A great document of a famous 70s TV special from Diana Ross – and a record that also features excellent guest work from Bill Cosby and The Jackson 5 – as well as an odd Motown appearance from Danny Thomas! Ross dominates the set, working with sublime larger arrangements that really showcase her growing power as a solo star – on titles that include "Close To You", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "I Love You", "Remember Me", and "Don't Rain On My Parade". And Bill Cosby steps in for a bit of dialogue with Ross – as they talk together, then lead into a surprising duet on Randy Newman's "Love Story"! The Jackson 5 serve up two nice medley tracks – "I'll Be There/Feelin Alright" and "Mama's Pearl/Walk On By/The Love You Save" – and Danny Thomas does a bit of comedy, but doesn't sing – thankfully. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the more obscure Bill Cosby soul albums – not nearly as "disco" as the title implies, more in a smoother soul vein, almost a bit like Barry White. Stu Gardner does the backings, and Bill either sings or talks over the top, in a deep sexy voice that's his comical rendering of some of the more sensual soul artists of the time. Titles include "Section 9", "A Simple Love Affair", "Boogie On Your Face", "Happy Birthday Momma", "That's How I Met Your Mother", and "One Two Three". Also includes the oddly-titled, but great track "What You Think About Lickin' My Chicken?" LP, Vinyl record album

A great album of funky grooves put together by Bill Cosby, and featuring some of his funky friends from LA, like Stu Gardner, Gildo Mahones, Mel Brown, Willie Bobo, Monk Montgomery, and Paul Humphrey! The set's not to be confused with the similarly titled album on Uni – but is equally great – and it features 3 looooong funky tracks – "Abuse", "The Blues", and "Bunions" – all with a lot of silliness, plus two shorter ones, including "I Love You Camille", written for his wife to stop her getting mad at all of his philandering! LP, Vinyl record album

With Lester Bowie, Craig Handy, Philip Harper, Billy Higgins, Steve Kroon, Cedar Walton, Peter Washington, and Bobby Watson. CD

A strange little film with a western motif – starring Bill Cosby, Leif Erikson, and Yaphet Kotto! Fortunately, Quincy Jones was the musical supervisor – so the tracks are hip enough in the best parts – a bit rootsy at times, but with a 70s soul approach that keeps things real. The best cuts include the vocal number "Better Days" by Bill Withers – but even better are the instrumental numbers by JJ Johnson, including the oft-sampled groover "Pull, Jubal, Pull". LP, Vinyl record album

Mingus live is always a treat – especially in these later years, when the fire seemed to go out of most of his studio recordings. Live, though, he always managed to kick it hard - with the sort of emotion that graced his strong early albums. And despite the fact that this one's conducted by Teo Macero, and features some remarks from Bill Cosby – the affair's still pretty hip, and the soloists go to town nicely – with those stretched-out performances that always made for the best individual moments in a Mingus record! The record features great work from Gene Ammons and Bobby Jones on tenor, Lee Konitz and Charles McPherson on alto, James Moody on flute, Randy Weston on piano, Lonnie Hillyer on trumpet, and Eddie Bert on trombone – and Honey Gordon sings a lovely vocal on the track "Eclipse". Other titles include "Jump Monk", "Us Is Two", "ESP", and "Ecclusiastics". CD

Mingus live is always a treat – especially in these later years, when the fire seemed to go out of most of his studio recordings. Live, though, he always managed to kick it hard - with the sort of emotion that graced his strong early albums. And despite the fact that this one's conducted by Teo Macero, and features some remarks from Bill Cosby – the affair's still pretty hip, and the soloists go to town nicely – with those stretched-out performances that always made for the best individual moments in a Mingus record! The record features great work from Gene Ammons and Bobby Jones on tenor, Lee Konitz and Charles McPherson on alto, James Moody on flute, Randy Weston on piano, Lonnie Hillyer on trumpet, and Eddie Bert on trombone – and Honey Gordon sings a lovely vocal on the track "Eclipse". Other titles include "Jump Monk", "Us Is Two", "ESP", and "Ecclusiastics". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic funk from the 60s LA scene – and the first-ever album by a group who would dominate the west coast groove of the time! This first outing by the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band takes off nicely from the group's funky 45 years – using larger arrangements to expand upon their hard and heavy groove, in a style that almost has some funky soundtrack touches at times! Fred Smith produced and is directing the group – and tracks are short, sweet, and filled with groovy touches! Titles include "Spreadin Honey", "Fried Okra", "Soul Concerto", "Watts Happening", "103rd Street Theme", "Whole Hog Or Nothing At All", "Brown Sugar", and "A Little Class & A Little Trash". Great trippy cover too – and an endorsement from Bill Cosby on the back! LP, Vinyl record album

A great bit of 70s electric work from Quincy – and probably his funkiest album ever! Quincy's really stepping out here from the straighter and spacier styles of earlier records – going for more of the dirty grooves he was cutting up for soundtrack albums, and hitting notes that were a lot more fitting for the blacksploitation era. The record includes the massive funky track cut "Hikky-Burr", which was the theme to the first Bill Cosby Show, and which has a sinister groove, and some wild shouted lyrics! Also features two more great themes – "Ironside" and "The Anderson Tapes" – both of which have a cool electric sound to them, and the nice title cut, which actually features Quincy on vocals! Other tracks include "Cast Your Fate To The Wind", "What's Going On", "Brown Ballad" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A great bit of 70s electric work from Quincy – and probably his funkiest album ever! Quincy's really stepping out here from the straighter and spacier styles of earlier records – going for more of the dirty grooves he was cutting up for soundtrack albums, and hitting notes that were a lot more fitting for the blacksploitation era. The record includes the massive funky track cut "Hikky-Burr", which was the theme to the first Bill Cosby Show, and which has a sinister groove, and some wild shouted lyrics! Also features two more great themes – "Ironside" and "The Anderson Tapes" – both of which have a cool electric sound to them, and the nice title cut, which actually features Quincy on vocals! Other tracks include "Cast Your Fate To The Wind", "What's Going On", "Brown Ballad" and more. CD

Eddie continues the funky groove begun on Instant Funk, and smoothed out over albums like I Need Some Money – and although jazz fans probably gave him hell for going this way, we think this is actually a pretty darn great album! The record takes all of Eddie's experimentation with groovy styles from the early 70s, and filters it through some tighter playing that actually makes the groove a lot more compelling than before. A number of the tracks have vocals, almost in a humorous Bill Cosby mode – but in a way that also preserves the party feel of the cuts. Players include Bobby Lyle, Paul Humphrey, Buck Clarke, and Bradley Bobo – and one Chicago-recorded track features a great assortment from older years that includes Muhal Abrams, Odell Brown, Marshapp Thompson, Willie Henderson, and Richard Evans. Titles include "Tryin Ain't Dyin", "Ooh", "Exempt", "Live Again", "Flowers", "Why Do You Hurt Me", and "It's All Right Now". LP, Vinyl record album

An all-star soundtrack to this comedy film from the 70s – starring Raquel Welch, Bill Cosby, and a very young Harvey Keitel! Most of the tracks on the set are from other A&M albums, but there's a few tunes that are original to the set – including the vocal track "No Love Today" by Michelle Phillips, served up in an instrumental reading by Pete Jolly. Paul Jabara also contributed the tune "Dance", in 2 versions – and other cuts, from other albums, include "Mellow Out" by The Crusaders, "Thunder Thumbs & Lightnin Licks" and "Get The Funk Out Ma Face" by The Brothers Johnson, "My Soul Is A Witness" by Billy Preston, and "Show Me The Way" by Peter Frampton. LP, Vinyl record album

A much-needed look at an overlooked side of the genius of Quincy Jones – not his jazz work, not his productions for famous soul artists, but instead his huge legacy of soundtrack material – a part of Q's career that really took off in the 60s! By the time he started working in films, Jones had already had a decade under his belt as one of the hippest arrangers, leaders, and composers in jazz – and the film business really respected those talents, and allowed Quincy to bring some really fresh styles into play – modes that really opened up the vibe of American cinema, and also paved the way for the funky styles of the 70s! As that decade approached, Jones left behind the cinema to take on some more higher-profile records of his own – but all the charms of those great albums can be found here at their roots – in this stunning collection of soundtrack material, some of which has never been on CD. The package is way more than just a sampler – and includes an album's worth of material from the films The Pawnbroker, Slender Thread, Mirage, The Deadly Affair, In The Heat Of The Night, In Cold Blood, Walk Don't Run, The Italian Job, Lost Man, and John & Mary – plus two versions of the love theme from The Getaway, and a bonus CD with 18 tracks – titled Q's highlights, and featuring tracks from his Mercury records – plus more by Billy Preston, Arthur Prysock, Bill Cosby, Shirley Horn, Letta Mbulu, Toots Thielemans, and others. Even features the "Sanford & Son" and "Ironside" themes! CD

A much-needed look at an overlooked side of the genius of Quincy Jones – not his jazz work, not his productions for famous soul artists, but instead his huge legacy of soundtrack material – a part of Q's career that really took off in the 60s! By the time he started working in films, Jones had already had a decade under his belt as one of the hippest arrangers, leaders, and composers in jazz – and the film business really respected those talents, and allowed Quincy to bring some really fresh styles into play – modes that really opened up the vibe of American cinema, and also paved the way for the funky styles of the 70s! As that decade approached, Jones left behind the cinema to take on some more higher-profile records of his own – but all the charms of those great albums can be found here at their roots – in this stunning collection of soundtrack material, some of which has never been on CD. The package is way more than just a sampler – and includes an album's worth of material from the films The Pawnbroker, Slender Thread, Mirage, The Deadly Affair, In The Heat Of The Night, In Cold Blood, Walk Don't Run, The Italian Job, Lost Man, and John & Mary – plus two versions of the love theme from The Getaway, and a bonus CD with 18 tracks – titled Q's highlights, and featuring tracks from his Mercury records – plus more by Billy Preston, Arthur Prysock, Bill Cosby, Shirley Horn, Letta Mbulu, Toots Thielemans, and others. Even features the "Sanford & Son" and "Ironside" themes! CD

Bill Cosby introduces this hip little live set from the John Mayall group – which is fitting, as there's definitely a bit of an LA groove on the set! Mayall's still in very bluesy territory, but he also gets some great soul jazz support too – from players who include Charles Owens on flute and soprano sax, Ernie Watts on tenor, and even the great Fred Jackson on baritone! Keef Hartley adds in some mighty heavy drums, but the group's further expanded by even more American players too – including Blue Mitchell on trumpet and Freddie Robinson on guitar – both players who definitely leave their mark on the set. There's some great electric piano too – and titles include the classic "Keep Our Country Green" – plus "Christmas 71", "Things Go Wrong", "Do It", "Moving On", "Red Sky", "Reasons", "High Pressure Living", and "Worried Mind". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last great 70s soundtracks on Curtom Records – a smoking little set that pairs the music of Curtis Mayfield with the vocals of Mavis Staples! Curtis is very much in charge of the record from the start, and works in a hard-stepping and righteous mode that recalls his earlier work on the Staples' soundtrack for Let's Do It Again – no surprise, given that Piece Of The Action was the next installment in the successful series of films that starred Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier! The sound here is nicely full, hitting that rich mid 70s Curtom mode that sounded so great on Leroy Hutson and Natural Four albums of the time – a slightly more sophisticated approach that mixed in a bit of strings with the heavier funk at the bottom. Titles include "Chocolate City", written by Curtis with Keni Burke and Henry Gibson, plus "Getting Deeper", "A Piece Of The Action", "Orientation", and "Of Whom Shall I Be Afraid". LP, Vinyl record album

James Moody celebrates his 70th Birthday in a really wonderful setting – a soulful, easygoing set of work recorded with a tight little combo, and some all-star guests! The performance is from a live date at the Blue Note, with Bill Cosby acting as the MC at a few points – and Moody plays tenor and alto, with a combo that features Mulgrew Miller on piano, Tod Coolman on bass, and Terri Lynne Carrington on drums – plus help from guest musicians who include Roy Ayers on vibes, Arturo Sandoval on trumpet, Chris Potter on tenor, and Grover Washington Jr on soprano sax. The overall vibe is mostly boppish, a bit less complex and varied than some of Moody's other late albums – and titles include "The Eternal Triangle", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", "Benny's From Heaven", "Bebop", and "Groovin High". CD