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Possibly the greatest album ever by the legendary Chicago soul singer Terry Callier! Terry's rich mellow voice is mixed with superb arrangements from the Cadet studio team, with Charles Stepney at the head, and the result is completely sublime. The songs are longer than on earlier albums – and spun out with a complex groove that mixes equal parts of jazz, folk, and soul with the soaring spiritual vibe that was running through the Chicago scene at the time. The first side alone is the stuff that legends are made of – with classic tracks like "Dancing Girl", "What Color is Love", and "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman" all in a row, sewn together in a wash of love, soul, and emotion that you'd be hard pressed to find on any other album from the time. Other tracks include "I'd Rather Be With You", "Just As Long As We're In Love", and "You Don't Care" – and the whole album's a masterpiece beyond compare!

Possibly the greatest album ever by the legendary Chicago soul singer Terry Callier! Terry's rich mellow voice is mixed with superb arrangements from the Cadet studio team, with Charles Stepney at the head, and the result is completely sublime. The songs are longer than on earlier albums – and spun out with a complex groove that mixes equal parts of jazz, folk, and soul with the soaring spiritual vibe that was running through the Chicago scene at the time. The first side alone is the stuff that legends are made of – with classic tracks like "Dancing Girl", "What Color is Love", and "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman" all in a row, sewn together in a wash of love, soul, and emotion that you'd be hard pressed to find on any other album from the time. Other tracks include "I'd Rather Be With You", "Just As Long As We're In Love", and "You Don't Care" – and the whole album's a masterpiece beyond compare!

A surprisingly great album by Booker T – recorded after his Memphis years with The MGs, and his duets with Priscilla – and done in a sweetly mellow style that has Booker emerging as a whole new style of songwriter! As with all the post-MG albums, Booker sings lead vocals on all tracks – in a gently, almost folksy mode that fits beautifully with the compressed production of the set. There's almost a Terry Callier-ish quality to a few of the cuts, and on others, Booker's hitting a cool LA style that's kind of a west coast take on the Memphis vibe – but with a few more rock-based touches. Book plays a bit of organ and some keyboards on the set, and titles include "Jamaica Song", "Mama Stewart", "Flamingo", "Tennessee Voodoo", "Lie To Me", and "Evergreen".

Obscure mellow midtempo soul LP on Buddah from 1973. The record's got an easy mellow feel that's quite nice and a bit folksy – and Heath has a progressive righteous approach that reminds us a bit of Terry Callier. The songwriting's a bit varied, but the nicest moments have that kind of hip underground sound that makes you happy you still dig through old LPs. The album includes some nice lost cuts – like "Put Your Love in My Hands" and "You Know You're Wrong", both of which have a nice late night feel – plus the tracks "Every Fool On Earth", "Jamey", "Brother", "Made To Love", and "I Thought You Might Like To Know".

The full length debut for Michael Kiwanuka – a record that stands out brilliantly, not only for it's strength and depth – but also because almost no one is making airy, often acoustic soul music on a major label in 2012! The record has been compared to Terry Callier's work with producer Charles Stepney in the early 70s – and that's not off base at all, but Kiwanuka has a sound and a voice of his own. The songs are engaging and immediate, his voice confident and assured – and the instrumentation is pretty amazing for a contemporary soul album! We're talking sax, trumpets, shakers, flutes, bells, blocks and more. A wonderful surprise! Includes "Tell Me A Tale", "I'm Getting Ready", "I'll Get Along", "Rest", "Home Again", "Bones", "Always Waiting", "I Won't Lie", "Any Day Will Do Fine", "Worry Walks Beside Me" and "Lasan".

The full length debut for Michael Kiwanuka – a record that stands out brilliantly, not only for it's strength and depth – but also because almost no one is making airy, often acoustic soul music on a major label in 2012! The record has been compared to Terry Callier's work with producer Charles Stepney in the early 70s – and that's not off base at all, but Kiwanuka has a sound and a voice of his own. The songs are engaging and immediate, his voice confident and assured – and the instrumentation is pretty amazing for a contemporary soul album! We're talking sax, trumpets, shakers, flutes, bells, blocks and more. A wonderful surprise! Includes "Tell Me A Tale", "I'm Getting Ready", "I'll Get Along", "Rest", "Home Again", "Bones", "Always Waiting", "I Won't Lie", "Any Day Will Do Fine", "Worry Walks Beside Me" and "Lasan".

An amazingly soulful set of folk tunes from the late 60s – the only album we've ever seen from singer Jerry Moore, and a real rarity from the ESP label! Moore's got a style that's somewhere between Terry Callier and Tim Buckley – earthy and acoustic one minute, but stepping out with some hipper rock-influenced touches the next – in a style that makes the album way more than just a conventional folk set. There's a strong political undercurrent to many of the tunes – and Moore is backed by a quartet that includes Eric Gale on electric guitar and Ralph McDonald on percussion. Titles include "Ballad Of Birmingham", "Drugged", "This Is My Time", "Let Go Reach Out", and "Anti Bellum Sermon".

A weird one, but pretty compelling. Cyril Paul is an African American folk singer – less in the mode of jazz/soul folkies like Terry Callier or Oscar Brown, than in the style of the New York/Boston new traditionalists of the early 60s. At most levels, the album's a straight folk one – but the ensemble's pretty hip, and adds in some jazzy elements on the best songs. The strongest titles have sort of a Miriam Makeba quality to them – and the record features a version of Oscar Brown Jr's "Brown Baby", a nicely grooving take on Paul Simon's "Patterns", and the Nina Simone-esque "Freedom Is A Constant Struggle".

Amazing sounds from the legendary Rodriguez – the brilliant 70s singer who had a groove that was equal parts soul, funk, rock, and folk – and an overall approach that was pretty darn unique! Most numbers here have some acoustic guitar over slightly funky rhythms – perfectly scored to work with Rodriguez's raspy soul vocals, which have an undeniably heartfelt style – somewhere in a space between Terry Callier and early Jose Feliciano, but very much its own mode too! This CD features great gems from Rodriguez's years at Sussex Records – including three tracks not on the albums – "Can't Get Away", "Street Boy", and "I'll Slip Away" – plus other titles that include "Sugar Man", "Cause", "I Wonder", "Like Janis", "Jane S Piddy", "I Think Of You", "Inner City Blues", and "Sandrevan Lullaby Lifestyles".

A massively beautiful piece of work by "the new Rotary Connection" – a version of this groundbreaking Chicago soul ensemble which featured Phil Upchurch, Henry Gibson, and Charles Stepney – the cream of the Chicago production scene! Minnie Riperton's still in the band on vocals, and her work on the LP is similar to that on the legendary Come To My Garden LP. The album features the incredible track "I Am the Blackgold of the Sun" – a haunting soul anthem that has been a favorite of groovers for years, and which was later made into a house track by NuYorican Soul. A great album all the way through, and filled with loads of excellent cuts! Other tracks include "If I Sing My Song", "Hey, Love", "Love Has Fallen On Me", and a cover of Terry Callier's "Song For Everyman".

Spare genius from the legendary Labi Siffre – a record without categorization, and one that sits beautifully between soul, folk, and singer-songwriter styles of the early 70s! The record balances perfectly between simple tunes that just feature voice and guitar, and more complicated ones that use subtle strings, electric keys, and other orchestrations behind Labi's vocals – never too much, but just enough to give the tunes a hipper, sometimes slightly more grooving feel – in a mode that's somewhere in the territory of Terry Callier from the time, but very much its own sound altogether! This one's incredibly hard to peg – but well worth seeking out, and a tremendous bit of work from an artist who's unfortunately mostly remember these days for just a few famous break tracks – and not his sublime sense of songwriting! Titles include "Love Oh Love Oh Love", "Crying Laughing Loving Lying", "My Song", "Hotel Room Song", "Blue Lady", "Gimme Some More", and "It Must Be Love". CD features 6 bonus tracks that include "You Make It Easy", "For The Lovin", "Oh Me Oh My Mr City Goodbye", "You'll Let Me Know", and "Pristine Verses".

An incredible record from Labi Siffre – spare, simple, and totally beautiful – in a space beyond category! The album is the sort that should have been a real standout in the 70s – early work by one of the freshest songwriters to hit the British scene, sung in a style that's a bit jazzy, a bit soulful – with playful inflections that never get in the way of the beautiful lyrics at all. Labi's got a unique blend of modes here that ranks with a rare few in music – Terry Callier, Joni Mitchell, and a few other beyond-category artists from the same generation. The whole thing's extremely beautiful – and Labi's voice and guitar are backed by some subtle arrangements that shade in the bottom with electric keys, a bit of bass, spare strings – and sometimes nothing at all! Titles include "Thank You Lucky Star", "Bless The Telephone", "There's Nothing In The World Like Love", "You're Lovely", "A Number Of Words", "Who Do You See", "Not So Long Ago", "Relax", and "Interlude". CD also features 6 bonus tracks that include "Oh What A Day", "Seasons Come Seasons Go", "Get To The Country", and "Fallin For You".

One of the most unique albums to ever come out of the Miami soul scene of the 70s – a sublime set of work that we'd easily rank right up there with the best material of the time from Donny Hathaway or Stevie Wonder! Milton Wright has a really jazzy groove to his music – and he mixes his own acoustic guitar lines with warm keyboards and unusual rhythms that often have a bit of synth or moog – never too much, and almost more of a Mizell-like touch, but a bit more understated overall! The cuts are wonderfully written – quite righteous, almost with a Terry Callier sort of sensitivity – and Milton's vocals more than have the chops to live up to the heady batch of artists we're comparing him to in these notes. The sound is amazing throughout – one of those soul records that feels like nothing else you've ever heard, but which you can't live without once you've heard it! Titles include "Friends & Buddies", "Keep It Up", "Brothers & Sisters", "Get No Lovin' Tonight", "Po Man", "Black Man", and "Silence That You Keep".

Incredibly beautiful work from Willie Wright – an album of folksy soul with a slight island spirit – one that nicely nestles Willie's music in a space somewhere between the best 70s work of Terry Callier and Jon Lucien! The sound is wonderful – lean, stripped-down, and wonderfully personal – just the right fit for the sensitive lyrics in Wright's tunes! Instrumentation is mostly bass and guitar, plus some great flute and light percussion – produced with a sound that's just right, too – hardly what you'd expect for the time, without any too-slick modes at all. This beautiful reissue may well set a whole new standard for the Numero label, too – as it comes with the usual great sound and rich notes, plus a great package that also features a bonus 7" single of Wright's classic "Right On For The Darkness" and "Africa"! There's also 3 bonus tracks added to the core record – and titles include "Nantucket Island", "Lady Of The Year", "Love Is Expensive", "Dressing For The Occasion", "Indian Reservation", "Son Don't Let Life Pass You By", and "It's Only Life That's All".

Incredibly beautiful work from Willie Wright – an album of folksy soul with a slight island spirit – one that nicely nestles Willie's music in a space somewhere between the best 70s work of Terry Callier and Jon Lucien! The sound is wonderful – lean, stripped-down, and wonderfully personal – just the right fit for the sensitive lyrics in Wright's tunes! Instrumentation is mostly bass and guitar, plus some great flute and light percussion – produced with a sound that's just right, too – hardly what you'd expect for the time, without any too-slick modes at all. This beautiful reissue may well set a whole new standard for the Numero label, too – as it comes with the usual great sound and rich notes, plus a great package that also features a really unique 5" vinyl single! There's also 3 bonus tracks added to the record – and titles include "Nantucket Island", "Lady Of The Year", "Love Is Expensive", "Dressing For The Occasion", "Indian Reservation", "Right On For The Darkness", and "Africa".

A stone classic from Richie Havens – and we don't just mean that because of the title and cover! The record's got Richie really taking his music to the next level – moving past straighter folk lines, and hitting a more sophisticated sound that's not too far from territory Terry Callier was exploring at Cadet at the time! There's strings mixed in with the acoustic guitar and percussion on most numbers – used a bit less majestically than Callier's work with Charles Stepney, but still in ways that push Havens' music nicely past straighter folk modes. Richie's vocals are still beautifully warm and raspy – filled with life and honest energy – and although most tracks on the record are originals, the album also features a nice cover of "I Started A Joke". Other tracks include "Minstrel From Gaul", "Open Our Eyes", "Ring Around The Moon", "It's All Over Now Baby Blue", "Prayer", and "There's A Hole In The Future".

Donal Leace was one of a few hip soul acts that Roberta Flack brought to Atlantic during her strongest period with the label – and he's a soulful folk singer whose work reminds us of certain folksy moments on Flack's first few albums. There's less of a Terry Callier sound than a Tim Hardin one – and the backing is filled with jazzy inflections laid down by players like Keith Jarrett, David Spinozza, Ray Lucas, Bernard Purdie, and Ron Carter. Flack produced – and again, you can definitely hear her love of folk music on the LP. Titles include "Andrea", "Midnight Cowboy", "Shimaree", "Sad Lisa", "What Does It Take", and "Today Won't Come Again".

Incredibly beautiful work from Willie Wright – an album of folksy soul with a slight island spirit – one that nicely nestles Willie's music in a space somewhere between the best 70s work of Terry Callier and Jon Lucien! The sound is wonderful – lean, stripped-down, and wonderfully personal – just the right fit for the sensitive lyrics in Wright's tunes! Instrumentation is mostly bass and guitar, plus some great flute and light percussion – produced with a sound that's just right, too – hardly what you'd expect for the time, without any too-slick modes at all. This beautiful reissue may well set a whole new standard for the Numero label, too – as it comes with the usual great sound and rich notes, plus a great package that also features a really unique 5" vinyl single! There's also 3 bonus tracks added to the record – and titles include "Nantucket Island", "Lady Of The Year", "Love Is Expensive", "Dressing For The Occasion", "Indian Reservation", "Right On For The Darkness", and "Africa".

A surprisingly great album by Booker T – recorded after his Memphis years with The MGs, and his duets with Priscilla – and done in a sweetly mellow style that has Booker emerging as a whole new style of songwriter! As with all the post-MG albums, Booker sings lead vocals on all tracks – in a gently, almost folksy mode that fits beautifully with the compressed production of the set. There's almost a Terry Callier-ish quality to a few of the cuts, and on others, Booker's hitting a cool LA style that's kind of a west coast take on the Memphis vibe – but with a few more rock-based touches. Book plays a bit of organ and some keyboards on the set, and titles include "Jamaica Song", "Mama Stewart", "Flamingo", "Tennessee Voodoo", "Lie To Me", and "Evergreen". CD features lots of bonus tracks too – "Life Is Funky", "Take Me To The River", "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", "Higher & Higher", "Love Is Strange", and "Evergreen (single version)".

One of Oscar Brown's great ones, recorded live at the Cellar Door in Washington before an enthusiastic crowd of hipsters! The record's a beautiful mix of soul, jazz, and folk – in the same Chicago tradition that spawned Terry Callier (although Brown's style has a bit more of a "show" feel to it). There's a lot of great stuff on here, and most of it doesn't appear on Oscar's other albums in studio versions. Tracks include "Call of the City", "Muffled Drums", "Maxine", "Brother Where Are You?", and more! Backing's by a tight little combo that includes Floyd Morris and Phil Upchurch!

One of the most righteous albums of the 21st century so far – and an instant classic we'll be loving for years! Build An Ark are a seriously heavy soul jazz ensemble, with roots and traditions that stretch back to the most righteous days of the 70s underground – the brainchild of producer Carlos Nino and vocalist Dwight Trible – and featuring work by soul jazz stalwarts that include Phil Ranelin, Nate Morgan, Derf Reklaw, Adam Rudolph, and others – all coming together in a fresh, new expression of the righteous ideals that first motivated their original work! Under the guidance of Nino, the group really gels together nicely – working in a loose mode that's a nice change from the tighter cosmic 21st century soul of the European scene – and returning to the organic, almost folksy forms that first emerged on 70s independent labels like Tribe, Strata East, and Nimbus. LA luminary Nate Morgan plays some great Fender Rhodes on many of the album's best tracks – and singer Dwight Trible has a soulful range that's somewhere between the style of Terry Callier and Leon Thomas. This EP features 5 tracks in all – including a massively beautiful remake of Pharoah Sanders "You've Got To Have Freedom", plus Phil Ranelin's "Vibes From The Tribe", and the original tracks "Pure Imagination/Tortoise & The Hare", "Door Of The Cosmos (take 1)", and "Marcia" – the last 2 of which weren't on the full LP!

Amazing sounds from the legendary Rodriguez – the brilliant 70s singer who had a groove that was equal parts soul, funk, rock, and folk – and an overall approach that was pretty darn unique! Most numbers here have some acoustic guitar over slightly funky rhythms – perfectly scored to work with Rodriguez's raspy soul vocals, which have an undeniably heartfelt style – somewhere in a space between Terry Callier and early Jose Feliciano, but very much its own mode too! Titles include "Sugar Man", "Cause", "I Wonder", "Like Janis", "Jane S Piddy", "I Think Of You", "Inner City Blues", and "Sandrevan Lullaby Lifestyles".

An amazing little record – easily one of the coolest albums ever on the legendary Ovation label – and a set that has the small imprint almost hitting the heights of their Chicago neighbor Cadet Records! The core sounds here are from the folksy duo of Chuck Hollins and Dave Starr – but their music is really expanded with some key studio touches – jazzy inflections from session players, some slight fuller arrangements – and an overall vibe that carries the same sense of hope and new voice that you'd find in records by Terry Callier or Rotary Connection! The dawn of the 70s was a great time to push the boundaries of what could be done with folk and psychedelic trappings, and these guys really find a great little space – balancing trippy lyricism, lots of ethereal atmosphere, and a few heavily percussive jams! Titles include "Talking To Myself", "Krishna Dov", "Cry Baby Cry", "Twin City Prayer", "John Hurt", "Hard Headed Women", "Lovable", "Digress", "Staying High", "Sidewalk's Talkin'", and "Feelin' Good". CD features bonus tracks that include a 9 minute outtake of "Hard Headed Woman" – plus single versions of "Feelin Good" and "Lovable".

One of the coolest entries in the Late Night Tales series – but that's what we'd expect from Cinematic Orchestra! The collection not only shows the group's roots and inspiration in the work of a number of different artists – but also features an exclusive track as well – a great cover of "Talking About Freedom", done by Cinematic Orchestra just for this set! Other tracks include "You're Goin Miss Your Candyman" by Terry Callier, "Cumulus" by Imogen Heap, "Behold The Day" by Freedom Sounds, "Aht Uh Mi Hed" by Shuggie Otis, "Electric Counterpoint" by Steve Reich, "Black Swan" by Thom Yorke, "Auntie's Harp" by Flying Lotus, "Joga" by Bjork, "See Line Woman (voc)" by Songstress, "La Ritournelle" by Sebastien Tellier, and "South American Getaway" by Burt Bacharach.