A really unique little record – one that has Louis Armstrong playing and telling the story of his music! CD

Louis Armstrong on trumpet & vocal with Yank Lawson on trumpet, Jack Teagarden & Trummy Young on trombone, Barney Bigard & Edmond Hall on clarinet, George Dorsey & Hilton Jefferson on alto saxophone, Bud Freeman, Seldon Powell & Lucky Thompson on tenor saxophone, Dave McRae on baritone saxophone, bass clarinet & bass saxophone, Dick Cary, Earl Hines & Billy Kyle on piano, Everett Barksdal & George Barnes on guitar, Squire Gersh & Arvell Shaw on bass, Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, Barrett Deems & Kenny John on drums & Velma Middleton on vocals. CD

Tracks include "Chicago Breakdown", "West End Blues", "Beau Koo Jack", "Basin Street Blues", "Knee Drops", "St. James Infirmary" and "Muggles" – 18 tracks in all. CD

On Great Summit Duke joins the combo of Louis Armstrong on piano – a group that includes Trummy Young on trombone and Barney Bigard on clarinet! We've always loved Duke Ellington's soundtracks, and Paris Blues is one of his best! The score is a moody introspective one, written for a 1961 film that starred Paul Newman as a frustrated jazz musician living in Paris. The "Paris Blues" theme is a dark, somber composition that is supposedly Newman's masterpiece as a jazz writer – and it works beautifully with the film's themes of frustration and unfulfilled desire. Ellington's at his best here, and apart from the main theme, the score also has great versions of classics like "Mood Indigo" and "Take The A Train", plus originals like "Nite", "Wild Man Moore", "Guitar Amour", and "Paris Stairs". Also features Louis Armstrong on one track! CD

Includes music by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band and the Red Onion Jazz Babies and features Johnny Dodds, Baby Dodds, and Sidney Bechet. 25 tracks total. CD

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The first-ever full length collection of work by Calvin Arnold – a killer 60s soul singer and guitarist, and one who cut some classic funky 45s back in the day, but never got a chance to record an album! All the material here came out on the Venture label – a small label, but one that got great circulation at the time – which helped Calvin's strong style get into more record collections than you might expect! Arnold's a great singer, with a raw southern style – and the use of guitar here really underscores all the best elements in his voice, as does the lean backings, which often have nice drums! The style here kind of takes off where Otis Redding's "Hard To Handle" began – strong praise in our book – and titles include "Snatchin Back", "Funky Way", "Scoobie Doo", "Mini Skirt, "Fool Me Baby", "Lovely Way To Go", "Just A Matter Of Time", "Messin With The Old Folks Home", "Your Love Is Too Much", and "You Got To Live For Yourself". CD

A lost fusion classic from the early 70s – one of the only records cut under the leadership of drummer Horacee Arnold, but a heck of a great little set with a soaringly righteous sound! The style here is plenty full-on, but a bit less rock-leaning than some of the other Columbia fusion of the period – thanks to a spacious vision on Arnold's part, and the inclusion of a fair bit of sounds from world music. Players on the set include Art Webb on flute, Sonny Fortune on soprano sax, John Abercrombie on guitar, David Friedman on vibes and marimba, Dom Um Romao on percussion, and Jan Hammer on moog and electric piano – and although there's a fair bit of guitar in the mix, the other acoustic elements are kept nice and high too – for a blend that's almost like some of the best Brazilian fusion from later years, touched by a slightly funkier sound! Tracks really stretch out nicely, allowing for plenty of solo space as they roll on, in a way that's almost a cross between Strata East and some of the more familiar mainstream fusion modes of the time. Very hip stuff, with titles that include "Benzele Windows", "Tales Of The Exonerated Flea", "Euroaquilo Silence", "Puppet Of The Seasons", "Sing Night Jar", and "Delicate Evasions". CD

A very soulful batch of fusion tracks from drummer Horacee Arnold – here leading a group that includes reed talents Billy Harper and Joe Farrell, percussionist Ralph McDonald, guitarist Ralph Towner, and Dave Friedman on vibes and percussion. Tracks are long and spiralling, with a spiritual approach that goes quite out at times, but which also returns to a modal groove at others. Thanks to great playing by Harper and Farrell, the album's got a lot more soul than some others of the type at the time. Tracks include "The Actor", "Professor Moriarty", "Orchards of Engedi", "Tribe", and "Banyan Dance". CD

Wonderful music from Lucas Arruda – an artist who embraces some of the warmest, most soulful styles of Brazilian music from back in the 70s, but manages to deliver them with a crisp contemporary spin! There's a lot of vintage Azymuth-styled grooves here – wicked rhythms, excellent keyboards, and a jazzy sensibility that makes for a magical flow throughout – and while there's some great soulful vocals on the set, the album also has plenty of strong instrumental moments too – a real delight all the way through, and an instant classic that may well even top Lucas' previous albums! Andre Mota lends some great vocals to the set – and titles include "The Mountain", "4:28 AM", "Novos Planos", "Ominira", "Projecoes", "The Bravest Heart", "Chant & Dance", and "Abraco Pro Ed". CD

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Don't let the "alternate" in the title fool you, because it's not like the Art Ensemble Of Chicago are getting all alt-rock or anything – nor is the album a set of alternate takes! Instead, the album's one of their best from the time – a well-crafted set of tunes, recorded in very familiar company in Chicago – issued only for the Japanese market by DIW. There's a richly organic quality to some of the tunes – as many of the numbers are sparer, more thoughtful tracks that focus on spare percussion and instrumental interplay between members of the group. The album also features the longer tune "Kush", which gets fairly outside at times – plus shorter numbers that include "Imaginary Situations", "And There Was Peace", "Whatever Happens", and "Alternate Express". CD

One of the more interesting later sessions from the Art Ensemble – one in which the group push their African influence strongly, by teaming up with the Amabutho Male Chorus for a real Soweto soul sound! Oddly, the Art Ensemble are the ones in African garb on the cover – while the chorus is going more for a late 80s American male fashion look – but in the grooves of the record, the two units come together nicely – and make for a set of tunes that have the AACM sound heading way way past Graceland (that's a Paul Simon/Ladysmith Black Mambazo reference, not an Elvis one!) – really coming up with some compelling cross-cultural sounds in the process. Titles include "African Woman", "Coming Soon", "Black Man", "Fresh Start", and "The Bottom Line". CD

One of the last studio albums with Lester Bowie – it features Bowie on trumpet, Roscoe Mitchell on reeds, Malachi Favors on bass, Famadou Don Moye on percussion, and the entire group on percussion and little instruments. CD

Beautiful work from the Art Ensemble – and one of their undisputed classics! The record features some of the most perfectly realized moments the band ever cut to wax, with a blend of whimsical multi-instrumental improvisation, and a strong sense of the spiritual tradition in jazz. The album features one long piece – "Reese & The Smooth Ones" – and it's a stunning array of spontanteous instrumentation, with a jagged sound that never stops reinventing itself! CD

A record that definitely lives up to the sixth decade legacy noted in the title – as it takes work of the remaining members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and expands it with contributions from a number of musicians – both from Chicago and the global scene as well! The feel here is a mix of some of the larger concepts that Roscoe Mitchell has been working on of late, and some of the more organic expressions that the Art Ensemble helped encourage in the world of jazz – performed by a lineup that has Mitchell on sopranino and alto, and Don Moye on drums and percussion – joined by a huge lineup that includes Junius Paul on bass, Tomeka Reid on cello, Nicole Mitchell on flutes, Hugh Ragin on trumpet, and a larger lineup of basses, piano, and percussion as well. Moor Mother delivers a spoken word passage, and Roco Cordova and Erina Newkirk sing a bit – on titles that include "Kumpa", "Bulawayo", "I Feel Like Dancing", "Jigiba", "Funky AECO", "Improvisation Two", "Ritual Great Black Music", "Cards", and "Leola". CD

A really unusual session – the Art Ensemble Of Chicago is joined by pianist Cecil Taylor – in a celebration of the music of Thelonious Monk! CD

A second pairing of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago and the Amabutho Male Chorus – one that's indicated not just in the title of the record, but in a changing of the group's name! The sound here is even more Afro-styled than the previous effort – coming across right from the start with a bold, righteous vibe that's quite unique – almost a bit more confident than some of the Ensemble's other work of the time – and executed in a way that really shows that confidence! The male voices aren't always in strong focus, which still leaves plenty of space for the group's creative instrumental interplay – and titles include "Colors One", "US of A/U of SA", "Zola's Smile", "America", and "You Got It". CD

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Renee Rosnes on piano, Cecile McLorin Salvant on vocals, Anat Cohen on clarinet and bass clarinet, Melissa Aldana on tenor, Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, Noriko Ueda on bass, and Allison Miller on drums. CD