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Amazing work from Timmy Thomas – a southern soulster with a groove like no other! At some level, Timmy shared the bluesy and sweet soul styles of his Miami contemporaries at the TK label – but at another, he had this wild approach that often used bits of electronic percussion, in a primitive drum machine mode that gave his tracks a wonderful future soul sound that was really rare for the time! Timmy's best known for his huge crossover classic "Why Can't We Live Together" – a massive tune that was very much in the Stevie Wonder/Syreeta mode – but this set brings to light a motherlode of Timmy's other work from the time, all steeped in spare organ lines, deep soul vocals, and lightly skipping percussion that makes for a really compelling groove! Titles include "Why Can't We Live Together", "Funky Me", "I've Got To See You Tonight", "You're The Song I Always Wanted To Sing", "What Can I Tell Her", "Sweet Brown Sugar", "People Are Changin", "Ebony Affair", "Dizzy Dizzy World", "Love Shine", "Stone To The Bone", "Freak In Freak Out", "Take Care Of Home", "Fox With The Box", and "Are You Crazy (part 1)".

The first ever compilation of Indonesian psychedelia from AKA is a great one – fuzzy prog and funk steeped jams that the group tore up throughout the 70s – as cool as any single artist global rock compilations we've seen in quite a while! The group formed in Surabaya, East Java and went on to record a slew of albums throughout the 70s, but never really busted out big in it's time. Now's a great time for the world to catch up! They sing in English, and the songs are really exciting, changing tempos as they roll along incredibly, with a sound built around drums, bass, keys and guitars. Lead singer and keyboard player shines pretty brightly, but each group member sings and kills it in their own realms. Amazing! Includes "Do What You Like", "Glenmore", "Reflection", "We've Gotta Work It Out". "Cruel Side", "Groovy", "Mr Bull Doc", "Shake Me", "Crazy Joe", "Open Doors", "Sky Rider" and the CD bonus track "AKA Untuk Mu". 15 in all.

Mose Allison's last album for Prestige Records – before moving onto even bigger fame at Columbia and Atlantic during the 60s! Unlike Allison's later sets, this one is mostly instrumental – but there are a few sweet vocal tracks that bring out the hip, rootsy lyrical modes that would make Mose a big hit with the mod scene overseas – including the classic "Eyesight To The Blind", plus "That's All Right" and "Do Nothing Till You Here From Me". The remaining piano trio sides have a great rollicking groove – rootsy, yet slightly modern too – with bass by Addison Farmer and drums from Ronnie Free – on titles that include "Promenade", "It's Crazy", "Strange", "Autumn Song", and "Groovin High".

Fuzzy and genuinely well-crafted private press grooves from the Emerson brothers – with crazy good hooks, some surprisingly solid musicianship – and songs that range from straight-up catchy, though fuzz-drenched rock, to funk and soul! Donnie Emerson is the lead singer, guitarist and bass player, along with some synth – and on the best tunes, he's got a confident, laidback and warm style on vocals that truly doesn't feel the voice of a kid still in his teens – with brother Joe on drums and other friends on backing vocals here and there. Here's a record that profoundly transcends the private press novelty and the goofy jumpsuits they're rocking on the front cover! Includes "Good Time", "Give Me The Chance", "Baby", the instrumental groover "Feels Like The Sun", "Love Is", "Don't Go Lovin' Nobody Else", "Dream Full Of Dreams" and "My Heart".

2 killers from organist Caesar Frazier – back to back on one CD! Hail Ceasar is a monster bit of funky jazz – filled with long tracks that all jam mightily, all at a level that matches or tops the best work coming out of Prestige or Blue Note Records at the time! The set is one of the rare few on the Eastbound jazz subsidiary of Detroit soul powerhouse Westbound Records – and it's the first to feature organist Ceasar Frazier as a leader – really grooving hard here with a Prestige-styled combo that includes Idris Muhammad on funky drums, Melvin Sparks on heavy guitar, and Houston Person on soulful sax – all produced with a gritty gritty edge by the legendary Bob Porter! The whole album's great – filled with incredible cuts that include a version of "Hicky-Burr", the first Bill Cosby theme – plus the tracks "Make It With You", "Running Away", "Hail Ceasar!", and "See-F". Ceasar Frazier 75 is a tightly grooving set that expands his sound a bit from the first! All the best elements are still in place here – including funky organ from Ceasar, production from jazz funk maestro Bob Porter, and a hip range of players that includes Horace Ott, Wilbur Bascomb, and Bernard Purdie. But the overall sound is somewhat shifted too – brought more into the tightly jamming jazz funk mode of the mid 70s – a bit richer and fuller overall, yet never in a way that's slick or sloppy – just more like some of the best later sides on Prestige or Fantasy from the same stretch. The record features a crazy version of the "Mighty Mouse Theme", a mellow take on the Isley's "Summer Breeze", Stevie Wonder's great "Living For The City", and the original "Funk It Down".

The best set yet from Atlanta singer Heston – whose warm, emotive voice and timelessly crafted style has long put him in the upper tier of independent soul artists for the better part of decade leading up to this excellent album! The songs are are supremely catchy and brilliantly draw from the best intimate soul music of the 70s without ever flirting with throwback/retrosoul revivalism. Heston produced the album, and he delivers masterfully on that front, too – backed by guitar, bass, drums, keys percussion and some horns, and each track has a nice, live feel. Includes "Greatest Lover", "Outside Your Window", "My Kinda Lady", "For Love", "Warm Human", "She Lives In Me", "Crazy", "In These Arms", "Lonely In My Room", "Right Here", "Oh La La".

Psychedelic easy listening! This groovy late 60s instrumental session features fuzzy guitars, squeaky moog, heavy drums, and lilting strings – a bit like Pierre Henry, a bit like Francis Lai, and a lot like some of the best Italian sound library themes from the time – pretty weird and wonderful, and the sort of record that almost sounds better now than it did when it first leapt on the market! There's a very cool sound here that's a bit like some of the grooviest "jerk" records from the fuzzy French scene of the 60s – and titles include "Radio Pirat Program", "Am Stram Gram", "Kriminal Theme", "The Whistler", "Inside My Brain", "Concerto Genocide", "Crazy Circus", and "Heathcliff Y Cry Your Name". All instrumental – save for some weird electronic voices!

A soundtrack steeped in Euro funk and disco from Franco Micalizzi – his work for Stridulum, also known as The Visitor – a wild film starring John Huston as Jerzy – as a being from outerspace with telekinetic earthling offspring and a crazy cast that includes Glenn Ford, Shelly Winters, Sam Pekinpah and Lance Henriksen! Somehow, this plot provides for a soundtrack filled with funky bass and drums, flute, breathlessly cooed wordless vocals and other 70s dancefloor touches! Titles include "Stridulum Theme", "Here's The Dream", "Atmosphere", "Sadness Theme", "Running Away From Jerzy" and more. This CD version includes 8 previously unreleased bonus tracks!

The boldest set so far from Mikrokolektyw – and a record that really has the Polish duo coming into their own! As before, the record's got an electro-acoustic blend of trumpet, drums, and lots of electronics – used in ways that take us back to 70s experiments of this nature from the European free jazz scene – but also informed by some noisier styles that have come up from the underground in more recent decades. The record's easily one of the noisiest to come from Delmark in recent years –and titles include "Trilobite", "Crazy Idea Of Jakub S", "Little Warrior", "Sonar Toy", "Thistle Soup", and "Dream About Mind Master".

A lost porno soundtrack from Bernard "Pretty" Purdie – and one of his greatest records ever! The album's amazing – a sweet batch of soulful funk, almost better put together than any of Purdie's more famous albums for Flying Dutchman or Prestige – with a mix of tight drums, sweet electric piano, and even some occasional lead vocals from Sandi Hewitt – who really adds a lot to the record! The album's got some monster funky cuts – the most noteworthy of which is "Hap'nin", a mad break track that really has Bernard going crazy on the drums! Other cuts include "Pass Me Not", "Lialeh", "Touch Me Again", "Conscious", and "Easy".

Heavy funk galore – and easily one of the best titles in the massive Super Funk series! This one seems to go deeper than all the previous volumes – really digging down for some obscure tracks that push past the obvious funky 45 standards, to include some lost gems from rare sources in the southern scene! The set's awash in hard drums, fuzzy bass, tripped out guitar, and lots of rootsy deep soul vocals – stepping from track to track with a quality level that beats most other funky 45 collections on the market, made even better by some superb liner notes from compiler Dean Rudland! Titles include "I Got Some" by Billy Garner, "Deep Soul (part 2)" by Ron Buford, "Doin The Model" by Eddie Clearwater, "Crazy Legs (part 2)" by Albert Washington, "Momma Momma" by Betty Barney, "Don't Ever Change" by Chet Ivey & His Fabulous Avengers, "The Warm Up (part 1)" by Clifton White, "Chicken Scratch" by The Chili Peppers, "Fat N Funky" by Charles Crawford, "Super Cool (You're Just A Super Fool)" by Pat Hunt, "Out Of Sight" by The Soulsetters, and "Boogaloo Party" by Joe Swift's International. 20 tracks in all!

A rare and exceptional vocal jazz LP – cut by the obscure Marilyn Moore, then the wife of Al Cohn – who's pictured in profile on the cover of the record! Marilyn's got a style that's somewhat raspy – clearly inspired by Billie Holiday at times, and not what you'd expect in comparison to some of the cooler, clearer female singers who worked on Bethlehem in the 50s. The backing is in a small group mode – with Cohn on tenor and bass clarinet, plus Don Abney on piano, Joe Wilder on trumpet, Barry Galbraith on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums – all in a nicely relaxed mode to fit the mellow, moody sound of the record. There's a nice sense of darkness throughout – a bit more edge than you might expect – and titles include "Trouble Is A Man", "Ill Wind", "Born To Blow The Blues", "Lover Come Back To Me", and "You're Driving Me Crazy".

Soundtrack funk doesn't get any better than this – thanks to a head-expanding of tracks from the Italian scene of the 60s and 70s – served up with the usual ear for a great cut by the folks at Easy Tempo! The groove here is far from the "easy" you might expect – and most numbers have tight drums, funky basslines, and other heavy elements – all put together with an approach to the music that's far different than anything happening in the US at the time, especially in the way the instruments sound in the end – and in the way that the production techniques make them do really crazy things! Titles include "Parangua" by Luiz Bacalov, "Flirt a Rio" by Piero Umiliani, "Side Sleep" by Berto Pisano, "Little Shakie Girl" by Armando Trovajoli, "Tremendous Stars" by Piero Piccioni, "Under Drama" by Giancarlo Gazzani, "Realta No 5" by Stelvio Cipriani, "So" by Lara Saint Paul, "Israelites" by Capuano, and "Citta Viva" by Ennio Morricone.

A very rare gem from the late 50s – a smoking set that was cut for a very small label, but which is every bit as great from a musical perspective as it is from a collector's one as well! The whole thing cooks with the insensity of a Prestige date from the early 50s – very sharp hardbop energy throughout, spurred on by the work of leader Reese Markewich on piano – in a group that also features tremendous tenor from Jesse Avery, a player who don't really know at all, but who brings an especially sharp edge to the set! Reese also plays a bit of flute – and the quintet also includes Nick Brignola on baritone and alto sax, Steve Fillo on bass and Ronnie Zito on drums – all players with a very cohesive, hard-swinging sound. The set's got a number of great original tunes – and titles include "Hurricane Connie", "Pony", "Mildew", "Flute Street", "Crazy In The Heart", "Moonlight In Vermont", and "Last Lap".

A crazy bit of funk from drummer Roy Porter – a player who first rose to fame during the LA bop years of the late 40s, but who sounds even hipper here in the 70s! The album's got a madly skittish approach to funk – one that's highly rhythmic, but often in unconventional ways – somewhat similar to Redd Holt's excellent albums for the Paula label. Roy plays drums, percussion, and sings a bit – and the grooves run from break-heavy instrumentals to even cooler numbers that bring in more of a sense of flow and soul – really opening things up beyond any simple 70s jazz funk cliches, and hitting some really wicked new territory! Instrumentation includes plenty of great horns, electric piano, guitar, and even a bit of Arp – all used in really inventive anc reative ways. Titles include the classic crate-digging favorites "Panama" and "Party Time", plus a vocal version of "Jessica", a cover of Jobim's "Waver-ing", and another nice original called "Funny Feelin'"! Tremendous stuff all the way through!

Pretty straight work from Earl – recorded in Paris late in his life, with Larry Richardson on bass and Richie Goldberg on drums. The album's not as groundbreaking as his early work – but the tracks are longish, and the setting is a very comfortable one that lets him open up a bit. The CD features a previously unissued track – "Almost Like Being In Love", which also has Earl singing a bit – plus the tracks "Them There Eyes", "Snugly But Ugly", "No Greater Love", "Foggy Day", and "You're Driving Me Crazy".

A rare meeting of two great American talents overseas – the wonderful pianist Hod O'Brien, and trumpet modernist Jon Eardley! The pairing's a great one – as Hod's warmly soulful approach to the keys is offset by some of Eardley's sharper horn lines as the players stretch out over some very long live tunes on the set. All numbers are standards, and the group also features Hans Mantel on bass and Bram Wijland on drums – both players who seem to sit aside and let O'Brien and Eardley take over whenever they want – which is ok by us! One number features only the piano trio – and titles include "Crazy Rhythm", "Will You Still Be Mine", "Blue N Boogie", "Out Of Nowhere", "Yardbird Suite", and "What's New".