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Damn soulful work from Marta Kubisova -- a late 60s singer from Czechoslovakia who was so groovy, she was banned by the Communist Party! This excellent set brings together rare tracks by Marta from the prime early years of her career -- all numbers that feature very Western soul-styled backings, ...

A taster of tracks from this cool Estonian jazz collective -- a very unique group whose sound reminds us of work we've heard from hip French soundtracks, and from some of the cooler reaches of the European jazz scene in the 60s! Most tracks here have vocals -- kind of scatted, with a breezy feel ...

An incredible record from The Free Design -- the group's third album, and a real departure from the first two! The group are almost (if possible) hipper, with a more sophisticated approach to their material -- gentler grooving, in a way that's really wonderful. The album's filled with some great ...

A great album, released in the 80s, that brings together some of Betty Carter's rare vocal recordings for the Epic label from decades earlier. There's a total of 11 tracks in the set -- with 6 from the Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant album, which features piano by Bryant, arrangements by Quincy ...

One of Oscar Brown's 70's efforts for Atlantic, when he was stretching his groove a bit, and trying to give it more of an soulful feel, and less of a theatrical one. Oscar's longtime accompanist Floyd Morris is on piano, and other musicians include Seldon Powell, David Spinozza, Chuck Rainey, and ...

Jackie & Roy are definitely getting bit wilder here -- hitting an electric early 70s CTI mode, and really growing a lot in the process! The session has the vocal pair working with CTI players who include Hubert Laws on flute, Joe Farrell on saxes, Roy Pennington on vibes, and Steve Gadd on ...

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An 80s repackaging of the excellent Flying High album -- easily the group's best album by far, and unfortunately, too often the toughest one to find! The arrangements here are fantastic, and the material is waaaaaay more hip than the Ellington and Basie stuff that they wasted too much time working ...

Oscar Brown moves into a funky 70s mode -- working here with some great soul-based arrangements by Chicago soul legend Richard Evans! There's lots of funky clavinet grooving on the record by Tennyson Stephens and Marvin Yancy -- and other players include Chess/Cadet session groovers, like Henry ...

The second album by this excellent all-female San Francisco jazz combo -- a live date that's even more cooking than their debut! As before, there's a sweetly breezy style to the record -- that hip SF sound of the 70s -- with echoes of Braziliana and soul amidst the group's jazzier leanings -- all ...

Wonderful work from Leon Thomas -- easily one of his greatest albums! The record was recorded in 1969, right at the time Leon was working with Pharoah Sanders -- and his days with the spiritual jazz giant shine through brightly on the session. The players include James Spaulding, Lonnie Liston ...

Although the world always remembers Johnny Hartman best for his Impulse recordings with Coltrane, we've always dug some of his earlier stuff -- like this album -- because the sound's a bit rawer, and the style's got more of a kick! The magical Hartman voice is presented in two great settings -- ...

A really great overview of the career of Eddie Jefferson -- one that begins with his first few vocal singles of the 50s, and follows him through album work for Riverside and Prestige in the 60s! Jefferson's contribution to jazz is tremendous -- as he was one of the first to set lyrics to solos by ...

Fantastic stuff, and proof that Rosemary Clooney was always one heck of a great singer -- with strengths in jazz that you didn't always hear in her pop work! As you'd guess from the cover, Duke Ellington's leading the group on the album -- and most of the tracks here are older Ellington standards, ...

Nancy grooves nicely in this set of 12 tracks with arrangements by Billy May -- and the kind of swinging mix of soul and jazz that graced her best Capitol work of the late 60s. Titles include "Watch What Happens", "Smack Dab In The Middle", "I Wish I Didn't Love You ...

Chico's our kinda singer -- a small combo jazz pianist who also vocalizes while playing -- in a style that reminds us a bit of Matt Dennis at the time! Chico's got a warm, honest voice -- no Sinatra on the pipes, but an easygoing style that we really love -- especially as it comes across so nicely ...

Leon Thomas' first album for Flying Dutchman -- and one of his best! The vibe is very similar to his work with Pharoah Sanders -- with long modal tracks that bring out the best side of Thomas' spiritual vocalizations -- especially on the 17 minute track "Pharoah's Tune (The Journey)", ...

One of the rare post-A&M recordings by the lovely Claudine Longet -- best known to the rest of the world as the groovy Frenchy in the film The Party, or as the woman who shot Olympic skier Spider Savage in a love quarrel in Aspen Colorado! This one's got got Claudine singing a strange batch of ...

Amazing is right -- as the album features Nina caught at a great early point in her career, delivering a mix of ballads and folkish tunes -- all with the kind of emotion that has kept us listening to her over the years. The approach is simple, but legendary, and filled with righteous power even at ...

A really great later album from Anita -- one recorded live in Berlin, with some backing by the George Arvanitas trio -- at the time when they had the kick-ass rhythm section of Jacky Samson on bass and Charles Saudrais on drums. Anita's in a much more swinging groove than usual -- opening up in an ...

Early work by Amanda Ambrose -- Chicago-based singer who sang in a variety of styles that approached work by folk/soul/jazz singers like Oscar Brown Jr. and Nina Simone. This rare Dunwich album was recorded live at Chicago's Mother Blues nightclub, and it features Ambrose running through material ...

Later work by Cab -- but proof that he was always one heck of a singer, even at this later date. Arrangements are by Dick Jacobs, and the orchestra is directed by Henry Jerome -- and the tone of the tracks is more sombre and straight ahead than some of Cab's earlier, madder work. Tracks are all ...

A lovely side by Chris Connor for Atlantic, recorded not too long after her stint at Bethlehem -- where she'd perfected an icy cool style of singing that's still to be matched to this day! The album features larger arrangements by Richard Wess -- but still has a light jazzy feel, intimate in ...

Carmen really opens up on this one -- expanding past the traditional jazz of her roots, and even some of the groovier work of her Atlantic years -- into a sweeping, contemporary sound that's all adult, all the way! The set was produced by Roger Kellaway -- who also arranges, along with Dave Grusin ...

Funky Shirley Bassey! This is a great set tof Shirley's groove-happy work cut in the late 60s -- hip tunes arranged by UK easy maestro Johnny Harris, best known for his fantastic work on the Stepping Stones record under his own name, forever a beathead classic! Features the great, funky big band ...

One of our favorite albums ever from Eddie Jefferson -- one of the last sessions he ever recorded as a leader, and a stone cooker through and through! The arrangements here are by Slide Hampton, who hits a really soulful groove for the set -- one that moves away from some of the more experimental ...

One of the greatest albums ever from Lorez Alexandria -- an ultra-hip singer who recorded for Impulse and King, but who sounds especially wonderful on this rare date for Chess Records! The album's got a groove that definitely lives up to its title -- a jazzy, bouncy sort of rhythm that's ...

Ella sings favorites by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Lowe, Adler & Ross, and Frank Loesser, from a bevy of popular Broadway musicals! 12 tracks in all, including "Hernando's Hideaway", "I Could Have Danced All Night", "Whatever Lola Wants", "Guys ...

A great collaboration between Oscar Brown Jr. and the breezy Brazilian singer Luiz Henrique! Henrique was one of Brown's "discoveries", as was Sivuca, who also plays and arranges on the LP -- gracing it with his classic bossa/jazzy kind of groove. The whole thing's an excellent mix of ...

Key early work by Abbey -- not so much the "blue" album you'd guess from the title, but a session that's filled with the kind of anger and emotion that makes us love her so much when she's this good! The group here is very hip -- an ensemble brought to the date by her then-partner Max ...

Wonderful work by Nina -- the kind of record that once made purists turn up their noses, but which is now being rediscovered as a unique jazz/soul crossover album, filled with loads of nice moments! The instrumentation's pretty darn interesting -- and includes sitar, harp, Spanish guitar, and ...

Beautiful work from an Italian singer -- a vocalist who works here in English throughout, with a breezy vibe that's like some of our favorite work of the 70s! The set's a Dejavu co-production, and as such, has a really classic sound -- deeply soulful instrumentation from a core combo, topped with ...

A landmark album from Nina -- one that broke down countless barriers with the classic tune "Four Women" -- a righteous portrait of 4 different women and their struggles, unique for its time, and a key part of the early Women's Liberation movement! The rest of the album has a smiliar ...

A great little album cut by Nina Simone during the time she was working with Weldon Irvine -- a live album that really has the lady stretching out, and showing off all the cool, complicated grooves she brought to a concert setting! Weldon did the arrangements, and they've got a very righteous feel ...

An odd title, but a really wonderful album from Mark Murphy -- an 80s session for Muse that easily matches some of his most creative moments for the label in the 70s! There's some wonderful versions of soulful jazz tracks here -- takes on "Effendi" by McCoy Tyner, "Beauty & The ...

One of the sexiest sets of vocal jazz to ever come from the British scene -- a classic 1960 album by the lovely Diana Dors -- easily one of England's best answers to American cheesecake singers of the 50s! As you'll notice by the cover, Diana's got a look that's right up there with Marilyn Monroe ...

Great 70s work from Dutch jazz singer Greetje Kauffeld -- material pulled from three separate sessions, each of them slightly different, and each of them great! Greetje's got a warmly crafted vocal approach throughout -- one that's almost slightly soulful at points, as heard more famously on her ...

A double-length set from Dakota Staton -- featuring 2 of her albums for the Groove Merchant label! First up is I Want A Country Man -- very hip work from Dakota, and one of her great early 70s albums for the Groove Merchant label! Backings here are by the band of Manny Albam -- in a mode that's ...

Nice later Capitol stuff from Nancy -- and a mix of soul and pop tracks with some great arrangements by Jimmy Jones, Phil Wright, Billy May, and Oliver Nelson. The best tracks are the ones with Phil Wright -- like the covers of "Hurt So Bad", "Willie & Laura Mae Jones", and ...

A sweet set of vocal tracks from Judy Roberts -- a mix of original tunes and a few covers, all done with a warm fusiony style, and plenty of Brazilian touches! Judy's at the height of her powers here -- partly jazzy, partly in a songstress mode that's inspired by the advances that female singers ...

No Reservations is quite an unusual little set for the time -- as it's a bit looser and less structured than most other vocal dates -- very much in the spirit of Faye's famous performances in clubs, with a gritty, personal approach to the music that's really great. The orchestrations are ...

A lesser-remembered Capitol set from Dakota Staton, but a great one too -- a record that has Dakota singing ballads and blues, both of which she does pretty darn well! On some tracks, Sid Feller handles the backings, often with a gentle mix of strings -- while other numbers have a bit more jazz, ...

A sweet Russ Garcia-led session with some extremly fluid work from a four trombone section that features Frank Rosolino, Maynard Ferguson, Herbie Harper, and Pullman Pederson -- all gliding nicely alongside the deeper range of Frances' vocals. Other players include Gerald Wiggins, Red Mitchell, ...

One of Vaughan's nice jazz sides from the 50s on EmArcy, but cut with slightly larger backing, almost in the vein of some here concurrent pop oriented work at the Mercury parent label during the same time. Arrangements are by Hal Mooney, and Vaughan takes an approach that showcases how she ...

Vocalist Jeri Southern meets guitarist Johnny Smith -- and the result is one of her nicest jazz albums! The setting is spare and simple -- backing by Johnny's quartet of the time, and a set of tunes that shifts between standards and a few more obscure numbers that show Jeri working at a deeper ...

Fantastic -- and a record that will send chills down your spine! The recording quality of this one is superb -- and Billy's rich voice has a bottomless quality that echoes out over the depths of moody arrangements by Billy Byers and Torrie Zito that are some of the best we've ever heard on an ...

A lush album by Sarah Vaughan -- recorded in Paris in 1958, with orchestrations by Quincy Jones -- and large group backing that includes some nice tenor work by Zoot Sims! The session's one of Vaughan's most cohesive albums of the period, and although it's got "violins" in the title, it's ...