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A previously-unissued gem from pianist Chris McGregor -- recorded at the tail end of the 60s, when McGregor and some of his South African compatriots were really helping to change the sound of the British jazz scene! The album is one of McGregor's strongest ever -- an incredibly bold statement in ...

Hardbop albums don't get any better than this -- and although drummer Dave Bailey only recorded for a brief stretch as a leader, this session's one that shows that he was a heck of a force to contend with! The record's got an intensity that easily rivals the best by Art Blakey over at Blue Note ...

Trio material from the 70's, recorded with Ryo Kawasaki on guitar and Clint Houston on bass. Kawasaki's guitar gives a bit more of a fusiony sound to the session, but it's still largely in a tradition that's similar to Chick Corea's acoustic work. Titles include "Aft", "Haiti ...

An excellent lost classic from Detroit soul jazz powerhouse Phil Ranelin! Trombonist Ranelin was one of the key figures in the city's Tribe Records scene -- and this album is one of the greatest that the label ever issued. The set features Ranelin on trombone, Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Kenny ...

One of the boldest albums ever from this legendary spiritual jazz ensemble -- and a set that has them reaching even further heights in their music! There's a bit more focus here than before -- tunes that are somewhat shorter, and really hone in on the best elements in the group's sound -- the ...

One of the rarest French avant sides ever -- and a key treasure from percussionist Sunny Murray! The record is a stunning session cut during that very fruitful year of 1969 in the Paris scene -- and the music's performed by a mixture of French and American musicians, all led by Murray with a ...

Incredible music from The Pyramids -- an obscure Midwestern combo who made some pretty amazing records in the early 70s! There's a heavy dose of spirituality in the mix here -- a vibe that rivals some of the best albums of the time on Strata East, but with a freer sound overall -- elements of the ...

Solo sax from the great Joe McPhee -- a live document of a 1998 set recorded at St George's Church as part of the Guelph Jazz Festival! McPhee is fine form here, interacting with the acoustics in the church as he would a duet partner -- a natural, lightly echoeing sound that brings some real ...

A beautiful document of a magical musical moment -- one of the few live performances ever of the work of David Axelrod -- a concert that's presented here in a special vinyl package! Axelrod's 60s albums are the stuff of legend -- orchestral efforts with a funky undercurrent, and longtime favorites ...

A million-seller, but also a record that no home should be without -- and easily one of THE greatest keyboard albums of the 70s! The album's the one that features Deodato's remake of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" into the funky "2001" -- soaring with Fender Rhodes lines that set a ...

One of the best of Les' 70s Atlantic recordings, and one that captures him with a lot of fire and funkiness, and none of the sloppy silliness of other recordings. Les sings on about half the cuts -- but the focus is still quite strongly on his funky jazz, which makes even the vocal numbers work ...

Apart from the title's terrible pun on the Glenn Campbell hit of the mid 70s, this album's a real treat -- a very soulful batch of smooth funky jazz tunes by The Crusaders, who by this point have fully emerged to claim the throne of the pop soul jazz genre they virtually invented. The record's got ...

Classic 50s west coast Latin grooves -- played by Cal and a tasty Bay Area combo that includes Benny Velarde on timbales and conga, Manuel Duran on piano, and Carlos Duran on bass! The tracks are short, but have a tight group feel -- really driving in a nicely rhythmic mode, with some strong ...

Hard grooving work from the middle years of the Return To Forever group -- featuring the line up with Chick Corea on keys, synths & percussion, Stanley Clarke on bass, organ and more, Lenny White on percussion and Al DiMeola on guitars. The title may lead you to believe the set is a mellow ...

Moody stuff recorded in 1968, and one of the first recordings to feature the excellent pairing of Hutcherson and Harold Land. Stanley Cowell is on piano, and the vibe is warm and spiritual, with good lyrical overtones. The set includes "Spiral", "Ruth", "Poor People's ...

A tremendous European meeting of tenorist Dexter Gordon and trombonist Slide Hampton -- brought together in this impeccable sextet session for MPS -- a real standout in the label's straight jazz catalog over the years! By the time of the set, Gordon had been working heavily in Europe, especially ...

One of Larry's strongly tripped-out sessions for Vanguard -- recorded with a cool group that includes Steve Marcus on soprano sax and Mike Mandel playing "electric piano with fuzz wah"! The tracks have a spacious sound -- a bit funky at times, but also hard jamming and fusion oriented ...

One of the few 70s albums issued under the name of trumpeter Jon Faddis -- a player who worked on countless studio sessions over the years, but only got a few chances to record under his own name! The album's got a feel that's similar to some of Jon's session work over the years -- full backings ...

Two sides of McLaughlin, both showcasing his spiritual exploratory inclination. The first side of this album features McLaughlin in a group with Billy Cobham, Airto, Charlie Haden, Dave Liebman and Jerry Goodman plus nice Indian touches from Mahalakshmi on sitar and Badal Roy on tabla. They ...

A rare non-Blue Note session from The Three Sounds -- recorded in the early 60s for Verve, and really the group's only straight album for that label! The style here is similar to the Blue Note sides -- with Gene Harris firmly at the helm of the group on piano -- hitting that fluidly soulful ...

Tasty small group work from Groove -- with Mr Holmes himself on organ, and the great Larry Willis on electric piano -- coming up with a twin electric organ/piano sound that's similar to the one that Groove used on his Comin On Home LP for Blue Note. The difference here is that things aren't as ...

Herbie kicked Johnny Rivers off the stage of The Whiskey for this one -- a hip set that features two album side-length jammers, played in a tripped-out, stretched-out, funky soul fashion! The group includes Roy Ayers, Steve Marcus, and Sonny Sharrock -- and side one features Chris Hill's "Ooh ...

An excellent set of smooth funky fusion tunes cut by Brazilian trumpeter Marcio Montarroyos -- done in a style that's partly like some of Freddie Hubbard's albums of the sort, but which also has a mixture of Brazilian percussion and electronic touches -- similar to early 80s work by Azymuth! The ...

A definitely burning session from tenorist Don Menza -- recorded with a hip big band that includes Bobby Shew, Don Rader, Jo Romano, Ray Reed, Frank Strazzeri, and other west coast luminaries from the time! The style shows the roots of all players in bigger groups, but has a nicely crafted sound ...

A key record in Deodato's move from funky jazz in the 70s to modern soul in the 80s -- and one that showcases the best of his talents in both genres! The approach here is more tightly arranged and produced than that of his earlier CTI sides -- but in a mode that's still plenty nice to our ears -- ...

Very nice heavy funk material, recorded by The Crusaders right at the pivotal time when they were moving from straigher soul jazz to a nice electric 70s groove! The record features some excellent original compositions by the band -- like "Crossfire", "Unsung Heroes", "In ...

A spiritual soul jazz masterpiece by Norman Connors -- one of his pre-soul albums recorded in a style that ranks with the best indie work on Strata East and Black Jazz! The album's a monster session filled with heavyweights -- produced to perfection by Skip Drinkwater, and featuring an all-star ...

A seminal set from Max Roach -- the start of his more righteous stretch in jazz, as you might guess from the title of the album! At some level, the record's got a bit of the feel of the post-Clifford Brown Mercury years from Roach -- but at another, it's stretching out towards the directions Max ...

Very different than Jeremy Steig's earlier records -- but a great little session that's got a sweet soulful feel! The record features Steig's funky flute in front of some larger arrangements by David Matthews -- and the style of the record is a blend of CTI electric and some of the choppier bits ...

A real step forward for Quincy Jones -- a record that really shows the jazzman moving into sophisticated new territory -- a sound that's just right for the CTI generation! The album's got a vibe that's a bit similar to Quincy's Walking In Space album, but it's a lot deeper too -- touched with some ...

A later album by Johnny Griffin, recorded after his return to the US during the late 70s. This album's a pretty interesting little set -- one that features Griffin working in an easygoing combo with slight electric touches -- a group that features George Freeman on guitar, alongside Cedar Walton's ...

The 70s Count Basie Band in all their glory -- recorded live in extremely tight formation at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival! Despite the live setting, the recording quality here is impeccable -- easily on a par with most of the group's studio dates from the decade, especially in the way that ...

Tight funky fusion from a masterful collective! Fuse One features Joe Farrell on sax, Ronnie Foster on synth and electric piano, Vic Feldman on piano, Larry Coryell on guitar, Stanley Clarke on bass, Paulinho DaCosta on percussion and a host of others! Fuse works really well for the exuberance ...

Nice session -- one with a date that might make you a bit skeptical, but with a sound that's still very much in the pocket, thanks to good handling of the effort by the Bee Hive records team! Curtis blows here with a quintet that includes Sal Nistico, Walter Bishop Jr, Sam Jones, and Freddie Waits ...

Way nicer than some of Milt's earlier work -- and one of the gems he recorded with bassist Ray Brown during the late 60s. The group's got a tight soul jazz stepping groove -- with Monty Alexander on piano, comping along right over Ray's warm basslines in a very tasty way. Teddy Edwards plays ...

One of the last really all-star sets from Quincy Jones -- and a record that reprises the format of some of his big records of the 70s -- like Mellow Madness or Body Heat -- in a way that has Quincy surrounding himself with top-shelf artists of all sorts, from jazz soloists, to hip hoppers, to R& ...

A jazzy Latin fusion classic -- and the first album by the border-crossing combo Caldera! The group featured both North and South American players -- coming together in a hard-riffing approach to fusion that rivaled the best fusion combos of both the California and Brazilian scenes at the time. ...

Sweet LA soul jazz from trumpeter Bobby Bryant -- an oft-overlooked player with a hard hitting sound that was a bit like Nat Adderley! The album's one of Bobby's best (and few) -- and it's got a really groovy little feel, almost in a Jazz Crusaders mode -- with a small combo playing live on tight ...

Very groovy stuff! This is the music that was used in the 60s Peanuts cartoons -- made famous during the same stretch through its use in goofy Dolly Madison commercials! The album's way better than any of the Peanuts stuff that was on Fantasy, as Vince plays electric harpsichord on a number of ...

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 Urszula Dudziak, and ...

One of several Chico Hamilton sides issued on Crown, and like other releases on the label, not long on notes. As near as we can tell most of this material was originally cut for Pacific Jazz, issued on 10" LPs and contrary to the title features Chico in a trio setting with guitar and bass. ...

Beautiful late Blue Note work from Bobby Hutcherson -- laidback, warm, electric, and with a mixture of CTI funk and some of the more lyrical soul jazz work of his years with Harold Land! Part of the credit for the set should go to George Cables -- who plays both acoustic and electric keys on the ...

Classic Crusaders -- and one of their great early albums of hard, short, fuuuuuunky jazz tracks, featuring prime early playing by Wayne Henderson, Joe Sample, Wilton Felder, and Stix Hooper. The groove is lean and tight, with very sharp ensemble playing, and soulful solos throughout. The set list ...

A brilliant little record, and one that really lives up to the heady claim of its title! The lineup here is spare, but the sound is really full -- swelling with complicated colors, images, and tones that delight us with each new track -- a masterpiece in understatement, and one of the most ...

One of the best recordings from Freddie Hubbard's "back to basics" stretch in the early 80s -- a time when Freddie returned to a strongly acoustic jazz mode after a mostly electric 70s! The record still has Freddie stretching out on the longer tracks he got used to during the CTI years -- ...

Classic Latin-tinged fusion on Capitol -- recorded with a smooth soulful style that's right up there with the best of the Capitol Rare generation! Caldera mixes together nice jazzy saxes with guitars, percussion, and some great keyboard work by Eduardo Del Barrio -- all produced by the group with ...

A sweet late 70s groover from Ramsey -- not as all-out electric as some of his earlier work for Columbia, but done with some nice arrangements that have a full and soulful feel! There's a bit of Kalimba/Earth Wind & Fire soul to the mix -- and some tracks have production by James Mack and ...

An excellent bit of 70s funk from Victor Feldman -- smooth, electric, and very different from much of his other work. The set was recorded with direct to disc mastering -- and has a feel that's a lot like CTI or Kudu work from the mid 70s, no surprise as the set features work by funky fusion ...

A beautiful record from Gato Barbieri -- almost a return to more traditional forms, but still graced with the searching, burning quality that made most of his early 70s sides so great! The tracks are all long and exploratory -- and have Gato blowing with that tremendous tenor tone -- a mix of late ...

A bit later than classic vintage for Rodney Franklin -- but still excellent work nonetheless, and still far greater than most of Rodney's contemporaries in the soul/fusion world! Tracks are a bit longer than before, and there's a definite vocal focus to the record -- letting tunes stretch out with ...