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The second chapter in a mighty 70s trilogy from Ace Spectrum – a killer set recorded for Atlantic Records, and easily some of the best group soul issued by the label in the decade! Ace Spectrum change things up a bit here from the obvious – hitting a variety of modes that move between... read more

The second album that guitarist Arthur Adams cut for Fantasy – and like the first, a tasty blend of smooth jazz funk that really fits Adams' New Orleans-styled guitar licks to a tee! Wayne Henderson produced, with a very similar feel to his other ubiquitous work from the time – and... read more

An obscure late 50s gem from Pepper – a stripped-down quartet session that has him blowing in a very open-ended mode – quite a difference from some of his more tightly arranged sets! The feel's a bit like Pepper's work with Donald Byrd, but even more openly swinging – played by a... read more

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Wonderful work from one of the most compelling players on the Chicago scene of the past few years – vibist Jason Adasiewicz, a player whose sound is really taking the instrument one step further in its evolution! The group here features some equally fresh-voiced Chicago talents too –... read more

Wonderful work from one of the most compelling players on the Chicago scene of the past few years – vibist Jason Adasiewicz, a player whose sound is really taking the instrument one step further in its evolution! The group here features some equally fresh-voiced Chicago talents too –... read more

Heavy dancefloor funk from ADC Band – grooving in a bass-heavy mode that almost seems like a mainstream take on P-Funk – but which also has some really great mellow soul elements on the mellower tunes! There's a great ensemble Detroit groove going on overall – and as an added... read more

One of Cannonball Adderley's late funky sessions for Fantasy – and a record that still features some mighty heavy production from David Axelrod! The album's got that core groove that Axe and Cannon first crafted together at Capitol in the 60s – but the sound here has some definite 70s... read more

If the 60's ever had a "hit" jazz record, it was probably this one! The album's a sparkling live session featuring the trademark soul jazz sounds of the Cannonball Adderley group with Joe Zawinul on acoustic and electric piano, and brother Nat Adderley on cornet. The tracks have a long... read more

One of the coolest, baddest, funkiest albums Cannonball Adderley ever recorded – a massive suite of tunes based on the signs of the Zodiac, produced to perfection by David Axelrod, and featuring some hip recitations from the mighty Rick Holmes! The double-length set is completely compelling... read more

A massive look at the mighty pairing of Cannonball Adderley and David Axelrod – a partnership that's way more than just jazz musician and producer! Axelrod's talents in the studio are many, but his greatest heights were possibly reached in collaboration with Cannonball – a relationship... read more

The second pressing of Walk Tall/74 Miles Away – a classic album recorded during the time when Capitol was making a mint off of Cannonball's funky soul jazz riffing – and one of the early efforts he did with David Axelrod at the helm! Once again, keyboardist Joe Zawinul's penned the... read more

Cannonball Adderley recorded this nice little groover in 1962, when American musicans were just getting on the bossa tip, and still keeping things pretty authentic. The record was cut in New York with Sergio Mendes' early Bossa Rio group – the legendary Brazilian jazz ensemble that featured... read more

A wonderful tribute to the music of Baden Powell – way different than the simple solo acoustic set that you might normally get – and instead, a cool batch of larger arrangements that showcase a totally different side of Powell's tunes! The album's a great reminder that amidst some of... read more

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They're not kidding with the name of this group – because the set's a masterpiece of 70s Afro Funk – totally great all the way through! The combo has African origins, but they're recording here in London – which makes for a really wonderful criss-crossing of cultural modes –... read more

Rare funk from the Kelekye Band – material recorded after their legendary Moving World album, but never issued at the time! This amazing package is totally great – four tracks of offbeat Afro Funk, with an approach that's heavy on percussion, and topped by jazzy riffs that really... read more

Grooves unlike anything else you've ever heard in your life – an assortment of mid 70s tunes from Mahmoud Ahmed, the second grooviest Ethiopian artist, next to Mulatu! Ahmed's sound is a lot more out there than Mulatu's – less funky and jazz-based, and more in the mode of snakey... read more

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Airto's unique Brazilian fusion style meets the electric funky genius of CTI – and the result is a killer album of long tracks with a far-reaching jazzy groove! The album takes off a bit from Airto's work with Return To Forever – no surprise, since Chick Corea and Flora Purim are on... read more

Moody sounds from the Chicago scene – a set led by bassist Jason Ajemian, and originally recorded as part of his regular series at the Heaven Gallery! The lineup here features a very sympathetic group of musicians – Tony Malaby on tenor, Rob Mazurek on cornet, Jeff Parker on guitar,... read more

The first ever compilation of Indonesian psychedelia from AKA is a great one – fuzzy prog and funk steeped jams that the group tore up throughout the 70s – as cool as any single artist global rock compilations we've seen in quite a while! The group formed in Surabaya, East Java and... read more

An obscure Afro Funk combo from the early 70s – produced by Ronnie Lane of The Faces, who may very well have been inspired by Ginger Baker's love of the style! The record's got some pretty heavy guitar work, and there's lots of funky rock running through the grooves – so those African-i... read more

An excellent modern jazz set from tenor sax titan Eric Alexander – who has truly grown into one of the best players of his generation – and a killer set for the High Note label! There's always these, "whoa," moments on Alexander's records, where he's rolling along with an... read more

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Pure genius from pianist Monty Alexander – a collection that features some of his greatest recordings for MPS! Sometimes, there's a special sort of magic that happens between a player and a label – and that's definitely what happened with Alexander at MPS Records during the 70s –... read more

A fantastic bit of spacey soul – and an amazing collaboration between the Mizell Brothers and vocalist Rance Allen! The set's quite different than Rance's earlier, rootsier work for Stax – and instead has the soaring, joyous quality of some of the other great Mizell productions from... read more

Brilliant work by a singer we know little about – but who really sparkles on this session! Singer Laurie Allyn was making something of a name for herself on the Chicago scene of the mid 50s when she was courted by Mode Records, and brought to LA for this rare studio session – but... read more

A landmark set of recordings cut for the Pacific Jazz label in the early 50s, and supposedly a major influence on the early bossa artists in Brazil! The tracks were cut by a quartet led by LA altoist Bud Shank, and featuring Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida, who was living in LA at the time. ... read more

A sweet little album from Laurindo Almeida and his "Bossa Nova All Stars" – not a group of Brazilian musicians, and instead a hip set of LA players who really help make the set sparkle! There's a bit more jazz here than on some of Laurindo's other Capitol records of the time –... read more

Cinematic soul rooted in the rawer organ, drums and horns vibes that resonated deeply in records from north to south in the 70s – done with a lean, tight and head nodding groove no doubt informed by Aloe Blacc's own roots in hip hop – on his best album yet and one of best raw soul... read more

Do you need a dollar? You just might get one with this stellar and soulful single by Aloe Blacc – rawly produced, memorably composed, and one of the finer underground soul singles of 2010! "I Need A Dollar" may sound familiar – it's the theme song to How To Make It In... read more

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Tracks include "Smile 4 Me", "Ya'll Dead Wrong", "Heard It All", Girlfriend", "That's Right", "All Money Is Legal", "Raw", "Anyday", and more.... read more

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One of the great records that Jug made for Prestige after he got out of the jug at the end of the 60's. George Freeman's on guitar, and his playing is positively smokin'. Harold Mabern plays piano and electric piano, and Idris Muhammad's on drums. With the funky cut "The Black Cat"... read more

2 lesser-known Gene Ammons albums for Prestige – back to back on one CD! First up is Got My Own, a more laidback set than usual from Ammons' early 70s stretch on Prestige – but a record that nicely gets back to that big-toned tenor sound he used often on ballads from earlier years! ... read more

One of Ammons' classic blowing sessions for Prestige, with an all-star lineup that includes Art Farmer, Jackie McLean, Mal Waldron, and Kenny Burrell. The group plays together on 4 long tracks, and in a tight hardbop vein, with long soulful solos from every player. Titles include "Pint... read more

An interesting album for Gene Ammons – one that was issued in the late 60s with a very sexy-looking cover, but which actually features recordings of much earlier vintage! The sides on the set were recorded in 1950, and they've got a sound that's moody, echoey, and which shows the soulfulness... read more

Warmly introspective work from Brazilian guitarist Marcos Amorim – playing a variety of acoustic and electric guitars, in a trio session that features bass by Ney Conceicao, and drums and percussion from Robertinho Silva. Most of the tracks are originals, done in a spacious, post-Metheny... read more

After cutting some albums of straighter jazz material during the late 50s, Ernestine did this nice album of supper-club soul for Sue, with some sweet fragile arrangements by Bert Keyes, and an overall approach that's very similar to the Lorez Alexandria work on Argo with Riley Hampton. The style... read more

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Rare Memphis funk from Gene Anderson – an already-obscure singer who recorded a handful of singles for Westbound and Hi Records – represented here by a batch of previously unissued material! Backings here are by the Hi Rhythm section and The Memphis Horns, but the tracks themselves... read more

Heavy funk from Gene Anderson – some bass-heavy grooves that are almost a St Louis take on the P-Funk groove of George Clinton! Most of the material here has a late 70s vintage – rare singles issued by Anderson for the local market, and which show a great ear both for his own groove,... read more

Funky German lounge stuff from the 70s – not totally breakbeaty or over the top funky, but some nice moments with a jazzy feel, especially on the cuts "Funky Teahouse", "Lovematch", and "Dryfoot".... read more

One of the funkiest records ever from Charly Antolini – the drummer who cut some mighty groovy records for MPS! This album features Charly's drums really kicking hard – actually hitting some moments that make for some tight breaks in the set, supported by instrumentation that's very... read more

Underground hip hop from a focused duo – ascendant Detroit producer Apollo Brown and east coast underground heavyweight rhymer OC – a straight up effort that more than lives up to its potential! The beats are straight forward, classic styled boom bap and OC is in full command on the... read more

Benchmark 80s electro – and also part of the blueprint for the sound of west coast hip hop – the groundbreaking work of Arabian Prince! Perhaps one of the most overlooked innovators of the west coast scene, Arabian Prince played an integral role in shaping the LA hip-hop sound, from... read more

One of the standout moments in the career of Rod Argent – a record that gave his self-named group one of their biggest hits ever, yet a set that still kept all the depth and diversity of their other records too! The album starts out with the group's famous "Hold Your Head Up"... read more

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Jazz interpretations of a variety of Colombian folk themes – all original compositions penned by Antonio Arnedo himself, but drawn from older stories and traditions. Arnedo plays piano, sax, and wooden flute on the set – working in a slightly folksy mode with a combo that includes... read more

Tracks include "Man's Final Frontier", "Mama's Always On Stage", "People Everyday", "Blues Happy", "Mr Wendal", "Children Play With Earth", "Raining Revolution", "Fishin 4 Religion", "Give A Man A Fish", "... read more

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2LP set that brings together all of the live material that the Art Ensemble recorded for Japanese DIW in 1984. The concert was recorded in Tokyo, and the set list that includes the tracks "Ohnedaruth", "Spanish Song", "Ancestral Voices", "The Waltz", "Ze... read more

Beautiful record by the Art Ensemble, and one of the few truly great records that they made after returning from Paris. Recorded in Chicago in 1973, the record features a guest appearance by Muhal Richard Abrams, who brings his excellent piano playing to the session, and adds another level to the... read more

One of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago's all-time classics! If you've ever bought an Art Ensemble album and said "Hmm, what's all the fuss about?", get this one. It'll change your mind. The band is in perfect form – and hits an incredible blend of free thinking modernism and soulful... read more

One of the greatest groups to come out of the Chicago soul scene of the late 60s – and one of the hardest to find, as well! This album is classic stuff by The Artistics, with all the elements for a strong Chicago soul album: 1) great production (by Carl Davis) and arrangements (by Sonny... read more

One of the best, and one of the rarest albums ever from The Artistics – one of the many great Chicago soul groups to cut albums for Brunswick during their soul glory years! The record's got that loping soul groove that was the stock in trade of The Chi-Lites, and it features production and... read more

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Brazilian vocals, with plenty of jazz – a smoker of a set from singer Clarice Assad – with a feel that takes us back to rare indie albums of the 70s and 80s! The instrumentation is great – lots of hard-grooving piano from Clarice, played in these inventive ways that often infuse... read more

Fantastic dreamy pop! Despite the fact that this one yielded the super-huge hits "Windy" and "Never My Love", the album's also filled with great 60s pop tunes that you've probably never heard before – all as fantastically well-crafted and delicately strung-out as the big... read more

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The first album by Atlantic Starr – a tight set of modern soul tunes with a very different feel than their later work! Part of the credit goes to Bobby Eli – who arranged and produced the set, giving it a feel that's almost late Philly – tight, sophisticated, and right on the... read more

Radiant grooves indeed from Atlantic Starr – a group who really make things sparkle throughout this magnificent set! The group are at the height of their powers here – skirting a perfect line between mainstream soul and upbeat club – never falling too much into one style or the... read more

A great later sleeper from Brian Auger – a record that's much deeper and more soulful than some of his earlier work – and done in a soaring style that's really great! Alex Lighterwood sings as much as Auger plays the keys here, but that's ok with us – because he fuses his voice... read more

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Classy soul from Patti Austin – working here with some great help from Quincy Jones, Narada Michael Walden, and others – all of whom help her find just the right space to groove nicely! Patti's one of those soul singers who always sparkles best in a smoother setting – and the... read more

David Axelrod takes on Handel's Messiah – and the result is an amazingly complex set of music – very similar to his earlier albums on Capitol Records, and his Warner work with the Electric Prunes! If you love the Axe, you'll find plenty to love here – spare, dark orchestrations,... read more

One of the greatest and most historically important compilations ever put together by our friends at Light In The Attic – the first ever (!!!) anthology devoted to Stax sax great Charles "Packy" Axton! Packy was a founding member of the Mar-Keys and a cat who played with the best... read more

What can we say? This is one of the greatest soul soundtracks ever! In a market that was dominated by the big-selling Shaft and Superfly albums, Roy slipped in this masterful blend of jazzy vibes and wah wah funk that's easily one of the best-composed records of the blacksploitation genre! The... read more

A brilliant set of straight jazz material from Roy Ayers – a set recorded for Atlantic at a time when he was working for the label in Herbie Mann's group – but done in a much more righteous groove that really points the way towards Roy's growth in the 70s! The lineup changes a bit... read more

A recent bit of work from Roy Ayers – but still plenty darn great, and proof that the vibes master hasn't faltered at all over the years! The set was initially released briefly by Roy in 2001, but is getting its proper debut here – and has Ayers working in a mostly instrumental mode... read more

Talk about a meeting of the minds – a pair of ultra-amazing classics from the team of Roy Ayers & Wayne Henderson – back to back in a single set! At the time of Step Into Our Life, Henderson & Ayers were probably the biggest names in the jazz funk business – both with a... read more

A beautifully packaged reissue of this rare set from 1964 – an early example of the genius of Albert Ayler, recorded in The Netherlands for a small audience in a Dutch radio studio! The setting is a wonderful one – a mix of the live freedoms that would really let Ayler stretch out... read more

A landmark recording – Albert Ayler's first album for the ESP label, and a record that hit the jazz world like a bullet! Spiritual Unity sets the stage for a format that would become huge in the European avant scene of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and even today – the sax-driven power-trio,... read more

A rare promo pressing of these two excellent Brazilian jazz dance numbers, but with a strong modern flavor that keeps them perennial favorites on the stepper's scene here in Chicago, and on jazz funk dance floors elsewhere!... read more

Free-flowing magic from Italian bassist Giorgio Azzolini – hardly the Spanish-sounding album you might guess from the title – and instead, some of the best Italian modern jazz work we've ever heard! The group here is tremendous – and features Sergio Fanni on trumpet, Eraldo... read more

Fantastic! The lost link in the Chicago soul scene of the 60s was Baby Huey – and he was a pretty darn big link too, if you've ever seen him in pictures! Weighing in at about 300 pounds, Baby Huey was sort of a rockin' soul star who played clubs on both sides of the city, to audiences of... read more

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Great stuff from Eryka Badu – sweet, mellow, soulful, and with a very righteous vibe! The record's got some impeccable production – and the best cuts have a stripped-down groove that mixes keyboards and vocals in a way that's similar to recent work by D'Angelo and Jill Scott. Eryka's... read more

The second chapter of Erykah Badu's New Amerykah – recorded for the most part, quite incredibly, during the same period and with the same collaborators as the mind-altering, murky and righteous hip hop funk experimentalism that was Part One – some months that must be among the most... read more

A nice one from Badu – one with a depth of feeling and genuine soulful vibes that live up to its title, despite the fact that she records for one of the world's biggest media conglomerates! It's all about the vibe here. Erykah rolls her syllables, scats and emotes feelings more than an... read more

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R&B/jazz organ instrumentals, played by one of the less-remembered name from the generation that included Bill Doggett and Wild Bill Davis. The set's a mix of hard wailers and standards, with a good raw groove in keeping with a King records sound. Tracks include "Joy Ride", "The... read more

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A classic album of classy vocals – one that helped set a whole new tone in 80s soul music! Anita had already gained a bit of experience on the soul scene before this set, but with this record she emerged as a full-formed diva who could effortlessly blend jazz and soul into a magnificent new... read more

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A classic – with cuts that include "Rockin Chair", "Across The Great Divide", "When You Awake", "Up On Cripple Creek", and "King Harvest".... read more

A killer funky rock group from early 70s Mexico – one that plays with some sweet jazzy touches too! The sound here is a bit like the jazz rock of the US and UK scenes – with soulful lyrics that really find a nice home amidst the jamming guitars, brassy horns, and funky rhythms at the... read more

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In case you've been thinking "they don't make 'em like that anymore", think again – because Jill Barber delivers a sweet set of vocal numbers that take us back to the best crossover years of the late 50s and early 60s! The style is jazz overall, but Barber works in a tightly... read more

Excellent lost funky work from Italy! The Barigozzi Group were one of these obscure little combos that churned out tight funky tracks for bigger outfits – very much in the style of I Gres, Marc 4, or some of the other great Italian groups that are being discovered lately. Their strength was... read more

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