Brilliant work from the always- great Alain Goraguer – a musician who started out in jazz, then did classic arrangements for Serge Gainsbourg, and went on to some killer soundtrack material too! That's what you'll hear, in a package that brings together lost and un-reissued work from Goraguer – starting with his beautiful sounds for the film L'Affaire Dominici – music that often has a balance of acoustic and electric instrumentation that reminds us of Francois De Roubaix, especially in the way that Goraguer can space out the melodies and rhythms, but also get funky too. The set features two great tracks from Au Dela De La Peur – with a sinister funk quality that reminds us of his best work for Serge Gainsbourg – followed by three final tracks from Musiques Legeres, which have this gentle, watery quality that's really beautiful! LP, Vinyl record album

Prepare to discover your new favorite artist – a tremendously hip cat who never got his due – and who should be held as high on these shores as British talents like Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, or John Martyn! Like all of those three, Davy Graham is a complete original – a guy with an acoustic guitar, but light years beyond familiar folk – often using all these jazzy changes in his style, and mixing his own music with songs by Dylan, The Beatles, Muddy Waters, and even Art Blakey – but all in ways that are completely transformative, and which maybe use the familiar songs just as a way for Graham to show us how individual he can be – because even a song we know sounds nothing like the original. His guitar work is superb – full of all the fresh ideas, unusual phrasings, and special sounds that the best of his generation were bringing to acoustic music – and titles include "Lotus Blossom", "Down Along The Cove", "Stan's Guitar", "Bulgarian Dance", "Buhaina Chant", "I'm Ready", "Getting Better", "Hornpipe For Harpsichord Played Upon Guitar", and "Pretty Polly". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard rock perfected! It's around Led Zeppelin IV that you can easily say that the group moved up from being incredibly great to flat-out legendary – really in a class by themselves, although maybe they'd already reached that point with the sublime sounds of the previous three records! There's a darkness here – and a sense of magick too – an eerie new energy that still has all the balls-out rock power of before, but which has the group moving into this heady territory that's really all their own. Every song is a classic – and tracks include "Black Dog", "Stairway To Heaven", "Rock And Roll", "Misty Mountain Hop", "When The Levee Breaks", "Going To California", "Four Sticks", and "Battle Of Evermore". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic selection of work from one of the hippest girl groups of the 70s – the mighty Love Unlimited trio, three singers who all worked under the genius of Barry White in his prime! Unlike other girl trios of the time, who often used an older soul mode refitted with disco grooves – sometimes acting more like a chorus than a lead act – Love Unlimited always brought their full vocal strengths to play, and do a fantastic job here working in modes that rival some of the best male harmony groups of the early 70s – especially the sweet soul groups from New Jersey, New York, and Philly. And yes, Barry does kick up the groove a bit at times, but even then things are usually more in a midtempo mode, not a disco one – which makes for tremendous sounds throughout. This is the first-ever proper collection of the girls' singles from the early 70s – and titles include "Oh Love Well We Finally Made It", "Fragile Handle With Care", "Are You Sure", "I Should Have Known", "Is It Really True Boy Is It Me", "Walkin In The Rain With The One I Love", "Under The Influence Of Love", "It May Be Winter Outside", "I Love You So Never Gonna Let You Go", "I Belong To You", "So Nice To Hear", "People Of Tomorrow Are The Children Of Today", and "Share A Little Love In Your Hear LP, Vinyl record album

A mighty fresh Christmas album from pianist George Burton – one that goes way past familiar territory, with an unusual mix of tunes next to familiar Holiday favorites – and served up with a mix of sounds and styles that really sets things apart from the pack! George plays acoustic piano, but this isn't just another piano trio Holiday outing – as the set also features Burton on some harmonium, and a small string grouping in the lineup, next to the bass and drums in the group – plus inventive arrangements, and vocals on nearly every tune – sung on most by Nancy Harms, and by Aryssa Leigh Burrs on one more. Titles include "Fum Fum Fum", "Little Altar Boy", "We Three Kings", "Jesu Parvule", "Christmas Waltz", "Some Children See Him", "Christmas Time Is Here", and "The Holly & The Ivy". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant live work from Blue Note legend Horace Silver – extended live tracks that are even hipper than some of his studio work of the period, and recorded with a very cool combo as well! The great Benny Maupin is in the lead on tenor, and a young Randy Brecker sounds wonderful next to him on trumpet – as Horace crafts those wonderful modal lines that really send the tunes soaring, with help from John Williams on bass and a very young Billy Cobham on drums! The set features three long tracks – nice takes of "The Natives Are Restless Tonight", "Psychedelic Sally", and "Serenade To A Soul Sister". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal sounds from the Nigerian scene at the start of the 70s – music from the key figure of Celestine Ukwu, an artist who helped to reinvigorate the highlife style of years past, and pave the way for Afro Funk changes in years to come! Celestine's sound is nice and lean here – very rhythmic, with the guitar wrapped around the percussion and basslines in beautifully snakey action – while the vocals also have a quality that's maybe more personal than before – at points almost the raspy intimacy we love in some Brazilian singers! The package brings together work from three different albums from the early 70s – all long tracks that include "Tomorrow Is So Uncertain", "Onwunwa", "Ejina Uwa Nya Isi", "Ilo Abu Chi", and "Okwukuwe Na Ncheckwube". LP, Vinyl record album

Mars Williams presents a great installment in this surprisingly long-running series – a really unusual mix of Christmas songs with the avant jazz inspiration of Albert Ayler – served up here in two different performances – one recorded in Chicago, the other in New York! As with the previous volumes, there's a stunning mix of sounds going on – some of the sentiment you might get in a Holiday tune, which seems to open up the more human corners of Ayler music – which includes snippets of "Spirits", "The Truth Is Marching In", "Omega", and "Change Has Come" – folded together with Christmas themes on these beautiful long improvisations! The Chicago group features Williams on saxes and toy instruments – plus Josh Berman on cornet, Jim Baker on piano and viola, Kent Kessler on bass, Brian Sandstrom on bass and guitar, and Steve Hunt on drums – and the New York group features Steve Swell on trombone, Hilliard Greene on bass, Chris Corsano on drums, Nels Cline on guitar, and Fred Lonberg Holm on cello. Vinyl version features two side-long tracks – two versions of "Noel Omega Change Has Come For The Three Kings Who Lit The Tiny Candles" – one by each group! LP, Vinyl record album

A lost side of work from 70s funk powerhouse Mainstream Records – a company best known for its jazz albums of the early 70s, but one that also cut some great soul and club material too! Most of the work here came out only as singles, and wasn't nearly as well-circulated as the albums on Mainstream – and much of it was much more underground too, from a time when funk groups were picking up the pace a bit for the new styles of dance on the scene – yet still nicely far from the more slickly produced disco that would top the charts at the end of the 70s! Most tracks appear here on vinyl for the first time since the 70s – and titles include the unissued "Disco Man (parts 1 & 2)" by Three Ounces Of Love – plus "Get Down Get Down" by South Side Coalition, "Music Is Fun To Me" by The Grand Jury, "We've Got To Get Together" by Chocolate Syrup, "Gonna Have A Good Time" by Crystal Image, "Nothing Between Us" by Electric Ladies, "Whatever's Your Sign You've Got To Be Mine" by Prophecy, "Hundred Pounds Of Pain" by Lenny Welch, and "No Rebate On Love" by The Dramatics. LP, Vinyl record album

Sun Ra, Parliament, and other soul and jazz acts famously took us into space back in the day – and in the wake of their journeys, countless other artists elected to take the trip too – soaring to the cosmos on a blend of beats, basslines, keyboards, and vocals – all elements that are given an especially electro-tuned vibe in this great second volume of the series! The space age journeys are maybe more akin to the world of Newcleus than Earth Wind & Fire – lots of processing on the vocals, sweet riffing on the keyboards, and basslines that are tightly tied to the rhythms of the grooves – served up here in a way that references sounds of the street, west coast funk, and even earlier hip hop – all brought together in a very well-chosen array of tracks! As always with Soul Jazz, the presentation is as great as the music within – a set list that includes "More Ounce Rap" by Bobby Deemo, "Master Groove (inst)" by Chance, "Shine Your Light" by The Grainers, "Get Right" by Mid City Crew, "Summer Times" by Frank James & Shadow, "Year 2001 Boogie" by Rich Cason & The Galactic Orchestra, "Smurf Trek" by Chapter Three, "Let's Ride" by Junei, "Breakdance" by Command Performance, and "Computer Pop" by Maggotron. LP, Vinyl record album

A really dramatic live performance from these free jazz giants – three musicians who really know each other well, but who seem to come off with an even more majestic sense of power here! The performance is from 1974, and it burns with energy right from the start – this sense of inventiveness as if all three players had already mastered their instruments, yet were also surprising themselves during performance with new aspects they had just discovered – a freshness that comes through note after note after note – and in plenty of sounds that aren't notes either! Brotzmann blows alto and tenor, Fred Van Hove plays piano, and Han Bennink nearly destroys his drum kit – on titles that include "Filet Americain", "Involved", "Boogie For Fred", "Der Mammutzahn Aus Balve", and "Schwarzspect". LP, Vinyl record album

A set of incredible records from Charles Mingus – all presented together in one mighty nice package! First up is Mingus Moves – a fantastic fresh new chapter in the career of Charles Mingus – a set that features the addition of two key players who would really shape his sound in the 70s – Don Pullen on piano and George Adams on tenor, both completely wonderful here! The group also features excellent trumpet from Roland Hampton, a player we don't know from many other settings – and the set also features some really nice vocal work from Honi Gordon and Doug Hammond. Titles include "Canon", "Moves", "Wee", "Flowers For A Lady", "Opus 3", and "Newcomer". CD also features bonus tracks – "Big Alice" and "The Call". Changes is key 70s work from Charles Mingus – an album that was recorded over the course of three days of creative activity at the end of 1974, but somehow split into two different albums under the Changes name! The lineup here is prime 70s Mingus – George Adams on tenor, Jack Walrath on trumpet, and Don Pullen on piano – young players who really give a fresh voice to Mingus' musical ideas, and help him find this beautiful late life sense of color, tone, and timing that's completely sublime! Titles on this second volume include "Sue's Changes", "Devil Blues", "Remember Rockefeller At Attica", "Free Cell Block F Tis Nazi USA", "Black Bats & Poles", "For Harry Carney", and "Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love" – which features a guest appearance by Marcus Belgrave on trumpet and Jackie Paris on vocals. On 3 Or 4 Shades Of Blues, Charles Mingus is returning to the soulful gospel-influenced mode he swung big in the early 60s! The record's something of a later predecessor of the classics Blues & Roots for Atlantic and Mingus (x5) for Impulse – and the style is slightly less dramatic, but still quite steeped in soulful explorations that feature plenty of notes from the bluer side of the spectrum! Players include George Coleman and Ricky Ford on tenor, Jack Walrath on trumpet, and Larry Coryell on guitar – and titles include new takes on "Better Git Hit In Your Soul" and "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" – plus"Nobody Knows", "Noddin Ya Head Blues", and "Three Or Four Shades Of Blues". Next is Cumbia & Jazz Fusion – one of the most enigmatic albums that Charles Mingus ever recorded – especially in his later years! The set features two very long tracks done by Mingus for use in a film about cocaine traffic between New York and Columbia – but considering the nature of the music, and the freely exploratory style, both numbers here stand very well on their own! Although touched with some of the Latin influences you might expect from the title, the sounds are often darker and more brooding than, say, the Mingus style on the classic Tijuana Moods set. And instead, there's a very serious soundtrack-like vibe going on through most of the set – larger jazz orchestrations used to beautifully underscore subtle themes, and breakout solo moments from players who include Mauricio Smith on flute, Paul Jeffrey on tenor sax, Jack Walrath on trumpet, and Jimmy Knepper on trombone. The album also features a fair bit of added percussion – and features two long tracks, "Cumbia & Jazz Fusion" and "Music For Todo Modo". Me Myself An Eye is complicated later work from Charles Mingus – a great illustration of the way his power to command a large ensemble never wavered as the years went on! The album features two different large groups of players – filled with modernists young and old – including Ricky Ford, George Coleman, and Michael Brecker on tenors; Ronni Cuber and Pepper Adams on baritone; Randy Brecker and Jack Walrath on trumpets; Lee Konitz on alto, Larry Coryell on guitar, Slide Hampton on trombone, and Eddie Gomez on bass. Side one features the 30 minute track "Three Worlds Of Drums", and side two contains a remake of "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting", plus "Devil Woman" and "Carolyn Keki Mingus". Something Like A Bird is one of the last albums Charles Mingus ever gave us – before departing this planet way way too soon! The set shows the increasing sophistication of Mingus' music in these later years – a mode that almost echoes the path that Duke Ellington would take in his final decade – a move towards some larger-form material that still holds onto all the raw energy of the early days, but finds a way to not only bridge larger musical ideas – but musical generations as well! As part of this, the set's got a wonderful lineup – with Lee Konitz on alto, Pepper Adams on baritone sax, George Coleman on tenor, Eddie Gomez on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums – and titles include the long title track, "Something Like A Bird", split up over 2 sides of the LP, plus "Farewell Farwell". LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous little album from Sonny Rollins – one of his most sharp-edged sessions of the mid 60s, and a bold departure from some of his previous work for RCA! The album has a crackling sense of energy that more than lives up to the exclamation point in the title – a starker quality than some of Sonny's earlier records, and one that brings out some sharper tones in his horn, even on the mellower numbers. The rhythm support is loose, but somewhat soulful and spontaneous – and features Ray Bryant on piano, Walter Booker on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums – an unusual pairing for Sonny, but that's what makes them so great. In a way, the album's almost Rollins' equivalent of John Coltrane's earlier Ballads album for Impulse – in that it includes familiar tunes, but remade into completely new numbers by the sound of the leader. Titles include "Green Dolphin Street", "Everything Happens To Me", "Three Little Words", and "Hold Em Joe". LP, Vinyl record album

The incredible first album from Traffic – a record that was already way ahead of the pack, and would set the tone for so many other sounds and modes from others in years to come! At some level, the group were just coming off the big beat group years in the UK – that time of strong inspiration from American soul, jazz, and R&B – but they're already pushing all these elements in very different ways – certainly psychedelic, as you'd guess from the image on the cover – but also still holding onto a lot of the soul and jazz that first inspired them! To our ears, the reed work of Chris Woods is as important to the record as the Hammond from Steve Winwood, guitar from Dave Mason, and drums from Jim Capaldi – plus the vocals from all three – and in addition to the classic title cut "Mr Fantasy", other tunes include "Dealer", "House For Everyone", "Berkshire Poppies", "No Face No Name No Number", and "Coloured Rain". LP, Vinyl record album