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Miles Davis' first-ever performance in Japan – a really unique concert that featured the quintet with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams – augmented by a young Sam Rivers on tenor! The presence of Rivers really gives the set an edge – and although Miles is holding Sam a bit more in check than on some of his "new thing" albums from the time, there's an overall quality here that's different than the other Davis quintet albums of the time. The set was one of a number of important Miles Davis live sessions from the period – including albums from Berlin, Antibes, and Chicago – and titles include "If I Were A Bell", "My Funny Valentine", "So What", "Walkin'" and "All Of You".

12 remixes: "No,No, No Part 2 (Wyclef Jean extended version)", "Emotion (Neptunes rmx)", "Bootylicious (Rockwilder rmx)", "Say My Name (Timbaland rmx)", "Bug A Boo (refugee Camp rmx)", "Dot (E-Poppi mix)", "Survivor (rmx feat. Da Brat)", "Independent Women Pt II", "Nasty Girl (Azza's nu soul mix)", "Jumpin Jumpin (rmx ext)", "Bills, Bills, Bills (Maurice's xclusive livegig mix)" and "So Good (Maurice's soul mix)".

The lyrically focused set in the 2 Stepping Stones compilations from DJ Krush – part remix album, part retrospective – featuring Company Flow, Black Thought & Malik B of the Roots, Mos Def, Aesop Rock, Zap Mama and others! Lyricism kind of finds Krush in his most hip hop reverent game, naturally – but he runs the gamut of possibilities within the genre. Krush never battles the MCs for track supremacy as many of the superstar producers of the day do. He's laying proper groundwork for the mic styles, yet still laying down his experimental funk signature – and the wide variety of vocalists gives him ample opportunity to show his unrivaled breadth! Tracks include "Only The Strong Survive (Bon mix)" feat CL Smooth, "Vision Of Art (Vib mix)" feat Company Flow, "Zen Approach (Cradle mix)" feat Black Thought, "Kill Switch (Beep mix)" feat Aesop Rock, "Song For John Walker (Sticky mix)" feat Anticon, "Danger Of Love (Gray-Sky mix)" feat Zap Mama, "Shinjiro (Harsh mix)" feat Mos Def and more.

We never tire of this one – and we think it's a landmark soul LP that forever changed the face of soul music! Teddy Pendergrass is in perfect form, and he really gets into it on the album's 2 incredible long tracks – "I Miss You", and "Be For Real" – both with amazing monologues that will knock your socks off! The rest of the LP is prime Philly stuff with a sound that's a lot more soulful and less uptempo than their later ones – and tracks include the hit "If You Don't Know Me By Now", "Ebony Woman", "Yesterday I Had The Blues", and "Let It Be You". CD features a bonus live version of "If You Don't Know Me By Now", from 1973!

The remixed version of this excellent bit of modern funk! Includes "Getting Into It (Nu Era rmx)", "Season's Change (philharmonix mix)", "The Reason (sleaze mix)", "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (FK Dub)", "When The Funk Hits The Fan (Mood II Swing vocal)", and "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (S-Man's Horny dub)". Finally reissued – with work by Francois K, Mood II Swing, Roger Sanchez, David Morales, and others!

One of our favorite Ulmer records, probably because there's a nice groove running underneath most of the numbers, in a sort of post-Prime Time 80s out-funk sort of way. It never drops into a flat out back beat, but there's always some sense of time, while Ulmer's guitar and Charles Burnham's violin venture to and fro. The group is just a trio, and there's not too much of Blood's vocalizing going on on the eight pieces, which include "Little Red House", "Are you Glad To Be In America", "Election" and "Odyssey".

A great title, and a great little album to match – one that features two guitars, plus bass and drums – in an open-ended style that's mighty nice on the ears! The set's got a lean kind of sound – as you might expect from the lineup – and Japanese players Shoji Yokouchi and Toru Konishi really explore some great territory in jazz with the format. Some numbers actually have a fair bit of a groove – with one guitar playing rhythm, and the other doing solos – while others have more of a spacious, more contemplative feel – a bit like some of the 70s work of Jim Hall. There's definitely a Hall-like sense of space and timing going on here, but as with many Three Blind Mice sessions from the time, the album's also filled with surprises too. Titles include "The Night Comers", "Swingin On A Camel", "Blonde On The Rocks", "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", and "Message".

Some of the greatest Miles Davis material ever recorded – and not really ever officially issued as an album until this collection! The recordings are from the magical year of 1958, a time when Miles was working in the Kind Of Blue mode – on the album of the same name, one of his all-time standout classics. The work on this set is in a very similar spirit – recorded by a sextet that includes the rhythm section of Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers, and a young Bill Evans, who brings a magically modal feel to the album that really gives it an edge. Added to that are the saxophones of John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, blowing together in two ends of the soul spectrum, really stretching the color palette from Miles' usual work. Miles himself seems very inspired by the company, and works with plenty of space to allow the saxophonists to stretch out in wonderful solos – and Evans himself is simply amazing, working wonderfully in the setting, making us wish he'd recorded more group dates like this one! The first 3 tracks on the set were briefly issued on the flipside of the Jazz Track album (an obscure Columbia LP that also included 10 songs from the soundtrack to Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud), and a few others on later live LPs – but this is the first time the material from that group has appeared together as a full album. Includes stellar versions of "Stella By Starlight", "Green Dolphin Street", "Fran Dance", "My Funny Valentine", "Oleo", and "Love For Sale".

Jimi's legendary live recordings for BBC radio and television – live studio sessions from 1967 to 1969 – remastered from BBC tapes and sounding incredible! Most of the tracks feature the trio of Hendrix, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell at their fiery best, on classics like "Foxey Lady", "Fire", "Love Or Confusion", "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe" and more, plus some great, loosier, bluesier performances, such as"Drivin South", "Hear My Train A Coming" and more. The few guest musician appearances are incredibly notable – Alexis Korner plays some slide guitar on "(I'm Your) Hoochie Choochie Man" – and Stevie Wonder plays drums (!!!) on "Jammin" and "I Was Made To Love Her". Also includes the never before released bonus track "Burning Of The Midnight Lamp", a cover of "Day Tripper" and more. 37 tracks on 2 CDs.

70s work from Machito – still very much in the mode of his classics from earlier years, but with an undeniable punch on a few numbers, thanks to the smoking salsa groove of the Coco Records label! The album's got one really standout track entitled "Macho" – a 13 minute descarga number that spins out with lots of different changes, and which features some nice electric jazzy touches! Harvey Averne produced the entire session, with a nice undercurrent of Latin soul – and the album also features Charlie Palmieri on both organ and piano. Other tracks include "Mi Ritmo Llego", "Soy Salsero", "No Seras Para Mi", and "Desilusion".

Sublime stuff! When Teddy left Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, he was making one of the best moves of his career – as you'll hear on these amazing tracks, totally perfect bits of modern soul that moved the career of Teddy up about a zillion notches, and which also had a profound effect on the overall development of male soul vocals. 10 tracks in all – including "Turn Off The Lights", "Close the Door", "I Don't Love You Anymore", "The Whole Town's Laughing At Me", "You Can't Hide From Yourself", and the amazing "Come Go With Me".

Super chilled, atmospheric trip hop on this meeting of Howie B and Tosh & Kudo (of Major Force West/UNKLE fame). 10 tracks of moogy bliss with some nice acoustic guitar floating around the mixes: "River Of Bass", "Seashell", "Depart", "Ghost Dance", "Next", "Shhh", "Indigo", "A", "Electric Blue" and "Six Nine".

An excellent live outing from pianist Denny Zeitlin – recorded at the height of his early powers! The session's got a fresly new conception to piano-based jazz – a style that resonates nicely with the best 60s work of Steve Kuhn or Keith Jarrett, sharing some of the tenderness of the former and the sense of color of the latter. Rhythm is from the team of Charlie Haden on bass and Jerry Granelli on drums – and Haden's bass is an especially powerful force in the set, pushing out the tunes with a flowing quality that pulsates nicely even on the more gentle numbers. Titles include "Lonely Woman", "Where Does It Lead", "My Shining Hour", "Spur Of The Moment", and "Carole's Waltz".

The wonderful Hidden Beach groove continues – smooth, but never slick – and a great attempt at bringing instrumental work to a much younger generation! There's a really jazzy sensibility here that's moved far beyond the roots of the series – a style that completely transforms the hip hop tunes used in the set, and turns them into new platforms for sweet electric grooving. We'd honestly expected Hidden Beach to run out of steam by this volume, but number 4 may be the best so far – with titles that include "Rapper's Delight", "Hate It Or Love It", "All Falls Down", "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See", "21 Questions", "Children's Story", "Treat Em Right", and "Hip Hop Hooray". CD features bonus alternate versions of 3 tracks too – "All Falls Down (Spanish Harlem mix)", "Hate It Or Love It (playa mix)", and "Lean Back (save the music mix)".

Plenty real soul here – a killer collection of Columbia grooves by Cheryl Lynn – a set that runs right from the clubby start to the more commercial finish of her time at the label! The package is a great illustration of Cheryl's ability to rise to the occasion in just about any setting – and although work is handled by a variety of producers – including Marty Paic, Ray Parker Jr, Barry Blue, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and even Luther Vandross – Cheryl always comes out on top in the end! Titles include her great vocals on "Georgy Porgy" by Toto, presented here in its disco version – plus Lynn classics "Got To be Real", "Star Love (disco version)", "All My Lovin", "I've Got Just What You Need", "I've Got Faith In You", "Encore (single)", "If This World Were Mine", "It's Gonna Be Right", "Shake It Up Tonight", and "Day After Day".

Amazing lost work from the Mahvishnu Orchestra – a previously-unreleased studio session from 1973, one that features John McLaughlin and the group working in some beautifully tripped-out territory! The lineup features McLaughlin on a variety of guitars – plus Jerry Goodman on electric violin, Jan Hammer on keyboards, Rick Laird on bass, and Billy Cobham on drums – all coming together perfectly with that sense of subtle, organic fusion that made the Mahvishnu records so great – a real change from the harder, more rockish sounds of Hammer and Goodman in later years. Titles include "Dream", "Sister Andrea", "I Wonder", "Steppings Tones", "John's Song", and "Triology".

The Manhattans were one of those groups who knocked around for years in the indie soul world – cutting some fantastic material early on, but then losing direction for a number of years until they sprung forth as a huge act for Columbia during the early 70s. By that time, the band had more than polished their harmonies – coming up with an incredible style that was sweet and smooth, yet still undeniably soulful and human, especially on the ballads that were their specialty. Titles on this set include "Kiss & Say Goodbye", "It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad", "Shinging Star", and "Crazy".

An excellent live outing from pianist Denny Zeitlin – recorded at the height of his early powers! The session's got a fresly new conception to piano-based jazz – a style that resonates nicely with the best 60s work of Steve Kuhn or Keith Jarrett, sharing some of the tenderness of the former and the sense of color of the latter. Rhythm is from the team of Charlie Haden on bass and Jerry Granelli on drums – and Haden's bass is an especially powerful force in the set, pushing out the tunes with a flowing quality that pulsates nicely even on the more gentle numbers. Titles include "Lonely Woman", "Where Does It Lead", "My Shining Hour", "Spur Of The Moment", and "Carole's Waltz".

Includes tracks by Bloodstone, the Chi Lites, Teddy Pendergrass, the Delfonics, the O'Jays, Heatwave, Natalie Cole, LTD, and many more – 34 tracks in all!

21 greatest hits from this popular Brazilian singer – including many numbers reissued on CD for the first time in years! The style of the tunes ranges from raw and honest to somewhat overproduced and poppy – but given the bargain price, you'll get more than a few of Fagner's best tunes, making the CD a good place to start with his work. Titles include "Traduzir-Se", "Sinal Fechado", "Quem Viver Chorara", "Cebola Cortada", "Oros", "Viajante", "Reizado", and "As Rosas Nao Falam".

The long-awaited second album from LaSonya Gunter – an artist who first grabbed our attention at the start of the century! The space of Neo Soul's changed a lot since LaSonya's first album, but she's definitely still strongly on top – with a great ear for a tightly funky groove, and a way of putting over a tune that avoids any excesses or crossover temptations. Her music's always right on the money, and there's a simple, elegant approach to the record that's a very nice change from some of the too-forced soul sets floating around these days. And yes, the cover image is a bit tortured, but don't let that put you off! Titles include "Go", "Sittin Here", "Sweet Surrender", "Mmm Hmm", "Doubt Of Love", "Sometimes", and "Here In NYC".