All Categories — All Formats  

Sweetly percolated sounds from Five Star – a great collection that finally brings together all the remix material they served up on singles during their big run for Sony Music! The group burst into prominence at a time when music formats were really expanding, especially in the UK – where usually a few different varieties of a single were issued at once. Given the already-catchy sound of the group, their style is a perfect one for mixing – usually great hooks that really stand out, no matter what the changes made – which in most cases here, are for the better – and definitely emphasize the groove of the tunes! 2CD set features 26 tracks in all – and titles include "Hide & Seek (ext dance mix)", "Crazy (12" version)", "System Addict (dub rmx)", "Stay Out Of My Life (12" version)", "Let Me Be The One (dance mix by Hardrock)", "Love Take Over (Paul Hardcastle's ext version)", "RSVP (remix s'il vous plait)", "Whenever You're Ready (crazy dub jammy)", "Are You Man Enough (Shep Pettibone 7" mix)", and "Another Weekend (Friday night dub mix)".

Bouncy, beat-heavy soul from Five Star – really stepping out strongly on this self-titled set! The music's nothing new, and very familiar to fans of mainstream soul at the time – but the group really serve things up with a stronger edge than on previous releases – handling much of the production and songwriting themselves, often with a catchy, hook-heavy style that reminds us a lot of projects from the Jackson family around the same time. Titles include "Treat Me Like A Lady", "I Can Show You Love", "Hot Love", "Feel Much Better", "I'm Still Waiting", "Don't Stop", and "Lost In You". 2CD set features lots of bonus tracks – including "Act One (7" version)", and a whopping four mixes of "Hot Love", and eleven more mixes of "Treat Me Like A Lady".

Nice mid 80s UK pop soul from Five Star – sweet family act that's kind of in the mode that's a bit of an unofficial British answer to the cheery family pop soul vibe of groups like DeBarge and New Edition at the time – and a sweet one! Lean, lightly thumping synth soul backdrops and nice vocals from the group on some very catchy songs! Titles include "Love Take Over", "All Fall Down", "Let Me Be The One", "System Addict", "Hide And Seek", "RSVP", "Crazy", "Winning" and more.

Sweet poppy soul from Five Star – moving strongly here on a set that's got lots of early 90s new jack elements – including a fair bit of beats that really work well with the group's trading of male and female vocals! Things are plenty catchy throughout – not the deepest soul you might ever listen to, but the kind of work that definitely shines brighter than most in the mainstream R&B world at the time. Titles include "Come To Me", "Shine", "Love Can't Wait", "Right Over", "The Start Of Forever", "Sentimental", "Save A Place", and "The Love You Bring To Me". CD features 6 bonus tracks – all different mixes of "Shine"!

A sterling set from the great Will Downing – and a record that definitely has the master at the top of his game throughout! The package features some songs from his recent trilogy of EP releases – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow – but also includes five new songs too – and together, the tunes work wonderfully to create one of the best full length efforts from Downing in years! Will's got this style that's easy-flowing, yet completely confident too – a reminder that sometimes the best approach to male soul music is one that relaxes into the groove – in ways that so many other singers in the younger generation seem to have forgotten. The backings are great too – as laidback as Downing's vocals, without any of the clunk that might have happened if Will was recording for a bigger label trying to push him into the charts. There's plenty of glow and warmth throughout – and titles include "Only One", "Send For Me", "Falling", "Stuff That I Like", "One Step Closer", "Never Find Another Love", "Sexy", and "You Were Meant Just For Me" – a duet with Avery Sunshine. Also includes a totally great long track – a "live rehearsal" of the medley "I Go Crazy/Wishing On A Star/Try".

A fantastic group of well-matched players – one we've heard together often on albums for other labels, but who really find a new sort of energy here in the Smalls Live series! Trumpeter Jim Rotondi's joined here by equal frontmen Eric Alexander on tenor, David Hazeltine on piano and Fender Rhodes, John Webber on bass, and Joe Farnsworth on drums – a quintet that's easily a five-pointed star, given all the sharp talents on deck! We're not sure if we've ever heard Hazeltine play Fender Rhodes before, and his use of the instrument on a few tracks is mighty nice – and as you might guess, Rotondi and Alexander really make some great use of the extended live tracks here to really open up on solos. Webber and Farnsworth are as swinging as we could have hoped for – and titles include "Twilight In Seville", "A Higher Calling", "You Know I Care", "Blues For All", and "Sunday In New York".

A lost funky soul LP by Starfire, billed here as "The Baddest Five Stars in the Galaxy", and hailing from Richmond, VA! This is a silver-covered repressing of the band's second album – done on the obscure Dynamic Artists label in Virginia – and it's a great collection of the group's early work, cut back at a time when they were soaring along on a strong Earth Wind & Fire vibe – mixing up funk and soulful ballads nicely! There's some good spacey production touches that further enforce the "star" quality of their name – pushing things slightly into the stratosphere, in a way that sets them apart. Titles include the catchy midtempo modern number "Make The Most Of It", plus "I Want To Sing This Song For You", "Get Up Everybody", "Dancing & Singing", and "Super Sensuous Women".

A much-needed look at a key force in Italian disco – the legendary Baia Degli Angeli, a club that was as important to Europe as the Paradise Garage was to New York! The set features a hardcover book that's loaded with full color images, photos, and essays on the club – packaged beautifully with a 16 track CD in the back cover. And the CD itself is almost worth the price of admission – a great selection of numbers that played strongly on Angeli's dancefloor in the late 70s, most of which have a spacey electronic quality that links them strongly to some of the best underground club of New York at the time. The CD's mixed together in a way that recreates the feel of the legendary floor – and titles include "Midnight Madness" by Don Ray, "Zone" by Rhythm Makers, "Don't You Know Who Did It" by John Forde, "Pazuzu" by Tony Silvester & The New Ingredient, "Surprise" by Andre Gagnon, "Sweet Lady" by Chain Reaction, "Timing Forget The Timing" by Black Devil, "Magnifico Mambo" by Five Letters, "Come On & Rock" by Needa, "Point Zero" by Voyage, "Un Habit En La Bemol" by Flashback Roger Gravel, and "Monkey Star" by Arpadys.

Cooler than ice – and cooler than just about any other label collection we've ever seen – a massive collection of work from the legendary Artic label, home to some of the best Philly grooves in the late 60s and early 70s! The package not only includes 6CDs, but also features 6 funky 45s as well – each of which features an unissued gem from the label – all wrapped up in a really well-done cover that comes with a 48 page booklet, and lots of vintage photos! There's never been a label overview like this one before – and the CDs feature every single issued by the company, both a and b-sides – a project that took the folks at Jamie many years to produce, but which has been well worth the wait. The music is wonderful throughout – great female soul, some soaring group tracks, and even a few funky nuggets too – way more than we ever knew that Arctic ever recorded. In addition to early efforts from later stars like Barbara Mason or Kenny Gamble, the set also features music by Honey & The Bees, The Ambassadors, The Combo Kings, The Rotations, Teddy & The Fingerpoppers, Three Strangers, Billy Floyd, Jack & Jill, The Temptones, Kenny Hamber, Herb Johnson, Winfield Parker, Lane Relations, Volcanos, Della Humphrey, Royal Five, and many others. The set's six 7" singles are amazing too – a dozen tracks that have never been heard before – including "He's Got To Love Me" and "Catch Him Love" by Barbara Mason, "I'm At My Best When I'm Down" and "The Rock" by The Combo Kings, "It Takes Two" and "Fat Daddy" by Kenny Gamble, "No Doubt About It" and "Lover Boy" by The Tiffanys, "Doctor Love" and "I Only Have Eyes For You" by The Ambassadors, and "I Love You Just The Same" and "Fallin Star" by Winfield Parker.

80s soul galore – most of it more than clubby enough to play on the dancefloor, although done with much sharper sounds than most of the work in the 70s disco generation! The cuts are heavy on bassy beats, guitar parts, and keyboard lines – often nice and lean, with that sharp punch you'd hear so strongly on soul tracks from the 80s. There's plenty of hits and overlooked classics here – and the double length set features "Guilty" by Yabrough & Peoples, "Back & Forth" by Cameo, "The Smurf" by Tyrone Brunson, "Electric Lady" by Con Funk Shun, "Dial My Number" by Pauli Carman, "Baby I'm Hooked" by Kathy Mathis, "Magic's Wand" by Whodini, "Let Me Be The One" by Five Star, "In Your Eyes" by James D-Train Williams, "Seduction" by Val Young, "Turn It Up" by The Conway Brothers, and "The Truth" by Colonel Abrams.

Tracks include "Baby I'm For Real" by the Originals, "Does Your Mama Know About Me" by Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers, "Darling Baby" by the Elgins, "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" & "Walk Away From Love" by Jimmy Ruffin, "Helpless" by Kim Weston, "Get Ready" by Rare Earth, "You've Made Me So Very Happy" by Brenda Holloway, "Twenty Five Miles" by Edwin Star, "Love's Gone Bad" by Chris Clark, "I'll Always Love You" by the Spinners, and "I've Got A Feeling" by Barbara Randolph.

A long-overdue collection of all the mixes, side-projects, and rare "Nicola Conte version" tracks that have cropped up in the past decade or so – work that's every bit as great as the material Conte includes on his own albums and singles! Nicola Conte's not a remixer – he's a re-imaginer – and when he sets out to serve up his own version of a track, he often starts from scratch – using his own band, his own arrangements, and his own key elements – all of which turn any projects for other artists into grooves that are very Conte-directed – the kind of classic jazz-infused gems that Nicola's been laying down on his own Schema Records label for over a decade! This double-disc set is filled with amazing work that Conte's done for other folks – and it also include a few rare and unreleased tracks under his own name as well – a massive helping of music that's really mindblowing throughout – sure to please any fan of Nicola, as well as anyone who digs the artists included in the package. Nicola Conte tracks include "Castles In The Rain", "Charade", "New Blues", "When I Wish Upon A Star", "Solo", "Black Is The Graceful Veil (acoustic version)", "Groovy Samba", and "All Or Nothing At All", which features vocals by Jose James! Other cuts include Conte mixes and reworks of "Stolen Moments (Midnight Mood rework)" by Mark Murphy, "Yellow Daisies" by Fertile Ground, "So Danco Samba (Nicola Conte rework)" by Til Bronner, "Terra De Ninguem" by Sabrina Malheiros, "Take Off (Campi's Idea version)" by Marco Di Marco, "3 Corners (For Friends & Relatives version)" by Five Corners Quintet, "You Are" by Povo, "Our Love" by Luisito Quintero, "Healing Blue (shape of jazz to come version)" by Sunaga T Experience, "Lotus Sun" by Maki Mannami, "Heaven (west coast vibes rmx)" by Bitter:Sweet, "Quiet Nights (out of the cool version)" by Re:Jazz, "Elevated States" by Thunderball, "Mood Indigo" by Akiko, "Take Five (Nicola Conte rmx)" by Roberto Roena, and "Kerma Elastica (Nicola Conte rmx)" by Bobby Hughes Combination.

A sterling set from the great Will Downing – and a record that definitely has the master at the top of his game throughout! The package features some songs from his recent trilogy of EP releases – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow – but also includes five new songs too – and together, the tunes work wonderfully to create one of the best full length efforts from Downing in years! Will's got this style that's easy-flowing, yet completely confident too – a reminder that sometimes the best approach to male soul music is one that relaxes into the groove – in ways that so many other singers in the younger generation seem to have forgotten. The backings are great too – as laidback as Downing's vocals, without any of the clunk that might have happened if Will was recording for a bigger label trying to push him into the charts. There's plenty of glow and warmth throughout – and titles include "Only One", "Send For Me", "Falling", "Stuff That I Like", "One Step Closer", "Never Find Another Love", "Sexy", and "You Were Meant Just For Me" – a duet with Avery Sunshine. Also includes a totally great long track – a "live rehearsal" of the medley "I Go Crazy/Wishing On A Star/Try".

Amazing rare work from Stan Getz – a rare Seeco 10" that features a side of Getz blowing with the Al Haig Quintet, plus another side with Wardell Grey in place of Getz! The Haig group here is totally great – with Jimmy Raney on guitar, Gene Ramsey on bass, Charlie Perry on drums, and some especially great conga work from Carlos Vidal – who brings an unusual Latin flavor to some of the tunes. Terry Swope sings some amazing wordless vocals on 2 of the Grey tunes – "Sugar Hill" and "Five Star" – and other Wardell numbers include "In A Pinch" and "It's The Talk Of The Town". Getz plays on 4 more tracks – "Skull Buster", "Poop Deck", "Ante Room", and "Pennies From Heaven".

Way more than you'd expect from the title and cover – not a batch of familiar disco hits, but a treasure trove of club classics from the early 80s! Sure, some of the artists here are familiar – but most of them are from the indie side of the spectrum, and even the few big stars are represented by either non-hit tracks, or hard to find remixes that make this collection well worth seeking out! And given the early 80s focus of the track selection, there's less disco here than 80s groove and boogie-styled rhythms – heavy on the beats and keyboards, and still filled with plenty of great vocals. 20 tracks on 2CDs – with titles that include "Dreamer (long vocal)" by BB&Q Band, "Nights Of Pleasure (Nick Martinelli mix)" by Loose Ends, "You Can't Run From My Love" by Stephanie Mills, "I'm Out To Catch" by Leon Haywood, "Just Another Lover (12" mix)" by Johnny Kemp, "Fall Down" by Tramaine, "I Feel For You (12" mix)" by Chaka Khan, "Got To Be Real" by Selection, "Garden Of Eve (long)" by Yvonne Gage, "The Rhythm Of The Jungle" by The Quick, "Burnin Love" by Con Funk Shun, "I Need You" by Network, "Love Take Over" by Five Star, and "To Be With You" by Maxx Traxx.

Sublime sounds from Booker T & The MGs – the group's first five albums, laid out in one totally package! The progression in Memphis soul here is wonderful – as the package starts with the initial Green Onions set – a record that grew out of a famous jam from Book and the group in the studio – then moves through Soul Dressing, And Now, Hip Hug Her, and Doin Our Thing – records that get funkier and funkier at each new spin – showing how the group really tightened up their style, and helped transform the sound of instrumental soul in the process! Loads of great Hammond from Booker T, mixed with killer guitar from Steve Cropper – and a motherlode of great cuts that include "Green Onions", "Comin Home Baby", "Can't Be Still", "Home Grown", "Think", "Soul Jam", "Taboo", "One Mint Julep", "Plum Nellie", "Outrage", "Night Owl Walk", "Double Or Nothing", "Sunny", "Pigmy", "Slim Jenkins Place", "Hip Hug Her", "Soul Sanction", "The Beat Goes On", "Blue Or Green", "Ode To Billie Joe", "Never My Love", and "I Can Dig It". All albums in tiny LP sleeves too!

Arguably one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time – and the key flowering of the partnership between David Bowie and Mick Ronson! The guitars here are heavy – so much so that the record's always crossed over big with crowds who are always suspicious of Bowie's artier work of the 70s – and represented a crucial moment when his groundbreaking music also found a large mainstream audience as well. And despite the fact that Ziggy's an androgynous space rocker with a spurious pedigree, the manufactured posturing of the album's come to be taken quite literally over the years – a vivid text of alienation, expression, and redemption – served up beautifully over a host of classic tracks that include "Five Years", "Soul Love", "Moonage Daydream", "Suffragette City", and "Ziggy Stardust" – all further proof of Bowie's 70s ability to slide in wherever he wanted with ease!

A seminal session from the team of Miles Davis & John Coltrane – not nearly as "cookin" (at least in a blowing session way) as you might guess from the title, but instead a beautiful example of the lyrically modern explorations the pair created together! Rhythm is by the trio of Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones – but the horn work of Davis and Coltrane are clearly the starring attraction on the set! Titles include "Tune Up", "Blues By Five", and "Airegin" – plus the pair's classic reading of "My Funny Valentine".

Amazing live documents of Miles Davis and his incredible mid-to-late 60s quintet – Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums – complete concert recordings from Antwerp, Copenhagen and Paris on 3CDs seeing release for the first time ever, plus a DVD featuring the only known video footage of this group from the period! CD 1 features material from 10/28/68 in Antwerp, CD 2 on 11/2/67 in Copenhagen and 11/6/67 in Paris, with the latter concert continued on CD 3. This is landmark stuff here – a surprisingly rare opportunity to hear first rate live recordings of legendary material from the ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer and Nefertiti albums – as well as brilliant revisits of vital earlier material. Includes live takes on "Agitation", "Foot Prints", "No Blues", "Gingerbread Boy", "On Green Dolphin Street", "The Theme", "Footprints", "Masqualero", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "Walkin'" and more. The DVD starts with five numbers recorded on 11/7/67 in Karlzruhe, Germany: "Agitation", "Footprints", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "Gingerbread Boy" and "The Theme". It concludes with material in Stockholm on 10/31/67: "Agitation", "Footprints", "'Round Midnight", "Gingerbread Boy" and "The Theme".

Two spooky soundtracks – back to back in a 2CD set! First up is the world premiere of the score for A Town Called Hell – music that's never been presented on record or CD before, and which marks a crowning achievement for composer Waldo De Los Rios – music that mixes the best elements you might find in Italian western or horror modes, wrapped together in this really unique music that makes wonderful use of space and sound! Titles include "The Attack", "The Gallows", "Fighting The Old Woman", "Don Carlos", "The Burial", "Arrival At Bastarda", and "The Priest". CD 2 features music from Savage Pampas – work that originally appeared on LP, and which is presented here in a nice batch of longer tracks, augmented with a few previously unreleased shorter cues. The scope of the longer cuts is wonderful – really driving, vivid western-themed work – expanded past five minutes on all numbers, so that Waldo De Los Rios really gets a great chance to build up his orchestrations. Titles include "The Militia", "The Ranqueles Indians", "The Landscape", and "The Violence & Finale". The whole package is great, too – with full notes in English and Spanish, and lots of color images too!

Beautiful live recordings from Bill Evans – recorded with his late 60s trio that included the incredible Eddie Gomez on bass, plus Marty Morell on drums – a lineup that was really taking off with Bill at the time, and learning how to make some wonderful music together! The setting is the Jazzhus Monmartre in Copenhagen, in November of 1969 – and the tracks have a nice compact feel, not as drawn out as other recordings from the venue at the time – still showing Evans to be a master of economy, even when opening up and exploring new ideas. Bill's also got a bit more punch on the piano than a few years later, which mixes the soulful and lyrical sides of his talents nicely – on titles that include "How My Heart Sings", "Autumn Leaves", "Five", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", "Sleepin Bee", and "Stella By Starlight".

A wicked album that's one of Stan Getz's best from the 70s! The record features Stan reunited with Chick Corea, whose warm lyricism was the lynchpin in Getz's landmark Sweet Rain – the stunning session from 1968 that is perhaps our favorite-ever Getz album. Corea plays electric piano here, but with none of the indulgence that he was lapsing into at the time. His blocky chords stake out a stark new territory, into which Getz solos beautifully, into a range yet untapped at that time in his career. Tony Williams augments the group on drums, giving the whole thing a sense of freedom, but also a nice tight swing. Tracks include "La Fiesta", "Five Hundred Miles High", "Times Lie", and "Day Waves".

A great German combo, and one with almost as much jazz as funk in the mix – quite a nice change from the usual group of this nature! There's a warm glow to the record right from the start – a vibe that comes from the tight trumpet lines of Michael Voss, who also sings a bit – and even more so from the vocals of Koko Kay, who sings on some of the best tracks – and gives things a slow-burning sound that's mighty nice. The style's kind of a blend of deep funk with jazzier overtones – and titles include "Life Shines", "Hifivin Time", "Awesome Change", "It Ain't That Bad", "The Heritage", and "Global Tribe".

An unusual package of Quincy Jones albums – featuring variations on two American records, presented here in offbeat German versions of the 60s! First up is Songs For Pussycats, kind of a mix of Quincy Jones' Pussycat album for Mercury with some tracks from other records too – all done in that wicked mix of jazz, soundtrack, and popular themes that Quincy virtually helped invent back in the 60s! The album's got plenty of great groovers that take a popular tune and kind of turn it on its ear – takes on tracks like "What's New Pussycat", "Take Five", "Mack The Knife", "Sermonette", "Mr Lucky", and "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" – all of which are souped-up by Quincy, and done in a rhythmic style that takes them past familiar versions you might know. Quincy In Rio is a set that seems to be the famous Big Band Bossa Nova album at the start, but which also features tracks from other 60s albums too – showing a whole new fresh side to Quincy's genius in a jazz bossa mode! Arrangements are very lively, with lots of great percussion underneath the soaring big band charts – and titles include "Bossa Nova USA", "Desafinado", "Jive Samba", "Baia", "The Gentle Rain", "Non-Stop To Brazil", "Samba De Una Nota So", and "I Love You & Don't Forget It".

We're not sure what to make of the title – but to our ears, everything here sounds plenty new and plenty fresh – the kind of creative guitar-driven work we've come to expect from Jon Lundbom and his cool contemporaries from the Mostly Other People Do The Killing side of the universe! The group here also features Jon Irabagon on alto and soprano sax, Bryan Murray on tenor and balto sax, Moppa Elliott on bass, and Dan Monaghan on drums – and there's an intensity to the music right from the start – a blistering sort of energy that almost takes us back to some of the most creative downtown jazz experiments of the New York scene in the early 80s. Titles include "The Other Third One", "Of Being Done To", "The Bad Thing", and "Talent For Surrender".

A poppy record, but a great one too – and a surprisingly enduring pleasure from the Streetwise scene of the 80s! This is the album that started it all – the wave of younger groups that would come into play in 80s soul strongly by the latter half of the decade – New Edition with its now-classic lineup that includes a young Ralph Tresvant, Bobby Brown, and the Bell, Biv, Devoe trio! The album's really the brainchild of producer Maurice Starr, who's also working here with a fair bit of help from Michael Jonzun and a bit of guidance from Arthur Baker – all of whom serve up tunes that are sweet and catchy, and which are almost an 80s update of the sound of the Jackson 5 or Five Stairsteps from a decade before – given a hipper, more streetsoul undercurrent. Titles include "She Gives Me A Bang", "Pass The Beat", "Ooh Baby", "Popcorn Love", "Candy Girl", "Should Never Have Told Me", and "Gimme Your Love".

That's five flies in the title – each of them warranted, given the incredible energy of Cecil Taylor on the keys of the piano! This obscure solo set is a gem all the way through – an unusual session recorded for MPS – with Taylor playing beautiful tones on a Bosendorfer Grand Piano Imperial, ringing out with the sort of freedom that you'd know from other recordings of his from the 70s – but possibly a bit more structure at times too – an almost lyrical mode that's a really wonderful change, and which makes the record one of Cecil's most sensitive sides ever! Even in a world that's heavy with Taylor solo moments, this album's well worth tracking down – as it shows Cecil with a focus that's simply breathtaking – no less of the fire and freedom than before, but pushed into spaces that really make sense right away – and help illustrate the greatness of Taylor when everything's working perfectly. Titles include "Rocks Sub Amba", "N+R (Love Is Friends)", "The Stele Stolen & Broken Is Reclaimed", "Ensaslayi", and "Astar".

Amazing sounds from British pianist Keith Tippett – a startling crossroads of musical scenes that beautifully brings together the best jazz, rock, and jazz rock impulses on the UK scene at the time – still with a freshness and clarity that the work would never reach a few years later! The sound here is brilliant – often a bit funky at the bottom, and definitely stretching out to freer jazz ideas on the solos, yet always managing a sense of soul and swing that really gives the record a rock solid core – so that even loopy lines seem to land back on the ground, and set the group on fire with a whole new energy. In addition to Tippett's work on electric and acoustic piano, the set also features Elton Dean on alto and saxello, Marc Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone, and Robert Wyatt on drums – on titles that include "Gridal Suite", "Five After Dawn", "This Is What Happens", "Thoughts To Geoff", and "Black Horse".

A killer side project from Roy Ayers – recorded right around the same time as the Ramp album, but with a different feel over all – proof that the Ayers empire was really exploding at the end of the 70s! The vibe here is quite similar to some of Roy's own albums over at Polydor – a great balance between upbeat groovers and mellower steppers – all done with a nice undercurrent of jazz, thanks to some sweet keyboards from Philip Woo and saxes from Justo Almario – both of who played often with Ayers as well. The vocals are especially great – wrapped up warmly along the rhythms, mixing the male/female leads of Jimmy Haslip and Sylvia Cox with some additional backing vocals from group members – creating a righteous ensemble sound that's totally wonderful, and very much in the Roy Ayers spirit. Titles include "Spread It", "If You Wanna See The Sunshine", "The Five Flies", "Midnight After Dark", and "Love Is Love".

Classics and rarities from the Windy City Soul scene that gravitated around the great Curtis Mayfield and his studio! The set features tracks from Curtom, plus the Thomas, Mayfield and Gemigo labels along with Paramount and Polydor – with numbers by The Fascinations, Five Stairsteps & Cubie, The Mayfield Singers, Major Lance, Chuck Ray, Ruby Jones, Notations, Linda Clifford, Gene Chandler and many more! 26 tracks in all: "Girls Are Out To Get You" by The Fascinations, "Don't Start None" by The Mayfield Singers, "You Got The Power" by Mamie P Galore, "I Spy (For The FBI)" by Jamo Thomas & His Party Brothers Orchestra, "Lucky" by The Mayfield Players, "Don't Have To Be Lying Babe" by Gene Chandler, "You Better Run" by Ruby Jones, "Can't Get Enough" by Linda Clifford and more.

A mountain of funk from one of the greatest soul labels of all time! Stax is known round the world over for their soulful work – by singers like Otis Redding or Carla Thomas, and instrumental tunes by Booker T & The Mgs – but the label was also quite a funky powerhouse – especially as the 60s drew to a close, and the management of the company got a lot hipper, and a heck of a lot more musically open-minded! This killer batch of tracks features 21 numbers from those days – including many obscure and funky tunes that only ever came out on singles, or which were recorded by artists that never made it as big as Stax stars from earlier years. The result of all that obscurity is an extremely fresh selection of tracks – plenty of down-n-dirty funky 45 numbers, played by hip Memphis combos, and featuring some really deep soul vocals. Titles include "Dark Skin Woman" by Sir Mack Rice, "Ain't No Sin" by John Kasandra, "Bump & Boogie" by The Wrecking Crew, "Shame On The Family Name" by Calvin Scott, "Cool Strut" by Bernie Hayes, "Bump Mean" by Sir Mack Rice, "Soul Machine" by Reggie Milner, "How Can You Mistreat The One You Love" by Katie Love, "Cold Blooded" by The Bar Kays, "Do The Side Saddle" by Rufus Thomas, "Stay Away From That Monkey" by Jimmy McCracklin, "Them Hot Pants" by Lee Sain, "Devil In A Man" by Stu Gardner, "Curcuits Overloaded" by Inez Foxx, "From Toys To Boys" by The Emotions, "Got It Together (parts 1 & 2)" by Rudy Robinson & The Hungry Five, and "Crosscut Saw" by Albert King.

One of the few sessions ever cut as a leader by LA drummer Stan Levey – as tight a set of west coast bop as you'll ever find on the Bethlehem label, featuring a sextet with Conte Candoli on trumpet, Richie Kamuca on tenor, Frank Rosolino on trombone, Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Sonny Clark on piano, getting his start on wax here before his more famous days in New York! Tracks are mostly all over five minutes long, with short and tight solo work by the horn players – and titles include "Hit That Thing", "Tiny's Tune", "Blues At Sunrise", "Grand Stan", and "Angel Cake".

Arguably one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time – and the key flowering of the partnership between David Bowie and Mick Ronson! The guitars here are heavy – so much so that the record's always crossed over big with crowds who are always suspicious of Bowie's artier work of the 70s – and represented a crucial moment when his groundbreaking music also found a large mainstream audience as well. And despite the fact that Ziggy's an androgynous space rocker with a spurious pedigree, the manufactured posturing of the album's come to be taken quite literally over the years – a vivid text of alienation, expression, and redemption – served up beautifully over a host of classic tracks that include "Five Years", "Soul Love", "Moonage Daydream", "Suffragette City", and "Ziggy Stardust" – all further proof of Bowie's 70s ability to slide in wherever he wanted with ease!

We've been digging Zo for many years, and knew he was a superstar right from the start – but this time around, he blows us away even more than ever! The album's got a special spark that goes beyond even all the great music Zo's given us before – and even past his work with Foreign Exchange – a richness that partly comes from the contributions of guests like Sy Smith, Phonte, Eric Roberson, Choklate, Anthony Davis, and Carmen Rodgers – but which is definitely rooted in Zo's own sublime work on keyboards, his great ear for an understated rhythm, and a Stevie Wonder-like sense of jazz that really shines forth this time around. If you think they're not making classics anymore, you need to wrap your ears around this one – and be prepared to become a believer! Titles include "The Train", "For Tina", "Out In The World", "New In Town", "Tell Me Something New", "Making Time", and "Count To Five".

Stellar 10-inch EP featuring a quartet of the best tracks from Modern Sound Of Nicola Conte – Versions In Jazz Dub! The compilation is a long-overdue collection of all the mixes, side-projects, and rare "Nicola Conte version" tracks that have cropped up in the past decade or so – work that's every bit as great as the material Conte includes on his own albums and singles! Nicola Conte's not a remixer – he's a re-imaginer – and when he sets out to serve up his own version of a track, he often starts from scratch – using his own band, his own arrangements, and his own key elements – all of which turn any projects for other artists into grooves that are very Conte-directed – the kind of classic jazz-infused gems that Nicola's been laying down on his own Schema Records label for over a decade! EP 2 features "All Or Nothing At All" by Nicola Conte Jazz Combo feat Jose James, "Take Five (Nicola Conte remix)" by Roberto Roena, "So Danco Samba (Nicola Conte rework)" by Till Bronner and "Charade" by Nicola Conte.

A wicked album that's one of Stan Getz's best from the 70s! The record features Stan reunited with Chick Corea, whose warm lyricism was the lynchpin in Getz's landmark Sweet Rain – the stunning session from 1968 that is perhaps our favorite-ever Getz album. Corea plays electric piano here, but with none of the indulgence that he was lapsing into at the time. His blocky chords stake out a stark new territory, into which Getz solos beautifully, into a range yet untapped at that time in his career. Tony Williams augments the group on drums, giving the whole thing a sense of freedom, but also a nice tight swing. Tracks include "La Fiesta", "Five Hundred Miles High", "Times Lie", and "Day Waves". Great stuff – and expanded here with the new track "Crystal Silence", plus bonus alternates of "Five Hundred Miles High" and "Captain Marvel".

The first album by The Sylvers – a hard soulful band made up of youngsters from LA, but who had a lot more going on than some of the other kiddie-soul bands of the early 70s! The group's a sextet at this point, with four male voices and two female ones – coming across as a sweet blend of tenor and soprano harmonies, in a similar mode to the Five Stairsteps. The record has a solid sound and a funky groove that gives you a hint at what stars the kids would grow up to be – as not only The Sylvers would go on to crack the charts big, but members Leon and Foster would do some pretty great soul work on their own. Jerry Peters did arrangements on the best cuts – with that slightly messed-up groove that he brought to his best 70s work. The record includes the great funky sample cut "Fool's Paradise", which has a great intro that steps along with a fierce bongo sample! Also includes some nice mellower soul material – like "Wish That I Could Talk to You", "I Know Myself", and "Chaos". All that, and Jerry Butler production too!

Large-group genius from the legendary Horace Tapscott – one of the few recordings of his groundbreaking Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra! The music here is totally righteous right from the start – even more searching and soaring than Tapscott's trio or solo work – thanks to help from some of the hippest, most spiritual players on the LA scene of the late 70s – a lineup you'll recognize from other Nimbus Records sessions, all working together beautifully to realize the unique vision of Horace! Tracks are long, and feature Tapscott on piano, Jesse Sharps on saxes, Adele Sebastian on flute and vocals, Herbert Callies on alto, James Andrews on tenor, Lester Robertson on trombone, Kafi Larry Roberts on soprano, and Linda Hill on additional piano – all working together perfectly as a unified ensemble. There's a strong Strata East vibe to the whole record – and titles include "The Call", "Nakatini Suite", "Quagmire Manor At Five AM", and "Peyote Song III".

Man, this is SO not the Tortoise that first set the underground aflame in the early 90s – the group has evolved and opened up in ways we never would have expected. With It's All Around You it's emerged with an airy, open, stargazing set of tracks that resemble the languid atmosphere of Tangerine Dream as much as they do early post rock! Gone, for the most part from early Tortoise is that strong, rubbery electric bass groove and tightly thudding live drum sound. It's All Around You retains the bright vibes and sputtering electronics of the TNT album, and the out front, almost rock & roll guitar lines of the Standards album – and adds an ever present, ambient synthesizer bubble of sound to surround the thing. It's all so catchy, too, and almost sunny. If Tortoise hasn't really broken any new ground this time, it's only because they're the ones who broke it in the first place. Tracks include "It's All Around You", The Lithium Shifts", "Crest", "Stretch", "Dot/Eyes", "By Dawn", "Five Too Many" and more.

Raw soul, heavy funk, snotty rock, and raucous R&B – all pulled from the legendary record collection of Lux Interior and Poison Ivy! The sounds here are the sorts that went onto form the blueprint for The Cramps – and the package is overflowing with rare gems that are hand-picked by the pair – the kind of underground, indie singles that have always made record-digging so great – plucked up by Lux and Ivy in the years before most of us even started searching for wax! The cool 10" set features two dozen tunes – and titles include "Drive Daddy Drive" by Little Sylvia, "Stormy Weather" by The Five Sharps, "Rock A Bongo Boogie" by Terry Snyder, "Red Headed Flea" by The Caps, "Chickie Run" by Homer Denison Jr, "99 Chicks" by Ron Haydock & The Boppers, "Baby Brother" by Bill Carter & The Rovin Gamblers, "Service With A Smile" by The Kuf-Linx, "Imagination" by The Quotations, "Tongue Tied" by Betty McQuade, and "The Vulture" by Ronny Ray's Playboys.

Some of the earliest work ever recorded by the mighty Memphis-based Goldwax Records – material that shows the roots of the label's famous deep soul style, and a wide variety of other modes as well! From the start, it's clear that the ears at Goldwax really knew what they were doing – as even the more pop-oriented recordings here have something very different – a care and quality that makes digging through the label's catalog on a single-by-single basis just as great as doing the same with work from Stax/Volt! As with that company, you can first hear Goldwax getting their start in a few different styles – some of which were issued on other labels at the time – then settling into a classic mode pretty quickly, that massive Memphis soul style that easily made Goldwax one of the most important southern soul imprints of the 60s. The package features a whopping 58 tracks in all, plus full notes too – both a and b-sides of early singles, with titles that include "Toddlin" by Gene Bowlegs Miller, "It's Wonderful To Be In Love" by The Ovations, "I Can't Make It" by James Carr, "Arabian Jerk" by The Merits, "I Can't Fight This Much Longer" by Eddie Bond, "That's How Strong My Love Is" by OV Wright, "Our Last Quarrel"by Bobby McDowell, "Will I Ever Be Free" by Jeb Stewart, "The Day The World Cried (parts 1 & 2)" by Oboe, "A Thousand Vows" by Bobby McDowell, "Spoonful" by The Playboy Five, "Rhythm Marie" by Phillip & The Faithfuls, "Country Style" by Dorothy Williams, "Have You Seen Jean" by Al Vance, "Lover's Crime" by Spencer Wiggins, and "My Motor Bike Balked" by The Lamars.

A mountain of funk from one of the greatest soul labels of all time! Stax is known round the world over for their soulful work – by singers like Otis Redding or Carla Thomas, and instrumental tunes by Booker T & The Mgs – but the label was also quite a funky powerhouse – especially as the 60s drew to a close, and the management of the company got a lot hipper, and a heck of a lot more musically open-minded! This killer batch of tracks features 21 numbers from those days – including many obscure and funky tunes that only ever came out on singles, or which were recorded by artists that never made it as big as Stax stars from earlier years. The result of all that obscurity is an extremely fresh selection of tracks – plenty of down-n-dirty funky 45 numbers, played by hip Memphis combos, and featuring some really deep soul vocals. Titles include "Dark Skin Woman" by Sir Mack Rice, "Ain't No Sin" by John Kasandra, "Bump & Boogie" by The Wrecking Crew, "Shame On The Family Name" by Calvin Scott, "Cool Strut" by Bernie Hayes, "Bump Mean" by Sir Mack Rice, "Soul Machine" by Reggie Milner, "How Can You Mistreat The One You Love" by Katie Love, "Cold Blooded" by The Bar Kays, "Do The Side Saddle" by Rufus Thomas, "Stay Away From That Monkey" by Jimmy McCracklin, "Them Hot Pants" by Lee Sain, "Devil In A Man" by Stu Gardner, "Curcuits Overloaded" by Inez Foxx, "From Toys To Boys" by The Emotions, "Got It Together (parts 1 & 2)" by Rudy Robinson & The Hungry Five, and "Crosscut Saw" by Albert King.

Oh No once again delivers on the conceptual front – an allstar hip hop project built on Dolemite samples – produced and arranged by Oh No and featuring a stellar guest roster with Erick Sermon, MF Doom, Evidence, Alchemist, Big Pooh, Frank Nitt, Roc C, Guilty Simpson, Jose James, Phife Dawg and more! Rudy Ray Moore and his Dolemite are a vital part of underground hip hop' DNA, so to Oh No's credit, he doesn't go for most obvious fodder or weigh it all too heavily with movie dialogue or the most memorable soundtrack bits. Like the best hip hop ever made, Oh No crafts personal, unique and original music out of samples, and this record belongs to him and his guests! Includes "Real Serious" with Evidence & Alchemist, "The Guns" feat Guilty Simpson & MED, "Time" feat Roc C & Chino XL, "Hallucinations" feat Prozack Turner, "Ohnomite Jazz", "Touch It" feat Frank Nitt, "Dues N Donts" feat Jose James & Phife Dawg, "Runnin The Show" feat Erick Sermon. CD features 2 bonus tracks: "Life Games" feat LMNO and "Overload" feat Wildchild.

A deep deep selection of work from these very formative years of Muddy Waters – recordings that really have him taking off tremendously – and moving strongly towards the superstardom that would follow in the 60s and 70s! Muddy sings more than plays guitar here – and you can really hear that shift in his vocals – as he's even more expressive and soulful than before – not just singing along with his bluesy groove, but pushing forward with a punch that really blows away his earlier work. Instrumentation on most numbers is by a small combo – with Chicago luminaries who include Little Walter or James Cotton on harmonica, Otis Spann on piano, Pat Hare on guitar, and AC Reed on tenor sax – and the set features a total of 49 tracks that also includes live material and a few unreleased numbers too. Titles include "I Got My Brand On You (live)", "Love Affair", "Mopper's Blues", "Walking Thru The Park", "Mean Mistreater", "Meanest Woman", "I Got My Brand On You", "Messin With The Man", "Five Long Years", "Twenty Four Hours", "Down By The Deep Blue Sea", and "Little Brown Bird".