One of the greatest Art Blakey Blue Note sessions of all time – and perhaps one of the greatest to realize the genius of the Jazz Messengers lineup that included Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor, and Bobby Timmons on piano! The trio of young talents are at the height of their early soulful powers here – working with Blakey and bassist Jymie Merritt in a set of tunes that are overflowing with expressive solos, unusual timings, and the Blakey genius for mixing bold statements with personally introspective moments. Nearly every track on the record's a classic – and titles include an early version of Bobby Timmons' "Dat Dere", plus Wayne Shorter's beautiful tunes "Lester Left Town", "Chess Players", and "Sakeena's Vision". CD

We always like the work of Ulysses Owens Jr on drums, but we might love it even more here – as Owens works as a leader at the head of a group of young, bright musicians who really live up to the new beat promise of the title! The songs are full of life and imagination – bursting forth with bright colors and a warm range of expression, as the group stretches out on longer performances that shift effortlessly between combo voicing and individual solos. Players include Sarah Hanahan on alto, Benny Benack and Anthony Hervey on trumpets, Luther Allison on piano, and Philip Norris on bass – and the great Milton Suggs sings on one cut, "Heart Full Of Rhythm". Owens is dynamic throughout – and titles include "London Towne", "Better Days", "Bird Lives", "Helen's Song", and "Soulful". CD

Lots of jazziness here – including tight piano, snapping snare, and moody vibes – all served up in one of the best early soundtracks we've heard from Piero Piccioni! The core of the record features the original EP release of the film score – some of the most tight, tuneful numbers that really showcase Piccioni's jazz potential – but even the rich array of bonus tracks (29 extra tunes!) still mostly retain the jazzy flourish of the originals, and offer up some sweet instrumental variations that are mighty nice! The whole thing stands strongly next to some of the best French or American jazz soundtracks of the period – and this reissue adds in so much extra music, the CD runs for almost 80 minutes in length. (Soundtracks, Jazz) CD

An excellent jazz soundtrack from Piero Piccioni – captured at a great early point in his film career, when he was still mixing in lots of elements from his work in jazz as well! The style here echoes some of the French jazz soundtracks of the new wave – and the tunes often sport breakout solos with plenty of fire – tenor, trumpet, and lots of piano – the latter of which has an especially great feel on some of the more mellow, moody tunes. Rhythms are great too – sometimes slow and loose, sometimes more vibrant and boppish – and together, the tunes work together to offer up a vibrant version of the movie that's almost as striking as the images on the screen! CD features a total of 26 tracks in all – over 70 minutes of music, including a number of unreleased tracks. (Soundtracks, Jazz) CD

Mod mod 60s jazz – and 20 tight-as-can-be instrumentals from London's Dave Davani combo! Dave's a Hammond player with a great mix of soul jazz and R&B in his grooves – very much the best sort of instrumental work you might expect from London in the swinging 60s – a great blend of American influences and UK mod styles. The rest of the group includes guitar, bass, and drums – plus a bit of vocals and Latin percussion from Beryl Wayne. The groove here is clearly a precursor to the James Taylor Quartet, and the overall sound is better than some of the more famous groups from the time – such as the combos of Brian Auger or Graham Bond. The set features tracks from Dave's Parlophone album, a few other singles, and even 4 previously unissued tracks from the same time – with titles that inlcude "Big Bossa Man", "Working Out", "Funky Mama", "Sack O Woe", "Boot Leg", "Harlem Waltz", and "Pig Foots". CD

Chicago finally gets its due – in this great series that previously gave us the Philadelphia Experiment and Detroit Experiment projects! This time around, though, the lineup is even more top-shelf – filled with the kind of artists who really make us proud to be part of the Windy City – many of them players with slightly different styles and approaches, which is what makes the record such a great break from the usual! Pianist Greg Spero heads up the group, and the septet features work from Makaya McCraven on drums, Jeff Parker on guitar, Joel Ross on vibes, Marquis Hill on trumpet, Darryl Jones on bass, and Irvin Pierce on tenor – working together with a style that's nicely unified, and which has some of the soulful currents of other projects in this series from Ropeadope. That mode is maybe a bit different than you're used to hearing from McCraven, is a perfect showcase for the more soulful side of Parker's talents, and is right on the money for Marquis Hill – on tunes that include "The Chant", "Sizzle Reel", "Cloud Jam", "Always Be", "Double Take", "Maxwell Street", "For Too", "Straight Shooter", and "Tiny Beat". CD

Great later work from Wendell Harrison – a set that has the Tribe Records giant of the 70s taking the sound of the Detroit underground into a whole new vibe! The record takes the spiritual post-Coltrane jazz of Harrison's earlier days, and infuses it with some warmer, electric modes – a way of pushing spiritual jazz currents into other territory, a bit like Gary Bartz did with some of his work in the late 70s! Tracks are shorter and slightly less political than before – but the overall vibe is equally soulful in an 80s indie jazz style – and proof that Harrison was still keeping strong after the early days of the Tribe movement. There's some nice dark edges to the record that really keep things interesting – maybe imagine Larry Mizell producing some of the more off-beat albums on Strata East – and there's a bit of vocals on the set, which also features work from Phil Ranelin on trombone. Tracks include "Where Am I", "Sea Minor Blues", "Take Time Out", and "Dreams Of A Love Supreme". CD

That's right, count 'em – 88 keys on the piano in all, and Ahmad does a pretty good job of hitting them all in this early album of piano virtuosity! The album's amazing – set the pace for a whole new generation of piano expressiveness, with a cool and earthy approach that also still has quite a bit of poise. The group features Walter Perkins on drums and Israel Crosby on bass – fantastic rhythm players both of them, giving the album a pulsating live that goes way beyond the simple format of the tunes! Titles include "Beat Out One", "Jim Love Sue", "Maryam", "Volga Boatman", and "Green Dolphin Street". CD

A killer set of hardbop from the legendary Hank Mobley – recorded during the initial Mobley run at Blue Note, and a keen document of his amazing power on the tenor sax! The album's got a tightness that's almost impossible to believe – a summation of all the best bop trends of the 50s, rolled into a freewheeling and soulful expression, guided by Mobley's always-sharp ear for a groove. The group's great too – and Art Blakey is on drums, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and a young young Freddie Hubbard plays trumpet. All tracks are nice and long, with a firey hardbop sound, deeply held in place by Mobley's soulful tone on the tenor! Titles include "My Groove Your Move", "Baptist Beat", and "The Breakdown". CD

Excellent funky jazz from Jeremy Steig – the funkiest flute player we can think of! The album's a 2LP set that brings together Steig's Energy album for Capitol, plus more material that was also recorded by producer Sonny Lester. Energy takes up where Jeremy's LPs on Solid State left off – adding Steig's hard-blowing flute to some groundbreaking beat-heavy backings by Gene Perla and Eddie Gomez on bass, Don Alias on drums, and Jan Hammer on electric piano. The sound is super-dope – and the cuts feel like they fell off some lost blacksploitation soundtrack from the early 70s. All titles are great, and the record's a completely unified, fiercely funky set that should be in the collection of any fan of funky electric jazz. Titles include "Down Stretch", "Swamp Carol", "Home", "Cakes", and "Come With Me". The rest of the tracks on the set are equally great – played by the same group, and probably recorded at the same time – with a free-flowing energy that's easily some of the hippest flute work of the early 70s! Titles include "Rock #6", "Elelphant Hump", "Something Else", and "Up Tempo Thing". CD

Beautiful solo recordings from saxophone genius Ken Vandermark – music that we don't normally hear in such a setting from Ken, given what a strong collaborator he is – and a set that's just a further reminder of the endless depths of his talents! The material was recorded at Vandermark's apartment during the pandemic, but hardly feels like one of those beat-down sessions from that time – as while solo, it's clear that the reedman was driven by a new sense of creativity – as you'll hear these selections of varying length, on a variety of horns, dedicated to some of Vandermark's key inspirations – a long list of heavyweights that includes William S Burroughs and Willem De Kooning. Titles include "Portable Nowhere", "Shared Testament", "Looking Back At Looking Forward", "End The Giraffe Lottery", "Feet On Main", and "Imagine The Paper". CD

A massive assortment of tracks that go way past the familiar – not a collection of standard classics from Blue Note, Impulse, or Prestige – and instead a whole host of jazzy groovers that we'd never have discovered otherwise! This volume of the series does a great job mixing in contemporary cuts with rare nuggets from years past – in ways that never make you notice the passage of years, as almost all of this work is rooted in a solid blend of tight rhythms and inventive improvisation – heavy on acoustic instrumentation, but with occasional electric moments too! Imagine the kind of groove that Gilles Peterson used to turn us onto years back, when he was spinning rare jazz records, and you'll get the vibe here – served up on titles that include "Tape Your Beat" by Born 74 & Onj, "Still In Love" by GeeW, "46 To Somewhere" by The Sultan's Swing, "Unreachable Galaxy" by Stefano Di Santis, "Movin" by Charro Band De Emilio Guerro, "Caught In A Fever" by Moreen Meridian, "Mr Fool" by Alonson Gonzalez & Jazz Latino, "Cla Samba" by Juju, "I Face East" by Mary Greer Mudiku, "Mende" by Jacques Schwarz Bart, "Mother Of The Future" by Venus Dodson, "Wanting Touch (inst)" by Juju, "Mambo De Papi" by El Caballo Y Su Orquesta, "Ponteio" by Miho Nobuzane, "Samba De La Cruz" by Tres Men, and "I'll Bet You Thought I'd Never Find You" by Lifetime. (Funky Compilations, Jazz) CD

Two very unusual albums from the great Graham Bond – back to back in a single set! Holy Magick is quite spiritual, almost supernatural at times – very much what you'd expect from the cover and title! The record's light years away from Bond's British beat group work of a few years before – and has a quality that almost mixes headier rock influences with the spiritualism of the post-Coltrane generation – as the record almost goes farther in a direction that was somewhat initiated by Albert Ayler's more rock-like leanings at the end of his life. Many numbers have chorus vocals rising up behind Bond's lead – and while his own work on alto sax is somewhat displaced by strong use of guitar on many tracks, there's still a fair bit of jazzy elements going on in the mix – particularly on side two, which features Graham laying down some strong lines on the Hammond. Titles include "Aquarius Mantra", "Praise City Of Light", "12 Gates To The City", "Invocation To The Light", "The Qabalistic Cross", "The Pentagram Ritual", "The Holy Words", "The Judgement", and "The Magician". Holy Magick is an equally unusual record from a very unusual player! Altoist Graham Bond had a long and varied career before he made this groovy rock/jazz album in the early 70s. He started as a committed Brit modernist, playing in Don Rendell's early group, then moved into the Beat Group era, with his Graham Bond Organization that featured him on organ and alto. This session recorded with his group Magick shows a similar extension from the Beat Group sound that was taken by Brian Auger – lots of longer jamming cuts, still with the R&B tinged jazzy playing at its base, but with spiritual jazz on the vocals at times, and almost a bit of prog as well. The heart of the whole thing's still nice and jazzy, though – and titles include "Druid", "Ajama", "Forbidden Fruit", and "Moving Towards The Light". (Rock, Jazz) CD

Mindblowing sounds from Gino Marinacci – a 70s Italian jazz flute player, and one who's got a vibe that's very different than most of his American contemporaries! Gino really likes to go for a cool compressed tone on his instrument – often creating these warm waves of sound that are balanced by the arrangements in a great way – sometimes paired with additional flute from Alfio Gagliani, as both artists shift between variations on the instrument – in a lineup that has electric piano and organ from Antonello Vannucchi, soprano and alto from Quarto Maroni, tenor from Livio Cervellieri and Sal Genovese, and some especially great work from the legendary trombonist Dino Piana – whose own sense of compression is a great balance with the flutes! The instrumentation also includes electric bass and guitar, which with the keyboards make for a great 70s vibe – a sound that's very soulful, but with qualities that are nicely different from American work on labels like CTI. Titles include "Life", "Guardrail", "Space", "Atom Flowers", "Walking Moon", "Actors Flute Studio", "Meeing", and "Sonatina In Beat". CD