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A landmark album – even if it was the only session that Cannonball Adderley ever cut for Blue Note! The album was recorded at a time when Adderley was working with Miles Davis – and as such, the session features a group that includes Miles, blowing in a cool tone that's a perfect offset to Cannonball's more soulful style. The rest of the group includes Hank Jones, Sam Jones, and Art Blakey – and like John Coltrane's Blue Train, the record's more of an "special session" than the usual Blue Note album, but the strength of the players make it one of the more memorable records of its day! Titles include "Somethin' Else", "One For Daddy-O", and a nice moody take on "Dancing In The Dark".

A landmark album – even if it was the only session that Cannonball Adderley ever cut for Blue Note! The album was recorded at a time when Adderley was working with Miles Davis – and as such, the session features a group that includes Miles, blowing in a cool tone that's a perfect offset to Cannonball's more soulful style. The rest of the group includes Hank Jones, Sam Jones, and Art Blakey – and like John Coltrane's Blue Train, the record's more of an "special session" than the usual Blue Note album, but the strength of the players make it one of the more memorable records of its day! Titles include "Somethin' Else", "One For Daddy-O", and a nice moody take on "Dancing In The Dark".

A landmark album – even if it was the only session that Cannonball Adderley ever cut for Blue Note! The album was recorded at a time when Adderley was working with Miles Davis – and as such, the session features a group that includes Miles, blowing in a cool tone that's a perfect offset to Cannonball's more soulful style. The rest of the group includes Hank Jones, Sam Jones, and Art Blakey – and like John Coltrane's Blue Train, the record's more of an "special session" than the usual Blue Note album, but the strength of the players make it one of the more memorable records of its day! Titles include "Somethin' Else", "One For Daddy-O", and a nice moody take on "Dancing In The Dark". Includes bonus track "Alison's Uncle".

One of the stranger James Brown albums from the 60s! The record is one of the only vocal albums he cut for the Smash label – and it was issued during a time when James was strangely contracted to two labels – King and Smash. His dual contract situation was that he couldn't record any new original vocal material for Smash – apart from the title track "Out Of Sight", which had already been snuck on the market, and which is a sinister funky track built along the same lines as "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" (not on this album.) Apart from that track, the rest of the material on the record is more traditional R&B and pop stuff – sung by James in a strong soul style. Titles include "Somethin Else", "Nature Boy", "Maybe The Last Time", "I Wanna Be Around", "I Got You", and "Good Rockin Tonight". The liner notes are great, too – with some pretty interesting information on Brown's career, and African-American politics.

A great one from June – on a par with the Something Cool album, and featuring arrangements by the great Pete Rugolo! Like that one, this one's a pretty dark effort – filled with some great boozed-up late night vocals. Titles include "Saturday's Children", "I Wished On The Moon", "The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else", "Nobody's Heart", "I Remember You", and "Night Time Was My Mother".

Rare duets from pianists Tommy Flanagan and Jaki Byard – recorded in San Francisco in the early 80s, and issued here for the first time ever! Both players are artists we love in a solo or stripped-down setting – where they really seem to open up and find all sorts of little corners and pockets of sound that they'd never hit in a trio or group – and the combination of both Flanagan and Byard together in one date is really something unique! Tommy's lyricism and Byard's modernity mix beautifully here – and really balance the sound between the players – allowing focus on the individual personalities of each, yet really setting fire in the spontaneous interactions betweent he pair. Titles include "Our Delight", "The Theme", "Land Of Make Believe", "Satin Doll", "Just One Of Those Things", and "Chelsea Bridge".

Music for lovers – and some languid lovers at that – thanks to some perfect mellow moods set by Jackie Gleason! The set's one of Jackie's undisputed classics for Capitol Records in the 50s – perfect sounds to woo a winsome lass, made slightly sexier by some great trumpet solos by Bobby Hackett – a player whose horn always seemed plenty at home amidst the larger arrangements provided by Gleason. And while Jackie's performances on TV were always pretty dynamic and explosive, his sound on record is something else entirely – as you'll hear on tracks that include "Alone Together", "I Cover The Waterfront", "Some Day", "Body & Soul", "My Love For Carmen", and "Love Is Here To Stay".

An amazing new sound from Kokolo – one that takes their Afro Funk groove, and turns it on a host of James Brown classics – all with a result that's completely unique! The album's hardly a copycat of James' original style – and instead, it reworks his funky favorites with a complicated approach to rhythms – one that shows a rich criss-crossing between JB and Fela modes, almost an echoing amplification of the 70s influences that were passing back and forth between the US and African funk scenes! The vocals are something else entirely – as rhythmic as the grooves, with a quality that isn't as all-out soulful as James – but in a good way, as this helps them simmer down nicely with the instrumentation, and throw in a whole new level of counterpoint to the music. We're honestly stunned – quite surprised and impressed at this turn that Kokolo has taken, reaching forward for a sound that nobody else has touched. Titles include versions of "Mind Power", "The Popcorn", "Soul Power", "The Grunt", "Think", "Bring It Up", and "It's A New Day".

Raw, pummeling and with everything louder than everyone else – here's Motorhead blowing out eardrums live in England! No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith endures as one of the great hard rock live albums in part because it serves as something of an early greatest hits set – from a period in which the band was most famous for being so infamous– and also because a couple songs here blow the studio versions right outta the water! All the early classics: "Ace Of Spades", "Overkill", "Motorhead", "The Hammer", "Iron Horse", "No Class", "Stay Clean", "Metropolis" and more.

Early work from a group who later grew into the famous Ikenga Super Stars Of Africa – recording here in London with a great raw sound – and an unusual mix of modes that's part Afro Funk, part something else entirely! The set's got that unique post-colonial vibe of some of the other great London recordings of the early 70s – such as work by Cymande or Demon Fuzz, both of whom have some dubby similarities to the Nkengas work on this set – possibly because the whole thing was served up for the Orbitone Records label – usually a home to sounds from Jamaica! There's a nice use of echo that really abstracts the basslines and percussion – although the grooves themselves are still more straightforward than any from Kingston at the time – and definitely echo the Nigerian roots of the group. Tracks have a lot of cool little funky corners and sharp edges that really set them apart – and titles include "London Special", "Ndu Bu Isi", "Anyi Bundi Igbo", "Jungle Beat", "Anyi Buofu", and "Ube Frank Special".

A treasure trove of rare funk – a massive package that not only includes the legendary Inspiration Information album by Shuggie Otis, but which also adds in four bonus tracks to that classic – plus a full other album of unreleased vintage work! Shuggie Otis is the son of Johnny Otis – the LA R&B maestro who was moving heavily into funk at the end of the 60s – and he has this tripped out, super-dope guitar style that he played to strong effect on Johnny's albums of the late 60s and early 70s, and on his first two solo albums, which were kind of bluesy in tone. But for Inspiration Information, he shocked the world by moving into a stripped-down mode that pairs his guitar with spare drum machine rhythms, flanged-out deeply soulful vocals, and one of the most laidback conceptions of funk you'll ever hear. The album's a landmark – one of those gems that's unlike anything else you can think of, but which will redefine your concept of what you want in a record for years to come. Every track's a winner – and the whole thing's a perfectly unified batch of tunes that includes instant classics like "Inspiration Information", "Island Letter", "Aht Uh Mi Hed", "XL 30", and "Rainy Day" – plus unreleased bonus tracks "Miss Pretty", "Magic", "Things We Like To Do", and "Castle Top Jam". Then – as if that's not enough – the set features incredible rare material from Shuggie – 14 more tracks as the Wings Of Love album, mostly recorded in the late 70s post-Inspiration years, plus a few tracks from later vintage too! The sound is great – the kind of extra bits we've been wanting to hear from Otis for many many years – finally unleashed from the vaults, and showing a style that really echoes the groove that others had copied from him – like The Brothers Johnson and some later contemporaries. There's plenty of great lost nuggets on Wings – and titles include "Trying To Get Close To You", "Give Me Something Good", "Wings Of Love", "Give Me A Chance", "Fireball Of Love", "Fawn", "If You'd Be Mine", "Black Belt Sheriff", and "Destination You".

A great self-titled set from Toncho Pilatos – the early 70s Mexican group's wild first album, cut for Polydor! The group has familiar influences, but they put those pieces together in a unique way, with a sound that's really something else! The vocals are echoey and tripped out, with raw drums way out from in the mix – and overall it has kind of an otherworldly Stonesy vibe. Includes "Wait", "Kukulan", "Drunk Again", "Blind Man", "Dejenla En Paz", "La Ultima Danza", "Dulce Monserrat" and "Tommy Lyz".

An excellent organ-heavy session from drummer Alvin Queen – one of the hippest cats working in the soul jazz underground, and a player who never fails to deliver great music over the years! This set's even more of a cooker than some of Queen's other recent albums – and features Mike LeDonne at the heavy Hamond organ, alongside a quintet lineup that includes Jesse Davis on alto sax and Terelle Stafford on trumpet. Queen's drumming is full and heavy – a majestically powerful force that sets all numbers into a bold little groove, and which pushes the organ/sax/trumpet frontline with an energy that's never hokey – and never just a recap of older organ jazz modes. There's a soaring feel here that's like the hippest organ-based records cut for Muse at the end of the 70s – but also with a bit of something else going on as well – and titles include "Shirley's Song", "Old Folks", "Nutville", "Mellow Soul", "There's Blues Everywhere", "Contemplation", "Queen's Beat", and "I Ain't Lookin At You".

The Rolling Stones doing their thing on the Some Girls tour – live at Fort Worth's Will Rogers Memorial Centre in the summer of 1978! Now remembered as a classic, Some Girls was a bit of divisive record for both Stones die-hards and rock fans in general, circa '78 – with some trendy pop and disco touches, as well as more of a gleaming production aesthetic. The live show was something else, though – it was on this date, anyway – which is a manic, swaggery blast! It's got a bunch of Some Girls material, as well as some other classic Stones songs – including "Let It Rock", "All Down The Line",, "Honky Tonk Women", "Star Star", "When The Whip Comes Down", "Respectable", "Love In Vain", "Tumbling Dice", "Beast Of Burden", "Miss You", "Shattered", "Happy", "Sweet Little Sixteen", "Brown Sugar", "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and more. This 2LP version also includes the full-length concert DVD!

An amazing look at the psychedelic scene in late 60s Memphis – music that's really mindblowing for the time, yet which often never got its due – given the stronger mainstream focus on Memphis as a hub for blues and soul! (In other words, had any of these cats hit the Sunset Strip in the late 60s, they would have been huge!) Given that Memphis already had a strong studio scene in place – where some of these musicians worked on other sessions – the recordings here are incredibly advanced – often full of cool production techniques and other little twists and turns – all elements that take already-great fuzzy, freaky, hairy rock and roll – and turn it into something even more incredible by the time it's caught on tape! Most of these names are new to our ears, and the package is definitely a historical treasure trove – as pleasing to our record collectors' sensibilities as the music is to our ears. Sound quality is excellent, and many numbers have not been issued before – titles that include "Eat Me Alive" and "We're In Town" by The Goatdancers, "Crazy Man's Woman" and "Shoo Shoo Shoo Fly" by Greg McCarley, "Blue Music Box" by Changin Tymes, "For Your Love" by the Honey Jug, "Rockin In The Same Old Boat" by Triple X, "Deja Vu" by Judy Bramlett, "Come On Along & Dream" by The Poor Little Rich Kids, "Flying Horse Of Louisiana" by Knowbody Else, "Dancing Girl" by The 1st Century, and "Ticket To Ride" by Mother Roses – plus an advertisement for The Goatdancers too!

A great one from June – on a par with the Something Cool album, and featuring arrangements by the great Pete Rugolo! Like that one, this one's a pretty dark effort – filled with some great boozed-up late night vocals. Titles include "Saturday's Children", "I Wished On The Moon", "The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else", "Nobody's Heart", "I Remember You", and "Night Time Was My Mother".

A club classic on Salsoul – with a soaring sound that's still grooving dancefloors today! The record was arranged and conducted by Leroy Burgess – who also sang lead vocals and wrote all the material – and it's got a sound that's similar to some of the later uptempo grooves that Burgess was forging with Black Ivory. Greg Carmichael produced the set with Burgess, and there's some nice elements of his earlier underground disco work – like cool keyboards, and small touches of electronics used in just the right doses. Tracks include "You've Got That Something", "I Know You Will", "Sweet To Me", "Lay It On The Line", and "Something Else".

Some of the best work ever from one of the most under-acknowledged jazz arrangers of the 50s! Johnny's probably best known for his recordings with Stan Kenton in the early part of the decade – but when he moved out on his own, he developed a tremendous sound that was even richer, even more full of color and tone than Kenton's own – and which was often done without any arch-modern tones, yet still fresh and free of cliché. The group on the set is wonderful too – with Charlie Mariano, Bill Holman, and Richie Kamuca on saxes – plus other players that include Frank Rosolino, Stu Williamson, and Marty Paich. Titles include "Waltz Anyone", "Turn Aboot", "Band Aide", "Dimples", and "Burrito Borracho".

You might need to be a Diddley diehard to know it, given the pretty hokey early 60s Beach Party cover photo – get past that and what you'll find is a rowdy, rumbling and completely incredible live album from Bo! It features material captured on a 2 night stand at The Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, SC in July of 1963 – raw and rambunctious, with the band pummeling fast and furious on some numbers and taking others into more of a gutbuckety bluesy vibe that's something else. Occasionally you can hear the screams of a clearly knocked out audience – boy, if we could find a wormhole to travel back in time and take this one in for ourselves. Includes "Memphis", "Gunslinger", "Hey Bo Diddley", "Old Smokey". "Bo Diddley's Dog", "I'm All Right", "Mr Custer", "Bo's Waltz", "What's Buggin' You (aka Crackin' Up)" and "Road Runner".

The genius of 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.

A great collection – filled with material from albums that include Village Green, Something Else, Face To Face, Percy, and Lola/Powerman.

Early work from a group who later grew into the famous Ikenga Super Stars Of Africa – recording here in London with a great raw sound – and an unusual mix of modes that's part Afro Funk, part something else entirely! The set's got that unique post-colonial vibe of some of the other great London recordings of the early 70s – such as work by Cymande or Demon Fuzz, both of whom have some dubby similarities to the Nkengas work on this set – possibly because the whole thing was served up for the Orbitone Records label – usually a home to sounds from Jamaica! There's a nice use of echo that really abstracts the basslines and percussion – although the grooves themselves are still more straightforward than any from Kingston at the time – and definitely echo the Nigerian roots of the group. Tracks have a lot of cool little funky corners and sharp edges that really set them apart – and titles include "London Special", "Ndu Bu Isi", "Anyi Bundi Igbo", "Jungle Beat", "Anyi Buofu", and "Ube Frank Special".

Two wonderful gems from Soul Brothers Inc – both wicked funky numbers with a very unusual twist! "Pyramid" has these sweet strings next to a Latin-esque groove that moves with a nice bassy bottom – then slides into this warm vocal that's completely heartwarming, in ways that are very different for a groove like this! "Girl In The Hot Pants" is something else entirely – a heavy heavy funk number that begins with a great shouted vocal, then rolls into a fast-chugging groove that's completely outta sight! A stone burner that never lets up – and with a good sense of humor too!

Incredible work from United Future Organization – light years ahead of anything else they've ever done! The album shows a tremendous growth in instrumental styles – with more of a preoccupation with the overall shapes and sound of their music, grown here to expansive limits, encompassing a richer array of modes than ever before! Many tracks begin with isolated instrumentation – quite introspective and warm, building slowly without the cheap tricks of some of their more flashy work – confident in a decade's worth of musical exploration, and willing to take the time to craft something completely new out of a lifetime's worth of cultural references. There's plenty of room on the album for guests, too – including Mark Murphy, Nathan Haines, Valerie Etienne, Jeffery Smith, and Sabrina Malheiros – and the overall sound of the album is like nothing you'd ever expect from the group! Titles include "Microcosmo", "World Thing", "Lunar Enfant", "No Problem", "Everyday Routine", "Esperanza", "Suite Espagnole", and "Transworld".

The Movements series is back for a third volume and it's moving much deeper – the raw, smoldering funk of the previous sets is accompanied this time with groovy rare soul and jazz – and it's probably the best of the three Movements to date! Compiler Tobias Kirmayer has long showed a tremendous ear for funk & jazz rarities and this compilation is totally top notch – focus for the most part on 60s & 70s nuggets, many privately released and never really introduced to a large audience – featuring combos from around the US, a couple cuts born of the German jazz scene, a rare Italian soundtrack number and more! Titles include "Something Else" by The Iris Bell Trio featuring Butch Miles, "Backlash" by The Fats Gains Orchestra, "Let's Get Together" by The Echomen, "Angel Food" by The Port Angels (the lone recent recording and a tune that fits perfectly with the old school funky soul), "Grito Pidiendo" by Ernesto Cardenal, "Hello, Quincey" by Orchestra Luis Enriquez, "Song For My Father" by The Joe Viera Sextett, "The Serpent Speaks" by Solar Plexus and more. 11 tracks in all.

Amazing work from the Montreal club scene of the late 70s – rare edits done by the PAJ trio of Pierre Gagnon, Allen Vallieres, and Jean Barbeau! The group were seminal moves during the glory years of the Canadian disco scene – sifting and cutting together tracks with simple, old-fashioned tape techniques – yet in ways that really exploded the grooves, and turned them into something else entirely! These days, editing a cut's a simple matter, thanks to computer technology – but it's amazing to hear these older PAJ tracks – the way they leap around, crashing together cuts with a really joyous love of music that must have been something to hear on the dancefloor. You'll recognize plenty of familiar snippets here, but the overall project is way more than anything you've ever heard before, either! Titles on this first volume include "Hey Roots", "Flip", "Montage La Roue", "Chatanooga Montage", "The Ghetto", and "Love Bug".

Some of the smokingest material ever recorded by British tenor player Dick Morrissey – and that's saying a hell of a lot, given the strength of his other albums! The date's got the same Storm Warning in the title as one of Dick's studio classics – but the record's something else entirely – a very open-ended live date, recorded a few years later – with loads of room for Morrissey to really open up and blow – showing off that amazing sense of tone and timing in ways that have us loving his music more than ever! The rhythm group is a key part of the success of the record – and features Harry South on piano, Phil Bates on bass, and the amazing Phil Seamen on drums – on long tracks that include "Altoitis", "Get Out Of The Country", "Sonny Boy", and "Storm Warning".

Soaring spiritual jazz from Larry Stabbins – a reedman you might know from his recent Stonephace project for Tru Thoughts, or for his seminal work in the groups Weekend and Working Week! Yet the sound here is something else entirely – a righteous side of Larry's music we never would have expected back in the 80s – as his tenor and flute are mixed with bold, modal lines that recall some of the contemporary spiritual energy from Matthew Halsall and Nat Birchall on the Gondwana label – music that has a similar sort of early 70s approach! Tracks are long and flowing, and very open – with great solos from Larry and sublime piano from Zoe Rahman – whose tones and timing really give the record a lot of energy. Titles include "Noetic", "Immanence", "Transcendental Euphoria", "Soul Train", "White Queen Psychology", and "Africa".

Pre-Atlantic work from Ornette Coleman – one of his first recorded statements in jazz – and one of his boldest! At some level, the complete Coleman sound isn't entirely in place here – as there's a bit of a trace of hardbop in the mix – not entirely, but just a bit. But at another level, the record's still way darn bolder than just about anything coming out of LA at the time – proof that amidst all the cool jazz ruminations of the 50s, there was a second wave of modernism about to explode! The group here features Don Cherry on trumpet, Walter Norris on piano, Don Payne on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and while the core harmelodic rhythmic approach isn't always in place, it's more than made up for by some surprisingly free energy. Titles include "Invisible", "The Blessing", "Alpha", and "The Sphinx".

One of the most vital singer-songwriter packages we've seen in years – the stunning original trio of albums by Mickey Newbury from 1969-1973, dubbed his American Trilogy – plus the bonus 4th disc of even rarer tracks and unreleased material! Newbury was in the upper tier of brilliant and successful songwriters of his era straddling the lines of country, rock and folk, yet rendering genres moot with his adventurous craft. He wrote songs that were recorded by by a wide variety of artists – from Roger Miller to Eddy Arnold to Andy Williams – and well beyond. His own recordings are something else entirely – lonely, haunting and achingly beautiful. We can hear the influences of in admirers from the best writing of Kris Kristofferson and up to Will Oldham – both of whom are professed admirers. First up is 1969's Looks Like Rain, just a beautiful, loose around the edges, yet oddly imaculate at the same time. The set includes '69's Looks Like Rain, '71's 'Frisco Mabel Joy, '73's Heaven Help The Child and the rarities disc Better Days with demos and unreleased material from throughout the period. The 4CD set also includes a nice booklet with writings from Chris Campion, Ben Fong-Torres and Kris Kristofferson's original liner notes for Looks Like Rain.

Raw r&b, uptempo blues & hard soul from the vaults of Cobra Records – a Chicago label that really only operated from the mid-to-late 50s – but for a time rivaled Chess and helped form the seeds of some of the most incredible soul & blues for decades to come! Cobra and its subsidiary Artistic released really nice early sides by young Ike Turner, Betty Everett and Buddy Guy – plus work by comparative veterans of the time like Duke Reid and Harold Burrage – artists whose legacy would loom large in the years to come. Load of rollicking raw greatness – work that no doubt hugely helped influence loads of incredible Midwestern soul in the early 60s and onward! Titles include "This Is The End" and You Sure Can't Do" by Buddy Guy, "Roll Your Moneymaker" by Shakey Jake, "I'm Gonna Forget About You" and "You've Got To Lose" by Ike Turner's Kings Of Rhythm, "Something Else" and "The Duke Walks" by Duke Jenkins, "My Love" by Betty Everett, "Messed Up" by Harold Burrage, "I'll Just Keep Walkin'" by Lee Jackson, "Irma Lee" by Guitar Shorty and more!

A record that has a Motown hit for its title, but the album's got a depth that marks Bennett as one of the most complex singers of his generation – way past the broad belter of ballads from the 50s, and an all-adult male vocalist whose sound was essential to the sophistication of the mainstream in the late 60s. Many tunes are standards, given lush arrangements by Torrie Zito and Marion Evans – sung by Tony with that deep voice that nobody else could ever hope to match! Titles include "Out Of This World", "For Once In My Life", "How Do You Say Auf Wiedersehen", "Keep Smiling At Trouble", "Baby Dream Your Dream", "Days Of Love", and "Something In Your Smile".

A great illustration of the way that Martin Denny expanded his groove in the 60s – on some sweetly inventive records like this! On Latin Village, Martin Denny changes the rhythms from tropical to Latin – but the overall groove is still highly in his best exotica mode, and nicely augmented by some additional instrumentation! There's some traces here of the shift in production for instrumental music from the time – a bit of electric bass echoing out at the bottom of some cuts, more echo than usual on the piano lines, and a floating quality that's almost even more sublime than the original Liberty sessions. But the core Denny elements are also still in place – tinkling piano, island percussion, and a playful approach to familiar rhythms that never fails to please. The Latin is more of a nod to harder Latin modes than anything else, but it does make for a nice, if subtle change – one that works especially well when Denny's piano is out front, but compressed a bit in the mix. Titles include "Flying Down To Rio", "Ho Ba La La", "Something Latin", "Girl From Ipanema", and "Latin Village". The Versatile Martin Denny definitely lives up to the versatile in the title – working through a whole host of different 50s and 60s easy tunes – played in ways that are much wider-ranging than usual! Some are percussive and slightly exotic, some have more strings and tinkling piano, and some get slightly playful instrumentation – in a very nice way. Titles include "Little Bird", "Theme From Mondo Cane", "Exotique Bossa Nova", "Quiet Village Bossa Nova", and "Strawberry Tree".