All Categories — CDs  

A roots-oriented 70s classic from Willie Colon – one of his standout albums of the decade! Willie continues his "life of crime" approach for the early 70s – moving into an old west look on the cover, and matching that with a slightly rootsier sound on the album! The real difference is the presence of Yomo Toro – who plays cuatro on the album, and gives it a sound that stretches back to earlier Afro-Cuban styles – a groove that's a lot more rootsy, mixed in with the soaring salsa style of Colon in the 70s. Lead vocals are by Willie, Hector Lavoe, and Ruben Blades – and arrangements are by Marty Sheller and Willie. Tracks include "Toma", "Dona Tona", "Potpourri III", "Cua Cua Ra, Cua Cua", "I Feel Campesino", and "Que Bien Te Ves".

A never-heard soundtrack for a never-seen film – and a record that's every bit as funky as better-known sets from the blacksploitation era! Final Solution were a small time group from Chicago's west side in the 70s, but on this wicked little soundtrack they sparkle just as brightly as Isaac Hayes, Willie Hutch, Curtis Mayfield, or any of our favorite soundtrack soul artists from the time – working in a really righteous approach to soul with lots of heavy rhythms on the bottom and rumbling bass in the mix – so that even when the tunes are mellow, there's still a bold, brash sort of power to the set! The vocals are mostly delivered in harmony style, again with a nice edge – a bit like The Impressions work on Three The Hard Way, but with more of an indie soul feel overall, given the production circumstances. Once again, our hats are off to Numero for unearthing this gem – and as usual, the full tale of the group, the movie, and the music is told at length in the accompanying 16 page booklet! Titles include "Brotherman", "Never Coming Back Again", "I Don't Care", "Girl In My Life", "Gotta Get Through To You", "One Day", "I'm Ready For Love", "Theme From Brotherman", "No Place To Run", and "We Can Work It Out".

Some of the most hard-edged work cut by Stan Getz in the early years – a great reminder that he could really open up with the best of the bop world – and not just lay back and get mellow with an electric guitar! The setting has Stan working with some key west coast talents – including Wardell Gray on tenor, Sonny Criss and Willie Smith on alto, Charlie Shavers and Howard McGhee on trumpets, and Red Norvo on vibes – all players who stretch out with Stan on some longer open-ended tracks that really echo the west coast jam session mode of the time! Titles include "Hot House", "How High The Moon", "I Got Rhythm", and "Groovin High".

Massive Miami grooves from Robert "Rocky" Mizell – not one of the Mizell brothers from the west coast, but a Florida artist with a sound that's equally nice! The album's the only one we've ever seen from Rocky, and it's got a sweet TK Records groove all the way through – rhythms that are definitely on the funkier side of Miami soul, arranged by Rocky himself, and produced to perfection by Willie Clarke! The tunes are all originals – mostly collaborations between Mizell and Clarke – and the album's got a great way of sounding smooth while still keeping things funky – that perfect Miami balance that would soon disappear when things got a bit more commercial. Titles include "Shake Your Body Down", "This Must Be Love", "Never Never Girl", "Hey Sexy Dancer", "Take It Easy Babe", and "Come To Me".

A massively expanded version of the original Sehorn's Soul Farm compilation – one that adds in a huge amount of bonus tracks, and makes for an even more essential batch of New Orleans soul! The cuts here all come from the original Sansu empire formed by Marshall Sehorn and Allen Toussaint – a key force in New Orleans soul of the 60s – thanks to Toussaint's amazing ear for new talent, and bold new styles of production in the studio! Toussaint went onto much greater fame on bigger labels in the 70s, but his work here is still his best – a hard-edged, uniquely rhythmic groove that forever changed the sound of soul in the Crescent City. The 2CD set brings together material that appeared on both original Sehorn's Soul Farm collections in the 80s – mostly culled from labels like Sansu and Deesu, plus bits from other sources – and it also adds in 18 more bonus cuts too, which makes for a whopping batch of 50 New Orleans soul classics. Cuts include "Sadie Mae" by Joe Haywood, "Did You Have Fun" by Willie West, "A Lady" by Warren Lee, "Chicken Strut" by The Meters, "Look Way Back" by Diamond Joe, "Man Of The Street" by Ironing Board Sam, "How To Pick A Winner" by Diamond Joe, "Lovely Woman" by Eldrige Holmes, "Hotcha Mama" by Ernie K Doe, "Mean Man" by Betty Harris, "Hercules" by Aaron Neville, "Sinner Girl" by Benny Spellman, "Blues Tears & Sorrow" by John Williams, and "Star Revue" by Warren Lee.

Beautiful trio work by Elmo Hope – one of his first sessions as a leader, and while still quite modern, also a record that's done with a warmer, mellower feel than some of his other work – as you might guess from the cover image and the Meditations title! The group on the set features John Ore on bass and Willie Jones on drums – and tracks include some great originals that strongly display the unique Hope conception on the keys – a sound forged here in the time before his west coast sojourn, and echoing influences of Monk and Herbie Nichols, but also a strong sense of jazz piano tradition that colors the tunes nicely. Titles include "Elmo's Fire", "Blue Mo", "Huh", "Quit It", "Lucky Strike", and "All The Things You Are".

Jazz from the heart of the cold war – not actually recorded in Moscow, but featuring a bunch of hip players on their return from a tour of the Soviet Union – a historic moment in which west met east, with some groovy jazz in the offing! Apart from the tenor of Zoot Sims and alto of Phil Woods, the record also features flute and alto from Jerry Dodgion, trombone from Willie Dennis, trumpets from Markie Markowitz and Jimmy Maxwell, and piano from Eddie Costa – and the set features arrangements from Al Cohn on tracks that hit the 5 minute range – tight at the top, with breakaway solos, as you might hear during some of the Cohn/Sims sides for RCA during the 50s! Titles include "Let's Dance", "Mission To Moscow", "The Sochi Boatman", and the obligatory "Russian Lullaby".

A killer set in the fantastic Mojo club series – a stellar mix of soul, jazz, fusion, and Brazilian tracks – all wrapped into a groovy tracklist that makes each of the rare tunes sound even more wonderful together! As with other volumes, there's a boundary-less nature to the work here – as the music is not just from a few different decades, but also spans both sides of the Atlantic, and the equator – making for nearly a globe's worth of wonderful tunes! Cuts include "Give Me Your Love" by The Sisters Love, "Wouri" by Manu Dibango, "Maracaibo" by Michel Legrand, "Take Us Down To The River" by Michael Naura, "Sambao" by Walter Wanderley, "Roots" by Willie Bobo, "Soul Soul Soul" by Wild Magnolias, "Mundo Deserto" by Elis Regina, "Calypso Blues" by Marvin Gaye, "In Memory Of" by Randy Weston, and the great "El Soul Condor" by Certain Lions & Tigers.

A killer album of African-tinged jazz – recorded privately by Randy Weston in the mid 60s, and not issued formally until 1972 by Atlantic Records! The session shows Weston at the height of his modernist experiments – and at a time when his work was going largely undocumented, probably because of its progressive nature – but really flowing out with a rich Africanist inspiration, and served up with even sharper modern edges than before! His group here includes Big Black on congas, Booker Ervin on tenor, and Ray Copeland on trumpet – and Copeland also arranged all the tracks, transforming a few older numbers with the bolder spirit of the session. Titles include "Niger Mambo", "African Cookbook", "Portrait Of Vivian", "Willie's Tune" and Weston's classic "Congolese Children".

A heady batch of soul from the Nashville scene – music from a place normally associated with country and western, but a surprisingly great source for funky sounds in the late 60s! Most of the cuts here appear to come from the Sound Stage Seven family of labels – music that still holds its southern roots, but which also has a feel that's a bit more upbeat, and sometimes more northern than other work of the time – especially given that the set's heavy on groovers for the dancefloor! Titles include "That One" by Fantastics, "Just Another Heartache" by Little Richie, "Breakaway" by Valentines, "Me & You" by The Fantastics, "Lover Come Back" by Jackie Beavers, "Suzy's Serenade" by Bob Wilson, "You're Gonna Need Me" by Ted Ford, "I Still Love You" by Ann Sexton, "Til I Get It Right" by Willie Hobbs, "If You Really Need A Friend" by Bobby Foster, and "Shake Off That Dream" by Eddie Billups.