping away on some really tight groovers – not as break-heavy as some of the tracks on their first album, but with some excellent modal riffing in a sweet jazz dance mode. The big cuts include "Smokin' At Tiffany's" and "Dirty Red", both groove classics that have a strong Prestige jazz funk sound. Other cuts include a sweet cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Give Me Your Love", plus the tracks "We Can Be Friends" and "I'll Be Around".

The second fantastic album from Chicago saxophonist Clarence Wheeler and his hard-hitting Enforcers combo – a group who were one of the brightest lights in soul jazz at the start of the 70s, really helping to keep the genre fresh and exciting! The groove here is in the tenor/organ mode first popularized in the 60s – but the overall sound is a lot more expansive, and filled with unusual time changes, complicated rhythms, and inventive solo work that go way beyond more familiar albums of this nature on Prestige or Blue Note! Sonny Burke is the organist in the group, and he's got a touch on the keys that's a lot like Jack McDuff at his best – filled with great sounds and unusual notes that always keep things interesting. Added to that is trumpet from Sonny Covington, guitar from Eric Gale, and tenor from Wheeler – all vamping and grooving in an amazing way! There's a bit of the Charles Earland sound from the same period going on here – and like Earland, the group have a great way of keeping things slightly funky, even when mellow! Titles include a great version of "Broasted or Fried", Charles Earland's "Mighty Burner", Jack McDuff's "The Heebie Jeebie Dance", plus "We've Only Just Begun" and "The Love I've Been Looking For".