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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

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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

Great later work from vocalist Alberta Hunter – a really well-recorded 70s session that was also done as a soundtrack – but which stands beautifully on its own! Backings here are by a great small combo, led by tenorist Budd Johnson and pianist Gerald Cook – with some nicely... 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

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

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

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 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 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 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

An older bandleader takes on sounds from two different groovy sources of the 70s – both of them great! Plays Michel Legrand has Andre Kostelanetz serving up some sweet versions of tunes from some of Legrand's famous soundtracks of the 60s and early 70s – most of them done with fairly... read more

Tremendous work from the legendary Prince Lasha – a rare UK-only date from 1966 – and one that has the reedman working away from more familiar contemporaries like Sonny Simmons and Eric Dolphy! The approach on this session is very unique – as Lasha includes harp with the... read more

Wonderful sounds from Hubert Laws – and like some of his best CTI work of a few years before, a set that really goes way beyond any easy expectations! There's moments of ambition here that really link the record to Laws' CTI sides – that mix of fuller arrangements and higher-concept... read more

Sweet soulful flute from the great Hubert Laws – gliding high here in a great session from his post-CTI years! The album's a bit more soul-based than some of Hubert's earlier dates – but that change is a great one, and really helps Laws find some rich new energy – a focus in the... read more

Hubert Laws hits an 80s groove here – but the shift doesn't seem to dampen his soul at all! At some points, the rhythms are a bit more pronounced than before – bouncy and funky at points, with a slight nod to the clubs – yet other points still have that soft, airy finish that... read more

String-heavy early genius from a young Michel Legrand – tracks from some of his best travelogue albums for Columbia from the 50s! The first half of the set is Legrand's original I Love Paris album – a sparkling postwar musical fantasy of Paris, made up of a host of famous themes from... read more

Two electric killers from Ramsey Lewis – back to back in a single package! Funky Serenity is sweet electric funk from Ramsey – one of his best from the 70s, and a set with Lewis on Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and other keyboards, grooving away in an open-ended 70s mode that... read more

One of our favorite Ramsey Lewis albums ever – and a perfect summation of the genius that was brewing on the Chicago scene in the late 60s and early 70s! The album has Ramsey working strongly with Earth Wind & Fire – no surprise, given his close ties to Maurice White, who was the... read more

An 80s pop soul classic from Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam With Full Force – with a sound that's insistent and irresistible to this day! This is a solid album full of tunes that stand up strongly with their unstoppable hit singles of the period. Yes, the sound would get a bit too cutesy and... read more

2 Columbia killers from Charles Lloyd – back to back in a single set! Discovery is a wonderful bit of soul jazz – much less trippy than some of Lloyd's later work, and handled with a soulful flair that's a mix of Coltrane spiritualism, with an even larger dose of the sort of post-Trane... read more

A sweet two-fer from guitarist Wilbert Longmire – two Tappan Zee albums back to back on a single CD! First up is a deep glass of Champagne from Wilbert – classy, sophisticated jazz from the end of the 70s – but still served up with plenty of soul, too! Bob James and Jay... read more

A beautiful album from Jon Lucien – one that's been far too neglected over the years! This was Lucien's second album for Columbia – and it's a wonderfully strong effort that fuses together jazz, soul, and Brazilian styles, in a manner that recalls some of his best work for RCA –... read more

Cheryl Lynn follows things up nicely from her famous debut – mostly sticking in the same upbeat territory as her earliest club hits – a groove that's perfect for her bold, soaring vocals! The album sports a few mellower cuts, but it's the groovers that really keep things together... read more

One of Cheryl Lynn's early killers for Columbia – an album of tight, bouncy, joyous soul all the way through – free from any of the too-commercial touches that sometimes slowed Cheryl's later work! Ray Parker Jr produced the set – and he as well is free from the slicker sounds of... read more

Cheryl Lynn and Luther Vandross – a tremendous combination that makes for one heck of a great record! Luther arranged and produced the entire set – and he does a great job here of pushing Cheryl Lynn into more upbeat territory without getting too poppy or schmaltzy! In a way, the... read more

Hard to believe that a preppie look could ever be associated with a soul singer, but by the time of this 1983, the preppie craze had spread so much that it actually provided Cheryl Lynn a nice way to update her style! There's nothing preppie about the music, though – and the record's a great... read more

A real revolution in music from Japanese arranger Norio Maeda – a set that takes off with the same rich energy as his soundtrack work, but which also shows off all his keyboard skills as well! The range of styles here is great – from the "auto race" sound effects on the... read more

Three different pianists from Japan, working together in a sweet trio format – but recorded in a way that gives each artist their own time in the spotlight! The album's divided into three tracks by each player – with the main pianist right out front on the solo, as the other two bring... read more

A definite treasure from Taj Mahal – especially for fans of his excellent early work for Columbia Records! The first CD in the package features unreleased studio tracks recorded during the glory days for Columbia – not rough cuts or demos, but well-finished gems that offer up the same... read more

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Great later work from The Manhattans – an album that's perhaps the group's last big commercial effort, but a set that also has all the depth of some of their older harmony classics too! There's a touch of 80s groove in the mix at points, but the vocals are mostly the main attraction here... read more

A rare Japanese-only album from American reedman Steve Marcus – best known for his fuzzy freaky sets on the Vortex label – but heard here in the company of Tokyo reedman Jiro Inagaki – who also made some pretty freaky albums of his own! The tracks here are nice and long –... read more

Fantastic work from this legendary British prog/jazz/rock group that featured Robert Wyatt and Phil Miller – with a full CD of bonus material! Little Red Record was originally one of the only two they ever cut, and it sounds like a mix between Wyatt-era Soft Machine material, and some of... read more

A sweet 80s set from Johnny Mathis – one of those great later albums when he brought a good deal of soul into the mix! The feel here is almost more modern R&B than the vocal jazz mode that first brought Johnny fame – and it turns out that the Mathis mode is wonderful for such a... read more

A real mind-trip – and an incredible document of the times – not just ideas floating around in the late 60s, but also new ways of making records too! The album is loosely based around ideas and writings from The Medium Is The Massage – McLuhan's important 1967 book, co-written... read more

Incredible music from Charles Mingus – a set that's pulled from a few different periods, yet features some of his greatest recordings ever! The package begins with a stunning 2CD version of Tijuana Moods – a true Mingus masterpiece, filled with amazing rhythms and mindblowing solos... read more

The Miracles move to Columbia Records – and pick up a whole new groove in the process – a much richer sound than previous records on Motown, with a soaring style that really works great for the harmonies! Billy Griffin's vocals are really coming into their own – as is his... read more

An overlooked groover from The Miracles – a late 70s set for Columbia Records, and one that's got a sparkling sound throughout! The album really has the group hitting some great modern soul modes for the set – arrangements by David Foster that push them forward even more, and which... read more

A damn funky little album – even if we can't read any of the titles or notes on the cover! The whole thing's completely in Japanese – leaving our English-skilled eyes at a loss – but our ears are more than happy with the sounds coming out of the disc – some incredible funk... read more

Toshiyuki Miyama really makes the New Herd cook with this cool 70s session – a smoker of a large group date, and one with a great mix of funky rhythms and complicated instrumentation! The set's got a feel that's as exotic as its cover, yet comes across with a solid, soulful punch throughout... read more

A wonderful set from Zoot Money – a solo project, away from his big band – recorded with a soulful groove that's right up there with the best 60s work by Georgie Fame! That's no surprise, though, given that Money and Fame were both key parts of the Brit scene of the time –... read more

Beautiful Columbia work from Thelonious Monk – a record that has as much warmth and charm as it does visionary modernist moments! A number of the tunes are standards, not Monk compositions – and they're done here with a sense of depth and joy of exploration that's really wonderful... read more

An album with a sweet title, but a very hard groove – a stone stormer from Japanese drummer Takeo Moriyama – put together with these soaring reed lines that almost make the whole thing feel like an early 70s album from Elvin Jones! There's a very spiritual feel to the music at times... read more

Mr Drum, you're one heck of a funky player – a mysterious Japanese musician from the early 70s, and one who really knows how to kick into a groove! The drums are definitely at the forefront here – breaking hard right at the start of the record, and mixing with raw guitar and freaky big... read more

Beautiful stuff – and a totally sweet mix of Japanese wood flute and sweet 60s sounds – a blend that we've come to love in these older albums from shakuhachi player Minoru Muraoka! The style is totally great – the lead wood sound blended with tight arrangements that run the gamut... read more

One of the more understated Japanese sessions from drummer Elvin Jones – but a great date that also really lets you hear his wonderful touch on the drums! The record's a collaboration with alto player Akira Ohmori, who blows here with this deft, soulful quality that's mighty nice –... read more

A look at the earliest solo work by Shuggie Otis – tracks cut at a time when he was stepping out of the shadows of his father Johnny, and recording for Columbia both as an emerging star on his own, and as one of the best elements of the larger Otis Show enterprise! The tracks here focus a... read more

A killer blend of soul and funk from Pockets – a group with a very jazzy pedigree in their roots, but who stretch forth here with some great studio help from the Kalimba Productions team of the Earth Wind & Fire empire! The groove is very much in the best 70s EWF mode – tight, but... read more

A sweet harmony set from Pozo Seco – working here partly as the duo of Don Williams and Susan Taylor, and partly in the trio format known from their previous records as the Pozo Seco Singers! The duo tracks are especially nice, and really showcase Taylor's amazing vocals – and the... read more

Smooth and funky fusion from Lee Ritenour – top-shelf all the way, and handled with a really soulful groove, thanks to production from the legendary Skip Drinkwater! Lee's all over the top of the guitar in true "Captain Fingers" style, and Skip makes sure he's got plenty going on... read more

Raphael Saadiq takes throwback soul and r&b to the next level on The Way I See It – rolling in a groove that recalls 60s Motown, grittier group soul, the sophisticated strings of the 70s scene, and subtle contemporary touches that keep it in the here and now! An awareness of the past and... read more

Sammy sings soul – not Sammy Davis Jr, but this ultra-hip Japanese singer from the early 70s – a female vocalist who works here with great backings from the Freedom Unity ensemble! The tunes are all numbers from American and British sources of the 50s and 60s – tunes you'd know... read more

Funky grooves from Jiro Inagaki and his Soul Media combo – and some cool vocals from 70s Japanese singer Sammy – a pretty enigmatic talent who really makes her mark with this record! The album's less island-styled than you might guess from the title or cover – and instead, it... read more

A hard-driving Latin set from early 70s Japan – served up in a non-nonsense mode that's arguably more classic than most American work of the time! The group is very heavy on percussion – with Segami in the lead, but a handful of other players providing strong accompaniment too –... read more

A great assemblage of Billy Joe Shaver's excellent, overlooked 80s records for Columbia – from a time when most mainstream country was getting glossier and more cliched – and Billy was sticking to hardscrabble yet soulful outlaw roots! This 2CD set includes the complete I'm Just An Old... read more

The complete Columbia recordings by vocalist Bessie Smith – an insane amount of material recorded in the decade between 1923 and 1933 – all music that went on to have a huge impact on the growth of jazz and blues for decades to come! This comprehensive package brings together all the... read more

Wonderfully warm work from the late 70s years of Lonnie Liston Smith – material from his key stretch a Columbia Records, a time when he'd really learned to tighten up his groove a bit from earlier years, yet still keep all the deeper soul intact! The set kicks off with Song For The Children... read more

Massive massive work from Starship Orchestra – a trio of talents from the Norman Connors universe, but one who get some heavy help in the studio from arrangers Bobby Lyle, McKinley Jackson, and Jerry Peters! There's a real Aquarian Dream sound at play here – all the best energy of... read more

One of Jeremy Steig's earliest albums – less funky than some of his later work, but still a darn great album, with a much more soulful sound than you'd expect. Part of this has to do with the rhythm section of Ben Tucker on bass and Ben Riley on drums – both of whom put a nice kick in... read more

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A true jazz treasure from the 60s – as if you couldn't guess that already from the cover! The album's a really rare one from trumpeter and reedman Idrees Sulieman – a player who shone strongly on Prestige Records in the late 50s – then made the trip overseas, where he became a... read more

Great waves of sound here from Surface – a set that has the trio sounding even tighter and more fluid than ever – perfectly blending midtempo rhythms with their warm and sweet harmony vocals! The vibe's a bit classier than the usual mellow soul of the time – almost with a jazzy... read more

A mellow soul stunner from the mid 80s – the classic debut of Surface, a trio who bring a lot of warm jazzy elements into their unique brand of quiet storm grooves! There's a careful sense of class to the record right from the start – no easygoing commercial ballads, and instead a more... read more

Loads of great keyboards here from Hiromasa Suzuki – working in a mode that's somewhere between earlier funky jazz, and the tighter Japanese fusion of the late 70s! The style here is never too smooth, yet Suzuki really manages to blend some great elements together – his own keys, lots... read more

A landmark album from Johnnie Taylor – a set that not only gave his career a giant boost, but which also helped shift southern soul into hip new territory in the late 70s! The music's a great change from Taylor's previous work at Stax – and the set features warm production from Don... read more

A massive double header – two great albums back to back! Rated Extraordinaire is our favorite album ever from Johnnie Taylor – an incredible set from the late 70s that really has Taylor reinventing his sound – and coming across as a great talent for a mellow groove! The album... read more

Billed on the cover as "the big operation for 16 channels", this cooker from the Tokyo Cuban Boys really gives the sound spectrum a run for its money – taking the group's previous Latin vibe, and inflecting it with a good dose of 70s funk in the process! The album's a live one, but... read more

Michal Urbaniak's third Fusion set for Columbia – very fittingly titled, considering what a huge influence his playing had on the genre! The album's a very tight batch of groovers – soaring and spacious, but never overindulgent – sometimes featuring scatting vocals by wife... read more

A long-overdue reissue – both of Cedar Walton's fusion albums for Columbia – back to back on a single CD! Animation is one of Cedar Walton's mid 70s funky jazz efforts – acoustic keys often traded for electric piano, grooving with a funky bigger band, almost in a Ramsey Lewis... read more

Grover Washington Jr's first few albums for Columbia – Strawberry Moon, Then & Now and Time Out Of Mind – together in a 2CD set! Strawberry Moon has a number of laidback groovers, with some solid Washington originals such as the title track and some sweet covers. BB King plays and... read more

A funky fusion classic from guitarist Wah Wah Watson – his only album as a leader, despite countless appearances as a sideman on 70s soul, jazz, and pop sessions! The album's got a really wonderful sort of west coast groove – one that takes bits of spacey fusion, bassy funk, and... read more

Before Martha Wash went on to success cutting vocals on soulful house numbers, she was one half of the Paul Jabara produced pop disco duo the Weather Girls. This album was probably their most successful, with the hit "It's Raining Men", plus "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My... read more

6 classics from Weather Report – presented in cool tiny LP-sleeve covers! First up is the original Weather Report album from 1971 – a massive session that took fusion to a whole new level for the 70s! Most of the players here had been associated with Miles Davis at some point in the... read more

The groundbreaking first album from Weather Report – a massive session that took fusion to a whole new level for the 70s! Most of the players here had been associated with Miles Davis at some point in the year or two beforehand – and Miles' electric work is definitely a starting point... read more

A classic post-Prince project from the team of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman – work that builds off the funky pop sensibility they first forged with the purple one, but which comes across a bit more mainstream overall! There's certainly some of the snappier rhythms that the pair worked in... read more

The only solo album ever recorded by Maurice White – an upbeat and soulful set that's right up there with his best 80s work in Earth Wind & Fire! Like that group at the time, White's hitting a rhythmic side that's more electronic at points – letting beats and keyboard bits stand in... read more

Deniece Williams is hot on the trail of an 80s groove here – working with lots of tight keyboards and contemporary rhythms, yet still staying true to that amazing vocal approach she first worked out in the Chicago scene of the 60s! The style is a great mix of crossover soul and deeper lines... read more

My Melody from Deniece Williams and it's definitely one of here most beautiful albums of the early 80s – the more we think about it, it may be one of her best ever from beginning-to-end! It's lush and beautifully produced set Thom Bell, providing such a lovely backdrop for Deniece's... read more

A pretty sweet late 70s set from Deniece Williams – produced by Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire – and it sounds like it! The set ranges from catchy, crossover ready funky soul sweetened ever more by Deniece's amazing voice, to more stripped down and intimate numbers. There's a... read more

Genius work from Denice Williams – a singer who'd cracked the charts a bit as Denice Chandler, with a little girl soul sound, way back in the 60s – but who's grown up considerably by this essential 70s set! Chandler's voice is still a bit high – almost in a Minnie Riperton sort... read more

A surprisingly sweet solo effort from Beach Boy Dennis Wilson – a record of surprising depth and darkness, and arguably stronger than most of the albums at the time from the larger group! Dennis produced the album himself, with some executive help from James William Guerico – whose... read more

A sweet set of soulful numbers from Nancy Wilson – tracks that offer up a perfect fusion of her jazzy roots and soul-based styles of later years – wrapped up in lush arrangements from Japanese jazzman Masahiko Satoh! The record follows a similar approach to Wilson's Keep You Satisfied... read more

A brilliant double live album by Bill Withers – different than his studio work, and every bit as essential! The album's similar to Curtis Mayfield's double live album around the same time – in that it's got Bill in front of a very enthusiastic crowd, playing in a stripped down way that... read more