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Spacey soul from Columbia Nights – a duo with a wicked touch in the studio, and one that's mighty darn fresh overall! The record's in a crispy blend of mellow beats and stretched-out keys – yet it's also handled in ways that are nicely different than the norm – with a languid quality that's almost a 21st Century Shuggie Otis style – topped with soulful vocals from Sarai Abdul-Malik! The set's got none of the coldness or cliche that sometimes mar other projects of this nature – and although the album's more of an EP than a full record, it still packs plenty of punch. Titles include "Dawn", "As You Are", "Firmament", "In The Glow", "Forecast", and "Watercolors".

Moody magic from Miles Davis and Gil Evans – one of the pair's most perfectly poised albums together, and a set with a slight bossa nova undercurrent! Evans' shimmering horn patterns are in fine form here – complicated, but never in cold and too-modern ways – just the right sort of backdrop for Miles' muted solo work – blow with a great sense of space and care throughout! There's almost a soundtrack sort of depth to the record, but the solos still keep the jazz element nicely in focus – and titles include "Summer Night", "Wait Till You See Her", "Aos Pes Da Cruz", "Song #1", "Song #2", "Corcovado", and "Once Upon A Summertime".

Moody magic from Miles Davis and Gil Evans – one of the pair's most perfectly poised albums together, and a set with a slight bossa nova undercurrent! Evans' shimmering horn patterns are in fine form here – complicated, but never in cold and too-modern ways – just the right sort of backdrop for Miles' muted solo work – blow with a great sense of space and care throughout! There's almost a soundtrack sort of depth to the record, but the solos still keep the jazz element nicely in focus – and titles include "Summer Night", "Wait Till You See Her", "Aos Pes Da Cruz", "Song #1", "Song #2", "Corcovado", and "Once Upon A Summertime". CD also features the great bonus track "The Time Of The Barracudas" – a 12 minute tune that wasn't on the original album!

Warm backings from Marty Manning – and a set that really has Tony Bennett coming into his own for the 60s! Titles include the classics "I Wanna Be Around" and 'The Good Life" – plus "Once Upon A Summertime", "If You Were Mine", "Someone To Love", and "Quiet Nights".

Beautiful blowing from Buck Clayton and Buddy Tate – captured here in the relaxed, easy-going setting of the Swingville label! The album's got a lot more charm than some of Clayton's sides for Columbia – a bit more mellow, with the kind of after hours feel that lets players like these show their strongest suits on their instruments. Clayton plays trumpet, Tate tenor – and rhythm is from the trio of Sir Charles Thompson on piano, Gene Ramey on bass, and Mousie Alexander on drums. Titles include "High Life", "Birdland Betty", "Can't We Be Friends", and "Kansas City Nights".

A pair of mid 70s classics from Heawave – Too Hot To Handle & Central Heating – in a 2CD set with bonus tracks! Too Hot To Handle is a killer album of crossover soul – one that dropped like a bomb when it hit, and gave this UK group a number of big hits in America! Keyboardist Rod Temperton wrote all the tracks on the album – and he's got keen talent for both funky numbers and ballads. If soul stations played album side specials the way that classic rock stations do, side one would be in heavy rotation – as it kicks off with the funky title cut, rolls into the hit "Boogie Nights", cuts to the sample classic "Ain't No Half Steppin" (forever made famous by Big Daddy Kane), and steps into the moody ballad "Always & Forever". It's hard to beat that lineup, but side two does a pretty good job – and includes a similar mix of titles like "Super Soul Sister", "All You Do Is Dial", and "Sho'nuff Must Be Love". The CD includes 4 bonus tracks: alternate versions of "Boogie Nights", plus "Special Offer" and "Slip Your Disc To This". Central Heating is another great effort that's almost as perfectly sublime as the first! Despite their UK origin, these guys really give American late 70s soul a run for its money – hitting in a sweetly compressed sound that fuses the vocals, keyboards, and grooves together wonderfully! The album hits equally well on all burners – with some key mellow cuts, and a few funkier upbeat numbers. Titles include loads of classics – like "Mind Blowing Decisions", "Star Of A Story", "Send Out For Sunshine", "Mind Blowing Decisions, "The Groove Line", "Central Heating", "Leavin For A Dream" and more. 2 bonus tracks: remixes of "Mind Blowing Decisions" and "The Groove Line".

Grover Washington Jr's first few albums for Columbia – Strawberry Moon, Then & Now and Time Out Of Mind – together in a 2CD set! Strawberry Moon has a number of laidback groovers, with some solid Washington originals such as the title track and some sweet covers. BB King plays and sings on "Caught A Touch Of Your Love", with Jean Carne guesting on "The Look Of Love". Grover's sax is soulful and sweet throughout, and the titles include "Strawberry Moon", "Summer Nights", "Keep In Touch", and "Maddie's Blues". Then And Now is a nice one that has Grover working in a straighter jazz mode for the most part, taking a break from the soul and R&B groover –- the most timeless of the 3 albums compiled here! Players include Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Grady Tate and Darryl Washington. Titles include "Just Enough", "French Connections", "Stolen Moments", "Stella By Starlight" and more. Time Out Of Mind's title track is a cover of the Steely Dan classic, circa Gaucho – and this album finds Grover embracing the 80s a lot more than his previous album for Columbia. A mix of moods, with some electric funky flourishes and fusiony keys and synths. Titles include "Jamaica", "Sacred Kind Of Love", "Fly Away", the title track and more. This trio of albums represents a wide stylistic range covered by Grover in just a 3 year period!

Beautiful stuff – and a totally sweet mix of Japanese wood flute and sweet 60s sounds – a blend that we've come to love in these older albums from shakuhachi player Minoru Muraoka! The style is totally great – the lead wood sound blended with tight arrangements that run the gamut from swinging jazz to more soundtrack-styled numbers – all set to tunes familiar from Western sources, but coming across with a really different vibe! Imagine Herbie Mann's 60s albums for Atlantic, retuned for the Japanese market – and you'll get part of the sound of this set. Titles include "Mas Que Nada", "Girl From Ipanema", "Right Now", "The In Crowd", "Chanson D'Orphee", "Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars", and "Caravan".

Two electric killers from Ramsey Lewis – back to back in a single package! Funky Serenity is sweet electric funk from Ramsey – one of his best from the 70s, and a set with Lewis on Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and other keyboards, grooving away in an open-ended 70s mode that still retains all the heavy soul of his classic work for Chess. Morris Jennings adds in some very nice percussion with his drum work, and Cleveland Eaton's on funky bass, giving the set a strong bottom groove. Features the sublime sample cut "My Love For You", a great version of "Knights In White Satin" that's done with a weird spacey groove, plus the tracks "Kufany Mapenzi (Making Love)", "Serene Funk", "What It Is!", and "Dreams". Salongo is a tremendous little record, and one of the funky 70s sets that Ramsey Lewis recorded with Earth Wind & Fire! Well, not Earth Wind & Fire entirely – but the Kalimba Productions team of Maurice White and Charles Stepney that gave the group its sound – plus a nice sprinkling of other players that were often associated with sessions by the group! Ramsey's own combo here includes Steve Cobb on drums and vocals, and Derf Reklaw on reeds and vocals as well – and the overall sound has bits of African and Brazilian influences, worked into a soulful fusion groove that sounds a lot like the instrumental backings EWF were using at the time. Titles include "Brazilica", "Slick", "Rubato", "Salongo", and "Seventh Fold".

Sweet electric funk from Ramsey Lewis! The album's one of his best from the 70s – and it's got Ramsey on Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and other keyboards, grooving away in an open-ended 70s mode that still retains all the heavy soul of his classic work for Chess. Morris Jennings adds in some very nice percussion with his drum work, and Cleveland Eaton's on funky bass, giving the set a strong bottom groove. Features the sublime sample cut "My Love For You", a great version of "Knights In White Satin" that's done with a weird spacey groove, plus the tracks "Kufany Mapenzi (Making Love)", "Serene Funk", "What It Is!", and "Dreams".