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A sprawling set that commemorates the Reggae Golden Jubilee– one that's beautifully put together by VP – and featuring 100 pivotal tracks from the early 60s to the late 00s! Selector Mr. Seaga does a pretty terrific job on the tracklist – which focuses as much on tracks that proved to be among the most trailblazing as it does on big hits. It touches on the styles and subgenres from throughout reggae's history – from ska, to rocksteady, reggae, dub, deejay, dancehall and beyond – with bellwether material by Theophilus Beckford, Higgs & Wilson, Skatalites, U-Roy, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Yellowman, Third World, Dennis Brown, Maxi Priest, Sugar Minott, Beres Hammond, Sizzla, Shaggy and many, many more. "Dumplins" by Byron Lee & The Dragonaires, "They Got To Go" by Prince Buster, "Bring Home" by Justin Hines & The Dominoes, "Rough And Tough" by Stranger Cole, "Hypocrite" by The Heptones, "Occupation" by Don Drummond & The Skatalites, "Wear You To The Ball" by U-Roy & The Paragons, "The A Fi Get A Beatin'" by Peter Tosh, "Police And Thieves" by Junior Murvin, "Right Time" by Mighty Diamonds, "Uptown Ranking" by Althea & Donna, "Over Me" by Yellowman, "Pass The Dutchie" by Musical Youth, "Try Jah Love" by Third World, "Wild World" by Maxie Priest, "One Blood" by Junior Reid, "Murder She Wrote" by Chaka Demus & Pliers, "Putting Up Resistance", by Beres Hammond, "You Don't Love Me (No No No)" by Dawn Penn, "Untold Stories" by Buju Banton, "Black Woman And Child" by Sizzla, "Gimme The Light" by Sean Paul, "Pon De River, Pon De Bank" by Elephant Man, "Welcome To Jamrock" by Damian "Jr Gong" Marley, "The Harder They Come" by Jimmy Cliff and more.

One of Jackie McLean's earliest dates as a leader – a stone cooker that already shows an edge that sets him apart from other artists! The feel here is similar to McLean's albums for Prestige at the same time – a mixture of bop and some of the modernist themes that often surfaced in McLean's work, played in a seductively laidback manner, but with a razor-sharp intensity overall! Players include Donald Byrd on trumpet, Mal Waldron on piano, and Doug Watkins on bass – just the right sort of lineup to match the dark intensity of Jackie's music. Titles include "Mood Malody", "Lover Man", "Blue Doll", "It's You Or No One", and a key early take of "Little Melonae".

Nice moody set of tracks written by Duke Ellington, and played by a trio that features vibist Teddy Charles, bassist Oscar Pettiford, and pianist Hall Overton. All three men are committed modernists, and they play here without drums, and with a lot of space to lay down some dark edgey arrangements of tracks like "The Mooch", "Sherman Shuffle", and "Main Stem". Moody stuff, with a very spooky sound at times, and some excellent interplay between the vibes and piano.

One of the few albums as a leader from Mighty Mike Cuozzo – a tight tenor player with a great sort of 50s swing! The set's the kind of no-nonsense, well-blown effort you might expect from Sonny Stitt or Seldon Powell at the time – tunes that pack in plenty over a relatively short space – really transformed by Mike's deft talents on the tenor, with a surprising degree of soul in the mix as well! Rhythm is by Eddie Costa on piano, Vinnie Burke on bass, and Nick Stabulas on drums – and the whole thing's got the solid feel of a lost Roost session. Titles include "Blue Jeans", "Bounce For Mike", "Ten AM", "Lover Man", and "That Old Feeling".

Dorothy Donegan tickles the ivories with a mighty nice touch – on a set that shows why she was quite a popular attraction on the 50s scene! Donegan's got a way of approaching the piano with a heck of a lot of vitality – really working the keyboard with great imagination, moving up and down with tremendous dexterity as she opens up a tune! There's no tricks or gimmicks, though – and although the playing has a lot of vitality, it's also beautifully composed, too – just the right balance to keep things swinging, even when the playing is complex. Titles include "September Song", "St Louis Blues", "Love For Sale", "Lullaby Of Birdland", "I Get A Kick Out Of You", and "Dancing On The Ceiling".

Early pre-Blue Note hardbop by Jackie McLean – and one of the few recordings to feature his sextet with Ray Draper! Draper was a real legend in late 50s jazz – a tuba (?) player, believe it or not, with a sound that was dark, brooding, and very modern – very unlike you'd expect from the instrument. This album has the same rich quality as the session Draper recorded with Coltrane in the same period – and it also features 2 of his amazing compositions, "Filide" and "Two Sons". As for the rest of the group, Webster Young plays coronet, Gil Coggins plays piano, and George Tucker's on drums – and other titles include "Millie's Pad", "Tune Up", and "What Good Am I Without You".

An early album from Della, a mostly-traditional set of numbers – showing the evolution of the blues style in the early 20th century – with backing by Sid Oliver, and titles that include "Empty Bed Blues", "Lover Man", "There's Always The Blues", "Stormy Weather", and "Squeeze Me".

The only album we've ever heard from singer Martha Hayes – and a beautiful vocal jazz treasure all the way through! Martha's got this raspy style that's quite unique – neither the icy approach of other females of the modern 50s years, nor the bluesy inflections of the Billie Holiday/Dinah Washington camp, either – and instead, this way of sounding very personal right from the start – even on the album's familiar tunes, which shouldn't come across this well! The backings are part of the album's strength – some really moody, mellow, small combo sounds from a group that features pianist Steve Foster, bassist Don Russon, drummer Ray Alexander – and alto saxophonist Lou Fratturo, who doesn't play often, but really brings some light into a few tunes when he gets a chance. But clearly, it's Hayes who's the real star here – a wonderful singer that we'd love to hear more from, although we're happy to have discovered here! Titles include "Yesterdays", "Little Girl Blue", "Black Coffee", "Get Out Of Town", "By Myself", and "Good Morning Heartache".

A weird version of this one – almost folk-funk, with sweet arrangements from Brooks Arthur!

A great late-life effort from Bobby Womack – hardly the kind of record he would have recorded back in the day, and a tremendous testament to his undeniably soulful talents! The album was done with production help from Damon Albarn and Richard Russell – and definitely has a contemporary bent in some of the backings – nothing too overly-modern, nor commercial at all – but a freshness that seems to really set Womack's vocals free – in a format that has Bobby sounding better than we've heard in a long, long time! Russell contributes some beats and effects to the set – but these almost always have a nice earthy sort of crispness – one that makes for music that's quite warm overall, and really fits the rootsy feel of Bobby's vocals – an approach that's not unlike some of the final Gil Scott-Heron recordings, with equally successful results. Titles include "Deep River", "Dayglo Reflection", "Stupid", "If There Wasn't Something There", "Love Is Gonna Lift You Up", "Jubilee", and "Please Forgive My Heart".

Not percussion by a cultish ensemble, but a percussion record that's gone onto become a cult favorite over the years – thanks to a wide array of wonderfully groovy sounds throughout – all played by a youthful ensemble from late 70s Scotland! The album's awash in vibes, marimba, xylophone, and other melodic percussion instruments – played together in ways that clearly have their roots in some of the late 50s percussion albums from the bachelor pad years – yet definitely given a cool 70s twist on this set, both in the arrangements in sweet style of production. The cascading sounds are really wonderful – tuneful yet rhythm at the same time, and occasionally with a slight undercurrent of funk that really keeps things interesting. Titles include "Two Jubilee Pieces", "The Little Dancer", "Percussion Suite", "Baia", "Autun Carillion", and "Polymers".

A magnificent little album – one of James Moody's first collaborations with arranger Tom McIntosh – one of the most sensitive jazz voices of his time. McIntosh works in a world of many tones and colors – and he really pushes Moody past straighter solo approaches, into a mode where he's shaping sound into complex emotion – hitting a level of soulfulness that might never been expected in earlier years! Moody plays both tenor and flute on the session, and rhythm is by a piano-less trio that features John Gray on guitar, Eldee Young on bass, and Clarence Johnston on drums. And if that's not enough, Eddie Jefferson joins in on vocals on 2 tracks – lending his own lyrics to Moody's great original "Last Train From Overbrook", and doing a great reading of "Summertime". Other tracks include "Stella By Starlight", "Indian Summer", "Please Say Yes", and "Blue Jubilee".

Two 70s jazz giants, three different recordings, all of them wonderful! The set's a perfect showcase for both the trumpet of Kenny Wheeler and tenor of Alan Skidmore – as the recordings, done with the Jazz Live Trio of pianist Klaus Koenig, offer plenty of space for each soloist to stretch out and really do their thing – most importantly in the sort of straighter jazz setting that wasn't always recorded at this point in each player's career. Wheeler begins the album on long takes of "Come Sunday" and "A Simple Toon" – then Skidmore really smokes on "Would Jubilee Vit" and "K & A Blues" – and the last tracks feature work by both soloists together, on "Ruby Doo" and "Red Daffodil".

An excellent collection of rare regional gospel recordings from the 60s through the 80s – all of them with a timeless feel that really fits other collections of this nature from Mississippi Records! Despite the vintage of the tracks, most of them have a very spare sound – just vocals and a bit of instrumentation, usually guitar or organ – a raw, rootsy approach that's completely sublime, and which shows that the best gospel modes are still going strong, as long as you know where to look! The voice is supreme in most numbers – and titles include "Time Has Made A Change" by Southern Jubilees, "Ain't It Sweet" by Southland Missionary Singers, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" by Fantastic Voices Of Joy, "What Time Is It" by Ethel Profit, "Up Above My Head" by Rev R Henderson, and "Your Close Friends" by Ike Gordon.

One of a number of recordings headed up by Donald Byrd and Gigi Gryce under the Jazz Lab name, and probably the hardest to find. Like the Columbia andJubilee sets, this one's a cooking hard bop side, with inventive solos and nice arranging by Byrd and Gryce, who are joined by Wade Legge on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass and Art Taylor on drums. The tracks include Legge's "Geraldine" and Gryce's "Minority" plus "Love For Sale", "Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart", "Straight Ahead", and "Wake Up!".