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A mighty run of classic fusion from Stanley Clarke – some of his biggest albums for Columbia Records, packaged here in mini LP-styled sleeves in a 6CD slipcase! The package is a great one – especially given that some of these records aren't easy to find on CD – and it traces the evolution from the more experimental Stanley Clarke of his Columbia debut and Journey To Love albums, into mega-hit status on School Days, more soulful modes on Modern Man, and even features some great Live work too – a great document of the unbridled power that Stanley had when away from the studio! Full albums include Stanley Clarke, Journey To Love, School Days, Modern Man, I Wanna Play For You, and Live 1976/1977 – all packaged together in a box with notes!

A trio of funky electric albums from Stanley Clarke's mid 80s R&B years – 1984's Time Exposure, ''85's Find Out and '86's Hideaway – in a 2CD set! Time Exposure has a lot of 80s electro funk in the mix, particularly Clarke's impeccable bass lines, which are heavy throughout. Titles include "Play The Bass '10", "Heaven Sent You", "Speedball", "Future Shock" and the great title track. Find Out follows somewhat similar territory, an 80s synth funky set with a few surprising twists – including an electro/funk/old school rap cover of "Born In The USA"! Other tracks include "Find Out", "The Sky's The Limit", "Stereotypica" and "Psychedelic". Hideaway makes a move towards more delicate synth soul for Clarke – who assembles an impressive guest list that includes Stanley Jordan, Herbie Hancock and Stewart Copeland. Titles include a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed", plus "My Love, Her Inspiration", "Where Do We Go", "Old Friends" and "When It's Cold Outside".

A seminal set in the rebirth of straight jazz in the early 80s – a wonderful record with a much warmer, more traditional feel than you'd expect from some of the players involved! Bassist Stanley Clarke and pianist Chick Corea really return to their roots here – Stanley with some of the bold acoustic tones of his earliest soul jazz years, Chick with those modern-yet-soulful piano lines he first brought to magical recordings of the 60s – including the Sweet Rain session with Stan Getz. Freddie Hubbard's also in the group – blowing wonderfully with that reborn sound of his early 80s years, still some of the best work he ever did – and the group also features Joe Henderson on tenor, always a treat, and Lenny White on drums, really keeping things focused. The set's a gem through and through – and titles include "L's Bop", "Happy Times", "Remember", "Guernica", "October Ballade", and "Why Wait".

A mighty collaboration between Stanley Clarke & George Duke – working here in a pairing that refueled both of their careers for the 80s! In previous years, both Clarke and Duke had a penchant for really stretching out in complex, experimental modes – but here, they're playing in a relatively stripped-down and focused way – hitting some of the more soul-inspired sides of fusion at the time, although still without the slick or commercial feel of the rising GRP generation. Guitars figure heavily on a number of tracks, and vocals do too – sometimes in ways that are slightly too sweet and almost cloying. Tracks include "Wild Dog", "Louie Louie", "Sweet Baby", "I Just Want To Love You", "Winners", "Let's Get Started", and "Touch & Go".

Airto's unique Brazilian fusion style meets the electric funky genius of CTI – and the result is a killer album of long tracks with a far-reaching jazzy groove! The album takes off a bit from Airto's work with Return To Forever – no surprise, since Chick Corea and Flora Purim are on the record – but the set's also got the choppy modal groove that you'd expect from work by other CTI artists like Hubert Laws, Joe Farrell, Ron Carter, and Stanley Clarke, all of whom are on the album. Most tunes are quite long and free-flowing – and titles include "Lucky Southern", "Flora's Song", "Creek (Arroio)", and "Return To Forever".

Fusiony soul from the early 80s on Columbia – and one of the more vocal-oriented albums cut by keyboardist Rodney Franklin! The vocals are sung by Jim Gilstrap, Howard Smith, and Darryl Phinnessee – but at the heart of all the tracks are Rodney's nice soulful keyboards – which have the same smooth feel as Bobby Lyle's from the same time. The record was produced by Stanley Clarke – and itincludes "Enuff Is Enuff" – the theme from the early 80s blacksploitation flick One Down,Two To Go – plus "Sonshine", "Learning To Love", "Don't Wanna Let You Go", "Sailing", "That's The Way I Feel 'Bout Your Love".

Not only a great follow-up to the first Echoes Of An Era session, but also a standout 80s performance from Nancy Wilson – quite possibly her best of the decade! The setting is nice and laidback – a live date with a core combo that features Joe Henderson on tenor, Chick Corea on piano, Stanley Clarke on acoustic bass, and Lenny White on drums – plus steller vocals from Wilson, who's really at home in the setting – stretching out beautifully on the long tracks, and coming into play with the soloists at a level that's quite different from her more polished studio records. Clarke's bass is a delight, too – a great reminder that his talents didn't always lie in the electric realm during the 80s – and Henderson, as you might guess, provides some soulful undercurrents that reallyg round the whole proceedings. Titles include "500 Miles High", "Round Midnight", "Rhythm A Ning", "My One & Only Love", "Them There Eyes", and "I Want To Be Happy".

A profoundly funky Message – a smoking set of early 70s funky jazz & heavy soul from the Mainstream Records vaults – a diverse set of incredible recordings from the label that may be fairly sprawling in style, yet holds together thanks to shared funky urgency! It's filled with Bob Shad productions for his stellar Mainstream roster, which at the time included a host of far reaching jazz veterans, soulful chanteuses, and killer funky combos – including Afrique, Blue Mitchell, Sarah Vaughn, Alice Clark, Charles Kynard and many more! The session players reads like a heavyweight jazz title card itself, with Don Pullen, Stanley Clarke, George Cables, Joe Sample, Victor Feldman and more. The set features a very well chosen 18 tracks, with solid notes on each by Dean Rudand. Titles include "House Of Rising Funk" by Chubukos, "Soul Makossa" by Afrique, "The Message" by Blue Mitchell, "Funky Butt" by The Delegates", "Never Did I Stop Loving You" by Alice Clark, "I Want You Back" by Bobby Shad & The Bad Men, "Grits Ain't Groceries" by Maxine Weldon, "The Spirit" by Curtis Fuller", "Bacon Butt Fat" by Charles Williams and more.

Funky keyboards galore – and one of the greatest records ever from this legendary Brazilian jazz talent! The album follows nicely off Deodato's Prelude classic for CTI – and like that one, this set's built on long-flowing tunes that rise and fall with a wonderful sense of rhythm – a sublime electric piano groove that's quite different than anything Deodato recorded before – and possibly never realized this perfectly again after his CTI years. Other players include Stanley Clarke on bass, Billy Cobham on drums, and Hubert Laws on flute – and titles include the massive Latin funk track "Super Strut", plus the tunes "Pavane For A Dead Princess", "Skyscrapers", and a great version of "Nights In White Satin". Plus, this CD reissue features 3 bonus tracks – "Venus", "Do It Again", and "Latin Flute"!

Excellent work from Marcus Miller – the kind of soul-drenched, bass-led set that's made him a favorite for years! There's a tightness here that almost takes us back to the feel of a Stanley Clarke set from the 70s – a right on the money groove you'll hear right from the start – with more than enough bite in the basslines, and a sound that's never too smooth to make the album lose its groove. The set features guest work from Sean Jones on trumpet – plus a bit of vocals from Dr John, Gretchen Parlatto, and Ruben Blades – but overall, Miller's clearly the star attraction here, as you'll hear on cuts that include "Detroit", "Redemption", "Slippin Into Darkness", "Jekyll & Hude", "Revelation", and a great cover of Weldon Irvine's "Mr Clean".

Beautiful spiritual post-Coltrane jazz, played by an excellent but oft-overlooked duo from the early 70s! The Grubbs brothers are fantastic reed players, with a soaring sense of soulfulness that keeps things lively throughout – a style that inflects their horns together nicely to shade in colors on the tunes, then breaks them apart for expressive and meaningful solos that are filled with a tremendous amount of soul! Earl plays tenor and soprano, Carl plays alto sax – and other players include Stanley Clarke on bass, Sid Simmons on piano, and John Goldsmith on drums and percussion – all hitting a vibe that's totally great throughout! Titles include a great version of "Giant Steps", plus the cuts "The Juggler", "In My Youth", and "The Visit". CD also features one bonus alternate take of the track "In My Youth".

Pure vocal magic – featuring the lovely Flora Purim at the height of her California powers – working in a sublime mix of jazz, fusion, and Brazilian rhythms – a sound that she virtually invented! The group on the set is one of her greatest of the time – with players that include Joe Henderson, George Duke, and Stanley Clarke – coming together with some great Brazilian percussion from husband Airto. The tracks are tight and jazzy – and include "Light As A Feather", "Dr. Jive (parts 1 & 2)", "Butterfly Dreams", "Moon Dreams", and "Dindi". This is the stuff that virtually defined the Brazilian/American groove of the 70s – and it's still light years ahead of any of Flora's many imitators!

An amazing triple-header – a set that features three full albums from Return To Forever – one of which is a triple-length set! First up is Romantic Warrior – one of the hardest-jamming Return To Forever albums – recorded with the post-Brazilian lineup that includes Chick Corea on keyboards, Stanley Clarke on bass, Lenny White on percussion, and Al DiMeola on guitars. Corea's very firmly in the lead – stretching out in heavy keyboard romps that really take off into space – propelled by fierce drums from White, heavy bass from Clarke, and a bit of tippling guitar from DiMeola. Next is Music Magic – a further extension of the Return To Forever vibe that helped Chick Corea find some of his best energy of the 70s! The style is still as tightly focused as before, but also opens up with a bit more soul, too – trading some slight moments of jamming for a CTI sense of funk – a mighty nice move that makes this album one of our all-time favorites by the group! Gayle Morgan plays some very cool organ and mini-moog next to Chick's wide array of keyboards – and Joe Farrell serves up wonderful tenor, soprano sax, and flutes – which really help shape the sound. Last up is Return To Forever Live – The Complete Concert – a vastly-extended exploration of this legendary 70s group at their best! The triple-length package offers the ensemble plenty of room to open things up – long tracks that stretch out with the boundless energy that Chick Corea first brought to the group, yet also coming together with the sort of soulful focus that really makes this second chapter so great too! Chick plays a huge host of keyboards, almost more than we can imagine being on a single stage – Fender Rhodes, minimoog, Arp, clavinet, and more – and Gayle Morgan also plays more keys, but more importantly lends some soulful vocals to the outing.

A solid compilation of dancefloor soul from the early 80s – one of the best yet in the long-running Nighttime Lovers series from Vinyl Masterpiece – with tracks by Luther Vandross, The Brothers Johnson, Cool Runners, Carl Carlton, Mtume, Freddie Jackson, The Chi-Lites, Stanley Clarke and more! The entire series has done a nice job of putting together bigger names and comparably forgotten ones – but even with the more legendary groups and singers, they go way past the obvious hits. It's a very well sequenced selection on Vol 16 – dancefloor ready soul and a nice set of songs! Includes "I Wanted Your Love" by Luther Vandross, "Kick It To The Curb" by Brothers Johnson, "Private Party" by Carl Carlton, "Nobody Else" by Karen Silver, "I Don't Understand It" by Scott White, "Stop What You're Doing" by The Chi-Lites, "Heaven Sent You" by Stanley Clarke, "Shout For Joy" by Dunn & Bruce Street and more. 13 tracks in all.