A breezy jazz vocal classic from the San Francisco scene of the 80s! Joyce Cooling plays guitar in a mellow jazzy way – a bit influenced by Brazilian fusion, and a bit by the CTI/Kudu styles of the mid 70s – warm and soulful, with a flowing, glowing kind of style that actually even reminds us a bit of Brazilian singer Joyce during the same period. And although Cooling's sounded a bit smooth in recent years, this album's got a nicely indie feel – a stripped-down set of grooves that's held up wonderfully over the years – and which still may be the best thing she ever recorded! Other instrumentation includes keyboards and lots of percussion – and titles include "It's You", "Ve", "The Way Out", "It's On You", and "It's Time I Do". (Vocalists, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Cannonball Adderley recorded this nice little groover in 1962, when American musicans were just getting on the bossa tip, and still keeping things pretty authentic. The record was cut in New York with Sergio Mendes' early Bossa Rio group – the legendary Brazilian jazz ensemble that featured Paulo Moura, Dom Um Romao, and Durval Ferreira. The mixture of tight bossa rhythms and Cannon's soulful sax is totally great – and it's only because the Riverside label was folding at the time that the record never got bigger fame. Includes the cuts "Joyce's Samba", "Clouds", "Minha Saudade", "Corcovado", "Batida Diferentes", and "Sambops". LP, Vinyl record album

Uri Caine on piano, Joyce Hammann on violin, Chris Speed on clarinet, Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Nguyen Le on electric guitar, Dj Olive on turntables, Drew Gress on double bass, and Jim Black on drums. CD

The last album in a legendary run of music from keyboardist Doug Carn – his final album for the Black Jazz label, and a set that pushes even farther than his previous efforts! Jean Carn isn't in the group this time around, but the set does feature a totally great twin-vocal approach – with singing by Joyce Green and John Conner, blending their voices together in a style that's right up there with the most righteous 70s jazz experiments by Horace Silver or Billy Gault! This vocal balance really brings a new sort of power to Carn's music – furthering the righteous spirit of earlier years with a hell of a lot of energy – also aided by great instrumental work from Ronnie Laws on tenor and soprano sax, Thurman Green on trombone, Calvin Keys and Nathan Page on guitars, and Big Black on percussion. Titles include the classic "Higher Ground" – plus "Adam's Apple", "Western Sunrise", "Chant", "Sanctuary", "The Messenger", and "Mighty Mighty". CD

The last album in a legendary run of music from keyboardist Doug Carn – his final album for the Black Jazz label, and a set that pushes even farther than his previous efforts! Jean Carn isn't in the group this time around, but the set does feature a totally great twin-vocal approach – with singing by Joyce Green and John Conner, blending their voices together in a style that's right up there with the most righteous 70s jazz experiments by Horace Silver or Billy Gault! This vocal balance really brings a new sort of power to Carn's music – furthering the righteous spirit of earlier years with a hell of a lot of energy – also aided by great instrumental work from Ronnie Laws on tenor and soprano sax, Thurman Green on trombone, Calvin Keys and Nathan Page on guitars, and Big Black on percussion. Titles include the classic "Higher Ground" – plus "Adam's Apple", "Western Sunrise", "Chant", "Sanctuary", "The Messenger", and "Mighty Mighty". LP, Vinyl record album

A totally cool session of avant Parisian jazz – assembled by the great Andre Hodeir, whose Jazz Et Jazz is one of the best modernist jazz efforts from postwar France. The work attempts to set music to the writings of James Joyce – and it features the voices of Nicole Croisille and Monique Aldebert, plus the musicians Pierre Michelot on bass, Bernard Lubat on vibes, Daniel Humair on drums, Michel Portal and Pierre Gossez on saxes, and Roger Guerin on trumpet. A bit odd – but very nice! LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty sweet set from the legendary Ramsey Lewis – possibly his best in years – all original material performed with his impeccable trio! If title Songs From The Heart has you expecting smooth, commercial fluff, you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's exceptional trio jazz all the way. Lovely and tender, but precise and very moving material. It includes songs Ramsey wrote, quite surprisingly, for the Joffrey Ballet Company, and other pieces he wrote to perform with the Turtle Island Quartet. Straight forward, lyrical jazz from Ramsey's piano to your soul, backed masterfully by bassist Larry Gray and drummer Leon Joyce, plus some equally wonderful solo pieces. Titles include "To Know Her Is To Love Her", "Touching, Feeling, Knowing", "Clouds In Reverie", "The Spark", "Conversation", "The Way She Smiles", "The Glow Of Her Charm", "Long Before She Know", "Watercolors" and more. CD

Ted Nash on tenor sax, clarinet & alto flute, Tomas Ulrich on cello, Ben Allison on double bass, Tim Horner on drums, Frank Kimbrough on piano, Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, Erik Charlston on vibraphone & percussion, Ron Lawrence on viola & Joyce Hammann on violin. CD

A soulful and ambitious session from saxophonist Nathan Davis – a funky little gem that's got a lot more to offer than just a simple tribute to Dr King! Nathan penned the set in a mode that's expanded from most of his other albums – using larger horns and electric instrumentation to give the record a groove that's almost like funky 70s soundtrack work, but which is also offset by some shorter, more introspective tracks that feature spoken narration about King and his legacy – read by Donald M Henderson, and done in an extremely poetic way. The session's as righteous as it is grooving – and showcases a side of Davis' talents we never even knew he had – a rich larger musical vision, handled perfectly throughout! Nathan plays a range of reed instruments on the album, and Frank Cunimondo plays some sweet electric piano on the record – and singer Brenda Joyce provides lyrics on a few numbers as well. Titles include "Funk A Dilly Molly", "MLK", "Atlanta Walk", "Mean Business", "Latin Happ'n", and "New Dues". CD

The first album in many years from Caesar Frazier – the organist you might know from his early 70s funk classics on Westbound Records – still very much at the top of his game in this small combo set! Frazier's very well-recorded here – given the care and respect that we love from the Doodlin label and its handling of Hammond organ giants – and Caesar's deft work on the keys is heard in the company of Lyle Link on tenor and soprano sax, Jacques Lesure on guitar, and Leon Joyce on drums – a nice tight combo who really give the organ plenty of room to groove! Frazier has a more standard organ jazz vibe here than on his earlier records – almost a return to roots that he never put on any other album – served up on titles that include "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", "Night In Tunisia", "Street Of Dreams", "You will Know", "Thieves In The Temple", "Don't Misunderstand", and two versions of "Purposeful", one that stretches out past the 12 minute mark! CD

The last album in a legendary run of music from keyboardist Doug Carn – his final album for the Black Jazz label, and a set that pushes even farther than his previous efforts! Jean Carn isn't in the group this time around, but the set does feature a totally great twin-vocal approach – with singing by Joyce Green and John Conner, blending their voices together in a style that's right up there with the most righteous 70s jazz experiments by Horace Silver or Billy Gault! This vocal balance really brings a new sort of power to Carn's music – furthering the righteous spirit of earlier years with a hell of a lot of energy – also aided by great instrumental work from Ronnie Laws on tenor and soprano sax, Thurman Green on trombone, Calvin Keys and Nathan Page on guitars, and Big Black on percussion. Titles include the classic "Higher Ground" – plus "Adam's Apple", "Western Sunrise", "Chant", "Sanctuary", "The Messenger", and "Mighty Mighty". CD

A sweet set of electric funk from James Moody – and a great little record to match the grooves he was laying down at the Perception label in the early 70s – with a very unique sound! Moody's working here alongside some sweet work on electric piano by either Jodie Christian or Tennyson Stephens – and with some sly and soulful arrangements by Chicago soul maestro Richard Evans, who also plays bass on the record and gives it a style that's almost an extension of the later Cadet kind of groove. The album features an excellent funky instrumental version of " First Thing I Do In the Morning", originally a funky vocal 45 by Chicago singer Joyce Williams – and other cuts include "Trilby", "Don't Let Me Be Lonely", "World Is A Ghetto", "Good Sense Humor Man", and "Country City Country". CD

2 of Woody Shaw's greatest albums – recorded 10 years apart, and forming a fantastic CD collection! Cassandranite features fantastic early work by Woody Shaw – an album originally recorded in 1965, when Shaw was part of a core soul jazz underground that was slowly forming an answer to the "new thing" movement of the mid 60s. The session was self-produced – and not only features some killer playing by Shaw, but contains a number of other wonderful touches. Larry Young plays piano (not organ) on two tracks; Herbie Hancock is on another 3; George Cables plays electric on the last track, which also includes Harold Vick; Joe Henderson plays tenor throughout; and the great Joe Chambers is on drums. The set is filled with fantastic modal originals, all along the lines of Shaw's "Moontrane" composition – and titles include "Baloo Baloo", "Three Muses", "Tetragon", and "Cassandranite". Love Dance is equally great – spiritual, soulful, and filled with some nice modal grooving! The group's one of the best he ever worked with on Muse – with Billy Harper on tenor, plus Rene McLean, Steve Turre, Joe Bonner, and Cecil McBee – and the approach reminds us of some of the work on Strata East from the same time. The highlight of the record is the cut "Sunbath", which was done in a more famous jazz dance version by singer Joyce Hurley – but Shaw's version has a very similar groove. Harper makes many of the other tracks shine brilliantly, and titles include "Love Dance", "Obsequious", and Harper's own beautiful composition "Soulfully I Love You". CD

Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone, Alex "Sasha" Sipiagin on trumpet, Robin Eubanks on trombone, Robin Eubanks on trombone, Joyce Hammann and Mark Feldman on violin, Lois Martin on viola, John Patitucci on bass, Iain Dixon on bass clarinet, Erik Friedlander on cello, Iain Dixon on clarinet, Antonio Sanchez on drums, Charles Pillow on English horn, Steve Wilson on flute, Peter Gordon on French horn, Adam Rogers on guitar, Charles Pillow on oboe, and Daniel Sadownick on percussion. CD

The last album in a legendary run of music from keyboardist Doug Carn – his final album for the Black Jazz label, and a set that pushes even farther than his previous efforts! Jean Carn isn't in the group this time around, but the set does feature a totally great twin-vocal approach – with singing by Joyce Green and John Conner, blending their voices together in a style that's right up there with the most righteous 70s jazz experiments by Horace Silver or Billy Gault! This vocal balance really brings a new sort of power to Carn's music – furthering the righteous spirit of earlier years with a hell of a lot of energy – also aided by great instrumental work from Ronnie Laws on tenor and soprano sax, Thurman Green on trombone, Calvin Keys and Nathan Page on guitars, and Big Black on percussion. Titles include the classic "Higher Ground" – plus "Adam's Apple", "Western Sunrise", "Chant", "Sanctuary", "The Messenger", and "Mighty Mighty". LP, Vinyl record album

Genius 70s work from Woody Herman – funky big band with electric touches, served up on a range of wonderful tunes! Woody's still at the helm of the group on saxes and clarinet – but as with other Fantasy and Cadet albums, the real thanks here goes to arrangers – who include Bill Stapleton, Alan Broadbent, Tony Klatka, and Richard Evans – who's making a brief post-Cadet appearance here to serve up a fierce version of his classic "First Thing I Do" – a jazzy reworking of the Joyce Williams tune, done here with a nice break, wah-wah guitar, and a real badass soundtrack style! Rhythm players include Joe Beck and Ray Barretto – and the whole album's great throughout. Titles include "Think On Me", "A Child Is Born", "Freedom Jazz Dance", "First Thing I Do", "Giant Steps", and a great take on Chick Corea's "La Fiesta", complete with electric piano! CD

Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, Peter Washington on bass, Dave Eggar on cello, Lewis Nash on drums, David O'Rourke on guitar, Mulgrew Miller on piano, Ron Lawrence on viola, and Joyce Hammann and Meg Okura on violin. CD

Features Gene Estes on vibes, John Pisano on guitar, Bob Bertaux on bass, Mel Pollan on bass, Jerry Williams on drums, Joyce Collins on piano, and John Bambridge on bass clarinet. LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet set of electric funk from James Moody – and a great little record to match the grooves he was laying down at the Perception label in the early 70s – with a very unique sound! Moody's working here alongside some sweet work on electric piano by either Jodie Christian or Tennyson Stephens – and with some sly and soulful arrangements by Chicago soul maestro Richard Evans, who also plays bass on the record and gives it a style that's almost an extension of the later Cadet kind of groove. The album features an excellent funky instrumental version of " First Thing I Do In the Morning", originally a funky vocal 45 by Chicago singer Joyce Williams – and other cuts include "Trilby", "Don't Let Me Be Lonely", "World Is A Ghetto", "Good Sense Humor Man", and "Country City Country". CD