This is a 60s set that brings together the 2 volumes released separately. Among the 30 plus songs are "All Through The Night", "Anything Goes", "I Get A Kick Out Of You", "I Love Paris", "Easy To Love", "You're The Top", "Let's Do It", "Begin The Beguine", "Love For Sale", "It's Delovely", "Night And Day", and "I've Got You Under My Skin". CD

Fred Hersch on piano with Ralph Alessi on trumpet and flugelhorn, Reid Anderson and Drew Gress on bass, Jamey Haddad on percussion, Rich Perry on tenor saxophone, and Tom Rainey and Nasheet Waits on drums. CD

Japanese jazz vocalist Junko Mine made a great trip to LA for this album – working here under the leadership of pianist Lou Levy, with a group that includes some of the best west coast jazz players of the 50s! At the time, American labels were often ignoring the talent that was still flourishing strongly in the city of angels – and it was up to Japanese labels like this to give them a chance to shine on record – which they do wonderfully, in a group that features Levy on piano, Bill Perkins on tenor and flute, Conte Candoli on trumpet, Red Mitchell on bass, and Mundell Lowe on drums. Junko handles vocals, but also knows when to step aside for an instrumentalist to solo – and titles include "Easy To Love", "You're The Top", "I Concentrate On You", "In The Still Of The Night", "You Do Something To Me", and "I Get A Kick Out Of You". CD

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Backed by pretty heavy hitters – Cal Tjader, Nat Pierce, Scott Hamilton, Cal Collins and David Ladd! CD

Cole Porter's tunes are great enough on their own, but Oscar really opens them up on this set – picking up the inherent rhythms in the numbers and really working them over – in a way that makes the outing one of the most lively in Peterson's songbook series for Verve! Oscar's fluid touch on the keys is perfect throughout – taking lots of chances, but always strongly following the melody – and rhythm accompaniment is from the usual team of Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. Titles include "In The Still Of The Night", "Love For Sale", "It's All Right With me", "Just One Of Those Things", "Night & Day", "It's De-Lovely", and "I Love Paris". CD

Includes 22 tracks from Ella's Verve songbook albums. CD

Konitz plays alto, and Mitchell plays bass and a bit of piano – on titles that include "I Love You", "Night & Day", "I Love Paris", "Love For Sale", and "It's All Right With Me". CD

With music from Zoot Sims, Gil Evans, Milt Jackson, Joe Pass, Cal Tjader, Bill Evans, Art Tatum, Gene Ammons, and more. CD

That's a young Isaac Hayes on the cover, sitting at the piano next to David Porter – his key songwriting partner at Stax Records in the 60s – at a time before both artists had gone onto their own solo recordings for the label! The Hayes/Porter team gave Stax some of their best songs during the second half of the 60s – often numbers that have a hip, hard-grooving style that really pushed the boundaries of Memphis soul – and as you'll hear here, the duo's work was not just recorded for their main label, but also handled by a wealth of other artists too – mostly soul singers of the late 60s, but also featured here on a few later tracks as well. Those later cuts are ever bit as soulful as the 60s material that makes up most of the collection – and the package also features some unissued numbers too –served up here in a list of 24 titles that include "Can't Trust Your Neighbor" by Freddie King, "60 Minutes Of Your Love" by Homer Banks, "I'll Understand" by Edwin Starr & Blinky, "Left Over Love" by Ruby Johnson, "Hold On I'm Coming" by The Righteous Brothers, "You Got Me Hummin" by The Hassles, "I'm Dedicating My Life" by Danny White, "Love Is After Me" by Charlie Rich, "Your Good Thing" by Mable John, "You Don't Know Like I Know" by Keith Powell & Billie Davis, "Wrap It Up" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Baby" by Rachel Sweet, "As Long As I've Got You" by The Emotions, "I Take What I Want" by The Bishops, "The Sweeter He Is (parts 1 & 2)" by Soul Children, and an unreleased alternate of "Toe Hold" by Johnnie Taylor. CD

Sonny Criss plays Cole Porter – and the results are way greater than the sum of the parts – even though those parts are already pretty darn great! Criss' alto sax has a superb tone at this time – razor-sharp, and nicely crisp – yet still filled with warmth that sets it apart from some of his more modern contemporaries – a beautiful balance that really illuminates these tunes, and has you thinking of them as fresh Criss compositions, not older Porter standards. The instrumentation is quite fresh, too – thanks to the addition of Larry Bunker on vibes, which is a really nice surprise – and piano by Sonny Clark and Jimmy Bunn. The great Lawrence Marable plays drums – and titles include "I Love You", "Easy To Love", "Night & Day", and "Love For Sale". CD

Collection of live performances from Dee Dee Bridgewater, Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Shirley Horn, JJ Johnson, Sarah Vaughan, Art Tatum, Clifford Brown, and Sarah Vaughan. CD

Music from Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, Artie Shaw & his Orchestra, Lennie Hayton & his Orchestra, Sonny Rollins, Shorty Rogers & his Giants, Frank Sinatra, Irving Aaronson & his Commanders, Roy Rogers, Dinah Shore, Manny Albam & his Orchestra, Ray Noble & his Orchestra, Lennie Hayton & his Orchestra, Leo Reisman & his Orchestra, Paul Desmond, Tommy Dorsey & his Orchestra, Leo Reisman & his Orchestra, Perez Prado & his Orchestra, and Esquivel & his Orchestra. CD

Includes music by Rufus Thomas, Otis Redding, the Mad Lads, David Porter, Wendy Rene, the Admirals, Sam & Dave, Booket T & the MGs, Barbara & the Browns, and more – 27 tracks total. CD

Music from Boobis & Bobby, Junior Shank, the Nite Rockers, Sonny Geno, the Dual Tones, Royce Porter, Clyde Stacy, Joey Preston, Wayne Cochran, and others – 28 tracks total. CD

We put the catalog number in the title of this one because it seemed that Blue Note was putting out too many title-less Hank Mobley albums during the late 50s. Who cares, though? This album's a great batch of hardbop tracks that show Mobley at his finest, and which hardly need a title to hang them together. The group's a sextet, with little-known reed player Curtis Porter on alto and tenor, plus Sonny Clark on piano and Bill Hardman on trumpet. Titles include "Mighty Moe & Joe" and "News" (both written by Porter), plus Mobley's "Double Exposure". Prime hardbop material, and with a great cover that has Mobley looking like an alien behind a microphone! CD

Nancy Wilson remakes American classics of the 20th century – taking a host of tunes from Gershwin, Ellington, Arlen, Porter, and Berlin – and remaking them in her sophisti-soul style of the 60s! She's got plenty of great help on the sessions – with arrangers that include Gerald Wilson, Jimmy Jones, and Billy May – plus accompaniment from players that include Cannonball Adderley, Hank Jones, and George Shearing. The collection features a total of 44 tracks in all – and titles include "Supper Time", "Sleepin Bee", "Secret Love", "My Ship", "Dearly Beloved", "Sophisticated Lady", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "All Of You", "Bewitched", "The More I See You", "Never Will I Marry", "This Time The Dream's On Me", "Prelude To A Kiss", and "By Myself". CD

A beautiful update of the music of Charlie Parker – one that takes off from the first vocalese recordings that were inspired by Bird's music in the bebop years – but served up here in a much wider array of styles! As with the early vocalese recordings – lyrical sides based around Parker's saxophone solos – these tracks all have lyrics set to Parker's compositions, sung by different artists on each tune – in a lineup that includes Kurt Elling, Gregory Porter, Jeffrey Wright, Kandace Springs, Melody Gardot, Luciana Souza, and Madeleine Peyroux – a diverse lineup that really makes for an amazing record. Core instrumentation is from a group that features Donny McCaslin on tenor, Craig Taborn on acoustic and electric piano, and Ben Monder on guitar – and titles include "Meet Charlie Parker", "The Epitaph Of Charlie Parker", "So Long", "Every Little Thing", "Los Angeles", "Life My Love For You", and "The King Of 52nd Street" – all new vocal versions of Charlie Parker tunes. CD

A much-needed look at a near-lost side of Ella's work for Verve – the singles she recorded for the label in the 50s and 60s, work that's very different than her more famous LPs! Historically, Ella's probably best remembered for her Songbook albums at Verve – serious efforts that focused on the work of 20th Century songwriters like Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. But during the same years she was working on those projects, she also cut a tremendous amount of singles for the label – many of them in styles not heard on LPs. The set's got some really wonderful numbers that really open up our understanding of Ella – short jazzy tunes, catchy pop numbers, weepy ballads, bossa nova, novelty tracks, and even a few Holiday tunes – all packaged in a great 2CD set that includes 36 titles in all! Tunes include "Ol Man Mose", "Desafinado", "Stardust Bossa Nova", "All The Live Long Day", "I'm A Poached Egg", "Your Red Wagon", "But Not For Me", "Dreams Are Made For Children", "Stay There", "Hotta Chocolatta", "Too Young For The Blues", "It's Only A Man", and "Lonely Is". CD

One of THE electric blues records of the 60s – a seminal set by Albert King that was probably blasted out of more college dorm rooms than southside juke joints, but which still more than deserves its due! The set was recorded by Stax with a nice raw sound – guitar very much upfront, but also set amidst arrangements that have a bit more soul than the average Chicago blues session from the same time. The set features a number of originals by Stax regulars like Booker T and David Porter – and titles include "The Hunter", "Born Under A Bad Sign", "Crosscut Saw", "Down Don't Bother Me", "Laundromat Blues", and "Personal Manager". CD

A later groover from Jimmy McGriff – but done in a style that's nicely old school overall! The sound here is almost a Prestige Records mid 70s mode – somewhat tighter than the early 70s jazz funk years of the label, but still quite far from the slicker modes you might expect from a 90s date – thanks to classic production work from Bob Porter, the kind of a guy who always knew that it was best to let players like these just lay back and do their thing! McGriff plays Hammond B-3, alongside David Newman on tenor, Red Holloway on tenor and alto, Mel Brown on guitar, and Bernard Purdie on drums – on titles that include "Don't Blame Me", "Fleetwood Stroll", "Red Not N New", "McGriffin", "Ain't It Funny How Time Slips Away", and "Things Ain't What They Used To Be". CD

Stunning stuff – and one of the greatest Charles Mingus albums of all time – a true treasure recorded in that magical year of 1957, when Mingus was finally finding his strongest voice in modern music! The album's near-perfect from start to finish – as bold a statement in jazz as anyone might be allowed to make in the late 50s, yet still always focused, driven, and wrapped up with a tremendous sense of energy. The tracks are all quite long – perfect vehicles for Mingus to reach his full level of expression – played by a group that includes Curtis Porter on tenor and alto sax, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Wade Legge on piano, and Dannie Richmond on drums – making an early appearance in his alliance with Mingus that would last for many many years. Titles include classic versions of "Haitian Fight Song", "Blue Cee", and "Reincarnation Of A Lovebird" – plus "The Clown", which features a long improvised monologue by Jean Shephard! The deluxe CD reissue includes two bonus tracks, "Passions of a Woman Loved" and "Tonight At Noon", and comes in a 5 inch cardboard sleeve. CD

We put the catalog number in the title of this one because it seemed that Blue Note was putting out too many title-less Hank Mobley albums during the late 50s. Who cares, though? This album's a great batch of hardbop tracks that show Mobley at his finest, and which hardly need a title to hang them together. The group's a sextet, with little-known reed player Curtis Porter on alto and tenor, plus Sonny Clark on piano and Bill Hardman on trumpet. Titles include "Mighty Moe & Joe" and "News" (both written by Porter), plus Mobley's "Double Exposure". Prime hardbop material, and with a great cover that has Mobley looking like an alien behind a microphone! CD

We put the catalog number in the title of this one because it seemed that Blue Note was putting out too many title-less Hank Mobley albums during the late 50s. Who cares, though? This album's a great batch of hardbop tracks that show Mobley at his finest, and which hardly need a title to hang them together. The group's a sextet, with little-known reed player Curtis Porter on alto and tenor, plus Sonny Clark on piano and Bill Hardman on trumpet. Titles include "Mighty Moe & Joe" and "News" (both written by Porter), plus Mobley's "Double Exposure". Prime hardbop material, and with a great cover that has Mobley looking like an alien behind a microphone! CD

A previously unissued live recorded by Art Pepper – playing at a 1975 tribute to Charlie Parker, recorded in Pasadena with a lineup that includes Joe Albany on piano, Roy Porter on drums, Sahib Shihab on baritone sax, and Harry Babasin on bass. That quintet of players is enough to get our interest on this one – and we've got to say that the blend of baritone and alto is really great – and handled here with an open-blowing spirit that really keeps our imagination up on the set's long interpretations of Parker classics. The sound quality is a bit "live", but the quality of the solos shines through tremendously – and titles include "Groovin High", "All The Things You Are", "Ornithology", and "Donna Lee" – all over 10 minutes in length! CD

One of the best pre-1960 sessions by Cecil Taylor, recorded in Boston in 1956, and originally issued on the totally rare Transition label in a very small pressing! Taylor's playing here with the great bassist Buell Neidlinger, one of his prime compatriots in the early days, plus the great drummer Dennis Charles – and a young Steve Lacy also adds to the group on a few tracks, making one of his most striking early appearances on record! The session's a great way to hear Taylor's development at the beginning, as it includes a number of jazz standards – like "Azure", "Sweet & Lovely", and "Bemsha Swing" – all given an off-kilter twist by Taylor and group. This is probably best heard on one of the album's highlights – a nine minute solo reading of Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", with a quality that's unlike anything else we can think of! CD

One of the best pre-1960 sessions by Cecil Taylor, recorded in Boston in 1956, and originally issued on the totally rare Transition label in a very small pressing! Taylor's playing here with the great bassist Buell Neidlinger, one of his prime compatriots in the early days, plus the great drummer Dennis Charles – and a young Steve Lacy also adds to the group on a few tracks, making one of his most striking early appearances on record! The session's a great way to hear Taylor's development at the beginning, as it includes a number of jazz standards – like "Azure", "Sweet & Lovely", and "Bemsha Swing" – all given an off-kilter twist by Taylor and group. This is probably best heard on one of the album's highlights – a nine minute solo reading of Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", with a quality that's unlike anything else we can think of! CD also features 3 bonus tracks recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 – "Nona's Blues", "Tune 2", and "Johnny Come Lately" – all nice and long, and all representing Cecil Taylor at a similar point in his career! CD

5CDs, and a set that's overflowing with classic tracks from the legendary Stax Records – with an especially heavy emphasis on the label's genius moments from 1968 to the mid 70s! There's way too much here to list, but some of the more unusual tracks include "What A Man" by Linda Lyndell, "Gettin Funky Round Here" by Black Nasty, "Funky Robot (part 1)" by Rufus Thomas, "Circuit's Overloaded" by Inez Foxx, "Gettin Funky Round Here" by Black Nasty, "Sweetback's Theme" by Melvin Van Peebles, "Help" by David Porter, "Starting All Over Again" by Mel & Tim, "I Could Never Be President" by Johnnie Taylor, "How Can I Be A Witness" by RB Hudmon, "What Goes Around Must Come Around" by Sons Of Slum, "Harlem Heaven" by Rance Allen, "Mother's Day" by 24 Carat Black, "Bump & Boogie (part 1)" by The Wrecking Crew, "Chains Of Love" by Jimmy Hughes, "Itch & Scratch (part 1)" by Rufus Thomas, "What's Usual Ain't Natural" by Eric Mercury, "Lovin You Lovin Me" by Sandra Wright, "What Do You See In Her" by Hot Sauce, "The Creeper Returns" by Little Sonny, and "It's Worth A Whippin" by Shirley Brown. CD

A deep dive into the vaults of the legendary Stax Records – the Memphis label who helped usher in a whole new sound in soul music during the 60s, and was still going strong in the early part of the 70s! In the final years, Stax was hitting big with a number of stars, but also recording a bit more than they got the chance to issue at the time – all top-quality work, often with the key songwriters and studio talent behind the hits – some of which was lost to the sands of time, due to financial troubles in the label's last few years. Yet those rare gems live again here – as Ace/Kent do a superb job of dipping into the legacy of rare and unreleased material from this period – a good deal of which shows Stax moving the bar even further, by advancing the styles of southern soul with newly sophisticated modes. If you know the last few Soul Children records on Stax, you'll get the vibe here – spun out on a great run of 20 tracks that include "I'm Too Old To Play" by Jimmy Hughes, "How Can I Win Your Love" by Eddie Floyd, "I'm Tired" by Mavis Staples, "Come Get From Me (parts 1 & 2)" by David Porter, "You Need Love" by Chuck Brooks, "Ain't No Way" by Shirley Brown, "Did You Hear Yourself (part 1)" by Randy Brown & Company, "Ain't Nobody Like My Baby" by Lee Sain, "I'll Do Anything For Your Love (single edit)" by William Bell, "Standing In The Safety Zone" by Soul Children, "We've Got Love On Our Side" by Bettye Crutcher, "Guilty Of Loving You" by Veda Brown, "Let's Make A Deal" by Frederick Knight, and "A Smile Can't Hide A Broken Heart" by Ollie & The Nightingales. CD

The funkiest side of Stax Records – a treasure trove of funky nuggets, all hand-picked by RZA! As the title implies, these are some of the grooves that became the building blocks of the Wu-Tang sound – but even without that pedigree, these tracks are more than great enough on their own – a wonderful mix of album cuts and rare singles – some you'll recognize from famous hip hop samples, some you'll discover here for the first time ever! The triple-length package is overflowing with greatness – and titles include "I Could Never Be Happy" and "I Like It" by The Emotions, "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by The Mad Lads and another "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by William Bell, "Children Don't Get Weary" by Judy Clay, "All It Takes Is You & Me" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Poverty's Paradise" by 24 Carat Black, "I'll Play The Blues For You" by Albert King, "Why Marry" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Steal Away" by Johnnie Taylor, "Hang On Sloopy" by David Porter, "Ike's Mood 1" by Isaac Hayes, "In The Rain" by The Dramatics, "Don't Take My Kindness For Weakness" by The Soul Children, "Packed & Took My Mind" by Little Milton, "Sing A Simple Song" by Booker T & The MGs, "I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over" by David Porter, "LA Jazz Song" by Booker T & The MGs, "Walk On By" by Isaac Hayes, and "Keep The Faith" by Mel & Tim. CD

Includes the songs "Cry! Cry! Cry!", "Hey Porter", "Folsom Prison Blues", "I Walk The Line", "Get Rhythm", "Big River", "Guess Things Happen That Way", "Ring Of Fire", "Jackson", "A Boy Named Sue (Live)", "Sunday Morning Coming Down", "Man In Black", "One Piece At A Time", "Highwayman", "The Wanderer", "Delia's Gone", "Rusty Cage", "I've Been Everywhere", "Give My Love To Rose", "The Man Comes Around (Early Take)", and "Hurt". CD

Don't even think about the other collections of Johnny Cash's Sun recordings – this is the motherlode, and features just about every single note that he recorded for the legendary label! The mantra of the set is "the singer is more important than the song", and it's certainly true in the case of Johnny. He broke all kinds of barriers between country and early rock music with his sparse, raw and economical productions highlighting the amazingly great rough hewn song style he perfected. The set includes 138 tracks total, including lots of alternate versions, even a bonus disc of an entire unedited recording session. It also includes a huge book with a meticulously researched biography, recording notes, a great wealth of publicity shots, and even childhood photos! Everything's here folks, and sequenced chronologically according to recording dates – "Wide Open Road", "You're My Baby", "My Treasure", "Hey Porter", "I Walk The Line", "Folson Prison Blues", "Don't Make Me Go", "Next In Line", "Big River", "Ballad Of A Teenage Queen", "Cry, Cry, Cry", "The Ways Of A Woman In Love", "Story Of A Broken Heart" – what, you're still reading? Buy this! CD

A masterpiece through and through from arranger Gil Evans – a record of swinging modern backdrops, used to showcase both the solo talents of a young Cannonball Adderley, and the dynamic energy of Evans himself! Cannon's sharp-edged early tone is a really great sound for the record – far more modern than you might expect from later funk and soul sides of the 60s – and perfectly poised next to Gil's larger back drops to reignite a host of older tunes with new energy! And while the titles are familiar, the readings certainly are not – as the Evans pen has really changed things up beautifully – as you'll hear on numbers that include "St Louis Blues", "King Porter Stomp", "Willow Tree", "Struttin' With Some Barbeque", "Lester Leaps In", "Round About Midnight", "Manteca", and "Bird Feathers". CD

Four albums from this wonderful group – all presented here with great sonic quality too! First up is Grazin – the debut album from Friends Of Distinction – a very groovy LA harmony vocal group who really transcended the worlds of pop and soul! The quartet were originally part of the earlier Rex Middleton's Hi Fi group – which split into both Friends Of Distinction, and 5th Dimension – and like that other, slightly more famous group, FoD have a soaring approach that really reflects their years in music, tuned towards a groovier late 60s style! The record sports their hit vocal version of Hugh Masekela's "Grazing In The Grass", with the great "I can dig it" line, plus an excellent reading of a lost cut by funky drummer Roy Porter, entitled "Lonesome Mood" – next to other great titles that include "Sweet Young Thing Like You", "Peaceful", "Baby I Could Be So Good At Loving You", "Eli's Coming", and "Going In Circles". Real Friends is a stone early winner from The Friends Of Distinction – featuring a great set of pop soul tunes that really let the group shine in the harmony department! Vocal arrangements are by Jerry Peters – who really pushes the structure of the vocals, taking the singing to a level only hinted at on the group's previous album, combining 60s pop harmony with uptown soul production, given a bit of a smooth 70s touch. Titles include the hit "Love Or Let Me Be Lonely", plus "Any Way You Want Me", "Crazy Mary", "Long Time Comin My Way", "Just a Little Lovin", "It Don't Matter to Me", and "My Mind Is A Camera". Next is Highly Distinct – beautiful baroque soul from LA! The Friends of Distinction were always best known for their big hit version of "Grazing In the Grass" (not on this LP), but they were a pretty progressive soul group, and they spent a lot of time in the studio coming up with cool new ways to present their vocal style. This album includes a very cool "psyche" cut-up track called "Impressions", and it's two minutes worth of tape experiments that might have been lifted from The White Album. The cut then runs right into a great batch of groovy pop soul tracks, like "It's Just A Game Love", "Workin On A Groovy Thing", "It's Sunday", and "Let Yourself Go". Whatever is filled with some nice little groovers from the enigmatic Friends Of Distinction – and a record recorded right after their big "Grazin In The Grass" fame. The album features lots of cool arrangements from Jerry Peters – whose handling of the group pushed them past a simple pop-soul vocal combo into the realm of the more far-reaching soul acts of their time. Most tracks have vocal solos on the main parts – mostly by Barbara Love or Floyd Butler – and tracks include "You and I", "People Talkin & Sayin Nothin", "Bring Us A Better Day", "Great Day", and "Check It Out". CD

Ike's comeback LP from the mid 90s, and his last studio album! In an almost complete return to form, he gets together with his old running mates from Stax, including David Porter, and serves up a wonderful album of silky smooth, string-laden soul that stands tight next to his mid 70s classics! Includes "Ike's Plea", "Life's Mood", "Fragile", "Life's Mood II", "Summer In The City", "Let Me Love You", "I'll Do Anything (To Turn You On)", "Thanks To The Fool", "Branded", "Soulsville" and "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic". CD

Vocalist Rene Marie has been quietly growing her craft for years – really turning into a hell of an artist, with a sound and a style that's a lot fresher than most! Where others might be content to recover familiar ground, Marie's always trying something new – writing great songs of her own, which make up the entire album – and moving to some soulful styles, while still holding onto her roots in jazz – a blend that maybe makes her the female equivalent of Gregory Porter, although Marie's been at it for a few more years! This set's a real reward to anyone who's followed Marie's music – and a great treat for anyone discovering her for the first time – and backing is by a core trio with John Chin on piano – alongside some guest appearances from Romero Lubambo on guitar, Sherman Irby on alto, and Etienne Charles on trumpet. Titles are all original – and include "Lost", "Stronger Than You Think", "Sound Of Red", "If You Were Mine", "Joy Of Jazz", "This Is Not A Protest Song", and "Many Years Ago". CD

Stunning stuff – and one of the greatest Charles Mingus albums of all time – a true treasure recorded in that magical year of 1957, when Mingus was finally finding his strongest voice in modern music! The album's near-perfect from start to finish – as bold a statement in jazz as anyone might be allowed to make in the late 50s, yet still always focused, driven, and wrapped up with a tremendous sense of energy. The tracks are all quite long – perfect vehicles for Mingus to reach his full level of expression – played by a group that includes Curtis Porter on tenor and alto sax, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Wade Legge on piano, and Dannie Richmond on drums – making an early appearance in his alliance with Mingus that would last for many many years. Titles include classic versions of "Haitian Fight Song", "Blue Cee", and "Reincarnation Of A Lovebird" – plus "The Clown", which features a long improvised monologue by Jean Shephard! CD

Amazing archival recordings of Charlie Parker in the late 40s – presented in a wonderfully complete package! The set features live material in a variety of settings – with west coast players like Howard McGhee on trumpet, Hampton Hawes on piano, and Roy Porter on drums – plus more familiar New York sidemen who include Miles Davis, Duke Jordan, and Max Roach. There's over 250 tracks on the set – an amazing document of Bird at this early moment of genius! CD

The title says "Garden State", but the material's from California – but we'll forgive the producers of the CD for that, given that they don't live in the US! Disc 1 features a really unusual 70s recording from Art Pepper – quite different than most of his better-known work from the time! The group alone is enough to indicate the unusual quality of the set – as it's larger than usual, with a great lineup that includes Harold Land and Buddy Collette on tenor, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, and Butch Lacy on electric piano – all coming together with a magically free-flowing and soulful sound – recorded in San Diego in 1975. The presence of the electric piano touches the set with a nice degree of electricity – but the real energy comes from the fantastic horn interplay, stretching out nicely over the album's 3 long tracks. Titles include "Blue's Blue", "Milestones", and "Over The Rainbow". Disc 2 features Art Pepper playing at a 1975 tribute to Charlie Parker, recorded in Pasadena with a lineup that includes Joe Albany on piano, Roy Porter on drums, Sahib Shihab on baritone sax, and Harry Babasin on bass. That quintet of players is enough to get our interest on this one – and we've got to say that the blend of baritone and alto is really great – and handled here with an open-blowing spirit that really keeps our imagination up on the set's long interpretations of Parker classics. The sound quality is a bit "live", but the quality of the solos shines through tremendously – and titles include "Groovin High", "All The Things You Are", "Ornithology", and "Donna Lee" – all over 10 minutes in length! This material was previously available on 2 separate, expensive Japanese CDs – now out at a nice low price! CD

Wonderful work by Oscar Pettiford! Manhattan Jazz Septette is a nice mid 50s effort from– with a sound that ranges from an easy-going, lightly swinging style to full on, dexterous workouts! The arrangements by Manny Alban really allows for a lot of tight grooving from a stellar group – including Herbie Mann on flute and tenor, Barry Galbraith on guitar, Osie Johnson on drums, Urbie Green on trombone, Hal McKusick on alto, and Eddie Costa on piano and vibes! Titles include "King Porter Stomp", "Never Never Land", "Like Listen", "Rapid Transit", the great Herbie Mann showcase "Flute Cocktail", My Shining Hour" and more. CD

A fantastic new chapter in music from Cecile McLorin Salvant – a singer who's only been with us for a little more than a decade, has already gotten a Grammy and a MacArthur Genius Grant – yet hasn't let that stop her from being even more creative than ever! Cecile's still very much a jazz singer at the core, but there's also an expressive range here that we might never have guessed on her earlier records – and that's saying a lot, as those albums really blew us away! The singer's really breaking out of just the world of jazz vocals here – rising with star power, ala Gregory Porter or Esperanza Spaulding – but also maybe going deeper at the same time too. Titles include a surprising remake of "Wuthering Heights", plus "Thunderclouds", "Unquiet Grae", "Moon Song", "Trail Mix", "The World Is Mean", "Obligation", "Optimistic Voices/No Love Dying", "I Lost My Mind", and "Dead Popular". CD

Classic Sam & Dave work for Stax – a searing batch of hard soul tracks that forever redefined the concept of a male soul duet! This was the sound that put Sam & Dave over the top hard – and which left a generation of similar acts trying to catch up. The album sports a sublime track list of Stax originals – mostly by the Isaac Hayes/David Porter team, plus a few others by Steve Cropper and other writers – all top-shelf work that really helps the pair do their best! Titles include "Hold On, I'm Comin", "You Don't Know Like I Know", "You Got It Made", "It's A Wonder", "Blame Me", "Don't Make It So Hard On Me", "I Take What I Want", "I Got Everything I Need", and "If You Got The Loving". CD

A great second chapter for Shadows Of Knight – post-Dunwich material cut by the seminal garage group, and easily some of the hardest-hitting work to come out on the Buddah label in the late 60s! There's plenty of fuzz on the guitars here – that hard-strutting sound you'd know from the Shadows' bigger hits – and the production is nice and raw too, with a gritty, garagey sound that's quite different from the usual sweet Buddah pop sides of the period. The group seemed to have picked up even more of a groove in their label shift, and there's some mighty nice drums propelling some of the best numbers here – a massive batch of tracks that includes "Follow", "Back Door Man", "Bluebird", "Under Acoustic Control", "Alone", "Times & Places", "Uncle Wiggley's Airship", and "I Am What I Am". CD also features a bonus 45 version of "Shake" – and the tracks "My Fire Department Needs A Fireman" and "Run Run Billy Porter". CD

The post-Stax, Epic southern soul of the Soul Children – 1976's Finders Keepers and 1977's Where Is Your Woman Tonight back-to-back! Finders Keepers is a strong little album by the group – recorded with a very different sound than the Stax work – but one that's still totally great overall! The grooves are a bit warmer and more modern soul styled – uptempo at times, but never in a throwaway club mode – and in a way, the shift is a bit similar to that taken by The Dramatics at the same point. There's still plenty of nicely rough edges in the vocals – that raspy sense of soul that first made us fall in love with the group – and by this point, the lineup has been reduced to a trio, with more of a focus on male vocals than before. The session's filled with work by great Detroit talents who include Don Davis, Steve Mancha, and Harvey Scales – and tracks include "Finders Keepers", "A Little Understanding", "We Got To Get Our Thing Together", and "I'm Just A Shoulder To Cry On". Where Is Your Woman Tonight is another Epic gem with the group going for a smoother soul sound. Some tracks are a little uptempo, in hopes of a crossover hit – but mostly, just a a solid effort with the group continuing to grow from a raw soul group into a smoother one. This session features production by David Porter at Malaco studios, with the kind of mellow slightly funky vibe that the studio was perfect at for a few years. Titles include "Take Me Make Me", "Head On Collision", "Where Is Your Woman Tonight", "There Always", and "You Don't Need A Ring". CD

Johnnie Taylor's first album for Stax – and a tremendous little set that easily stands as one of his greatest records ever! Sure, we love Johnnie in all his incarnations – but there's a special sort of something here – a rawness and earnestness – that makes the whole thing shine right from the start – a crispy sort of Memphis vibe that has the Stax Records team really hitting their stride. The set's filled with great tunes from the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter – including "I Got To Love Somebody's Baby", "Toe Hold", "Outside Love", "Little Bluebird", and "I Had A Dream" – and also features great versions of "Watermelon Man", "Ain't That Loving You", and "Where Can A Man Go From Here". CD

Allen Toussaint's complete recordings for Warner – a trio of classic albums from one of the greatest forces in Crescent City soul, plus rare live tracks – in a perfect 2CD set! Includes the complete Life Love & Faith, Southern Nights and Motion albums – from a creatively fruitful 70s period when Toussaint was mixing a bit of funk into the heavy soul mix, and even some mellow LA soul touches – coming up with a blend of styles without ever betraying his New Orleans roots! New Orleans legends like Leo Nocentelli, Zig Modeliste, Art Neville and George Porter Jr factor in to the Life Love & Faith and Southern Nights sessions, along with LA sessions all stars like Richard Tee, Victor Feldman, Paulinho Da Costa, Larry Carlton and producer Jerry Wexler on the Motion sessions – this this excellent Rhino CD anthology also include 10 previously unreleased live records! Titles include Soul Sister", "Victims Of The Darkness", "Am I Expecting Too Much", "Out Of The City", "Goin Down", "Electricity", "Fingers & Toes", Southern Nights", "Basic Lady", "Last Train", "Worldwide", "You Will Not Lose", "When The Party's Over", Motion", "Night People", "Just A Kiss Away", "Declaration Of Love", "Viva La Money" and more from the studio recordings, plus "Touch Of Love", "Brickyard Blues", "What Is Success", "Shoo-Ra", "Last Train" and more live tracks! CD

A landmark album for Caetano Veloso – a full set of tracks sung in English, as beautifully done as we ever could have hoped! The arrangements are really fresh – in a style that makes the album far more than just a set of standards – and instead gives it the edgey approach of some of Caetano's best recent work. The set was co-produced by Jacques Morelenbaum, and has a range of instrumental approaches that shifts to fit the mood of each new track – and given that the work on the set runs from tunes by Cole Porter to Nat King Cole, Nirvana, David Byrne, Arto Lindsay, Elvis Presley, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan – you can imagine the changing moods at work! Titles include "So In Love", "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", "Diana", "Manhattan", "Nothing But Flowers", "Cry Me A River", "Nature Boy", "Jamaica Farewell", "If It's Magic", "Detached", "Blue Skies", and "Something Good". Loads of tracks, too – 22 in all – and packaged beautifully! CD

It's Christmas once again – but thanks to this groovy little set, you'll be celebrating with music that's a nice change from previous years! The package does a great job of pulling together rare 50s cuts in a variety of styles – country, R&B, instrumental, and early rock and roll – a blend that works wonderfully as the set steps from one unusual tune to the next – making for a great change from the Frank Sinatra and Vince Guaraldi albums that usually get big play during the 12th month of the year! The set's got 30 tracks in all – and titles include "Snow Man Rock" by Big Bud, "Frosty The Snowman" by Porter Wagoner, "Who Said There Ain't No Santa Claus" by Ron Holden, "Christmas Dinner" by Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Joy To The World" by The Louvin Brothers, "Swingin Christmas" by Earl Grant, "We Wanna See Santa Do The Mambo" by Big John Greer, "Sleigh Bell Rock" by Chuck Blevins, "Santa's Helper" by Joe Poovey, "Jingle Bells" by Chet Atkins, "I'm Gonna Tell Santa Claus On You" by Faron Young, and "Mister Santa" by Dorothy Collins. CD

More funky breaks than Evel Knevel after the Snake River Canyon jump! The groove hounds at BGP records were set loose on the Ace catalog – which includes holdings from Atlantic, Stax, Volt, Westbound, and other funky classic labels – and they managed to come up with a killer batch of funky cuts, even though this is their 3rd dip into the crates! If anything, perhaps they dipped even deeper this time – especially as some of the once-trusted sources for breaks, like the famous Ultimate Breaks & Beats series, are now disappearing from the market. Titles include "Soul Pad" by The Coasters, "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" by Johnny Jenkins, "T Plays It Cool" by Marvin Gaye, "Nappy Dugout" by Funkadelic, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by Jimmy Ponder, "Get Out Of My Life Woman" by The Mad Lads, "The Rose" by 50 Foot Hose, "Holy Ghost" by The Bar Kays, "No Strings Attached" by The Mad Lads, "After Laughter Comes Tears" by Wendy Rene, "River's Invitation" by Freddie Robinson, "This House Is Smokin" by BT Express, "Music Man (parts 1 & 2)" by Pleasure Web, and "I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over" by David Porter. CD

An assortment of tracks from Groove's later years on Muse Records – a great time when he dropped the electronics of some of his 70s sessions, and moved back to the small combo soul jazz grooving mode that first got him started in the jazz business! The tracks are all relatively long, and featuring an assortment of well-chosen players that include Idris Muhammad, Houston Person, Cecil Bridgewater, Jimmy Ponder, and Buddy Caldwell – all nicely recapturing the Prestige Records spirit, thanks to production work by Bob Porter and Houston Person. 10 tracks in all – including "Where Or When", "Groove's Groove", "My One & Only Love", "Stella By Starlight", "Broadway", and "Hackensack". CD

Harry James a long way from the swing years – and sounding pretty darn great overall! First up is the album Today – a hip 1960 swinger that features the trumpet of Harry James in front of some tight arrangements from Ernie Wilkins and Bob Florence, both talents who know how to update an older band sound strongly – with a leaner, cleaner groove than James ever got in the old days! Harry's solos are strong and bright, and he also gets some help from players who include Willie Smith on alto sax, Jack Perciful on piano, and Ray Sims on trombone. Titles include "Undecided", "End Of Town Blues", "King Porter Stomp", "Ensemble", "Jersey Bounce", and "Lester Leaps In". On Harry James Plays Neal Hefti, Hefti does a great job of updating Harry's older swing style – and the backings here have a solid 60s bounce that's a lot groovier than you ever might have expected from a James record a few decades back! There's a great sense of dynamism in the rhythms here – clearly the same groove that Hefti brought to Basie, but tilted slightly different here – with enough room for James to take the lead on his solos. Titles include "The Creeper", "Mister Johnson", "Tweet Tweet", "Koo Koo", "Rainbow Kiss", and "Hot Pink".. CD

Features Henry Johnson on guitar, Michael Logan on keys, Chuck Webb on bass, and Art Porter on alto. CD

A fantastic new chapter in music from Cecile McLorin Salvant – a singer who's only been with us for a little more than a decade, has already gotten a Grammy and a MacArthur Genius Grant – yet hasn't let that stop her from being even more creative than ever! Cecile's still very much a jazz singer at the core, but there's also an expressive range here that we might never have guessed on her earlier records – and that's saying a lot, as those albums really blew us away! The singer's really breaking out of just the world of jazz vocals here – rising with star power, ala Gregory Porter or Esperanza Spaulding – but also maybe going deeper at the same time too. Titles include a surprising remake of "Wuthering Heights", plus "Thunderclouds", "Unquiet Grae", "Moon Song", "Trail Mix", "The World Is Mean", "Obligation", "Optimistic Voices/No Love Dying", "I Lost My Mind", and "Dead Popular". CD

A huge run of music from the legendary Dionne Warwick – all of it very different than her early work with Burt Bacharach, and brought together as a strong testament to her ability to change and grow over the years! Although Dionne started as a sweeter singer in the 60s, and had a few great Warner Brothers moments during the 70s – she really reemerged strongly on Arista at the end of that decade – thanks to strong help from a label that really knew what to do with a top-shelf female singer, and help them move past some of the pop and disco pitfalls that brought down some of their contemporaries in the decade! Warwick really returned to the American consciousness with these records, then kept on growing and maturing – really able to shift through a range of styles as the 80s moved into the 90s, even ending up with a bit of jazz in the mix – as you'll hear on this long run of records. The box set features twelve full albums, a great value for the price – records that include Dionne, No Night So Long, Hot Live & Otherwise, Friends In Love, Heartbreaker, How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye, Finder Of Lost Loves, Friends, Reservations For Two, Sings Cole Porter, Friends Can Be Lovers, and Aquarela Do Brasil. CD

A very early chapter in the career of the great Dinah Washington – a series of sessions she cut for Apollo Records in the mid 50s, right before she would soon rise to fame on Mercury – and material that's every bit as interesting for the players involved as it is for Dinah's vocals themselves! If you know Washington, you'll know that she's hardly a mellow mama – and her work here is a great combination of jazz with some currents of blues – given strong support by a combo that includes Lucky Thompson on piano, Milt Jackson on vibes, and a young Charles Mingus on bass! Other players include the more obscure Karl George on trumpet, Jewel Grant on alto, and Gene Porter on alto and baritone – on titles that include "My Lovin Papa", "No Voot No Boot", "Pacific Coast Blues", "Blues For A Day", "Rich Man's Blues", "My Voot Is Really Vout", and "Walking Blues". CD

A solo piano album – tracks include "Little Melonae", "I Waited For You", "Nica's Tempo", and the originals "Hine's Catch-Up", "Cole Porter", and "Spin". CD

A well-done package that celebrates the key contributions that Savoy Records made to the field of jazz on record – as the New Jersey company was one of the first to record the new wave of bebop in the late 40s, and quickly unleashed the music of Charlie Parker and his contemporaries on a host of famous 78rpm singles at the time! This set features many of those key 78 recordings, but focuses on their presentation in a series of 10" LP releases that Savoy did in the early 50s – vinyl packages that compiled the earlier shellac sides into a more durable format – and presented the key efforts that the label made in helping bebop get out of the clubs and onto the turntable! As with other Craft Records packages, the presentation is great – and really upgrades other reissues of the material with great sound, notes, and artwork that really live up to the contents within. 2CD set features new mastering of the material, alongside notes and photos – with classic material recorded under the leadership of Milt Jackson, Leo Parker, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, JJ Johnson, Charlie Parker, Kai Winding, Allen Eager, Budd Johnson, Fats Navarro, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Roy Porter, and Serge Chaloff! CD