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An excellent collection of Charles Earland's early 70s work for Prestige – a great set of grooves that trace his evolution from straight organ/tenor soul jazz, into the realm of more complicated arrangements that would show up heavily in his later fusion work! Players on the tunes include Lee Morgan, Houston Person, Virgil Jones, Melvin Sparks, Idris Muhammad, and Harvey Mason – and tracks include shorter numbers and single edits that include "Milestones", "More Today Than Yesterday", "Speedball", "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", "Leaving This Planet", "I Was Made To Love Her", and "Black Talk".

A great set that brings together 2 live albums from organist Charles Earland! Live At The Lighthouse is a real killer – with that tight jazzy groove that Earland had on his first few albums for Prestige, a mix of jazz funk and soul jazz, handled with an incredible touch on the organ! The band includes lesser known players like trumpeter Elmer Coles, alto player James Vass, and conga player Kenneth Nash – but they all groove very tightly, and provide a perfect foil for Earland's soaring solos. Includes a great version of "Moontrane", plus the groovers "Spinky", "Smiling", and "Black Gun". Kharma is a spiritual live set recorded at the 1974 Montreux festival, and one that has Earland opening into the freer sound that dominated his playing during the mid 70's – with lots of modal grooves, and those long soulful leaps that made his solos always so great! Jon Faddis, Clifford Adams, and Dave Hubbard are in the lineup, and tracks include "Morgan", "Kharma", and his "Suite for Martin Luther King". 11 tracks in all!

Charles Earland – really stretching things out, and sounding great in the process! The album's an important one, as it shows that Earland wasn't just a funky Hammond player leading a small group – but a visionary player who could put together a session with a larger, cosmic concept. The album features an expanded horn section on most cuts, save for the smaller group "Speedball", which features excellent blowing by Lee Morgan and Billy Harper. Other players are all funky favorites from the Prestige years, and even the familiar numbers take on a whole new sound in this setting! Titles include "Charles III", "Girl You Need A Change Of Mind", "Auburn Delight", and "My Favorite Things".

Stellar grooves from Charles Earland – a great mix of jazz, soul, and funk – put together in a way that's quite different from his previous records on Prestige or Mercury Records! The sound here is tight 80s soul – put together by Tom Tom Washington, who gives the whole thing a sophisticated Chicago vibe – and one that matches Charles' sweet keyboard solos with wickedly sharp rhythms, and some occasional vocal bits too. Singers include Larry Blackmon, TC Campell, and Charles himself – but there's still a focus that seems to be more on the instrumentation overall – served up with some mighty nice organ lines from Earland. Titles include "The Only One", "Marcia's Waltz", "You Belong To Me", "Never Knew Love Like This Before", "Guilty", "Laser Lips", "Earland's Jam", and "Animal". CD features "Never Knew Love Like This Before (single)", "Guilty (single)", "Animal (12" version)", and "The Only One (12" version)".

A great little groover from keyboardist Charles Earland – and an album that definitely lives up to its title! There's plenty of street sounds going on here – lots of modern R&B modes that echo the changing styles of early 80s soul music, especially on the east coast! And as part of that, there's a good deal of vocals on the record, alongside Charles' keyboards – work by singers who include Larry Hancock, Bruce Gray, and Sheryl Kendrick – each of whom adds plenty to the record, working over jazzy grooves nicely scored by Earland. Titles include "Be My Lady", "Take Me Away", "Feels So Good To Me", "Burning Devotion", "Tell Me What It Is", and "Go All The Way". CD features a bonus track – "Be My Lady (7" mix)".

A monster – and Charles Earland's second album for Prestige, the follow-up to his groundbreaking Black Talk album! This set's as great as that classic set – a tight batch of groovers that features Earland's Hammond work right out front, grooving away in a soaring, exploratory style that blew away most other jazz organ players at the time. Here, Earland's got an amazing talent for really stretching out, yet never losing the groove – infusing tunes with incredible soulfulness, and making them dance out nicely, even at the farthest reaches of his solos. The band's great, too – with Maynard Parker on guitar, Jimmy Heath on tenor and soprano, and Virgil Jones on trumpet – and all tracks are great, with titles that include "Sing A Simple Song", "Lazy Bird", "Letha", "Buck Green", and a great cover of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head"!

A pivotal album in the development of the use of the Hammond organ in jazz – and Charles Earland's first exposure to a large audience! Durign the 60s, Charles was bumping around the Philly scene quite a bit – and recorded some small group indie sides that first gave a glimpse of his unique sound on the organ. But with this record, Earland really broke out wide – and hit a huge audience that made him one of the most in-demand players of the early 70s! The Earland touch is summed up perfectly here – a really fluid approach to the keys that shakes loose the clunkier styles of older Hammond players, and goes for a tightened-up groove that puts equal emphasis on rhythm and melodic improvisation – in a way that's always made Charles' records some of the best jazz dancers to come out of Prestige. Earland has an amazing way of completely transforming a tune – taking a familiar melody, but riffing on it extensively – slowly expanding it through almost modal progressions – until the tune opens up into a long extended jazzy groove! Proof of this is the album's sublime 11 minute version of "More Today Than Yesterday" – a solid stepper that never gets old – and other tunes include "Black Talk", "The Mighty Burner", "Here Comes Charlie", and "Aquarius". Oh, and players include Virgil Jones, Houston Person, Melvin Sparks, and Idris Muhammed – an all-star lineup, but tightly guided by Charles as if they were his own working group!

A stone classic! "More Today" is one of the all-time great jazz stepping tracks – and who'd have ever thought that Charles Earland could take a simple pop hit and turn it into a mighty groover like this! "Mighty Burner" is mighty nice, too – and is Charles' tribute to the great Sonny Hopson!

After his run of funky organ records for Prestige in the early 70s, Charles took a similar route to Herbie and others, and picked up a host of electric keyboards for his spacey fusion records on Mercury. The core of Earland's groove here is the Arp, which he plays masterfully – running from tight funky melodies to wilder outer spacier sounds. The groups that back him up include many crack 70s fusion players – and the record has a style that's overall more slick and sophisticated than his Prestige sessions. Titles include "Journey Of The Soul", "Phire", "We All Live In The Jungle", and "Cosmic Fever".

Classic club jazz from Charles Earland – one of the best LPs from his late 70s, post-Hammond period – when he was really opening up and exploring the use of a variety of keyboards! The set was done in conjunction with Randy Muller – who arranged, produced, and wrote the tracks – and it's also got background vocals by Skyy, who fit in nicely with the record's R&B-tinged approach to the material. Lots of nice clubby groovers, and Charles even sings lead vocals on one really nice mellow track. Titles include "Let The Music Play", "I Like It", "Changes", "Over & Over", and "Smile".

One of the fine fine albums of spacey keyboard funk that Charles cut for the Mercury label during the late 70s. Earland starts with a Herbie Hancock approach – and no surprise, he's got Paul Jackson and Harvey Mason in the group – but then he changes the groove to show off more of his funky soul jazz roots, and comes up with a sound that has a bit of a Mizell touch, with a nice soulful groove, still underpinned by some great jazzy conceptions. Titles include a cover of a Stevie Wonder's "I Wish", plus "Betty Boop", "Singing A Song For You", "Shining Bright", and "Revelation".

Two funk blacksploitation soundtracks, back to back on one CD! Cornbread, Earl, & Me wasn't exactly a Superfly-type film, but the Blackbyrds do a nice job of playing Donald Byrd's score of funky instrumentals and sweeter jazz themes, written to fit the "coming of age" story of the film. The big sample cuts on here are the short cuts "Wilford's Gone" and "Soulful Source" – but there's a lot of other nice mellower numbers, like "Cornbread", "Riot", "One-Eye Two Step", and "The Gym Fight". Charles Earland did the funky score for Dynamite Brothers – an obscure Kung Fu movie, that was his one entry into the blacksploitation genre of the 70s. The lineup includes a lot of the great players that were helping him on his mid-70's stuff – Eddie Henderson, Dave Hubbard, Patrick Gleeson – and the groove is deeper and funkier than most of his other mid-70s Prestige albums. The album's got a very nice batch of material that really stands on its own away from the movie, with some very funky grooves that stand as some of the best shorter funk tracks cut by Earland from the time. Tracks include "Snake", "Razor J.", "Kunfusion", and "Weedhopper".

Magnificent! Charles Earland may well be our favorite-ever jazz organist – and after you hear this set, he'll probably be yours too! Charles really didn't emerge as a name until the beginning of the 70s – and although that decade did some nasty stuff to some of the 60s best organ players, Earland managed to really get a heck of a lot out of the decade, twisting and turning his style with all the changes in arrangements and instrumentation, yet always keeping it real, laying down killer solos and funky grooves that rank with some of the best organ work of his generation! This 2CD set is the first to really pay tribute to Earland's genius – and it's a massive batch of tracks the spans his early years at Prestige Records, and moves into his work for labels like Mercury, Columbia, and Muse. Disc 1 features "funky organ grooves" – 10 tracks from Prestige and Muse with a straight heavy soul jazz funk groove, cut with monster players like Melvin Sparks, Idris Muhammad, Gary Chandler, and Virgil Jones. Tracks on the set include "Murilley", "Spinky", "Betty's Dilemma", "Sing A Simple Song", "Morgan", "My Favorite Things", and "Sing A Simple Song" – and the grooves are hard and funky all the way through! Disc 2 features "jazz funk and beyond" – beginning with Earland's spacier jam cuts on the Leaving This Planet session for Prestige, then moving into his jams on Arp and Electric Piano for Mercury, and some of his later R&B funk cuts for Columbia. Most of this work's never been on CD before – and the wealth of Earland's talent here will take you way past his early Black Talk years. Titles include "Phire", "Coming To You Live", "Red Clay", "Intergalactic Love Song", "Cosmic Fever", "Betty Boop", "Let The Music Play", and "Over & Over".

Stellar grooves from Charles Earland – a great mix of jazz, soul, and funk – put together in a way that's quite different from his previous records on Prestige or Mercury Records! The sound here is tight 80s soul – put together by Tom Tom Washington, who gives the whole thing a sophisticated Chicago vibe – and one that matches Charles' sweet keyboard solos with wickedly sharp rhythms, and some occasional vocal bits too. Singers include Larry Blackmon, TC Campell, and Charles himself – but there's still a focus that seems to be more on the instrumentation overall – served up with some mighty nice organ lines from Earland. Titles include "The Only One", "Marcia's Waltz", "You Belong To Me", "Never Knew Love Like This Before", "Guilty", "Laser Lips", "Earland's Jam", and "Animal".

Charles Earland – really stretching things out, and sounding great in the process! The album's an important one, as it shows that Earland wasn't just a funky Hammond player leading a small group – but a visionary player who could put together a session with a larger, cosmic concept. The album features an expanded horn section on most cuts, with players that include Houston Person, Richard Williams, Billy Harper, and Lee Morgan. Other players are all funky favorites from the Prestige years too, and even the familiar numbers take on a whole new sound in this setting! Titles include "Charles III", "Girl You Need A Change Of Mind", "Auburn Delight", and "My Favorite Things". The CD brings together tracks from the album Charles III, plus other previously unissued tunes from the same period – for a 9 track session that includes the cuts "Funk Fantastique", "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream", and "Grab Hole A Dis".

Fantastic funky jazz from tenorman Rusty Bryant – one of the real standout titles in the classic early 70s Prestige jazz/funk years! Rusty leads a group that includes heavyweights like Charles Earland on organ, Virgil Jones on trumpet, Melvin Sparks on guitar, and Idris Muhammad on drums – all top-shelf players who make for a date as great as you might imagine – one that definitely liberates Rusty's soul from older modes, and sets it free into new funky pastures! The vibe here is right up there with Bryant's legendary Fire Eater record – and titles include "Soul Liberation", "Cold Duck Time", "Lou Lou", and "Freeze Dried Soul".

Fantastic funky jazz from tenorman Rusty Bryant – one of the real standout titles in the classic early 70s Prestige jazz/funk years! Rusty leads a group that includes heavyweights like Charles Earland on organ, Virgil Jones on trumpet, Melvin Sparks on guitar, and Idris Muhammad on drums – all top-shelf players who make for a date as great as you might imagine – one that definitely liberates Rusty's soul from older modes, and sets it free into new funky pastures! The vibe here is right up there with Bryant's legendary Fire Eater record – and titles include "Soul Liberation", "Cold Duck Time", "Lou Lou", and "Freeze Dried Soul".

From the title, to the cover, to the gritty grooves way down in the wax – this has got to be one of the funkiest Blue Note albums ever – a real landmark from the legendary Lou Donaldson! The set kicks off with a hard and heavy groove from the very first note – thanks to some super-tight drumming by a young Idris Muhammad – still billed under his birth name of Leo Morris on the sleeve, but already hitting the kit with that snapping post-Popcorn style that would revolutionize funky jazz in years to come! Donaldson's plenty smoking himself on electrified alto sax – played with that great mix of flatness and echo that you'd hear in Eddie Harris' albums of the same time – and the rest of the lineup is equally cooking, with Melvin Sparks on guitar, Charles Earland on organ, and Ed Williams blasting away on funky trumpet! Titles include killer remakes of "It's Your Thing" and "Who's Making Love" – plus Donaldson originals "Hot Dog" and "Turtle Walk" – all nice and long, and with a really raw sound!

A record from the Three Of Us – but one we remember best for the heavy keyboards of Hilton Felton! The set's even more stripped-down than some of Hilton's other funky classics from the 70s – an instrumental outing that features Felton on organ and Fender Rhodes, Johnathan Settel on drums, and David Mendenhall on guitar – a great player we've never heard before, but one who carves out some mighty sharp lines next to the keyboards! The drums are nice and tight, too – and occasionally augmented by a bit of bass or congas – and Hilton's got that wonderfully fluid groove that makes the tunes bristle with funky, soulful energy – every bit the best sort of groove you'd find in early 70s records by Charles Earland or Johnny Hammond – but even better, as there's a raw indie vibe going on too. Titles include "Here Comes David", "Music Shall Never Die", "Your Analysis", "Dream Come True", and "Maybe You'll Come Back To Me".

A legendary bit of funk, from one of the most overlooked guitarists ever! George Freeman's got a sound and a style unlike any other player we can think of – an approach to funky guitar that's often got a really hard touch on the strings, and which gets nice and noisy at the best funky moments. Freeman's probably best known for the few obscure records he cut with Groove Holmes, but this album's his out and out masterpiece – a rare one-off session cut in the funky Philly scene and supervised by DJ Sonny Hopson – and featuring a rare mix of players that includes Cesar Frazier on organ and Charles Earland on Arp! The mix of organ and Arp is really incredible – especially on the side-long jammer "Franticdiagnosis", which runs for nearly 20 minutes, and is one of the most messed-up funky jazz jams of the 70s! Other players include Von Freeman on tenor sax and Dave Hubbard on alto flute – and the album features the legendary jazz dance track "The Bump", plus the cuts "Free-Man" and "God Bless The Child".

A killer instrumental album of hard organ grooves and funky basslines! This was the album that broke Funk Inc out of their Indianapolis scene, and made them a force to be forever reckoned with in the history of funky jazz. The album grooves hard in the same sound as some of the classic work by Prestige jazz funk giants like Rusty Bryant, Charles Earland, or Ivan Boogaloo Jones – but it's almost even tighter than their work, because the Funk Inc combo as a tightly woven group of players who'd been together for a number of years. The record's filled with monster cuts that you'll recognize immediately, like the group's famous "Kool is Back", which has a monster sample on the intro, and hard heavy Kool & The Gang grooves throughout. Other tracks include "Sister Janie", "The Whipper", and "Bowlegs".

The earliest work we've ever heard from keyboardist Webster Lewis – and a set that's quite different than his late 70s groovers for Columbia Records! The music here is equal parts jazz, soul, and funk – spun out of over a set of long tracks recorded in Oslo at the start of the 70s – and done in a very righteous mode overall! Even at this early age, Lewis is a tremendous talent on the keys – hitting the Hammond and electric piano with a groove that's somewhere in between Doug Carn or Charles Earland at the time – and always with a free-flowing, very exploratory sound that's wonderfully recorded throughout – and which almost makes the record feel like an American classic on the Black Jazz label! The drums on the set are by Jimmy Hopps – who brings in some funky beats at just the right moments – and other musicians include Bobby Greene on alto and Stan Strickland on tenor – plus Judd Watkins on vocals, who sings on some of the best songs with a deep-voiced quality that's really great! This double-length reissue really expands past the previous version on Counterpoint – and the 2CD set features 15 tracks that include "Do You Believe", "Saturday Night Opening", "Dear Sister", "Qvote Unqvote", "Mr Knots", "Space Rock", "Silent Lights", "Up On The Roof", "Club 7 Latin", "For Arne", "Twelve Gates To The City", and "Intermezzo".

The always-great team of Jim Rotondi and Eric Alexander bring their special magic to the European scene – working here in a Hammond quartet that came from Jim's teaching work overseas – in a date that may well be one of the most cooking we've heard from both players in years! Rotondi's trumpet has this bold sound that's mighty nice – more deeply soulful here in the setting of Renato Chicco's Hammond lines – and trading beautifully back and forth with Alexander's tenor, in a soulful spirit that's wonderful all the way through! Tracks are quite long, and the album's kind of a wonderful blend of the tightness that Alexander and Rotondi have crafted in studio sessions in recent years, with the burning energy that Eric first had when working in the group of Charles Earland. The set sports some great original tunes – and titles include "Summit Meeting", "Higher Calling", "Blue Moon", "The Loop", and "Amsterdam After Dark".

Funky fusion in a runaway spaceship – the second album by Larry Young's cosmic heavy Fuel ensemble! The album's a perfect batch of jazzy keyboard grooves in a tradition that includes Lonnie Liston Smith, Johnny Hammond, and Charles Earland during his Mercury years – with Larry on moog, organ, Hammond B-3, Fender Rhodes, and other cool keyboards – grooving with a sound that ranges from fast and choppy to sweet and spacious. Julius Brockington also plays a lot of funky keys on the set next to Larry, and although a few tracks have vocals, the real focus here is on the instrumentation. Titles include "Startripper", "Message From Mars", "Moonwalk", "Sticky Wicket", and "Flytime". His last album, and a nice bit of far-reaching funk!

An amazing tribute to London's Acid Jazz label – an imprint that's had an undeniable influence on all the things we do here at Dusty Groove! The massive package is way more than just a collection of the label's classics – and instead, it offers up a range of sounds that influenced the acid jazz scene in the UK at the end of the 80s – and others that go on to show the development of funk and soul in London as the 90s moved on. The package features a 52 page hardcover book, filled with Acid Jazz artwork and images; another 20 page book with the story of the label; a DVD with an interview and video footage of Snowboy, James Taylor Quartet, and other label stars; a 7" single with two unreleased tracks – "Never Stop" by The Brand New Heavies with Jan Kincaid and "Rock Steady (inst)" by The Brand New Heavies; and 4CDs worth of music with songs by Alice Clark, Small Faces, Dinosaur L, Charles Earland, Mark Murphy, The Quick, Jose Feliciano, Pharcyde, Forest Mighty Black, Mr Scruff, Paul Weller, Gang Starr, One Creed, Humble Souls, Tribe Called Quest, Nuyorican Soul, Soho, Ballistic Brothers, and many others. 65 tracks in all – and that's just the music!

A heavy dose of funky jazz – and one that goes way past the obvious too – to include some real gems from the 70s that even we'd passed up! The package is filled with stellar jazz from the Fantasy Records family – Prestige, Pablo, Galaxy and Fantasy proper – choice numbers by The Blackbyrds, Stanley Cowell, Charles Earland, Patrice Rushen and others – funky jazz, soul, boogie and Brazil-flavored numbers from the top shelf of the diverse period! It's a tight, well chosen compilation with numbers you simply could not overlook in putting a set like this together – productions by the Mizells, Donald Byrd, Earland and others – but there's a few of leftfield choices, too. Simply a great little snapshot of the funky jazz and soul period and the family of labels that generated so much of the most creative music to come from it! 14 tracks and nearly 80 minutes of grooves: Includes "Happy Music" by Blackbyrds, "Close To You" by Marlon McClain, "Let Me Love You (Let Me Be Me)" by Stanley Cowell, "Taj Mahal" by Paulinho Da Costa, "Nov Ano" by Azar Lawrence, "Moon Dreams" by Flora Purim, "Montevideo" by Opa, "Glide" by Pleasure, "Shout It Out" by Patrice Rushen, "If Only I Could Prove To You" by The 3 Pieces and more.

One of our favorite compilations of all time – a smoking batch of soulful jazz from the 60s, with a slight bit of funk and blues thrown in as well! The set's exactly what's promised in the title – jazz cuts, but with an ultra-cool mod vibe – the kind of soulful sounds that played big with the younger London crowd digging American music in the mid 60s – and also the kind of music you'd be likely to find blasting out of a backroom jukebox on the west side of Chicago! There's loads of rare single mixes of LP tracks on the set, and a number of smoking 45s from artists you might know better from more mainstream work – really hitting hard here, alongside a few special numbers from the indie underground too. Tracks are cool enough for old school hipsters – but appealing enough to bring in a new listener too – and as proof of that, we've given this one away for many years as a Christmas present. The collection features 25 tracks in all – non-stop pleasure throughout – with titles that include "Soul Shoutin" by Shirley Scott, "Tengo Tango" by Cannonball Adderley Sextet, "Whip It On Me" by Billy Hawks, "Yeh Yeh" by Mongo Santamaria, "Black Talk" by Charles Earland, "I'm Ready" by Otis Spann, "Mama Rufus" by Merced Blue Notes, "Theme From NYPD" by Johnny Hammond, "Step Out & Get It" by The Nomos, "Why Don't You Do Right" by Mark Murphy, "Collard Greens" by Freddie McCoy, "Theme From The Carpetbaggers" by Jack McDuff, "Filthy McNasty" by Eddie Jefferson, "Evil Ways" by Cal Tjader, "Kenny's Theme" by Kenny Burrell, and "Games" by Ivan Boogaloo Joe Jones.

One of our favorite compilations of all time – a smoking batch of soulful jazz from the 60s, with a slight bit of funk and blues thrown in as well! The set's exactly what's promised in the title – jazz cuts, but with an ultra-cool mod vibe – the kind of soulful sounds that played big with the younger London crowd digging American music in the mid 60s – and also the kind of music you'd be likely to find blasting out of a backroom jukebox on the west side of Chicago! There's loads of rare single mixes of LP tracks on the set, and a number of smoking 45s from artists you might know better from more mainstream work – really hitting hard here, alongside a few special numbers from the indie underground too. Tracks are cool enough for old school hipsters – but appealing enough to bring in a new listener too – and as proof of that, we've given this one away for many years as a Christmas present. The collection features 25 tracks in all – non-stop pleasure throughout – with titles that include "Soul Shoutin" by Shirley Scott, "Tengo Tango" by Cannonball Adderley Sextet, "Whip It On Me" by Billy Hawks, "Yeh Yeh" by Mongo Santamaria, "Black Talk" by Charles Earland, "I'm Ready" by Otis Spann, "Mama Rufus" by Merced Blue Notes, "Theme From NYPD" by Johnny Hammond, "Step Out & Get It" by The Nomos, "Why Don't You Do Right" by Mark Murphy, "Collard Greens" by Freddie McCoy, "Theme From The Carpetbaggers" by Jack McDuff, "Filthy McNasty" by Eddie Jefferson, "Evil Ways" by Cal Tjader, "Kenny's Theme" by Kenny Burrell, and "Games" by Ivan Boogaloo Joe Jones.

In the pocket, and plenty darn funky – a killer collection of 70s jazz funk that's heavy on electricity, yet still keeps things mighty sharp throughout! The groove is tight – tighter than the raw soul of the 60s jazz years – yet never uptight, as all these cuts are plenty fresh and freewheeling, and definitely preserve the most spontaneous vibe of the players. Some cuts have a bit of vocals, some have some larger backings, but all still have some great solos in the middle – with an especially strong emphasis on sweet keyboards! Titles include "Zauis" by Eddie Russ, "Barbara Ann" by Webster Lewis, "Coming To You Live" by Charles Earland, "Brazilica" by Ramsey Lewis, "Sinbad" by Weldon Irvine, "Put It In The Pocket" by Freddie Hubbard, "Palos" by Willie Bobo, "Chicago Theme" by Hubert Laws, "Hop Scotch" by Harvey Mason, and "In The Park" by Lonnie Liston Smith.

One of the most amazing, expansive albums ever recorded by Brother Jack McDuff – a session that we'd rank right up there with his classic Moon Rappin for Blue Note – and which has an equally stretched out feel! Although some of Jack's other albums for Cadet in the 70s have a bit more of a keyboard-centric feel, this album's heavy on Hammond all the way through – played by McDuff with sharp edges, soaring solos, and that amazing sense of timing that few other players could match! But possibly even more amazing is the group on the set – a hip batch of cats who include Phil Upchurch and Sam Jones on bass, Don Myrick and Dave Young on tenor and flute, Bobby Alston on trumpet, Marty Roberts on guitar, and Derf Reklaw on percussion – all working wonderfully with McDuff arrangements on some very long tunes! The double-length nature of the 2LP record really lets the group stretch out nicely – and there's a tremendous sense of energy throughout – almost a mode that matches Charles Earland's Leaving This Planet album. Titles include "Ain't No Sunshine", "Radiation", "The Prophet", "The Boiler", "Pressure Gauge", "The Heatin System", "Elmo Tucker", and "Lonesome Is The Night".

A beautiful album of smooth mellow jazzy grooves – and one that proves that Lonnie was still always great, even when he was getting the more mainstream production treatment. The record is similar to ones cut by other older jazz funk keyboardists at the time – like Ramsey Lewis or Charles Earland – in that it's got some more lush arrangements than usual, but still a very soulful feel, and still lots of room for the main soloists. Regular Cosmic Echoes members Dave Hubbard and Donald Smith join Lonnie in a set of arrangements by Bert DeCoteaux, and tracks include "Sunburst", "Journey Into Love", "We Can Dream", and "Explorations".

A warm, easygoing and sprawling 2CD set from the Expansion and Jazz FM team – the third and best yet in their Funky Sensation series – with both hits and relatively underappreciated numbers! It's wonderful stuff all the way – and well chosen by Mike Vitti & Ralph Tee – with full-length treasures by Roy Ayers, Rick James, Cameo, Rene & Angela, Willie Hutch, Dazz Band, Charles Earland, Teen Marie and The Gap Band to name but a few. What we love about the Funky Sensation series is the sort of informal, unfussy vibe. It's not so much about shining a lot on particular labels, producers or well-defined scene – and very much about simply putting together some sensationally funky, jazzy and soulful music, nearly all of it from the mid 70s to early 80s, together in a generous double-sized set! 26 tracks on 2CDs – and over 150 minutes of music. Includes "Running Away" by Roy Ayers, "Circles" by Atlantic Starr, "Now That We Found Love" by Third World, "So Fine" by Howard Johnson, "Man Power" by Lalomie Washburn, "I Believe In Miracles" by The Jackson Sisters, "I Need Your Lovin'" by Teena Marie, "I'l Be Good" by Rene & Angela, "Get It Up For Love" by Tata Vega, "Outstanding" by The Gap Band, "Let The Music Play" by Charles Earland and many more.

A mix of older numbers from the Savoy and Muse Records catalogs – strung together to make a package of soul jazz numbers that jumps nicely between the 50s and the 70s and 80s! Most of the work here is from the latter two decades, recorded in that great back to basics mode that made Muse the key heir to Prestige Records at a time when few folks were cutting straight soul jazz. Titles include "Minor Inconvenience" by Richard Groove Holmes, "Dat Dere" by Woody Shaw, "Please Send Me Someone To Love" by Red Garland, "The Dozens" by Charles Earland, "At Last" by Sonny Stitt, "Another Real Good Un" by Jack McDuff, "Work Song" by Grant Green, "Blues In My Heart" by Sonny Criss, "Twelve Inch" by Curtis Fuller, "Whisper Not" by Bobby Hutcherson, "Road Song" by Pat Martino, and "The Breeze & I" by Willis Jackson.

The Steppin Muzak series goes strongly back to the 70s with this volume – throwing in a few cuts from later years, but mostly sticking with the great 70s mellow moments that first got us interested in the Chicago steppers scene many years back! There's some warm, wonderful moments here – including a number of cuts not easy to find on CD – and titles include "If It Takes All Night" by Soul Train Gang, "Countryside" by Fat Larry's Band, "Candy" by The Four Tops, "You're The One" by Ray Simpson, "I Found My Rainbow" by Touch Of Class, "Never Knew Love Like This Before" by Charles Earland, "Mutha's Love" by Bobby Franklin, "You Only Live Once" by Changing Tymes, "I Love The Way You Love" by Individuals, "Crazy About Your Love" by Robert Thomas, "Baby Take It Off" by Lenny Williams, and "Her Seedy Life" by Blue Zone UK.

A great little EP from Mark De Clive-Lowe – whose way of inflecting timeless dancefloor heat with boundless cosmic atmosphere and a genuine love of global soul jazz has always been big part of his appeal – and he's doing it as deeply as ever here! The Leaving This Planet EP is centered around a sweet cover of the Charles Earland classic – featuring beautiful soul vocals by Sharlene Hector – and Mark also covers Gene Harris's "Koko + Lee Roe" for another gem with a jazzy soul vibe. Other tracks include the Afrobeat and dancefloor hybrids "Dreams" and "Love Broke", both featuring Bembe Segue, plus "What It Is", "Eight", "Freesoul Interlude (Live)", "The Calling" feat Olatunde and "Hope" feat Rahel.

From the title, to the cover, to the gritty grooves way down in the wax – this has got to be one of the funkiest Blue Note albums ever – a real landmark from the legendary Lou Donaldson! The set kicks off with a hard and heavy groove from the very first note – thanks to some super-tight drumming by a young Idris Muhammad – still billed under his birth name of Leo Morris on the sleeve, but already hitting the kit with that snapping post-Popcorn style that would revolutionize funky jazz in years to come! Donaldson's plenty smoking himself on electrified alto sax – played with that great mix of flatness and echo that you'd hear in Eddie Harris' albums of the same time – and the rest of the lineup is equally cooking, with Melvin Sparks on guitar, Charles Earland on organ, and Ed Williams blasting away on funky trumpet! Titles include killer remakes of "It's Your Thing" and "Who's Making Love" – plus Donaldson originals "Hot Dog" and "Turtle Walk" – all nice and long, and with a really raw sound!

One of the greatest Blue Note funky jazz sets of the late 60s – an all-out soul fest headed up by funky Lou Donaldson, and featuring some incredible work on drums from Idris Muhammad – who was still calling himself Leo Morris at this point! Muhammad's work on the drums is fantastic – not just in the snap-funk mode of some of his oft-sampled Blue Note classics, but also hitting these nicely changed-up rhythms that dance along with a free sense of joy, love, and life – one that seems to open Lou up even more than before! Other players on the set are great too – and include a young Charles Earland on organ, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, and Jimmy Ponder on guitar – cooking up some incredible licks that fill in the spaces between the grooves with a wash of soulful colors! Titles include a great version of the James Brown Classic "Say It Loud", plus the originals "Snake Bone" and "Brother Soul" – and surprisingly great takes on "Summertime" and "Caravan"!

One of the most legendary albums of jazz funk ever recorded! Rufus Harley was a saxophone player who also picked up the bagpipes for a few excellent 60s albums for Atlantic Records – and although those records are great, this 1972 independent album is a real mind blower! By the time of this set, Rufus had really stretched out – both creatively and spiritually – working his standard bagpipe jazz groove into a much trippier sound, one that explored the tonal and modal properties of the instrument. Not only that, Rufus got a lot funkier than ever before – working here with organist Bill Mason, a sonic contemporary of Leon Spencer and Charles Earland – and the resultant mix of organ and bagpipes creates a monstrous sound that's unlike anything we can describe! The album's a mixture of Sufi and Biblical statements – fused into long funky jazz tracks, stretching out into some incredible grooves. Includes the classic "Malika", plus the cuts "Etymology", "Hypothesis", and "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen", done in a great heavy version! CD also features a bonus 10 minute jam not on the original album!

A nice return to the soul jazz style of Willis' years at Prestige – after cutting a few too-smooth albums for bigger labels during the 70s! The style here is nice and easy-going – longish tracks, with a quintet that features Willis' old bandmate Pat Martino on guitar, plus Charles Earland on organ, Grady Tate on drums, and Buddy Caldwell on congas. There's no all-out funky tracks on the set, but the groove is nice and swinging on the best numbers – in a mode that's similar to Earland's own great sides for Muse at the time. Titles include "Hittin & Missin", "Move", "Nuages", and "Nothing Butt".

Somebody's knocked the cymbal off Jordan Young's drum kit – at least for the photo on the cover – but that doesn't stop him from swinging wonderfully throughout – leading a tight quartet through a wicked set of Hammond-heavy groovers! Brian Charette's on organ – playing with this bold, chunky style that's loaded with soul right from the start – and the kind of blocked-out lines that we love in early work from Charles Earland – all to make a perfect groove from the group which also includes Avi Rothbard on guitar and Joe Sucato on tenor. The lack of bass is more than made up for by Charette's bottom sounds on the Hammond – and titles include "Free Wheelin", "Ghost Of A Chance", "Roxanne", "Grantstand", "Easy Living", "Bird Bath", and "Mood For McCann".

Jazzy 45s galore – and a huge dip into the vaults of Prestige Records! This tasty set brings together 18 classics recorded in the heyday of the jazz funk years at Prestige – the late 60s and early 70s, a time when the soul jazz sounds of previous years were being forged into a leaner, meaner, harder-hitting groove. And although the LP was the growing format during these days, there was actually a heck of a lot of great work issued on 45s – still spinning strong with the jukebox crowds in the clubs and tap rooms, and still getting major play on radio stations, where the single was still king. The set features many 45 mixes of funky classics that you might know from LPs – and intersperses them with some other more obscure numbers pulled from full albums – making for an all-solid, all-funky set of tracks from one of the hippest jazz labels ever! Titles include "Fire Eater" by Rusty Bryant, "Don't Knock My Love" by Idris Muhammad, "Jungle Strut" by Gene Ammons, "Express Yourself" by Idris Muhammad, "Right On" by Boogaloo Joe Jones, "Who's Gonna Take The Weight" by Melvin Sparks, "Sing A Simple Song" by Charles Earland, "Son Of Man" by Houston Person, "Listen Here (part 1)" by Freddie McCoy, "Black Talk (part 1)" by Charles Earland, "Message From The Meters" by Leon Spencer, "Reelin With The Feeling" by Charles Kynard, "I Want You Back" by Harold Mabern, and "Thank You (part 1)" by Melvin Sparks.

Things definitely get plenty deep on this jazz trip – a great run through the 70s catalog of Muse Records, and one that's filled with some incredible bits that we'd rank right up there with the best work of the time on labels like Black Jazz or Strata East! Muse always had a way of really letting its artists do their thing – and you'll heard that clearly on some of the best cuts here – numbers that offer up surprisingly vibrant sides of the artists included, usually with some righteous undertones. Titles include Eddie Jefferson's rendering of "Freedom Jazz Dance" (and a very crazy one at that), Charles Earland's excellent stormer "Murilley", Kenny Barron's "Swamp Demon", Walter Bishop Jr's "Soul Village", Joao Donato's "Night Tripper", "Old Man Moses" by Grant Green, and three nice ones by Carlos Garnett – "Good Shepherd", "Banks Of The Nile", and "Taurus Woman", from the classic Black Love LP.

A different side of the stepper's scene in Chicago – the more bluesy, southern soul-inflected one – kind of a criss-cross of two different modes in the Windy City! The tracks here are from a variety of sources, but all echo kind of a down home mode – often a modern take on older southern styles that comes off with a sweet little groove – one that's almost a musical illustration of the regional shifts that have taken place as folks from points south moved up to Chicago over the years. That's not to say that all the tunes here have Chicago origins, just that they play well in a side of the city's scene – and the track list includes "Hard Road To Travel" by Shakey Jake, "Wrapped Up In Your Love" by Joe Perkins, "That's When The Crying Begins" by Kip Anderson, "A Good Date" by Charles Earland, "Man To Woman" by Lonnie Youngblood, "Too Many Hands" by Otis Clay, "I'm At The Crossroad" by Vernon Garrett, "Blues For Gerry" by Mark III Trio, "Stone Hearted Woman" by Andrew Tibbs, and "Give It Back" by Lee Roberts.