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Excellent sounds from Charlie Wilson – aka "Uncle Charlie", the former lead singer of The Gap Band! Wilson's great here, and really finds a comfortable space that works well right from the start – never trying to be too young or too contemporary, and instead stretching out in these warm, wonderful lines that are an even deeper take on the best styles from his earlier years – especially on some of the midtempo groovers, which really make the album shine! There's some occasional electric touches on the vocals – not really processing, or auto tuning, but a vibe that recalls the funky power of the Gap Band on some of their old school jams – and Wilson really shows why he's still one of the best male soul singers of his generation – working here with a solid approach that few others could match. Titles include "A Million Ways To Love You", "Turn Off The Lights", "Our Anniversary", "My Love Is All I Have", "Whisper", "Say", and "I Still Have You".

An excellent collection of Billie's 30s work for Columbia Records – featuring 3LPs worth of material, represented with much better sound than the original 78 rpm release of the songs. Billie's in the company of a host of great jazzmen – including Count Basie, Lester Young, Teddy Wilson, Charlie Shavers, Artie Shaw, Cozy Cole, Roy Eldridge, Red Allen, and countless others. 48 tracks in all – with titles that include "Your Mother's Son In Law", "Riffin The Scotch", "Them There Eyes", "Without Your Love", "Swing Brother Swing", "Back In Your Own Back Yard", "You Go To My Head", "Long Gone Blues", "I Can't Get Started", "All Of Me", "God Bless The Child", and "Gloomy Sunday".

A striking little set from vibesman Freddie McCoy – not just for the cool superhero image on the front cover, but also for the tight grooves underneath! The album's one of McCoy's most unified for Prestige – as all tracks feature a core quartet with Freddie on vibes, Charlie Wilson on piano, Steve Davis on bass, and Rudy Lawless on drums – not your usual Prestige players, and all musicians who really make the album sparkle! There's a bold soul jazz vibe running through the set – similar to some of Freddie's other work, but a bit more open too – and titles include a groovy take on "Girl From Ipanema", plus the soul jazz classics "Speak Out, Deagan!" and "Hav' Mercy" – as well as the cuts "Yesterdays" and "Spider Man".

A breakout record that forever put Wilson Pickett at the top of the heap for mainstream 60s soul – thanks to the oft-covered, endlessly played "Mustang Sally" single that leads off the set! And although the groove established by that track helped Pickett establish an audience on both sides of the fence, the full album itself is much deeper stuff – a searing album of southern-styled soul recorded with some great Muscle Shoals production – Rick Hall and Tom Dowd at the helm – and key session players who include Charlie Chalmers, Chips Moman, Tommy Cogbill, Spooner Oldham, and Roger Hawkins – all of whom help give the record the intimate, earthy feeling that helped Pickett step out with a stronger sound than earlier recordings. (And in fact, this album's perhaps a key pre-Aretha Franklin example of the way that Atlantic's vision could majestically change the sound of an already-known soul artist – bringing them far deeper than ever before.) Titles include "Mustang Sally", "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", "Nothing You Can Do", "Three Time Loser", "Sunny", "She Ain't Gonna Do Right", "Knock On Wood", "Time Is On My Side", and "You Left The Water Running".

Sublimely spiritual work from trombonist Charles Greenlee – a player who's best remembered for work as a sideman with Archie Shepp, but who really sparkles as a leader on this rare Japanese set! The vibe here is totally great – a righteous approach to soul jazz that rivals the best work of the Strata East scene in the US, but which is carried off with the poise and power of some of the best mid 70s Japanese-only dates of this type – clearly a great deal of respect and freedom given to Greenlee in the studio, but also some good help in putting together the record in as solid a way as possible. Jean Carn makes a great appearance singing on 3 tracks here – with a quality that's even more righteous than her work with Doug Carn on Black Jazz – and one more number features the great Joe Lee Wilson on vocals too. Players include Hubert Eaves and Art Matthews on piano, Charles Sullivan on trumpet, Archie Shepp on tenor and soprano, Buster Williams on bass, and either Charlie Persip or Beaver Harris on drums – and titles include "I Know About The Life", "He's Gone", "Steam", "Someday", "Crusificado", and "Miss Barbara".

Overlooked genius from Nancy Wilson – a pair of gems, back to back on a single CD! Can't Take My Eyes Off You is a really great album from Nancy Wilson – a set that still has her working with the jazzy undercurrents of her best 60s work for Capitol Records – yet also moving into some hipper, more sophisticated soul styles too! There's a really strong adult vibe to the record – not that Nancy didn't have one before, but this time around there's even more sense of personality and experiential depth that really comes through in the choice of songs – and in Wilson's wonderful treatment of them. Tunes that might be stiff in the hands of someone else are really transformed here – with added thanks to Phil Wright for great arrangements on the record. Titles include a version of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne", Burt Bacharach's obscure "Waitin For Charlie To Come Home", and the tracks "Trip With Me", "This Girl Is A Woman Now", "Mixed Up Girl", and "Words & Music". Now I'm A Woman is a really unique moment for Nancy – one in which she leaves the LA sound behind, and gets some special treatment from the young Philly crew of the Gamble & Huff studios! Arrangements on the set are by Thom Bell, Lenny Pakula, and Bobby Martin – and the style's an interesting mix of Nancy's pop jazz vocals with some of the lighter, sweeter sounds of the Philly scene at the start of the 70s. The result is a surprisingly wonderful album – quite different for Nancy, and with the kind of backings that really break her out of the sound of the 60s – and pave the way for the sophisticated style of the 70s. Titles include "Now I'm A Woman", "Let's Fall In Love All Over", "Lonely Lonely", "Joe", "How Many Broken Wings", and "The Real Me". CD features three bonus tracks – "Go Away & Find Yourself", "When You're Alone", and "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me".

The Brazilian side of Blue Note Records – a double-length collection that mostly features bossa-inspired numbers from the 60s, but also includes a few gems from more recent years too! Unlike Verve or Impulse, Blue Note rarely went straight into bossa nova – and instead, the label's artists often came at the music from a different direction – using bossa themes and inspiration, mixed with their own hard bop impulses – and often served up in a really unique groove in the end! This package is a great illustration of that special magic – tracks that go way past the usual, and which still sound amazingly fresh and visionary all these many years later. Titles include "Wave" by Stanley Turrentine, "Blue Bossa" by Joe Henderson, "Sandalia Dela" by Duke Pearson, "Book's Bossa" by Donald Byrd, "Rio" by Lee Morgan, "Recado Bossa Nova" by Hank Mobley, "Swingin The Samba" by Horace Silver, "Back Down To The Tropics" by Charlie Rouse, "Love For Sale" by Dexter Gordon, "Latona" by John Patton, "O Amor Em Paz" by Cannonball Adderley, "Manha De Carnaval" by Ron Carter, "Waters Of March" by Cassandra Wilson, and "Triste" by Dianne Reeves.

New and old Blue Note collide in this jam-packed 2CD set of tracks! Forget the "chillout" in the title, because a good portion of the set is real jazz from the old days, and the rest is newer material, based around the older ideals of the Blue Note idiom. Together, the music makes for a nice little package of tracks, shifting with ease from classic to future, stepping through a wider array of catalog than you might expect. Titles include "More Than This" by Charlie Hunter with Norah Jones, "Loungin" by Guru with Donald Byrd, "She's A Lady" by Patricia Barber, "Sun At Midnight" by Jason Moran, "Slow Bombing The World" by Marc Jordan, "Flute Down" by Karl Denson, "Off The Record" by Ronny Jordan, "Harvest Moon" by Cassandra Wilson, "God Bless The Child" by Stanley Turrentine, "Cantaloop (inst)" by US3, "Light My Fire" by Julie London, "Ashes" by Greg Osby, "Slow Drag" by Donald Byrd, "Soul Manifesto" by Rodney Jones, "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky" by Lou Donaldson, and "It's Your Thing" by Grant Green. 24 tracks on 2CDs!

A brilliant testament to the righteous power of soul music in the civil rights era – and key proof that even a subtle message could do a lot back in the day! The package presents the work in roughly chronological order – starting from a time when politics had to be peddled softly, and moving towards a time when things could be a bit more explicit – showing a great evolution of themes of pride and power, offered up in tunes both familiar and obscure. The collection is way more than a "hip hits of the 60s" sort of set – and acts almost as a mini-documentary of the contributions of soul music to civil rights – supported by a great set of notes and photos in the booklet. We're especially happy to see the track "Have You Ever Seen The Blues" by Yaphet Kotto – alongside 22 more titles that include "Blues For Mr Charlie" by Lou Gosset & Joe Lee Wilson, "The Ghetto" by Homer Banks, "We're A Winner" by The Impressions, "When Will We Be Paid" by The Staple Singers, "Oh Lord Why Lord" by Parliament, "Message From A Black Man" by The Spinners, "Run Charlie Run" by The Temptations, "Cryin In The Streets (parts 1 & 2)" by George Perkins & The Silver Stars, "Free At Last" by Jackie Day, "Someday We'll All Be Free" by Donny Hathaway, and "The Prayer" by Ray Scott.