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A collection of club tracks from the Erotic Drum Band – a group with a sound that definitely lives up to their name! Most of the numbers here build up heavily from percussion on the bottom – sometimes raw congas layered in among the basslines and keyboards, sometimes rhythms that are a bit more convention disco – but always great work throughout, with a depth that goes way beyond the cheesiness of the group's name! The 2CD package features album tracks and rare singles – a whopping 15 long numbers in all, with titles that include "Love Disco Style", "Action 78 (edit)", "Jerky Rhythm", "Love Christmas Style", "Touch Me Where It's Hot", "Dance In Your Pants", "Sweet Seduction", "Everybody Get Dancin", and "Horny".

One of the crowning moments in the career of Geraldine Hunt – a massive club number with a really righteous groove! "Can't Fake The Feeling" starts with a slower, stomping sort of groove – almost pre-house – then Geraldine works in the vocals with a really majestic touch – never too overblown, always soulful, and with perfect intensity on the hook – foreshadowing the much later style of the New Jersey scene!

A rare slice of ECM Records from the 70s – a previously-unreleased live performance – featuring some of the label's most influential talents of the time! The core energy here comes from the piano of Keith Jarrett and reeds of Jan Garbarek – both musicians whose instruments shaped the sound of the label, and of jazz in general, during this crucial decade in modern music – aided here by Palle Danielsson on bass and Jon Christensen on drums – players with a keen ear for the sorts of rhythms needed to really make the music flow! Tracks are quite long, and in some of the best spirit of Jarrett's work with reeds – yet also warmer than his music with Dewey Redman at the time. Really beautiful throughout – with tracks that include "Personal Mountains", "Innocence", "Chant Of The Soil", "New Dance", "Oasis", "So Tender", and "Prism".

Stevie Wonder's classic albums as guided though a musicians lens, rather than only the the prism of popular culture – put together by London based musician, columnist and author Steve Lodder – who has worked with Carla Bley, George Russell and Paul McCartney to name a few! The book focuses on 5 classic albums in particular: Music Of The Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Songs In The Key Of Life. Paperback, 240 pages.

Herbie plays a host of cool electric keyboards in this nice session of modern jazzy tracks – recorded in the company of some of his best bandmates, like Bennie Maupin, Tony Williams, Harvey Mason, Ron Carter, Alphonse Mouzon, and Paul Jackson. The feel's a bit smoother than some of the more out there mid 70s sides – but still nice and funky in an electric way, with plenty of warmly grooving tracks! Titles include "Spiralling Prism", "4 AM", "Shiftless Shuffle", and "Textures".

A great little trio session from Keith Jarrett – still in the mode of some of his other ECM work, but almost a bit more back to basics as well! The group here features Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – both working beautifully with Keith in a flurry of colors, tones, and pulsating rhythms – the latter of which really drive along the two-part composition "Flying", which takes up most of the set. The shorter "Prism" completes the record – a number that's a bit more contemplative overall, and which features some of those beautifully rounded tones that were virtually Peacock's trademark at the time.

Mary Lou Williams is dipping far back into her roots here – working in a very bluesy batch of styles, with only accompaniment from Buster Williams on bass to back her up! The tracks are all relatively shortish, and done in styles that stretch back to older modes of 20s and 30s jazz piano – but as usual, Williams has a hip edge in her playing, and brings modernist undercurrents into play where you might least expect. Cynthia Tyson sings on 2 tracks in the set – and titles include "JBs Waltz", "The Blues", "NG Blues", "Prism", "No Title Blues", "My Mama Pinned A Rose On Me", "Baby Bear Boogie", and "Dirge Blues".

A core trio set from pianist Roy Assaf - but one that also features some great horn work on some tracks too – including guest tenor from Eric Alexander, flugelhorn from Roy Eldridge, and trumpet from Greg Gisbert! Assaf gets things going in a bluesy, swinging groove – but then stretches out quickly into a range of modern modes from the late 20th Century – bringing in some great post-swing, post-bop modes with bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Greg Hutchinson. Alexander soars on a great version of McCoy Tyner's "Fly With The Wind" – which also has percussion from Vanderlei Pereira – and other titles include "Prism", "Song For Abdullah", "September In Rio", "Hymn To Freedom", "Uranus", and "Textures".

A record that acts just like its title – as the set really helps focus the brilliance of Paulinho Da Viola into bright rays of color – showing different tones and feelings with each new tune on the set! By that, we don't mean that the album's schizophrenic – just that it's got a range that goes beyond the more familiar samba of Paulinho's roots – into territory that reaches right up there with the best of the MPB generation – and almost makes Paulinho into a genre unto himself! The arrangements have a nice sense of variety, but are never too commercial – and the samba roots are always firmly intact – on titles that include "Cisma", "Quem Sabe", "Mais Que A Lei Da Gravidade", "Cade A Razao", "Retiro", and "O Tempo Nao Apagou".

Smoking trio recordings from Swedish player Jan Johansson – two of his best albums from the early 60s! 8 Bitar is a real classic – an outing that features Jan on piano, Gunnar Johnson on bass, and Ingvar Callmar on drums – working as an incredibly dynamic trio, able to shift easily between a wide variety of jazz-based modes! Johansson's got a fluid touch on the keys that's simply breathtaking – but also uses a hard left hand at points, too – linking his playing to an older jazz tradition with a few simple flourishes, while also managing to make things swing. At other times, he's lyrical and very open – mixing sensitivity with an edge, in ways that clearly show why he was one of the most respected players on his scene during his all-too-short career. Titles include "Rebus", "Night In Tunisia", "Prisma", "Skobonka", "Bla Vit", and "Willow Weep For Me". Innertrio cooks nicely with a combo that features Georg Riedel on bass and Egil Johansen on drums – both players who match the creative energy of Jan Johansson nicely, especially his ear for unusual timings and sharp changes of tone! Rhythms are plenty playful – almost as if Jan had backing from Joe Morello and Eugene Wright – and titles include "The Chant", "Snalltag", "Innertrio", "Premiar", "Bolles Vaggvisa", and "3 2 1 Go".

Pretty amazing sounds from this experimental Norwegian composer! Side one of the record features the groundbreaking "Nova" – a piece originally composed for a multi-media installation in 1972, with a message on the way we were destroying our planet! The dark sounds come from tape loops, changing slowly – installed as large speakers in a space with stringed panels, tires, and paper – all set to music that has an eerie, pre-industrial sort of feel. Next is "Omgivelser" – another environmentally-related piece – and with an equally electronic style – almost somewhere between early musique concrete, and later industrial sounds of the late 70s underground. Last is "Keiserens Nye Slips" – more electronic, in a less abstract way – with these beautiful melodic moments that almost glisten and glimmer like electric rain drops!

The "Sunrise" in the title here is especially well-placed – because this live performance by Sun Ra has a beautifully glowing quality – one that unfolds musically as the set rolls on, moving through a day's course of music in different moods and dimensions! Ra initiates the proceedings with some gentler inside piano, but as the set gets moving, the other group members leap into the fray – pushing a tremendous energy into some of Ra's original compositions – then stepping back for a more peaceful, contemplative exploration of older themes in jazz – played in that "across the 20th century" mode that took hold of The Arkestra strongly during this decade. Group members here include Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, Noel Scott, Michael Ray, and Danny Thomas – and the concert is very well recorded, with numbers that include "Cocktails For Two", "Lightnin", " "Light From A Hidden Sun", "Pin Points Of Spiral Prisms", "Silhouettes Of The Shadow World", "Queer Notions", "Big John's Special", and "A Helio-Hello & Goodbye Too".