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One of the most excellent records ever on Prestige, and one of our favorite LPs ever! The great reed player George Braith lays down a set of moody dark tracks with backing by a group that includes a lot of percussion, electric guitar, electric bass, and, on one track, backing by a choir of female voices. Braith get's an excellent sound from his assortment of horns (C-melody sax, alto, and soprano), and his playing here is unlike that on any of his other records (although all of those are great as well!) He's moved past the Roland Kirk vibe he had, and isn't playing that funky. Instead, he's got this great moody sound, with a really searching quality to his solos, and an emotional tone throughout. The set is filled with incredible tracks that have a nice laidback groove, assorted percussion, and haunting edgey solos by Braith. Cuts include "Del's Theme", "Musart", "Evelyn Anita", and "Splashes Of Love".

One of the most wonderful albums by one of our favorite jazz artists of all time! For this unique session, George Braith offers up "two souls in one" – by playing both soprano sax and "stritch" simultaneously – in a two-reed mode that recalls the work of Roland Kirk during the 60s! The sound is incredible – as soulful as it is exotic – and matched here by some excellent backing that includes Grant Green on guitar, Donald Bailey on drums, and Billy Gardner on organ! Gardner's work on the set is especially nice – with a Larry Young-ish free approach to the organ, one that makes for lots of modal grooves that really work perfectly with Braith's sound! Titles include "Braith-A-Way", "Mary Ann", and "Home Street".

An all-star group – featuring John SCOfield, Joe LOvano, Dave HOlland, and Al FOster, hence the unusual name of the ensemble – all grooving in an angular mode that recalls the current Blue Note sound at its freshest. Lovano's edgey tenor and soprano work really make the session hold together nicely, as he's got a tone here that almost reminds us of George Braith back in the days when he was recording for Blue Note himself – especially on some of his organ-based sessions. Scofield's guitar is in that cleaner, leaner sound he's using these days – which is a good match for Foster's spare work on rhythm. Titles include "Oh", "Right About Now", "Brandyn", "Faces", "Oh I See", "In Your Arms", and "Shorter Form".

A very groovy selection of tracks from the New York scene of the 60s – mostly tunes pulled from the Prestige and Milestone labels, and a mixture of soul jazz, modal jazz, and early funky jazz! The package features 13 tracks in all – with plenty rare numbers – and titles that include "Cantaloupe Woman" by George Braith, "The Village Caller" by Johnny Lytle, "Ca'Purange (Jungle Soul)" by Gene Ammons, "Love Theme From Spartacus" by Yusef Lateef, "Brother John" by Cannonball Adderley, "Muscle Soul" by Phil Upchurch, "Eastern Blues" by Gary Bartz, and the completely fantastic "Nuther'n Like Thuther'n" by Willis Jackson – worth the price of the CD alone!

A great little album from Roy Ayers' early years with Polygram – often overlooked amidst some of the bigger records in the catalog, but a very soulful set that's got some wonderful funky numbers! There's a really jazzy feel going on here – Roy's nod back to his older roots in music, touched with some of the sharper styles of the 70s generations – especially in the rhythms, which are starting to have that snapping sound that was the Ayers trademark in the 70s. Vibes ring out wonderfully throughout – often getting more space than vocals – and other instrumentation includes soprano sax from George Braith, keyboards from Harry Whitaker and Leon Pendarvis, and drums from Bernard Purdie. Bits of strings slide in nicely, showing a deeper sound to Roy's arranging skills – and titles include the funky break classic "The Boogie Back", a sweet reading of "Feel Like Makin' Love", with all the right electric effects to get the best out of the song's mellow righteous vibe – and the great cuts "Fishika", "Sensitize", "Don't You Worry Bout A Thing", "When is Real Real?", and "Change Up The Groove".

A great little overlooked session of large group work from George Romanis – really noteworthy for some incredible solo work from a variety of top-shelf players! At first glance, the record appears to be nothing fancy – versions of work by Gershwin, Ellington, Cole Porter, and Rodgers & Hart – but Romanis puts the whole thing together with some great Kenton-like touches – really using the whole group to best effect to color in the fullest spectrum of sound on the tunes, yet also allowing a lot of space for players like Eddie Bert, Jerome Richardson, Al Cohn Joe Venuto, and Barry Galbraith the room to solo. The overall ensemble is not that large – about 10 players at most – and the way they work together here is really incredible. Titles include "Too Darn Hot", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "Love Walked In", "Bewitched", "Solitude", and "Mood Indigo".

Some great 50s work from modernist George Russell – an expanded version of his work for the RCA label at the time! The first 12 tracks, plus 2 alternates, are from the Jazz Workshop album issued under Russell's name for RCA – A nice little set that's not as arch-modern as some of his later work, with strong playing in kind of that east coast chamber jazz mode that you'd find in some of the other RCA sides of the time. Players include Art Farmer, Hal McKusick, Bill Evans, Barry Galbraith, and Joe Harris – and the tracks are mostly originals, written with slight touches of whimsy, but less of the indulgence on that front as you'd hear on west coast material. Titles include "Witch Hunt", "The Sad Sargeant", "Ballad Of Hix Blewitt", "Knights of The Steamtable", "Jack's Blues", and "Night Sound". Added to these 14 tracks are an additional 4 from the Hal McKusick Jazz Workshop album on RCA – all tunes penned by Russell, and played by a group that's essentially the same as those on Russell's album, with a few slight personnel shifts. Titles include "Lydian Lullaby", "Miss Clara", and "The Day John Brown Was Hanged".

Perhaps the best-known (and arguably the best) record by Paul Quinchette, and an album that brings his rich tenor solo style into contact with a very tight, very swinging batch of arrangments by a young Quincy Jones. Quincy's got an all-star batch of players backing up Q, including Sam Most, Charles Thompson, Paul Chambers, and Barry Galbraith – plus players like Willie Rodriguez and Manny Oquendo, who bring some added Latin percussion to the session. The tracks are short, but with a very open approach to soloing, and although Quinchette's in the lead, some of the other players get their licks in quite a bit. Titles include "Pablo's Roonie", "Shorty George", "Grasshopper", and "Tropical Intrigue".