Astounding work from pianist Andrew Hill – a rare session that was recorded for Blue Note in 1969, and issued here for the first time! The work has an extremely ambitious approach – with Hill leading a 9 piece group that includes Woody Shaw, Dizzy Reece, Julian Priester on trombone, Joe Farrell, Lenny White, and Ron Carter. The tracks are all originals – written with a style that retains some of the modern edges of Hill's earlier Blue Note work, but which also shows him opening up and blossoming into more of a spiritualist jazz style. The larger group have an incredibly unified approach, and Farrell's solos in particular really break out with some wonderful moments – helping Hill to realize the soulful modern sound that he was reaching for in his writing, a style that easily makes this one of his most compelling albums! Really really great stuff – finally restored from tapes that had languished for years because of inferior quality. And the material's never been issued before – not even by Mosaic – with titles that include "The Brown Queen", "Cascade", "Yesterday's Tomorrow", "Sideways", "Passing Ships", and "Noon Tide". CD

Donald Harrison on saxophone, Chris Botti and Brian Lynch on trumpet, Bill Soley, Chuck Loeb, Darius Harrison, Eric Slaughter, John Bagnado, Jonathan Lewis, and Marc Pero on guitar, Daryl Levigne and Eddie Palmieri on piano, Chris Severin, John Benitez, and Louis Cato on bass, Andrew Marsh, El Negro, Jamal Batiste, and Michael White on drums, Giovanni Hidalgo and McKinley "Bug" Williams on percussion, with vocals from Denise Hudson, Darius Harrison, Smoke, and Leoniere Allen. CD

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 from The Blackbyrds in the core combo, and guest tenor from Andrew White, the set also features vocals from a young Angela Winbush on one track – singing backup on some others! But the core charm of the record comes from the grooves – the kind of upbeat, righteous sounds that we've always loved in Felton's keyboards – almost an extension of the Prestige Records jazz funk groove from the start of the 70s, with echoes of records by Funk Inc, Melvin Sparks, and Leon Spencer – but given a particularly hip east coast indie sort of spin! Titles include "Family & Friends", "Spreading Fever", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Family Reunion", "Clay's Way", and "The Power Of Love". CD

A brilliant album from the overlooked reedman Rudolph Johnson – his second session for the Black Jazz label, and even better than the first! There's a soaring, searching quality to the record that Johnson never had before – a way of handling his tenor with a tone that Coltrane would have envied, and which sparkles with some of Rudolph's most soulful 70s contemporaries – like Sonny Fortune or Andrew White! The tunes are almost all originals, and have this depth of vision that really holds us rapt throughout – a way of digging in and continuing to find new meaning throughout the course of Johnson's solos – with superb rhythm backing from the trio of Kirk Lightsey on piano, Kent Brinkley on bass, and Doug Sides on drums. Lightsey is wonderful too – maybe his best performance on record – and titles include the sublime numbers "The Highest Pleasure", "The Traveler", "Time and Space", and "The Water Bearer". CD

Andrew Simpkins on bass, Melissa Hasin on cello, Mel Brown on drums, Carol Robbins on harp, Ray Armando on percussion, Art Hillery on piano, Michael White on stroh violin, Maurice Spears & Thurman Green on trombone, Frank Szabo, James B. Smith & Oscar Brashear on trumpet, Dan Weinstein on viola & Brenton Banks & Mark Cargill on violin. CD

A brilliant album from the overlooked reedman Rudolph Johnson – his second session for the Black Jazz label, and even better than the first! There's a soaring, searching quality to the record that Johnson never had before – a way of handling his tenor with a tone that Coltrane would have envied, and which sparkles with some of Rudolph's most soulful 70s contemporaries – like Sonny Fortune or Andrew White! The tunes are almost all originals, and have this depth of vision that really holds us rapt throughout – a way of digging in and continuing to find new meaning throughout the course of Johnson's solos – with superb rhythm backing from the trio of Kirk Lightsey on piano, Kent Brinkley on bass, and Doug Sides on drums. Lightsey is wonderful too – maybe his best performance on record – and titles include the sublime numbers "The Highest Pleasure", "The Traveler", "Time and Space", and "The Water Bearer". CD

A wonderful record from McCoy Tyner – and a great reminder that some of his best post-Coltrane work was done for the Blue Note label – which was where Tyner seemed to hit the right sort of spiritual vibe to live up to his Impulse Records legacy! This album's got plenty of long, spiritual tunes penned by McCoy – beautiful numbers that stretch out and soar, driven along beautifully by Tyner's fluid work on the piano – and tight rhythms from Ted Dunbar on guitar, Buster Williams on bass, Billy Hart on drums, and Mtume on percussion! But almost even more incredible is the presence of altoist Andrew White – a tremendous reedman who hardly ever got this much wide exposure, and who blows alto in a spirit that's very much like the soulful style of Gary Bartz at his start – then moves to oboe with some surprising results on a few other tracks. Songai sings a bit on the record – and titles include "Malika", "Asante", "Goin Home", and "Fulfillment". CD

A brilliant album from the overlooked reedman Rudolph Johnson – his second session for the Black Jazz label, and even better than the first! There's a soaring, searching quality to the record that Johnson never had before – a way of handling his tenor with a tone that Coltrane would have envied, and which sparkles with some of Rudolph's most soulful 70s contemporaries – like Sonny Fortune or Andrew White! The tunes are almost all originals, and have this depth of vision that really holds us rapt throughout – a way of digging in and continuing to find new meaning throughout the course of Johnson's solos – with superb rhythm backing from the trio of Kirk Lightsey on piano, Kent Brinkley on bass, and Doug Sides on drums. Lightsey is wonderful too – maybe his best performance on record – and titles include the sublime numbers "The Highest Pleasure", "The Traveler", "Time and Space", and "The Water Bearer". CD

The long-overdue return of Gloria Scott – one of our favorite female soul singers of the 70s, and an artist who only gave the world one famous full length album, produced by Barry White! The vibe here is nicely similar to that classic, but more contemporary too – still-great vocals from Gloria, given a fresh setting by producer/arranger Andrew McGuinness, who knows that a groove always seems to bring out the best in Scott's talents, while also allowing her even more depth and space to soar than she got from Barry White! Titles include a sublime remake of the Joe Smooth tune "Promised Land" – plus new cuts "Running Away", "Come Back Baby", "So Wonderful", "Real", "I Found Love", and "Show Me" – and remakes of "There's No Cure For Me", "I've Got To Have All Of You", and "All Of The Time You're On My Mind". CD