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A great little score from that time when Italian westerns were able to mix in equal parts humor and action – served up here in a buddy film that's got a bit of a Butch & Sundance vibe! The music is maybe more 60s playful than you'd expect – still often sweeping in a western style, but often underscored with comedic elements that correspond to some of the more offbeat action on the screen. Even the tenser moments have a sort of comedy quality – and feel more like heist-style numbers than the usual western styles – but that could also be due to the groovier modes normally used by Gianni Ferrio. This expanded edition features a heck of a lot of tracks – way more than any previous version – including vocal numbers by Lilian Terry and by the team of John Ireson and Wayne Parham. Titles include "Falling In Love With A Pretty Girl", "Young Man Go West", "Two Not So Peaceful Brothers", "Monty & Ted", "Let's Keep Our Fingers Crossed", and "Working Hard".

That's the Modern Jazz Sextet – not the Modern Jazz Quartet – although the group definitely borrows a bit of energy from the MJQ, and some personnel too! The group was only put together for this date – and combines the subtle touches of MJQ members John Lewis on piano and Percy Heath on bass, with some harder-edged, hardbop-driven sounds from Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Sonny Stitt on alto, Skeeter Best on guitar, and Charlie Persip on drums! The set's got an open, easygoing feel – that loose Verve studio mode of the time – which stems from their jam session modes, but is a bit tighter overall – in ways that really help the players find their energy together in the tunes. Titles include 2 standards, in the usual Verve style – "Mean To Me" and a ballad medley of "Old Folks", "What's New" and "How Deep Is The Ocean" – plus 3 originals – "Blues For Bird", "Tour De Force", and "Dizzy Meets Sonny".

A tasty sampling of tracks from a label that's really starting to get our attention! Dome started out quite a few years back as one of the few strong UK indie soul labels, but early releases didn't grab us nearly as much as some of their excellent recent work – a range of tracks pulled from hard-to-find sources all over the globe, all unified in a real commitment to underground Neo Soul styles! The set features 17 tracks in all, with titles that include "Now You Know" by India T, "Can't Wait" by Kelli Sae, "If You Want My Love" by Incognito, "Keep On Blessing Me" by Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers, "Hey Young World" by Andreus, "The Real Thing" by Avani, "Something Special" by Donna Gardier, "It's Over" by Sinclair, "Sad Days (acoustic)" by Angela Johnson, "Wherever Love Is Found" by Richard Darbyshire, "Nostalgia (VRS rmx)" by Hil St Soul, and "Stories" by Full Flava with Carleen Anderson.

As classic as it comes for late 50s Blue Note – and a key meeting between Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk! The group on the set features Rollins and Monk with JJ Johnson, Paul Chambers, and Art Blakey – all of whom push things more in the direction of Blue Note's sound of the time, then Monk's own recordings of the period for Riverside. But the contrast of modes makes for a really startling sound – one that has Monk "monking" it up next to the straighter rhythm section, and bringing out some more modern tones in Rollins' tenor work. Horace Silver plays piano on part of the set as well – but still keeps things strong – and titles include "Why Don't I", "Wail March", "Misterioso", and "Reflections".

More hit magic from the Brothers Johnson – still working with Quincy Jones at this point, and virtually setting up the blueprint for jazzy soul in the 80s! Backings are by an all-star team, and Rod Temperton's helping out Quincy with arrangements – going for that snapping groove approach he worked to best effect with Heatwave. The sound is tight, but never too slick – and The Brothers keep a nice funky undercurrent on the bottom of most tracks. Titles include "Smilin On Ya", "You Make Me Wanna Wiggle", "Light Up The Night", "Stomp", "This Had To Be", and "Closer To The One You Love".

In the immediate years after John Coltrane passed, wife Alice was the main figure keeping the spiritual light of jazz burning at Impulse Records – and her albums from the time showcased a whole new side of the Coltrane family idiom in jazz, expressed not just through her own soulful work on piano, but also on harp, organ, and strings as well! This 8 track set is a wonderful introduction to the great talents of Alice Coltrane, and should be plenty to convince you that she just wasn't a lucky person who happened to be married to The Great One – but a tremendous artist on her own with a rich legacy of work! Other musicians here include Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Joe Henderson, and Ravi Coltrane – and titles include "Universal Consciousness", "Excerpts From The Firebird", "Journey In Satchidananda", "Ptah The El Daud", "Jaya Jaya Rama", and "Lovely Sky Boat" – as well as "Transliner Light" from her recent return to the label.

Hard wailing! Poppa Lou's caught right at the height of his early Blue Note powers here – recorded in 2 different groups on this set of unreleased sessions from the early 60s! Both sets have Lou in a guitar/organ soul jazz setting – with backing by Grant Green on guitar, and either Jack McDuff or John Patton on organ. The McDuff set features the great Joe Dukes on drums, and the session sparkles like one of McDuff's best Prestige albums from the time. The other session has the classic Patton/Green lineup augmented by trumpeter Irwin Stokes, a lesser-known talent who really opens up the sound nicely. There's a total of 9 tracks in all – a number of them ballads, but done with a lively soulful tone that keeps the whole thing nice and fresh – even after sitting in the vaults for nearly 40 years! Titles include "Star Dust", "Hippty Hop", "Please", "Man With A Horn", and "Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White".

If you've ever needed a definition of hardbop, this is it! The set's a crack quartet session for Blue Note, recorded in the mid 50s by a young Johnny Griffin – fresh in from Chicago, and playing with tons of fire and loads of imagination! Wynton Kelly's on piano and Max Roach is on drums – and the excitement never stops as the group rolls their way through the tightly-crafted tunes on the set. And don't mistake the session as just a head-blowing album with no creativity – because the whole thing's incredibly precise, and the real charm is the way in which the razor-sharp group manages to twist and turn so deftly – yet still always plays with creative imagination and thoughtful solos! Cuts include "Mil Dew", "Chicago Calling", "These Foolish Things", The Boy Next Door", "Lover Man" and "It's Alright With Me". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "Cherokee" and "The Way You Look Tonight".

A great 2CD set that brings together 39 tracks from Syl Johnson's years at Hi Records! Although Syl's probably best known to funk fans for his early recordings in Chicago, his 70s sides for Hi in Memphis are also quite nice – mellower, and perhaps bluesier, than his early funkier singles and LP tracks, but touched by the warmth of the Memphis scene, in a way that mellows Syl's vocals nicely. The package features just about every track you'd want from Syl's years at the label – and tracks include "We Did It", "Back For A Taste Of Your Love", "Bleu Water", "Diamond In The Rough", "Anyway The Wind Blows", "I Let A Good Girl Go", "Keeping Down Confusion", "Music To My Ears", "Please Don't Give Up On Me", "I Hear The Love Chimes", "Feelin Frisky", "Watch What You Do", "Steppin Out", and "Funk You".

An incredible batch of hillbilly boogie tunes from the 50s, and a stray couple of honky tonk and outlaw jukebox gems from the 60s & 70s – a fantastic sampler of rockabilly and country nuggets put together by the saints at Bear Family – at an incredible price, to boot! The Bear Family label has been exhaustively compiling this kind of thing for decades now, God bless 'em, and they're celebrating their 33rd Anniversary with a series of CDs featuring 33 tunes for an unbelievably friendly price. A real gift to all of us who've shelled out hundreds of dollars for those completist Bear Family box sets over the years! Features fly-by-night obscurities, great stuff from cult heroes, rare ones by legends, and each and every track is a jewel. Includes an uptempo Cash style reading of "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" by Johnny Seay, the jarring "Border City Call Girl" by Ben Hewitt, "Big Family Trouble" by Skeets McDonald, "The Girl Can't Help It" by Rusty York, "The Fool" by Sanford Clark, "Houn' Dog" by Homer & Jethro, "All I Can Do Is Cry" by Johnny Bond, "Don't Stop Now" by Roy Hall, "Juke Joint Boogie" by Freddie Hart, "First Class Second Class Woman" by Eddie Cletro, "Candy & Women" by Bill Haley and tons more!