A really unusual soundtrack from the mighty Lalo Schifrin – and one that seems to show off all of his best modes in its shifting range of styles! The film is a somewhat understated story set on the streets of New York – and the music often takes on the same sort of vibe – with some beautiful melodic passages that are quite different than Lalo's big hits of the 60s. But then there's also some beautiful orchestra moments too – with these arrangements that are complicated, yet sparkling – that sophisticated charm that always put Schifrin ahead of the pack! And then Lalo even opens up with a few funkier tracks that recall his electric jazz albums of the late 70s for the CTI label – fuller groovers that are showcased on the two longest tracks – "Hey Nunzio" and "Candy Store Frenzy". Other titles include "Sad Nunzio", "Superspeed", "To The Rescue", "Only A Memory", "Nunzio In Love", "Goodnights My Little One", and "Flying Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Prime symphonic disco from the mighty John Davis and his well-named Monster Orchestra! The set's got a dramatic flourish that still mixes in plenty of live instrumentation – including keyboards and flute from John, plus some nice congas from Larry Washington! John sings lead vocals on most cuts, but uses some cool processing to kind of space out the sound – making for a compressed and flanged-out sound that's poppy, but really compelling. And although the whole thing sounds hokey, the quality of the grooves is actually pretty great from an instrumental standpoint. Titles include "Once Upon A Time", "We Can Fly", "Up Jumped The Devil", "You Gotta Give It Up", "You're The One", "The Magic Is You", and "Recapitulation". LP, Vinyl record album

Don't be put off by the late date of the session, because this is an excellent album from McCoy Tyner – and one with a very spiritual groove that's clearly inherited from Coltrane! The album's based around longer compositions arranged by Tyner, and orchestrated by the great William S Fischer – with lead solos by Hubert Laws on flutes and McCoy on piano, over soaring searching backings that push onward with the same kind of soulful sound as some of Tyner's earlier Blue Note albums. Fischer, as always, manages to balance complexity with straight-ahead grooving – and the clean sound of the album is a surprise throughout! Titles include "Salvadore De Samba", "Beyond The Sun", "Fly With The Wind", and "Rolem". LP, Vinyl record album

Very weird soundtrack to this spooky 70s film starring Peter Boyle! Bobby Scott did the score, and it's hipper than most of his other stuff – with a mixture of jazz, groovy, and straight orchestral scoring. Jerry Butler sings vocals on the tracks "Where Are You Going?" and "You Can Fly", which is a killer 11 minute workout with hard soulful drums, a tight driving groove, and lots of funky changes! Exuma sings on the cut "You Don't Know What's Going On", and other tunes include "Compton's Hangout", "The Expiration Of Frank", and "Send The Hippies To Hell". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Duke's most popular albums of the 50s – but we won't hold that against him! The session's one of a number of 50s outings that revisit older classics with the new level of quality offered in the studio – and it's got a similar feel to some of Duke's work for Bethlehem around the same time, which was also done by producer Gus Wildi – tight, but never too facile – and a perfect demonstration of the great balance the Ellington orchestra had at the time. The group includes key players Ray Nance, Cat Anderson, Clark Terry, Juan Tizol, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, and Jimmy Hamilton – and titles include "Black & Tan Fantasy", "Rockin In Rhythm", "Flying Home", "Happy Go Lucky Local", and "In The Mood". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare Decca album lead by the smoky vocals of Beverly Kenney – a really unique late 50s/early 60s jazz girl who once worked for the Dorsey brothers, the Count Basie Orchestra and others, and only ever cut a handful of albums under her own name! Sings for Playboys is an intimate, sultry batch of tunes that have a really unique feel thanks to the super spare accompaniment of just Ellis Larkins on piano and Joe Benjamin on bass. That approach does a great job of transforming your senses to the smoky, boozy after hours cabaret that must have been in mind when the recordings were conceived. The album only ever appeared briefly in the late 50s (possibly because of the unauthorized and quite obvious reference to Playboy Magazine in the title and in the cover photo) but it's sure great to see it reappear – they didn't make a lot records like this in the big band dominated recordings of the era! 12 tracks including "Do It Again", "A Woman's Intuition", "Mama, Do I Gotta?", "A Lover Like You", "A Summer Romance", "It's Magic", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A compilation of Wes' sides for the Riverside label, pulled together when the imprint was briefly owned by ABC at the end of the 60s. The set is a hodge podge of cuts from quite a few previous albums, and includes live material, sessions where Montgomery was a sideman, orchestral backings, a guitar solo and some tight small group work, with a host of great sidemen that include Mel Rhyne, Nat Adderley, Louis Hayes, Harold Land, Tommy Flanagan, the Heath brothers, the Montgomery brothers, Milt Jackson, Johnny Griffin and Wynton Kelly among others. 9 numbers in all, including "Whisper Not", "MeanTo Me", "West Coast Blues", "While We're Young", "Mr Walker", "Love For Sale", "Stairway To The Stars",'Cariba" and "Tune Up". LP, Vinyl record album

A delightful little jukebox EP from one of Sinatra's greatest records ever – pure genius all the way through! Frank's backed here by the orchestra of Count Basie, with some incredible arrangements by Quincy Jones that really have a jazzy, syncopated kick to them. The move seems to be an unintentional way of covering for Frank's slightly failing pipes – but it also picks up on a seminal beat change in 60s pop, the same sort of gentle snapping groove that you'd find in the best work by Bacharach, a shift that really infuses Frank's vocals with a whole new sound, one that shows that he's ready to keep on growing and growing after being stuck in a Nelson Riddle rut. All tracks are superb – hip 60s pop and showtunes, like "Fly Me To the Moon", "More", "The Good Life", and "I Wanna Be Around". 7-inch, Vinyl record

A groovy mix of zither and 60s orchestrations – on tunes that include "Take Five", "Hard Days Night", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "Fly Me To The Moon", and "Girl From Ipanema". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few cases in the history of pop music where the record is worth all the hype! Marvin blew everyone's mind when he unleashed this amazing suite of political soul tunes – not only just because he'd moved past the simple love songs of earlier years, but also because he was working with an amazingly complicated approach to soul music, one that would touch the work of others for years to come. David Van DePitte arranged and conducted the whole album – with soaring orchestrations mixed with smooth modern soul, in a style that reminds us a lot of the work of Charles Stepney at Cadet, who'd been doing this sort of thing for years but with less success. In the hands of Marvin Gaye, though, the material has an amazing quality – and all the disparate elements of the album are fused together in one powerful message by Marvin's incredible voice. One that we never tire of, and a record to be listened to all the way through every time. Titles include "What's Goin On", "Save The Children", "Flyin High (In The Friendly Sky)", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)". LP, Vinyl record album

A gospel set, but one with plenty of 80s soul touches too – sung by this cool female group who remind us a lot of The Clark Sisters, especially in the way they can crossover with their sound! The themes are spiritual, but the tunes are mighty soulful – orchestrated with styles that are more 80s modern soul than gospel – nice and warm, and really never overdone. Titles include "Sunshine", "Behold", "I'll Fly Away", "Can't You See The Light", and "One Always". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer set from the legendary De Wolfe sound library of the 70s – a record that's got all the badass cop/crime vibe you'd expect from its shooting gallery target on the cover! The tracks are nice and lean – cop show funk, but without fuller orchestrations – so that you can really concentrate on the funky drums, basslines, guitar riffs, and keyboard parts – plus some occasional moogy moments that spice things up in a mighty nice way! The whole thing's great – maybe as strong as any of the classic crime soundtracks of the 70s – and the set features 20 titles that include "Flying Squad", "Bank Job", "Slow Fuse", "Moving Target", "Dragster", "Night Moves", "Mind's Eye", "Smash & Grab", "Fast Mover", "Prowler", "Route 67", and "Easy Drive". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Sinatra's greatest records ever – pure genius all the way through! Frank's backed here by the orchestra of Count Basie, with some incredible arrangements by Quincy Jones that really have a jazzy, syncopated kick to them. The move seems to be an unintentional way of covering for Frank's slightly failing pipes – but it also picks up on a seminal beat change in 60s pop, the same sort of gentle snapping groove that you'd find in the best work by Bacharach, a shift that really infuses Frank's vocals with a whole new sound, one that shows that he's ready to keep on growing and growing after being stuck in a Nelson Riddle rut. All tracks are superb – hip 60s pop and showtunes, like "I Believe In You", "Fly Me To the Moon", "More", "The Good Life", "Wives & Lovers", and "I Wanna Be Around". LP, Vinyl record album