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Key moments in the career of Charles Mingus – all recorded during the crucial years of 1964 and 1965, and featuring the first-time release of a fair bit of live material too! The set represents the first full presentation of recordings that have appeared piecemeal on a handful of obscure releases – self-released records from Mingus himself – Town Hall, My Favorite Quintet, and Music Written For Monterey – all really expanded here with the full recordings of the tracks, and unreleased titles provided from the original tapes! Mingus was really on fire during these years – severed from most of his bigger label associations, and freely working on some of his most inventive ideas with various smaller groups of players – all fresh young talents who were key interpreters of Charles' ideas – including Johnny Coles and Lonnie Hillyer on trumpet, Jimmy Owens on trumpet and flugelhorn, Charles McPherson on alto sax, Clifford Jordan on tenor, Jaki Byard on piano, Eric Dolphy on alto, flute, and bass clarinet. The stalwart Dannie Richmond is on drums, and the sides represent some of Dolphy's last, and most important recordings on the planet – recordings done at Town Hall and in Amsterdam in April of 1964 – in addition to live material at Monterey in 1964 and 1965, in Minneapolis in May of 1965. Tracks are all quite long – some pushing the half-hour timing – and as with the best live Mingus, there's variations here that go way past any studio readings – really incredible solo flights that are still beautifully integrated with the ideas of the main group. Titles include "So Long Eric", "Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress Then Blue Silk", "Mingus Piano Solo", "Bird Preamble", "Themeless Blues", "Copa City Titty", "A Lonely Day In Selma", "Cocktails For Two", "Praying With Eric", "Parkeriana", "ATFW", "Meditations On A Pair Of Wire Cutters", and "Meditations On Integration". 7CDs, limited edition, and with a great book of notes too!

An amazing early album from Billy Paul – the start of a rich career of sophisticated soul, and a record that really put Paul on the map right away – making him one of the most soulful interpreters of song in the 70s! There's a mix of modes going on here that's a bit similar to the early solo work of Isaac Hayes – a way of mixing mature styles from jazz, soul, and pop – into a blend that's all very much Billy's own, and which completely grabs you right from the start! The first track, "Ebony Woman", perfectly sums up Billy's style – one of those haunting tunes that never lets us down – and the album follows with a brilliant mix of tunes that includes nice groovers like "Everyday People" and "Psychedelic Sally" – plus the tracks "The Windmills Of Your Mind", "Windy", and "Let's Fall In Love All Over Again", all given a great soulful vibe and a very different twist!

An amazing early album from Billy Paul – the start of a rich career of sophisticated soul, and a record that really put Paul on the map right away – making him one of the most soulful interpreters of song in the 70s! There's a mix of modes going on here that's a bit similar to the early solo work of Isaac Hayes – a way of mixing mature styles from jazz, soul, and pop – into a blend that's all very much Billy's own, and which completely grabs you right from the start! The first track, "Ebony Woman", perfectly sums up Billy's style – one of those haunting tunes that never lets us down – and the album follows with a brilliant mix of tunes that includes nice groovers like "Everyday People" and "Psychedelic Sally" – plus the tracks "The Windmills Of Your Mind", "Windy", and "Let's Fall In Love All Over Again", all given a great soulful vibe and a very different twist!

A crazy collection of poetry and jazz – but one that doesn't come from as much of the sort of hipster/beat angle as one would expect from this sort of project! Instead, the interpreters take the high art road – with John Carradine, Hoagy Carmichael, Ben Wright, Roy Glenn and Bob Dorough all reading selections penned by Walt Whitman, Dylan Thomas, William Carlos Williams, Langston Hughes, Lawrence Lipton, Philip Whalen, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The music is very progressive and expressionistic for the period – performed by the Chico Hamilton Quintet, the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, the Ralph Pena-Bob Dorough Quintet, or a special group put together for this recording called the Jazz Canto Ensemble – which features Jack Montrose, Larry Bunker, Paul Horn, Buddy Collette and other west coast players from the LA scene. The sound is a bit more serious than some of the Fantasy Records jazz-meets-poetry experiments of the same time – and titles include "Poets To Come", "Tract", "In My Craft Or Sullen Art", "Night Song For The Sleepless", "Lament", "Dog", "Young Sycamore", "Three Songs", and "Big High Song For Somebody".

A key moment in the career of Gladys Knight & The Pips – and a record that opens the group up to a whole new sound for the 70s! When Gladys Knight started out as a raw R&B-ish singer in the early 60s, nobody would have expected her to have such staying power – and to become one of the 70s best interpreters of mellow ballads. This album's more than proof that Knight had plenty of staying power, and the title hit "Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)" went onto become one of the decade's biggest mellow soul tracks. It's backed up here by a number of nice tracks that have a harder soul sound, and which are arranged by some of Motown's best talents of the early 70s. Titles include "It's Gotta Be That Way", "This Child Needs Its Father", "And This Is Love", "Don't It Make You Feel Guilty", and a cover of "Who Is She To You".

Beautiful early work from Doris Monteiro – a double-length set that brings together a range of material originally issued as 78rpm recordings – relatively obscure sounds from the years before she became one of the first interpreters of the music of Jobim! The style here is fuller, and more emotive too – that pre-bossa style that was popular with female singers in Brazil – and which Monteiro arguably did better than most. There's still a great sense of balance going on here – as Doris never goes too far over the top – and the musical arrangements are usually subtle enough to allow for a very strong focus on her vocals. Titles include "Em Mangueira", "Se Voce Se Importasse", "Melancolia", "E Sempre Amor", "Ruinas", "Perdao", "Do Re Me", "Vento Soprando", "Engano", "Gosta Da Vida", "Por Que Razao", and "Deseje".