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Two 60s gems from Brit leader John Dankworth – both pretty unique! What The Dickens is a record that's way better than you might guess – and a key document of the creative orchestrations of the great John Dankworth! The set features tunes inspired by the writings of Charles Dickens – but the writing and interpretation is 60s modern all the way through – thanks to a crack lineup that includes Tubby Hayes and Dick Morriseey on tenors, Ronnie Ross on baritone, Tony Coe on clarinet, Kenny Wheeler and Jimmy Deuchar on trumpets, and Dankworth himself on some mighty nice alto! The session swings strongly – and surprisingly nice solos dart out amidst the otherwise goofy concept of the record – thanks to Dankworth's hand for a good arrangement and a nice sense of swing! Titles include "Weller Never Did", "The Prologue", "Ghosts", "The Artful Dodger", and "Dodson & Fogg". "Off Duty" has Dankworth's classic jazz charts getting a new sort of zing – thanks to electric bass from Herbie Flowers and Brian Odgers, which really helps give most of the tracks a great little groove! The record's got a soulful undercurrent we're not used to hearing from Dankworth – and the production is nice and tight, with a sound library sense of compression that really works wonders with the playful instrumentation. Titles include "African Waltz", "To Emma", "Off Duty", "Little Brown Jig", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", and "Song Of India".

One of Dankworth's harder outings, with a great group of Brit Jazz players, including Michael Gibbs, Kenny Wheeler, and Tony Coe. It includes tight compositions that still carry Dankworth's easy feel, but which also have a bit of an atonal edge to them! Includes "Hogshead of Hogarth", "Composition with Colour", "Winter Scene", "Sailor", "Face In A Crowd", "Little Girl In Blue" and more.

Pretty great pop-psych from Daughters Of Albion – a set that mixes the sing-song nature of the tunes with some deeper LA production from Leon Russell – all in a great blend fo styles that's really made the album a standout over the years! The group's a duo – Greg Dempsey and Kathy Yesse, both of whom have such long hair, it's hard to tell who's who – both singers who come from a folksy background, yet bring in that mix of Sunshine Pop modes that so many post-folkies on the west coast were using at the time – a great ear for sweet harmonies and catchy tunes, but with an undercurrent of darkness too! Titles include "I Love Her And She Loves Me", "Still Care About You", "Yes Our Love Is Growing", "Candle Song", "Lady Fingers", "Sweet Susan Constantine", "Well Wired", and "John Flip Lockup". CD features two bonus tracks too – "Well Wired (mono 45)" and "Story Of Sad (mono 45)".

One of our favorite-ever Miles Davis albums – and a stunning soundtrack that began a rich legacy of jazz scores in France! Miles recorded this material during late-night post-gig sessions with a great group that includes French players Barney Wilen, Rene Urtreger, and Pierre Michelot, plus American ex-patriot Kenny Clarke. Wilen's playing is fantastic, and it's great to hear him and Miles together on the score's spooky meandering passages. Titles include "Florence Sur Les Champs-Elysees", "L'Assassinat De Carla", "Diner Au Motel", "Evasion De Julien", "Nuit Sur Les Champs-Elysees", "Le Petit Bal", "Au Bar Du Petit Bac" and "Sur L'Autoroute".

A landmark collaboration between Serge Gainsbourg and actress Jane Birkin – his paramour at the time, and a much younger woman! The pair come together beautifully here in a set of sensuous duets – tunes that have an open, honest approach to the relations between the sexes – yet never in any sort of cliched late 60s hippie-esque ways. This album is perhaps the archetypal Gainsbourg erotic effort – and it's filled with wonderful duets set to breathy, bouncy orchestrations – tunes that forged a whole new "adult" level in pop music – not just in France, but around the globe! The arrangements are amazing, and feature some of the weirdest instrumentation ever heard on a pop record – especially one that was as successful as this. Backings are by Athur Greenslade – and titles include the classic "69 Annee Erotique" and "Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus", plus "Jane B", "Elisa", "Orang Outan", "Les Sucettes", and "Manon".

Great work from this cool European sextet – a vocal group that features three gals and three guys – or pals, as their name might indicate! Their style's a bit like the Double Six, in that it's rooted in harmony jazz – but given the choice of material here, and the overall execution, there's more of a Sunshine Pop feel in place on most numbers – which is plenty darn great for us! The tunes are all Burt Bacharach numbers, but they're done here in really fresh ways – not simple copycats of familiar Brill Building hits, but often arranged with unusual twists that make the most of the group's multi-voiced style, and which throw in a few unique instrumental touches as well. Titles include "Walk On By", "Wishin & Hopin", "Blue On Blue", "Close", "Cross Town Bus", "My Little Red Book", "Anyone Who Had A Heart", and "Here I Am".

Titles include "The Whisperers", "It May Sound Silly", "I Understand", "After All I've Been To You", "I Love You Yes I Do", and "It Seems To Me I'm Just A Woman In Love". Arrangements by Hal Mooney.

A rare British session from vocalist Mark Murphy – and one of his grooviest albums of the 60s! Mark's working here with great backings from the orchestras of Tubby Hayes, John Dankworth, and Les Reed – all of whom give Murphy some of his hippest grooves to date, very much in the mode of some of his work on the Midnight Mood album cut for MPS during the same overseas 60s stretch. And as with that one, there's a nice selection of tunes that goes way past the usual – and which shows off the widest range of Murphy's groovy vocal talents – titles that include "Ballyhoo", "Iceberg", "Stablemates", "She Loves You", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", "I Left My Heart In San Francisco", "From Time To Time", and "The Best Is Yet To Come".

Amazing! Although Scott Walker had issued one solo album before this one, Scott 2 is the record that really has his true genius beginning to shine through! The record still features Scott singing dark moody takes on 60s pop tunes – like "Best Of Both Worlds" and "Black Sheep Boy" – plus the usual round of Brel tunes – including "Jackie" and "The Girls & The Dogs", but it's also got some of his best songwriting ever, etched out in incredible original compositions like "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg", "The Girls From The Streets", and "Plastic Palace People". Those three songs alone might have been enough if Scott had stopped there in his career – as they're perfectly realized visions that match the world of Brecht, Bergman, and Sartre he'd been steeping himself in. Orchestrations are sublime on all tracks, and the record's one we'll treasure forever!

A great collaboration between Oscar Brown Jr. and the breezy Brazilian singer Luiz Henrique! Henrique was one of Brown's "discoveries", as was Sivuca, who also plays and arranges on the LP – gracing it with his classic bossa/jazzy kind of groove. The whole thing's an excellent mix of Brown's raw vocal style with Henrique's light lilting Brazilian one – and the record's a lost crossover of styles that totally bears a new listen! Cuts include loads of originals, either by the individual members or written in collaboration. With "Listen to Me", "Finding a New Friend", "Barra Limpa", "Nothin' But a Fool", and "Dawn Comes Again".

Stellar early 70s work from John Dankwork – in a 2CD set! Full Circle is simply one of the greatest albums we've ever heard from the Brit maestro – a big band album as in earlier years, but one done with lots of hip 70s touches! The feel here is halfway between that of sound library grooving and some of the larger group 70s sessions on MPS – often funky at times, but with freshly modern solo work that breaks out from the larger ensemble nicely to accentuate the mood of the tunes. Players include Alan Branscombe on vibes, John Taylor on piano, Joe Moretti on guitar, and Kenny Wheeler on trumpet – and tunes include Mike Vickers' "Eleven Plus", Mike Gibbs' "A Family Joy" and "Triple Portrait", Keith Jarrett's "Grow Your Own", and Dankworth's "Academy One" and "Earthman". Also features a nice bass-y take on "You Are Too Beautiful". Lifeline is another great one – also reminding us of some of the larger MPS projects of the same time. The tracks have a bit of an electric glow in the basswork and production, but the main focus is on acoustic big band grooving – with breakout solos, and some tighter ensemble passages. Includes the sweet suite "Lifeline", which has a few funky moments – plus"Tomorrow's World", "WRVR", and "Fighting The Flab". Players include Don Rendell, Tony Hymas, Ken Gibson, and Dankworth himself.

A landmark collaboration between Serge Gainsbourg and actress Jane Birkin – his paramour at the time, and a much younger woman! This album is perhaps the archetypal Gainsbourg erotic effort – and it's filled with wonderful duets set to breathy, bouncy orchestrations – tunes that forged a whole new "adult" level in pop music – not just in France, but around the globe! The arrangements are amazing, and feature some of the weirdest instrumentation ever heard on a pop record – especially one that was as successful as this – and titles include the classic "69 Annee Erotique", plus"Jane B", "Elisa", "Orang Outan", "Les Sucettes", and "Manon".

Quite possibly the greatest moment ever from the legendary Scott Walker – a set that strongly steps beyond even the genius of his first two solo albums, thanks to an amazing assortment of original tunes! Scott's dark vision of masculinity is emerging full-blown here – in an array of imagistic songs that piece together a very different picture of the male voice in music at the end of the 60s. Arrangements are quite large – echoing Scott's love of Jacques Brel and Jack Jones – but they've got a very subdued quality too, one that always takes second seat to Walker's incredibly haunting voice – rich, yet unquestionably fragile at the same time. Titles include "Copenhagen", "Winter Night", "30 Century Man", "It's Raining Today", "Two Ragged Soldiers" and "Big Louise".

Features great work from the classic years – including "Fio Maravilha" by Jorge Ben, "Um Frevo Novo" by Caetano Veloso, "Quando O Carnaval Chegar" by Nara Leao, "Cacada" by Chico Buarque, "Esse Cara" by Maria Bethania, "Alo Alo Tai Carmen Miranda" by Elis Regina, and "Ultima Forma" by MPB4.

Very groovy solo work by the lovely Jane B – working here with a set of songs by Serge Gainsbourg, and sublime arrangements by Brit Easy/KPM maestro Alan Hawkshaw. The record's got a super-sexy sound, with a lot of whispered Frenchy tracks in a style that's similar to Serge's best work – especially on the duets that him and Jane recorded in earlier years. The songs are very cool, too, and have a dreamy spacey quality to them, with cool lyrics, as you might guess from titles like "Nicotine", "Classee X", "Apolcalypstick", and the groovy "Ex Fan Des Sixties", which is filled with dreamy references to big rock stars!

One of Oscar Brown's great ones, recorded live at the Cellar Door in Washington before an enthusiastic crowd of hipsters! The record's a beautiful mix of soul, jazz, and folk – in the same Chicago tradition that spawned Terry Callier (although Brown's style has a bit more of a "show" feel to it). There's a lot of great stuff on here, and most of it doesn't appear on Oscar's other albums in studio versions. Tracks include "Call of the City", "Muffled Drums", "Maxine", "Brother Where Are You?", and more! Backing's by a tight little combo that includes Floyd Morris and Phil Upchurch!

A brilliant late album from British tenor giant Tubby Hayes – one of his last true studio sessions, and a free-thinking album by a quartet that included Mike Pyne on piano, Ron Matthewson on bass, and Tony Levin on drums. Hayes' tenor talents are as strong as ever – imaginative and firey and with a tone that most other British players never reached – but he's also picking up some late 60s elements of freedom, and playing with his style a bit, in kind of an edgey way that creates more tension than usual for a set by Tubbs. The tracks are long and very creative original compositions – and the album's a true masterpiece that shows the wealth of talent bubbling on the UK jazz scene during the mid to late 60s. Titles include "Trenton Place", "Blues In Orbit", "Mexican Green", "Dedication To Joy", and "The Second City Steamer".

A brilliant testament to the songwriting genius of Scott Walker – and an incredibly haunting batch of original tunes, filled with images of lonely madness and unactualized emotion, all sung by one of the greatest voices of the century! The album's not a record to be taken lightly – as the Scott Walker approach to music is really over the top here – almost mini-movies in sound, pasted from scenes both epic and private – all held together by an impeccable set of arrangements! The style beautifully links Walker's older pop persona with the growing sophistication in European pop – especially from the French – and with a record like this, Scott easily matches the genius of Brel, Brassens, and Gainsbourg. All titles are originals – and titles include "Rhymes Of Goodbye", "The Old Man's Back Again", "Hero Of The War", "Boy Child", "Seventh Seal", and "On Your Own Again".

3 lost vocal gems from 50s Paris! The set pulls together some rare eps on the Barclay and Fontana labels – all the picture of Left Bank hip! The first 8 tracks are by Harold Nicholas – singing in French and English with a swinging combo on tunes that include "Que Reste-t-il De Nos Amours?", "That Old Black Magic", "Teach Me Tonight", and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" – in a style that's similar to early work by Claude Nougaro, but perhaps a bit more mellow. The next 4 tracks feature June Richmond singing with a hip group arranged by Quincy Jones – and featuring work by Billy Byers, Roger Guerin, Kenny Clarke, and Henri Renaud. Tracks on that set include "Sleep", "Everybody's Doing It", and "I've Gotta Right To Sing The Blues". The last two tracks are rare gems by Andy Bey and his sisters Salome and Geraldine – performing in the style of their classic Andy & The Bey Sisters albums in the US, and recorded in 1959, quite early in their career! Their two tracks are wonderful – and feature the trio grooving soulfully on the tunes "Smooth Sailin" and "Scoubidou".

A beautiful album of crispy cool jazz from the LA scene of the 50s – one that features the octet of Bill Perkins recorded live in Hollywood, but in a "special hi-fi theater recording" that has sound as sublime as his studio work! The group includes Perkins on tenor, Bud Shank on alto, Jack Nimitz on baritone, Stu Williamson on trumpet, Carl Fontana on trombone, Russ Freeman on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Mel Lewis on drums. The live setting takes nothing away from the perfection of the group's conception, as Perkins' leadership is impeccable, bringing together the horns in a beautiful wash of sound. Titles include "Let Me See", "Zing Zang", "For Dancers Only", "One Hundred Years From Today", "Song Of The Islands", and "As They Reveled".

Epic DJ Fontana (elvis presley's 50s-70s drummer) interview. The (pre-industrial) Wax Trax Records story – including the saga of the Jonny iii (Wax Trax house band). Czech prog-gods Plastic People Of the Universe interviewed. Little Richard is Jewish! 1950s country star Marvin Rainwater interviewed. The return, and self-destruction, of the Misfits. Flaming Lips interview. Don "Sugarcane" Harris obituary. Screaming Jay Hawkins obituary. David Lee Roth comix. 1960s psychedelic comic books explored. Interview with Gregg Gellar, master compilation producer, focusing on his "Sammy Davis Jr.-Yes I Can" box set, as well as the ins and outs of comp production. Plus Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Chuck Berry, rock & wrestling, comix and Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis Jr. as you've always imagined them!

Bassist Max Bennett displays a wonderful ear for unique phrasing and compelling small combo leadership on this set – working with a group that includes Carl Fontana on trombone, Charlie Mariano on alto, Nick Travis on trumpet, and Mel Lewis on drums! The style is a bit in the east coast chamber jazz mode of the mid 50s – but has some freer-swinging components overall, and some especially great alto solos from Mariano, whose playing on the record is worth the price of admission alone! Max has a really great ear for leading the group – a slightly whimsical way at times, but never in a way that's too gimmicky or academic. Titles include "Ira Of The IRA", "Johnny Jaguar", "Max Is The Factor", "13 Toes", and "Something To Remember You By".

A damn legendary record from the last years of Chess Records – and for good reason, too! Archie Whitewater were a group that was years ahead of its time – a rock combo, but one with real genre-crossing sensibilities that made them perfect for the experimental styles at the Cadet/Concept side of Chess – the same slice of the musical universe that gave us Rotary Connection and important productions from Charles Stepney! The sound here has some surprisingly soulful elements at times – especially the instrumentation, which features some great break moments that get nice and funky, and strands of soulful jazz and blues that really make the music way different than most other groups we can think of – or maybe a bit like a rare elite who shared such visionary territory with Archie Whitewater, such as Shades Of Joy on their first Fontana record. The keyboards and sax lines are as great as the drums – and the vocals have a melancholy undercurrent that's a really refreshing change from some of the overly-postured modes you'd get from other groups in 1970. Titles include the sublime sample cut "Cross Country" – but there's loads of other nice ones with the same stripped-down "Dusty Fingers" sort of groove – and other titles include "Life Is A River", "Home Again", "Lament For The Walking Dead", "Seacoast", "Country To the City", "Friends & Neighbors", and "Mist Of The Early Morning".

Two rare ones from the 60s London jazz scene – back to back on a single CD! First up is a tremendous little record – a rare meeting between Ellington tenorist Paul Gonsalves and Brit reed genius Tubby Hayes – a set that's cut very much in the best spirit of some of Hayes' free-thinking classics on Fontana Records! The grooves are open, and beautifully-executed – and both sax players sound sublime – Gonsalves with that raspy tone that you'll know from Ellington dates, but cut loose much more here – and Hayes with that powerful sense of depth that's always made him one of our favorite saxophonists! The rest of the group is quite nice too – and players include Stan Tracey on piano, Jimmy Deuchar on trumpet, and Keith Christie on trombone. Titles include "Tupa", "Amber Mood", "Pedro's Walk", "Baby Blue", "Mini Minor", and "Souraya". Johnny Scott takes over the CD on the second half – turning in an EMI Studio 2 classic with London Swings – a date that's done with largeish charts, but a great sense of rhythm throughout! The players in clude Ian Hamer and Ray Davies on trumpets, Ronnie Ross and Duncan Lamont on saxes, John Marson on harp, Don Lusher on trombone, and Alan Branscombe on piano – and the tunes offer up a cascading mix of large charts and individual instrumental voices, occasionally filled in by a bit of strings. Titles include "London By Night", "Greek Street Soho", "Let's All Go Down To The Strand", "Chelsea Bridge", and "Knocked Em In The Old Kent Road".

Incredible work from one of the most overlooked players of the British scene of the 60s – trumpeter Ian Hamer, best known for his studio sessions and large group apperances – heard here in an assortment of breathtaking small group recordings! The tunes on the 2CD set are from 5 different recordings between the years 1966 and 1974 – and feature Hamer working with players that include saxophonists Dick Morrissey, Tubby Hayes, and Alan Skidmore, plus pianists Harry South and Alan Branscombe, the latter of whom plays some electric keys on the set as well! Things start off in tight formation – almost a post-Tempo kind of British jazz groove, with strong ensemble passages that break out into some well spirited solo work – especially that of Morrissey, who's on these earliest sides. Then, things get more modern and progressive – as Hayes joins Hamer for three dates – on tracks that open up with the same exploratory and modern quality as Hayes' best work for Fontana in his later years. On the later dates, there's slight hints of some of the modes being explored in the Landsdowne scene – not that the music is actually progressive jazz, but that it grooves along with some more soul-based rhythms, and a sometimes freer sense of improvisation. And although the cover makes the music look to be of 50s Brit jazz vintage, there's an increasingly open sound here as the set moves on – offering a much needed look at a player that we never knew went this far! The set's got some great notes – and features 21 titles that include "Freakin Out", "Corpus", "Tobago", "Hamer-Philia", "This Is For Albert", "Daffodils Are Yellow", "Greenwell's Glory", "Mini Minor", "Acropolis", "Sienna Red", and "Conversations At Dawn".

Three hip European jazz talents from the 70s – all working here in rare performances from the Jazz Live Trio! The first half of the set features wonderful vocals from Karin Krog – very open and free, at a level that's right up there with her hippest studio sides of the 70s – although maybe not as totally abstract as some of the mellower ones – and instead very far-reaching and experimental, in ways that make this recording one of her most striking of the time! The group's driven by great piano from Klaus Koenig – and titles include "Fontana Barberini", "Sing Me Softly Of The Blues", "Nightmare", and "Lament". Next is a different set of vocals from Miriam Klein – an overlooked German singer from the time, and one with a voice that has a lot of Billie Holiday elements overall. The small group setting is perfect for the mood of the material – and for Klein's presentation – and titles include "Little Waltz", "Come Rain Come Shine", "I Love My Man", and "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen". And last, but not least, trumpeter Enrico Rava really takes off – blowing on a long "Improvised Sequence" with the trio – stretching out for 15 minutes, and hitting some of his best bold tones of the time!

One of the best live jam sessions on MPS – a really freewheeling performance, filled with an assemblage of all star players! As the title indicates, the set was recorded live in Colorado in the early 70s – and all titles here are quite long, quite lively, and filled with great solo space – taken strong advantage of by some of the best players here, some of whom didn't get to record in this format much at the time. There's a mostly swing-based style going on here, but there's also a bit of bop as well, depending on the players on each track. Players work in various groupings, and artists include Carl Fontana, Kai Windingk, Urbie Green, and Trummy Young on trombone; Zoot Sims, James Moody, and Flip Phillips on tenor; Victor Feldman and Dick Hyman on piano; Budd Johnson on baritone and soprano sax; and Mousie Alexander and Alan Dawson on drums. Titles include "The Hymn", "On The Trail", "Just Squeeze Me", "Oleo", "Emily", "Undecided", and "Lover Come Back To Me".

Excellent vocal jazz from postwar Paris! The Blue Stars were a legendary combo that were led by Blossom Dearie, and which featured a host of great vocal talents that would later go onto form groups like Les Double Six or The Swingle Singers, including Mimi Perrin and Christine Legrand, as well as instrumental jazz artists like Fats Sadi and Roger Guerin, who are doing some rare vocalization here. The first 4 tracks on the set are pulled from a 1956 ep – and it features the group on the tracks "Jumpin At The Woodside", "C'est La Vie", "Broadway At Basin Street", and "Grapevine". The next 12 tracks are from the Pardon My English LP – which has the group down to a sextet, working without Dearie, in a groovy accented English vocal style that's a direct precursor of the vocalese grooving of Les Double Six. Titles on that set include "Small Talk", "Move", "Did You Close Your Eyes?", and "Promises & Lies". The last 3 tracks on the set are a bit different – featuring vocals and guitar by Henri Salvador, with backing on bass and drums. The style of Salvador's work is still similar, though – way more vocalese than the "blues" in the title would make you expect – and the tracks are lifted from a rare Fontana ep-only release that was recorded in the same year. Titles include "Don't Blame Me", "Salvador Plays The Blues", and "Stompin At The Savoy".

One of the hippest Italian soundtracks of the 60s – and a motherlode of tracks by the great Piero Piccioni! The soundtrack is the source of the oft-compiled "Mr Dante Fontana", a nutty groover about the mod fashion scene in Italy – and it also features the famous tracks "Richmond Bridge" and "You Never Told Me". Most of the music is by Piccioni and the wonderful vocal group I Cantori Moderni, with Edda Dell'Orso on vocals – but the CD also features some work by Lydia Mac Donald, Julie Rogers, and Ennio Morricone. Includes a few versions of the "Fontana" and "Richmond", plus "Ascot Dream", "Magic Castle", "Tango Walk", "Drag Beat", "This Is Life", "Palace Parade March", "Babylon, I'm Coming", and "His Dream Has Come True". Very groovy – with loads of excellent material, and 27 cuts in all!

The Easy Tempo groove is wider than ever here – still plenty funky, but also jazzy and groovy too – with some mod 60s influences filtering into the mix, and even a bit of vocals too! As always, the style is heavy on Italian soundtrack modes – that great blend of bossa, jazz, and other elements that graced so many cinematic excursions of the period – and which have been beautifully re-presented by Easy Tempo over the course of their excellent series. Set features titles that include "Sweden" by Tito Fontana, "Caccia Al Ladro" by Armando Trovajoli, "Tap 5" by Ettore Ballotta, "Notte In Allegria" by Piero Umiliani, "Golden Gate Bridge" by Riz Ortolani, "Gangster Song" by Piero Umiliani, "Ebony Ride" by Piero Piccioni, "Gordon Blues" by Francesco De Masi, "Concerto Blues" by Gianni Ferrio, and "Glad" by Lou Stein Trio.

A great CD that brings together 2 rare albums by Yugoslavian trumpter Dusko Goykovich! The International Jazz Octet album features Goykovich leading an all-star group that includes players that would later become partners in the Clarke Boland Big Band – like Kenny Clarke, Francy Boland, Karl Drewo, and Derek Humble! Francy Boland handled the arrangements – and in a way, this one sounds a lot like some of the classic MPS work of the CBBB from the 60s. There's a nice hard groove on most tracks, with sweet soloing by Dusko on the ballads – and titles include "To Je Sve (That's All", "La Campimania", "Doo Doosh", and "Mr. X". Belgrade Blues is a rare 1966 session that features Goykovich leading a sextet comprised of musicians who were playing in Woody Herman's mid 60s group – Nat Pierce, Ronnie Zito, Sal Nistico, Carl Fontana, and Mike Moore – and on this open-ended hardbop set, the group are given a lot more room to solo than they might on some of Herman's albums from the time. The solos of Nistico are especially great – well-crafted, and sharply edged in a way that matches Goykovich's firey trumpet work. Titles include "Wee", "Belgrade Blues", and "Be My Love".

An incredible amount of classic and obscure film music, original compositions, orchestral arrangements and more from maestro Ennio Morricone – a 15CD retrospective, and at a stunningly affordable price – selected by the man himself! We wouldn't assume that the set is literally the complete Morricone, he's been so productive, it's hard to imagine that a true complete Morricone box set is possible, but it's absolutely the most encompassing set we've ever seen for him! Of course he's most famous for his international film score work, from cult horror to classic Hollywood – so 9 of the 15 discs are film themes and score material, selected by Morricone and sequenced chronology on discs 1-9, selections including the themes or other bits from Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo, Escalation, Galileo, Gli Intoccabili, Slalom, Svegliati E Uccidi, Metti Una Sera A Cena, Veruschka, La Donna Della Domenica, Copkiller, Malena, and so much more! Discs 10 & 11 cover his best work for television, disc 12 is a set of Ennio's contemporary classical compositions, disc 13 features favorite original songs he composed for a wide range of international artists, disc 14 includes favorite orchestral arrangements, and disc 15 features arrangements he did for hit songs by artists such as Gino Paoli, Donatella Moretti, Paul Anka, Jimmy Fontana and others.