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Hip work from the Polish scene at the start of the 70s – a Hammond-heavy combo with a fair bit of jazz in their grooves – almost a more progressive take on the Brit beat group sound of the 60s, but without all of the progressive modes that other Euro groups were moving into! There's a great blend of basslines, percussion, and organ in the group's approach – and although there's a number of tracks with vocals, there's also others where the instrumentation really dominates, and those are especially appealing to us. Production is cool too – often echoey and effect-heavy – and titles include "A Dream", "Temptation", "The Nerves Of Cities", "Thoughts", "The Hive", and "The Starveling's Dance".

Vintage funk from Poland – played by a combo who are kind of rockish at the core, but also have a lot of jazzy leanings overall! The work here is all instrumental – and grooves grow right up from the bottom, driven by some heavy drums that are totally great, and often given these basslines that are rolling, yet a bit brooding too – with bluesy undercurrents that are sometimes echoed by the group's excellent Hammond as well! Other instrumentation includes a guitar – both acoustic and electric – piano, and even a bit of kazoo – and the whole thing's great – on a par if not better with any British groups of this nature from the time, and not marred at all by overdone vocals. Titles include "Szkola", "Sen", "Safari", "Epidemia Euforii", "Taniec Glodnego", and "Automaty".

One of Gil Scott-Heron's best albums from later years! The record's got some wonderful mellow cuts – the kind that send chills up our spine, and which remind us of Gil's stripped-down jazzy work on the album Winter In America. And in fact, Gil does an excellent remake of the classic track "Your Daddy Loves You" from that album – adding in a bit more production than on the original, but still doing the cut with a wonderfully soulful vibe. A few cuts have a razor sharp lyricism laid down over jazz funk arrangements – "The Klan" and "Waiting For The Axe To Fall" in particular – but the best numbers are wonderfully sophisticated jazzy numbers, like "Combinations" and "The Train From Washington".

One of Gil Scott-Heron's best albums from later years! The record's got some wonderful mellow cuts – the kind that send chills up our spine, and which remind us of Gil's stripped-down jazzy work on the album Winter In America. And in fact, Gil does an excellent remake of the classic track "Your Daddy Loves You" from that album – adding in a bit more production than on the original, but still doing the cut with a wonderfully soulful vibe. A few cuts have a razor sharp lyricism laid down over jazz funk arrangements – "The Klan" and "Waiting For The Axe To Fall" in particular – but the best numbers are wonderfully sophisticated jazzy numbers, like "Combinations" and "The Train From Washington".

A swirling blend of soul, funk, and jazzy grooves – and a super-rare album that we've never seen in the original! Supposedly, backing on the record is by the British Afro-Funk group Assagai – which sounds right to us, because there's a nice rolling conga groove on many of the tracks. Lead vocals are by Charles Hilton Brown, in a nicely raw soul style that reminds us a bit of Otis Redding, and a bit of Mike James Kirkland on some of his early 70s material. The record features vocal covers of a number of soul hits – like "Try A Little Tenderness", "Love Train", and "Ain't No Sunshine" – plus some originals that are even better, like the funky instrumental "GRF", and the tunes "Maddox" and "Tell Me Once Again". Nice and raw, and with a sound hip enough to match the record's cover!

Ravi Coltrane's first album for Blue Note – put together here with production help from Joe Lovano, who also plays a bit of guest tenor too! The album's got a really dark edge – and really works strongly in those edgier sides of the spectrum – those modes that Coltrane's developed best in the past decade or so – which are almost more saxophonic elements of a maturing Wayne Shorter than they are those of his famous father! Ravi's got a good sense of space between his notes – never bridging the gaps with flurries of sound, and instead making these bold statements that swing together nicely, with help from a lineup that includes Geri Allen and Luis Pedromo on piano, James Genus and Drew Gress on bass, and EJ Strickland and Eric Harland on drums. In addition to tenor from Lovano on two tracks, the set also features some guest trumpet from Ralph Alessi – on titles that include "The Change My Girl", "Spirit Fiction", "Klepto", "Roads Cross", "Cross Roads", "Yellow Cat", and "Check Out Time".

A brilliant full-length statement from Mark De Clive-Lowe – an artist who's been making some big waves in the global underground for the past few years – including a range of singles and remixes so great, we can almost forgive him for the length of his name! The set's everything we could have hoped for from Mark – a swirling, cosmic set that effortlessly blends together beats, keys, and a bit of vocals – yet which manages to come off with a complexity that goes far beyond the sum of its parts. Mark recorded the album in London and Auckland – but there's a deeper soul here that almost feels like part of the best side of the Detroit 21st Century scene – especially on the album's excellent vocal numbers! Guest appearances include Bembe Segue, Abdul Syllon, Capitol A, and Lain – and titles include "Traveling", "Quintessential", "Masina's World", "Slide", "State Of The Mental", "Sila's Theme", "Heaven", and "4 YV".

The stripped-down core of the Frank N Dank debut – and a lasting tribute to the studio genius of Dilla! The beats here are really bassy – the kind that almost make you want to replace the back seat of your car with bigger speakers – just to enjoy them fully! (Heck, even on an iPod's earbuds, you could still probably shake your neighbor's boots with this record!) There's some great raw electro touches mixed in with the stark beats – and while the setting is perfect for the rhymes of the vocal record, it's almost even more haunting on its own. Titles include "Marijuana", "Street Life", "Where The Parties At", "Y'All Don't Want It", "Sex On The Beach", "All Seasons", and "Ma Dukes".

A second chapter of excellent jazzy soul from the HE3 (Herman Eberitzch III) Project – killer stuff recorded from 1974 to 1977 at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco – with a sound that blends intense, yet sultry disco era live soul with both jazzier and funkier sounds! HE is on piano, Rhodes, synths – and the vibe on Chapter Two has moments of jazz funk reminiscent of the previous Chapter One set from Family Groove – but others that have a straight up, live and direct modern live soul feel, and others that are straight up jazzy. It's all great stuff – and alternate group lineups throughout include vocalists Johnny Lyvett, Linda Tillery and Wendy Hass, trombone player Sheldon Bermont, sax players Robert Olivera and Jerry Vejmoja, percussionist John Mingo Lewis, guitarist Pat Duffy, drummer Amadeus Barrios and others. Includes "Thesis On Love", Soul Support", "From Africa To Oakland", "Try A Different Road", "It Came From The Clear Blue Sky", "Sashay Sahay", "She Got You By The Hook', "I Know You", "Inspiration", "Make It Sweet", "Hop Skip & Jump", "Summertime" & "High Life".

A killer little indie soul set from Oakland's Marvin Holmes – one that's quite different than his better known work for the Uni label – and done in a great blend of jazz, soul, and funk styles! The album's got that great genre-crossing sound that was going down heavily in Holmes' Bay Area scene of the early 70s – a feel that clearly draws heavily on the full spirits of the Justice ensemble, working together a blend of rolling rhythms, soaring horns, and some great rough-edged vocals that almost have a southern funk approach! The jazzier tunes have a warmish groove that almost shows traces of Cali Latin – especially in the way the rhythms bubble along – and titles include "Marcel's Place", "Love Don't Mind", "Tell The Truth", "Got To Be There", and "Kimani MDogo". Also includes the nice, nice instrumental, "All Night Into Day", which has a nice weird sample groove to it!

A righteous underground soul classic from Del Jones – message-oriented funk at its best! Jones is working here in the spirit of some of the best locally-crafted indie outings of the time – like work by Mike James Kirkland, Oneness Of Juju, The Pharoahs, and other important righteous regional acts of the 70s. The lyrics are extremely progressive, and deal with hard themes of African-American life at the time – stated clearly enough by titles that include "Soul of Black Folks", "Court Is Closed", "Needle & Spoon", "Prelude Ta Hell", "Needle N Spoon", and "Inside Black America" – and backed up by some great arrangements that throw a lot of fuzzy funky guitars into some tight, jazzed-up grooving. The album also includes the massive "Vibe-Ing Theme" – and the whole thing's a treasure that we'd rank with the best of its sort!

Soaring, righteous sounds from Elvin Jones – an early 80s session, but one that cooks as strongly as his most soulful albums from the 70s! In fact, there's almost a focus or tightness here that could sometimes be missing from other Jones albums – a really bold, sharp use of the group's excellent quintet lineup – Dave Liebman on soprano sax and flute, Terumasa Hino on cornet, George Mraz on bass, and Kenny Kirkland on piano – all players driven on by the kind of bold, never-ending sense of flow that Jones really picked up during his post-Coltrane years! Liebman and Hino are especially great – and titles include "Three Card Molly", "The Top Of The Middle", "Earth Jones", "Never Let Me Go" and "Day & Night".

Tremendous work from this young group – a set that embraces a range of modern jazz traditions, then pushes them forward strongly to the next generation! The lineup here features some of the sharpest talents of the current Windy City underground – James Falzone on clarinet, Jason Adasiewicz on vibes, Jason Roebke on bass, and Tim Daisy on drums – all players who feel each others' strengths instantly, and find ways of coming together that are even greater than the sum of the already-strong parts! Falzone's clarinet is especially amazing – a fresh new voice on the instrument that pushes past even John Carter or Jimmy Giuffre – showing us that the instrument can really carve strong modern lines, when in the right hands. Adasiewicz's vibes are always a treat – and ring out beautifully – and both Roebke and Daisy have the right sort of freewheeling rhythms to set even more fire to the other two players. Titles include "Ukranian Village", "Carol's Burgers", "Chicago Spaces", "Brooklyn Lines", "Jazz Searching Self", and "Alone At The Brain".

The classic debut of a young Wynton Marsalis – cut after a stretch when Wynton was working with Art Blakey, and had really sharpened his chops! The record's a wonderful return to straight jazz tradition for Columbia – but it also has some modern moments too – proof that the younger generation of 80s jazz players still had plenty of fresh sounds to bring to the table. Half of the record has Marsalis paired with the VSOP rhythm section – in a way that provides a nice link with the more modern edges of Columbia jazz a decade before. Wynton's sometimes a bit serious in his approach, but also opens up with freer Blakey-inspired moments too – and other players here include Herbie Hancock and Kenny Kirkland on piano, Jeff Watts and Tony Williams on drums, Clarence Seay and Ron Carter on bass, and Branford Marsalis on sax. Titles include "Twilight", "RJ", "Hesitation", "I'll Be There When The Time Comes", and "Father Time".

Mushroom join with legendary trumpeter Eddie Gale – in a set of work that's easily some of the group's greatest so far! The usual tripped-out jamming style is pushed a bit to the background here – and Mushroom seem to take Gale's presence very seriously, and try to create a more complicated, more thoughtful set of tunes for the record. There's still plenty of keyboards, and a bit of fuzzy guitar – but the overall sound is more open and spacious, allowing plenty of room for stretched-out trumpet lines from Gale – plus some nice use of vibes, marimbas, and percussion. Titles include "Selling Oakland By The Pound", "Border Crossing", "Peace", "The Spirit", and "I Don't Need To Fight To Prove I'm Right I Don't Need To Be Forgiven".

A classic album of jazzed-up funk – the one lasting legacy by this oft-sampled group – reissued here with its original title and cover art! 9th Creation originally hailed from west of the Bay Area scene of the 70s – and this album was recorded in Oakland with the same sweet jazzy finish as work by some of the other big Northern California funk acts of the time, especially Pleasure, who are the closest comparison to the group's sound. The album is best known for the cut "Bubble Gum" – a great number with lots of jazzy changes, and a modern funky groove that still sounds pretty darn fresh – but the whole album is totally great, and filled with plenty of other songs that have the same feel as the title cut! Tracks include "Sexy Girl", "Quit It", "Falling In Love", "We Need Love", and "Rule Of Mind".

An amazing set of music – two rare albums from Ohio funk legend Lou Ragland, plus bonus tracks, and a whole set of unreleased sessions too – a huge amount of new music, even if you've got some of the previous reissues! First up is the legendary Hot Chocolate album – one of the greatest lost funk records of all time! The group is not the British pop band, but an Ohio funk group led by the great guitarist Lou Ragland. The album's originally from Canada, which makes it super rare – and these guys are funky funky funky, and kick some major booty with a heavy guitar sound that's just great! Some of the cuts are instrumental, and some of them have some excellent soul vocals that are produced with a nice deep sound that's brought out nicely by the excellent quality of the reissue. The record's got a bit of Sly Stone, a bit of Grant Green, and a bit of Mike James Kirkland – with a tasty raw indie soul vibe – and the original album was only pressed up at 500 copies. Titles include "So Dam Funky", "Ain't That A Groove", "Sexy Moods Of Your Mind", "Messin With Sly", and "What You Want To Do" – plus 8 more tracks from the same vintage – "Good For The Gander" by Hot Chocolate, "I Travel Alone" and Big Wheel" by Lou Ragland, "Red Robin" and "I've Got Something Going On" by Volcanic Eruption, and "I Can't Take It" and "What The Doctor Prescribed" by Lou Ragland & Hot Chocolate. Next is The Conveyor – the second album from Lou Ragland, stepping out here in a great set of mellow soul tracks! The album's quite different from the heavy funk of the Hot Chocolate album – more of a message-oriented approach to soul, in the vein of similar 70s indie work by Mike James Kirkland. The arrangements are also bigger – not smooth, but ambitious, in a style that perfectly matches the higher vision Lou's going for in tracks like "Understand Each Other", "What Should I Do?", "The Next World", and "It's Got To Change". Conveyor also comes with bonus tracks too – "Tend To Your Business" by Wildfire, plus "Since You Said You'd Be Mine" and "I Didn't Mean To Leave You" by Lou Ragland. And last up is an incredible batch of unreleased material – maybe the biggest and best so far from Ragland – tracks that have this really ambitious quality that mixes soul, funk, and larger orchestrations – especially some light strings, which really expand the sound, and push the music into this righteous territory that reminds us a lot of the creative experiments in Chicago during the Cadet/Concept years! Lou's vocals are great, and the message is totally righteous – and even though the tape quality is slightly aged, the soulful vibe really comes through – on cuts that include "Understand Each Other", "It Ain't My Fault", "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love", "Spend My Life Loving You", "Until I Met You", and "Brother Louie". Lovingly packaged by Numero – with a huge booklet of photos and history – and cool mini-LP sleeves too!

Way more than just a live recording – and instead a host of original material from bassist Ben Wolfe –- really sparkling with the strength of a well-crafted studio session! The tunes are fresh, and handled by a dynamic group that really brings out some wonderful energy in the music – the soaring horn combination of Marcus Strickland on tenor and Ryan Kisor on trumpet – and the rhythm trio of Wolfe on bass, Luis Perdomo on piano, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums – leaping into the fray in a way that really gets things moving. The recording quality – like most of these Smalls Live sets – is excellent, and perfect for capturing the nuances of both Wolfe's writing, and the interplay of the members of the group. Titles include "For The Great Sonny Clark", "Telescope", "Contraption", "Coleman's Cab", and "Double Czech".

A killer collection of funk and soul from an ultra-hip Bay Area label of the 70s – Oakland's enigmatic Brown Door Records – headed up by funk maestro Marvin Holmes! The music's got a beautifully sunny vibe – all the best Bay Area elements of the time, reflected in the scene-crossing, genre-stepping modes that often made the East Bay way more exciting than anything going on in San Francisco – particularly in the cool crossbreeding that would happen between Berkeley, Oakland, and other communities. Holmes' cuts here are a great example of that – still the funk and jazz of his late 60s music for bigger labels, but also pretty stretched-out and open too – filled with an all-encompassing spirit that rivals the best music from the Fantasy studios at the time – but with a hipper, indie vibe all the way through. This spirit also steps over to the work by other artists on the collection, too – and is told in the rich notes and images included with the heavy booklet – both in English and Japanese, at a level that shows the Shout Productions folks stepping into Numero territory. A wonderfully deep compilation – filled with great cuts that include "You & Me", and "Goin Home" by Faye Marshall, "Making New Friends" and "Trippin On The Sounds" by Jeanie Tracy, "Cain't Get Anuff" by Bill Bell, "I Can't Go Without You (parts 1 & 2)" by Doroth Morrison, "Love Yo Love" and "Confess Your Love" by John Turk & The 3rd Street Annex, and the tracks "Kwame", "You Better Keep Her (7" version)", "Find Yourself (parts 1 & 2)", "Gimme Some Tonight (parts 1 & 2)", "Feel So Good (inst)", "You Girl", "Tell The Truth", and "Kimani Mdogo" by Marvin Holmes & Justice.

A lost batch of soulful jazz from a massively overlooked source – the mighty Theresa Records, home to some really great recordings at the end of the 70s! Theresa was a tiny company formed in Oakland, CA at the end of the 70s – a spiritual heir to the sound of Impulse, Flying Dutchman, and other 70s powerhouse soul jazz labels – with a sound that was directly encapsulated in the label's own recordings of Pharoah Sanders at the time! After a few years of inactivity on the recording scene after his seminal sides for Impulse, Pharoah made a strong re-emergence on Theresa – working in a sweet style of soul jazz that was also picked up by some of the label's other strong artists. This excellent set was compiled in collaboration with Gilles Peterson – and features some of the hippest, most soulful tracks to come out on Theresa – work that takes off from the sound of Pharoah's earlier albums, into a whole new realm of expression! Titles include "Heart Is A Melody", "Rejoice", and "You've Got To Have Freedom" by Pharoah Sanders; "Samba" and "Pippin" by Ed Kelly; "Use Your Hands" and "Levels Of Consciousness" by Babatunde & Phenomena; and "Hip Funk" by Bishop Norman Williams & The One Mind Experience. 11 tracks in all!

Synthetic symphonics from electronic experimental ground breakers – with ground shaking rhythms, spacey soundscapes, fuzz, hums, echoes, loopy tape effects and more! Features Herbert Eimert, Bruno Maderna, Karel Goeyvaerts, Pierre Boulez and Eimert-Beyer. Titles include "Klangstudie I" by Herbert Eimert, and "Klangstudie II" by Eimert-Beyer, "Musica Su Due Dimensioni" by Bruno Maderna, "Poesie Pour Pouvir (Tres Orqestra E Tape)" by Pierre Boulez and more.

Synthetic symphonics from electronic experimental ground breakers – with ground shaking rhythms, spacey soundscapes, fuzz, hums, echoes, loopy tape effects and more! Features Herbert Eimert, Bruno Maderna, Karel Goeyvaerts, Pierre Boulez and Eimert-Beyer. Titles include "Klangstudie I" by Herbert Eimert, and "Klangstudie II" by Eimert-Beyer, "Musica Su Due Dimensioni" by Bruno Maderna, "Poesie Pour Pouvir (Tres Orqestra E Tape)" by Pierre Boulez and more.

Religious music from rural sources – cut quite far from the cities, at a point when the distinctions between gospel and blues really break down! Most of the tracks here have a very simple, folksy sort of approach – usually just a few acoustic instruments and a voice or two – sometimes with bluesy use of acoustic guitar, sometimes just spare percussion, sometimes Mississippi fife and drums – all in support of amazing vocals that deliver a mighty message of spiritualism! The original album was put together in the early 70s – of field recordings made from the previous few years – and this beautiful reissue presents the whole thing with even better vinyl and cover stock, and a huge booklet of notes as well. Titles include "Motherless Children" by Napoleon Strickland, "I Shall Not Be Moved" by Willard Artis Burrell, "The Ship Is At The Landing" by Babe Stovall, "Sorrow Come Pass Me Around" by Ephram Carter, "You Don't Know What The Lord Has Done For Me" by Annie Lee & Oscar Crawford, "Can't No Grave Hold My Body Down" by Robert Nighthawk Johnson, and "My Sun Don't Never Go Down" by Eddie Lee Mustright Jones.

Terumasa Hino's looking a bit cheesy on the cover of this one – but the record's hardly the slick 80s affair you might expect – and instead is a great session of ballads and more gentle numbers, recorded in the US with full string backings and a warmly sensitive approach to the music! There's a depth here that goes beyond most of Hino's other work of the decade – an approach to the tunes that reminds us a bit of Art Farmer or Freddie Hubbard in a similar setting – with warmly lyrical lines undercut with a slight hint of sadness – that "blue" reference in the title and cover image. Hino plays cornet with a core group that includes Jim Hall on guitar, Kenny Kirkland on piano, Eddie Gomez on bass, and Grady Tate on drums – plus a bit of vocals – and strings are arranged by David Nadian. Titles include "Greensleeves", "Black Orpheus", "Alone Alone & Alone", "Nature Boy", and "Lush Life".

A set with younger players – "New Faces" – including Kenny Kirkland on piano, Branford Marsalis on tenor, and Lonnie Plaxico on bass! Ttiles include "Birk's Works", "Tin Tin Deo", "Fiesta Mojo", and "Tenor Song".

One of the sharper-edged sessions on the GRP label at the start of the 90s – a self-titled set from keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, who's mostly working here in a stripped-down acoustic mode! The lineup changes a bit from track to track – and in addition to Kenny on keys, the set also features Jeff Tain Watts on drums, Branford Marsalis on tenor and soprano sax, Charnett Moffet on bass, and Don Alias and Jerry Gonzalez on percussion. Some tracks are quite spare – one number is even just a drum solo by Watts – and there's a slightly modern undercurrent at points, as you might find in Marsalis family music of the same point – nothing that's ever too out, but a slightly dark edge that adds a bit more depth than you might expect. Titles include "Celia", "Chance", "Midnight Silence", "El Rey", "Mr JC", "Criss Cross", "Revelations", and "Ana Maria".

The earliest work we've ever heard from keyboardist Webster Lewis – and a set that's quite different than his late 70s groovers for Columbia Records! The music here is equal parts jazz, soul, and funk – spun out of over a set of long tracks recorded in Oslo at the start of the 70s – and done in a very righteous mode overall! Even at this early age, Lewis is a tremendous talent on the keys – hitting the Hammond and electric piano with a groove that's somewhere in between Doug Carn or Charles Earland at the time – and always with a free-flowing, very exploratory sound that's wonderfully recorded throughout – and which almost makes the record feel like an American classic on the Black Jazz label! The drums on the set are by Jimmy Hopps – who brings in some funky beats at just the right moments – and other musicians include Bobby Greene on alto and Stan Strickland on tenor – plus Judd Watkins on vocals, who sings on some of the best songs with a deep-voiced quality that's really great! This double-length reissue really expands past the previous version on Counterpoint – and the 2CD set features 15 tracks that include "Do You Believe", "Saturday Night Opening", "Dear Sister", "Qvote Unqvote", "Mr Knots", "Space Rock", "Silent Lights", "Up On The Roof", "Club 7 Latin", "For Arne", "Twelve Gates To The City", and "Intermezzo".

These guys keep getting better and better – and this album may well be their best set to date! The album's a massive double-length set – broken down into 2 different discs, one titled London, the other titled Oakland – both of them each with their own theme. The London set has a more laidback psychedelic approach – hearkening towards the heady days of the late 60s, with some slight folksy touches and a nice trippy sound overall. The Oakland disc is darker and heavier – with traces of funk, electric Miles-type jazz, and other elements that recall the best years of the back bay scene. 17 titles in all – with tracks that include "Blackwaterside", "Pink Island", "Bert Jansch", "A Stone's Throw From Coe Fen", "Glazed Popems", "Blues For Bobby Seale", and "Tin Foil Hat".

Tower of Power head back to Oakland, after recording in Memphis for a previous album. Chester Thompson's in the group, playing monster organ and Fender Rhodes, and Lenny Williams sings lead vocals on a number of tracks. Titles include "Oakland Stroke", "I Got The Chop", "Time Will Tell", "Squib Cakes", and "Man From the Past".

A pretty sweet 70s session from Michal Urbaniak – done in the same heavy funk style as his bigger label recordings of the time, with a solid blend of electric rhythms and some nice trippy solo work! The core of the group is Urbaniak on violin and lyricon, Urszula Dudziak on voice and percussion, and the great Zbigniew Namyslowski on alto sax and flute – and Kenny Kirkland adds more than a few nice touches on Fender Rhodes and mini moog. Jamming is at a minimum, and the tunes really keep a strong rhythmic pulse – making for a good set that's filled with jazz funk groovers! Titles include "Stray Sheep", "Always Ready", "Jasmine Lady", "Strife", and "Tie Breaker".

An obscure group from Oakland, CA – with a tight jazz funk groove on the best cuts, courtesy of Perfect Circle, the group that comprised the band's rhythm section! The group features one female vocalist, Samaki – but the majority of the tracks have the three male singers working in a harmony style that's in kind of an east coast mode, but perhaps a bit looser. Uptempo funky cuts include "I Remember You" and "Sayin It & Doin It", which both sound like tracks from Perfect Circle's own album – plus the titles "Let's Take A Disco Ride" and "Put The Music On Funk".

An absolute funky monster! This set lays out an incredible batch of funk era singles from the vaults of Galaxy Records – and it shakes and burns all the way through, with lost funk bombs Bobby Rush, Rodger Collins, Bill Coday, Bobby Eaton, the Debonairs and others! It's comprised of mostly obscure 45s representing the stone funkiest records ever released by the Oakland-based Galaxy label – which was at this point sort of serving as the farm club for big brother label Fantasy Records. This one's essential, kids – just as worthy of your funk-loving dollar as the legendary rare funk compilations on Jazzman, Soul Fire or Stones Throw! 22 tracks in all: "Foxy Girls In Oakland", "Get Your Lie Straight", "Chicken Heads" by Bobby Rush, "Bring It On Up" by Loleatta Holloway, "I Love Her Too" by Lenny Williams, "People Say" by JJ Malone, "Try The Life" by Everyday People, "Man Power" (previously unreleased) by Ben & Larry, "My Money Is Funny" by the Right Kind, "The Iron Horse" by Merl Saunders & Heavy Turbulence, "I Get What I Want" by the Sequins and lots more!

Incredible funk from the early 70s Bay Area scene – almost all of it previously unissued! The wealth of music here is really amazing – rare gems recorded at Music Cty in Oakland, with a vibe that matches some of the more famous funk of the time – especially some of the trippier sounds from the other side of the bay, given that many of these cuts have a nice psychedelic undercurrent! A few groups here are ones we know from other work – making the album an essential piece of the puzzle in the funk underground of the 70s – but even if you're not a digger for rare stuff, you'll still find plenty here to love – as most of these tracks are plenty infectious right from the start. Titles include "Super Strut" and "City Country City" by Cookin Bag, "House Rocker" by Love Uprisers, "Backyard" and "Just Got To Be Loving You" by Houston Outlaws, "Drifting" by Chucky Thurmon &Y Pharris Wheel, "Bumpin On Sunset/We Got More Soul" by Charles Williams with Darondo, "Victor's Theme" by Victor Green, and "Let's Get It Together (early version)" by Two Things In One.

A landmark in rare Cali soul – and quite possibly the greatest moment ever from the legendary Mike James Kirkland! The set's got a vibe that grabs you right from the very first note – a blend of funky rhythms and more righteous moments that are totally outta site – a careful balance that you'd be hard pressed to find done this well in any other indie soul set of the time. Mike's vocals are wonderful – with a depth that rivals some of his bigger contemporaries, but a slight roughness that makes them a bit more personal too. The album is divided into two halves – a "peace" side, which is more political; and a "love" side, which has some mellow soulful tracks – and titles include "What Have We Done", "Where's The Soul Of Man", "Hang On In There", "It's Alright With Me", "Give It To Me", and "Blota Blota".

A wild set of duets, with a really unique feel – a rare date that brings the drums and percussion of Gunter Sommer into play with these massive musings on pipe organ from Hans Gunthe Wauer! There's only one other record we can think of like this – an FMP set that had Fred Van Hove taking similar liberties with the enormous instrument – and Wauer's range of sounds here is breathtaking – from mad runs that must have rumbled the entire studio, to moody atmospheric passages that are punctuated beautifully by Sommer's percussion! We always love Gunter in a spare setting like this, and his work on the record really adds a lot – sometimes just by adding a little. Titles include "Lydische Toccata", "Ech Meissen Crash", "Verschrantke Konstruktion", "Entlang Am Rohrenklang", and "Gesorte Klangflache".

Alan Lomax recordings of the surviving fife and drum music of North Mississippi – much of it recorded in 1969 and 1970 with few recordings from as far back as 1942! The music represents the (then) surviving legacy of earlier African American music of the region, less heard and less celebrated than the blues to come – and fusion of African and western traditional music that was rarely heard outside of the deep south. 19 records including pieces by Otha Turner, Napoleon Strickland, RL Boyce, Sid Hemphill and others.

Some of the funkiest tracks on the mighty Luv N Haight and Ubiquity labels – no surprise, given that all of them have been sampled over the years! The bulk of the work here is 70s funk – of the gritty, obscure sort that Luv N Haight first started digging 20 years ago, and has continued to reissue at a rock-solid level – overlooked gems from the American underground, brought back to life not just through key hip hop samples, but also from the label's own series of excellent compilations and reissues! The package includes a number of out of print tracks – and titles include "Searching For Soul (part 1)" by Jack Wade & The Soul Searchers, "Spread The News" by Perfect Circle, "Boys With Toys" by Gap Mangione, "Sweetest Thing In The World" by Turner Brothers, "Africana" and "Do Whatever Turns You On (part 2)" by The Propositions, "Hang On In There" by Mike James Kirkland, "Getting Down" and "We Know We Have To Live Together" by Eugene Blacknell, and "Plenty Action" by Soft Touch.

An amazing set of music – two rare albums from Ohio funk legend Lou Ragland, plus bonus tracks, and a whole set of unreleased sessions too – a huge amount of new music, even if you've got some of the previous reissues! First up is the legendary Hot Chocolate album – one of the greatest lost funk records of all time! The group is not the British pop band, but an Ohio funk group led by the great guitarist Lou Ragland. The album's originally from Canada, which makes it super rare – and these guys are funky funky funky, and kick some major booty with a heavy guitar sound that's just great! Some of the cuts are instrumental, and some of them have some excellent soul vocals that are produced with a nice deep sound that's brought out nicely by the excellent quality of the reissue. The record's got a bit of Sly Stone, a bit of Grant Green, and a bit of Mike James Kirkland – with a tasty raw indie soul vibe – and the original album was only pressed up at 500 copies. Titles include "So Dam Funky", "Ain't That A Groove", "Sexy Moods Of Your Mind", "Messin With Sly", and "What You Want To Do" – plus 8 more tracks from the same vintage – "Good For The Gander" by Hot Chocolate, "I Travel Alone" and Big Wheel" by Lou Ragland, "Red Robin" and "I've Got Something Going On" by Volcanic Eruption, and "I Can't Take It" and "What The Doctor Prescribed" by Lou Ragland & Hot Chocolate. Next is The Conveyor – the second album from Lou Ragland, stepping out here in a great set of mellow soul tracks! The album's quite different from the heavy funk of the Hot Chocolate album – more of a message-oriented approach to soul, in the vein of similar 70s indie work by Mike James Kirkland. The arrangements are also bigger – not smooth, but ambitious, in a style that perfectly matches the higher vision Lou's going for in tracks like "Understand Each Other", "What Should I Do?", "The Next World", and "It's Got To Change". Conveyor also comes with bonus tracks too – "Tend To Your Business" by Wildfire, plus "Since You Said You'd Be Mine" and "I Didn't Mean To Leave You" by Lou Ragland. And last up is an incredible batch of unreleased material – maybe the biggest and best so far from Ragland – tracks that have this really ambitious quality that mixes soul, funk, and larger orchestrations – especially some light strings, which really expand the sound, and push the music into this righteous territory that reminds us a lot of the creative experiments in Chicago during the Cadet/Concept years! Lou's vocals are great, and the message is totally righteous – and even though the tape quality is slightly aged, the soulful vibe really comes through – on cuts that include "Understand Each Other", "It Ain't My Fault", "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love", "Spend My Life Loving You", "Until I Met You", and "Brother Louie". Lovingly packaged by Numero – with a huge booklet of photos and history!