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A bold odyssey from Steve Reid -- his Odyssey Of The Oblong Square -- a jawdropping session recorded in 1977 for a NYC radio show that's as rhythmically feverish and avant garde funky as the legendary drummer's other underground soul jazz classics of the 70s! If anything, the percussion is even ...

A beautiful album of spiritual soul and Brazilian influenced jazz from Azar Lawrence -- and a pretty rare one we're thrilled to have! Lawrence is a stellar sax player with a sound that's a bit like Gary Bartz, which means that he fits in perfectly with the Fantasy-era Prestige Records sound -- but ...

A very nice bit of spacey funky jazz from sax player Azar Lawrence, and one of the great earlier productions by Skip Scarborough, with a feel that's very similar to Gary Bartz's work with Larry Mizell! Azar plays a mix of funk and spiritual soul jazz -- and he's got some great electric backing by ...

A key early pairing of saxophonist Gary Bartz and producer Larry Mizell -- working here together before their more famous collaboration on Capitol Records, in a sound that's even more freewheeling and open-ended! Bartz still has a bit of an edge in his horn here -- the style laid down heavily on ...

A pivotal record for Patrice Rushen -- a set that has her really tightening up the groove from previous albums on Prestige -- heading much more towards the focused soul-drenched grooves of her Elektra Records years! The set's a stunner -- still very much with the hip, west coast funky fusion vibe ...

Beautiful stuff 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! Many of the tracks here have vocals -- kind of scatted, with a breezy ...

Gene Ammons gets the Cannonball Adderley treatment -- as he blows funky solos over an album arranged and conducted by David Axelrod! Brasswind has a larger, fuller funky sound than some of his earlier work for Prestige -- and it works very well! The overall sound's a bit smoother, but Axelrod's ...

Patrice Rushen's second album -- and a very sweet batch of keyboard funk! The record has Patrice working in a groove that's almost like that of Herbie Hancock at the time -- using lots of electric piano, clavinet, and synth to craft some mighty fine jazz funk grooves. The group's a monster ...

A real 70s stormer from Frank Foster -- recorded with the Loud Minority ensemble used for the Mainstream album of the same name, but done in a style that's a bit more straight ahead, yet still plenty darn soulful! Frank's hanging here between the two sides of his career -- working in a larger band ...

Slick 70s jazz funk from Fathead -- an uncommon record in his canon, and a nice one! If you're more accustomed to hearing Newman in more of his bluesy southern R&B inflected jazz setting, this one's a groovy left turn -- with a more polished touch here a la 70s Fantasy, with Wilbur Bascomb on ...

Forget the hokey title of this one, this is one of the best Frank Foster sets of the 70s! By the time of this 1978 recording, Foster had developed into a stunning tenor talent filled with influences that ranged from Lester Young to late Coltrane. His writing and playing in the 70s was filled with ...

Soulful intensity from Elvin Jones and his Jazz Machine! Soul Train is of the many great originally import-only sessions that Jones cut with his Jazz Machine group during the late 70s -- an ensemble who in this case featured Andrew White on alto, and Ari Brown on tenor and soprano. Like most ...

One of the best-ever Billy Harper records from the 70s -- and one of the rare sessions of his that only ever came out in Japan! Billy is in incredible form throughout -- and plays with a stunning sense of imagination and creativity on the 3 long tracks that make up this LP -- stepping out with ...

A wonderful album for all those folks who ever crabbed about Shepp going back "inside" during the late 70s! The record is straight jazz -- not as righteous as Attica Blues or some of the other Impulse albums, yet done with a wonderfully soulful quality that shows that even without a ...

Beautifully-recorded later work from Sonny Stitt -- a record that's got the crispness and poise of his classic work on Roost, with perhaps a bit of the warmer soul he'd picked up in the 70s -- yet laid out in a way that's different from some of his American albums too! The set's a special date ...

Warm and lyrical solo piano work from Tommy Flanagan -- a Japanese only session from the mid 70s, and one of the first of a long run of well-produced dates that Flanagan would do for that market! The format's even more intimate than the relaxed setting of some of Tommy's American dates of the time ...

Tight later work from Jo Jones -- a set that's got all the swinging energy of the early years, but also a relaxed vibe that's mighty nice too! There's a good quality to the recording -- as it's one of those killer 70s sessions done for Denon in Japan -- and Jones is clearly in respectful company, ...

A surprisingly wonderful recent album from Stanley Cowell -- soul jazz piano of the 70s, but sounding equally great here in his later years! Cowell is playing acoustic piano in a trio with Tarus Mateen on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums -- and his tones are round, warm, and very rhythmic -- ...

Beautiful ballads from Archie Shepp -- one of his later dates for Venus Records, recorded with a soulful, subtle sound that's totally great! The Shepp heard here is hardly the freewheeling player of 60s avant years -- and is instead an aging master of the tenor who manages to draw on years of ...

An all-ballad album from Pharoah Sanders, but one that's still plenty darn great -- and blown with all the depth of soul you might expect from his classics! The tunes are mostly familiar, but taken at a really easygoing, open sort of level -- somewhat similar to the ballad work that Archie Shepp ...

Sublime sadness from saxophonist Phil Woods -- a beautiful session of ballads blown with string backings, all wrapped up in a late nite sense of darkness that's really great! Arrangements for the strings are by Andy Stein, and the core trio features Bill Charlap on piano -- but Woods is clearly ...

A long-overdue session of ballads from modern tenor giant Eric Alexander -- a player we've always loved for his soaring, leaping lines on soul jazz sets -- but who also has just the right tone to carry off an album of mellow tunes and ballads! Alexander's tone reminds us a lot of the Sonny Rollins ...

One of the best David Axelrod-assisted albums from the early 70s -- a sweet batch of funky cuts with arrangements and backings handled by Axe! The record really bubbles with the warm and soulful approach Axelrod was using at Fantasy -- kind of a step off his stark modern sound at Capitol, but ...

Pure brilliance from tenor giant Eric Alexander -- one of the few modern players we'd put on a par with our favorites from older years! Alexander's got a depth of tone and sense of poise that's simply wonderful on the set -- one that's never staid, but which continues to grow beautifully over the ...

An amazing set -- the complete early Oscar Peterson recordings for Norman Granz -- packaged in a format that's as lovely as the music itself! The work here is the stuff of legend -- the tracks that first pushed Peterson into the limelight of American music, and which opened up a whole new side of ...

A rare live date from Art Blakey -- recorded right around the same time as his Giants Of Jazz concert album for Atlantic in 1972! Like that set, this one features Blakey working with a group of bigger stars than his usual Jazz Messengers -- a compelling assemblage of players that includes ...

Funky madness at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium -- and a searing set of tracks that rivals the best studio work from trumpeter Don Ellis! The feel here is really open, spontaneous, and inventive -- and tunes are a lot more extended than on most of Don's studio sides from the time -- with not ...

One of Doc Severinsen's sweet funky sets from the 70s -- an album that features some great arrangements from Tom Scott, who really knows how to make things groove! The sound's a bit like some of the Maynard Ferguson albums on Columbia from the decade, but a bit warmer overall -- fuller clubby ...

A decade's worth of grooves from keyboardist Emil Viklicky -- one of the funkiest cats working behind the Iron Curtain during the 70s! Viklicky plays a variety of keyboards, and even a bit of vibes too -- working with fusion combos Energit and SHQ -- but also jamming strongly as a leader on his ...

Man, if Doc Severinsen was this funky on TV back in the 70s, we might have watched the Johnny Carson Show a little bit more! The album's more of a smooth funky fusion album than Doc's usual big band sets -- and he's got some good help from Fred Crane, who handles all the arrangements and gives the ...

A stellar second album from UK jazz trumpet talent Matthew Halsall -- with a soulful depth that pushes him to the forefront of the contemporary British scene! There's an easygoing, but wholly passionate feel on his own solos, and to his players that really hits us deep -- which include Gavin ...

A sometimes delicate, and at others quite exhilarating project from John Zorn -- an always exciting, interesting and unpredictable artist -- whose muse has led him to Femina! The project finds Zorn working with an all female ensemble in a tribute to femininity, it's dedicated to some of the ...

Supremely heavy work from organist Leon Spencer -- one of his classic jazz funk sessions for Prestige Records, and a record that shows him opening up his sound a bit more than before! The album has Spencer working in a few different lineups -- some with small groups that feature Melvin Sparks on ...

Missing links in the Stan Kenton recordings for Capitol Records -- a pretty wonderful set rarities or altogether previously unreleased material he cut for Capitol in the mid-to-late 50s! Includes some 1955 octet sessions with players including Carl Fontana, Charlie Mariano, Max Bannett and Mel ...

Massive work from one of the funkiest drummers of all time -- the legendary Bernard Pretty Purdie, stepping out here in a batch of instrumentals that may well be his greatest album ever! Bernard's drums are right up front in the mix -- leading off all tunes with a full, funky, echoey sort of ...

A great little album of mid 70s funk from Ramsey Lewis -- very much in the mode of his Earth, Wind, & Fire related work -- no surprise, since the album's dedicated to Charles Stepney, whose influence was such a key part of the sound of the group, and of some of Ramsey's other Kalimba-produced ...

Not so much in the way of roots, but plenty of brass throughout -- the sweet trumpet lines of Doc Severinsen, blowing nicely over full arrangements from Don Sebesky! Things are pretty funky at the best points -- and there's an upbeat, grooving sound to the record that's a good reminder of why Doc ...

Very groovy work from Doc Severinson -- a set of upbeat, jazzy ditties all arranged by Dick Hyman -- with a brightly swinging feel that's a hip mix of late 60s mod and early 70s funk! Doc's brassy sound is perfect for the setting -- and he really polishes off the top of Hyman's arrangements nicely ...

A bit later than Ramsey Lewis' classic electric sides for Columbia Records in the 70s, but still a pretty great little album -- and one that mixes mellow grooves on Fender Rhodes with a nice dose of acoustic piano -- in a style that's a bit like Rodney Franklin at the time, but considerably warmer ...

Kind of a cool concept album for Doc Severinsen -- one that has him blowing amidst some larger suites arranged by Oliver Nelson, Harry Betts, and Tommy Newsom -- each with a slightly different feel! The set starts out with the hip "Rhapsody For Now" -- comprised of some cool 70s tunes ...

An amazing album that has Art Blakey completely reinventing himself for the 70s! Blakey shifts from straight hardbop to kind of a modal soul jazz groove, touched with some of the electric playing of the younger jazz generation, but not enough to qualify as fusion or funk. Instead, he's working ...

Warm trio work from pianist Barry Harris -- working here with George Mraz on bass and Leroy Williams on drums! The set's got an understated groove that suits Harris' piano nicely -- perfect for those flowing tones that Barry always brings best to his ballad work, balanced by a few more upbeat ...

Beautiful hollow body guitar lines from Russell Malone -- one of those players who emerged in the 90s to reclaim a traditional approach to jazz guitar! Malone's got a clean, clear tone that's totally great -- ringing out in ways that echo some of our favorite jazz guitarists of the 50s and 60s -- ...

Beautiful trio work from Steve Kuhn -- a player who really hit a new stride in his sound on these sessions for the Japanese Venus label! The feel here is a bit warmer than most other Kuhn settings -- but that's a nice thing too, as Steve's always got this sense of lyricism in his music, but it's ...

A Brian Auger double-header -- two great albums back to back in a single set! First up is Definitely What -- Brian Auger's first album away from singer Julie Driscoll -- and a landmark batch of funky organ work that made big waves in both the rock and jazz worlds at the time! Auger's really ...

John Coltrane made plenty of great music during his late 50s time at the Prestige Records label -- some of it under his own name, and a lot more while working with other leaders! This package presents the full recordings from that second half of Coltrane's Prestige performances -- material ...

Two recent sets from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith -- each of them key proof that he's as inventive now as he was during his AACM years of the 70s! The first CD features work by Smith's Golden Quintet -- a group that has Wadada Leo on trumpet, plus Wijay Iyer on piano and synth, John Lindberg on bass ...

Both Sun Ra albums for the legendary BYG/Actuel label -- back to back as a 2CD set! The material was ecorded in New York in 1970, with an Arkestra that includes Kwame Hadi, Ali Hassan, Danny Davis, John Gilmore, and Clifford Jarvis -- and instrumentation that includes moog, space dimension ...

Sweet funky Q for the 70s -- easily one of the coolest albums ever from Quincy Jones! The album's got a very heavy electric vibe -- one that's kind of a laidback take on the styles that Jones was forging in some of his 70s soundtrack work -- served up with massive work on the keyboards from Dave ...

Few people could make a session cook like Johnny Griffin in his early years -- and this late 50s sextet date is great proof of that fact! The album's a relaxed, open, almost unstructured set that might be dubbed a "blowing session", were it not for the tightness of the players and the ...