A groovy Les Baxter album from the pre-exotica years – a set that showcases all the lively, jaunty styles that Les brought to his initial instrumental run on Capitol Records! The mix of sounds is as colorful as the title might imply – some Latin modes, wordless vocal passages, and plenty of instrumental tricks – even a bit of whistling at times, which comes across in this mighty cool way – as Baxter and crew turn out their own version of famous European instrumentals, zinged up in this groovy late 50s California mode! Titles include "Love Begins", "La Panse", "Love Theme From Farewell To Arms", "The Lonely Whistler", "Heartstring Melody", and "Ricordante Marcellino". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest records ever issued by Sidiku Buari – the Ghanian musician who also recorded just as Buari – stepping out here in a very unusual performance recorded live at a club in New York at the end of the 70s! Side one begins with this great crowd frenzy and very cool energy as Buari's group take off running – mixing West African modes with more American boogie and funk elements – in a blend that has lots of riffing guitar and some especially groovy keyboard parts! Side two features studio material, but still pretty darn great – and maybe touched with a slight inspiration from Jamaica in some of the dubbier rhythms. There's some nicely weird sounds that are a bit hard to identify, and which cut against some of the sweeter vocal moments – on titles that include "Together We Can Rebuild It", "Revolution", "Keep The Rhythm Going", "Ofey Karambani", "This Is Music", and "Disco Soccer". LP, Vinyl record album

Very obscure sounds from a very obscure Italian crime film of the 70s – issued here for the first time ever! The music has a great vibe – slinky, but also a bit offbeat – with some of those odd tunings of the piano that you might hear in an Ennio Morricone score when he was still keeping things groovy, but wanting to set a nice edge – spun out nicely here amidst some gentle strings and other unusual sounds! The whole thing's great – a real lost treasure that finally sees the light of day – with titles that include "Lo Spinello", "In Discoteca", "Overdose", "L'Inseguimento Finale", "Nel Vecchio Mulino", "Titoli Di Coda", "La Droga Uccide", and "L'Agguato Al Corriere". LP, Vinyl record album

Duke Ellington and Mary Poppins? Sounds like a terrible combination – but it's actually pretty darn great! You see, the key words in the title are "plays with" – as Duke takes the core score of the film and, working with Billy Strayhorn, comes up with some groovy little tunes that really depart from the originals – and become perfect backdrops for the modern Ellington genius of the 60s. Solo work on the set is by Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Cootie Williams, and Harry Carney – and overall, the album's got that nice punchy feel of Ellington's other Reprise sides – and makes especially nice use of the modal quality of some of the tunes from the film. Titles include "Jolly Holiday", "The Life I Lead", "I Love To Laugh", "Stay Awake", "Chim Chim Cheree", and "Feed The Birds". LP, Vinyl record album

Not the only time that Ella Fitzgerald recorded at the legendary Hollywood Bowl – but a fantastic unreleased set that has the singer serving up a stunning live version of her Irving Berlin Songbook material! The set features backings by Paul Weston, who'd handled the original record – who sounds far more groovy and swinging than on his own albums of the 50s, which were mostly mellower mood music. Instead, he does a great job of bringing out all the vibrancy in these songs – which got a tremendous update for a new generation on Ella's studio album, but sound maybe even more personal and powerful here. Titles include "Supper Time", "Heat Wave", "The Song Is Ended", "Cheek To Cheek", "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm", "Let's Face The Music & Dance", "Let Yourself Go", and "Puttin On The Ritz". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those unusual litle records on the Ampex label at the start of the 70s – a groovy rock group with a nice current of soul in the instrumentation – almost a Muscle Shoals sort of vibe – topped with nice vocals from Carol Breval, who's got this deep vibe that sounds nice next to the Hammond and horns! LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing music for the Alejandro Jodorowsky film The Holy Mountain – even more compelling and complex than his sounds for El Topo! The score is a wonderful mix of earthy, organic elements and a few more composed and equally groovy parts – handled by Jodorowsky in collaboration with trumpeter Don Cherry and pop producer/arranger Ron Frangipane! Some of the work has the hypnotic blend of global elements you'll find in Cherry's recordings of the time – particularly his groundbreaking early 70s work in Sweden – and although Frangipane brings in some bigger, fuller charts, he always does so with a sense of irony, and this undercurrent of darkness that continues to link his sounds with those of Cherry. The double-length score is a wonder throughout – maybe Jodorowsky's highest musical moment – and titles include "Psychedelic Weapons", "Rainbow Room", "Alchemical Room", "Mattresses Masks & Pearls", "City Of Freedom", "Starfish", and "Violence Of The Lambs". LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy 70s sounds from the fab vocal arranger – with keyboards by David Briggs, bass from Tommy Cogbill, and a touch of steel guitar from Robert Seymour – on titles that include "I'll Play For You", "At Seventeen", "I Love", "Every Time You Touch Me I Get High", "Love Will Keep Us Together", "The Masterpiece", and "Your Love's Return". LP, Vinyl record album

Weird 60s pop from Sweden! Singer Lill Lindfors is best known for her bossa nova work – which you'll hear here on a number of groovy tunes – but she's also a great singer with an icy voice that sounds cool on the album's non-Brazilian tunes, a melange of European numbers and jazzy bits, done in a swinging style that features some great 60s pop styles and occasional jazz arrangements. Includes a great version of "Upa Neguinho", sung in Swedish – plus the tracks "Boink", "Mitt Lilla Fejs", "Alskar Du Mej Ocksa Nar Du Vaknar", and "Bara Ord". LP, Vinyl record album

Acid rocky moogy stuff! The record's one of those "let's do a lot of pop covers on the moog" – and it features moogy updates of 60's tunes like "Get Back", "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Feelin' Groovy", "Yummy Yummy Yummy", and "Time of the Season", which sounds the best of all the tracks. Russ Barnard put the whole thing together, and it's got a very groovy sound! LP, Vinyl record album

A killer set from percussionist Anthony Reebop Kwaku Bah – one done with the same sort of genre-crossing vibe as some of his work with the hipper members of the British rock scene – but at a level that's even cooler and groovier than his album for Island around the same time! The set's more of a jazz outing overall – and Reebop's tight skills are matched with a host of Swedish musicians – a lineup that includes Maffy Falay on trumpet, Ulf Andersson on tenor and flute, Bobo Stenson on electric piano, Jan Schaffer on guitar, and Rune Carlsson on drums! Tracks are long, and very groovy – often a bit of funk mixed with freer, more expressive passages – not unlike some of Don Cherry's experiments on the same scene at the time! Schaffer's guitar gets some good placement, and sounds even better here than usual – on cuts that include "Funkum", "Kwaku's Thing", "Africa", "Lovin You Baby", and "200 To 500 Years Ago". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful record that's every bit as great as you might expect from the title – a baroque take on the music of Burt Bacharach, and one that's served up with some groovy scatting vocals too! The approach is a bit like that of the Swingle Singers, but a bit more American too – mixed male and female vocals scatting wordlessly to some of Burt Bacharach's greatest tunes – always with a jazzy feel, and usually backed with some cool electric harpsichord, which totally sounds great! The mighty Al Capps handled arrangements – and it's clearly his genius that got this whole thing sounding so wonderful – but the mighty Snuff Garrett produced, and deserves a tip of the hat too. Titles include "The Look Of Love", "What The World Needs Now", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", and "Close To You". LP, Vinyl record album

Definitely a set to make you hallucinate – as the grooves are quite groovy, but in a really trippy way! The album's a bit like the classic Psicodelico set by Luiz Carlos Vinhas – a mix of older samba modes and wigged-out 60s sounds – sometimes odd production, sometimes offbeat instrumentation – really running through a variety of different sounds as the album moves on, almost with a party sort of feel! Some numbers have female vocals – used almost in a Brasil 66 way at points, or in a solo bossa diva mode at others – and the few instrumental tunes take nice advantage of the group's soulful piano, guitar, sax, and trombone. Titles include "Somos Todos Irmaos", "Poema Ritmico Do Malandro", "Sou Feliz Aqui", "Isn't A Dream", "Adeus Amor", "Hert", and "Bye Bye". LP, Vinyl record album

Those are some pretty crabby ladies on the front covers – workers for the Jugoton label, working on quality control – but they're probably not the right audience for the music on this set, which is very cool and groovy – and not the sort that would usually go for the blue-haired set! As you'll guess from the title, the sounds were all created in the 80s – partly following off the British electronic modes of the post-punk years, in both cold wave and new wave styles – then moving into some of the shifting styles as the decade moved on, although still often nicely not really in any sort of too-commercial territory! Given the wealth of Croatian, Serbian, and other talents handled by the label, there's a huge amount going on here – as you'll discover on titles that include "Ti I Ja" by Denis & Denis, "Pocket" by Master Scratch Band, "Kad Je Kraj Blizu" by Parliament, "Palcica" by Mato Dosen & HC Andersen, "On" by Zana, "Devica 69" by Laboratorija, "Zaba" by D'Boys, "Radio Video" by Nicky, and "Harakiri" by Dubravka – plus some short "Jugoton Express" tracks. LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to imagine the scene at Studio 54 in the Soviet scene of the late 70s – but, as with most of the world at the time, the USSR managed to pick up more than a few influences from the disco years in America – a range of sounds that it held on to for longer than the bit club years back home! At some level, the music here is maybe more electro pop, of the sort that other European nations were starting to cut in the mid 70s – playful tunes that have lots of keyboards and other electric elements, used in ways that make the catchy Russian lyrics even more groovy than they might sound otherwise! The package brings together tracks from Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and other Soviet republics – on titles that include "Hatawka" by Pervouraslk, "Vienmer But" by Mirdza Zivere, "Noktirne" by Eolika, "Penka" by Formula Dreyka, "Polet" by Verasy, "Azinas Sokis" by Janina Misciukaite, and "Paccbetaet" by Raduga. LP, Vinyl record album

The third volume in this very groovy series takes a distinct Brazilian turn – and opens up into a sparkling set of bossa jammers and hard jazzy numbers that are extremely well-selected for the set! Not all the tracks are Brazilian in origin, but they are all hard to find – and the groove's extremely solid throughout! Tracks include "Quo Vadis Samba" by Goykovic-Novacek, "Carcara" by Tempo Trio, "Tim Dom Dom" by Joao Donato, "Jangal" by Dom Um Romao, "Batucada Sergiu" by Luis Carlos Vinhas, "Grand Nite For Swinging" by Mary Lou Williams, "Consolacao" by Larry Willis, "Influencia Do Jazz" by Bossa Tres, "Mudei De Idea" by Osmar Milito, "Un Sabor Latino" by Ricardo Marrero, "Cobranca" by Carlos Penha, and "Tema Pro Lins" by Rosinha De Valencia. Lots more, too! LP, Vinyl record album