Brassy LA sunshine big band from Marty Paich – with plenty of subtle, grooving twists & turns, too – with lots of lighter touches and late 50s Hollywood style! Marty is better remembered for his studio arrangement and production genius than as a band leader, but shows a really steady hand here handling a big group of jazz players including Pete Candoli, Herbie Harper, Herb Geller, Mel Lewis and others. Titles are mostly Paich compositions, with the exception of the centerpiece "What's New". Other numbers include "From Now On", "Walkin On Home", "Black Rose", "Tommy's Toon", "Easy Listnin", "Nice And Easy"and "Martytini Time" CD

The starkest, sparest ever by Bruce Springsteen – sans accompaniment for the most part, having famously opted to release the haunting guitar, voice and harmonica demos as the actual album – and it's devastatingly strong to this day! The hallmark facet is that it's a largely solo acoustic record, the the great thing about that is how distinctively Springsteen sounding it is – with the all the earnestness of his more anthemic material, and more – just done with a sometimes somber, always intimate approach. One of those records that deserves all of the loft praise! Includes "Nebraska", "Atlantic City", "Mansion On The Hill", "Johnny 99", "State Trooper", "Used Cars", "Open All Night", "My Father's House" and "Reason To Believe".. CD

A 70s set from the great Dakota Staton – but done with a lean, jazzy vibe that really gets back to the spirit of some of her earlier recordings! The group's a small combo, with the great Norman Simmons on piano – always a great accompanist for a jazz singer, and working here with saxophonist Peter Loeb, whose lines help the record sound like more than just the usual trio backing behind a singer. Staton's got some great soulful currents in her sound – and Simmons' piano really brings a wonderful aspect to the session – flowing out with a soulful edge and a lot of playful energy behind Dakota's vocals, creating a great sound that really grounds the set. Titles include "Play Your Hands Girls", "He Will Call Again", "Between 18th & 19th On Chestnut Street", and "Hurry Home". LP, Vinyl record album

Bobby Watson is definitely back home here – really re-rooted in the kind of greatness he was giving us on record many years back, at a level that's come back strongly in recent years – thanks to a top-shelf release like this! As you'll note on the cover, Bobby's got his key early musical partner in place – bassist Curtis Lundy, with whom he cut some of his finest in the 80s – and the alto giant's also got some other wonderful bandmates in the lineup – especially trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, whose upbeat tone and way of reaching up with his sound really matches the positivity in Watson's horn. Other players include the great Cyrus Chestnut on piano and Victor Jones on drums – and Carmen Lundy, makes a very welcome vocal return on the title "Our Love Remains". Other tracks include the Watson originals "Side Steps", "Bon Voyage", "Back Home In Kansas City", and "Blues For Alto" – and other tunes include "Red Bank Heist", "Mind Wine", "The Star In The East", and "Dear Lord". CD

A cool collection of outtakes and oddities from Self Portrait era – a mix of old chestnuts, covers, and songs that would make it onto Dylan's next album, New Morning. CD

One of those amazing obscure records that seems to come out of nowhere – sounding nothing like most of the mainstream work of the time, with a power that might have shaped the world of music for years to come – if the album hadn't been issued in a tiny pressing of only 60 copies! There's a darkness here that's mindblowing – not just in the vocals, and the weird echoey way they've been recorded – but also in the overall instrumentation and pacing of the record – kind of a melancholy, slow progression that almost prefaces 80s styles on 4AD, but with a much rougher feel overall! Any psyche impulses are broken down into much sparer, earthier sounds – and there seems to be a bit of electronics in the mix – or is it just noise from the guitar? Yet lyrical themes are up-close and personal too – almost chance-taking in their earnestness, without the somberness of the instrumentation. All of this makes for a sublime mix – and a record that's as captivating as it is rare. Titles include "Lonely Again", "I Want To Love You", "Goodbye Sunshine", "Candleman", and "Seagulls" – and 2CD set features a whopping 23 bonus tracks – a huge amount of unreleased material, and a few other singles by the group. CD

Essential work from vocalist Karin Krog – one in a number of sessions cut with some of the best saxophonists of her time (Dexter Gordon, Archie Shepp, John Surman) – a record that features some incredible late tenor from Warne Marsh, set beautifully alongside one of the few vocalists who could match him! Instrumentation for the record comes only from Warne's tenor and the bass of Red Mitchell – leaving Karin plenty of room to open up with imaginative interpretations of the tunes – and almost letting Marsh emerge as a second "voice" that contributes equally to the album. The approach is wonderful – spare and moody, but extremely soulful – and even familiar chestnuts sound completely fresh in the setting. Titles include "I Remember You", "Trane", "Moody's Mood For Love", "Loverman", and "Speak Low". LP, Vinyl record album

Features backing from Marc Ribot, James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Regina Carter, and others. CD

Titles include "Chestnut Mare", "Just Like A Woman", "Glory, Glory", "Truck Stop Girl", "Lazy Waters", "Turn! Turn! Turn!", "Paths Of Victory", and "Tiffany Queen" – 21 tracks total. CD

Features Cyrus Chestnut on piano and Fender Rhodes, plus Regina Carter on violin. CD

Features either Cyrus Chestnut or Bruce Barth on piano. CD

Roy Hargrove on trumpet and flugelhorn, Ron Blake on tenor and soprano sax, Cyrus Chestnut on piano, Rodney Whitaker on bass, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums. CD

The genius of Richie Havens at this point is beyond compare – a unique take on the dying folk sound of the 60s, one that infused it with a deeper sense of soul that helped it get new legs in the Woodstock generation – yet which is also heard here before any of the post-hippie cliches that would bog down some of Richie's later work. There's an earnestness to this music that's also touched with a good degree of worldly sense – a notion that the world was changing, but one person at a time, and mostly through the gentle efforts and honest efforts of souls like Richie. This LP features 11 tracks in all – with titles that include "High Flyin' Bird", "San Francisco Bay Blues", "Just Like A Woman", "Sandy", "Three Day Eternity", "Follow", and "Handsome Johny". CD

Not as full on and bombastic as some of Philly Joe Jones heavy thunder recordings from the late 50s – but two nice albums recorded during one set of sessions for Galaxy Records at the end of the 70s! The quality of the material here is high – as Jones is working here with sidemen that include Slide Hampton on trombone, Harold Land on tenor, and Blue Mitchell on trumpet – grooving easily and soulfully through a set of originals, bop standards, and a few mellower chestnuts thrown in to round out the set. Titles include "I Waited for You", "Our Delight", "Bird", "Two Bass Hit", and "Hi Fly". LP, Vinyl record album

With Eric Alexander on tenor, Geore Mraz on bass, Lewis Nash on drums, and Cyrus Chestnut on piano. CD

Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, Wycliffe Gordon on trombone, Wessell "Warmdaddy" Anderson on alto saxophone, Victor Goines on tenor and soprano saxophone and bass clarinet, Cyrus Chestnut, Eric Lewis, Farid Barron, and Marthaniel Roberts on piano, Rodney Whitaker on bass, Herlin Riley on drums, and Roland Guerrero on percussion. CD

Johnnie Taylor's first album for Stax – and a tremendous little set that easily stands as one of his greatest records ever! Sure, we love Johnnie in all his incarnations – but there's a special sort of something here – a rawness and earnestness – that makes the whole thing shine right from the start – a crispy sort of Memphis vibe that has the Stax Records team really hitting their stride. The set's filled with great tunes from the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter – including "I Got To Love Somebody's Baby", "Toe Hold", "Outside Love", "Little Bluebird", and "I Had A Dream" – and also features great versions of "Watermelon Man", "Ain't That Loving You", and "Where Can A Man Go From Here". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Terell Stafford on trumpet and Cyrus Chestnut on piano! CD

With Tarus Mateen on bass, Clarence Penn on drums, Cyrus Chestnut on piano, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, and Stefon Harris on vibraphone. CD

A wonderful bit of spiritual soul jazz from a barely-recorded saxophonist – one known for a rare debut album on Blue Note! This sweet little record was recorded out of the same energy that produced Larry Young's Lawrence of Newark LP for Perception Records, and it's a strange session by Tyrone Washington – a young player from the Newark scene who'd previously cut a straighter album for Blue Note, but who was working here in kind of a messed-up grab bag of styles that fit well with the stoned-out approach of the Perception label. Hubert Eaves plays piano, Stafford James plays bass, Clifford Barconadhi is on drums, and the album's a mix of funk, modal jazz grooving, and a bit of outside activity. In a way, the album's earnestness reminds us of some of Roland Kirk's work from the same time – except that Tyrone's backing group is incredible, with a tight rhythmic sound that gets funky at just the right moments. Titles include "War Is Not For Men", "1980", "Submission", and "Spiritual Light Of The Universe". CD

Joined by Ellis Marsalis, Cyris Chestnut, Oliver Jones, Kenny Barron, Barry Harris, and Renee Rosnes. CD

With Oscar Peterson, Cedar Walton, Tommy Flanagan, John Hicks, Mulgrew Miller, Ellis Marsalis, Cyrus Chestnut, Oliver Jones, Kenny Barron, Barry Harris, and Renee Rosnes. CD

A long-overdue return to form for this legendary compilation series – and one that presents a huge number of rare cuts, with a very cool approach! Side one is vocal, and side two is instrumental – and together, both sides serve up the kind of hard-edged material that make the New Orleans scene of the late 60s/early 70s such a treasure trove for lovers of funky 45s – maybe even more fantastic in this generation than in the better-known Crescent City scene of the early 60s. There's loads of killers here – vocal tracks that include "Get On Up (part 1)" by Chuck Conway & The Amars, "Sooky Feeling (part 2)" by Brotherhood, "Fly In My Pie" by Tommy Ridgley, "You Got To Do Better" by Lonnie Jones, "Little Boy Blue" by Buck Sinegal, and "You Don't Know How To Turn Me On" by Deacon John – and instrumental tracks that include "Funky Jaws" by Larry Jones, "Bumping" by Tyrone Chestnut, "Accept What You Expect" by Louisiana Purchase, "Don't Change Nothin" by The Scram Band, "Getting To The Middle (part 2)" by Eddie Bo, and "Hard To Handle" by Anthony Butler & The Invaders. LP, Vinyl record album

Features Cyrus Chestnut and Larry Willis on piano, Joe Locke on vibes, and Don Braden on saxophone. CD

The genius of Richie Havens at this point is beyond compare – a unique take on the dying folk sound of the 60s, one that infused it with a deeper sense of soul that helped it get new legs in the Woodstock generation – yet which is also heard here before any of the post-hippie cliches that would bog down some of Richie's later work. There's an earnestness to this music that's also touched with a good degree of worldly sense – a notion that the world was changing, but one person at a time, and mostly through the gentle efforts and honest efforts of souls like Richie. This LP features 11 tracks in all – with titles that include "High Flyin' Bird", "San Francisco Bay Blues", "Just Like A Woman", "Sandy", "Three Day Eternity", "Follow", and "Handsome Johny". LP, Vinyl record album

Christian McBride on bass – with Joshua Redman on saxophone, Steve Turre on trombone, Roy Hargrove on trumpet and flugelhorn, Cyrus Chestnut on piano, and Lewis Nash on drums. CD

Round, warm sounds from bassist Charnett Moffett – working here on both acoustic and electric bass, always with that laidback sense of flow that always made his older work so great! Moffett seems to shape each tune in a different way – and he's joined in this pursuit by guitarist Stanley Jordan, who reminds us of his wonderful sense of tone throughout – and by pianist Cyrus Chestnut, who's on most of the tracks on the set – save for a few that feature Jordan on piano. Jeff Tain Watts handles most of the drums – and tenor legend Pharoah Sanders makes a surprising appearance on three of the album's best tracks. Titles include "Music From Our Soul", "Freedom", "We Are Here To Play", "Love In The Galaxies", "Freedom Swing", "Sound World Suite", and "Celestial Dimensions". CD

Features Hank Crawford, Cyrus Chestnut, George Mraz, and others. CD

Gentle magic from singer Jimmy Scott – one of our favorite of his comeback recordings of recent years! The album features tracks that Jimmy Recorded over sessions done in 2000 and 2001 – working with a host of great jazz players like Eric Alexander, Joe Beck, Hank Crawford, David Newman, Grady Tate, and Cyrus Chestnut – all of whom bring a warm and mellow feel to the set, allowing Jimmy some good space to breeze around in understated brilliance. Titles include "Yesterday", "Those Who Were", "How Long Has This Been Going On", "Time On My Hands", and "If I Should Lose You". CD

The starkest, sparest ever by Bruce Springsteen – sans accompaniment for the most part, having famously opted to release the haunting guitar, voice and harmonica demos as the actual album – and it's devastatingly strong to this day! The hallmark facet is that it's a largely solo acoustic record, the the great thing about that is how distinctively Springsteen sounding it is – with the all the earnestness of his more anthemic material, and more – just done with a sometimes somber, always intimate approach. One of those records that deserves all of the lofty praise! Includes "Nebraska", "Atlantic City", "Mansion On The Hill", "Johnny 99", "State Trooper", "Used Cars", "Open All Night", "My Father's House" and "Reason To Believe".. CD

The starkest, sparest ever by Bruce Springsteen – sans accompaniment for the most part, having famously opted to release the haunting guitar, voice and harmonica demos as the actual album – and it's devastatingly strong to this day! The hallmark facet is that it's a largely solo acoustic record, the the great thing about that is how distinctively Springsteen sounding it is – with the all the earnestness of his more anthemic material, and more – just done with a sometimes somber, always intimate approach. One of those records that deserves all of the loft praise! Includes "Nebraska", "Atlantic City", "Mansion On The Hill", "Johnny 99", "State Trooper", "Used Cars", "Open All Night", "My Father's House" and "Reason To Believe". LP, Vinyl record album

Johnnie Taylor's first album for Stax – and a tremendous little set that easily stands as one of his greatest records ever! Sure, we love Johnnie in all his incarnations – but there's a special sort of something here – a rawness and earnestness – that makes the whole thing shine right from the start – a crispy sort of Memphis vibe that has the Stax Records team really hitting their stride. The set's filled with great tunes from the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter – including "I Got To Love Somebody's Baby", "Toe Hold", "Outside Love", "Little Bluebird", and "I Had A Dream" – and also features great versions of "Watermelon Man", "Ain't That Loving You", and "Where Can A Man Go From Here". CD

Joh Yamada on alto saxophone, Cyrusd Chestnut on piano, Rodney Whittaker on bass, and Clarence Penn on drums. CD

Music from the Vels, the Veletones, the Jivers, the Four Tunes, the V8's, the Elegants, the Orients, the Chestnuts, the Willows, the Cadillacs, the Volumes, and more – 30 tracks total. CD

Includes tracks by The Dreamtones, Haven Knights, The Chestnuts, The Martels, The Timetones, Lillian Leach & The Mellows, The Orchids, and The Harptones. CD

A mighty deep look at one of the hippest labels on the rockabilly scene – and one that was quite a surprise, too – given that Dot Records not only served up a fair bit of instrumental pop, but also recorded some of the "fake" rockers of the time as well! Yet all the work here is the real deal – tracks from the farther reaches of the Dot catalog, and related Hamilton imprint – work that was only ever issued as 7" singles, and quickly lost in the shuffle – only to be rediscovered in later generations by the kind of cats who were always digging for the coolest, rawest tracks from back in the day! As with other volumes in this groundbreaking series, the package presents a heck of a lot of music with very detailed notes – 37 titles that include "When The Sin Stops" by The Nighthawks, "Bad Boy" by robin Luke, "Honky Tonk Song" by Leroy Van Dyke, "Cool It Baby" by Dick Lory, "Mail Train" by Billy Joe Tucker, "My Babe" by Ronnie Smith, "Nancy Lynne" by Dick D'Agostin & the Swingers, "Love Charms" by Sanford Clark, "Jeopardy" by Ned Costner, "Whatcha Gonna Do" by Earl Henry, "I'm Hypnotized" by Don Johnson, and "Steelworker Blues" by Keith Courvale. CD

The roots of the Verve Remixed Christmas album – but a set that stands strongly on its own as a sweet batch of classic Holiday tunes! Most of the numbers here are jazz and vocal chestnuts pulled from the Verve catalog of the 40s through the 60s – and although most are familiar, they're put together nicely – with the same sort of hip undercurrent that informs the remix project. Titles include "Chilly Winds" by Nina Simone, "Good Morning Blues" by Count Basie, "Zat You Santa Claus" by Louis Armstrong, "Winter Wonderland" by Shirley Horn, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Jimmy Smith, "I Am Blessed" by Nina Simone, "Silent Night" by Dinah Washington, "What Are You Doing New Years Eve" by Ella Fitzgerald, "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" by Billie Holiday, "The Christmas Song" by Mel Torme, and "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. CD

Dave and the quartet pay tribute to the songwriting genius of Cole Porter – working with familiar older tunes, but nicely unlocking them with a strong sense of Brubeck modernism! Things start out slow, but get extremely playful as the set goes on – with fresh timings and phrasings that move the chestnuts past their usual territory – and allow some great space for crisp alto solos by Paul Desmond, always a treat in any Brubeck set! Dave himself sounds slightly heavier in his left hand on the keys – hitting things with a harder tone than one might expect for a Cole Porter session, and again making for an unusual twist for the material. Titles include "Night & Day", "Anything Goes", "Love For Sale", "What Is This Thing Called Love", "All Through The Night", and "You're The Top". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Cyrus Chestnut on piano and Joe Locke on vibes. CD

A pretty nice jazz tribute to the Billy Wilder film of the same name – and one that reprises a number of tunes from the film, especially popular songs of the 20s – but brings them back in a way that's still got plenty of hip 50s jazz touches! The record's nicely without the hoke that came with a lot of the music in the movie – thanks to a lineup that includes Art Pepper (on tenor, alto, and clarinet!), Joe Gordon, Jimmy Rowles, and Jack Marshall – playing a bit of rhythm guitar in addition to Barney Kessel's main solo one! And if there ever was a record to illustrate the old jazz adage "it ain't the song, it's the singer", this record may be it – because Barney and crew really work some magic with old chestnuts like "I Wanna Be Loved By You", "Sugar Blues", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Runnin Wild", "By The Beautiful Sea", and "I'm Through With Love". CD features 2 bonus tracks! LP, Vinyl record album

A crime thriller, but one with a beautiful score from Bruno Nicolai – slinky and 70s at times, and with some really gentle tension at others! This is definitely one of the works that has Nicolai stepping nicely away from Morricone – using some warmer elements in some of his best themes – almost dreamy at times, which is odd given the lack of romance in the film – put together with masterful timing, and this haunting sense of space that makes the music almost better than the images were in the film! And yes, the story is that old Agatha Christie chestnut Ten Little Indians – but forget the overdone trope of the store, as the music is totally great – completely different than the more hackney 70s whodunit soundtracks of the time. CD features 18 tracks in all! CD

Groovy Nelson Riddle Now Sound stuff, and very different than his 50's Capitol recordings. Features some cool themes like "The Smothers Brothers Theme" and "Tarzan", plus "Hey, Girl", "Cortege", "Chestnut Trees", and "Sunshine Superman". LP, Vinyl record album