... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

An obscure release – with Frank Wess on flute, Frank Foster on tenor, and Thad Jones on trumpet! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Two rare 60s soul albums – back to back on a single CD! First up is Soul Superman by The Hesitations – a wonderful album of rare Detroit soul – and quite possibly the best full length set ever recorded by this sublime 60s harmony group! There's a really righteous approach to most of the material – a deeper sound than you might expect from the group's more formal look on the cover – and the set was put together by Jack Ashford and the Pied Piper team – who give the record this great "in the shadows of Motown" vibe – that farther side of the Detroit scene, but with a quality that's top shelf all the way through! The vocal range of the group is fantastic – and not only that, there's a heck of a lot of great writing on the set – what we can tell, nearly every number is exclusive to this set. Titles include "Soul Superman", "You'll Never Know", "She Won't Come Back", "Soul Kind Of Love", "I'll Be Right There", "Wait A Minute", and "I'm Not Build That Way". Next is With A Dab Of Soul – the only full length record cut by Freddy Butler, a heck of a great singer with a really unique voice! Freddy hails from Detroit, and like the best of Detroit singers of the 60s – such as JJ Barnes or Darrell Banks – he's got a style that's got some rootsy touches, especially on the vocals, mixed with production that's tight and focused – which really gives the album a lot of swing! Instrumentation includes some nice use of vibes and piano – no surprise, since Jack Ashford and the Pied Piper team handled the recording – and the album also features some great early compositions by Nick Ashford. Titles include "This Thing", "You'd Better Get Hip Girl", "Never Let Love Go", and "I Fell In Love". CD

Rosana Toledo's got some mighty hefty hair on the front cover – but the album is much less stiff and formal – as the singer really taps into her emotive depths throughout – showing us that although life goes on, as promised by the title, it's not without its melancholy moments! Arrangements are relatively full, with light percussion underneath larger orchestrations – all handled by Maestro Nelsinho, on titles that include "Nao Me Diga Adeus", "Salve Ogum", "E A Vida Continua", "Porque Fui Te Encontrar", "Desolacao", "Pra Que Mentir", and "Feitio De Oracao". CD

The "pair" here is Phil Woods and Gene Quill – both blowing beautifully on alto sax, with that sharp edge and deep tone that made both players a real standout in the 50s scene! The Woods/Quill mix has been documented elsewhere, but the sound here is rawer than some of those other dates – a bit less formal, with a nice blowing session sort of groove. There's also a pair of trumpets, too – Donald Byrd and Kenny Dorham – and rhythm is from the trio of Tommy Flanagan on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. All tracks are quite long – and the album features 4 titles that include "The Stanley Stomper", "Cool Aid", "Suddenly It's Spring", and "Pairing Off". LP, Vinyl record album

Modern art, but of the sonic variety – served up here by composer Daniela Casa on a rare sound library album, but with a free-thinking quality that rivals the best of the avant garde at the time! Unlike some more staid, academic record, there's no overarching concept here – no detailed notes that you need to read to "get" the music. Instead, Casa creates these short, dark little passages of sound – sometimes very abstract, occasionally tuneful – with elements that move between free jazz, atonal piano and woodwinds, offbeat strings, and even a bit of Fender Rhodes! The whole thing's a great reminder of just how much genius was bubbling up in Italy during the 70s – so much so that a record like this, which would have been worthy of release by Columbia or Deutsche Grammophon in bigger scenes, was only pressed up in small quantities by the Flipper music label. Titles include "Concetto Informale", "Dimensione Umana", "Prima Maniera", "Ricerca Della Materia", "Visione Surreale", and "Ricerca Cromatica". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best-known 50s jazz sessions from the Savoy label – a laidback classic that's a great illustration of the label's shift in modes after the early bop years! The setting here is relatively informal – with Milt Jackson as the ersatz leader, working almost in blowing session mode with hip players who include Frank Wess on flute and tenor, Hank Jones on piano, Eddie Jones on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums – all players who relax into a groove wonderfully, and really open up on the album's four long tracks. Titles include the classic reading of "Opus De Funk", plus "Opus Pocus", "You Leave Me Breathless", and "Opus & Interlude". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best-known 50s jazz sessions from the Savoy label – a laidback classic that's a great illustration of the label's shift in modes after the early bop years! The setting here is relatively informal – with Milt Jackson as the ersatz leader, working almost in blowing session mode with hip players who include Frank Wess on flute and tenor, Hank Jones on piano, Eddie Jones on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums – all players who relax into a groove wonderfully, and really open up on the album's four long tracks. Titles include the classic reading of "Opus De Funk", plus "Opus Pocus", "You Leave Me Breathless", and "Opus & Interlude". LP, Vinyl record album

Dusty Groove owes plenty to the world of college radio – and in fact, our store grew out of long years of experience on a college station on the south side of Chicago – so we're extra-pleased not just to see a really comprehensive book on the glory days of college radio, but also one that really gets the history right! Author Katherine Rye Jewell really digs deep here, and gets past the easy tales of freeform rock and alternative radio – to instead look at the larger forces that helped build, shift, and challenge the informal network of small college radio stations that had a huge impact on American music for a few key decades, starting in the 70s. The author brings together case histories of individual stations, key scenes in music, legislative shifts, regulatory changes, and music business practice – all to really illuminate just why college radio was so important in the 70s, 80s, and 90s – and why its legacy still continues so strongly today. The roots of Dusty Groove are hidden in these pages in a few key spots – and we can say that the author definitely writes from the right perspective, and takes time to focus in on all the important things that really matter. Softcover edition is 457 pages, with a small amount of charts and illustrations. Book

A great little album from Nina – mostly recorded live at the Westbury Music Fair, with a hip mix of jazz, soul, and folk that's stretched out in a slightly informal setting that always brings out the best of Nina's vocals. Titles include "The Backlash Blues", "Please Read Me", "Sunday In Savannah", "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", and the nice jazzer "In The Morning". Plus, the album also includes one straight soul number – "Do What You Gotta Do", with some great arrangements by Horace Ott. LP, Vinyl record album

5 classic albums from Nina Simone – packaged together in one sweet little set! First up is Nuff Said – a great little album from Nina – mostly recorded live at the Westbury Music Fair, with a hip mix of jazz, soul, and folk that's stretched out in a slightly informal setting that always brings out the best of Nina's vocals! Tracks include "The Backlash Blues", "Please Read Me", "Sunday In Savannah", "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", and the nice jazzer "In The Morning". Plus, the album also includes one straight soul number – "Do What You Gotta Do", with some great arrangements by Horace Ott. Next is To Love Somebody – one of Nina's greatest records – recorded with her cool combo that included Weldon Irvine! Weldon's on organ on the set, and he co-wrote the two-part track "Revolution" with Simone, one of the album's strongest numbers! That track is set amidst covers of other hip 60s material, including "Turn Turn Turn", "To Love Somebody", "I Can't See Nobody", and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" – all done with a freely righteous style that has Nina cutting loose at the end of the 60s! Black Gold is a real classic from Nina, one of the excellent sets she cut with the Stroud Productions imprint during the early 70s! The style here is even hipper than her late 60s work on Philips – with a mixture of open-ended jazz and soul that's best summed up in the album's extended reading of "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair", and a great version of "To Be Young Gifted & Black", which was written by Weldon Irvine, who's probably playing piano here with Nina. It Is Finished is 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 other odd percussion instruments. Includes Nina's nice version of "Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter", plus "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl", "Dambala", "Obeah Woman", and "The Pusher". Nina Simone & Piano is a strong back to basics session for Nina, one that featured her piano and vocals only, a very spare approach that was markedly different from her work a few years previously for other labels. Nina's tone on the piano is incredible – and she's working with some striking modern jazz changes that offset the folksiness of her vocals in a fantastic way, creating a sound that's a lot fuller than you'd expect! Titles include "Seems I'm Never Tired Lovin You", "Compensation", "Everyone's Gone To The Moon", "Nobody's Fault But Mine", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", "The Desperate Ones", "The Human Touch", and "Another Spring". CD

An incredible, and oft-overlooked album from the great Benny Golson – and one of the few early albums that really point the way to his huge run of work for decades to come! The style here is a bit looser, and more open than some of Golson's previous albums – less of a focus on arrangements, and more on the spontaneous interplay between his tenor and the crack rhythm section – which features Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums – a dream lineup who really make the record sparkle. But the real star of the show is Golson – who's hitting this raspy, soulful tone he never had before – much freer of soul jazz formalities, and with a modern edge that's wonderful – as you'll hear on titles that include "Alone Together", "Turning Point", "Stella By Starlight", and "Dear Kathy". CD

An incredible relic of the early days of experimental radio – a series of sound collages from the Berkley-based Music and Folklore program by Henry Jacobs! Henry Jacobs was a real pioneer in audio collage – stringing together bits of jazz, folk music, sound effects, and spoken bits in a style that was years ahead of similar late 60s radio experimentation. The approach is sometimes jarring, sometimes comical – but always fascinating – and the note do a wonderful job of telling Jacobs' full story, and uniquely revolutionary views on sound. Titles include "Informal Rhythm Session", "Comments On The Indian Raga", "Loop 2 Channel Rhythms", "Audio Collage", and "Sonata For Loudspeaker". LP, Vinyl record album

Kind of a gimmicky session, but a great one nonetheless! It was Leonard Feather who first thought of rounding up all the "Jones" in jazz he could find, bringing them together for this unique date for the Period label – but fortunately, the quality of the work and strength of the players goes way past the goofy strategy of the date! The record's an especially great chance to hear Thad Jones in small group mode – blowing with that sweet, warm tone that we love in his Blue Note work, captured here in a slightly more informal setting. Also noteworthy is the piano of Jimmy Jones, the drums of Jo Jones, and the flugelhorn playing of Quincy Jones, who appears on 3 of the album's 9 tracks. Titles include "No Other Love", "The Jones Bash", "Jones Beach", "You've Changed", "Montego Bay", and "Salute To The Blue Bird". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible, and oft-overlooked album from the great Benny Golson – and one of the few early albums that really point the way to his huge run of work for decades to come! The style here is a bit looser, and more open than some of Golson's previous albums – less of a focus on arrangements, and more on the spontaneous interplay between his tenor and the crack rhythm section – which features Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums – a dream lineup who really make the record sparkle. But the real star of the show is Golson – who's hitting this raspy, soulful tone he never had before – much freer of soul jazz formalities, and with a modern edge that's wonderful – as you'll hear on titles that include "Alone Together", "Turning Point", "Stella By Starlight", and "Dear Kathy". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best-known 50s jazz sessions from the Savoy label – a laidback classic that's a great illustration of the label's shift in modes after the early bop years! The setting here is relatively informal – with Milt Jackson as the ersatz leader, working almost in blowing session mode with hip players who include Frank Wess on flute and tenor, Hank Jones on piano, Eddie Jones on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums – all players who relax into a groove wonderfully, and really open up on the album's four long tracks. Titles include the classic reading of "Opus De Funk", plus "Opus Pocus", "You Leave Me Breathless", and "Opus & Interlude". A great little set from Milt Jackson – not just for his work on vibes, but also for some great tenor from Lucky Thompson! Thompson's raspy edge brings a nice degree of soulfulness to the set – a sound that adds depth to the sometimes mellower moments set down by Jackson and the rhythm section of Hank Jones, Wendell Marshall, and Kenny Clarke! The small group setting and the longer tracks make the record a good showcase for Thompson's talents at the time – and his way of building a solo gets plenty of room to do its thing here – on tracks that include "Lover", "Angel Face", "Can't Help Lovin That Man", "Sometimes I'm Happy", and "What's New". CD

One of the best-known 50s jazz sessions from the Savoy label – a laidback classic that's a great illustration of the label's shift in modes after the early bop years! The setting here is relatively informal – with Milt Jackson as the ersatz leader, working almost in blowing session mode with hip players who include Frank Wess on flute and tenor, Hank Jones on piano, Eddie Jones on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums – all players who relax into a groove wonderfully, and really open up on the album's four long tracks. Titles include the classic reading of "Opus De Funk", plus "Opus Pocus", "You Leave Me Breathless", and "Opus & Interlude". LP, Vinyl record album

A series of essays on the music and creative practice of the great composer, John Cage – material written over the space of 50 years, by a variety of different authors – each of whom look at a key aspect of Cage's theory and influence! The October title is a reference to the journal of the same name – but the material here didn't just come from its pages, as some of the essays predate the publication – and include "John Cage Or Liberated Music" by Heinz Klaus Metger, "Chance As Ideology" by Koran Boehmer, "Looking Myself In The Mouth" by Yvonne Rainer, "Cage & Asia" by David W Patterson, "John Cage & The Architecture Of Silence" by Branden W Joseph, "Post Cagean Aesthetics & The Event Score" by Liz Kotz, "The Formalization Of Indeterminacy In 1958" by Rebecca Y Kim, and "John Cage & Investiture" by Julia Robinson – who also edited the book. Book

A tremendous live session from 1969 – a bit rough on the recording quality, but completely wonderful in terms of playing! The unique date features Woody Shaw playing in a group with Art Blakey – a few years before Shaw formally joined the Jazz Messengers, and in a looser, freer mode that's got all the best hallmarks of the groundbreaking New Jersey scene of the time! Blakey's usual tightness as a drummer is really let up for the set – which features him cascading and withdrawing as fits the needs of the players – breaking down the structure of the tunes to allow for very long solo work by Shaw, tenorist Carlos Garnett, and pianist George Cables. Scotty Holt keeps some massively soulful time on bass, and Garnett's searing solo work is worth the price of the album alone – almost topping the best of his own recordings from later, more famous years. Titles include a reading of "Night In Tunisia", plus the fantastic "Original Theme" by Shaw. And as we say, the recording quality's a bit rough, but the solo work is great! CD

One of the more striking Ennio Morricone scores of the early 70s – a set that's probably less iconic than some of the rest – but in a very cool way! The set begins with a vocal number performed by Carmen Villani, then moves into music that drifts between the ethereal and funky – often with instrumentation that's a slight shift from the usual Morricone modes, yet still graced with all that sense of space, timing, and charm that the maestro can bring to his music! The music more than lives up to everything you love about Ennio Morricone, but there's a sense of execution that's a really good change too – on titles that include "Quasi Rock", "Informale V", "Archi", "Scale", "Resquiescant", "Topi", "L'Ultimo Uomo Di Sara", and "Informake VIII". CD

The first recordings ever from Orchestra USA – the landmark third stream jazz group co-led by John Lewis and Gunther Schuller! The group sprang out of Schuller and Lewis' preoccupations with bringing jazz to a more serious environment – merging traits of 20th century classical with jazz-based improvisation – in a format that included standout solo players, as well as larger backings from strings and woodwinds. And while some of that group's recordings were a bit dull, this one's totally great – not nearly as stiff and academic as you'd think – with some really strong solo work on saxes, and a soulful approach that gets past any formalism that could mar the proceedings. Players include Eric Dolphy, Phil Woods, Leo Wright, Nick Travis, and Jim Hall – and titles include "Three Little Feelings (parts 1, 2, & 3)", "Milesign", "Milano", "Natural Affection", and "Donnie's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

A great entry in this late 70s "Best Of The West" series produced for Japan by Lew Tabackin – a series in which Lew uncovered some of the best (then) current work on the west coast, in an unusual and creative mix of classic and under-discovered players! This session is led by alto saxophonist Dick Spencer, but also features Conte Candoli on trumpet, Cedar Walton on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – a really well-balanced group that makes for a great depth of feeling that's hardly the west coast revival mode you might expect from the date! Spencer's tone on alto is really great – quick-footed, but also full of feeling – and Candoli's got some very nice later lines on trumpet, warmed up a bit by Cedar Walton's piano. There's a somewhat informal feel to the session – a bit boppish at times – and titles include "Invitation", "Minor March", "Lament For Sonny", "Barbados", and "Shining Hour". CD