Maybe the heaviest set of sound library grooves you'll ever hear – but that's probably no surprise, given that the package features some key Heliocentrics elements in the mix – including lots of psychedelic production next to fierce work on drums from Malcolm Catto and Jake Ferguson! There's plenty of breaks on the record, but settled in nicely amidst keyboards and other electronics from the great Jessica Lauren – an artist we've loved for years – plus bass and lots of other instruments from Jake, and bits of flute and trumpet too. Tracks are mostly instrumental, and while the record follows the sound library style of tight funky grooves, there's also some of the darker, more brooding Heliocentrics elements in the mix too. Titles include "Dune", "M For Drums", "Emotions Run Dry", "Freestyling", "Well Well Well", "String Fantasy", "Train A Coming", and "I Wonder". LP, Vinyl record album

A heady mix of fuzzy funk and psychedelic production – served up here as a duet between Little Barrie and Malcolm Catto! Catto's on drums, with the same rock-solid style that we've loved right since his Mo Wax days – and Barrie handles guitar and vocals – with that more pronounced lyrical mode that he's had in recent years, yet still all filtered down in the mix – thanks to some nicely trippy production from Catto in his Quatermass Soundlab! The whole thing's a great blend of psych and funk – on titles that include "You're Only You", "Repeater #2", "Rest In Blue", "TRABS", "Steel Drum", "After After", and "Repeater #1". LP, Vinyl record album

A very well-done collection of famous snippets from Malcolm's best speeches – done officially, in collaboration with Betty Shabazz. The record doesn't feature full speeches, but important passages that include "By Any Means Necessary", "We Want Complete Separation", "You Can't Hate The Roots Of A Tree And Not Hate The Tree", "I'm A Field Negro", and "There's No Such Thing As A Non-Violent Revolution". LP, Vinyl record album

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Malcolm Dalglish on hammer dulcimer. LP, Vinyl record album

It's a shame that Paul Winley ended up making some bucks off the late great one – especially as other issues of this famous speech gave royalties to Betty Shabazz. Still, the work's an essential one – and the package is pretty nice looking. The vinyl's also banded, and divided into sections like "Violence & Non Violence", "Human Rights & Civil Rights", and "Black Nationalism". LP, Vinyl record album

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Stunning duets from these key improvisers – a set recorded in Paris, and done with a stripped-down and freely playful vibe that's very much like some of the best AACM material of the time! Wadada Leo Smith blows trumpet, Marion Brown is on alto – and both players bring percussion into the mix too – as they shift between shorter and longer improvisations, all handled with that special ear for sonic textures that makes them such subtle giants in their field! The style is very different than the more spiritual vibe of some of Brown's larger group performances from the period – and very much in the spirit of more intimate improvisational recordings that Wadada would issue more often in years to come. Titles include "Rhythmus 1", "Centering", "And Then They Danced", and "Njung Lumumba Malcolm". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning batch of tracks from a very unusual LA group of the early 70s – a funk combo at the core, but one that was also equally comfortable with bits of psych and redneck rock as well! The music here was all recorded within a short span of years, and mostly issued on the small Alpha label as a handful of funky 45s – but the style is surprisingly spacious, and shows a strong sense of musicianship from the members of the group – so much so that they seem equally comfortable and right on top of their game, no matter what direction they choose to take! And don't think that this multi-style description means that these guys are too all over the map, because there's a really unified sense of soul that holds the whole thing together – so that when they get a bit rootsy, the result is country soul – or when they get a bit trippy, they hit some Funkadelic-styled sounds. The collection includes great notes on the setting that produced these tracks – penned by Egon, who put the set together with help from Malcolm Catto, DJ Shadow, and others. Titles include "Don't Let Him Take Away Your Mind", "Strange Things", "Heaven & Earth", "Take Time", "We Got Love", "Waterloo At Watergate", "Why Don't You Trust In Me", "Cruising Central Ave", "The Dead Don't Die Alive", and "You're My Precious Someone". LP, Vinyl record album

The Great Revivers are especially great here – really building off the sort of energy we love on their funky 45s, as they serve up great goods over the course of this full length album! There's a slight psychedelic edge to the music – not as tripped-out as a Malcolm Catto production might be, but with occasional fuzz in just the right places – both on guitars, and keyboard lines – the latter of which sound especially great with a bit of distortion! Drums are nice and heavy, and really great at slow funk steppers – on titles that include "The Worst", "Adventures Begin", "Taiga", "Seek & Destroy", "Russian Steps", "Evil's Nest", "From Darkness To Light", "Estrellas", and "Cowboy's Walk". LP, Vinyl record album

Almost from the start of his career, tenorist Johnny Griffin was heading overseas, delivering searing live performances like this – working as a solo horn player with a pickup group, at a level that was often even more powerful than some of his studio work back home! And here, the combo is hardly just a pickup group – as British modernist Stan Tracey is on piano, working alongside frequent musical partners Malcolm Cecil on bass and Jackie Dougan on drums – a great engine to drive the tenor of Griffin on to new heights – as Johnny blows here with a really raw edge that's amazing, and non-stop imagination that makes for very powerful solos that never seem to let up at all! The set features a smoking 22 minute take on "Indiana", plus long takes on "Blues In Twos" and "The Girl Next Door", both around the 15 minute mark – which means that Tracey also gets in plenty of solo space too. LP, Vinyl record album

Drummer Emanuel Harrold is way more than just a musician on the set – and the record is way more than jazz as well – as Emanuel works with some great guests throughout, and turns the whole thing into a record that's more like some soul-styled soundsystem overall! There's definitely plenty of jazzy moments on the set – nice work on flute, alto, Fender Rhodes, and guitar – but the singers who appear on different cuts really help shape the sound of the record in great ways – given a lot of freedom by Harrold to do their things, at a level that's very different than just a vocalist joining in on a jazz session. Gregory Porter gives us one of his best songs in years – the wonderful "I Think" – and singers on other cuts include Shareef Keyes on "See", Crystal Ransom on "Brighter Day", Saunders Sermons on "Good Word", and Malcolm Jamal Warner on "We Da People" – and other cuts include "Shine Light" and "Fight Harder" – the last of which features trumpet from Keyon Harrold. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic mix of heady sounds and heavy funk from The Heliocentrics – and a record that continues the vibe of their previous set – in which the team of Malcolm Catto and Jake Ferguson were joined by the lovely vocals of Barbora Patkova! Patkova's presence is just what the group needs to really ground their sound – a female singer up front, but one who's as equally comfortable with distortion, fuzz, and echoey spaces as the two instrumentalists – a trio who continue that unique tradition of psychedelic funk that we first loved in Catto's early work on Mo Wax! Titles include "99% Revolution", "Hanging By A Thread", "Nonsense (part 1)", "Light In The Dark", "People Wake Up", "Burning Wooden Ship", and "Elephant Walk". LP, Vinyl record album

Nice work from this funky jazz combo – a group who owe plenty to the sound of 60s soul jazz on Prestige and Verve Records, but who also do plenty to make their own mark as well! The album's issued on the same label as the Haggis Horns, and these guys definitely use strong interplay between the horns to make their mark – the trumpet of Nick Malcolm and tenor of Jake McMurchie, set out over some nice grooves from keyboardist George Cooper – who plays piano, organ, and Wurlitzer – plus a bit of vibes as well! There's vocals on one track from Doc Brown – the cut "Rolling On A High" – and all others are instrumental, and include "The Long Haul", "Chasing Fantasies", "Snakebite Playfight", "Net Zero", and "Enigma" – which was recorded live in Paris. LP, Vinyl record album

The young Roland Kirk at the height of his powers – recording here on the UK scene, long before he added the Rahsaan to his name – and heading up a very cool combo with the legendary Stan Tracey on piano! Stan's presence here is wonderful – as Tracey was in many ways the Thelonious Monk or Herbie Nichols of the London scene – a modernist piano genius whose accompaniment of Roland here is akin to the work of Jaki Byard on some of Kirk's other albums – as the pair move deftly and wonderfully with the mix of imagination and wit that both of them brought to their music! Rhythm accompaniment is wonderful too – deft drums from Ronnie Stephenson and bass from Malcolm Cecil. Kirk blows tenor, stritch, and manzello – sometimes all three at once – and titles include the long tracks "Angelica", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "Close Your Eyes", and "Three For The Festival". LP, Vinyl record album

Nina sings Ellington – but as always, she makes whatever she sings all her own! The album's a bit straighter than later efforts – with large backings by Stu Phillips that also feature vocals by the Malcolm Dodds Singers – but Nina also conceived the whole thing herself, as an effort to bring a new level of spiritualism to Ellington's work. The result is a masterpiece – proof that even in her early years, Nina could completely transform anything she laid her hands on – and unlock a soulful depth that even the original recordings might have missed. Titles include "I Got It Bad", "Solitude", "The Gal From Joe's", "It Don't Mean A Thing", and "I Like The Sunrise". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from Leon Thomas – easily one of his greatest albums ever, and a set that was recorded at the same time he was working with Pharoah Sanders! Thomas really rose to fame on Sanders' classic "The Creator Has A Master Plan" – and this set really takes off from that moment – letting Leon spin out some spiritual vibes of his own, and step into a few fresh new styles as well! The album's plenty righteous right from the start – partly because the lineup includes James Spaulding on alto and flute, Lonnie Liston Smith on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and the enigmatic "Little Rock" on tenor – who is actually Pharoah Sanders – but also because Leon serves up a shorter take on "The Creator Has a Master Plan" – done in a great style! The album also features a classic vocal take on Horace Silver's "Song for My Father", with lyrics that we totally love – plus the frenetic "Malcolm's Gone" – and the tracks "One", "Echoes", "Let The Rain Fall On Me", and "Damn Nam". LP, Vinyl record album

We love the music of Chip Wickham – a very soulful reed player who easily moves between spiritual and modal modes – sometimes grooving, sometimes a bit more open – and always working with a fantastic sense of color and tone! Here, Chip plays both flute and tenor sax – the latter on just one track, as most of the record features his flute lines stepping out over these well-crafted rhythms – served up by Phil Wilkinson on piano, Simon Houghton on bass, and Jon Scott on drums – with guest work along the way from Ton Risco on vibes, and Malcolm Strachan and Eoin Grace on trumpets. The tunes have a quality that's like late 60s Blue Note or Verve material from the generation who were aware of Coltrane, but not directly copping his approach – maybe more loving modal energy, which you'll hear plenty of on the tracks "Slow Down Look Around", "Seven Worlds", "Love & Life", and "Space Walk". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer collection of early work from producer Joe Gibbs – the kind of all-burning material that made Joe such a fresh new voice on the rocksteady scene in Kingston, and a studio whiz who helped set the tone for countless others to come! There's a quality to this work that's wonderful – groups that are tight, but never uptight – and singers that are very much part of the groove, almost urged on by the instrumentation by the well-chosen studio players that Gibbs chose for these early gems on his Amalgamated record label. Titles include "Long Shot" by The Pioneers, "I'm Moving On" by Keith Blake, "Miss Tourist" by Errol Dunkley, "Hold Them" by Roy Shirley, "Train To Soulville" by Cool Sticky, "Push It In" by The Versatiles, and "Come Brothers" by Hugh Malcolm. LP, Vinyl record album

Includes selections by Fiona, Chrissy Faith, Twisted Sister, Zebra, Paul Delph, and Malcolm McLaren and The McLarenettes. LP, Vinyl record album

Classics from the vaults of Sun Records – not just bit rock hits, but some more obscure blues and country as well! Titles include "Bear Cat" by Rufus Thomas, "Baker Shop Boogie" by Willie Nix, "Red Velvet" by The Kirby Sisters, "Oh Red" by Howlin Wolf, "Ooby Dooby" by Roy Orbison, "Drinkin Wine Spodee O Dee" by Malcolm Yelvington, "Call Me Anything But Call Me" by Big Memphis Ma Rainey, and "Feelin Good" by Little Junior's Blue Flames. LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime work from Billy Harper – one of those rare Japanese-only sessions he cut in the 70s – really tremendous stuff that blows away most of his other (already excellent) work from other points around the globe! Billy's blowing some really mighty tenor here – at a level that makes him one of the most righteous, spiritual players of the 70s – a player we'd rank right up there with John Coltrane or Pharoah Sanders at their best, working here with a bold musical vision that's all his own! The long tracks really give Harper plenty of room to stretch out – and he never goes too far out, even with the freedom – hanging tight to some tremendous rhythms from Mickey Tucker on piano, Gregg Maker on bass, and Malcolm Pinson on drums – and getting great help from trumpeter Everett Hollins in the frontline. Titles include "Love On The Sudan", "Priestess", and "Awakening". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Don Pullen's best-known albums, and for good reason too – a well-recorded document of a Montreux performance that helped put Don's piano talents in the spotlight for the rest of the 70s! The record's got a sense of freedom that's quite unusual for Atlantic Records at the time – as each side features one long track, played at a level that's very spontaneous, and often quite outside – at least at some points. Side one features an extended version of Muhal Richard Abrams' "Richard's Tune", done with a trio that features electric bass by Jeff Berlin and drums by Steve Jordan – and side two features the even more beautiful Pullen original, "Dialogue Between Malcolm & Betty" – which adds in some great Latin percussion to the trio! LP, Vinyl record album

A fab bunch of ska and rocksteady numbers, one of those compilations that Trojan has oddly let go out of print. 18 great tracks, including "Big Bamboo" by Lord Creator, "Latin Goes Ska", "Beardman Ska", "Street Corner" and "Ball O Fire" by the Skatalites, "hallelujah" by the Maytals, "Garden Of Love" and "Let George Do It" by Don Drummond, "Rough & Tough" by Stranger Cole, "Shame & Scandal" by Peter Tosh & The Wailers, "Bonanza Ska" by Carlos Malcolm, "Dance Crasher" by Alton Ellis, "Rudie Bam Bam" by the Clarnedonians, "Ska Jam" by Tommy McCook & The Supersonics, "Doctor Dick" by Lee Perry & The Soulettes, "Owe Me No Pay Me" by the Ethiopians, "Independence Ska" by Baba Brooks and "Don't Be A Rude Boy" by the Rulers. LP, Vinyl record album

A dub album as powerful as the image on its cover – mixed to perfection by Ossie Hibbert, with a nearly sci-fi blend of darkness and electricity! The core tracks were laid down by the Aggrovators and Revolutionaries at King Tubby's studio in Kingston – but it really seems to be Hibbert who makes the real magic here – knowing just when to let the right sounds space out, then cut them off before they take over the groove – which leaves the whole thing able to bad-step around in a sublime blend of bass, drums, guitar, and horns! Titles include "Ethiopian Dub", "Guerilla Dub", "Swapo Dub", "Garvey Dub", "Malcolm X Dub", "Martin Luther Dub", "Paul Bogle Dub", and "PLA Dub". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare bit of righteous jazz from the Cali scene of the 70s – a record that's much more obscure than some of the better-known efforts from the Bay Area and the LA scene, but which resonates strongly with all the power of those classics too! James Benson was an educator as much as he was a musician – yet here, he proves himself very strongly as a hell of a leader – blowing flutes, tenor, and soprano in a cool combo that also features the greats Cal Green and Roy Gaines on guitars, Ed Pratt on alto, Buffalo Williams on piano, and Ronnie Randall on drums! There's plenty of percussion on the record, including some congas by Big Black – and the set mixes rootsy rumblings with spiritual solos in a really great way. Sandra Meadows sings a bit on the set, and titles include "Malcolm IX", "Spring 2000", "Brother Don", "Song For My Black Mother", "Nigeria West Africa", and a nice remake of "Compared To What". LP, Vinyl record album

Never-issued live material from one of our favorite jazz musicians of all time – the mighty Billy Harper, a tenor saxophonist who took the initial legacy of John Coltrane, then really ran with it in the 70s! The album is stunning right from the very first note – a perfect encapsulation of the way that Harper worked at his best – balancing order and chaos, dark and light, all with a searing, searching style that was brimming over with a sense of righteous mission! The group features the tremendous Virgil Jones on trumpet – making a really spectacular appearance, and showing the hippest side of his talents – next to Joe Bonner on piano, David Friesen on bass, and Malcolm Pinson on drums – an unusual group for Harper, and one that really makes the album stand out from his other gems of the 70s. The set was recorded live at the jazz festival in Antibes in 1975 – and each side of the record features an extended performance of a key Harper tune – the soaring "Cry Of Hunger", and the pulsating rhythmic tune "Croquet Ballet", which was first debuted on Lee Morgan's last session. LP, Vinyl record album