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A legendary early set from percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett – and a really sublime blend of spiritual jazz and Latin rhythms! Mora's percussion is definitely at the core – but the set also features wonderful contributions from Vincent Bowens on tenor and soprano sax, Jerome LeDuff... read more

Razor-sharp funk from The Chapparals – an Atlanta group from the 70s, and one with a great balance of ensemble grooving and deeper soul roots! There was really something special in the Atlanta scene at the time – an approach to large group funk that was different than most northern... read more

A rare bit of Cali soul – and a lot groovier than you'd guess from the cover! The music is rich in jazzy inflections – funky fusion used behind the lead vocals of Errol Knowles, in a blend that's quite similar to the best Bay Area funk of the time – particularly some of the... read more

A wonderful gem from Leon Dubouse – a singer whose voice is definitely the fine instrument promised in the title! The set's obscure, but put together with a really top-shelf approach – a mellow groove that's often a bit funky, too – even when warmly gliding on Leon's soulful... read more

A huge collection of work from the great Tommy Edwards – a set that features four full albums' worth of material, and which stands as a rich testament of Edwards' contributions to American music at the end of the 50s! Tommy has a unique approach on these tracks – a style that's rooted... read more

Incredible work by The Exciters – material we totally love to death, most of which is a lot harder-hitting than the group's earlier hits in the 60s! The package pulls together their post-UA recordings for the Bang, Shout, and RCA labels – the first to of which are represented by... read more

A mighty great little record – a mixture of jazz and soul from the heavy talents of Hilton Felton – and a record that not only features some of his own great work on organ and keyboards, but some great contributions from other members of the DC scene of the 70s! In addition to help... read more

A holy grail of funky music – and a rare gem from the DC scene of the 70s! Keyboardist Hilton Felton cut this wicked killer for his own tiny label – Hilton's Concept – and it's a very unique blend of jazz and funk modes, done with help from members of The Blackbyrds and Three... read more

A record from the Three Of Us – but one we remember best for the heavy keyboards of Hilton Felton! The set's even more stripped-down than some of Hilton's other funky classics from the 70s – an instrumental outing that features Felton on organ and Fender Rhodes, Johnathan Settel on... read more

A real early moment of genius from reedman Sonny Fortune – a classic set cut for the Strata East label, and one that's got a lot more depth and edge than some of Fortune's later records! Don't get us wrong, we always love Sonny to death – but there's really something special going on... read more

Damn soulful work from Erma Franklin – the lesser-known sister of Aretha and Carolyn Franklin, working here on 60s sides cut for the Epic and Shout labels! Most of the material here was only issued as singles back in the day – so the set's an essential full-length overview of Franklin's... read more

Beautifully choppy jazz from Steve Grossman and his legendary 70s comrades Gene Perla and Don Alias – one of the heaviest hitting American combos of the time! The trio have a tight fusion sound that's as full-on as it is funky – and Grossman blows some amazing work on tenor and soprano... read more

A stone slammer from saxophonist Steve Grossman – a record that's essentially a Stone Alliance album with added keyboards from Jan Hammer! Steve's blowing hard, free, and soulfully with his regular bandmates Gene Perla on bass and Don Alias on drums – and Hammer's nicely restrained... read more

Snap your fingers to a pair of great albums by ZZ Hill for United Artists! The Best Thing That's Happened To Me is one of his best of ZZ's albums – recorded with a really tight down-home feel, and a style that's maybe even a bit more straight southern soul than some of his albums on smaller... read more

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A killer little indie soul set from singer/guitarist Marvin Holmes – one that's quite different than his better known work for the Uni label – and done in a great blend of jazz, soul, and funk styles! The album's got that great genre-crossing sound that was going down heavily in Holmes'... read more

Weldon Irvine meets Strata East – and the result is one of the keyboardist's funkiest albums ever! The set's more jazz-based than the soul/funk outings Weldon cut for RCA and his own label – with great focus on Weldon's lines on clavinet and Fender Rhodes – supported by sweet... read more

Rare work from Weldon Irvine – a selection of tracks recorded as private studio outings, reissued briefly by Luv N Haight in the early 90s, and then only on vinyl! The style here is much more jazz-based than some of Irvine's soul recordings – a mode that's often all instrumental, and... read more

A huge musical treasure – a full unreleased album by Weldon Irvine, plus a bonus video as well! The music is from the stage play Young Gifted & Broke – a short-lived production by Weldon, and one that's done with some of the same hip modes he was bringing to his own music of the... read more

The rare second album from Juju – the avant jazz collective who'd later morph into funk band Oneness Of Juju, but who still sound pretty revolutionary here! There's a bit more focus than before – still energy that's a lot like the best righteous jazz groups coming out of Chicago or St... read more

A great set that definitely lives up to its title – as it's easily the most comprehensive collection of work by Chris Kenner we've ever seen! The New Orleans legend is known for a few key classics back in the 60s – but this set goes way past the familiar, to show a huge sound of... read more

A beautiful little record from singer/guitarist Bruce Lewis – a virtually unknown talent who worked in the northern Kentucky scene of the 80s, and who steps out here with a very unusual sound! Lewis sings with a nice touch of 80s augmentation – not commercial, but kind of electric... read more

That's London, Ontario – not London, England – which means that the group have an even more far-flung sound than you might expect! The album's a brilliant and overlooked gem from the Canadian scene of the 70s – really mindblowing music by a group who are equally great at grooving... read more

One of our favorite albums ever – and every track is a masterpiece! The album was originally cut for the tiny Chiaroscuro label in 1977 – and it's got a sound that's unlike anything else we can think of – soaring, soulful, jazzy, and righteous – wrapped up in a blend that's... read more

One of our favorite albums ever – and every track is a masterpiece! The album was originally cut for the tiny Chiaroscuro label in 1977 – and it's got a sound that's unlike anything else we can think of – soaring, soulful, jazzy, and righteous – wrapped up in a blend that's... read more

A Miami soul classic from the 70s – and a legendary pairing of George and Gwen McCrae – with results that soar past the individual work by the pair! Gwen's vocals are killer – deep, soulful, and still with the bite of her own TK albums – and the grooves here echo a bit more... read more

Amazing early work from The O'Jays – tracks recorded a decade before their big fame at Philly International – with a heartbreaking harmony feel all the way through! Even at the start, The O'Jays were a cut above – and as you'll hear here, they come across with an especially deep... read more

A landmark of 70s Afro-styled jazz – and the first album by this famous underground collective! Oneness of Juju were a Washington DC-based group that grew out of the ashes of the Juju avant jazz ensemble – formed in the culturally rich African-American community of DC in the 70s, with... read more

A fantastic record from one of the greatest underground jazz groups of the 70s! Oneness of Juju are perhaps best known for the heavy funk of their first album, African Rhythms – but we're actually partial to this second album – a warmly spiritual batch of soul jazz tracks, and a set... read more

A completely unique little set from singer Steve Parks – a set cut in the Bay Area scene of the early 80s – but done with a righteous 70s vibe that mixes jazz, soul, and bits of Latin influences as well! The overall approach is definitely soul, but there's plenty of jazz inflections in... read more

An undisputed funk classic – even back in the days before anyone ever said the phrase "funk classic"! This album must have been deleted the day it came out – because even though it's attained legendary proportions with groovers worldwide, it's always been hard to find –... read more

Plenty of flavor here – a really well-crafted brew that's heavy with searing saxophone from Mike Selesia – mixed with other rootsy instrumentation in a very groovy way! Mike plays soprano, tenor sax, and flute on the set – clearly inspired by the John Coltrane generation, yet... read more

Plenty of flavor here – a really well-crafted brew that's heavy with searing saxophone from Mike Selesia – mixed with other rootsy instrumentation in a very groovy way! Mike plays soprano, tenor sax, and flute on the set – clearly inspired by the John Coltrane generation, yet... read more

Massive sounds from Benny Spellman – one of the greatest singers on the New Orleans scene of the 60s – and one of the most unique, too! Benny's often got a groove that's different than some of the more R&B-inflected sounds of his contemporaries – sometimes sophisticated... read more

Back to back killers from the legendary Billy Stewart – two great albums for Chess in one sweet set! First up is Unbelievable – a truly unbelievable album from Billy – maybe his standout moment of the 60s, and a record that set him apart from every other singer of his time! ... read more

Easily some of the greatest work ever recorded by Ted Taylor – done as a string of sessions in Chicago, New York, and Nashville for Okeh Records – and finally properly collected here in one great set! Taylor's a singer with a wonderful voice – one that was more famously tuned... read more

Hard to go wrong with Joe Tex at this point in his career – as the singer's not only at the top of the game of southern soul, but also helping to forge great new changes in the genre as well! The set begins with Joe's classic "Buying A Book" – easily one of his best-remembered... read more

Two great slices of work from The Tymes – each of them different! First up is the Trustmaker album from 1974 – soaring soul from The Tymes – arguably their biggest album ever, and a key RCA Records soul set from the 70s! Like others at the time, the group get a hip new style... read more

A great batch of driving, early 60s soul from the Vibrations – their complete recordings for the Checker label for the first time on CD! The Vibrations never really achieved the massive popular success of some of the soul groups of the era, but they could hang with the best of them –... read more

A gem of a record from the Cali scene of the 70s – a set that brings together all the best soulful elements of the LA indie scene of the time – but with an edge that's a lot more forceful than any bigger label jazz of the time! There's a solid punch to the record right from the start... read more

A killer collection of funk and soul from an ultra-hip Bay Area label of the 70s – Oakland's enigmatic Brown Door Records – headed up by funk maestro Marvin Holmes! The music's got a beautifully sunny vibe – all the best Bay Area elements of the time, reflected in the scene-crossi... read more

Rare grooves in many flavors – a wonderful collection of rare gems from the American 70s underground – and a set that's overflowing with cuts from some of the most valuable albums of the period! The core vibe here is jazz, but there's also a lot more going on too – bits of funk,... read more

The funkiest cuts from the legendary TK family of labels – all perfectly selected and laid out together in one mindblowing mix! The sound here is tremendous – way harder and deeper than the TK sound you might know from their disco tracks, or their top 40 hits – and is proof that... read more