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One of the best records ever cut by this soulful Philly female trio! The album's one of the first on Salsoul's Gold Mind subsidiary – and it features sparkling club production by the Harris/Baker/Young team – a landmark force not only in Philly disco, but 70s female soul as well – as their backings for groups of this nature are always sensitive to the complexities of the vocals! The record's mostly uptempo – with plenty of soaring tracks that still retain the more soulful sound of the group's early work – and the songwriting's generally tight, a few notches above earlier albums on Warner – showing that their return to the indie fold was a very good move. Titles include the classic "Let No Man Put Asunder" – plus "Doctor Love", "Indian Giver", "Do Me Again", and a great version of Stevie Wonder's "Love Having You Around". CD features lots of bonus tracks – including "Doctor Love (single)", "Love Having You Around (single)", "Indian Giver (single)", "Doctor Love (12" Tom Moulton mix)", "Let No Man Put Asunder (12" Shep Pettibon mix)", and "Let No Man Put Asunder (12" Frankie Knuckles mix)".

Their classic second record, and a pivotal album in defining the east coast uptempo sound of the mid 70's. Rochelle Fleming and the gals sing in soulful harmony style, while Norman Harris and Vince Montana lay down some heavy uptempo grooves. Includes their classic "scolding" songs "The Player", "Hustler Bill", and "Guilty", plus a number of other nice groovers.

Rochelle and the girls are in full force on this late 70s Salsoul groover – and with production by Norman Harris and Tom Moulton, they're in a perfect setting to open up and do their thing. Titles include "Hold Your Horses", "Great Expectations", "Love Thang", and "Double Cross". You know the groove!

Classic 70s work by First Choice – remixed for the modern dancefloor! Titles include "Gotta Get Away (Gambafreaks club mix)", "The Player (Olav Basoski club mix)", "Armed & Extremely Dangerous (full intention club mix)", "Love Freeze (Harlem Hustlers classic mix)", "The Player (Olav Basoski dub)", "Newsy Neighbors (Danny Krivit re-edit)", "Smarty Pants (Stonebridge nice nice club mix)", and "Love & Happiness (Klubbheads mix)". 12 tracks in all.

Nice compilation of the best cuts that First Choice cut for the Philly Groove label before moving onto Warner Brothers and Gold Mind. The tracks are classic Philly girl group soul from the 70's, and the sound that they get is the stuff that laid the foundation for a whole club generation. Norman Harris produced, with his usual flair, and the titles include "Smarty Pants", "Newsy Neighbors", "The Player", "Armed & Extremely Dangerous", "Wake Up To Me", and "Runnin' Out Of Fools".

A landmark LP by this famous Philly trio who forever went onto change the face of club music! The record is pre-disco, but has a great strident soul sound, augmented by tight Norman Harris arrangements. Features the famous title hit – "Armed & Extremely Dangerous" – a great one in the "crime" soul subgenre, plus "Smarty Pants", "Newsy Neighbors", and lots more.

One of the best records ever cut by this soulful Philly female trio! The album's one of the first on Salsoul's Gold Mind subsidiary – and it features sparkling club production by the Harris/Baker/Young team – a landmark force not only in Philly disco, but 70s female soul as well – as their backings for groups of this nature are always sensitive to the complexities of the vocals! The record's mostly uptempo – with plenty of soaring tracks that still retain the more soulful sound of the group's early work – and the songwriting's generally tight, a few notches above earlier albums on Warner – showing that their return to the indie fold was a very good move. Titles include the classic "Let No Man Put Asunder" – plus "Doctor Love", "Indian Giver", "Do Me Again", and a great version of Stevie Wonder's "Love Having You Around".

One of the best tracks ever by First Choice! "Let No Man" is a sweeping anthemic club track – with a righteous lyric about love and losing it, and some killer production by the Baker-Harris-Young team that really gives the girls a great soulful groove! The Frankie Knuckles mix has some great strings, too!

A beautiful second record from Abiah – warmly wonderful material that's as sensitive as a singer/songwriter set, yet also has a deep sense of soul as well! Vocals and piano are wonderfully intertwined – in a mode that has the depth of jazz, yet the focus of soul music as well – often handled at a gentle pace, but with a flow that really holds us rapt throughout – with an acoustic vibe that's somewhere in a space between Bill Withers and Joan Armatrading. Abiah is an artist who previously recorded for Universal under his first name, Jeremiah – but he sounds even more wonderful here, and the shift to using his last name is definitely a good choice for this next chapter in his music. Titles include "This Time", "Goodbye", "Foolish Heart", "September", "Turn The Light On", and "Life As A Ballad".

Basie hits the hits of the 50s and early 60s – working here with some tight Billy Byers arrangements that really help transform the tunes! The groove is upbeat, bright, and brilliantly soulful – that punctuated Basie groove first formed when Neal Hefti was with the group, still carried off here wonderfully by a lineup that includes Frank Wess and Frank Foster on saxes, Snooky Young and Al Aarons on trumpets, Benny Powell and Henry Coker on trombones, and Freddie Green on guitar. Titles include "The Second Time Around", "Hey Jealous Lover", "All Of Me", "This Love Of Mine", "Saturday Night", "Come Fly With Me", and "South Of The Border" – almost a Sinatra album in spirit, given the choice of tunes like these!

Very righteous work from Fontella Bass – an album done after her time at Chess Records, and after her work in Paris with the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – in a heartfelt, southern soul mode that's totally great! Fontella's back working with producer Oliver Sain, who first brought her fame back in the 60s – but the sound is a bit more sophisticated than before, drenched with roots from gospel and country soul, but also inflected with some of the more righteous modes of the early 70s, too. Fontella's vocals are incredible – with a range that should have made her one of the leading ladies of soul in the 70s – and titles include "To Be Free", "I Need Love", "Wiping Tears", "Hold On this Time", "Talking About Freedom", and "My God My Freedom My Home". 4 bonus tracks on this CD edition: "It Sure Is Good", "I'm Leaving The Choice To You", "Home Wrecker" and "It's Hard To Get Back In".

The wild first album from Bloodstone – a much trippier affair than some of the group's later work, as you might guess from the image on the cover! There's a really heavy vibe going on with some of the tracks here – almost an echo of psychedelic soul from the Norman Whitfield camp, with perhaps some of the fuzzy guitars of the Westbound scene too – all a very different change from the sweeter harmonies Bloodstone would drop later in the 70s still a bit rough around the edges here, but in a great way! The album's got plenty of appeal for fans of heavy funk, and there's a definite righteous undercurrent to the music – as you'll hear on tracks like "This Thing Is Heavy", "Dumb Dude", "Lady Of The Night", "Friendship", and "Take These Chains".

The first album ever from The Chambers Brother – a much rootsier set than the psychedelic soul that later earned them fame in the 60s! The set's heavy on influences from folk, blues, and gospel – and pitches the group more towards the crossover college scene than the mainstream soul crowd – thanks to an appreciatively rootsy style of production that really has the vocals and acoustic instrumentation presented without any other augmentation. Tracks were recorded live at The Unicorn in Boston and the Ash Grove in LA – and most numbers are covers, with versions of "Summertime", "Your Old Land", "It's All Over Now", "Reconsider Baby", "People Get Ready", "Tore Up", and "Money".

A 70s soul genius – even if you've never heard of the guy! Ron Henderson's a real enigma – a totally great soul artist who recorded throughout the 60s and 70s, but never really cracked the big time – thanks to the fact that his work was spread out over a number of different labels, and never given the push or full album release it deserved. His sound is one that rivals the best bigger names of the 70s mellow soul era – and Ron's got a wonderful talent for gently grooving rhythms and lovingly laidback tunes – in a style that reminds us a bit of Bobby Wilson, or of some of Leroy Hutson's first solo work, and which has a similar evolution as the 70s progress. This excellent CD finally gives Henderson his due – and presents a total of 20 tracks recorded during the early and mid 70s – all packaged with great sound and a full set of notes on Ron's life and music. Titles include "Gemini Lady", "I Feel I Have It In Me", "Your Love", "Problem Child", "The Other Side", "Hooked On Your Love", "Yours Is The Love I Want", "I'll Be Around", "Baby I Wanna Be Yours", "Sunshine", "Mary Green", "You're Twenty One Today", and "She Pleases Me".

A 70s soul genius – even if you've never heard of the guy! Ron Henderson's a real enigma – a totally great soul artist who recorded throughout the 60s and 70s, but never really cracked the big time – thanks to the fact that his work was spread out over a number of different labels, and never given the push or full album release it deserved. His sound is one that rivals the best bigger names of the 70s mellow soul era – and Ron's got a wonderful talent for gently grooving rhythms and lovingly laidback tunes – in a style that reminds us a bit of Bobby Wilson, or of some of Leroy Hutson's first solo work, and which has a similar evolution as the 70s progress. This excellent CD finally gives Henderson his due – and presents a total of 20 tracks recorded during the early and mid 70s – all packaged with great sound and a full set of notes on Ron's life and music. Titles include "Gemini Lady", "I Feel I Have It In Me", "Your Love", "Problem Child", "The Other Side", "Hooked On Your Love", "Yours Is The Love I Want", "I'll Be Around", "Baby I Wanna Be Yours", "Sunshine", "Mary Green", "You're Twenty One Today", and "She Pleases Me".

A trio of classics from the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra! First up is the initial Presenting album – great music by one of the hippest large American ensembles of the late 60s – almost a US equivalent to the groovy sound of the Clark Boland Big Band over in Europe! Trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis had already made some great music together on their own – but once they came together in a record like this, they really found a great new direction for their energy – a bold musical force that's strong enough to also encompass the rich talents of players who include Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Joe Farrell on tenor, Jerome Richardson on soprano sax, Richard Williams on trumpet, Bob Brookmeyer and Tom McIntosh on trombones, Hank Jones on piano, and Richard Davis on bass! The sound is full, but never overwhelming – and like the Clark Boland group, this one has a great way of breaking open to allow key soloists to have some great space on their own – a modern approach, and one that still never has the band losing its groove. Titles include "ABC Blues", "Mean What You Say", "Three & One", and "Once Around". The next album was recorded live in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis home turf at the Village Vanguard! The group at this point was a freshly-created outfit filled with some of the best large group jazz soloists of the time – players that included Jerome Richardson, Joe Farrell, Eddie Daniels, Pepper Adams, Richard Williams, and Bob Brookmeyer – not to mention Jones and Lewis themselves! The style here is very much in the mode that the Clarke Boland Band was crafting in Europe during the same period – a redefinition of the larger jazz group, in a way that allowed it to swing with the dynamic energy and soul of some of the smaller combos of the 60s. And while the Jones/Lewis group had many years over which to hone their craft, they've never sounded better than on these initial recordings – as you'll hear on tracks that include "Samba Con Getchu", "A That's Freedom", "Bachafillen", and "Little Pixie". On the last album in the set, Ruth Brown joins the big band of Thad Jones and Mel Lewis – in a set that's a real standout in the career of all three artists! Thad and Mel already have a pretty great groove going at this point – a large ensemble approach to jazz, yet one that's swingingly soulful – very much on a par with some of Gerald Wilson's hip work of the same time at time. And adding in Ruth Brown's vocals is a great choice – as she not only needs a great showcase like this for her amazing voice, but also because she really helps unlock a soulful sort of energy that the group always had in their instrumental music. The approach is a bit like some of Etta Jones' best 60s recordings – a nice shift for Brown – and titles include "Black Coffee", "Fine Brown Frame", "You Won't Let Go", "Trouble In Mind", and "Be Anything (But Be Mine)".

A near-lost Philly disco album – recorded at Sigma Sound, but released on Casablanca at the end of the 70s, and nearly buried under the weight of the label's collapse at the time! There's a style here that borrows bits from some of Casablanca's more mainstream artists – focusing strongly on the hooks of the tunes, and putting the female vocals upfront – but still swirling around in some mighty club arrangements from the Sigma team. Loose Change themselves are a trio in the Philly mode of First Choice or Three Degrees – and titles include "Rising Cost Of Love", "Straight From The Heart", "Darling, That's Me", "Babe", and "I Wanna Hold On To You".

A near-lost Philly disco album – recorded at Sigma Sound, but released on Casablanca at the end of the 70s – one that was almost buried under the weight of the label's collapse at the time! There's a style here that borrows bits from some of Casablanca's more mainstream artists – focusing strongly on the hooks of the tunes, and putting the female vocals upfront – but still swirling around in some mighty club arrangements from the Sigma team. Loose Change themselves are a trio in the Philly mode of First Choice or Three Degrees – and titles include "Rising Cost Of Love", "Straight From The Heart", "Darling, That's Me", "Babe", and "I Wanna Hold On To You". A total gem! This Big Break UK remastered edition has 3 bonus tracks: "You Never Done It Like That", "My Place Or Your Place" and "Straight From The Heart (Single Version)".

The first-ever full length collection of work by The Sisters Love – an ultra-hip female soul group who cut some incredibly funky singles, but never issued a full album – finally given their due in this amazing batch of singles from the late 60s and early 70s! The Sisters Love sound is a great blend of funky rhythms, hard soul vocals, and soaring harmonies on the chorus – in a way that's almost a cross between the work of Lyn Collins at People Records with the best sounds of Sweet Inspirations over at Atlantic – but even more righteous overall, thanks to production work by the likes of Willie Hutch, Gloria Jones, Gene Chandler, and Monk Higgins! The set brings together singles recorded for Motown and A&M – all recorded over a period of 6 years, but tremendously unified overall – with a badass soul sound that rivals the legendary album by The Jackson Sisters. Titles include "Give Me Your Love", "My Love Is Yours", "The Bigger You Love", "Blackbird", "Ring Once", "Mr Fix It", "You've Got To Make Your Choice", "You've Got My Mind", "Now Is The Time", "Forget It I Got It", "Ha Ha Ha", "I Know You Love Me", and "Try It You'll Like It".

A smoking disco double-header from THP Orchestra – two excellent albums back to back, with loads of bonus tracks too! Early Riser has a groove that really has the group starting out strongly – a perfect early disco approach that's funky and instrumental, but which often echoes some other earlier instrumental eras too – partly in the choice of songs, partly in the way that familiar grooves are disco-fied for the 70s! There's more covers here than in later years, but all of them are done mighty well – with a strong use of funky guitars and keyboards that keep a nice edge on the rhythms. Titles include "Theme From SWAT", "More", "Dawn Patrol", "Early Riser", "Crazy Crazy", "Manha De Carnaval", and "Sugar Sugar". CD features 8 more bonus tracks added to the album – including "Theme From SWAT (orig 7" mix)", "Early Riser (orig 12" mix)", "Manha De Carnaval (7" edit)", "Fightin On The Side Of Love (12" mix)", "Fightin On The Side Of Love (inst 7" mix)", and "Fightin On The Side Of Love (inst 12" mix)". Two Hot For Love is a great little disco album – really a cut above its contemporaries, thanks to some great instrumentation overall! Side one features the extended "Two Hot For Love" title track – presented as a mini-suite of sorts with lead vocals from Barbara Fry, a singer who's really a lot more soulful than you'd expect. But even better are the keyboards by Michael Lewis – soaring out with similar spacey touches to his own AVI work, and bringing in some interesting interplay to the tune. Side two features some shorter tracks – including a great funky remake of "Manha De Carnival" with more great Lewis keyboards – plus "Crazy Crazy", "Dawn Patrol", and "Early Riser" – all longer versions than on the group's first album. CD features lots of bonus remixes of the title single "Two Hot For Love" – including an "RCA 12" mix", "7 inch b-side", "Pete Waterman 12" edit", and a few more single mixes.

An overlooked gem from the 80s soul scene – a set by a group with all the right hooks and grooves of their bigger contemporaries – yet one who also manage to put things across with their own sort of vibe as well! Some of the standout tracks have a bouncy feel that's going right for the charts – and the lead vocals by Tara Davis really hit the perfect blend for these rhythms – short, sharp, and super-catchy – yet also managing to reach a wider range too – in ways that make for deeper soul than you might expect in such a setting! Male group members handle backup, and Tim Moore sings a bit of lead too – and titles include "You're Gonna Be Mine", "Missing You", "It's A Choice", "Hypnotized", "The First Time", "Special One", and "Love Calls". CD features 4 bonus tracks – "It's A Choice (club rmx)", "Hypnotized (club rmx)", "Hypnotized (hyp mix)", and "It's A Choice (dub)".

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

Classic cuts on Salsoul are remixed by the legendary Larry Levan – guru of the Paradise Garage scene, and a mixer who always knew how to make the floor move! Tracks include "I Got My Mind Made Up" by Instant Funk, "Double Cross" by First Choice, "First Time Around" by Skyy, "The Greatest Performance Of My Life" by Loleatta Holloway, "Handsome Man" by Sparkle and "How High" by Salsoul Orchestra.

The first ever compilation of the best music made for MoWest – the eclectic, but still soulful cuts made when Berry Gordy Jr. relocated from Motown to the west coast in the early 70s – releasing cool and sometimes strange music with a soul background, yet toasted by LA sunshine! The MoWest subsidiary lasted just a few years, and gets overlooked in the canonization of Motown at it's most classic and revolutionary – but the legacy is pretty incredible. Funk, sunshine rock and soul fused adventurously by a stunningly diverse roster – late period Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (who's comp-opening track is a slept on sunshine pop-soul classic), breezy-jazzy-soul from Odyssey, the sister funk of Sisters Love, a stunning solo left turn from Spinners singer GC Cameron and more great stuff from Syreeta, The Commodores, Suzee Ikeda, Thelma Houston and others. We've been dying for a well selected MoWest comp like this for years, and Light In The Attic stepped to the plate and knock it right out of the park. The songs choices are great, the notes are great. . .everything about it is a win. Essential! Includes "You're A Song (That I Can't Sing)" and "The Night" by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, "Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love" and "Broken Road" by Odyssey, "Don't You Be Worried" by The Commodores, "A Heart Is A House" Nu Page, "I Ain't Going Nowhere" by Thelma Houston, "I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You" by Suzee Ikeda, "You've Got To Make The Choice" and "Give Me Your Love" by The Sisters Love and more.

Massive mixes from the mighty Tom Moulton – a huge 4CD package that not only includes some classic lost and rare mixes from the 70s, but also a whopping 17 previously unreleased Moulton mixes, appearing here for the first time ever! If there's anyone who's ever been well-suited to reworking a Philly groove, it's Tom – given his long standing association with the soul scene in the City Of Brotherly Love – and his crucial role in pushing soul tracks into the clubs during the 70s. As with most of Tom's best work, the mixes here are richly faithful to the originals – and never try to overstate themselves at all, just focus on the best elements, and bring them to the forefront of the groove! 4CDs, 31 tracks, and Moulton remixes of "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays, "Dirty Ol Man" by Three Degrees, "Trusting Heart" by The Trammps, "Do It Any Way You Wanna" by People's Choice, "Nights Over Egypt" by The Jones Girls, "I Don't Love You Anymore" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Year Of Decision" by Three Degrees, "Slow Motion" by Johnny Williams, "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "She's A Winner" by The Intruders, "Trammps Disco Theme/Zing Went The Strings" by The Trammps, "Let's Groove" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "The Devil Made Me Do It" by Robert Upchurch, "Love Is The Message" by MFSB, "Party Time Man" by The Futures, and "See You When I Get There" by Lou Rawls.

The second volume of this series was even better than the first, and contains more hard funky stuff, like "Jungle Fever" by Chakachas, "Doin' It to Death" by the JB's, "Theme from Cleopatra Jones" by Joe Simon, "Fencewalk" by Mandrill, and 16 other funky cuts from the likes of James Brown, Lyn Collins, First Choice, O'Jays, Chi-Lites, Curtis Mayfield, etc. Have yourself a funky K-Tel record party!

Smooth female soul from one of Philly's hottest female trios – Gamble & Huff's big answer to First Choice, and an equally important force in 70s female soul! The album's got a nice mixture of Philly groove and smoother pop arrangements from the likes of Norman Harris, Bobby Martin, Lenny Pakula, and Richard Rome – and tracks include the hit "When Will I See You Again", plus "Dirty Ol' Man", "Can't You See What You're Doing To Me", "I Didn't Know", "I Like Being A Woman", and "Year Of Decision". This edition includes 3 bonus tracks: "TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia)" by MFSB featuring The Three Degrees, "Love Is The Message" (single version) and "Dirty Ol' Man" (Tom Moulton mix).

The first Atlantic album from Margie Joseph – a great second generation southern soul singer who really helped the label find a new sound in the 70s! Margie got her start on Stax, but she sounds even better here – a bit more mature, slightly more urban, and backed with a bad-walking set of arrangements by Arif Mardin that help pull her out of the country into a wider 70s soul mainstream. There's still plenty of rootsy touches on the set, and the blend is one that's similar to that of Aretha Franklin's work of the time – one that echoes older southern styles, but brings them up to date nicely with some more sophisticated touches. Titles include "Make Me Believe You'll Stay", "Turn Around & Love You", "Let's Go Somewhere & Love", "You Better Know It", "I'll Take Care Of You", and "I'm So Glad I'm Your Woman".

11 tracks from one of George Clinton's loveliest groups! Parlet were clearly George's most disco-oriented group – featuring a trio of female voices in the lead (ala First Choice or Three Degrees), with backing by Parliament and the rest of the P-Funk crew. The tracks tend to be a bit longer and faster than your usual Parliament record, but there's still plenty of funk – and the overall feel of the work is very much in the P-Funk party ensemble mode. Titles include "No Rump To Bump", "Pleasure Principle", "Wolf Tickets", "Love Amnesia", "Play Me Or Trade Me", "Ridin High", and "Cookie Jar".

One of the leading lights of the Munich club scene – the mighty Silver Convention, who topped the charts with a number of disco classics in the mid 70s! Silver Convention took the Philly female style of disco – popularized by First Choice, Three Degrees, and others – and pumped it up with the Munich sound of throbbing bass and repetitive beats, one of the first steps towards house music in the 80s. This album's the group's first – and features the huge hit "Fly Robin Fly", plus "Save Me", "I Like It", "Chains Of Love", "Tiger Baby" and a few more.

The first ever compilation of the best music made for MoWest – the eclectic, but still soulful cuts made when Berry Gordy Jr. relocated from Motown to the west coast in the early 70s – releasing cool and sometimes strange music with a soul background, yet toasted by LA sunshine! The MoWest subsidiary lasted just a few years, and gets overlooked in the canonization of Motown at it's most classic and revolutionary – but the legacy is pretty incredible. Funk, sunshine rock and soul fused adventurously by a stunningly diverse roster – late period Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons (who's comp-opening track is a slept on sunshine pop-soul classic), breezy-jazzy-soul from Odyssey, the sister funk of Sisters Love, a stunning solo left turn from Spinners singer GC Cameron and more great stuff from Syreeta, The Commodores, Suzee Ikeda, Thelma Houston and others. We've been dying for a well selected MoWest comp like this for years, and Light In The Attic stepped to the plate and knock it right out of the park. The songs choices are great, the notes are great. . .everything about it is a win. Essential! Includes "You're A Song (That I Can't Sing)" and "The Night" by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, "Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love" and "Broken Road" by Odyssey, "Don't You Be Worried" by The Commodores, "A Heart Is A House" Nu Page, "I Ain't Going Nowhere" by Thelma Houston, "I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You" by Suzee Ikeda, "You've Got To Make The Choice" and "Give Me Your Love" by The Sisters Love and more.

Massive mixes from the mighty Tom Moulton – a huge package that not only includes some classic lost and rare mixes from the 70s, but also previously unreleased Moulton mixes, appearing here for the first time ever! If there's anyone who's ever been well-suited to reworking a Philly groove, it's Tom – given his long standing association with the soul scene in the City Of Brotherly Love – and his crucial role in pushing soul tracks into the clubs during the 70s. As with most of Tom's best work, the mixes here are richly faithful to the originals – and never try to overstate themselves at all, just focus on the best elements, and bring them to the forefront of the groove! This totally cool package features 31 mixes in all – pressed up as eight 12" EPs – most with four tracks each, leaving plenty of room for very long mixes! Titles include Moulton mixes of "Jam Jam Jam" by People's Choice, "I Don't Love You Anymore" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Party Time Man" by The Futures, "Intro/My Love Don't Come Easy" by Jean Carn, "Trusting Heart" by The Trammps, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Let's Groove" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Dirty Ol Man" by Three Degrees, "Slow Motion" by Johnny Williams, "I'll Always Love My Mama" by The Intruders, "The Devil Made Me Do It" by Robert Upchurch, "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays, "See You When I Get There" by Lou Rawls, and "Love Epidemic" by The Trammps.

A sweet collection of grooves from the legendary Salsoul label – easily one of the hippest imprints on the New York scene of the 70s! Salsoul's grooves go way beyond the usual disco – crafted with roots that go back to soul and salsa of the earlier part of the decade – and often mixed to perfection with a sound that holds up strongly, even on a crowded dancefloor! This package features ten of the best-remembered gems from the label – most in long mixes that echo their strong popularity as 12" single – titles that include "Doctor Love" by First Choice, "Runaway" by The Salsoul Orchestra with Loleatta Holloway, "Jingo" by Candido, "Dreamin" by Loleatta Holloway, "By The Way You Dance" by Bunny Sigler, "Love Is You" by Carol Williams, "Dance A Little Bit Closer" by Charo, "I Love New York" by Metropolis, and "Rio De Janeiro" by Gary Criss.

Another essential batch of Studio One Soul, every bit as great as the first! 18 more astoundingly great Jamaican renditions of soul and R&B numbers from the hands of Coxsone Dodd and his extraordinary stable of artists, some deeply soulful, and others with a more rootsy, raw grain to them. All flavors of reggae get represented here, but never departing from the soul theme, with dee jay numbers and dark dubs rubbing up against straight up renditions of numbers that are unafraid to pledge their allegiance to the great originals! Tracks include "Swing Easy" by the Soul Vendors, "Choice Of Colours" by the Heptones, "People Make The World Go Round" by Hortense Ellis, "Choice Of Music (Part 2)" by Jackie Mittoo and the Brentford Disco Set, "Thinking" by Ken Boothe, "Get Out Of My Life Woman" by Tony Gregory, "Fool For Love" by Prince Jazzbo, "Fancy Pants" by Jackie Mittoo, and "Darker Block" by the Dub Specialist.

Live and studio rarities The Grateful Dead – early stuff, too – all recorded from the first few months of 1966! Includes the only known recording of Jerry Garcia singing "Promised Land", an alternate version of "Cream Puff War" and other choice nuggets. 18 in all. 2 X 180 gram vinyl!

Live and studio rarities The Grateful Dead – early stuff, too – all recorded from the first few months of 1966! Includes the only known recording of Jerry Garcia singing "Promised Land", an alternate version of "Cream Puff War" and other choice nuggets. 18 in all.

A pair of overlooked trio dates from the 70s – packaged together here as a great little set! First up is the Prime Time album from Hugh Lawson – a killer date as a leader for this Detroit pianist we first came to love through his recordings with Yusef Lateef – an artist who possibly never got his due as strongly as so many others to come up in the late 50s/early 60s scene – but who sparkles here with a maturity that really comes through in his music! There's a deep feel to the record that really comes through in the choice of tunes – work by Charles Mingus, Clifford Jordan, and Sonelius Smith – not to mention a few of Lawson's own great tunes – and Lawson often has a Cedar Walton-like ability to play lyrically, yet still with a soaring sort of force. The trio features great rhythm from the team of Bob Cranshaw on bass and Ben Riley on drums – and titles include "Rip Off", "The Duke Ellington Sound Of Love", "The Highest Mountain", "Blue Bones", and "The Need To Smile" – plus some bonus alternate takes. Then Here & Now is a sparkling set from pianist Richard Wyands – and a great demonstration of that soulful flow he's really unfurled strongly in later years – captured here in an obscure trio outing from the late 70s! Wyands' is part of a small number of players who can be lyrical, yet forceful at the same time – a mode that we might link to the Cedar Walton school of piano – but which is voiced here with an individual approach that's definitely Richard's own – and swung with the perfect sort of groove by bassist Lisle Atkinson and drummer David Lee. Titles include the originals "Lenora" and "Yes It Is" – plus "Lament", "Never Let Me Go", and "Yesterdays" – plus some bonus alternate takes.

The one astounding studio album of proto punk/abrasive psych genius from the Monks – a true masterpiece – and a record that's been ripped off by myriad more famous groups in both the mainstream and underground rock landscape of the past 40 years! The group's status as discharged G.I.'s informs some of spewed vitriol, but beyond that there's little connection to any trends or scenes – the Monks are true originals in a world of imitators – and that adds a layer of excitement to an already mind blowing listen. The album's wild organ washes, primitive drums and guitar, and harsh, bizarre vocal rants prefigured everything from the Stooges, to Rocket From The Tombs, to the more predictable punk stuff that arrived 18 years later – yet it still grooves. Outrageous and incredible! "Monk Time", "Shut Up", "Boys Are Boys And Girls Are Choice", "Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy", "I Hate You", "We Do Wie Du", "Drunken Maria", "Blast Off!", "That's My Girl", "Cuckoo", "Love Can Tame The Wild", "He Went Down To The Sea" and more – the first 12 tracks are the original LP release – followed by later singles and a live track. Light In The Attic's reissue has better sound than we've ever heard for this material, and a great booklet of notes and photos.

Quite possibly one of the greatest funk compilations ever – and we're not just saying that because we're from the Midwest! The genius compilers at Jazzman spent years scouring the smaller cities of the American hinterlands – tracking down obscure musicians, long-lost labels, and nearly-gone master tapes – all to bring together 23 bits of rare funk that bristle with the same energy and excitement as the day they were first recorded! The package is incredible – not only filled with incredible tunes that somehow manage to push the boundaries and redefine our understanding of classic funk from the time, but also doing so in a package that's filled with liner notes that offer more information on the artists than probably their own mothers know! Plus, the set's also got some previously unissued numbers as well – making it a must-have for any funk fan, even if you've somehow managed to track down original copies of some of these choice bits! Titles include "Whip It" by The New Establishment In Soul, "Let's Do It Today (full version)" by The Us, "Pushin To The Top" by Markus Kelly & The Impassions, "Sissy Walk" by Billy Ball & The Upsetters, "Tell Her" by Fred Williams & The Jewels Band, "The Hatch" by The TMGs, "Boots Groove" by The Soul Tornados, "Po Boy's Dream" by Illinois Connection, "It's Not You For Me (live)" by Billy Joe Holloman, "Funky In Here" by Dayton Sidewinders, "Master Groove" by Henry Peters & The Imperials, and "A Day In The Life" by Chocolate Snow.

A rich array of tones and sounds from the trio of Thollem McDonas on piano, William Parker on bass, and Nels Cline on guitar – all served up in a heady brew that grabs us right from the very first note! Some of the sharper tones of McDonas and Cline are warmed up nicely by Parker's bass – a great choice for the trio, as it helps ground the more experimental modes of the other two players, yet still give them plenty of freedom to shift and shimmer as much as they want. At times, there's almost a trembling sort of quality to the music – which really makes the set sound unique – and titles include "There Are", "As Many Worlds", "In A Life", "As There Are", "Lives", "In The World".

A musical document of an amazing moment in the New York scene – the late 80s/early 90s wave of vogue balls – which were almost a collision of club culture with high fashion! There was a particularly rich gender-bending element to the vogue scene – and the music that accompanied it was a key part of that activity – tracks that had already risen to fame in crossover clubs from previous years, taken to new heights by DJs who provided music along with the voguing activity – in a great array of grooves from the disco years through early house music, brought together in ways that made 80s musical evolution make a heck of a lot of sense! The compilation album is a companion to the excellent book of the same name – also by Soul Jazz – and this 3CD version features tracks that include "Moment Of My Life" by Inner Life, "The Ha Dance (Ken/Lou mixx)" by Masters At Work, "Just Like A Queen (share the throne mix)" by Ellis D, "Is It All Over My Face" by Loose Joints, "Body Drill" by 2 Body's, "Love Hangover" by Diana Ross, "The Witch Doctor (dark ages mix)" by Armand Van Helden, "Break 4 Love (Spanish fly mix)" by Raze, "Din Daa Daa" by George Kranz, "X (Sound Factory mix)" by Junior Vazquez, "Love Is The Message (Tom Moulton mix)" by MFSB, "Cunty (party mix)" by Rageous Projecting Keven Aviance, "Love Thang" by First Choice, "This Brutal House" by Nitro Deluxe, "Ooh I Love It (Love Break)" by Salsoul Orchestra, and "Deep In Vogue (Banjie Realness mix)" by Malcolm McLaren. Also includes a limited bonus mix CD by Junior Vazquez – and a booklet and cool set of postcards!

A well-titled album from one of the funkiest New York groups of the 70s – and proof that Fatback could still hit a heavy groove, even when tightening things up a bit! The style here is still firmly in the live jamming mode of their roots – captured well in the studio, in a style that's never too slick, nor too "easy" in the choices of rhythms or arrangements. Titles like "Double Dutch", "Spank The Baby", "Duke Walk", "Cosmic Woman", and "Love Street" hint at the street funk style that first got the group going – and although the sound's a bit more professional than before, all the best elements are still very much in place! Other titles include "NYCNYUSA", "A Changed Man", and "Soul Finger".

A heavy dose of grooves from Lack Of Afro – not only work recorded under his own name, but remixes and productions he's done for other artists as well! There's a solid commitment to funk on just about every record to bear the Lack Of Afro name – and you'll hear plenty of that in the grooves here – lots of old school 70s funk and soul elements, mixed in nicely to augment the core sounds – and pushed to the forefront on some of the best tracks too! Most of the music isn't played live, but there's definitely a live feel at points – given the choices of samples used – and the 2CD set features Lack Of Afro mixes of tunes that include "Si Si Puede" by Ray Camacho, "It's Real" by Hot 8 Brass Band, "Hurt Me So" by Diplomats Of Solid Sound, "Giorgio's Brother" by Eddie Roberts, "I Can't Dance With You" by The Fantastics, "Greenbacks" by Deep Street Soul, and "Freedom" by Ray Harris & The Fusion Experience – plus Lack Of Afro tracks "Broken Samba", "On My Way", "First Break", "Spooky", and "Numero Seenko".