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Killer electric work from Herbie Hancock – right on par with his groundbreaking Headhunters set, but a bit spacier too! The album features a Headhunters-solid lineup – with Bennie Maupin on saxes, Paul Jackson on bass, Mike Clark on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion – all... read more

Twin-piano magic – on long tracks that include "Maiden Voyage", "Button Up", "Liza", "La Fiesta", and "February Moment".... read more

One of the grooviest records we've ever seen from this hip Japanese ensemble – a set that brings some great keyboards to the group's usual horn-heavy sound! There's a wonderful blend of Fender Rhodes and organ on the set – often used as the lead solo instrument over the fuller backings... read more

The brass is definitely dynamic here – arcing, curving, and grooving in the best Sharps & Flats mode! The group's at their late 60s best on this well-titled set – really moving past conventional big band styles, and hitting a very groovy sound throughout – one that rivals the... read more

A really fantastic album that's one of Eddie Harris' most unique albums of the 60s! The record features Eddie blowing in that lean and soulful mode that he used on his best Vee Jay albums – a bit exotic, but never meandering, with impeccable placement in all his solos, and a tone that's... read more

A great lost album from Eddie! The record was one of his few cut for Columbia – recorded between his early years at Vee Jay and his hit years at Atlantic – and it's an excellent little batch of cuts, with a tight Chicago soulful grooving sound, and a strong approach that mixes hardbop... read more

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Great work by The Heath Brothers – a lot slicker and smoother than their earlier album for Strata East, but still filled with a soulful jazzy approach that befits their rich talents! By the point of this set, Jimmy Heath, once a rougher talent on the tenor, had emerged as one of the smooth... read more

A pair of mid 70s classics from Heawave – Too Hot To Handle & Central Heating – in a 2CD set with bonus tracks! Too Hot To Handle is a killer album of crossover soul – one that dropped like a bomb when it hit, and gave this UK group a number of big hits in America! ... read more

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A megamix of Herbie's excellent proto hip hop tracks "Rockit", "Autodrive", "Futureshock", "Rough" and "Chameleon '84" by Grandmixer D St., plus the album versions of "TFS" and "Earthbeat" from the Future Shock LP.... read more

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Titles include "Born To Be Alive", "Disco Queen", "I Give You Rendezvous", "Show Me The Way You Kiss", and "It Comes So Easy".... read more

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Real gems from Al Hibbler – key recordings with Duke Ellington! Titles include "You Of All People", "Good Woman Blues", "It's Monday Every Day", "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me", and "The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise".... read more

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An early US session from trumpeter Terumasa Hino – working here in a very long and stretched-out style – very much the most edgy modes of his earliest years! Tracks are all quite long, and really open up with fierce horn work – both from Hino on trumpet and flugelhorn, and from... read more

One of our favorite albums ever by this inventive Japanese trumpeter – and a really that really lives up to its title! Terumasa's entering his spacey period here – but not too spacey – and he's playing in a stretched out style that takes his trumpet into warm soulful lines that... read more

An early showcase for the talents of Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino – a smoking set that showcases his talents in two different settings! The album begins with a quintet that features Hino with Takeru Muraoka on tenor and Hiromasa Suzuki on piano – working through a great open-ended... read more

An early hardbop gem from Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino – quite different than you might think from his more famous work of the 70s – with a rolling, soulful groove that would almost be at home on 60s Blue Note! Given Hino's chosen instrument, we'd probably link this one best to... read more

One of the great ones from the young Terumasa Hino – a beautiful quartet session that really demonstrates his strength as a soloist on the trumpet! As you might guess from the title, there's a nice sense of melancholy to the record – a blueness that's carried off wonderfully by Hino on... read more

An excellent collection of Billie's 30s work for Columbia Records – featuring 3LPs worth of material, represented with much better sound than the original 78 rpm release of the songs. Billie's in the company of a host of great jazzmen – including Count Basie, Lester Young, Teddy Wilson... read more

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A well-done collection of Billie's early work – featuring sides from the late 30s recorded for Brunswick, Vocalion, and Columbia – all laid out in Chronological order, with full details on the sessions! Titles include "Without Your Love", "This Year's Kisses", "... read more

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A classic 2LP collection of Billie's older work for Columbia – early sides produced by John Hammond in the late 30s and early 40s. Titles include "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie", "Am I Blue", "God Bless The Child", "Mandy Is Two", "It's The Same Old... read more

Titles include "Miss Brown To You", "If You Were Mine", "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", "Billie's Blues", "I Cried For You", "I Must Have That Man", and "Easy Living".... read more

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Fantastic stuff – and a beautiful album of modal grooves that really deserves wider recognition! Horn plays alto and flute in a groovy west coast quintet with Emil Richards on vibes and Paul Moer on piano – and the overall feel is very similar to his stellar Something Blue album on the... read more

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A great return to recording for Son House – a musician who'd stopped playing the guitar in the postwar years, but rose again to fame during the great folk blues revival of the 60s! The style here is every bit as classic as some of Son's earliest music – just recorded a lot better, too... read more

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Two early 80s groovers from Thelma Houston – back to back on a single CD! Breakwater Cat is an excellent set – one that has Thelma really reinventing herself after the disco years – stepping back into deeper soul vocals, while still working with full arrangements that push things... read more

A bundle of soul from Freddie Hubbard – one that has him blowing beautifully over full arrangements from Bert DeCoteux – the 70s super-soul maestro who really brings a new sound to Hubbard's music! The style's a bit smoother than other Freddie albums of the time, but still really great... read more

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Sweet electric Freddie Hubbard – a wonderfully laidback session that's filled with space and soul – hardly what you'd expect from the title! The album follows nicely in the style that Hubbard hit at CTI – an openly flowing groove that has Freddie's trumpet on top of long electric... read more

The title reads like a typo, but the album's a great set of smooth fusion from Freddie Hubbard – self-produced, and almost a summation of all the styles he'd mastered in the 70s! The session's never too over the top or too ambitious – just features Freddie working with a hip group in a... read more

Nice one! This is the obscure first album by Rhetta Hughes – who's probably better known to the world for her later album on Tetragrammon. The tracks are a mix of pop and soul titles, but they're given some nice arrangements by Chicago soul great Tennyson Stephens, who also sings on the... read more

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One of the wildest records of the early 70s – and it's still pretty darn hard to argue with the power of this one – even if the meddling of the producers is nearly as legendary as the album itself! There's still such a manic energy to the original release mix – one that clearly... read more

Jazz and rock, over the top – a sweet blend of funky rhythms, heavy horns, and some nice fuzzy guitar – all served up by the early 70s group of Jiro Inagaki! Jiro's recorded a few times in this mode – a great Japanese version of the headier sounds coming from the US and UK scenes... read more

Not the disco promised in the title – but a sweet batch of funky tracks from Japanese reedman Jiro Inagaki – easily one of his hippest albums of the 70s! Rhythms are super-tight – very much in the best mid 70s space of Fatback Band or Kool & The Gang – and carried off... read more

Jiro Inagaki's definitely in the groove here – hitting hard with a sweet electric vibe, on a set that's easily one of his funkiest albums ever! The set's got a wicked mix of jazz and funk that's right up there with the best on 70s CTI or Kudu – but maybe even leaner overall, given the... read more

A killer collection of work from one of the funkiest Japanese groups of the early 70s – billed as jazz rock in the title, but with a much deeper sound overall! Reedman Jiro Inagaki definitely comes from jazz roots, but has also picked up plenty of trippy touches from the late 60s too –... read more

Heavy funk from Japan's Soul Media combo – and one of the group's great 70s outings with the engimatic Sammy on vocals! Sammy's got this raw, raspy style that might owe a bit to Janis Joplin at times – but also nods strongly to the work of the American underground at others –... read more

A killer funky group from early 70s Japan – a slightly large ensemble, but one with some really heavy drums at the bottom – plus some great use of organ and electric guitar! There's a tight brace of horns at the top – flute, tenor, trumpets, and trombone – but the rhythms... read more

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The second Columbia album for this amazing Cuban combo – and a record that really helped get the talents of Irakere a lot of overdue exposure here in the US! The record's surprisingly tight – especially for a major label effort of the time – really committed to the deepest sides... read more

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The drum method here is pretty darn funky – as Akira Ishikawa works with backing from a groovy big band – all at a level that's somewhere between funky MPS and some of the jazz rock coming out of the US at the time! The tunes are all instrumental, but borrow plenty of songs from... read more

A wild mix of modes – not just the clash of American rock and Japanese jazz energy – but also the meeting of two different generations of music as well! The session's similar to some of the other groovy 70s albums from Japanese drummer Akira Ishikawa – and like his Count Buffalo... read more

A funky album – but one that we love best for the mellow tracks! Sure, the Isleys could wear flashy suits and play some heavy guitar – but honestly, what we really love them for here are the laidback, loving tunes they do so well. The album includes 2 of their greatest ballad tracks... read more

Mid 70s genius from the Isley Brothers – a record that has them firmly hitting their superstar mode with a fantastic blend of mellow soul and guitar-heavy funk! The record's got a sense of class, care, and poise that's head and shoulders above most of the group's contemporaries – an... read more

A key album in the Isley Brothers "extended funk" mode of the 70s – a style in which the group approached nearly every tune by adding in a "part 2" in order to stretch out the groove! The style here is bass-heavy funk, but less of the sort that other groups were using at... read more

Titles include "White Bird", "Bombay Calling", "Bulgaria", "Time Is", and "Girl With No Eyes".... read more

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A great set from Rebbie Jackson – a batch of 80s groovers that's way different than work from siblings Michael or Janet – and done with a percolating sort of vibe that's quite different from some of the core projects of the rest of the Jacksons universe! Wayne Henderson handled most of... read more

A smoking second album from Rebbie Jackson – a set that has Rebbie working with strong production help from two of the bigger aspects of the Columbia Records soul family in the 80s – Tito Jackson and Reggie Lucas, who each handle a handful of songs along with David Conley and Howie Rice.... read more

A smoking second album from Rebbie Jackson – a set that has Rebbie working with strong production help from two of the bigger aspects of the Columbia Records soul family in the 80s – Tito Jackson and Reggie Lucas, who each handle a handful of songs along with David Conley and Howie Rice.... read more

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Includes the tracks "Spreadin Knowledge Around" by Harry James with Ben pollack & The Dean's Kids, "Jamaica Shout" by Louis Prima & His New Orleans Gang, "In A Little Spanish Town" by Bunny Berigan & His Boys, and "Swing Brother Swing" by Wingy... read more

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Titles include "Ballad Of Billy The Kid", "Captain Jack", "Travelin Prayer", "Worse Comes To Worst", "Piano Man", and "If I Only Had The Words".... read more

Hey, that's Phil Woods turning out a great alto solo at the end of "Just The Way You Are"!... read more

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Wonderful work by Al Johnson – one of the unsung heroes of mellow 70s soul, finally getting his shot on a major label after many years as a songwriter and arranger for other aritsts. Norman Connors brought Al to Columbia – and as he did with other talents in earlier years, like Phyllis... read more

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One of JJ's best from the late 50s – a tightly crackling hardbop set, recorded very much in the manner of his classic JJ Inc album! The sound here is a bit more compact overall – with some shorter tracks that really allow Johnson to display his keen sense of economy on his horn, while... read more

Hard-grooving stuff from JJ – played with a lot more bite than usual, and recorded live with a group that features Nat Adderley, Tommy Flanagan, and Albert Heath. Tracks include "Now's The Time", "Misterioso", "Walkin", and "Tune Up" – jazz... read more

A strange lost relic from Beach Boy Bruce Johnston – recorded in the mid 70s with some sweet AOR production work by Gary Usher. The album's actually a fantastic slice of late 60s sunny LA pop – and features work by Curt Boettcher, Chad Stuart, and a few other lost pop luminaries –... read more

Rare work from the west coast mainstream pop underground of the 60s – that magical musical place where cats who had bigger gigs were able to make some special sounds in between the chart singles – groovy little records that often got lost amidst the shifting sands of time! Two of the... read more

The sound here is never too much, baby – as Pete Jolly always swings with a great sense of space and style – a timing that makes his music sound groovy, although often in some deceptively simple ways! At first glance, the album's a simple piano trio date – but it really steps out... read more

The first album from Thelma Jones – and a real standout set from mid 70s Columbia! The record is a sweet blend of southern and modern soul, with some fantastic arrangements by Bert DeCoteaux, who also produced the set in a wonderful way that lets Jones retain the deeper qualities of her... read more

The first album from Thelma Jones – and a real standout set from mid 70s Columbia! The record is a sweet blend of southern and modern soul, with some fantastic arrangements by Bert DeCoteaux, who also produced the set in a wonderful way that lets Jones retain the deeper qualities of her... read more

The stellar solo debut of Janis Joplin – fronting her own Kozmic Blues Band after the break from Big Brother! The raw emotion of her voice is as impressive as ever here – and there is more of a rockin' blues vibe here than on her earlier records – thanks the killer horn section... read more

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A great album of soulful jazzy tracks from Japanese singer Kimiko Kasai – with keyboards from Herbie Hancock and Webster Lewis – incredible and unjustly overlooked! Kimiko sings in English, and the record's got a nice smooth fusion groove with funky moments, post Headhunters. It's... read more

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The only album we've ever seen from Khemistry – but a heck of a sweet little set, and one that's always been dear to our hearts! The trio features two gals and one guy, all working with a great sing-song approach on the vocals – and a snapping 80s groove on the rhythms! There's a... read more

A great album of funky Japanese fusion – one that features a variety of keyboards from Masabumi Kikuchi, plus work by Terumasa Hino on trumpet, Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman on saxes, and James Mason on guitar! The best cuts have a funky feel that's in the CTI/Kudu mode – perhaps... read more

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