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Extremely heady work from the French scene of the early 70s – and hardly the Latin Rock album you might guess from the title! Ergo Sum have a sound that's as contemplative as their name – a slow-building, almost brooding blend of jamming, jazzy work on flute, Fender Rhodes, organ, guitar, violin, bass, and drums – all topped by the distinctive vocals of Lionel Ledissez, who's got a raspy, rough-edged appeal that almost sounds like Cat Stevens gone to seed! The lyrics are all in English, which adds to the appeal of the record – and the flute and keyboard parts are handled by Jean Guerin. Titles include "Night Road", "John's Nightmare", "Faces", "Second Rebirth", and "Albdion Impressions". As with all Lion reissues, the production is wonderful – lots of notes and photos on the music, plus bonus tracks that include "Mexico (inst)", "It's Me", "Tijuana", and "All's So Comic".

Lovely work from singer Michael Johnson – an obscure American vocalist from the mid 70s, with a sweetly folksy style that recalls the work of Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, or James Taylor, but which has a sense of depth that's all its own! The set is done in a lightly folksy style that also has some jazzy overtones – with Johnson on acoustic guitar alongside his vocals, and working with some nicely fuller arrangements. Titles include "OB Glad", "Our Snowflake Dreams", "Ain't Dis Da Life", "High On The Border", and "Mr Arthur's Place".

A incredible little set of grooves that lit up early 80s Italian club scene – bubbling electro pop, pulsing post disco, and cosmic soul tunes compiled by DJ Mooner – a batch of nuggets originally spun in the famous Discoteca Cosmic! The tunes were all on the playlists during the heyday of that famous Italian club – a great mix of spacey, uncommonly warm synth grooves and cosmic funk featuring the Rah Band, Chocolate Star, Heaven 17 and more! Some of the most atmospheric club friendly grooves of the time! 11 tracks on the CD: "Electric Fling" by the Rah Band, "Mystery Man Remix" by Clive Stevens & Brainchild, "Dance On The Groove (And Do The Funk)" by Love International, "Crash (Monner's edit)" by Doctor S Cat, "I'm Your Money" by Heaven 17, "Basic" by Memory Control 1, "Oriental" by Peru, "This Is Me" by Chris & Cosey, "The Pop" by Chocolate Star and more.

Quite an unusual record from singer Carol Stevens – a singer who often vocalizes wordlessly, in an eerie, haunting way that's really compelling! Carol's got a breathy voice, and if she was singing the words, she'd no doubt come off as a bit of a sexpot – but here, working with arrangements from Phil Moore, her approach is much more fluid and evocative – kind of a tuneful humming that's really not scatting, and more just melodic vocalizations alongside the instrumental backing. The approach is similar to one used by Moore on some of his more ambitious exotic albums of the 50s – but here, it's nicely restrained and a fair bit jazzy – really great overall, and almost with a late nite, barroom sort of feel. Instrumentation features nice work from Herbie Mann on flute, Barry Galbraith on guitar, and Don Elliott on trumpet – plus a bit of piano from Moore. Titles include "Mood For You", "Lurelei", "At Last", "Tender As A Rose", "Romance In The Dark", "Lying In The Hay", and "I'm Playing With Fire".

Early jazz rock from Bob Downes Open Music – composed and arranged by Downes and not a far cry stylistically as the Electric City LP that came out just a bit earlier – a mix of charged, drum heavy movements and airier flute led tapestries! The mood shifting dynamic makes the record pretty exciting, as does the stellar musicianship and imaginative compositions that fearlessly resist categorization. Downes plays different flutes plus sax, bels and tam tam, with Dennis Smith and John Stevens on drums, Harry Miller on bass and Chris Spedding on guitar. Titles include "Dream Journey: "A Score For Blind Sight By The Ballet Rambert", "Integration", "Contact", "Ghosts In Space", "Sesert Haze" and "Electric City".

An incredibly groovy late 60s soundtrack from Michel Legrand – presented here with 2 other lesser-known gems as well! La Piscine may well be one of the last under-reissued scores from Legrand's genius period – that time when he was hitting heavily on soundtracks for The Thomas Crown Affair, Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, and other classics. This one's got a feel that's right up there with those – a mix of jazzy styles, mod themes, and cool vocal touches – sometimes scatted a bit, with that raspy style we love in Legrand's singing. A few other tunes are a bit mellow, but in a great way that really fits the watery title of the set – cool and shimmering, and with a great sense of sound that really shows Legrand's talents. Titles include "La Piscine", "Chasse Croise", "Blues Pour Romy", "Suspicion", "Une Enquete", "Dans La Soiree", and "De Souvenirs En Regrets" – plus "Run Brother Rabbit" sung by Delaney Bramlett and "Ask Yourself Why" sung by Sally Stevens. CD also features 3 great tracks from the film Un Homme Est Mort – "Une Homme Est Morte", "Onyx Bar", and "American Funeral" – all organ-heavy numbers, two of them jazzy, one ethereal! The remaining 7 tracks on the set are from the film Un Peu De Soleil Dans L'Eau Froide – some of which are a bit softer and mellower, although a few are upbeat and plenty groovy! These titles include "Dis-Moi", which is sung by Legrand – plus "Vivons L'Aventure", "Nathalie A Paris", "Seule Dans Paris", "Gilles Et Nathalie", and "Main Dans La Main".

Sublime Hammond from Johnny Smith – a pair of early albums for Riverside, back to back on a single CD! Black Coffee is one of Johnny Hammond's first albums – and a cooking little live set that really has the organist working with some early raw power! The group's a trio, but they seem to burn differently than some of the other organ combos of the time – maybe with that fluid sensibility that Johnny brought to his keys, and which would later open up in even more famous ways. The core group features Eddie McFadden on guitar and Leo Stevens on drums – but they're joined by Seldon Powell on tenor for more than half the album, who really opens things up with his tremendous playing – and shows at an early state that Johnny Hammond always knows the right way to use a horn player. Titles include "Monterey Theme", "Far Away Places", "I Remember Clifford", "He's A Real Gone Guy", and "Rufus Toofus". Mr Wonderful is a record that definitely lives up to its title – reminding us not only that Johnny Hammond Smith is one hell of an organist, but also a great leader with a really unique feel for a groove! The set's noteworthy not just for Johnny's own work on Hammond, but also for the presence of a young Houston Person – blowing tenor here in a way that's breathtaking right from the start – a bold, soulful tone that's a perfect fit for the group – which also includes trumpet from Johnny Williams and guitar from Eddie McFadden. The set includes a lot of tasty originals by Johnny – like "Cyra", "Lambert's Lounge", "Departure", and "Opus 2" – and already shows the way that Hammond was complicating his groove from that of other players of the time!

A pair of great Nancy Wilson albums from the mid 70s in a single set! All In Love Is Far is a sophisticated album of soul tracks arranged and produced by Gene Page, in a string-heavy, slightly-funky style that reminds us of Gene's work with Barry White at the time. The tracks are all pretty hip – and include titles written by Stevie Wonder, Johnny Guitar Watson, Thom Bell & Linda Creed, Billy Page, and Tennyson Stevens. No standout singles, but plenty of nice moments, and a good side of Nancy's career that isn't always given that much exposure. Titles include "Tell The Truth", "Try It, You'll Like It", "All In Love Is Fair", "There'll Always Be Forever", and "You're As Right As Rain". Come Get To This is a real sweet soul gem from '75. It also has arrangements and production by Gene and Billy Page – who give the record a great smooth 70s soul finish, and a feel that's a lot more unified than some of her other efforts from the decade. Nancy sings some great versions of "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" and "Come Get To This", plus the original tracks "Houdini Of The Midnight Hour", "Like A Circle Never Stops", "Boogeyin All The Way", and "Happy Tears".

A sweet modern soul groover from Stevens & Foster – a tune that bounces and builds beautifully, but still stays lean and groovy in the end! There's a great groove to the bassline on the track – almost jazzy changes, mixed with a soaring female vocal lead – complicated at times, yet always nicely focused too! "What Would I Have" follows with very mellow energy – laidback, and building up the vocals even more than before – all to serve up a mighty powerful ballad in the end!

Breathy brilliance from April Stevens – the sexy west coast singer who made some really wonderful records in the 50s! At some level, April was a bit like Julie London – in that she sang in a laidback, seductive tone that was quite risque at times – but she was also a bit more pop than jazz, and was always up for a catchy arrangement or a slight production gimmick to really help send over a tune! The title track was a hit single, but the whole album's great – and titles include "I'm In Love Again", "Do It Again", "Teach Me Tiger", "That's My Name", "When My Baby Smiles At Me", "I Want A Lip", and "In Other Words".