Like any Spike Lee soundtrack from the 80s, this one's a mix of many different styles – with some straight-out pop tracks, like EU's hit "Da Butt", or a number of throwaway 80s R&B tracks by lost groups. The best moments, as usual, are the jazzy ones – like Phyllis Hyman's sweet "Be One", Bill Lee's spiritual "Wake Up Suite", and Kenny Barron & Terence Blanchard's duet on "One Little Acorn". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal work from the duo of Archie Shepp and Bill Dixon – easily one of the greatest modern jazz pairings of the 60s! If you only know Shepp from his later work, you'll hear something very different here – as his tenor's often brought into tight focus with the trumpet of Dixon – in a blend of arrangement and freedom that's like that of Ted Curson and Bill Barron, but a lot more powerful overall! The tunes still have a sense of structure – and get great help from the bass of Don Moore and drums of Paul Cohen – but there's also some tremendously unbridled energy from the leaders, especially Dixon, who might not have sounded this great ever again. Titles include "Quartet", "Peace", and "Trio". LP, Vinyl record album

A great set – cut when Curson was at the height of his youthful powers, and inspired by modernist ideas he'd picked up from Mingus and other contemporary jazz outsiders – including tenorist Bill Barron, who also plays on the LP! The recording is a perfect document of a time when the hard bop was folding into the new thing – in modes that were experimentally, yet never too far out – and always remembering to swing when needed, as in the case of some of Jackie McLean's best Blue Note work of the early 60s! The album's quite an obscure one – given to its original issue on the mostly-pop Old Town label – but it's a real gem in Curson's catalog, and includes the tracks "Antibes", "Nosruc", "Ahma (See Ya)", and "Flatted Fifth", a composition that went on to become one of Curson's classics! LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal work from trumpeter Ted Curson – a set that's issued under his own name, but which continues a string of key early 60s performances with tenorist Bill Barron – who's work together here with Ted is fantastic! The group has no piano – just Herb Bushler on bass and Dick Berk on drums – both players with a fluid, open sense of rhythm – one that allows for plenty of horn interplay, at a level that almost has Curson borrowing some of the lessons he learned from Mingus, then taking them into small group formation and really opening things up! Curson also blows a bit of pocket trumpet, and Barron handles some clarinet – on a set of all original material that includes a great version of Curson's "Quicksand", plus the tracks "Kassim", "East 6th Street", "Tears For Dolphy", "7/4 Funny Time", and "Desolation". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal work from trumpeter Ted Curson – a set that's issued under his own name, but which continues a string of key early 60s performances with tenorist Bill Barron – who's work together here with Ted is fantastic! The group has no piano – just Herb Bushler on bass and Dick Berk on drums – both players with a fluid, open sense of rhythm – one that allows for plenty of horn interplay, at a level that almost has Curson borrowing some of the lessons he learned from Mingus, then taking them into small group formation and really opening things up! Curson also blows a bit of pocket trumpet, and Barron handles some clarinet – on a set of all original material that includes a great version of Curson's "Quicksand", plus the tracks "Kassim", "East 6th Street", "Tears For Dolphy", "7/4 Funny Time", "Reava's Waltz". LP, Vinyl record album

Nathan Page was one of the more obscure players of the east coast soul jazz underground that surfaced often on labels like Strata East and Muse during the 70s – and although he made few albums as a leader, he's a pretty strong single-note guitar player with a good range of styles! This 1982 album has him playing with Buster Williams, Billy Hart, and Kenny Barron – and the sound's a mix of straight soul jazz tunes, plus others that have a slicker, more-produced sound. Includes a version of Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge", plus the originals "Sunday Morning Samba", "Reba", and "Gypsy". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few albums ever cut by trumpeter Dave Burns – an excellent batch of soul jazz numbers with a comfortable easy swing that will make you wonder why he wasn't a much bigger success! Dave played trumpet briefly in the Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington groups – and at the time of this set, he was playing with Al Grey and Billy Mitchell. This album's quite different than his work with them, though – as it's a very tight, very in the pocket set of grooves that feels like the best on Blue Note or Prestige from the time. Burns' trumpet is fantastic – sounding a bit like a young Lee Morgan – and his group features a young Kenny Barron on piano, plus sharp tenor work by Herbie Morgan, a player who recorded as rarely as Burns. Titles include "Tali", "Something Easy", "CB Blues", "Rhodesian Rhapsody", and "Straight Ahead". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet electric keys from Kenny Barron – one of those few excellent 70s albums that have the pianist hitting some Fender Rhodes! The record has Kenny playing electric on most of the set – in a mode that's as open, and spiritual as his best work for the Muse label – maybe even better, as the tracks have a freer style, and really open up with a beautiful sense of energy! The other players here really make the record special, too – and include Sonny Fortune on alto sax, Jimmy Owens on trumpet, Buster Williams on bass, Ben Riley on drums, and Billy Hart on percussion – a lineup that really gives the whole thing a level that's right up there with classics on the Black Jazz or Strata East label. As always with the electric piano, Kenny hits some wonderful notes, colors, and tones that make us wish he used the instrument all the time – on titles that include "Sunshower", "Innocence", "Bacchanal", and "Nothing To Fear". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing later work from Booker Ervin – far more modern and far-reaching than you'd guess from the "Texas" title in the set! Although Ervin first came onto the scene as a strong-voiced tenorist from a Texas tradition, through the course of the 60s he'd really expanded his musical vision – working with Charles Mingus, Jaki Byard, and others to push his already-soulful sound into a freer-thinking mode that was one of the most compelling approaches to tenor at the time. And while this change had been documented on some key sides for Prestige and World Pacific at the time, this rare 1968 session for Blue Note is perhaps one of the best of the bunch – but oddly was somehow never issued at the time, and only made a brief appearance in 1976, as part of a 2LP set. Ervin's working here with a totally hip group – one that has Woody Shaw in the frontline on trumpet, and a rhythm team of Kenny Barron on piano, Jan Arnet on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – all grooving with Ervin in styles that recall the modal vamping and soaring energy that Shaw would later bring to his own solo work in the 70s. Tracks are all longish, and filled with a sense of life and exploration that shows that Ervin was growing tremendously in this last stretch of his all-too-short life – never too free, always in control, yet roaming the skies in search of new notes and sounds! Titles include "Gichi", "Den Tex", "Lynn's Tune", "204", and an early version of Shaw's "In A Capricornian Way". LP, Vinyl record album

Great stuff from Sonny Fortune – emerging here as a strong leader with a spiritual soulful style that was steeped in traditions from labels like Strata East and Muse, but which also worked quite well in the slightly-expanded setting of A&M's Horizon projects. The group here is a well-selected one – with John Hicks and Kenny Barron on piano, Charles Sullivan on trumpet, Wayne Dockery and Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Hart on drums. Fortune really knows when to sit back and let the group groove – but he also burns away strongly on his own solos. Titles include "Triple Threat", "Nommo", "Sunshower", and "Awakening". LP, Vinyl record album

Stellar work from the lovely lady – featuring a number of original songs, plus backing from a trio that features Kenny Barron on piano, Buster Williams on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums! LP, Vinyl record album

Hard-swinging Buddy Rich from the prime early 70s years – not exactly an all-out funk affair, but still a great groover, with plenty of hip little big band numbers! The groove here is nice and lean – and Buddy and the group are working at Buddy's own club – hitting that trademark all-out Rich sound, but still leaving plenty of room for the soloists. The group's got some great soul jazz players – including Sonny Fortune on alto, Jack Wilkins on guitar, and Kenny Barron on piano – as well as some really smoking tenor work from Sal Nistico, who's always adaptable to a setting like this. The album's got a tasty version of Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon", plus other nice tracks that include "Sierra Lonely", "Nica's Dream", "Billy's Bounce", "Cardin Blue" and "Jumpin At The Woodside". LP, Vinyl record album