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A treasure trove of rare work from the obscure German Ego label – four different albums, all of them great – packaged here in tiny LP-styled covers too! The set's especially noteworthy for the work of British saxophonist Alan Skidmore – working here on some of his best material of the late 70s – records that easily rival the best sides cut back home in the UK, but which also have a very different feel and flavor! On Morning Rise, Skidmore plays tenor and soprano sax, alongside Gerd Dudek, who also plays both horns too – in these long, textural lines that merge and diverge nicely with Skidmore's – creating these majestic shapes in sound, before then taking off towards much more powerful solos. Rhythm is from Adelhard Rodiginger on bass and Lala Kovacev on drums – and titles include "Morning Rise", "Macedonian Market", "Dr Les Mosses", and "Nakemiin". SOH is a trio outing from Alan Skidmore, drummer Tony Oxley, and bassist Ali Haurand – hence the title – and the set really allows Skidmore to expand on some of his most open, expressive lines on tenor and soprano sax! Tracks are quite long, and build with this almost late-Coltrane sort of energy – almost glowing with a sense of spirituality that's pushed along strongly by the reed lines. Titles include "One Two Free", "Das Ist Alice", "Lost In WG", and "Trio Nr 10". European Jazz Quintet features tremendous reeds from the trio of Alan Skidmore, Gerd Dudek, and Leszek Zadlo – all of whom play both tenor and soprano sax – and work alongside the bass of Ali Haurand and drums of Pierr Courbois! The set features two long tracks – "Das Ist Alice" and "Miss B" – both of them balanced nicely on the cusp between European free jazz and some stronger spiritual jazz structures, in a very nice way. Last up is Thoughts, from Leszek Zadlo – a record that has Zadlo on both flute and tenor, working with the excellent Ego Records rhythm trio of Joe Haider on piano, Isla Eckinger on bass, and Joe Nay on drums! The sound is quite different than other Ego sessions with the trio – as the tracks here build very slowly, often through the initial utterings of Zadlo on his reeds – kind of growing into a spiritually expressive style that gets increasingly focused as the set goes on – in ways that are a nice change from European free jazz. Titles include "Two Friends", "Some Body", "Struggle", and "Thoughts".

An essential batch of music – four overlooked gems from the German Ego label of the late 70s – one of which is a stone classic that we've treasured for decades! All albums here are incredible – but our absolute favorite is Benny Bailey's Serenade To A Planet – a set that we think is one of the greatest jazz records ever! By the time of this 1976 release, trumpeter Benny Bailey had already had quite a history – working with Quincy Jones in his early years, and recording for MPS with the likes of Nathan Davis and the Clark Boland Big Band, as well as some of the best other players in Europe. This set's Benny's masterpiece – a soulful batch of tunes that feels like it was lifted from the catalog of Strata East, but which is played by a quintet that features Europeans Ferdinand Povel on tenor, Joe Haider on piano, and Isla Eckinger on bass – as well as American Kenny Clarke on drums. The vibe is perfect – and the group's harmoniously searching with a strong modal groove on nearly every track. Titles include "Aquarian Moods", "Neptunis", "Little B", and "The Kicker". East Of Isar is something of a follow-up to that date – done by Bailey with tenorist Sal Nistico – in a wonderful group that also includes Joe Haider on piano, Isla Eckinger on bass, and Billie Brooks on drums! The Haider/Eckinger team are known from other Bailey sessions in Europe – all of which are fantastic – and they perform extremely well here, too. Tracks are long, with a wonderfully searching quality – and titles include "Blues For Trane", "Joyful Sadness", and "East Of Isar". Then, the set steps into Just For Fun – another great album with a very similar groove – thanks to rhythm from Joe Haider on piano, Gunter Lenz on bass, and Joe Nay on drums. The group's backing up tenorist Sal Nistico – usually a sleepy talent, but a sparkling one on this session, thanks to a lively lyrical rhythm section, and some great compositions by Joe Haider. The whole thing sparkles with the kind of imagination and energy that keeps you tracking down sessions on MPS and other European labels – and with tracks like "Beautiful Black Casanova", "Do Not Make Circles", and "7787", you won't be disappointed in this one! And last by not least is After A Long Time – from trumpeter Dusko Goykovich – a rare gem that's in a similar format to Benny Bailey's classic Serenade To A Planet! Dusko stretches out beautifully on the record – in a group that features Joe Haider on piano, Roman Schwaller on tenor, Isla Eckinger on bass, and Alvin Queen on drums. Titles include "Emotionally", "After A Long Time", "Summit", "Mountain Witch", and "The Hunt Is On".

The groundbreaking hip hop culture magazine may be long gone, but the endearingly cynical, satirical, bitter yet undeniably realistic voice of Sacha Jenkins and Ego Trip contributers and collaborators is alive and well in their Big Book Of Racism! Chapters include "Disgracism", "Get Ur Race On", "Embracism", "Da Yellow Pages", "Lights, Camera, Affirmative Action", and many, many more. Some of the stories, photos, and articles here were pulled from the defunct mag, but the majority are brand spankin' new for this volume – a great sign that Jenkins and co. will be around for a long, long time! You pretty much know what you are in for with the intro, "Due to our strong personal convictions, we wish to stress that this book in no way endorses a belief in racism. We just hate everybody." Great, biting stuff. Paperback, 304 pages. Highly recommended!

Titles include "Later Circles", "Themes & Variations", "Flashback III", and "Closeness".

One of the 70s gems on the mighty German Ego label – an incredible small company who seemed to put out nothing but excellent music! The set's led by pianist Joe Haider, and features a quintet with Andy Scherrer on tenor and soprano sax, Ack Van Rooyen on flugelhorn, Gunter Lenz on bass, and Todd Canedy on drums – all of them together welling up as way more than the sum of their parts, and cooking up an amazingly soulful set of tunes! There's bits of modal and American 70s spiritual soul jazz in the set – all played with a proud and buoyant style that unfolds majestically through the course of the album, never faltering in its vision or creativity. A under-acknowledged gem, with tracks that include "Mas De Serles", "Magdalena", "Reconciliation", "Crossover", and "Spanish Groove".

With Dave Liebman on tenor and soprano sax – plus Mark Isham on trumpet, Michael Formanek on bass, and Mike Barsimento on drums.

A record that has Leszek Zadlo on both flute and tenor, working with the excellent Ego Records rhythm trio of Joe Haider on piano, Isla Eckinger on bass, and Joe Nay on drums! The sound is quite different than other Ego sessions with the trio – as the tracks here build very slowly, often through the initial utterings of Zadlo on his reeds – kind of growing into a spiritually expressive style that gets increasingly focused as the set goes on – in ways that are a nice change from European free jazz. Titles include "Two Friends", "Some Body", "Struggle", and "Thoughts".

Tremendous trio work – with Skidmore on tenor and soprano sax, Ali Haurand on bass, and Tony Oxley on drums! Side one is a very extended free track – and side two features some shorter numbers.

One of the few early albums as a leader cut by trumpeter Benny Bailey – a tremendous talent, finally getting his due! Bailey is one of the great unsung talents of jazz, and he's always made top-shelf work – from his early days with Quincy Jones, to his later years as an American expatriot, recording for European labels like Ego and MPS. This rare early session is one of the few recorded for the super-hip Candid label – and it features Bailey's trumpet at the head of a tight combo that includes Phil Woods on alto sax and bass clarinet, Julius Watkins on French Horn, Les Spann on flute and guitar, Tommy Flanagan on piano, and rhythm from Buddy Catlett on bass and Art Taylor on drums. Despite the "big brass" title, there's no horn section here – and instead, most of the numbers have that sharp-edged modern sound we associate with Candid – with Watkins horn being the only other brass instrument, alongside the lighter lines of Woods and Spann. Titles include "Hard Sock Dance", "Tipsy", "Please Say Yes", and "Maud's Mood".

A seminal session from one of the greatest large groups ever! This one captures the Clarke-Boland ensemble at the peak of their creativity – swinging hard in that tight firey way that was virtually their trademark during the late 60s. The players are a top-shelf mix of European and American jazz legends – coming together without ego, without attitude, and having a hell of a time working through groundbreaking arrangements from leader Francy Boland. Soloists include Sahib Shihab, Tony Coe, Dusko Goykovich, Ronnie Scott, Jimmy Woode, and Benny Bailey – and the tracks are all short, but swing like a mofo, with plenty of solo action in the mix. Titles include "Love For Sale", "November Girl", "All Through The Night", "Lullaby Of The Leaves", and "Bei Dir War Es Immer So Schon".

The Digables certainly weren't the first or most innovative hip hop group to rely upon cooled out jazz for the backbone of their sound. In fact without Tribe Called Quest's second album, Digable Planets probably wouldn't even have existed, at least not in anything close to the same form. What they did do though was pave the trail blazed by Tribe and De La with pure gold – and Blowout Comb is a fine ride! Loads of tripped out arrangements on live instruments (a huge step after the largely sampled debut), layer upon layer of groovy vocals in addition to the easy rhymes of Butterfly, Ladybug and Doodlebug, and even an appearance by Jeru. One of the catchiest jazz-rap fusion record of the 90s, not that there's anything wrong with that! Tracks include "The May 4th Movement Starring Doodlebug", "Black Ego", "Dog It", "Jettin", "Borough Check", "Highing Fly", "Dial 7", "The Art Of Easing", "KB's Alley", "Graffiti", "Blowing Down", "9th Wonder", and "For Corners".

A sharp Statement Of Intent from DJ Format – whose format is timeless boombap and deft live instrumention on this solid set – which includes collaborations with Sureshot La Lock, Phill Most Chill, Nostalgia 77 and others! Classic craft, though timelessly inventive. The spacey sci fi funk of the Nostalgia 77 collabos is as hot as you'd expect, as are the other diverse sounds at play here. Includes "Staetement Of Intent", "A Quick Ego Trip", "Dope Pusher" and more with Sureshot La Rock, "Spaceship Earth" feat Edan, "Notes In Quotation" and "The Long Goodbye" feat Nostalgia 77 Quintet, "Terror" feat Mr Lif, "Beyond Disco" with The Simonsound, "Live At The Place To Be" with Phill Most Chill & Sureshot La Rock and more.

One of the best of John Fahey's Takoma records of the late 60s – and made up of some great Fahey recordings that he made with other musicians – including some great ones with Fahey accompanied by his alter ego Blind Joe Death! Some of the tracks are folk & blues guitar tunes that are as easygoing and charming as they are adventurous – and others go into more of spooky Eastern raga inspired direction – and some tunes do both! Includes "Bottleneck Blues", "Bill Cheatum", "Lewisdale Blues", "Bean Vine Blues", "A Raga Called Pat Part III", "A Raga Called Pat Part IV", "Train", "Je Ne Me Suis Reveillais Matin Pas En May", "The Story Of Dorothy Gooch Part I", "Nine-Pound Hammer" and "Lonesome Valley".

Nikki G in total righteousness, surrounded by a big choir, and dropping knowledge on cuts like "Great Pax Whitey", "Poem For Aretha", and "Ego Tripping". Very spiritual stuff, with backing vocals by the New York Community Choir, who also recorded a great soul album on RCA around the same time – and an overall approach that elevates Nikki's poetry into a very spiritual realm!

If Terry Melcher hadn't given Charles Manson the brush off, this album may well have come out on Columbia in the late 60s, and made Manson the rock and roll star he wanted to be! And while we're as disturbed as everyone else by the history of Charlie's violence, we also have to admit that we're kind of taken by this album – and find it a surprisingly good little record in a 60s folksy mode. There's really none of the creepiness that you might expect, and Manson's got a naivete that kind of transforms a Dylan-esque style into one that's overflowing with the raw emotion and personality of Jonathan Richman (but none of the silliness, of course.) CD features 26 tracks in all – the most expansive version we've seen – and also includes a few alternate takes. Most of the music is recorded in a spare style, with acoustic guitar backing and a bit of additional vocals – and titles include "Ego", "Look At Your Game Girl", "I'll Never Say Never To Always", "Home Is Where You're Happy", "Big Iron Door", "I Once Knew A Man", "Garbage Dump", "True Love You Will Find", "Who To Blame", "Don't Do Anything Illegal", and "Sick City".

A killer diller of a live set from Brother Jack McDuff – a cut that burns with energy that almost beats his studio 60s classics for Prestige! The group is one of Jack's best ever – a lineup that includes the twin tenors of Red Holloway and Harold Vick, plus incredibly sharp guitar from a young George Benson, and some of the most unique soul jazz drum work you'll ever hear – courtesy of the amazing Joe Dukes. Despite their individual strengths, which might make this whole thing an ego-fest – all players fit perfectly into place on the album's hard wailing batch of groovers, and groove together with a sympathetic energy that's simply amazing! Titles include a great remake of "Jive Samba", plus "Dink's Blues", "Grease Monkey", "Passing Through", and "Vas Dis". This is the kind of thing live recording equipment was made for!

The first two albums from Ozone – back to back on a single CD! Walk On is the great debut of Ozone – a group who'd worked previously as the backing band for Billy Preston – which should give you an idea of how great they are! The group have a razor-sharp way of putting things together – tight and funky, yet never over the top – and definitely a real cut above most of their contemporaries – even at this heady time for soul music! The balance of their sound is wonderful – with some occasional smooth moments amidst the jazzy funk – and the whole thing feels more like some of the best Capitol Records groovers of the time, instead of what you might expect from early 80s Motown. Titles include "Cosmic Egg", "Ego", "Walk On", "This Is Funkin Insane", "That J", and "You On My Mind". Send It is filled with killer grooves from Ozone – an overlooked early 80s group on Motown, and easily one of the label's strongest suits of the time! The group have the tighter sound of most of the Motown work of the time – but they also manage a looser, more organic sort of approach to their groove – a sound that's almost more in the ensemble funk and 80s groove best of the Capitol Rare scene of the time, and a lot less like some of the more chartbound acts on their label. There's plenty of bass in the backings, but it's never used in a way that's too over the top – and the group balance things out nicely with a careful approach to vocals and some more sensitive ballads. Titles include "Keep On Dancin", "Over & Over Again", "Gigolette", "Do What Cha Wanna", "Tune Up", and "Girl I Can't Wait". Also includes a 12" single mix of "Gigolette".

The classic, finally back in print on LP! The roots of Kool Keith's abstract poetical style are in evidence here in all it's brilliant glory, properly displayed without the smug hipster irony that makes so much of his latter day projects so off putting. Plus, the Ultramags had that amazing production by Ced Gee. This is still one of our all-time favorites late 80s new school hip hop albums. With "Watch Me Now", "Ego Trippin", "Ease Back", "Funky", "Kool Keith Housing Things", "Feelin It", "Ced Gee (Delta Force One)", "Traveling At The Speed Of Thought" and more.

The laid back classic, finally back on vinyl! The Digables certainly weren't the first or the most innovative hip hop group to rely upon cooled out jazz for the backbone of their sound. In fact without Tribe Called Quest's second album, Digable Planets probably wouldn't even have existed, at least not in anything close to the same form. What they did do though was pave the trail blazed by Tribe and De La with pure gold – and Blowout Comb is their shiniest ride! Loads of tripped out arrangements on live instruments (a huge step after the largely sampled debut), layer upon layer of groovy vocals in addition to the easy rhymes of Butterfly, Ladybug and Doodlebug, and even an appearance by Jeru. Probably the catchiest jazz-rap fusion record of the 90s, not that there's anything wrong with that! Tracks include "The May 4th Movement Starring Doodlebug", "Black Ego", "Dog It", "Jettin", "Borough Check", "Highing Fly", "Dial 7", "The Art Of Easing", "K.B.'s Alley", "Graffiti", "Blowing Down", "9th Wonder", and "For Corners".

Fantastic! You've heard us rave here before about how much we love Gil Melle, and this CD contains one of his best-ever albums! Primitive Modern is an incredible record that features the arrangements and playing of Gil's great quartet (with Joe Cinderella on guitar, and Ed Thigpen on drums), plus a number of strange and unusual instruments created by Melle himself. The resultant sound is a strange blend of tightly arranged jazz and free flowing Moondog-ish material, and tracks like "Ironworks", "Dominica", "Mark One", and "Dedicatory Piece To The Geophysical Year Of 1957" are out of this world! Coupled with this album is another great quartet album, Quadrama – one that has more of a straight jazz feel, but which is also great. Titles on that one include "Full House", "Quadrama", "Rush Hour In Hong Kong", and "Walter Ego". Great stuff all round!

Rare & unreleased material from Madlib's Quasimoto alter ego!

Rare & unreleased material from Madlib's Quasimoto alter ego!

Nice comp of old school (...okay, what passes for old school these days) cuts: Schoolly D "PSK What Does It Mean?", Ultramag "Ego Trippin", Fearless Four "Rockin It", Treacherous Three "Body Rock", Just Ice "Going Way Back", Steady B "Bring The Beat Back", Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud "Girls I Got 'Em Locked", fat Boys "Stick 'Em", Roxanne Shante & Biz Mark "Def Fresh Crew", Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce "It's My Beat", Run DMC "Peter Piper" and Fresh 3 MCs "Fresh".

West coast underground icon Murs, Bad Brains bassis Darryl Jenifer and Ego Trip founder Sacha Jenkins SHR team us as White Mandingos.

LTD "Love To The World", Hollywood Disco Jazz Band "Don's Place", Original Tropicana Steel Band "Calypso Rock", Manu Dibango "Senga", Soulwanco" Candido, Please "Ego Trippin'", Johnny Taylor "Ever Ready" and more.

Left-field hip-hop from the heyday of Anticon. 19 tracks total including the title track, "Dismantiling Of Sole's Ego", "Tourist Trapeze", "Man & Woman", "Nothing Fell Apart" featuring Sixtoo, "Our Dirty Big Secret" featuring Alias, Dose, and Pedestrian, and "Year Of The $exxx $ymbol".

A rare album by Ahmed Abdul-Malik – the bass player best known for his work with Monk, and for some of his groundbreaking experimental sessions that mixed together jazz music and Eastern influences! This album is one of Malik's greatest – a combination of both his modern and experimental sides, a mixture of off-key hardbop and odd instrumentation that includes cello, oud, and lots of extra percussion. The fantastic Tommy Turrentine plays trumpet on one cut, Richard Williams plays on all others – and the percussionists include Chief Bey, Montego Joe, and Andrew Cyrille! Titles include "The African Bossa Nova", "Wakida Hena", "Communication", "Suffering", and "Nadusilma".

Uncategorizable coolness from Amazing Ghost – a Richmond, VA group that features members of Bio Ritmo. Both tracks bring a lot of sounds to a dancefloor ready, insistent groove – bits of Latin inspired percussion, electro, synth rock and more.

Creative electronics from Uwe Schmidt – aka Atom (TM) and dozens of other pseudonyms! Atom (TM) And Friends make these great pop music pastiches laced with electronic textures – putting modern electronica, classic funk, pop, rock, bossa nova and more in a blender – and coming out with material that's easy to love, but hard to categorize! Includes his tropical clubby cover of "Smoke On The Water" as Senor Coconut, an icy Euro funk takes on James Brown's "Superbad" and Bowie's "Ashes To Ashes" as LB, straight up original soundscapes as Atom and other strange, yet accessible numbers recorded as Erik Satin, The Stereonerds, Los Sampler's, The Rogertubesound Ensemble and more. 17 in all: "Duck Cha Cha" and "Showgirl" as Lisa Carbon, "Mp3 (MoralPovertyThree)", "Suck My Groove", "Bowman Suite" and "Daddy's Song" as Atom, "Music (For The Library Of God)" as The Roger Tubesound Enemble, "Dropshadow Disease" as Dropshadow Disease, "La Vida Es Llena De Cables" as Los Sampler's and more.

Amazing stuff from Ginger Baker's personal archives – live recordings with his Salt group – born of his relocation to Nigeria and a wonderful, dexterous fusion of jazz & rock percussion with African rhythms! The sound is pretty great on these 2 CDs, and the performances are truly great! Players include Ginger Baker and guest drummer Art Blakey (!!!), plus Steve Gregory on sax & flute, Bud Beadle on sax, Tunde Koboje on bass, Berkely Jones on guitar, vocalists Kehinde Lijada and Taiwo Lijada, and African drums by Laola Akins. CD1 has 7 unlisted tracks, mostly on the longer side – the shortest more the 5 minutes and longest nearly 20 minutes. Disc 2 has one short introductory bit and a 18+ minute track.

Blistering sounds from Ballister – quite possibly the fiercest album so far from this key Chicago group – and that's saying a lot, given the intensity of their previous work! The trio really seem to know each other intimately by this point – so that they can really let loose, and explore a great range of sounds from the saxes of Dave Rempis, drums of Paal Nilssen-Love, and the cello, guitar, and electronics of Fred Lonberg-Holm! The album's an especially great illustration of the way that Fred's really opened up his energy level in recent years – and become a much more organic player, with a confidence in his sounds we never would have expected a decade ago. Rempis is masterful on alto, tenor, and baritone – blowing with a boldness that puts him firmly in line with a range of Chicago improvisers – and Paal's visiting drum work really pushes the whole thing forward strongly. Titles include "Cockloft", "Smolder", and "Phantom Box System".

Amazing – simply amazing – and one of the best LPs of 60s soul you could ever buy! Darrell Banks was one of the many lost talents laboring in Detroit during the 60s – and he was part of the city's hip underground soul scene that included monster talents like Steve Mancha and JJ Barnes, all of whom fall into the "should have been famous" category, but who have fortunately been honored for years by soul fans worldwide. This album's one of two that Banks ever issued under his own name – and it's a collection of singles that were put together by Revilot, but issued in full LP format by Atlantic. Banks mixes together raw deep soul vocals with some hipper uptown production – and the result is soul that's about as classic as "classic" could be! Every single cut's a winner, written by some of the finest talents in soul music at the time – and tracks include "Here Come The Tears", "Our Love (Is In The Pocket)", "I'm Gonna Hang My Head & Cry", "Baby What'cha Got For Me", and Banks' semi-hit, "Open The Door To Your Heart".

Stunning soul from the great Joe Bataan – a really groundbreaking mix of modes that's right up there with the best of the Spanish Harlem scene of the late 60s! The album is Joe Bataan's debut for the Fania Records label – and the start of an incendiary run of Latin classics that forever changed the face of the New York scene – a mindblowing mix of Latin rhythms and soul-based inspiration, served up in a mix of English and Spanish language lyrics! The title track is a sublime cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Gypsy Woman" – one that's even more heartbreaking than the original – and other titles include "Ordinary Guy", Sugar Guaguanco", "So Fine", "Fuego", and the groovy "Chickie's Trombone" – a tight little jammer that shows that Joe's group also drew plenty of inspiration from the descarga scene too.

Overlooked later work from trumpeter Harry Beckett – material that really sparkles with a lot of warmth and imagination, and which is pulled together from a collection of different sessions in the late 80s and early 90s! The package features Beckett in a number of settings – including a beautiful duet with pianist Chris McGregor on the title track "Maxine", another duet with pianist Django Bates on "Les Jardins Du Casino", a 24 minute tune titled "Cozy N Rozy" played with a quintet that features McGregor on piano and Courtney Pine on tenor, a sweet take on Jacques Brel's "Amsterdam" in a trio with Joachim Kuhn on piano and JF Jenny Clarke on bass, and two group numbers with Annie Whitehead on trombone and John Burgess on flute and sax – on the tunes "Falling In Love With Love" and "Bessie's Blues".

Seminal Chicago sounds from cornetist Josh Berman – and a record that's not just a key example of his talents, but of the whole energy of the Windy City scene as well! There's a nice gag in the "His Gang" on the cover of the record – but it's also somewhat well put, too – as Berman's definitely got ears for the old-time sounds such a name might imply – yet always has ways of making those older modes come out with freshly modern energy! The balance is amazing – and really shows Josh's ear for trad jazz, mixed with his contemporary avant expressions – a pan-historical jazz mode that's hardly ever been handled this well – except maybe by Jaki Byard at a few moments. At some level, the instrumentation reads like an old trad band – cornet, clarinet, trombone, bass clarinet – but the sounds here are definitely 21st Century – played by a great "gang" that includes Guillermo Gregorio on clarinet, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Jason Stein on bass clarinet, Keefe Jackson on tenor, Jason Adasiewicz on vibes, Josh Abrams on bass, and Frank Rosaly on drums. Berman's arrangements are wonderful – very offbeat, but swinging too – and titles include "Sugar", "Mobile & Blues", "Liza", "Cloudy", "One Train May Hide Another", and "Jada".

A great focus for the Bill Black Combo – an album of bluesy tunes that seem to bring out a bit more soul than usual in their music – at least for this time in the group's history! Many of the numbers are older tracks that fall into the category of crossover blues – tunes played more by jazz artists than gritty bluesmen, which make them a good fit for the instrumental style of the combo – tuned a bit more towards the bluer side of the spectrum by the group's electric guitar and bass, and topped with some especially nice work on horns. Titles include "Basin Street Blues", "I'll Never Be Free", "Birth Of The Blues", "Peter Gunn", "Weary Blues", "St Louis Blues", and "Blues In The Night".

Some nice surprises here – including "Do It Any Way You Wanna (parts 1 & 2)", "Soleful Moments", "Bossa Fuego", "Shake Your Bootie", "Low Down", and "Foxy Funk".

A lost treasure – never-issued material from the legendary Blue Notes combo – and a set that really helps fill some space in their all-too-small recorded catalog! The set captures the group at the end of the 70s, working in their most openly-creative mode – a style that partly shows their strong roots in the South African jazz scene of the 60s, but which also really opens up with some of the freer modes of the following decade – hitting a mix of modes that's not unlike some of the AACM at their best, although often with a lot more intensity, too! The group at this point is a quartet – with Chris McGregor on piano, Johnny Dyani on bass, Louis Moholo on drums, and Dudu Pukwana on some especially amazing alto sax – blown with such righteous force, we might well say that his instrument is center stage on the record – were it not for the wonderfully complex rhythms from the other three group members too! Tracks are long, and filled with righteous soul – and titles inlcude "Ithi Gui", "Mange", "Lonta Uyagula", "Lakutshonga Ilanga", "The Bride", and "Funk Dem Dudu".

A long-overdue look at one of the most important groups to grace the British jazz scene of the 60s and 70s – the legendary Blue Notes, a group of South African expatriates with an undeniably huge influence on the music of their new homeland! The ensemble featured key players who went onto do some amazing work on their own, but first came together in this group – trumpeter Mongezi Feza, saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, pianist Chris McGregor, bassist Johnny Dyani, and drummer Louis Moholo – all players as dynamic together and important on their own as the members of the Art Emsemble of Chicago from the US. The set finally brings out all of the group's key albums for the Ogun label, plus some great bonus material too – a rich tapestry of work that shows the combo's evolution from African-tinged jazz of the 60s to some much more farther-reaching sounds in the 70s – all beautifully packaged, with each album presented on its own inside a larger slipcase! The set features The Blue Notes Legacy, a live date in South Africa from 1964; Blue Notes For Mongezi, a double-length set recorded after the passing of group trumpeter Mongezi Feza; Blue Notes For Johnny, a date recorded after the passing of bassist Johnny Dyani; and Blue Notes In Concert, a great live date recorded in 1977. There's a wealth of wonderful music here – and along with the bonus tracks, the set also features a great booklet of remembrances and vintage photos!

One of the better early bossa albums by Bonfa, and one that doesn't have the sleepy quality that you find on some of his other records. Luiz' guitar is backed by a nice little combo, and the tracks have a lively rhythm, with occasional vocals, and some nice flute solos from time to time. The whole thing sounds a bit like an early Baden Powell session – and includes the tracks "Amor Em Brasilia", "Amor De Solidao", "Murmurio", "Inquietacao", "Voce Chegou Sorrindo", and "Saudade De Bahia". Also issued in Brazil under the title O Violao E O Samba.

Soaring work from guitarist Michael Boothman – a record that's probably more in a soul instrumental mode than a jazz one – but which is plenty darn great, thanks to help from a variety of top-shelf talents! Boothman's working here with Leon Pendarvis – who plays keyboards on the record, and arranged the fuller backings for the record – ones that mix Boothman's guitar with some especially great wordless vocals from singers who include Lou Courtney and Edna Holt – singing alongside the strings with a sweetly scatting mode that's pretty great! There's a slightly tropical feel to some of the tunes here – which, mixed with a bit of jazz and the sophisticated backings from Pendarvis, almost puts the record in the territory of Jon Lucien – although obviously with less of a lyrical focus overall. Titles include "Heaven", "Song For My Soul", "Saying It With Music", "Diego Shuffle", and "Scorpio Stew".

A Christmas jazz album – even though you might not guess it from the title and cover – and one that really takes a fresh approach to a wide range of Holiday classics! Guitarist Craig Brann isn't content to simply rehash old melodies – and instead really steps out with creative jazz reworkings of these classic tunes – re-arranging almost all of them with a fresh sense of rhythms, and some angular energy that makes them all a lot more striking than most familiar versions! Tunes are short, but get in plenty of creative changes – and in addition to Brann's guitar, the set also features tenor and alto from Gregory Tardy, piano from Joel Weiskopf, and alto from Nicholas Kozak. Maybe the most openly creative Christmas jazz album since God Rest Ye Merry Jazzmen – with titles that include "We Three Kings", "Angels We Have Heard On High", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Hark The Herald", "Little Drummer Boy", and "Joy To The World".

The title sounds like an old R&B song from the 50s, but the album's a searing collaboration between three of the boldest improvisers in 70s European jazz – Peter Brotzmann on reeds, Harry Miller on bass, and Louis Moholo on drums! Although Miller and Moholo can have warmer moments when working in British Ogun modes, they're definitely well-matched here with the young Brotzmann's energy – very freewheeling on both of their instruments, and rising to Peter's challenge to find new sounds at just about every twist and turn of the record! Titles include "Long Time Service", "Kucken und Drucken", "Schnell Im Biss", and "The Nearer The Bone The Sweeter The Meat".

Classic Chappottin tracks from the 60s – material done in a host of key Cuban modes – all with tight trumpet on the top, and great vocals from singers who include Miguelito Cuni, Cheo Marquetti, Rene Alvarez, and Gina Martin! The change in vocalists really keeps things fresh – especially as the album moves between upbeat groovers and mellower tracks with a more melancholy quality. Titles include "Oriente", "No Vengas Por Mi", "Amor Verdadero", "No Puedes Dejarme", "Transnochando", and "Cienfuegos".

Sublime Italian soundtrack funk – and one of the greatest albums ever from 70s maestro Stelvio Cipriani! The music was scored for a schlocky horror film about a giant octopus – but Cipriani's approach here goes far beyond its roots – beautifully blending together tightly compressed bass and funky drum bits with sweet electric keys and warm string touches – making for a set that slinks along with an infectious groove from start to finish! The sound is incredible – immediately seductive on the first track, and continuing to develop as the set moves on – making for an amazing soundtrack that we'd rank as one of our Italian favorites of the 70s. Titles include "Tentacles", "Small Town Pleasures", "She'll Never Come Back", "San Diego Yellow Cab", "Summer & Winter", and "Scotch For Two". CD features more tracks than the previous version – 7 more bonus tracks that are previously unreleased!

Amazing stuff from No Wave legends DNA – 32 tracks from long out of print singles, EPs and live recordings – many on CD for the first time ever! DNA was one of the most uproarious acts in that increasingly legendary NYC scene – featuring Arto Lindsay's scratchy guitar and haggard banshee wail of a lead vocal presence, those primitive Bowery funk keyboards by Robin Krutchfield, and thumping, metronomic bass and drums by Tim Wright and Ikue Mori. The band's songs rarely marched past the 2 1/2 minute mark or so, getting in-and-out for a quick catharsis. These tracks trace the range of the under-recorded group perfectly, from the raw punk squall of the early singles to the funkier, sinister post disco sound later on. Amazing, awe inspiring stuff from a scene that keeps on belching greatness! Great notes and photos, here too! Includes "You & You", "Egomaniac's Kiss", "Not Moving", "Size", "New Fast", "New New", "Young Teenagers Talk Sex", "Police Chase", "Cop Buys A Donut", "Nearing", "Low", "Brand New", "Horse", "Forgery", "A New Low" and tons more!

Amazing stuff from No Wave legends DNA – a vinyl set that features material that wasn't on the CD collection of the same name! DNA was one of the most uproarious acts in that increasingly legendary NYC scene – featuring Arto Lindsay's scratchy guitar and haggard banshee wail of a lead vocal presence, those primitive Bowery funk keyboards by Robin Krutchfield, and thumping, metronomic bass and drums by Tim Wright and Ikue Mori. The band's songs rarely marched past the 2 1/2 minute mark or so, getting in-and-out for a quick catharsis. These tracks trace the range of the under-recorded group perfectly, from the raw punk squall of the early singles to the funkier, sinister post disco sound later on. Amazing, awe inspiring stuff from a scene that keeps on belching greatness! Great notes and photos, here too! Includes "You & You", "Egomaniac's Kiss", "Not Moving", "Size", "New Fast", "New New", "Young Teenagers Talk Sex", "Police Chase", "Cop Buys A Donut", "Nearing", "Low", "Brand New", "Horse", "Forgery", "A New Low" and tons more! 37 tracks in all – with vinyl-exclusive tunes "Pompeii", "Shrinking Thing", "Drinking Water", and 2 live titles from CBGBs.

Righteous soul – and the only record ever cut by East Coast – a group led by Larry Blackmon, featuring early vocals by Gwen Guthrie! The style is very hip – a mixture of funk and progressive grooving, all held together with a sound that's young, proud, and which moves easily between influences from a number of different camps. In a way, the group's almost a cross between early Earth Wind & Fire and The Voices Of East Harlem – with a style that's got some nicely soulful jazz elements, but served up with a dose of sweeter soul. Gregory Johnson plays some great keyboards on the set, and titles include "I've Got To Reclaim You", "Something Deep Inside", "Any Thing You Have In Mind", "Miss Gigi", "Keep On Trying", "I Found You", and "You Can't Let It Get You Down".

Monumental Afro Soul from El Rego Et Ses Commandos – El Rego's best recordings from the late 60s to early 70s – a beautifully done compilation put together by Daptone and Frank Gossner, the deep digging West African music expert behind Voodoo Funk! Theophile Do-Rego is a legend in his native Benin, essentially credited as the godfather of Benin funk – but to date, he hasn't been celebrated around the world nearly as famously as the superstars of African music hailing from Nigeria and Ghana. That's something that can change really quickly if enough people pick up this truly great compilation of pioneering recordings. Singer El Rego and his excellent, diversely capable band – sax and flute by Baboni Oudou, sax by Michel Diogo, guitar by Oscar De Souza, trumpet by Emmanuel Ganssounou, guitar by Roger Coffi, tumba by Marcelin Kpohonon, additional vocals by Christian Agueh, and bass by band leader Paul Hounnou – take a tighter approach to funky soul. Just a couple tracks on this set roll past the 4 minute mark – which gives it a tighter soul sound, along with some Benin blues and some riveting JB-indebted vocal affections. We owe Voodoo Funk and Daptone big for putting this together! Includes "Feeling You Got", "Zon Dede", "E Nan Mian Duku", "Dkobime", "Dis-Moi Oui", "Djobime", "Hessa" (the centerpiece of the album, 3 minutes of Afro Soul perfection. . .the whole set is great, but this track is unforgettable), "Kpon Fi La", "Do Do Baya", "Vive Le Renouveau", "Achuta", "Cholera" and "Ke Amon-Gbetchea".

Wow! Straight up incredible Afro Funk from Benin's El Rego Et Ses Commandos – the pummeling, yet soulful "Vimado Wingnan" and the slower, more hypnotic "E Nan Mian Nuku" – rare early 70s numbers on Daptone! "Vimado Wingnan" is one of those tracks that's so incredible that it should be an Afro Funk staple, yet we have to admit we were just recently hipped to it. The drums and percussion are amazing and it's got a wild organ in the mix that gives it something of a psych funk feel. Some flute lightens things up just a bit and the vocals are nice and funky, too. The flip isn't as intense, but it's got a rhythm that's just as insistent in it's less perspiring way. The material was brought to Daptone by Frank Gossner of Voodoo Funk and a full album is promised. We cannot wait!

Rare late 70s Afro soul from Cameroonese bassist and singer Brigth Engelberts – insistent, hypnotic and danceable grooves that points the way to myriad trends in soul in the decade to come, well beyond easily categorizable Afro funk & soul! Some numbers have a punchier, hypnotic rhythmic dynamic, others steer a bit closer to a psych soul vibe! The groove is fairly tight, with Engelberts backed by keys, drums, congas & other percussion, and some horns, and it's plenty funky! Titles and singing are in English, and include "Civilisation In The World", "Free Me Now", "Get Together", "Let Me Near Them Say", and "Shifty Hand Woman".

Che Guevara never sounded so groovy – thanks to some sublime soundtrack scoring from the great Nico Fidenco! The music is a bit more exotic than usual for Nico – some touches of pan pipes and acoustic guitar to signify the South American scene, but mixed with other elements that are pure Fidenco all the way – including little swells of sound that slink along slowly, rootsy percussion that gives a few moments a nice earthy touch, and other elements that are sometimes more sensual than dramatic – and we mean that in a good way! Most tracks are short, and trade a few themes back and forth throughout – and titles include "La Boliviana", "Los Federales", "I Regolari", "I Compagni Morti", "Los Federales", "La Ballata Del Che", and "La Leggenda Del Che". CD also features 5 bonus tracks too!

Joe Gibbs and Errol Thompson more than live up to their title as the Mighty Two just as this heavy compilation more than lives up to the title of nothing but scorchers! Gibbs and ET showcase their mastery of all styles here, veering from hard and heavy roots to sweet lover's numbers and even a few bouncing tracks aimed a the dancehall! Top notch singers and dee jays are all featured over throbbing rhythms at the hands of Gibbs' Professionals crew, with 28 tracks in all, including "Two Sevens Clash" by Culture, "Babylon Too Rough" by Gregory Isaacs, "Cool Out Son" by Junior Murvin, "Boxing Around" and "No Man's Land" by Cornell Campbell, "Just Like A River" by the Mighty Diamonds, Left With A Broken Heart" by George Nooks, "Funeral" by Prince Alla,"Rockers A Nuh Crackers" by Glen Washington, "Jah Bring I Joy In The Morning" by Bobby Melody, "Burn Babylon" by Sylford Walker, "Keep On Knocking" by Jaco Miller, "Virgin Girl" by Eek-A-Mouse, "Hello Carol" by Enos McLeod, and "UptownTop Ranking" by Althea & Donna.

Massively mellow funk – played by a cool Chicago trio that's heavy on the electric keys! The group's led by the team of keyboardist Gregory Bibb and guitarist James Norris – with the former working through a set of tasty keys that include Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and farfisa! Rhythms are lean, laidback, and nicely stripped-down – funky, but chilled out – in a kind of a groove that was years ahead of its time, and which is now only finally getting its due. There's some really heavy drums on the best cuts – hard, but with rhythms that are slightly off-kilter, in a way that makes for a really refreshing groove, even when the group's covering work by other artists. The whole thing's instrumental – with the original tracks "Brother Marcus" and "Changing Things" – plus great covers of "Love & Happiness", "Shaft", and a great version of "Ain't No Sunshine". Nice laidback funk, with a super-dope sound that's as a hip as the cover!

A legendary bit of Latin from the New York scene of the 60s – recorded by a host of youthful players working under the direction of percussionist Montego Joe! The group's name is a contraction of "Harlem Youth" – a program in which all players participated, as part of an effort to get kids involved in music uptown – spearheaded by Montego Joe, whose guidance in the set is greatly appreciated! There's a strong Latin Soul vibe running through the set – but one that's different than Joe's other work, a bit more rootsy at times, given all the percussion in the lineup – but warmed up nicely with bits of guitar, trumpet, and alto sax. The album's filled with great groovers – including the classic "Welcome To The Party", and the amazing "Oua-Train" jazz cut, which has a slightly spiritual feel. Other tracks include "Feed Me Good", "Barrets Bag", "Tico", "Ngoma", and "Santa Cruz".

One of the most roosty albums on Blue Note – and a fairly straight session of African percussion tracks by Solomon Ilori and his Afro Drum Ensemble! Unlike similar albums by Art Blakey, this one lacks any strong sort of jazz component – and really just features fairly straight African tracks, with heavy percussion, and touches of highlife grooves. The record features guitar by Jay Berliner, bass by Ahmed Abdul-Malik, and flute by Hosea Taylor – plus work by Montego Joe, Garvin Masseux, Chief Bey, and Robert Crowder, who often show up on other 60s sessions of this nature. Titles include "Follow Me To Africa", "Tolani", and "Ise Oluwa". Plus, the CD also features 3 very long bonus tracks – much more stretched out and open-ended, but also with more of a jazz component as well – thanks to trumpet from Donald Byrd, tenor and flute from Hubert Laws, and piano from Coleridge Perkinson – who was the musical director of both sessions! These tracks are all previously unreleased – and all are numbers that run on for more than 11 minutes, with titles that include "Gbogbo Omo Ibile", "Agbamurrero", and "Igbsei Aiye".

An overlooked early session from multi-instrumentalist Michael Gregory Jackson, recording here with a trio of great horn players in a wonderfully sensitive sound! The record's approach is a perfect illustration of the maturity on the New York avant scene in the late 70s – a real change from the more frenetic modes that ESP was recording a decade before, with some thoughtful, almost pensive points that really round out the record beautifully. Jackson plays mostly guitar, but also vocalizes a bit and plays marimba, percussion, wood flute and other instruments – and he's joined by Oliver Lake on flute and saxes, Wadada Leo Smith on trumpets, and David Murray on tenor sax. Some tracks get nice and bold, while others hold back wonderfully – and titles include "Oliver Lake", "Clarity", "A View Of This Life", "Prelueoionti" and "Iomi".

A spare and dramatic score for this film that starred Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, and Omar Sharif – penned by Maurice Jarre with some slight Spanish touches, to fit the setting of the narrative! Light guitar is used on many numbers – but with a very high-register sort of sound that almost feels like harpsichord at moments – and other tracks feature an isolated flute snaking along the tunes slowly, carving out some nice moods and colors with a fair bit of subtlety. Orchestrations are relatively subdued throughout – and for the time, the music is wonderfully understated – especially for Jarre! Titles include "Manuel In San Martin", "Paco Leaving Spain", "Spanish Street", "Manuel Studies Map", and "Father Francisco In Hospital".

A fantastic full length set from Deborah Jordan – a singer we know mostly for her wonderful work with Silhouette Brown on an album that was one of our favorites from the London scene a few years back! This set has all the cosmic crackles of Jordan's previous work with Dego & Kaidi Tatham – no surprise, given that she gets help on the album from Atjazz, Don Ray, Jneiro Jarel, and Simbad – each of whom take a crack at production, and help ensure that Deborah's vocals get the right dose of snapping beats, spacey keys, and sweet electric touches! And despite the range of producers, there's a really unified feel to the record – a deep soul that emanates strongly from Jordan's lyrics, tying the whole thing together beautifully. Titles include "Home", "Future Calling", "Get Through", "Want It Back", "Brought To Life", "Slipping Away", "One", "Want It Back", and "Get Through".

Vintage funk from Poland – played by a combo who are kind of rockish at the core, but also have a lot of jazzy leanings overall! The work here is all instrumental – and grooves grow right up from the bottom, driven by some heavy drums that are totally great, and often given these basslines that are rolling, yet a bit brooding too – with bluesy undercurrents that are sometimes echoed by the group's excellent Hammond as well! Other instrumentation includes a guitar – both acoustic and electric – piano, and even a bit of kazoo – and the whole thing's great – on a par if not better with any British groups of this nature from the time, and not marred at all by overdone vocals. Titles include "Szkola", "Sen", "Safari", "Epidemia Euforii", "Taniec Glodnego", and "Automaty".

A set of performances dedicated to Thelonious Monk – yet music that's quite far from anything by Monk that we've ever heard before! Yet there's also a definite Monkish inspiration going on here – a sense of space and timing that resonates in different, often drawn-out ways – performed by the group's twin pianos, handled by Ufuk and Bahar Dorduncu – and percussion by Francois Volpe and Sebastien Cordier. The result is more avant compositional than jazz, yet the performance here is key too – on performances of compositions that include Oliver Schneller's "Resonant Space", Guillermo Gregorio's "Construction In Four Parts", Fabrizio Rat Ferrero's "L'Abito Non FaIl Monaco", and Stefan Wirth's "Standards".

Amazing sounds from the legendary Chris McGregor – a rare set of solo piano performances that shows a whole new side of his genius! The music here is still steeped in South African roots, yet has a style that's a bit more personal and intimate than some of Chris' better-known recordings with The Brotherhood Of Breath, or The Blue Notes – as McGregor here has to carry all the weight on his own – and does a tremendous job of spinning out these haunting melodies on piano – usually with a rhythmic pulse that's as compelling as the tune! The style's got echoes of previous Afro-inspired piano jazz from Randy Weston or Dollar Brand – but there's a deftness, and sense of feeling here that's completely McGregor's own – a really compelling quality that holds us rapt in ways that few other solo piano sets might do. This CD brings together lots more material than was on the original LP release – over 70s minutes of music, with track sthat include "Call", "Raincloud", "Umhome", "Mngqusho", "The Bride", "In His Good Time", "Ududu Nombambula", "Kwa Tebugo", and "Green Hymn".

Amazing music from Chris McGregor and his legendary Brotherhood Of Breath ensemble – easily one of the most exciting forces in British jazz in the 70s, and one fo the few who was still sounding their best in the latter half of the decade! McGregor's got as much bite and burn here as with his famous earlier combo, The Blue Notes – and the lineup here boasts ex-members of that group – Dudu Pukwana on alto, Johnny Dyani on bass, and Louis Moholo on drums – all joining together perfectly with McGregor's long-spun piano lines. The ensemble also features other key British players – Mike Osborne on alto, Evan Parker on tenor, Harry Beckett and Mark Charig on trumpets, and Radu Malfatti on trombone – creating this bold horn section that stretches to the skies on waves of soul! Two lengthy pieces "Sunrise On The Sun" and "Kwaholo" bookend the shorter piece "Sonia". CD features three more tracks not on the original album – "TBS", "Andromeda", and "You Ain't Gonna Know Me Cos You Think You Know Me".

Smooth sailing with the legendary Freddie McGregor – and a pretty sweet late career cruise with a Jamaican musical legend! Breezy, easygoing and the right mix of contemporary and classic craft. Includes "Move Up Jamaica", a sweetly grooving Caribbean cover of The Beatles classic "You Won't See Me", "Africa", "Rainbow Country", "My Story", "There You Go", "Standing Strong" with "Love Ballad", "Jah Love Di Whole A Wi", "A House Is Not A Home", "Equal Rights" and more.

A bold slice of work from the Daptone musical universe – a hip project that features work from members of The Dap Kings, El Michels Affair, Budos Band, and Antibalas – all put together with a range of sounds that really show the full spectrum of their styles! The groove's quite unique – even for the ultra-cool Daptone scene – as Menahan Street Band bring in bits of dub, funk, Latin, and Afro-styled sounds to their music – often working with a sense of spareness that seems influenced by 70s Ethiopia, but which comes off with a heavier Wu-inspired sound! There's no vocals at all – just really raw, stark instrumental bits – played on vibes, organ, tenor, flute, piano, trumpet, and some kickass percussion – produced with just the right sort of grit to make all tunes sound great. Titles include "Tired Of Fighting", "Home Again", "Montego Sunset", "The Traitor", "The Contendor", "Birds", "Esma", and "Going The Distance".

A very cool version of "Purple Haze" – and one that sounds nothing like the original! The tune's handled here with some weird bubbling beats that kind of sway back and forth, and instead of guitar, the tune uses a very thin keyboards – while a female voice sings the lyrics in Spanish – all with a recording quality that makes it feel like a tune by The Residents!

A beautiful double-length package of work from drummer Louis Moholo – a 2CD set that features one record from recent years, and a key classic from the 70s! Spirits Rejoice is one of the strongest 70s statements from ex-Blue Notes drummer Moholo – recorded in the company of fellow expatriots and UK avant jazzers that include Johnny Dyani, Evan Parker, Kenny Wheeler, Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti, and Harry Miller. The album shifts easily between strongly rhythmic passages that show Moholo's roots in the South African jazz scene, and other, freer sections that also illustrate his importance in the European avant scene of the 70s – and overall, the record's got a beautifully soulful quality that guides it well through all of these moments. Titles include "Wedding Hymn", "Khanya Apho Ukhona", "Ithi Gqi", "Amaxesha Osizi", and "You Ain't Gonna Know Me". That record is followed here by 1995's Bra Louis Bra Tebs – a session with a similar style, especially in its use of African-inspired rhythms – but one that also features a different lineup, and some great use of vocals! Francine Luce sings on a number of the album's best tracks – in a style that's almost an avant-tuned approach to vocalese, and which seems to carry echoes of Norma Winstone – a voice that's dreamy one minute, challenging the next – and often used as a key instrument in the combo's lineup of tenor, alto, trumpet, piano, bass, and drums. Titles include "Utshaka", "Maybe Of Cause", "Moegoe", "Sonke", and "Lakutshona Ilanga".

A smashing set of work from drummer Louis Moholo – a set that shows that after all these years, he's still a richly creative talent on his instrument! The album has Louis duetting with pianist Alexander Hawkins – a younger player who'd caught his ear a few years before, and who turns out to be a perfect partner for the record – graced with just the right kind of free-thinking, yet spiritual elements as Moholo's own music – able to stretch out strongly with a lot of freedom, yet never lose sight of the overarching goal! The tracks are all long and open – and almost recall some of the interplay between Moholo and Chris McGregor in years back – especially some of the freer work on the 70s London scene. The album's a beautiful extension of the Ogun Records tradition – and titles include "Lakutshon Ilanga", "Hear Our Hearts", "Heavy Manners", "Amaxesha Osizi", "If I Should Lose You", "Pure Vision", and "Catch You On The Rebound".

A classic live album by Gerry – featuring one set of tracks recorded in Stockton, CA in 1954, with Chico Hamilton, Red Mitchell, and Jon Eardley; and another recorded in San Diego the same year, with Zoot Sims, Bob Brookmeyer, Larry Bunker, Red Mitchell, and Eardley. Gerry even plays a bit on the piano, despite its absence from his other work – and titles include "Western Reunion", "Little Girl Blue", "Blues Going Up", and "The Red Door".

A memorable set from Mushroom – captured live at San Francisco's Tip Top Inn in March of 2000! The set promised to channel the creative spirit of leftfield Brit jazz figures of the 70s, such Keith Tippett, Chris McGregor and Ian Carr – and dare we say so, they pretty much nail it! Recorded by drummer Pat Thomas, the group features Jeff Palmer on bass, Marc Capelle on trumpet, Carroll Ashby on trombone, Davie Mihaly on percussion, Jon Sanders on keys and Erik Pearson on guitar and sax. The titles are a trip, too: "No Anagrams Found by Recursive Algorithm", "I've Never Understood The Importance Of Club DJs, They Seem Like The Lowest Link In The Chain, Like A Fluffer On A Porn Site", "Loft Hawk", "Blues For An Airplane" and more. 9 in all, and the set runs north of an hour long.

Way more than just another soul group – as The New Birth are almost big enough to be their own sort of soul music village – complete with different neighborhoods along the way! Vocals are handled by the combined groups of The Mint Juleps and Now Sound – gals and guys that soar together wonderfully with backings from The Nite-Liters – who help give the record a righteous undercurrent at most points, which makes the whole thing sound way hipper than any other projects of this nature! Vernon Bulllock acts as the music director for the whole group – really pulling things together with a tightness that's outta sight – and leadership of the project comes from Harvey Fuqua – who arranged and produced as well. There's some massively heavy talent on board for this initial outing, and you can definitely hear it all come into play beautifully – a wonderful harmony of rich talents, without any egos or issues to get in the way. Vocals chance nicely throughout – sometimes a female lead, sometimes male – as do the grooves, which are funky one minute, and mellow the next! Tracks include "All The Way", "Pretty Words Don't Mean A Thing", "One Way Bus", "It's You Or No One", "Do The Funky Chicken", "The Unh Song", and "What'll I Do". Great reissue – with excellent sound, and very detailed notes!

A killer full-length set from Fabio Nobile – an artist who's been making hip singles for a number of years, but who really sparkles in the space of an extended album! Fabio's groove is always warm and jazzy – a bit like some of the best moments from Italian contemporaries on Schema Records, but also touched with a wider range of influences too – Brazilian jazz, 70s fusion, and sunny vocal modes that really make the music shine! Instrumentation is often a mix of programmed rhythms and acoustic jazz elements – again, very much in a Schema mode – and there's a range of great vocalists on the record, wonderful singers who include Agata Leanza, Lorraine Bowen, Rosella Key, Lehan Gyn, and Tanya Michelle – each of whom has their own special touch for the tunes. Great stuff throughout – lively, positive, and a real delight – with titles that include "Day What A Day", "Zozoi", "Fly To The Moon", "Love Is Gone", "San Diego", "Always Love", "Didn't You Know", "D'Improvviso", "O Samba", "Back With You", and "Toto Mi Amor". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – "Always Love (Sunaga T Experience rmx)" and "Didn't You Know (Gerardo Frisina main mix)".

Babatunde Olatunji's two classic percussion ensemble albums for Columbia collected in one set. The first LP was recorded in New York with a mix of drums, chants, and afro grooves. Olatunji's joined by Montego Joe and Baba Hawthorne Bey on percussion, and they're backed by a large group of vocalists. The best moments are the spare percussion ones, and tracks include "Oya", "Jin Go Lo Ba", "Baba Jinde", and "Shango". After the success of his first Drums Of Passion set on Columbia, Babatunde Olatunji went even more drum-crazy the second LP – which features no less than 9 percussionists, plus a host of singers performing hard heavy tunes with a pretty strong African tinge. The material's not totally authentic, but it's more so than some of Olatunji's other albums – and it's still one of his best records from the 60s. Tracks include "Wasalu", "Ayinde", "Frekoba", "Alose", and "Omo Pup".

Nothing creeping up here – as the album takes off right from the first note, into a joyous groove that's mighty nice! The group are billed as "the youngest Latin Orchestra in the world" in the notes – and there's definitely a feel here that reflects that fact – a fresh kind of energy that still hangs onto some of the more soulful elements of late 60s Latin, yet moves things forward towards the 70s salsa generation – not as concerned with easy labels as the group is with hitting a groove! Tony Pabon gives the record some sharp musical direction – similar to his own great records of the time – and the group's led by trumpeter Gus Colon, who gets in plenty of sweet licks! Vocals are by Tony Pabon and Nestor Sanchez – and titles include "Vivir La Vida Otra Vez", "La Gente Critica", "Ojos Que No Ven", "Ven Y Vacila", "Martillo Y Clavo", "Odio Y Falsedad", and "Llego Para Quedarse".

A really rich new chapter in the music of Otto – an artist we've loved right from the start, but one who's blowing us away all over again with this sweet set! There's a fullness here we've never heard from Otto – not a sound that's slick, just an approach that's more thought out and fully-composed – with some classic elements on the backings that take us back to 60s sounds from Beatles to Motown at times – yet served up in ways that all still retain the freshness of Otto's earlier work. Other sounds are a bit more contemporary, yet still have this feeling of timelessness that really stands out – something we might never have said about Ottos' music before. The electronics are kept to a minimum, and tunes are straightforward and less abstract – in a way we never expected, and which shows Otto to really be a great songwriter after all these years. The set was done with heavy collaborations from producer Pupillo, who co-wrote most tracks – and also features assistance from Kassin and Catatau too. Titles include "The Moon 1111", "Dia Claro", "Ela Flava", "O Que Dira O Mundo", "DP", "Hideus", "Miss Apple E Ze Pilantra", and "Selvagens Olhos Nego".

A 70s masterpiece from Eddie Palmieri – a brilliant set of Latin tracks with a modern jazz edge that's really astounding! From the first note of the record, Eddie's piano makes a bold statement of difference – edging into the rest of the group with slight modern touches, and a slightly off-kilter sound that marks the record as something fresh and new. Some tracks are straight ahead, with vocals by Ismael Quintana, but still have a dark undercurrent from Eddie's piano – and others are much more open-ended, with a freewheeling style that shows all the freedoms of the 70s! Includes the incredible 11 minute track "Verdict On Judge Street", the very soulful "My Spiritual Indian", and the cuts "Everything Is Everything", "Somewhere", "Amor Ciego" and "Lindo Yambu".

We love Oscar Peterson with strings – a setting he never got to use that often, given the popularity of his famous trio recordings! When Oscar gets set up with strings, he seems to play even more freely than with a combo – let loose from rhythm a bit more than before, and instead focusing strongly on melody – which often comes off with a warmly lyrical feel. This album's a rare entry into the Peterson strings category – a great 50s date with Russ Garcia backing Oscar up – giving the album just the right mix of mellow and modern to match Peterson's magical work on the keys! In a way, the album's a link between two different styles of 50s jazz – some of the warmer string-laden work of the piano mainstream, and some of the sharper sounds of the Verve modern approach to the style – served up here by Oscar in ways that bring both modes together perfectly, with just the right dash of both. Titles include "Laura" and "Tenderly" – both tracks you'd have to have on an album like this – plus "Black Coffee", "Ruby", "Stella By Starlight", "A Sunday Kind Of Love", and "I Thought About You".

Group soul from The Philly Devotions – a key group in the evolution of the Philly sound who were then and are to this day greatly overlooked in the city's soul heritage – but it's truly beautiful stuff! This is vocal group with talent that should have gotten them over in big way, but thankfully, it's never to let to get on board. They might be best known for a couple of early Philly disco singles that were issued by Columbia – but even better are the earlier, more soaring and emotional numbers with stirring strings, but really fly higher thanks to the perfectly arranged vocals – we're hearing a number of those for the first time ever on this set! The group features Morris Taylor, Ernest Gibson, Gregory Davis, George Patterson and lead singer Matt Covington. 15 tracks in all: "Didn't Anyone Ever Tell You I Love You", "Makin Up", "I'll Never Color You A Rainbow", "Yeah, Yeah Girl", "I Just Can't Make It (Without You)", "We're Gonna Make It", "I Just Can't Say Goodbye", "I Was A Lonely Man", "Hurt So Bad", "Isn't It A Dream Come True", "It's Gotta Be This Way" and more – plus extended mixes of "I Just Can't Make It (Without You)" and "Hurt So Bad" and the instrumental version of "I Just Can't Say Goodbye".

An excellent album of work from this important Czechoslovakian underground group! The set's got some of their best work, and good notes on their history and importance. Titles include "The Wondrous Mandarin", "Look At You, All Sound Asleep", "Past My Window", "Constipation", and "Toxica".

A great groove from singer Gregory Porter – the first tune that really brought him to our attention – making a debut appearance here on vinyl! The original of "1960 What" is plenty great – running for over 12 minutes, and building in this jazzy groove that's really wonderful – topped by vocals from Porter that almost rank with some of Gil Scott-Heron's best in the 70s! The remix tries for a bit more of a contemporary rhythm – nice enough, but we're more than happy just to have the original version on wax.

Gregory Porter's a hip little singer – just the sort we love to discover in jazz, and the type that only comes around once in a blue moon! Like Jon Hendricks, Mark Murphy, or Kurt Elling – all perfect references for Porter's style – Greg has a wonderful way of coming up with his own lyrics for a tune – making him way more than just a singer of standards, and instead a richly expressive voice that has every bit to offer as you might get from a jazz instrumentalist! The arrangements are great, too – handled by Porter with help from pianist Chip Crawford and producer Kamau Kenyatta – bold, soulful, and soaring on the best tracks – all in beautiful declaration of Gregory's rich power and presence. Titles include a great version of Wayne Shorter's "Black Nile", and the original tracks "1960 What", "Lonely One", "Water", "Pretty", "Illusion", and "Magic Cup".

The Rittor Music Japan Bible Of Extreme Metal – a discography book that covers brutal music in a beautiful way! The cover art is extremely metal – but the book actually covers more than just "extreme metal" – it spans the metal genre from it's origins to today – and in exhaustive detail! The text is mostly in Japanese, with the exception of the chapter titles, band names and album titles – but the appeal of the book is largely visual! It assembles the album cover art of key titles in a bunch of categories – including the precedent-setting early legends, the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, Thrash, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Grindcore, Gothic Metal, Hardcore and more. Paperback, 252 pages.

Robot Rock n Roll issue featuring a lavishly illustrated encyclopedia of hundreds of robot records/bands/etc. Interviews with Captured! By Robots, Gilbert and George (The Singing Sculpture), Arthur Lee Maye (1950s R&B/Baseball star), Blowfly, The Troggs, Snoop Dogg, The Syndicate of Sound, Richard and the Young Lions, Rocket From The Crypt, Archer Prewitt, Andy Starr and Junior Brown. Plus Bubblegum, Martin & Lewis, Shrimpenstein (written by Dominic Priore), Crispy Ambulance, Sammy Davis, Jr., Art Fein's 1950s Chicago memories, Bryan Gregory obituary, lots of comics, reviews and more.

A stone smoker from Rongetz Foundation – and a record that's even better than anything else we've heard from them! This time around, the sound is very live – recorded in the US, with help from heavyweights like Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax and Bruce Williams on alto – plus killer vocals from Gregory Porter on two tracks that are worth the price of the album alone! The sound is totally smoking – soul jazz, with a spiritual undercurrent – and on the cuts "Hard Bop Merry Go Round" and "Gogo Soul", Porter gets some of his best backing ever – a mode that almost sounds better than his already-great albums! A few other cuts feature vocals by other singers – and titles inclu de "Eunice K", "Sam's Intro", "A Composer Of Modern Day", "The Braggart", and "Freaking Sunshine".

A stone smoker from Rongetz Foundation – and a record that's even better than anything else we've heard from them! This time around, the sound is very live – recorded in the US, with help from heavyweights like Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax and Bruce Williams on alto – plus killer vocals from Gregory Porter on two tracks that are worth the price of the album alone! The sound is totally smoking – soul jazz, with a spiritual undercurrent – and on the cuts "Hard Bop Merry Go Round" and "Gogo Soul", Porter gets some of his best backing ever – a mode that almost sounds better than his already-great albums! A few other cuts feature vocals by other singers – and titles inclu de "Eunice K", "Sam's Intro", "A Composer Of Modern Day", "The Braggart", and "Freaking Sunshine".

Music beyond description – a unique blend of disco, funk, avant garde, and dub – the wonderful world of the late Arthur Russell! Russell was a bass player by trade, but he was schooled in both classical and Eastern music forms – and brought an incredibly fresh vision to his work in New York in the late 70s and early 80s. To some, Russell was a groundbreaking disco pioneer – with an offbeat production style and unique conception of rhythm. To others, Russell was a performance artist and avant garde musician – working in circles that included Phillip Glass, David Byrne, and Robert Wilson. This mix of modes was very much a part of the post-disco, post-punk sound of New York at the time – and nobody summarized it (or allowed it!) better than Russell himself. This excellent set from Soul Jazz is one of the first to truly give him his due – and it brings together a large amount of his disco-related projects, plus a few more introspective numbers cut under his own name. The sound is incredible – unlike anything you could categorize – especially on the Russell-titled numbers – and as always with Soul Jazz, the whole thing's beautifully packaged, with rich notes on the music and the person behind it! Titles include "Go Bang (Francois K mix)" by Dinosaur L, "Wax The Van" by Lola, "Is It All Over My Face (Larry Levan mix)" by Loose Joints, "In The Cornbelt (Larry Levan mix)" by Dinosaur L, "Pop Your Funk" by Loose Joints, "Schoolbell/Treehouse (Walter Gibbons mix)" by Indian Ocean, and "Let's Go Swimming (Walter Gibbons mix)", "A Little Lost", "In The Light Of The Miracle", and "Keeping Up" by Arthur Russell himself!

Music beyond description – a unique blend of disco, funk, avant garde, and dub – the wonderful world of the late Arthur Russell! Russell was a bass player by trade, but he was schooled in both classical and Eastern music forms – and brought an incredibly fresh vision to his work in New York in the late 70s and early 80s. To some, Russell was a groundbreaking disco pioneer – with an offbeat production style and unique conception of rhythm. To others, Russell was a performance artist and avant garde musician – working in circles that included Phillip Glass, David Byrne, and Robert Wilson. This mix of modes was very much a part of the post-disco, post-punk sound of New York at the time – and nobody summarized it (or allowed it!) better than Russell himself. This excellent set from Soul Jazz is one of the first to truly give him his due – and it brings together a large amount of his disco-related projects, plus a few more introspective numbers cut under his own name. The sound is incredible – unlike anything you could categorize – especially on the Russell-titled numbers – and as always with Soul Jazz, the whole thing's beautifully packaged, with rich notes on the music and the person behind it! Titles include "Go Bang (Francois K mix)" by Dinosaur L, "Wax The Van" by Lola, "Is It All Over My Face (Larry Levan mix)" by Loose Joints, "In The Cornbelt (Larry Levan mix)" by Dinosaur L, "Pop Your Funk" by Loose Joints, "Schoolbell/Treehouse (Walter Gibbons mix)" by Indian Ocean, and "Let's Go Swimming (Walter Gibbons mix)", "A Little Lost", "In The Light Of The Miracle", and "Keeping Up" by Arthur Russell himself!

Killer jazzy grooves from the French jazz house scene – and hands down one of our favorite albums of the 00s! St Germain take a Blue Note 70s sound as their base – with lots of sweet Hammond riffs, mellow Fender Rhodes licks, funky flute lines, and spacey percussion – then they add in some tight soulful house rhythms, with a very deep deep deep groove! The result is some of the best jazzy house of their time – and the record is the kind of album designed to put Blue Note back on the map as one of the most groove-committed jazz majors in the world. Killer stuff all around – and with the tracks "So Flute", "Montego Bay Spleen", "Latin Note", "Rose Rouge", "La Goutte D'Or", "Pont Des Arts", "Sure Thing", and "What Do You Think About . . ."

Haunting work from the duo of Sandhy & Mandhy – a pair from the Buenos Aires scene at the end of the 60s, working in a weird mix of beat group styles and hipper rock rhythms! There's a slightly ethereal quality to the work – partly because of the way the pair trade back vocals, partly because of the light organ lines used to support the groove – which brings a haunting Zombies-like quality to the record at times – although produced with a bit simpler sound than Odyssey & Oracle! Most tunes are original, and showcase a surprising depth in songwriting – and some numbers feature some really cool percussion that complicates the sound nicely – pushing the duo past simple pop lines, into some of the headier territory of the late 60s South American scene. Titles include "Yo Te Buscare", "Hasta El Manana", "Lluvia", "La Chica Sola Y Triste", "Quisiera Olvidarte", "Esta Noche No Debes Llorar", and "Recuardo Hoy". 5 bonus tracks, including some cool covers: "Prende Mi Fuego (Light My Fire)", "Barco De Cristal (Crystal Ship)", "Mientras Caen Las Lagrimas (As Tears Go By)" plus "Quisiera Olvidarte" and "Me Colgaron La Galleta".