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A pair of classics from the great Bill Medley – pulled from his key early years on his own! Bill Medley 100% a surprisingly wonderful little record – and a real testament to the blue-eyed soul of Medley! The set's a solo outing that has Bill stepping away from his fame as a Righteous Brother – but almost sounding even better on his own, with a depth of soul to his vocals that's really amazing – echoes of Ray Charles, Jerry Butler, Chuck Jackson, and other 60s greats – served up with a surprising lack of cliche – at least in comparison to folks who tried this sort of thing in later years. Bill Baker serves up some sparkling arrangements for the set – and titles include "Brown Eyed Woman", "You're Nobody Til Somebody Loves You", "Let The Good Times Roll", "Show Me", "One Day Girl", and "That's Life". Soft & Soulful is a record that really has Bill Medley deepening up his groove – moving past some of the more standard soul music modes of earlier efforts, and stretching out in a rich tapestry of modes that clearly sets the scene for soul singers in generations to come! There's still a strong dose of 60s soul in the mix here, but the arrangements complicate things nicely – and bring in this "adult" approach to the music that no doubt went back from Medley's mainstream presence to have an influence on other soul singers as well – kind of a template for more mature modes that would show up more strongly in the 70s. Medley wrote some of the tunes on the set himself – which further deepens the personality of the record – and titles include "Winter Won't Come This Year", "Peace Brother Peace", "100 Years", "I'm Gonna Die Me", "Softly", "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby", "Any Day Now", and "Street Of Dirt".

One of the greatest songwriting partnerships of the 60s – featured here in a great mix of soul, rock, and vocal numbers from the time – including a fair number of unusual versions of hits from the team of Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil! Weil's got a style that's sometimes a bit deeper than her contemporaries – and when mixed with Barry's strong sense of punch in a tune, has a way of bringing some surprising sophistication to pop music – little emotive moments that peek out from more hook-heavy numbers – but all without ever sounding lachrymose or overblown. As part of that quality, lots of these tunes have some great New York-styled production – that uptown balance of emotion and class – and as with other titles in Ace's excellent songwriter series, the notes alone are almost worth the price of admission – given all the historical detail, cultural commentary, and cool images. Titles include "New World Coming" by Mama Cass, "Love Is Only Sleeping" by The Monkees, "Angelica" by Scott Walker, "Looking Through The Eyes Of Love" by Gene Pitney, "Love Him" by Doris Day, "Good Good Lovin" by Bobby Hebb, "You Baby" by Len Barry, "Born To Be Together" by The Ronettes, "This Is A Love Song" by Bill Medley, "Make Your Own Kind Of Music" by The Happenings, "Shape Of Things To Come" by Slade, and "Proud" by Johnny Crawford.

A 70s issue of 2 late 50s hard bop sides released by Argo and Cadet. Though the title and packaging might lead you to believe Max and Art are performing side by side, it's really just two albums slapped together, and not necessarily inappropriately, in a gatefold sleeve to sell easily. The first set is Blakey's Tough, one of those obscure sessions recorded during the years after the time he and Horace Silver split, with a transitional early lineup of the Jazz Messengers featuring Jackie McLean and Bill Hardman up front with Sam Dockery and Spanky DeBrest filling out the rhythm section. Included are a swinging Gershwin medley and two Duke Jordan tunes "Scotch Blues" and the classic "Flight to Jordu". Max's sides were issued as Max, a killer set of bop tracks recorded by Max with Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham – plus a guest appearance by Ramsey Lewis on piano, in one of his few non-Chicago, non-trio sides! The record's got that great kind of energy that Roach could hit when he really was kicking his group into gear – and although the overall approach is mostly hard bop, there's plenty going on under the surface. Tracks include "CM", "Four X", "Crackle Hut", and "Speculate".

A delightfully offbeat soundtrack from the glory days of the biker film – put together by Harley Hatcher, but featuring performances by a whole host of different artists! Hatcher approaches the record with the same sort of vibe that Mike Curb was using for similar projects – working with a bunch of short vocal numbers, most of which are performed by lesser-known groups, in styles that are almost a Sunshine Pop take on biker rock! The big star here is Bill Medley – who sings "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" – and other titles include "The Hard Ride" and "Victorville Blues" by The Sounds Of Harley; "Shannon's Hook Shop" and "Let The Music Play" by Bluewater; "I Came A Long Way To Be With You" and "Carry Me Home" by Thelma Camacho; and "Fallin In Love with Baby" by Junction.

Heavy funk, deep soul, and lots lots more – an amazing testament to the songwriting skills of New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint! Allen was a heck of a singer on his own – but he also worked plenty behind the scenes in the 60s and 70s – lending his tunes to many others, and producing a good number of recordings as well – some of the best of which are featured in this sweet little set! The package features two dozen smoking tunes from the pen of Toussaint – songs that are heavy on influences from New Orleans soul and funk – already sounding great in the hands of other soul singers in the collection, and really helping transform the style of other artists in ways you might not expect. The whole thing's got the same righteous vibe as Allen's best records from the 70s – and titles include "I'll Be Rolling" by Millie Jackson, "Hercules" by Boz Scaggs, "Occapella" by Lee Dorsey, "Get Out Of My Life Woman" by Solomon Burke, "Sweet Touch Of Love" by Irma Thomas, "Sneakin Sally Thru The Alley" by Robert Palmer, "What Do You Want The Girl To Do" by Lowell George, "Shoo Rah" by Frankie Miller, "Fortune Teller" by Benny Spellman, "Freedom For The Stallion" by Bill Medley, "Whoever's Thrilling You" by ZZ Hill, "Tampin" by The Rhine Oaks, "A Certain Girl" by Warren Zevon, and even "Southern Nights" by Glen Campell.

A mixture of folksy and jazzy vocals from singer Susan Carter – part of the Laurel Canyon scene of the late 60s! Although Susan was one of the "Ladies Of The Canyon", she's got a sound here that's much more wider-ranging than that of Joni Mitchell – a unique mixture of jazz and rock influences that come across with a different sound on nearly every track on the set. The arranger for the album is Dick Halligan, who we've never heard of before – but who should get a lot of credit for the way that he mixes together odd phrasings and timings to match the shifting styles of Susan's vocals. Titles include "I'm So Tired", "I Need A Good Man Bad", "Medley For Billie Holiday", "Bluebird", and "Jam Session".

Heavy funk from the Indy scene of the late 60s – the lost album by one of the funkiest combos in the Midwest! Ebony Rhythm Band have an incredible sound that seems to take the heavy bottom of New Orleans Funk and merge it with the trippier elements of Detroit psychedelic soul – no surprise, considering they hailed from Indianapolis, a point about halfway between the two cities! The tracks on the set have a really great tripped-out groove – using lots of guitar and organ over heavy rhythms, in a style that's a bit like the Meters at times – but a lot freer flowing. The album features 2 tracks that formed the basis of one of the group's singles – plus a lot more that were never issued at the time, including a few by other incarnations of the combo! Titles include "Soul Heart Transplant", "Ode To Billie Joe", "Light My Fire", "Vanilla Fudge", "Get Yourself Together (Smiling Faces/Sunshine Of Your Love medley)", "Drugs Ain't Cool", "Fool Am I", and "It's Too Late For Love".

The great second album from Ghana's K. Frimpong – backed by the group Vis-a-Vis (though billed in the title as his Cubano Fiestas) – a stunning blend of Ghanian Highlife music and rawer Afro Funk & soul! A few K. Frimpong numbers appeared on some of our favorite African compilations of the late 90s & 00s – but this original album from 1977 has remained rare. K. Frimpong sings and he's backed up by the fairly large Vis-A-Vis players, but they deliver a pretty tight groove – drums, congas and other percussion, trumpet and sax, some really soulful electric guitar, some piano, and occasional waves of spacey synth. Amazing stuff! Includes "Hwehwe Mu Na Yi Wo Mpena", "Asaase Yi So", "Awisa" and the side-long "Adama Nana (Medley)".

A late, straight side from Cherry, and a nice one at that! Cherry's joined by West Coast jazz men from his past James Clay, Charlie Haden And Billy Higgins, for a nice set with standards intermingled with the group's own tunes and a couple of Ornette numbers, too. The readings are crisp yet expansive, with these elder statesman delivering performances that betray the confidence they've built up over many years of playing. 10 tracks in all: "Art Deco", 'When Will The Blues Leave", "Body & Soul", "Bemsha Swing", "Maffy", "Folk Medley", "The Blessing", "Passing", "I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face" and "Compute".

A weird batch of groovy tracks from Diz – more of a pop soul jazz instrumental set than a straight jazz one, recorded in 1969 with arrangements by Jimmy Mundy, who conducts a group with Paul Griffin, Billy Butler, and Jerome Richardson. As usual, Dizzy rises to any occasion – and brings out some great work for the album, grooving in a number of different modes as the moods of the tracks change with the backing colors of the band. Titles include a medley of "Aquarius" and "Let The Sun Shine In", plus "Exotica", "Besame Mucho", "Magic Tree", "This Girl's In Love With You", and "Galveston". Not all great – but with some really nice moments!

The great second album from Ghana's K. Frimpong – backed by the group Vis-a-Vis (though billed in the title as his Cubano Fiestas) – a stunning blend of Ghanian Highlife music and rawer Afro Funk & soul! A few K. Frimpong numbers appeared on some of our favorite African compilations of the late 90s & 00s – but this original album from 1977 has remained rare. K. Frimpong sings and he's backed up by the fairly large Vis-A-Vis players, but they deliver a pretty tight groove – drums, congas and other percussion, trumpet and sax, some really soulful electric guitar, some piano, and occasional waves of spacey synth. Amazing stuff! Includes "Hwehwe Mu Na Yi Wo Mpena", "Asaase Yi So", "Awisa" and the side-long "Adama Nana (Medley)".

Two lost scores – packaged together on a single CD! First up is Billion Dollar Brain, composed by Richard Rodney Bennett – done for an obscure late 60s spy thriller starring Michael Caine, and a really dark soundtrack! Bennett did a fair bit of jazz arranging in his time – and the score to this one mixes some dark dramatic bits with some lighter motifs that feature good work on woodwinds and percussion. The main theme has some nice floating piano over the top, and a few other tracks have a cool whistling suspense theme – but things also really change up a lot nicely, and the whole thing almost has an audio collage feel at times, with its sense of variety. Titles include "Love Scene", "Hoe Down", "Anya", "The Church", "Skidoo", "Ambush", "Car Chase", and "Billion Dollar Brain". Roy Budd handles the score for Final Option – an early 80s spy thriller, but one that gets some beautiful Budd treatment that's right up there with Roy's famous soundtracks of the 70s! The instrumentation often has an airy, eerie feel – slowly cascading keyboards, with almost a hint of Italian space between – used with a lot less schlock than some of the tinnier, cheesier action scores that were more of the mainstream at the time. A few tunes were composed and conducted by Jerry & Marc Donahue – and titles include "Who Dares Wins", "Straight Ahead Blues", "Nature Of The Beast", "Reds Under The Beds", "Hi Jack (part 1)", "American Medley", and "SAS Or Nothing".

A mixture of folksy and jazzy vocals from singer Susan Carter – part of the Laurel Canyon scene of the late 60s! Although Susan was one of the "Ladies Of The Canyon", she's got a sound here that's much more wider-ranging than that of Joni Mitchell – a unique mixture of jazz and rock influences that come across with a different sound on nearly every track on the set. The arranger for the album is Dick Halligan, who we've never heard of before – but who should get a lot of credit for the way that he mixes together odd phrasings and timings to match the shifting styles of Susan's vocals. Titles include "I'm So Tired", "I Need A Good Man Bad", "Medley For Billie Holiday", "Bluebird", and "Jam Session".

A non-stop funky party from CK Mann – and a set that definitely lives up to its title! The album's got an unusual approach – in that the first side is presented as a single long track – billed as a "medley" number, but wrapped together in a way that still seems to preserve each individual moment of music within – a shifting array of styles that runs from highlife to funkier African rhythms! The cut is a massive fourteen minute number that's worth the price of admission alone – then rolls into some great shorter tracks on the second half – arranged by Ebo Taylor with the same hip criss-crossing of modes you'd find in his own 70s work. Titles include "Asafo Beesuon Medley", "Beebi A Odo Wo", "Yebeyi Wo Aye", and "Do Me Ma Mondo Wo Bi".

A non-stop funky party from CK Mann – and a set that definitely lives up to its title! The album's got an unusual approach – in that the first side is presented as a single long track – billed as a "medley" number, but wrapped together in a way that still seems to preserve each individual moment of music within – a shifting array of styles that runs from highlife to funkier African rhythms! The cut is a massive fourteen minute number that's worth the price of admission alone – then rolls into some great shorter tracks on the second half – arranged by Ebo Taylor with the same hip criss-crossing of modes you'd find in his own 70s work. Titles include "Asafo Beesuon Medley", "Beebi A Odo Wo", "Yebeyi Wo Aye", and "Do Me Ma Mondo Wo Bi". CD features lots of bonus tracks, too – titles itnat include "Efi Na Matase", "Se Menya Wo A", "Fawakoma Ma Me", "Araba Lucy", and "Medzi Makoma Ma Wo".

A smoking little bop set from Sonny Stitt – recorded live at the Keystone in 1981, as sort of a "summit meeting" of horns – one that features Richie Cole and John Handy in the frontline with Sonny! The rhythm section alone is enough to cook this one up nicely – with Cedar Walton on piano, Herbie Lewis on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and the sextet is expanded by Bobby Hutcherson, whose vibes seem to bring an even deeper level of soul to the set. But the main focus here is on the horns – and it's a focus that's well-kept, especially on the longer tunes, which really sparkle in the range of tone and mood expressed. Highlights include an extended "Ballad Medley" and versions of "Wee", "Lover Man", and "Star Eyes". (And by the way, that's "bad", as in "good" – in case you couldn't guess from the title!)