All Categories — LPs  

For your collection of little kid rap records, though this one's a bit more worthwhile for the Diamond D, Lord Finesse, Biz Markie and Erick Sermon beats. Includes "Head Or Gut", "Crumbsnatcher", "We Getz Buzy" and "Stick 'Em Up".

One is one of their best albums, and has a nice hard funky sound that they didn't always match. The album includes the funky break classic track "Fencewalk", plus other groovers like "Hang Loose", and "Don't Mess with People".

One of the all-time classics of early 60s mainstream jazz – and a beautiful record that showcases writing and arranging talents of Oliver Nelson! Nelson had been bumping around a variety of sessions before this one – as a leader, sideman, and arranger – but it was with this album that his true talents really unfolded – sparkling with a depth of imagination and expression that marked him as one of the greatest artists in 60s American jazz! The group on the set is an all-star sextet – featuring Paul Chambers, Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Roy Haynes, and Freddie Hubbard – a disparate group of players who manage to come together with Nelson and find a unique voice that's rarely been duplicated again! The album features 6 fantastic compositions by Nelson, including "Stolen Moments", "Hoe Down", and "Yearnin". A fantastic record – and one that you can't go wrong with!

Sweet vocals, great grooves, and a wonderful overlooked album, a real heavy hitter that stands with some of the best major label soul of the time! Truth are the duo of Leo Green and Larry Hancock – both singers with a talent for hitting notes that are sometimes sweet, sometimes jazzy, and occasionally really heartfelt almost in a classic soul mode. The rhythms often step along at a nice midtempo modern pace, but sometimes cook things up a bit more – and arrangements are tight and jazzy throughout, handled by Dunn Pearson Jr. Titles include "Understanding", "Touch Me", "See You Later", "It's Gonna Take A Miracle", and "Coming Home".

A perfect example groove that got The Undisputed Truth big hit fame in the early 70s – sort of a rumbling funk, full-on approach, using male/female vocals in kind of a "wall of soul" approach. Includes the huge hit "Smiling Faces Sometimes", plus lots of covers of cool tracks like "California Soul", "Like A Rolling Stone", "Ball Of Confusion", and "You Got The Love I Need". Norman Whitfield production all the way through, with a lot of nice twists similar to those he was taking with other Motown groups at the time.

One of Houston Person's first forays into the jazz funk sound that other Prestige Records players were picking up at the time – a sweet little set with some nicely extended tunes! The groove here is a bit harder than some of Person's previous soul jazz sets – with some tightly snapping drums from Frankie Jones, augmented on rhythm both by the Fender bass of Bob Bushnell, and some added congas from Buddy Caldwell – both of whom help make for a very fluid groove. Other players include Billy Butler on guitar and Sonny Phillips on Hammond – and the tunes have a nicely snaking sort of feel – not the break-heavy funk of an Idris Muhammad-driven set, but a groove that's still plenty darn soulful and with some nicely funky undercurrents. Titles include a sweet version of "Cissy Strut", plus "On The Avenue", "The Pulpit", "For Your Love", and "Wadin".

An unstoppable groove from The Undisputed Truth – a group who worked with Norman Whitfield in the same psychedelic soul territory as The Temptations – and who arguably got the sound across even better than them! This set's not as much of a bit hit as the group's other records from the time – but that makes it sound even fresher and more fierce – loads of those hard-rolling basslines you'd expect from Whitfield's production – and some soaring arrangements from Paul Riser and David Van DePitte, both of whom give the album a sense of majesty to match its inherent righteousness. Titles include "Law of The Land" and "Mama I Got A Brand New Thing" – plus covers of Temps tunes "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" and "Just My Imagination" – and other covers that include "Love & Happiness", "If I Die", "Feelin' Alright", and "Killing Me Softly", done in the full soul mode of the group.

Undisputed Truth and their late 70s space funk mode! They may have moved away from their Motown pop soul roots, but they're still getting production from Norman Whitfield, who knows how to keep the stormin sound that always worked best with the band. Players on the session include Wah Wah Watson, Walt Downing, and Jack Ashford – and the uptempo tracks have a nice, clubbier vibe that's a bit of an update of the band's approach of the preceding few years, not really disco, but more of an extended dancefloor groove hat's still pretty funky! There's also some nice moogy touches on this one!

Oliver Nelson's follow-up to his classic Blues & The Abstract Truth session for Impulse – and like that one, a tremendous little album – filled with deep tones and wonderful colors in sound! The group here's a bit larger than before – an ensemble that includes Phil Woods on alto, Ben Webster on tenor, Thad Jones on trumpet, Pepper Adams on baritone, Roger Kellaway on piano, Richard Davis on bass, and Grady Tate on drums. The album includes some superb original compositions by Nelson – just the kind of overlooked jazz numbers that make the set great – and as with most of his arrangements from the time, there's a perfect balance between group force and intimate solo space! Titles include "The Critic's Choice", "Blues & The Abstract Truth", "One For Bob", and 2 versions of Dave Brubeck's "Theme From Mr. Broadway".

Easily one of the top 5 female southern soul albums of the 70s – a landmark record that Shirley Brown never matched again! The record's got an open, honest quality that's far deeper than even other work from the time on Stax Records – a style that's partly Memphis, but which also has some of the rougher edges of other southern indies – not just in the way the songs are put together, but also in the open-handed emotion that Shirley brings to her work. The standout track is the classic "Woman To Woman", which begins with a great monologue that started off a whole slew of answer songs at the time! (In case you don't remember it, it's the one that goes "Girl, I was diggin' through my old man's pockets last night, and I came across your number...") Other tracks include "Stay With Me Baby", "Long As You Love Me", "Between You And Me", "So Glad To Have You", and "Passion".

The first LP of smooth Gospelly soul by one of the best groups working on Stax in the early 70s – and a stunning blend of styles that pushes way past its roots! Yeah, this stuff's kinda religious, but it's hidden underneath some fantastic soul arrangements, and given such power by the group's voices that you hardly notice the gospel message. Rance plays cool electric piano on a number of cuts, and the tracks include "Love Power", "Everything Is Gonna Be Alright", "Up Above My Head", and "What Is This?".

Not the Hello Dolly album you might guess from the title, but instead a wonderfully groovy batch of tracks from pianist Pete Jolly – an album done with great larger arrangements from Dick Hazard and Dick Grove, and a tight vibe that makes the set one of Pete's grooviest albums ever! Pete's incredibly fluid on the keys of the piano – hitting with a hard punch on the left hand to really underscore the snapping rhythms of the tunes, but flying free on the right with these lyrical lines that are simply beautiful – really on a par with the best 60s work from Vince Guaraldi, and the kind of record that should have more folks talking about Jolly's genius. The core group features Howard Roberts on guitar, Chuck Berghofer on bass, and Nick Martinez on drums – and Jolly's one hell of a pianist in this sort of setting – and it always seems that when he's got a big group behind him, he really lets loose with some great solos, freed from the rhythm of the tracks so that he can skate over the top of the songs in a magical way! Tracks include "Hard Day's Night", "People", "Moment Of Truth", "First Of May", "Blues Two Ways", and "The Grass Is Greener".

A great little album – even if it tries to promise too much! The set bills itself as "the swinginest Hammond organ album since the birth of psychedelia" – and while that sort of a claim is so high that nobody could ever match it, the album is a great batch of offbeat soul instrumentals – recorded in kind of a tripped-out take on the Memphis groove! We're not sure who the mysterious "Mustang" is (although it could be Paul Griffin, who also recorded for the same label in a similar mode) – but we're guessing here that the name is also used to convey the fact that many of the tunes have a "Mustang Sally" sort of rhythm. Backing is in a hip small combo mode – with nice go-go drums, tight rhythm guitar, and soulful honking sax behind the organ – and although the sound is more straight soul instrumentals, the titles are nicely tripped-out – and include "The Acid Test", "California Time", "Joshua Got Busted", "Haight Ashbury Time", "Swing Low Sweet Truth", and "Golden Gate Freakout".

A beautifully mellow set of funky grooves, played by Diz with a west coast group that includes Roger Glenn on flute, Mickey Roker on drums, and Michael Howell on guitars – very similar to Dizzy's excellent Portrait Of Jenny album on Perception. The "Bahia" reference is quite pointed, as these cuts have a nice Braziliany groove, in a way that other west coast jazz groups were exploring at the time. The original release was a double album, and this 8 track set features some excellent long groovers like "Samba", "In The Land Of The Living Dead", "Olinga", "Pele", and "The Truth". Extremely haunting, and similar to Diz's "Portrait Of Jenny" LP.

A sweet late 70s set from Freddie Hubbard – a slight move away from some of his highly-electric sides of the CTI years, yet one that still has some of the most soulful qualities of that work! Freddie's trumpet has a nicely spacious quality throughout – one that's flowing, and almost glowing at time – cascading along with qualities you might be more likely to hear from Art Farmer on some of the gentler numbers, yet really bursting out with that old Hubbard dynamism on the rest. Other players include Joe Henderson on tenor, Hubert Laws on flute, Kenny Barron on piano and keyboards, Ron Carter on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums – and George Benson also guests on guitar on one number too. A good number of the titles are originals, and tracks include "Super Blue", "To Her Ladyship", "Take It To The Ozone", "The Gospel Truth", and "Theme For Kareem".

One of the last groups to get the Norman Whitfield touch in the studio – and a surprisingly nice one too, even if they didn't reach the heights of The Temptations or Undisputed Truth! Mammatapee have kind of a clunky name – possibly the reason for their lack of success – but the members of the group are all really great singers – one gal and three guys who come together in well-inflected harmonies on the mellow and mid-tempo numbers, but focus on a tighter lead for the funkier numbers. One member of the group here seems to have the range of Luther Vandross – although from the notes, we can't tell who it is – and titles include "Girl I Wanna Get Right Up Next To You", "Rock Across The Nation", "Caught Up In The Race", "Good Lovin", "Long Distance Love", "We'll Be Waiting", and "Something On Your Mind".

More greatness than usual for Duke Jordan – thanks to the presence of Charlie Rouse on tenor and Richard Williams on trumpet! Titles include "Truth", "Tall Grass", "Sultry Eye", and "Undecided Lady".