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A landmark album – and one of the best records you'll ever find by Mary Lou Williams! The record's a mixture of jazz and spiritual themes, and it features Mary Lou's piano set in some super-hip jazz arrangements that include players like Grant Green, Budd Johnson, Larry Gales, Melba Liston, Ben Tucker, and Percy Heath. The bass and piano work is amazing, and many tracks have a dark groove that's very subtle, but very compelling. About half the tunes feature hip choral vocalizing – in the mode of some of the Donald Byrd or Max Roach albums from the same time – mostly handled by the group of Howard Roberts. Includes the classic groover "A Grand Nite For Swinging", plus "A Fungus Amongus", "Anima Christi", "Miss DD", "The Devil", "It Ain't Necessarily So", and "My Blue Heaven". Great stuff all around – and even better than we're describing it! CD adds some extra tracks to the original recdording, too – with titles that include "Koolbonga", "Forty Five Degree Angle", "Nicole", "Chunka Lunka", and "Praise The Lord".

Fantastic stuff – one of Mary Lou Williams' hippest albums, and one of the few in which she blended in funk with her spiritual jazz piano musings! The record's got a larger group arranged by Mary – grooving in a post-Hair kind of funky ensemble way – a bit spiritual at times, but nicely stripped down and soulful at others – with a mystical blend of voices and jazz, at a level to rival similar work from the time by Max Roach, Horace Silver, or Billy Harper! The bassist and drummer really make the record groove nicely – giving a few tracks a surprisingly funky sound – and tracks include "Gloria", "In His Day", "Lazarus", "One", "Praise The Lord", and "Lamb Of God". CD also adds some additional tunes to the original album – making for a 24-track package that's also supported by a 32-page booklet!

A pretty cool collection produced by Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee – focusing on famous speeches by important female African-Americans – mostly focusing on the civil rights era, but also featuring an early speech by Ida B Wells. Ruby reads the speeches, and works include "I Am A Black Revolutionary Woman (1971)" by Angela Davis, "The Right To A Decent Life & Human Dignity (1971)" by Coretta Scott King, "It Is Time For A Change (1969)" by Shirley Chisolm, and "Lynching, Our National Crime (1901)" by Ida B Wells.

Excellent stuff from one of the hippest poets of all time – the amazing Sarah Webster Fabio – a 70s poet with a really wonderful groove! Unlike some of her contemporaries in the Folkways poetry scene, Sarah often recorded with music – in a way that's very similar to Camille Yarbrough or Wanda Robinson – very hip stuff that's sort of a female equivalent to the early work of Gil Scott-Heron! The album features both Sarah's voice and that of a male reader – and the music is a mix of spare percussion or larger funky rhythms with some great bass and riffing guitar – very cool elements that make for some wonderfully soulful music. Titles include "Work It Out", "Boss Soul", "Black Back", "Fungi & Calau", "Glimpses", "Soul Through A Lickin Stick", "Rainbow Sign", and "After Birmingham".

A landmark album – and one of the best records you'll ever find by Mary Lou Williams! The record's a mixture of jazz and spiritual themes, and it features Mary Lou's piano set in some super-hip jazz arrangements that include players like Grant Green, Budd Johnson, Larry Gales, Melba Liston, Ben Tucker, and Percy Heath. The bass and piano work is amazing, and many tracks have a dark groove that's very subtle, but very compelling. About half the tunes feature hip choral vocalizing – in the mode of some of the Donald Byrd or Max Roach albums from the same time – mostly handled by the group of Howard Roberts. Includes the classic groover "A Grand Nite For Swinging", plus "A Fungus Amongus", "Anima Christi", "Miss DD", "The Devil", "It Ain't Necessarily So", and "My Blue Heaven". Great stuff all around – and even better than we're describing it! This CD issue features the original Mary Records cover art – different than the Saba/MPS or later Smithsonian CD versions.

One of the last live appearances by Louis Armstrong – presented here in a really charming little album, issued in a small pressing by The National Press Club! The album's a great document of all the Armstrong charms in one package – as Louis talks as much as he plays – telling stories and speaking about the music on the first half of the set. The second half then features material recorded after Armstrong's passing – with Tyree Glenn and Tommy Gwaltney keeping up the vibe, especially on some of the spoken passages where Glenn talks about Louis! The sound quality is a bit "broadcast"-styled at the start – and titles include "Rockin Chair", "Royal Garden Blues", "Love For Sale", "Crazy Rhythm", and "It's Alright With Me".

Dialogue excerpts from two early 70s films documenting the shift between the Civil Rights and Black Power eras in the US! Side one is taken from the film Huey – and features Black Panthers Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver and H Rap Brown – plus what sounds like interviews with police and other officials at the time. One of the highlights is as speech in which the platform of the Black Panther party is enumerated, with its 10 point program. The second side is drawn from the film Listen Whitey – and features bits from phone-in radio programs the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated, as well as pieces taken from official statements from pundits and other black leaders from the period.