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The keys are coral, and the sound is sublime – one of the greatest albums ever from pianist Walter Bishop Jr, and proof that he can really stretch out, given the right setting! The piano here is all acoustic, but there's an almost-electric vibe to the date – long, open tracks that sway and swell with some great spiritual energy – made even more wonderful by work from reedman Harold Vick, who plays tenor, flute, and soprano sax on the record – and makes it one of his best recordings ever! The reedwork alone is worth the price of admission – but the rhythms are also great too – a mix of soulful, modal, and some slight funky bits – handled by Reggie Johnson on bass, and either Idris Muhammad or Alan Benger on drums. Woody Shaw plays trumpet on some cuts, too – and titles include "Coral Keys", "Soul Turn Around", "Freedom Suite", "Track Down", "Waltz For Zweetie", and "Three Loves".

An album on Muse, but one with the same hip grooves as Walter Bishop's excellent work on the Black Jazz label! Like those gems, this set features Bishop working on Fender Rhodes – hitting a groove we never would have expected in the old days, and really going for a style that's at the hippest end of the soul jazz spectrum of the 70s! Other players include Randy Brecker on trumpet, Gerry Niewood on tenor and flute, and George Young on soprano and alto sax – and the horns are all arranged tightly by Mitch Farber, in a way that adds an extra edge to the record, but still leaves plenty of space for Bishop's solo flights on the keys! Titles include great versions of "Soul Village", "Coral Keys", and "Soul Turnaround" – plus the cuts "Philadelphia Bright", "Sweet Rosa", and "Valerie".

One of Walter Bishop's greatest records – an amazing session that's as funky as it is spiritual – and quite different than most of Bishop's other work! The vibe here is wonderful – as Bish plays a host of keyboards, not just piano – and works in the company of other players who include Ronnie Laws on reeds, Gerald Brown on bass, Woody Murray on vibes, and Shakur M Abdulla on percussion – a beautiful mix of cats who help Walter carry off some of his hippest recordings of the time! The use of vibes is especially nice alongside the electric piano – and titles include a great take on Bishop's classic "Soul Village", done here in a nice funky version – plus a version of "Summertime" with Bishop on organ, and the titles "Sweet Rosa", "Those Who Chant", and "N'Dugu's Prayer".

One of Walter Bishop's greatest records – an amazing session that's as funky as it is spiritual – and quite different than most of Bishop's other work! The vibe here is wonderful – as Bish plays a host of keyboards, not just piano – and works in the company of other players who include Ronnie Laws on reeds, Gerald Brown on bass, Woody Murray on vibes, and Shakur M Abdulla on percussion – a beautiful mix of cats who help Walter carry off some of his hippest recordings of the time! The use of vibes is especially nice alongside the electric piano – and titles include a great take on Bishop's classic "Soul Village", done here in a nice funky version – plus a version of "Summertime" with Bishop on organ, and the titles "Sweet Rosa", "Those Who Chant", and "N'Dugu's Prayer".

One of Gene Ammons' classics from the 60s, and a straight ahead session of soul jazz tenor and piano, with drums by Art Taylor and a bit of extra conga from Ray Barretto. Nice rolling 60's soul jazz groove, and some nice piano comping behind Jug by Patti Brown and Walter Bishop Jr. Tracks include "Travelin", "Soft Summer Breeze", "Carbow", and "Song of The Islands".

A rare album by one of the great geniuses of the jazz trombone (forget JJ and Kai, we love Curtis Fuller!) Tight hard group, with a distinct modern edge, and a striking front line of trombone, guitar, and piano. With Walter Bishop Jr., Jimmy Garrison, and Les Spann. The tracks sparkle and gleam with joy and imagination – and titles include "Teabags", "I'll Be Around", "Mixed Emotions", and "Playpen".

One of the few beautiful early albums cut by John Handy for Roulette – and an obscure session that has him playing alto with a quartet that includes a young Walter Bishop Jr. on piano. Handy here is fresh from his work with Mingus – and his alto is filled with fire and emotion, yet also touched by a great deal of warm soufulness. His work with Bishop on the album hearkens towards later directions in 70s soul jazz – but it's also firmly rooted in a modernist hardbop vein. Titles include "Strugglin", "No Smiles Please", "Blues For MF", and "Afternoon Outing".

This overlooked jazz vocalist lays down a mellow set of jazzy vocal tracks with a group featuring Walter Bishop Jr. The material's all original, and all hip, and includes the tracks "Gone the Midnight Sun", "Ice Fire", "Individually", and the long "Silent Kingdoms Suite".

A late 50s album that issues some killer combo material by Bird! One half of the album features work by a group that includes Red Rodney, John Lewis, Ray Brown, and Kenny Clarke – and the other features Parker with Miles Davis, Walter Bishop Jr, Max Roach, and Teddy Kotick. Tracks are short, and include some classics – and the album includes alternate takes of 4 numbers. Titles include "Si Si", "Swedish Schnapps", "Back Home Blues", "Lover Man", "Au Privave", "She Rote", and "Star Eyes".

A lost Sonny Stitt session from the 60s – but wonderfully swinging, and with a groove that really works well! The album's a set of Broadway tunes played jazz-wise – but in the hands of Stitt, they come up wonderfully – stretching out with soulful intensity that's mighty nice, amidst a larger ensemble that makes for a nice contrast from some of Sonny's smaller group sessions! Stitt plays both alto and tenor – and the group features some excellent other hornmen in the lineup – Zoot Sims, Jerome Richardson, and Budd Johnson on tenor saxes, Phil Woods on alto, and Thad Jones on trumpet – plus Walter Bishop Jr on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums. Stitt's in the lead here – blowing cleanly and confidently, much more soaringly than on earlier records, and without the tricks of later electric ones. Titles include "Gimme Some", "Night Song", "Better All The Time", "You'd Better Love Me", and "Loads Of Love".

Way more than just a jazz funk revival – given that all of the tracks here are from the mighty Muse Records, one of the coolest companies going back in the 70s! The set does a great job of mixing straighter funk with some more righteous numbers – showing two key sides of the label's genius at the time – and really blowing our mind with the range of wonderful music in the set! There's loads of overlooked gems here – packaged nicely in one cool little set – and titles include "Mean Streets No Bridges" by Jimmy Ponder with John Patton, "Chameleon" and "Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Again" by Eddie Jefferson, "In the Middle of It All" by Neal Creque, "Mystery Of The Ages" by Carlos Garnett, "In The Meantime" by Kenny Barron", "Walk That Funky Dog" by Stan Bronstein, "Philadelphia Bright" by Walter Bishop Jr, "and both "Let Us Go" and "Black Love" by Carlos Garnett.

The complete recordings done by John Coltrane for Bethlehem Records – mostly cut during December of 1957, and issued on the albums The Winner's Circle and Art Blakey Big Band! Both albums were a bit unusual for the label – in that The Winner's Circle was sort of a blowing/jam session type record, cut with some of the big poll winners of the year, but with shorter tracks than the usual Prestige-styled set of that nature. The lineup includes Donald Byrd, Al Cohn, Eddie Costa, Oscar Pettiford, and Philly Joe Jones – and Coltrane's a bit buried in the group, but gets out some nice licks from time to time. The second set of tracks was recorded for a unique big band session led by Art Blakey – featuring a core group with Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Walter Bishop Jr, and Wendell Marshall on some tracks – plus a larger lineup on a number of others. The CD brings together a whopping 27 tracks from these sessions, including some great alternate takes – and titles include "Midriff", "Tippin", "The Outer World", "The Kiss Of No Return", "Pristine Take", and "Oasis" – a previously unreleased track!

2 brilliant albums back to back on one CD – the complete recordings of the quintet co-led by trumpeter Kenny Dorham and alto saxophonist Jackie McLean! First up is Matador – an obscure United Artists album from 1962. The set is billed under the name of Kenny Dorham – and is one of his more far-reaching efforts, with the expansive compositional style that he started bringing to some of his Blue Note work of the early 60s. The record features a group with Jackie McLean on alto, Bobby Timmons on piano, Teddy Smith on bass, and JC Moses on drums – all working with Kenny in a slightly Latin tinged mode that features some really shimmering trumpet work! The record features a stunning 3 part reading of McLean's haunting tune "Melanie" (done under his name on the album A Fickle Sonance) – plus the tracks "Prelude", "El Matador", "Smile", and "There Goes My Heart". Inta Somethin is from a year earlier – 1961 – and was first issued on Pacific Jazz – and the set is some of the most interesting early 60s work by both of the players! The group's co-led by Kenny Dorham and Jackie McLean, with rhythm backing by Walter Bishop Jr, Leroy Vinnegar, and Art Taylor. The quintet play a fiercely modernist approach to hardbop, in a style that's slightly more unbridled than some of their studio recordings, thanks to the live setting of the album – which was recorded at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. Titles include "Us", "San Francisco Beat", "Lover Man", and "No Two People".

A beautiful album from Harold Vick – one of his greatest, and very much in the sublime spiritual mode of his stellar Don't Look Back record on Strata East. Vick's moving past the hard soul jazz of the 60s sides he cut with organ players – and he's hitting a freer groove that's marked by a more modal approach to playing, almost in the mode of Harold Land with Bobby Hutcherson on Blue Note. Of course, this record makes us think of that pair even more because it's got lots of great work on vibes by Victor Feldman – plus piano by Walter Bishop Jr, bass by Ben Tucker, and drums by Mickey Roker. Tracks include "From Within", "Time & A Place", "HNIC", and "Commitment".

Things definitely get plenty deep on this jazz trip – a great run through the 70s catalog of Muse Records, and one that's filled with some incredible bits that we'd rank right up there with the best work of the time on labels like Black Jazz or Strata East! Muse always had a way of really letting its artists do their thing – and you'll heard that clearly on some of the best cuts here – numbers that offer up surprisingly vibrant sides of the artists included, usually with some righteous undertones. Titles include Eddie Jefferson's rendering of "Freedom Jazz Dance" (and a very crazy one at that), Charles Earland's excellent stormer "Murilley", Kenny Barron's "Swamp Demon", Walter Bishop Jr's "Soul Village", Joao Donato's "Night Tripper", "Old Man Moses" by Grant Green, and three nice ones by Carlos Garnett – "Good Shepherd", "Banks Of The Nile", and "Taurus Woman", from the classic Black Love LP.

Way more than just a jazz funk revival – given that all of the tracks here are from the mighty Muse Records, one of the coolest companies going back in the 70s! The set does a great job of mixing straighter funk with some more righteous numbers – showing two key sides of the label's genius at the time – and really blowing our mind with the range of wonderful music in the set! There's loads of overlooked gems here – packaged nicely in one cool little set – and titles include "Mean Streets No Bridges" by Jimmy Ponder with John Patton, "Chameleon" and "Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Again" by Eddie Jefferson, "In the Middle of It All" by Neal Creque, "Mystery Of The Ages" by Carlos Garnett, "In The Meantime" by Kenny Barron", "Walk That Funky Dog" by Stan Bronstein, "Philadelphia Bright" by Walter Bishop Jr, "and both "Let Us Go" and "Black Love" by Carlos Garnett.