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A spacey album of keyboard duets between Joe Chambers and the great Larry Young! The album was recorded shortly before Larry passed away, and it features him and Chambers on a number of different keyboards – electric, acoustic, and organ – plus additional drums by Chambers on a few tracks. The overall sound is very spare – much more laidback than the hard-jamming fusion of Larry's Arista years, and a wonderful coda to Young's career. Titles include "Message from Mars", "Rock Pile", "The Orge", and "Mind Rain".

Sublime work from one of our favorite groups ever on Salsoul Records – the amazing harmony quartet Double Expsoure – soaring out here in a set of Philly gems produced by Norman Harris! The album's got a wonderful sound right from the start – rich in rhythms, yet also soaring on harmonies that few other Philly acts could even touch – especially at this point in the 70s, when the group sound seemed to be waning a bit on other fronts. In a way, Double Exposure really carry on the best tradition of the east coast scene with a set like this – pushing things forward with rolling grooves for the clubs, yet also showing that they still can have a special way with a ballad too – a blend that's maybe only matched by Teddy Pendergrass-era work by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. Titles include "Newsy Neighbors", "Perfect Lover", "There's Something Missing", "Handy Man", and "Why Do You Have to Leave". CD features bonus tracks – "Perfect Lover (orig single)", "Newsy Neighbors (unreleased 12" mix)", and "Newsy Neighbors (orig single)".

One of the hottest locker rooms in town – thanks to sublime Salsoul grooves from the always-great Double Exposure! The album's got a bouncy groove that's topped by the quartet's wonderfully warm harmonies – easily some of the best from the disco generation, served up in a careful classy style that makes them a perfect heir to some of the initial harmony grooves from the east coast scene of the early 70s! Norman Harris here handles production with associates Bruce Hawes, Ron Kersey, and Ron Baker – all of whom ensure just the right blend of Philly poise and soulful swing – and titles include "Can We Be In Love", "(Where Have You Been) All My Life", "I've Got The Hots For Ya", "I Wish That I Could Make Love To You", and "Why Do We Have To Go Our Separate Ways".

One of the hottest locker rooms in town – thanks to sublime Salsoul grooves from the always-great Double Exposure! The album's got a bouncy groove that's topped by the quartet's wonderfully warm harmonies – easily some of the best from the disco generation, served up in a careful classy style that makes them a perfect heir to some of the initial harmony grooves from the east coast scene of the early 70s! Norman Harris here handles production with associates Bruce Hawes, Ron Kersey, and Ron Baker – all of whom ensure just the right blend of Philly poise and soulful swing – and titles include "Can We Be In Love", "(Where Have You Been) All My Life", "I've Got The Hots For Ya", "I Wish That I Could Make Love To You", and "Why Do We Have To Go Our Separate Ways". CD features three bonus versions of a single – "I've Got The Hots For Ya (Bobby Guttadaro 12" mix)", "I've Got The Hots For Ya (Bobby Guttadaro & Keny Kayre 12" mix)", and "I've Got The Hots For Ya (orig single)".

A wonderful album – one of those underground classics that seems to show up in everyone's record collection, even though it was never a huge chart hit. Double Exposure are part of the "second wave" of East Coast vocal groups – and like their contemporaries, they mix the sweet harmony soul tradition of earlier years with the burgeoning clubby sound that was coming out of Philly. The set's produced by the Baker/Harris/Young team – who also play on the album along with the rest of the Sigma Sound crew – and the songs feature some stunning anthemic club numbers, plus a few surprisingly sweet harmony tunes. Includes their huge cut "Ten Percent", the amazing positivist groover "Everyman" – and the cuts "My Love Is Free", "Gonna Give My Love Away", and "Just Can't Say Hello". CD features some great bonus tracks too – including "Ten Percent (Walter Gibbons 12" disco)", "Everyman (Joe Claussell 12" disco)", "My Love Is Free (Tom Moulton 12" disco)", "Ten Percent (single)", "Everyman (single)", and "My Love Is Free (single)".

A totally great mellow soul track – recorded during the late Curtom years, by a group that may or may not be the same one on Salsoul! "Yes I'm In Love" is a really heavenly little number – a tune that builds and burns with a solidly soulful feel – mature 80s soul at its best, really sent home with the track's incredibly catchy hook! There's a nice stepping rhythm around the middle of the tune – and the flipside's equally nice too! "After All This Time" has much more of a boogie sort of groove – sweeping along in a great post-disco sound, with full arrangements that still keep things soulful enough overall!

One of Chris Connor's standout albums for Atlantic Records – and a session that actually makes us really appreciate the presence of Maynard Ferguson! The album's got a bit more punch than some of Chris' other records for the label, and is a nice shift in mood after a series of sad, dreamy, sometimes sleepy albums of ballads and sadder songs. Chris still manages to get in some rich emotion on the set, but the overall sound is a bit more swinging and upbeat – with a good set of tunes that includes "Summertime", "I Only Have Eyes For You", "That's How It Went All Right", "It Never Entered My Mind", and "Black Coffee".

A massive 2-fer from The Chi-Lites – 2 amazing post-Brunswick records on a single CD! Happy Being Lonely is beautiful beautiful work from The Chi-Lites – and a record that we might even say tops the best of their late Brunswick book! Despite the move from that label to Mercury, the group have a sound here that's still wonderfully fragile and harmony-focused – especially on the mellower cuts, which crackle with a sense of humanity that so many other harmony groups were losing at the time. But even the more upbeat tunes are great too – rolling along on some spacious arrangements by Tom Tom Washington, and showing that Chicago could come up with grooves to rival the sound of Philly! Titles include the great ballad "Love Can Be Hazardous", the Sam Dees number "Vanishing Love", and the titles "Don't Blame The World", "Message To The World", "Let Your Love Fall Like Rain", and "I Turn Away". The other album on the set is great too – and Fantastic Chi-Lites is right, because the group's still going strong even after their hit years on Brunswick – stepping forth with a sweet harmony sound that nicely fits the Philly arrangements they get on this set! There's a maturity here that gets past the fragile soul of earlier sets, and which has the group moving into a warmly adult mode that's a perfect shift from their more familiar hits. Includes the classic club groover "My First Mistake" – a stunning track that recalls the best work of groups like Blue Magic or Double Exposure – and other tracks include "I've Got Love On My Mind", "If I Had A Girl", "Who's In Love With Me", "Let's Touch", and "Love At Its Best".

6 of the biggest late 70s singles for the Salsoul label – stretched out to form one hard-grooving LP! Nearly every cut's a super-disco winner, and titles include "My Love Is Free" and "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure, "It's Good For The Soul" and "Magic Bird Of Fire" by Salsoul Orchestra, "Let No Man Put Asunder" by First Choice, and "Catch Me On The Rebound" by Loleatta Holloway.

A glorious batch of unearthed soul and funk from the early 70s central Ohio scene – the storming singles of Prix label – culled from ultra rare 45s plus previous unreleased gems! Prix was the imprint started to release work captured at Columbus's Harmonic Sounds studios commercially – pummeling funk, uptempo harmony soul, some heavy organ groovers and beyond – work by the Royal Esquires, Eddie Ray, Joe King, Marion Black and others. Most of the tracks were cut in the first few years of the 70s – at a time when when central Ohio was producing soul and funk as mighty as the bigger midwestern cities of Detroit, Memphis and Chicago – standing just as tall even if it didn't get over as well in the marketplace! Some tracks were issued as Prix 45s in the early 70s, and others were never officially released – culled from finished masters, demos and other studio material that was only recently discovered! Titles include "Wait A Minute", "You Got Me" and more by Eddie Ray, "Mystic" and "Mister Kidneys" by OFS Unlimited, "Speak On Up" and "Your My Everything" by Joe King, "Ain't Gonna Run" by Royal Esquires, "Listen Black Brother" by Marion Black, "Melon Jelly" by Soul Ensemble, "I'm Gonna Gitcha" by Chip Willis & Double Exposure and more. LP has 2 bonus cuts – 21 tracks in all!

The only album we've ever seen by Janice – aka Janice Barnett – a set that's got some great smooth production from the legendary Harvey Fuqua! The set's got a sound that's almost in a Salsoul mode at times – not totally disco, but with some uptempo elements – mixed in with some warmer harmonies provided by Janice and a group, of the sort you might find on records by Double Exposure – although with the obvious female difference, of course. A nice little album – we wish she made a whole bunch more of them! Titles include "Goody Two Shoes", "I Should Have Left You", "Love On The Line", "Take Me Away", "If I Had Known", and "Wake Up Smiling".

The reeds of John Tchicai are always a treat, and really help make any album stand out when he's along for a guest appearance – which may be why John's name and photo are so prominent on this project recorded with the trio of Christopher Dell on vibes, Jonas Westergaard on bass, and Christian Lillinger on drums! All three players are great – working in very spacious timings and unusual textures and tones – but it's definitely Tchicai that helps push the album over the top – blowing with a sense of soul and power that hasn't dimmed at all over the space of decades – and which really takes us back to some of his key contributions on the European scene of the 60s and 70s. The vibes are an especially nice combination with the sax lines – and titles include "New", "Minor Or Major", "Venus", "Double Exposure", "Traveller", "Wet", and "Fond".

We put the catalog number in the title of this one because it seemed that Blue Note was putting out too many title-less Hank Mobley albums during the late 50s. Who cares, though? This album's a great batch of hardbop tracks that show Mobley at his finest, and which hardly need a title to hang them together. The group's a sextet, with little-known reed player Curtis Porter on alto and tenor, plus Sonny Clark on piano and Bill Hardman on trumpet. Titles include "Mighty Moe & Joe" and "News" (both written by Porter), plus Mobley's "Double Exposure". Prime hardbop material, and with a great cover that has Mobley looking like an alien behind a microphone!

A second volume of underground disco and unstoppable dancefloor soul from NYC in the late 70s and early 80s – M&M Mixes Vol 2, highlighting rare and previously unreleased mixes by John Morales! It features a roster of legendary names, particularly to diggers of deeper disco tracks, but also some soul stars who worked well in that groove – a batch of tunes mixed & engineered by Morales back in the day at M&M Studios and elsewhere. Great numbers by Brass Construction, Inner Life feat Jocelyn Brown, Candi Staton, Fantastic Aleems, Teddy Pendergrass, War, Double Exposure, Salsoul Orchestra and more! CDs version includes 18 tracks on a jam packed 2CDs – many grooving on the longer side, with titles include "Caught Up" by Inner Life feat Jocelyn Brown, "Heartless" by Evelyn Thomas, "Now Is Tomorrow" by Brass Construction, "You Hearts Run Free" by Candi Staton, "Slipping Into Darkness" by War, "Dreamin" by Loleatta Holloway, "Magic Bird Of Fire" by Salsoul Orchestra, "Dancing Into The Stars" by Logg and more.

The only album we've ever seen by Janice – aka Janice Barnett – a set that's got some great smooth production from the legendary Harvey Fuqua! The set's got a sound that's almost in a Salsoul mode at times – not totally disco, but with some uptempo elements – mixed in with some warmer harmonies provided by Janice and a group, of the sort you might find on records by Double Exposure – although with the obvious female difference, of course. A nice little album – we wish she made a whole bunch more of them! Titles include "Goody Two Shoes", "I Should Have Left You", "Love On The Line", "Take Me Away", "If I Had Known", and "Wake Up Smiling".

Collection culled from artist Steve Roden's collection – a 184-page book with 150 photographs reproduced in full color and two audio CDs from the author's collection. The two CDs bring together a variety of recordings, including one-off amateur recordings, regular commercial releases, and early sound effects records. Images range from professional portraits to ethereal, accidental, double exposures – and includes a range of photographic print processes.