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Smoking grooves from an incredible group – the amazing Afro Blues Quintet, a combo with a sound like no other! These guys were never one for stardom, but during the mid and late 60s, they burned up the west coast scene with an incredible blend of vibes, piano, and reeds – often kicked up nicely with some hard-rolling rhythm work that gave their tracks a similar mod groove to classics by Johnny Lytle, Ramsey Lewis, or Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers! But the real difference with the ABQ (if we can call them that!) is that they had a really spacious approach to their sound – never putting too much into the mix, and instead using the space between the notes every bit as much as the notes themselves. The grooves are great, and since most of this work has never been reissued, the set's totally fresh to the ears of most listeners! As usual, the folks at BGP have done a great job with the notes – and the set features 22 tracks from the group's Mira, Surrey, and Crestview recordings – titles that include "Monkey Time", "Freaks", "La La La", "Southside Habit", "Mirror Image", "Afro Rock", "Evening Of The Beast", "Spartacus", "Candie Luv", and "Our Mambo".

Incredible work from Nicola Conte – Schema records maestro making his Blue Note debut with this set – and giving the label one of their best new albums of the 21st Century! The record's quite different than Nicola's programmed dancefloor work for Schema – and is much more of an organic jazz-based session – with instrumentation by a wide arrangement of hip European jazzers (including Till Bronner and Rosario Giuliani!), plus sweet vocals from a variety of different singers! The groove is still very much in the Conte/Schema spirit – often in a loping modal approach to jazz, with a strong inspiration from the best European scenes of the late 60s and early 70s. The sound is wonderful – with players from the larger lineup playing in differing groups from track to track – showcasing instrumentation that includes vibes, flute, trombone, tenor, alto, and even a bit of guitar from Nicola himself. Vocalists include Bembe Segue, Lucia Minetti, Cristina Zavalloni, and Till Bronner – and titles include "Sea & Sand", "Nefertiti", "Wanin Moon", "A Time For Spring", "Kind Of Sunshine", "Aphrodite's Dream", "The Dharma Bums", "All Gone", "Le Depart", "The In Between", and "Several Shades Of Dawn". Imagine the best work of Schema or Compost done in an all-organic, all-natural mode – and you've got the beautiful sound of this set! This 2010 Schema special edition features the original album remastered, plus a bonus CD featuring the previously vinyl only "Bohemian's Dilemma" and "Waltz Of The Sirens", an alternate version of "Nefertiti", an extended version of "Kind Of Sunshine" and other great tracks – including the previously unreleased "Danubian", "Teardrop Painted Blue" and "Quiet Stars". An hour of bonus material in all!

An album of explosive power and imagination from Don Ellis – a set that shows him very firmly shaking off the more academic mode of earlier years, and heading into hipper, more youth-oriented directions! The group's still a bit band on most numbers – but it's one with a lean, well-crafted sound that's not really big band jazz, and which also features some elements of later soundtrack scoring. Players on the date are all great – and include Frank Strozier, John Klemmer, and Ira Schulman on saxes – plus Pete Robinson on clavinet, piano, and electric piano! The set begins with the beautiful extended "Variations For Trumpet" – a suite-type number that has plenty of great colors from Ellis, plus loads of other horn work too. Other titles include "Indian Lady", "Pussy Wiggle Stomp", "Scratt & Fluggs", and "Child Of Ecstasy".

A rare one from Janko Nilovic – his Funky Tramway – a cosmic jazz funk grail from the early 70s recorded in Belgium with an incredible group of local musicians – a stunner in which Nilovic is blending organically funky grooves with synths and other astral touches as incredibly as ever! If you dug Janko's brilliant Psych Impressions, Soul Impressions and Rythmes Contemporains compilations, there's much to love here – a similar blend of jazz, funk, and spacey prog touches – but the stylistic range here is perhaps even more impressive! There's lots of angelic wordless vocals flowing in and out, primarily from Patricia Maessen, but the group members contribute backing vocals, too, giving this more of a working band feel than some of Janko's sound library recordings of the time. Funky drums, bass, percussion, lots of spacey keys, Moog and trumpet steer the sound in lots of groovy directions. Titles include "Funky Tramway", "Flemish Suite", "Sitting Bull", "Gipsy Funk", "Atomium 82", "Disconnected Song", "Little Butcher's Street", "Fish Market" and more.

Tavares chill things out nicely, definitely heading for the "new directions" in the title, and going for more of a mellow sound that was clearly going to help them reach new audiences in the post-disco years. The harmonies are as great as they always were in the early days, taking a nicely smoothed out approach in place of the somewhat gritter groove of some of the earlier work – moving fearlessly into the 80s groove with excellent results! Titles include "Mystery Lady", "Abra Ca Dabra Love You Too", "Maybe We'll Fall In Love Again", "The Skin You're In", "I Hope You'll Be Very Unhappy Without Me", "A Penny For Your Thoughts", "Got To Find My Way Back To You", and "Wanna Be Close to You". This CD edition has 4 bonus tracks: "Got To Find My Way Back To You (12" Dance Mix)", "A Penny For Your Thoughts (Single Version)", "The Skin You're In (Single Version)" and "Got To Find My Way Back To You (Single Version)".

6 classics from Weather Report – presented in cool tiny LP-sleeve covers! First up is the original Weather Report album from 1971 – a massive session that took fusion to a whole new level for the 70s! Most of the players here had been associated with Miles Davis at some point in the year or two beforehand – and Miles' electric work is definitely a starting point for this group – but they quickly flow off in whole new directions, thanks to the mighty legacy of their own talents on previous records! Next is I Sing The Body Electric – one of the finest statements ever uttered by group, and a set that's got a bit more soul and warmth than their first album! The lineup's changed slightly at this point – still Wayne Shorter on reeds, Joe Zawinul on keyboards, and Miroslav Vitous on bass – but Eric Gravatt has replaced Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and Dom Um Romao's taken over for Airto on percussion – giving the record an even earthier feel at times! Then, you get the 2CD set Live In Tokyo – an album that was only ever issued in Japan at the time of recording, and which really shows a searing side of the Weather Report sound! Sweetnighter is one of our favorite albums ever from Weather Report – an album that has them picking up a bit more soul than before, and shaking off some of the experimental sounds of their roots – yet all in a way that still makes them one of the most revolutionary fusion combos of the time! There's an incredible sense of tightness between the reeds of Wayne Shorter, the keyboards of Joe Zawinul, and the bass of Miroslav Vitous – and even when things go a bit outside, there's always a sense of focus and groove that brings them back together – a style that's never entirely funky, but which has plenty of funky elements to please our ears! Mysterious Traveller brings a new sense of focus in the Weather Report sound – that building, soaring groove that would become the group's trademark in the mid 70s – offered up here in one of it's first and finest examples! The approach is one to describe accurately on paper – but which is instantly recognizable as the Weather Report sound of the time – a flowing, stretching, organic vibe that builds equally from the talents of all players, and turns it into a wonderfully righteous groove! And last up is Tale Spinnin – a beautiful title for a beautiful little record – one that really does have Weather Report spinning out musical tales in sound – with a free-flowing and soulful sense of energy! The groove's definitely tighter than the earlier years, but it's never slick – and Joe Zawinul handled the overall orchestrations for the record, with an approach that's often highly rhythmic, vamping, and building up nicely as the tunes roll on.

One of the only albums we've ever seen from drummer James Zitro – a player who'd worked as a percussionist for one of the Sonny Simmons' albums on ESP Records, then was invited to cut his own date for the label! There's a really groundbreaking sound here – an approach to percussion that's almost melodic at times, and which prefaces some of the more famous experiments in those modes to come both from the Chicago AACM and the New York loft jazz scene of the 70s. Zitro's really got a way around the kit, leaping around with a style that reminds us of Andrew Cyrille at his best – yet in ways that often go in other directions. The rest of the group here is relatively obscure too – and players include Allan Praskin on alto, Bert Wilson on tenor, Warren Gale on trumpet, Michael Cohen on piano, and Bruce Cale on bass. Titles include "Freeken", "Happy Pretty", and "Sweet".

A killer batch of boogaloo material – but not from the usual sources! Although boogaloo is a genre normally associated with the New York scene at the end of the 60s, the music here all hails from Peru and represents a great new sound – music inspired by the Nuyorican originals, but which often take things into whole new directions! The Peruvian approach to boogaloo is a bit looser than the New York one – a bit more open and free, and often heavily touched by jazz music as well, resulting in a sound that's also got plenty of hard-jamming descarga elements too! Given the racial makeup of the Peruvian scene, there's a bit less soul influence going on too – lyrics are more often in Spanish, and less inspired by the Harlem sound – but the overall rhythms still share plenty with the Latin soul styles of New York, and provide a great foil for some of the jazzy instrumentation. This package is a massive discovery in music – one that goes way beyond some of the few Peruvian Latin titles from the time that have been reissued – and it's overflowing with amazing work that's totally new to our ears! Titles include "Vives Boogaloo" by Charlie Palomares, "Baby Boogaloo" by Nilo Espinosa, "Hilton's Descarga" by Los Hilton's, "El Pito" by Alfredo Linares, "Guayaba" by La Sonora De Lucho Macedo, "Que Rico Sabor" by Al Valdes, "Ensueno" by Mario Allison Y Su Combo, "Yo Traigo Boogaloo" by Alfredo Linares, "Juan Jose" by Nico Estrada, "Do The Boogaloo" by Nilo Espinosa, "Guajira" by Al Valdes, "El Diablo" by S Montez Y Sus Guantanameros, and "Clap Your Hands" by Tito Chicoma.

The sweet sound of 70s Blue Note – a really wonderful stretch for the label, and a time when the company was stretching out in a range of sublimely soulful directions! This period's probably best known for the influence of Larry Mizell on some of the label's key players, but it's also got plenty more to offer too – Brazilian influences in the rhythms, electric undercurrents in the instrumentation, and some especially soulful vocals on some of the best-remembered tracks. Old players are born anew, new players rise to lofty heights, and the whole thing's an amazing discovery in jazz – filled with key tracks that do a better job of summing up 70s Blue Note than our few worlds ever could! 20 tracks in all – including "Chicago Damn" by Bobbi Humphrey, "Koko & Lee Roe" by Gene Harris, "Love So Far Away" by Donald Byrd, "Fun House" by Bobbi Humphrey, "Cheshire Cat" by Ronnie Foster, "Kumquat Kid" by Eddie Henderson, "People Make The World Go Round" by Bobby Hutcherson, "In Pursuit Of the 27th Man" by Horace Silver, "You're Everything" by Carmen McRae, "Route" by Moacir Santos, "Sassy Soul Strut" by Lou Donaldson, "Always There" by Ronnie Laws, "Essence Of Mystery" by Alphonse Mouzon, and "Motherland" by The Waters.

A cool bit of bossa jazz from Italy – recorded by a group who clearly draw inspiration from Sergio Mendes, but also take their tunes in some bold new directions! Like other Euro bossa work of the time, there's really a strong respect here for the original Brazilian sound – but also a different sort of vibe too, one that clearly brings in some sunny Mediterranean moments to really spark things up! Percussion is heavy, vocals are often sung together and sweet – and there's some nice use of organ bubbling around in the background, which links the record a bit to some of the Italian film scores that we love from the time. Very groovy stuff throughout – with lyrics in Italian, but a universal appeal to any lover of warm bossa grooves! Titles include "Ci Vuol Pazienza", "Inquinamento", "Ride La Citta", "Davvero", "Foglie Gialle All'Imbrunire", "Gli Avvoltoi", "Muore Ormai La Domenica", and "Cento Volte Addio".

Gilles Peterson does it again – and proves that he's still got one of the best ears around for choosing new music! Even after seven previous volumes, the Bubblers series is still plenty darn incredible – a great place for getting a taste of the best of the contemporary underground – those amazing artists that Gilles always features on his BBC show – always hand-picked, and chosen without any consideration for commercial directions – as you'll hear on the really revolutionary music in the package. There's a nicely laidback vibe this time around – a reminder of Peterson's tastes for more acoustic and jazz-based modes – and some of the tunes almost echo some of the rootsier music that Brownswood has recorded in recent years, too. Titles include "Volver" by Ana Tijoux, "She Was Out In The Water" by One Little Plane, "Crush" by Hello Skinny, "Linha De Frente" by Criolo, "Again" by Def Sound, "Manchild" by Haydn, and "Bout You" by Rainy Milo.

2 incredible soundtracks from Serge Gainsbourg – both of them from his best period of work! Cannabis is a tremendously funky set of tunes – and some real standout soundtrack material from the legendary Serge Gainsbourg! Serge is working here with some great help from Jean-Claude Vannier – the guiding force behind Melody Nelson – and Vannier brings some great grooves to the record, really going for those sexy riffs and breaks that make us love Gainsbourg's music so much! There's a bit of vocals, but the main focus is on the instrumentation – which shifts nicely from track to track, taking the themes in some very nice directions – all of them definitely up to the sexy standard of Serge. The score to Ce Sacre Grand Pere is included here as bonus work – and features tracks written by both Serge and Michel Colombier. The overall feel is more orchestral and traditionally soundtrack-styled, but there are a few really sly funky tracks that offer up Serge at his sexy best! The set's got 21 tracks in all, and titles include "Cannabis", "Jane Dans La Nuit", "Danger", "Avant De Mourir", "Cannabis-bis", "Piege", "I Want To Feel Crazy", "Le Deuxieme Homme", "Champetre Et Pop 1", "Nous Les Jericho", and "L'Herbe Tendre".

Herbie Mann's going for a bit of a Memphis soul groove on this album – but he handles the work with his own sort of flair, and takes the style in a whole new direction! Unlike other sessions of this nature, Herbie didn't just fly down to Memphis and cook up a standard batch of tracks in the studio – and instead, he produced the whole thing himself, and is working in a mode that uses southern soul as a starting point, but which also takes off in some of the headier, trippier directions of Mann's Embryo imprint on Atlantic. Players here include Roy Ayers on vibes, George Bohannon on trombone, Sonny Sharock on guitar, Miroslav Vitous on bass, and Larry Coryell on guitar – and the groove is plenty darn funky throughout, with lots of long tracks that almost seem to have a dose of 70s soundtrack funk in the mix! The cut "Memphis Two Step" is a great little funk track with a monster drum break at the beginning that really gets the track grooving – and other titles include "Soul Man", "Guinnevere", "Acapulco Rain", "Kabuki Rock", and "Down On The Corner".

A perfect illustration of the rich new directions Wayne Shorter was taking at the start of the 70s – an amazing flurry of sounds and styles that's light years ahead of where he began in the 60s! Shorter's one of those players who was already great at the start – an amazing tenorist, both on his own and with the groups of Art Blakey and Miles Davis – yet by the time of this record, he'd absorbed a huge amount of influences from Brazilian music, modal jazz, the spiritual underground, and even the free European scene – all of which come to play on the long, complex tunes on the set! The record has Shorter working with some other key contemporaries of this new moment in jazz – John McLaughlin on 12 string guitar, Chick Corea on marimba and percussion, Dave Holland and Miroslav Vitous on bass, and Ron Carter on cello – all players who have the same open, exploratory vibe as Wayne's own lines on tenor and soprano sax. Titles include an excellent cover of Milton Nascimento's "Vera Cruz", plus the tracks "Antiqua", "Iska", and "Montezuma".

A really unusual album from Rosemary Clooney – recorded with lush backings from Nelson Riddle, in a style that gets past the lighter mode of earlier years! Clooney really opens up in Riddle's company – and hits a mature, adult mode that almost points the way towards directions Morgana King would take in later years. The tunes are all extremely well-chosen – and even the older numbers seem to have a more contemporary feel here, thanks to Riddle's unified arrangements throughout – an overall approach that avoids the "fast then slow then fast" mode that sometimes kept other Clooney albums from sounding like more serious vocal efforts. Titles include "Invitation", "I Wish It So", "Yours Sincerely", "Find The Way", "If I Forget You", "More Than You Know", and "Why Shouldn't I".

The long-awaited release of some brilliant live sessions from the key Miles Davis group at the end of the 60s – the really freewheeling quintet that featured Chick Corea on electric piano, Wayne Shorter on tenor and soprano sax, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums! Rhythms here are completely unbound – wilder even than the sounds on Bitches Brew, and played with a similar intensity on the keyboard, trumpet, and reed solos – an unbridled power that really takes off over the space of the very long cuts on the collection! The whole thing's an essential addition to these very important years for Miles – and the 3CDs features live performances from the Antibes Jazz Festival on July 25 and 26, 1969 – plus a November 1969 performance from Stockholm. Titles include "Miles Runs The Voodoo Down", "Sanctuary", "It's About That Time", "Footprints", "Paraphernalia", "Nefertiti", "Masqualero", "Spanish Key", "Directions", "No Blues", and "Bitches Brew". DVD also features a November 7, 1969 performance from the Berliner Jazztage – of titles that include "Directions", "Bitches Brew", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "It's About That Time", and "The Theme".

An amazing second set from Sixto Rodriguez – recorded in the legendary Landsdowne Studios in London, with a groove that's a great extension from his debut! All of Rodriguez's best elements are in place here – his folksy guitar, personal lyrical style, and surprisingly biting approach to a variety of topics – and the London setting provides him with an even more sophisticated backdrop than before, one that creates a rich palette of sounds that takes the music in some really wonderful directions! There's a bit of strings at times, but most instrumentation is by a small combo – which includes Chris Spedding on guitar and Tony Carr on percussion – so that Rodriguez's vocals and guitar are really right up front in the mix, recorded with a brilliant balance between sharpness and compassion. Titles include "Climb Up On My Music", "Silver Words", "Heikki's Suburbia Bus Tour", "I Think Of You", "To Whom It May Concern", "Halfway Up The Stairs", and "Cause".

A great little Brazilian group from the 70s – one who continues the harmony styles of Sergio Mendes in the 60s, but takes the music into some groovy new directions! The sounds here are more samba than bossa – with guitar and percussion dancing nicely together in the rhythms as group members sing sweetly over the top – and both piano and keyboards adding in some nicely jazzy inflections to the groove, often with the more sophisticated phrasings you might expect in some of the EMI/Odeon work from earlier in the decade. Sivuca joins the group on both accordion and moog (!) – and the whole thing's got a sweetly-grooving style that's totally great! Titles include "Estatutos De Gafiera", "Loteca", "Amor Em Jacuma", " Iboru Iboya", "Beijo Baiano", "O Trem Atrazou", "Asa Branca", and "Fogo Pago".

Amazing sounds from San Basilio De Palenque – a unique cultural crossroads on the coast of Colombia! The town was the first free slave community in the Americas – a distinction it's held for centuries – and continues to have strong ties to Africa, partly because of its roots, partly because of its longtime isolation from the rest of Colombia. As a result, the music is a very unique hybrid – very heavy on traditional modes, but evolved into very different directions too – and only marginally influenced by some of the more familiar Colombian styles. The sounds here are especially rootsy – given that they were recorded as part of a documentary project, which is also included in the package – and are easily some of the deepest ethnographic recordings that Soul Jazz has ever released! The music is heavy on percussion instruments and chanting – and the collection features music by Estrellas Del Caribe, Son Malagana, Santiago Ospino, Manuela Torres, Sikito, Curramberos De Gamero, and To Ane E Lo Memo Sexteto.