All Categories — CDs  

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Jennifer Holliday's strong '91 set – with material that's par for the course for Arista soul efforts of the late 80s and early 90s – but Holliday outshines it with her powerful, emotional and wonderful voice! Definitely an underappreciated set, particularly for fans of powerfully... read more

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A turning point for Loleatta Holloway – as she makes the move from dreamy southern soul diva to club queen of the late 70s! Norman Harris is producing, and the record has a soaring Philly disco sound that proves to be just as great for Loleatta's soulful vocals as the stripped-down southern... read more

Landmark club grooves from the great Loleatta Holloway! Loleatta is mixing up the sound a bit here – working with a variety of arrangers and producers that include Bobby Womack, Norman Harris, Dan Hartman, and Tom Washington – but the overall sound is strong and clear, as dedicated to... read more

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2 late 60s sides by Groove Holmes – back to back on one CD! The Groover is a nice one from the days when Groove was playing with guitarist George Freeman! The core of the tracks on here feature a trio of Holmes, Freeman, and drummer Billy Jackson – and the trio knows how to cook nice... read more

Straight trio grooving from Takehiro Honda – but pretty darn great work nonetheless! The album's a nice bridge between the harder, more rhythmic pulse of his early soul jazz sessions, and the later, freer sound of his more lyrical trio sides – and the whole album shows Honda opening up... read more

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A pretty great little set that combines both of the rare early Elmo Hope 10" LPs for Blue Note – plus some additional material! Introducing The Elmo Hope Trio is seminal early work from Hope – and one of the 10" LP releases that was part of Blue Note's "New Faces –... read more

An amazing album – and a really unique slice of the underground of jazz in the 60s! The session was put together in 1963 by Walt Dickerson, and was conceived as an attempt to draw attention to the incredible amount of great jazz players who were then currently serving time in prison for... read more

Progressively fuzzy work from Hugh Hopper – an album that echoes the sounds of his work in Soft Machine, but which also steps forward with some trippier elements as well! There's a definite mix of jazz and rock in the set – along the lines of some of the work coming out from Virgin... read more

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Titles include "In Love In Vain", "Never On Sunday", "It Had Better Be Tonight", "A Fine Romance", and "All The Way".... read more

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New Zealand reggae.... read more

A cool collection of rare recordings from trumpeter Allen Houser – mostly recorded around the DC scene of the 70s, all with hip small group players and a pretty soulful feel overall! Houser's trumpet is set up in quartet, quintet, and sextet formations – often with a groove that draws... read more

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Titles include "Hopscotch", "Love Struck", "Talk To The Drum", "Red Black N Blue", "Broad Street", and "Baby Come To Me".... read more

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Hu Vibrational brings a pounding instrumental mix of percussion, electronic beats, and African-inspired jazz! The loose group feature multi-instrumentalist Adam Rudolph (who has played with Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock and Don Cherry to name a few) on all types of acoustic drums, shakers,... read more

A real standout in the early career of trumpeter Freddie Hubbard – a very unique session that has him working with some larger arrangements in the background – blowing these magical solos over the top, while still hitting a great edge with the rest of the musicians as well! There's a... read more

An excellent set of hardbop tracks – originally recorded under the leadership of trombonist Willie Wilson – but also issued under the names of Duke Pearson and Freddie Hubbard over the years! The set was cut in 1961 for the Jazztime label – and really crackles with electricity,... read more

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A landmark set for Blue Note – one that features Freddie Hubbard working in raw, firey, freewheeling territory – given space that few other players at the label were getting at the time! The two volume set features tracks recorded live at Club La Marchal in Brooklyn – and have... read more

One of Freddie Hubbard's wildest records ever – a really unique experiment with electronics, and a set that sounds way different than his other albums for Atlantic, Blue Note, or CTI! The key factor here is experimentalist Ilhan Mimaroglu – who adds lots of electronics and processed... read more

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The Charlie Hunter quartet offers their take on Bob Marley's groundbreaking album Natty Dread – taking the original Jamaican grooves of the set, and performing them in a laidback jazz funk style! The lineup includes Charlie on 8-string guitar, plus alto sax, tenor sax, and drums – on... read more

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An essential Blue Note album by the great vibist Bobby Hutcherson, and a record that's split into 2 different sides, each of which display different aspects of Hutcherson's talents. The first four tracks are mellow and lyrical, with the kind of lovely melodic writing that is best illustrated by... read more

One of Bobby Hutcherson's most important albums ever – and an essential piece of "new thing" jazz that ranks up there with such key Blue note sessions of the genre as Tony Williams' album Life Time, Dolphy's Out To Lunch, and Jackie McLean's One Step Beyond! Hutcherson's sound on... read more

One of our favorite Bobby Hutcherson albums ever – and a magical session filled with electric Latin vibes! The album's quite a different one for Bobby at the time – as it has him working with some larger arrangements, in a soulful west coast groove that's almost got the feel of a hip... read more

A relatively mellow recent effort from Bobby Hutcherson – one that has him playing both vibes and marimba, and going for a laidback style that allows plenty of spaces for tonal colors and shades of sound! The group's a quintet, with Kenny Garrett on alto, Geri Allen on piano, Christian... read more

The sticks are up, and Bobby Hutcherson is at the top of his game – hitting a whole new groove here in this sublime session of modal numbers for Blue Note – a slightly warmer set than his more modern albums of the "new thing" years, and a great indication of the directions he'd... read more

A brilliant collaboration between vibist Bobby Hutcherson and reedman Harold Land – the first Blue Note album to feature the talents of the pair together, and a stone classic from the very first note! Hutcherson had already been making big waves for the label with his earlier sides –... read more

Amazing rare work from this ultra-hip group – with Hutcherson on vibes, Land on tenor, Stanley Cowell on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums! Recorded live in Juan Les Pins – with cuts that include "Spiral", "Herzog", "Blow Up", "M... read more

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Sparkling modern soul from the lovely Phyllis Hyman – and an album that has the singer picking up the wonderfully smooth groove that had become the Philly International sound of the mid 80s. This format works surprisingly well for Phyllis – quite possibly more so than it did even for... read more

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A soaring set of solo piano from Weber Iago – music that bubbles and flows with a beautifully spontaneous quality – almost in the mode of a lost ECM session from the 70, but with all the warmth we've come to love from the Adventure Music label! The set may well be the best so far in... read more

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Abdullah Ibrahim's got a great South African group on this gem from the early 90s – a record that really sparkles nicely, thanks to tenor from Basil Manneberg Coetzee, trumpet from Johnny Mekoa, and alto and flute from Robbie Johnson! If you read these pages, you'll know we love Ibrahim's... read more

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Vintage Godzilla music – pulled from the first film to feature the big scaly green guy, presented here with some sparkling remastering for a 50th Anniversary edition! There's a really haunting quality to much of the music – not the typical monster movie stuff you might expect, and... read more

A great lost roots albums from the underrated I Jah Man Levi. At the cusp of the 80s he appeared poised to achieve the level of dominance over the Jamaican scene like Burning Spear held in the early 70s, only to leave us with a few monumental recordings and then labor quietly for the rest of his... read more

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Two of the fantastic ABC albums by the Impressions, with not a bit of filler, and 24 excellent songs from the years 1963 and 1964. Beautiful early Chicago soul that ranges from fragile ballads to swingin' party cuts. Tracks include "You've Come Home", "It's All Right", "Sa... read more

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Do these guys ever lose their touch? We think not – as this album, the group's umpteenth, is pretty darn great! Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick pulled out all the stops on this set – working with a range of vocalists that includes Joy Rose, Kelli Sae, Tony Momrelle, Joy Malcolm,... read more

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Detroit underground hits the mainstream – in a seminal album of crossover dance tracks! Kevin Saunderson and vocalist Paris Grey, along with help from Juan Atkins, craft a set of tunes that managed to hook the rest of the world on the electro sound that had been bubbling under in the Motor... read more

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A beautifully-done collection of work from The Intruders – a brilliant package that follows the group from early harmony days into some of their more sophisticated grooves for Philly International in the 70s! The Intruders have a sound that's unlike anyone else we can think of – a... read more

Invisible Things is the duo of guitarist Mark Shippy (U.S. Maple) and drummer Jim Sykes (Parts & Labor).... read more

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The Cool Ruler helps you get busy with a nice batch of his signature lover's rock on his own African Museum imprint, with help from the Roots Radics and Sly & Robbie. 10 tracks in all: "Confirm Reservation", "Front Door", "Permanent Lover", "Hush... read more

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The female member of the X Clan posse weighs in with the title track, "Face The Bass", "Great Pimpstress", "Wizard of Optics", "State of Mind" and 6 others.... read more

The Isleys sure aren't out to prevent teen pregnancy with the title of this set – but given the strength of the album, we can easily forgive them for any lack of social consciousness! In an era when countless young artists are copping the Isley groove of the 70s, the Brothers are back to... read more

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