A really cool cut from the Chicago scene – a bassy boogie number, but one with a bit of a rap as well – a great tribute to our Windy City home, backed with a very catchy chorus! There's plenty of bass in "Sexy Lady" too – very old school, snapping, and with a rollerskating pace – in support of lyrics that are sung and spoken, often with some very cool processing to trip things out 7-inch, Vinyl record

A lovely vocal chorus album, with kind of a mix of Sunshine Pop and easy modes – all set to arrangements by Al Ham! Titles include "Quentin's Theme", "Jean", "Sweet Caroline", "Yesterday When I Was Young", "My Cherie Amour", "Everybody's Talkin", and "This Girl Is A Woman Now". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer little soul group who recorded with John "Monster" Davis in the mid 70s – really soaring with a groove that rivals some of their bigger contemporaries on the east coast group scene! Touch Of Class sing in a style that's sometimes fragile, but often more suited to the soaring grooves that Davis gives them on the album – a mode that's partly disco, partly pop, and which should have been as huge as any of their Philly or New York contemporaries. There's a "slightly different" feel to the record that we really like – and tracks include "I Just Can't Say Goodbye", "I'm In Heaven", "You Got Nowhere To Come", "One Half As Much", and "I Love You Pretty Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet second set from Touch Of Class – a group who broke big in the indie underground of the 70s with their debut – and who still continue here in a great blend of upbeat rhythms and richer soul styles! Some numbers are clearly aimed at the dancefloor – as on their debut – but these guys can also slide into a mellower number with a laidback harmony vibe – a blend that's rooted in some of the younger east coast group modes of the early 70s, but which is taken here to some slightly more mature territory by the trio. Gerald and Pete Jackson of the group handled the arrangements – in a way that's nice and fresh – and a good change from some of the more "packaged" approaches on other albums of this nature. Titles include "Let Yourself Go", "You Took The Sunshine", "I Need Action", "I Found My Rainbow", and "You've Got My Soul". LP, Vinyl record album

Pretty great stuff from Unlimited Touch – grooving here in a sound that's got a bit more of an 80s feel than their previous album, but which still works well for their dual-female vocal lead style. There's a bit of an electro "wheeet" in some of the tracks, but the vocals and the songwriting are still in a tightly soulful mode. Titles include "Love Explosion", "Your Love Is Serious", "No One Can Love Me", and a remake of "Yes, I'm Ready". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer little soul group who recorded with John "Monster" Davis in the mid 70s – really soaring with a groove that rivals some of their bigger contemporaries on the east coast group scene! Touch Of Class sing in a style that's sometimes fragile, but often more suited to the soaring grooves that Davis gives them on the album – a mode that's partly disco, partly pop, and which should have been as huge as any of their Philly or New York contemporaries. There's a "slightly different" feel to the record that we really like – and tracks include "Love Means Everything", "Anything", "One Half As Much", "Love Me Tonight", "I'm In Heaven", and "You Got To Know Better". And just for the record, this appears to be the same record as I'm In Heaven, issued on the Midland label in 1976 – but it's presented here on another label with a date of 1981. LP, Vinyl record album

Obscure Chicago soul. 7-inch, Vinyl record

A pivotal record in the sound of the US scene at the end of the 60s – and a record that seems to trace an entire evolution in rock during the space of just one album! Touch have roots that go back to The Kingsmen and Don & The Goodtimes – and you can definitely hear garage elements in the organ and guitars – but they're also stretching out freely in all the heady freedoms of the late 60s – with a soaring approach that definitely lives up to the cover image! There's a blend of rough and rootsy with confident and cosmic going on – a really powerful approach that's made the album a standout for years, even if the group never hit some of the fame of their bigger contemporaries. Titles include "We Feel Fine", "Friendly Birds", "Down At Circe's Place", "The Spiritual Death Of Howard Greer", and "Seventy Five". CD features some great bonus tracks – rare demo versions fo "We Finally Met Today", "Alesha & Others", and "The Spiritual Death Of Howard Greer" – plus film music for "The Second Coming Of Suzanne", and the cut "Blue Feeling". CD

An excellent bit of 80s groove! Unlimited Touch have a cool 2-female lead vocal style – and they keep it tight and soulful on grooves that have a nice tight club sound, in a style that often reminds us of Roy Ayers produced albums, like Ladies Of The 80s, or some of the more uptempo tracks on the Ramp album. The record's one of the more soulful efforts to come out on the Prelude label at the time – and it's got lots of nice tracks like "Private Party", "In The Middle", "Happy Ever After", and "I Hear Music In The Streets". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A pivotal record in the sound of the US scene at the end of the 60s – and a record that seems to trace an entire evolution in rock during the space of just one album! Touch have roots that go back to The Kingsmen and Don & The Goodtimes – and you can definitely hear garage elements in the organ and guitars – but they're also stretching out freely in all the heady freedoms of the late 60s – with a soaring approach that definitely lives up to the cover image! There's a blend of rough and rootsy with confident and cosmic going on – a really powerful approach that's made the album a standout for years, even if the group never hit some of the fame of their bigger contemporaries. Titles include "We Feel Fine", "Friendly Birds", "Down At Circe's Place", "The Spiritual Death Of Howard Greer", and "Seventy Five". LP, Vinyl record album

Three full albums from this tremendous singer – all in a single set! Morning In Paris is very early work from South African singer Sathima Bea Benjamin – recorded in Paris in 1963, with backing by longtime partner Abdullah Ibrahim, plus additional piano and production by Duke Ellington! The album was cut around the same time as Ibrahim (Dollar Brand) did his famous Reprise album in Paris with Ellington – and it's got a similar mix of modern and moody styles – with Sathima singing in a mellower tone than we're used to from her later records, over extremely spare backing that often has the piano barely stepping in, and which also features some nice plucked violin work from Svend Asmussen – acting almost as the bass on a few tracks! Billy Strayhorn also sits in on this extremely unusual session – and titles include "The Man I Love", "Soon", "Lover Man", "I Should Care", "I Could Write A Book", and "Darn That Dream". Lovelight is always-great work from Sathima Bea Benjamin – one of the hippest jazz vocalists of the 80s, working here in a highly spiritual mode that sounds a lot more like records from many years past! There's a warmly gentle glow to the whole set – thanks to instrumentation from Larry Willis on piano, Buster Williams on bass, Billy Higgins on percussion, and Ricky Ford on tenor sax – all coming together in ways that are filled with unusual rhythms, odd turns of phrases, and just the right sort of unconventional accompaniment to fit the Africanist themes of Sathima's music at its best. A few numbers are more traditional, but even these have a nicely sensitive feel – and offer plenty of room for Willis to solo. Titles include "Winne Mandela Beloved Heroine", "African Songbird", "Gift Of Love – For Duke", "Music", and "You Are My Heart's Delight". Southern Touch is a set that's maybe a bit more of a straight jazz vocal record than some of Sathima Bea Benjamin's earlier material – but that might also be because the great Kenny Barron is part of the group on piano – supporting Sathima's great voice with the help of Buster Williams on bass and Billy Higgins on drums! Tunes are mostly standards, but it's great to hear them opened up with Benjamin's unique phrasing – that voice that was raised up on more righteous material in earlier years, and which still seems to bring some of that power to tunes that include "Street Of Dreams", "Lush Life", "One Alone", "I'm Glad There Is You", and "I've Heard That Song Before". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Featuring Yelena Eckemoff on piano, Mark Turner on sax, Joe Locke on vibraphone, George Mrarz on bass and Billy Hart on drums. CD

Includes vocal and instrumental remixes of "First Cut", "Cool Blue", "Paint A Rumour", and "Regrets". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Clean album sampler, with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana on "It's Nuttin" and "The Way We Roll", 50 Cent and Paul Wall on "Just A Touch", and Jae Millz on "Bring It Back". 12-inch, Vinyl record

The modern touch indeed! You can't get any more classic Benny Golson than this – a sublime late 50s album that features Benny with a sextet, working out amazing versions of the sorts of material that set him apart from every other jazz arranger of the time! The tracks here are complicated, yet have a rootsy soulfulness that makes them instantly compelling – and Benny's tone on tenor sax is sharp and angular, yet also has a raspiness that gives it a degree of honesty you wouldn't expect from a budding young modernist. The rest of the players – Max Roach, Paul Chambers, Wynton Kelly, JJ Johnson, and Kenny Dorham – are equally great, too – and amidst Benny's arrangements, they come together as if they'd been playing in this format for years! Titles include "Out Of The Past", "Venetian Breeze", "Reunion", "Hymn To The Orient", and "Blues On Down". CD