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A landmark bit of indie funk from the 70s – one of the few records cut by Detroit keyboardist Eddie Russ, and easily the best! The album features Russ going to town on electric piano – working with a hip combo called The Mixed Bag, which features some wicked work on flute and soprano sax by Larry Nozero – and a vibe that's a lot more laidback than standard funk, or even more mainstream jazz funk too – a sweet open groove that's mighty nice all the way through! The album's really a showcase for Nozero and Russ' solos – trading back and forth effortlessly over long tunes that roll along in a sweet electric-tinged groove – long vamping rhythms that really seem to drive both players onto new heights. Titles include Russ' classic "The Lope Song", a great version of "Hill Where The Lord Hides", and the tracks "Shamading", "Watergate Blues", and "All But Blind".

A landmark bit of indie funk from the 70s – one of the few records cut by Detroit keyboardist Eddie Russ, and easily the best! The album features Russ going to town on electric piano – working with a hip combo called The Mixed Bag, which features some wicked work on flute and soprano sax by Larry Nozero – and a vibe that's a lot more laidback than standard funk, or even more mainstream jazz funk too – a sweet open groove that's mighty nice all the way through! The album's really a showcase for Nozero and Russ' solos – trading back and forth effortlessly over long tunes that roll along in a sweet electric-tinged groove – long vamping rhythms that really seem to drive both players onto new heights. Titles include Russ' classic "The Lope Song", a great version of "Hill Where The Lord Hides", and the tracks "Shamading", "Watergate Blues", and "All But Blind".

A landmark bit of indie funk from the 70s – one of the few records cut by Detroit keyboardist Eddie Russ, and easily the best! The album features Russ going to town on electric piano – working with a hip combo called The Mixed Bag, which features some wicked work on flute and soprano sax by Larry Nozero – and a vibe that's a lot more laidback than standard funk, or even more mainstream jazz funk too – a sweet open groove that's mighty nice all the way through! The album's really a showcase for Nozero and Russ' solos – trading back and forth effortlessly over long tunes that roll along in a sweet electric-tinged groove – long vamping rhythms that really seem to drive both players onto new heights. Titles include Russ' classic "The Lope Song", a great version of "Hill Where The Lord Hides", and the tracks "Shamading", "Watergate Blues", and "All But Blind".

An incredible blend of Fender Rhodes and soulful saxophone – a late record from saxophonist Sonny Stitt, but one that also features the young Eddie Russ on keyboards! The record's got a laidback and funky sound that goes deeper than any of Stitt's earlier sides of the 70s – and it sounds a fair bit like Eddie Russ' own record for the Jazz Masters label, thanks to a pretty heavy focus on the keys. Electric piano starts off most of the tracks before Stitt comes in for his solos – and the arrangements are relatively full, with added horns, guitar, and percussion on a fair number of tunes. Larry Nozero plays flute on the record, and some tracks even seem to feature more of him than Stitt – and the range of grooves here is really great. "Tornado" is a rolling funky tune with lots of conga on the bottom, "Escanaba Beat" is a slightly Latin-styled number, "Spinning Wheel" is taken in a jazzily stepping groove that runs for nearly ten minutes, "By My Side" has a nice chunky drum pattern under the Rhodes, and even the album's version of "We've Only Just Begun" is great – with a wicked rolling bassline sample on the intro, and lots of jazzy changes in the groove!

An overstuffed package of funk – filled with classics from the 70s, all brought together in celebration of the legendary Pulp Fusion series! Hard to believe it's been 15 years since the first Pulp Fusion volume, but during that time the collections have brought us plenty of joy, and plenty of grooves – and have built a well-deserved reputation for coming up with some of the grooviest cuts around! This double-length collection is all-solid all the way through – a great mix of cuts that go past obvious 70s hits, and include the kind of funky nuggets that have really gotten some fame in later years – thanks to collectors and heavy sample usage. Titles include "Get Down With The Get Down" by Melvin Sparks, "2 For 1" by Pleasure, "Always There" by Willie Bobo", "Captain Connors" by Norman Connors, "We All Got A Mission" by Billy Paul, "Lope Song" by Eddie Russ, "Yellow Sunshine" by Yellow Sunshine, "People Make The World Go Round" by Milt Jackson, "A Time & A Place" by The Heath Brothers, "Tragic Magic" by Nathan Davis, "Jungle Strut" by Gene Ammons, "It's A Trip" by The Last Poets, "La Botella" by Joe Bataan, "Life On Mars" by Dexter Wansel, and "The World We Live In" by The Politicians.

The cover of this one makes it look like a no-name leaderless session, but this one actually features some great work by some very hip players! Half the album features vibist Teddy Charles leading a group of modernists that includes Hal McKusick, Frank Socolow, Bill Russon, Bob Brookmeyer, Mal Waldron, and Donald Byrd – on tracks that have a bluesy base, but a bit of an edge to them. The other half features Manny Albam leading a combo with Al Cohn, Teo Macero, Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Phil Woods, and Eddie Costa. The session was done to showcase the talents of 4 of the best modern arrangers of the late 50s – Manny Albam, Bill Russon, Teo Macero, and Teddy Charles – all of whom contribute some great charts to a set of tracks that includes "Swinging Goatsherd Blues", "East Hampton Blues", "Blues In The Night", "Night Crawlers", and "Blues For Amy".

An excellent gimmick – and yet another way that United Artists was trying to push its "Bond" catalog in the 60s! Count Basie brings a soulful swing to the work of John Barry – hitting hard on the tracks with his own smoking piano, and an orchestra filled with some of his best players, like Al Grey, Eric Dixon, and Freddie Green – as well as Eddie Lockjaw Davis, an artist who wasn't credited on the session at he time. Arrangements are by Chico O'Farrill and George Williams – and titles include "Thunderball", "From Russia With Love", "007", "Girl Trouble", and "Goldfinger".

An important and overlooked British ensemble of the late 60s – a group who were contemporaries of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and AMM, but who never fully received the same sort of attention! The People Band have a relatively loose approach to improvisation – one that's sometimes a bit warmer and more personal than some of their UK contemporaries – definitely driven by freedom, but also still hanging onto an inherent sense of soul that almost recalls the AACM a bit more than anything else. As with a group like the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, the players switch up instruments a fair bit – really trading sounds and notes in a spontaneously creative way – with Mel Davis on piano, trombone, and cello; Terry Day on drums and alto sax; Lyn Dobson on tenor; Mike Figgis on flugelhorn and acoustic guitar; Frank Flowers on bass; Russell Hardy on piano and keyboards; Eddie Edem on congas and trumpet; Terry Holman on bass and one string thingaphone; and George Khan on tenor and flute. Titles include "Home Trio", "Conduction", "Skip To Part 3", and "Conduction 3". CD features the full album originally issued on the Transatlantic label, plus a few bonus tracks.

Striking modern work from jazz singer Lucy Reed – no surprise, though, given that arrangements here are by the likes of Gil Evans, George Russell, and Eddie Higgins! Reed's got a beautiful sense of tone – a clarity that comes through right away, but which is never miscast in these modern settings as it might be in a more commercial jazz date – which could pitch Lucy right into some too-sentimental fare. Instead, the tunes usually have a moody sort of glow – all the sadness of more familiar jazz singers of the time, but given a colder steel edge that we really love. Titles include "Love For Sale", "A Trout No Doubt", "Born To Blow The Blues", "This Is New", "No Moon At All", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "Lucky To Be Me", and "There He Goes".

Jazz from the heart of the cold war – not actually recorded in Moscow, but featuring a bunch of hip players on their return from a tour of the Soviet Union – a historic moment in which west met east, with some groovy jazz in the offing! Apart from the tenor of Zoot Sims and alto of Phil Woods, the record also features flute and alto from Jerry Dodgion, trombone from Willie Dennis, trumpets from Markie Markowitz and Jimmy Maxwell, and piano from Eddie Costa – and the set features arrangements from Al Cohn on tracks that hit the 5 minute range – tight at the top, with breakaway solos, as you might hear during some of the Cohn/Sims sides for RCA during the 50s! Titles include "Let's Dance", "Mission To Moscow", "The Sochi Boatman", and the obligatory "Russian Lullaby".

A smoking little set – an album of jazz takes on Curtis Mayfield classics, played by a hip combo that includes a few musicians from Mayfield's old band! The album's a straight jazz effort all the way through – and the interpretations are so soulful and swinging on their own, you might even forget that Curtis provided the inspiration for the tunes – thanks to work from Wallace Roney on trumpet, Ernie Watts on saxes, Phil Upchurch on guitar, Russ Ferrante on piano, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, and Henry Gibson on congas! The album's one of the last that Gibson ever cut, and his percussion really helps the whole thing find its groove – providing a nice kick to the work of Roney, Watts, and Upchurch over the top. Titles include "Freddie's Dead", "Superfly", "Beautiful Brother Of Mine", "People Get Ready", "Amen", "Gypsy Woman", and "It's All Right".