Fantastic work by Randy Brown – one of the unsung heros of modern soul! This album ranks with Randy's best work on Chocolate City, and features some sublime numbers that groove along gracefully – stepping along to smooth vocals from Randy, occasionally getting a bit funkier. The album was produced by Homer Banks, arranged by Tom Tom 84, and tracks include "Tomorrow", "Leave the Bridges Standing", "If I Don't Love You", "Just to Be With You", and "Looking For The Real Thing". LP, Vinyl record album

A hip assortment of avant jazz material – with selections by Roswell Rudd, Randy Weston, Charles Tolliver, Gato Barbieri, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Marion Brown, Albert Ayler, and Anthony Braxton. LP, Vinyl record album

A masterful album from Billy Cobham – and maybe the best 70s record to really demonstrate the unique place he found for himself in 70s fusion! The album soars with a sound that really lives up to its cover image – but it's also not the heavy-jamming affair of some of Billy's more rockish records from the time. Instead, it's got this wonderful blend of deeper elements that really come together wonderfully – and some very strong use of reeds from Michael Brecker, trumpet from Randy Brecker, and trombone from the great Garnett Brown – all players who give the album a very rich, soulful voice. The set includes the famous sample track "Heather", a mellow cut with great electric keyboard work by George Duke – and other titles include "Crosswind", "The Pleasant Pheasant", and "Spanish Moss – A Sound Portrait". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes 11 tracks from Carl Simms, Randy Brown, Bobby McClure, Marshall & Babb, Main Ingredient, Jimmy Bo Horn, Bobby Marchan, David Dee, and J Blackfoot. CD

Duke Pearson knocks it out of the park with this one – perfectly summing up all the new ideas in jazz arranging and large ensemble work he'd been exploring at Blue Note – and pushing things way way past his previous small group material as well! The album's quite different than most other 60s iterations of big band jazz – as Pearson's got a way of making all instruments come together on the rhythms, then exploding with subtle colors and soulful tones – yet all at a level that's never forced or gimmicky at all. It helps that he's got a tremendous lineup of players here – both Lew Tabackin and Frank Foster on tenor (the latter of whom does some arranging for the record) – plus Pepper Adams on baritone, Marvin Stamm and Randy Brecker on trumpets, Garnett Brown and Jimmy Cleveland on trombones, Jerry Dodgion and Al Gibbons on alto, and the rhythm team of Bob Cranshaw on bass and Mickey Roker on drums. Duke plays superb piano with a really sophisticated touch, but it's really his strength as an arranger that makes the whole thing come together beautifully. Andy Bey sings on a version of "I'm Tired Cryin Over You" – and other titles include "Amanda", "Tones For Joan's Bones", "Dad Digs Mom", "Disapproachment", and "Make It Good". CD

A deep dive into the vaults of the legendary Stax Records – the Memphis label who helped usher in a whole new sound in soul music during the 60s, and was still going strong in the early part of the 70s! In the final years, Stax was hitting big with a number of stars, but also recording a bit more than they got the chance to issue at the time – all top-quality work, often with the key songwriters and studio talent behind the hits – some of which was lost to the sands of time, due to financial troubles in the label's last few years. Yet those rare gems live again here – as Ace/Kent do a superb job of dipping into the legacy of rare and unreleased material from this period – a good deal of which shows Stax moving the bar even further, by advancing the styles of southern soul with newly sophisticated modes. If you know the last few Soul Children records on Stax, you'll get the vibe here – spun out on a great run of 20 tracks that include "I'm Too Old To Play" by Jimmy Hughes, "How Can I Win Your Love" by Eddie Floyd, "I'm Tired" by Mavis Staples, "Come Get From Me (parts 1 & 2)" by David Porter, "You Need Love" by Chuck Brooks, "Ain't No Way" by Shirley Brown, "Did You Hear Yourself (part 1)" by Randy Brown & Company, "Ain't Nobody Like My Baby" by Lee Sain, "I'll Do Anything For Your Love (single edit)" by William Bell, "Standing In The Safety Zone" by Soul Children, "We've Got Love On Our Side" by Bettye Crutcher, "Guilty Of Loving You" by Veda Brown, "Let's Make A Deal" by Frederick Knight, and "A Smile Can't Hide A Broken Heart" by Ollie & The Nightingales. CD

Freddy Cole serves up a tribute to his famous brother Nat – in a small combo set that also features some nice tenor work from Houston Person and Harry Allen too! Cole's a singer who's ultimately had a lot more of a career than Nat – and we're not entirely sure why he's so often lumped together in settings like this – but the record's a real testament to Freddy's talents in the way he doesn't slavishly repeat Nat's phrasing, and instead makes these classic Cole tunes very much his own. The more jazz-based presentation helps a lot with that – and in addition to the tenor solos, the record also features work from Joe Magnarelli on trumpet, Josh Brown on trombone, Randy Napoleon on guitar, and John DiMartino on piano. Titles include "Love Is The Thing", "Jet", "Exactly Like You", "That's My Girl", "The Best Man", and "Maybe It's Because I Love You Too Much". CD

Duke Pearson knocks it out of the park with this one – perfectly summing up all the new ideas in jazz arranging and large ensemble work he'd been exploring at Blue Note – and pushing things way way past his previous small group material as well! The album's quite different than most other 60s iterations of big band jazz – as Pearson's got a way of making all instruments come together on the rhythms, then exploding with subtle colors and soulful tones – yet all at a level that's never forced or gimmicky at all. It helps that he's got a tremendous lineup of players here – both Lew Tabackin and Frank Foster on tenor (the latter of whom does some arranging for the record) – plus Pepper Adams on baritone, Marvin Stamm and Randy Brecker on trumpets, Garnett Brown and Jimmy Cleveland on trombones, Jerry Dodgion and Al Gibbons on alto, and the rhythm team of Bob Cranshaw on bass and Mickey Roker on drums. Duke plays superb piano with a really sophisticated touch, but it's really his strength as an arranger that makes the whole thing come together beautifully. Andy Bey sings on a version of "I'm Tired Cryin Over You" – and other titles include "Amanda", "Tones For Joan's Bones", "Dad Digs Mom", "Disapproachment", and "Make It Good". LP, Vinyl record album

Very cool stuff – and a fittingly cool collection of work from the great ESP label! If you've never seen one of their samplers before, they're sort of a mad mix of many different styles – putting together tracks in short little blips, filtered out of longer original ones on albums, into a cool collage of sounds and moods – that includes material by Marion Brown, Sunny Murray, New York Art Quartet, The Fugs, Henry Grimes, Albert Ayler, Pearls Before Swine, Pharoah Sanders, and many others! This album features a number of great bits from records we've never seen, mixed together with some more classic moments, all packaged in a cool cover. Includes bits from "East Village Other" by Ishamael Reed, "The Lovebook Record" by Andrei Vozenensky, "Movement Soul" from a record of traditional recordings, "Ni Kantu En Esperanto" from an Esperanto recording, "The Coach With Six Insides" from a musical based on Finnegan's Wake, "Assemblage" by Gunter Hampel, "East Village Other" by Allen Ginsberg, "Call Me Burroughs" by William S Burroughs, "Zitro" by James Zitro, "Of Love & War" by Randy Burns, and lots more by some of the usual suspects. LP, Vinyl record album

Features great mellow work from Love Unlimited Orchestra, Cameo, The Dells, Starpoint, Ohio Players, Four Tops, Randy Brown, and Kinsman Dazz! CD

Disco funk and plenty more – all from this long-running series that only seems to dig deeper and deeper as time goes on! This time around, nearly all the cuts are ones you won't find elsewhere, especially on CD – with that special sort of 80s bent that the series always has, which means that you'll find as much boogie on the set as you will later disco rarities – served up in a batch of tracks that includes "Your Love Keeps Taking Me Higher" by E'Lan, "Let Me Be The One (dance mix)" by Mint, "Sure Ain't News" by Systematic, "Real Love" by The Prajekt, "Are You Lonely" by Randy Brown, "Tomorrow Night" by Angel, "24 Hour Love Affair" by David St George, "Right Or Wrong" by First Light, "Get Into Love Groove" by Bridget Cooper, "Caught In The Middle" by James Cobbin & Prime Cut, "Playtoy (long mix)" by Carmin, "Get Away" by FLOS, and "Cyanide Love" by Carol Shinnete with The Concrete Band. CD

Seminal work from the New York avant scene of the mid 70s – an important series of recordings done by Alan Douglas, and sides that initially broke the creative spirit of the scene to a much wider audience! There's a loose, openly creative spirit to these recordings that's a marked change from the intensity of the New York avant recordings of the 70s – a maturity, and confidence, that's come from some of the players' previous work in avant scenes in Chicago, St Louis, and elsewhere – coming together in New York's limelight with some really amazing energy! This 3CD set brings together tracks from all 5 volumes of the original LPs – over 3 hours' of music, with work by players who include Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre and David Murray on tenors; Ken McIntyre, Marion Brown, Oliver Lake, Jimmy Lyons, and Byard Lancaster on alto saxes; Randy Weston, Anthony Davis, and Sonelius Smith on piano; Ted Daniel, Leo Smith, and Olu Dara on trumpet; Khan Jamal on vibes, George Lewis on trombone, Jerome cooper on percussion, and many others too! CD

A deep dive into the vaults of the legendary Stax Records – the Memphis label who helped usher in a whole new sound in soul music during the 60s, and was still going strong in the early part of the 70s! In the final years, Stax was hitting big with a number of stars, but also recording a bit more than they got the chance to issue at the time – all top-quality work, often with the key songwriters and studio talent behind the hits – some of which was lost to the sands of time, due to financial troubles in the label's last few years. Yet those rare gems live again here – as Ace/Kent do a superb job of dipping into the legacy of rare and unreleased material from this period – a good deal of which shows Stax moving the bar even further, by advancing the styles of southern soul with newly sophisticated modes. If you know the last few Soul Children records on Stax, you'll get the vibe here – spun out on a great run of 20 tracks that include "I'm Too Old To Play" by Jimmy Hughes, "How Can I Win Your Love" by Eddie Floyd, "I'm Tired" by Mavis Staples, "Come Get From Me (parts 1 & 2)" by David Porter, "You Need Love" by Chuck Brooks, "Ain't No Way" by Shirley Brown, "Did You Hear Yourself (part 1)" by Randy Brown & Company, "Ain't Nobody Like My Baby" by Lee Sain, "I'll Do Anything For Your Love (single edit)" by William Bell, "Standing In The Safety Zone" by Soul Children, "We've Got Love On Our Side" by Bettye Crutcher, "Guilty Of Loving You" by Veda Brown, "Let's Make A Deal" by Frederick Knight, and "A Smile Can't Hide A Broken Heart" by Ollie & The Nightingales. CD

Trip issue of material from Randy Weston's under-issued years of the mid 60s – just 3 long tracks that are all totally great! Randy's playing with a group that's similar in spirit to that used on the classic African Cookbook – Ray Copeland on trumpet, Frank Haynes on tenor, Bill Wood on bass, Lennie McBrowne on drums, and Big Black on conga. The extended tracks start slow, but really open up – and are almost a blend of some of Weston's Africanist musings, and some of the more poetic modes expressed by Charles Mingus at the end of the 50s. Titles include "Blues For Strayhorn", "Sad Beauty Blues", and "Afro Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A never-issued performance from Randy Weston – captured during a time when he wasn't recording as much as before! The group here features Booker Ervin on tenor, Cecil Payne on baritone, and Ray Copeland on trumpet – with Bill Wood on bass, Lenny McBrowne on drums, and Big Black on congas! CD

A deep double-dip into the legendary TK Records catalog of Miami Soul – and one that offers up a very different version of the label than you might know from the hits! This 2CD set follows in the best tradition of the Free Soul series from Japan – which means that the collection is filled with unusual tracks that we might have missed otherwise, alongside other numbers that we do know, but which seem to have a really special vibe in this setting – an unpacking of the TK catalog from top to bottom, with a special focus on warmer, more unusual bits of funk and soul. Titles include "Jolie" by Lattimore, "Don't Waste My Time" by Jerry Washington, "Keep It Up" by Milton Wright, "You Knock Me Out" by Wildflower, "Cramp Your Style" by All The People, "I Can't Leave Your Love Alone" by Willie & Anthony, "Street Love" by Spats, "Concrete Jungle" by Little Beaver, "Good Good Lovin" by Charles Johnson, "90% Of Me Is You" by Vanessa Kendrick, "I Got Bills To Pay" by Johnny K, "You Can Be A Lady" by JP Robinson, "Love Is A Simple Thing" by Leon Ware, "Island Girl" by Lew Kirton, "Share Your Love" by Herman Kelly & Life, "Ain't Nothin Wrong" by KC & The Sunshine Band, "What Would Your Mama Say" by Facts Of Life, "Jazz Freak" by Paulette Reaves, "Let's Make A Baby" by Funky Brown, "The Love We Had Stays On My Mind" by Freddy Henry, and "How Long" by Brandye. CD