One of our favorite albums of all times – and a legendary testament to the greatness of the Chicago music scene in the late 60s! Melvin Jackson was the bassist in Eddie Harris' very successful group of the time – and his playing on Eddie's trippy and funky records for Atlantic is one of the factors that made them so great. Here, he's working with an acoustic bass, amplified with electronics like a Varitone sax – and this strange-sounding instrument is set up in a hip group that mixes Cadet funky studio players (Phil Upchurch, Morris Jennings, Jody Christian) with some of the brighter young players of the AACM (Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, and Leo Smith.) Jackson's bass is looped through all sorts of crazy effects, and the result is this amazing blend of avant garde playing and groovy rhythms that is beyond compare! The album includes great reworkings of two Eddie Harris funk tracks – "Bold and Black" and "Cold Duck Time" – plus monster originals like "Funky Doo", "Say What", "Dance Of The Dervish", and "Funky Skull (parts 1 & 2)". (Jazz, Soul) CD

One of the best later albums by Chocolate Milk – a bit different than their earlier work with Allen Toussaint, but still bouncing along in a sweet 80s groove, with more than enough traces of their roots as a funky combo! Leo Nocentelli's sitting in on guitar, adding some nice licks to keep some tracks a bit more firmly grounded in a New Orleans funk tradition, alongside some more modern production touches – and the album's got a compelling vibe that's partly pointed towards the boogie generation of the 80s, but with a heavier funk component overall! Titles include "Let's Go All The Way", "Like My Lady's Love", "Honey Bun", "Running On Empty", "Blue Jeans", and a version of Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long". CD also features 7" single mixes of "Honey Bun", "Take It Off", "Like My Lady's Love", and "Blue Jeans" – plus 12" mixes of "Video Queen", "Let's Go All The Way", and "Who's Getting It Now". CD

Includes music from Little Mr. Midnight, Lloyd Price, Dave Bartholomew, Shirley & Lee, The Royal Kings, Smiley Lewis, The Pelicans, Lowell Fulson, The Barons, Little Leo, Bobby Mitchell, Little Richard, Art Neville, and more – 120 tracks in all! CD

R&B, gritty blues, and some killer tenor talents – a wicked collection of vintage masters from legendary indie United Records! Musically, the package is very much on a par with Ace/Kent collections of this type – the sort that might feature material from King or Modern/RPM Records from the same vintage – and our hat's off to Delmark for doing such a great job of bringing back these crucially overlooked sounds from Chicago! Titles include "Cool Leo" by Leo Parker", "Cut That Out (alt)" by Junior Wells, "Organ Grinder" by Jimmy Coe, "Walking Home" by JT Brown, "Let's Get High" by Morris Pejoe, "Crazy Walk" by Tab Smith, "In The Dark" by Grant Jones, "Nona" by Paul Bascomb, "Goodbye" by The Pastels, "Tiny's Boogie" by Tiny Grimes, "Sophisticated Lady (alt)" by Jimmy Forrest, and "Come In The Room" by Robert Anderson. CD

Allen Toussaint's complete recordings for Warner – a trio of classic albums from one of the greatest forces in Crescent City soul, plus rare live tracks – in a perfect 2CD set! Includes the complete Life Love & Faith, Southern Nights and Motion albums – from a creatively fruitful 70s period when Toussaint was mixing a bit of funk into the heavy soul mix, and even some mellow LA soul touches – coming up with a blend of styles without ever betraying his New Orleans roots! New Orleans legends like Leo Nocentelli, Zig Modeliste, Art Neville and George Porter Jr factor in to the Life Love & Faith and Southern Nights sessions, along with LA sessions all stars like Richard Tee, Victor Feldman, Paulinho Da Costa, Larry Carlton and producer Jerry Wexler on the Motion sessions – this this excellent Rhino CD anthology also include 10 previously unreleased live records! Titles include Soul Sister", "Victims Of The Darkness", "Am I Expecting Too Much", "Out Of The City", "Goin Down", "Electricity", "Fingers & Toes", Southern Nights", "Basic Lady", "Last Train", "Worldwide", "You Will Not Lose", "When The Party's Over", Motion", "Night People", "Just A Kiss Away", "Declaration Of Love", "Viva La Money" and more from the studio recordings, plus "Touch Of Love", "Brickyard Blues", "What Is Success", "Shoo-Ra", "Last Train" and more live tracks! CD

A surprisingly nice reworking of the Gershwin score – and Ray and Cleo are a surprisingly nice match on vocals! CD

Music from Soul Survivors, The Intruders, Archie Bell & The Drells, Jerry Butler, The O'Jays, The Intruders, Dusty Springfield, Wilson Pickett, Billy Paul, Bunny Sigler, Laura Nyro & LaBelle, Joe Simon, Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes, The Ebonys, and more. CD

An essential collection of work from the legendary Minnie Riperton – a set that was crucial to so many listeners, as during the early years of the CD era, it was the only way you could find any of her music in print! And all these many years later, the set's still a wonderful introduction to her charms – filled with all the right cuts that will both introduce you to Minnie's many charms, and help longtime listeners remember just what a special talent she was in soul music, before being taken from our planet all too soon! The work here is all post-Rotary Connection, post-Chess Records – when Minnie was out in Cali, and working with key musical partner Richard Rudolph, as well as heavyweights like Stevie Wonder and Leon Ware too. CD features 17 tracks in all – including "Perfect Angel", "Memory Lane", "Lovin You", "Stick Together", "Woman Of Heart & Mind", "Young Willing & Able", "Light My Fire", Simple Things", "Stay In Love", "Can You Feel What I'm Saying", "Wouldn't Matter Where You Are", "Give Me Time", You Take My Breath Away", "Inside My Love", "Here We Go", and "Adventures In Paradise". CD

An excellent album by Jr Walker and group – one that has them moving past the honking sax combo format of other albums, into a more expanded Motown-esque soul approach that mixes vocals and tenor into a swirling blend of grooves! Arrangements are by Paul Riser and Willie Shorter, and Johnny Bristol gave the album some of that sparkling production he could whip up on his best days. Includes the hit "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)", plus "San Ho Zay", "Hot Cha", "Sweet Soul", "Ame Cherie", and "Cleo's Mood". CD

A great little set that really looks at the wide range of sounds handled by Miami's TK Records powerhouse in the 70s – a label that's famous for its big disco hits, but which also had a lot more to offer, too! There's definitely some clubby cuts on the collection, but most of those are nicely past the TK hits of the time – and interspersed here with other numbers that shows the label's great commitment to deep soul, where they were flying the flag strongly after labels like Atlantic or Stax had dropped the ball. There's also some surprisingly smooth, sophisticated cuts – showing the modern soul shift the label was making – and which no doubt would have suited them very strongly into the 80s, had they kept up their 70s steam. Titles include "Secret Lover" by Paulette Reeves, "Ebony Affair" by Timmy Thomas, "That's What I Get" by Beginning Of The End, "Fly" by The Stylistics, "What Do We Do About Our Love" by Leon Debouse, "Can't Do Without You" by Eddie Horan, "Somebody's Gettin It" by Ted Taylor, "That Woman" by Wilson Pickett, "Tonight Is The Night" by Betty Wright, "Put Pride Aside" by Latimore, "People Fall In Love" by Foxy, and "Tired Of Hiding" by Jackie Moore. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

Lightning Hopkins gets accompanied by Leonard Gaskin and Herbie Lovelle. 8 tracks in all, including "Wake Up Old Lady", "Don't Embarrass Me, Baby", "Stranger Here", "Little Sister's Boogie", "Goin Away", "You Better Stop Her", "Business You're Doin'" and "I'm Wit It". (Blues, Soul) CD

Mindblowing work by The Impressions – a double-length set that's totally great! First up is the soundtrack for the Fred Williamson/Jim Brown/Jim Kelly action flick Three The Hard Way – not only a great soundtrack, but one of the best 70s albums by The Impressions! The set was written, arranged, and produced by the Curtom super-team of Rich Tufo and Lowrell Simon – and it's got a super-dope feel that reminds us of the work by Natural Four from the same time, with sweet harmonies over funky backings, in a hip 70s groove that's totally great! All cuts are vocal, but they have plenty of funky moments – and in a way, the whole album's as great as the lead track, which is normally the best one in a blacksploitation soundtrack like this. In other words, if you dig hit soundtrack theme songs like "Across 110th Street" or "Theme from Cleopatra Jones", you'll dig this entire album! Tracks include the great "Having A Ball", plus "Make A Resolution", "Something's Mighty Mighty Wrong", and "Three The Hard Way (Chase & Theme)". First Impressions is hardly the first album by The Impressions, despite the title – but a wonderful batch of modern soul tunes that proves that the group could groove long after Curtis Mayfield was gone! As with other Curtom gems from the 70s, the album has the group working with some really top-shelf help in the studio – production from Ed Townsend, who does a really great job of making the harmonies sparkle with a rich quality that really stands out – a mode that returns the group to the mellow brilliance of their 60s recordings, but still keeps some of the maturity they picked up along the way. Townsend also wrote most of the tracks on the set, with a confident male soul style that's not unlike the best love-heavy territory that Marvin Gaye was exploring at the time – a perfect fit for the newly-refined vocals of the mid 70s quartet lineup that included original members Sam Gooden and Fred Cash, plus Ralph Johnson and Reggie Toran. Titles include the sublime "Groove", which has a nice two-step feel, and "Sooner Or Later", which is a nice mellow cut with an undercurrent of funk – and other tracks include "Old Before My Time", "Same Thing It Took", "I'm So Glad", and "How High Is High". CD

One of the all-time classics from Jr Walker & The All Stars – key proof that Motown could groove even when nobody was laying down vocals! As you might guess from the title, the album features the group's huge hit "Shotgun", plus lots of other cool funky little tracks like "Cleo's Back", "Tune Up", "Monkey Jump", "Do The Boomerang", "Shake & Fingerpop", "Shoot Your Shot", and lots more! The album's one of the group's strongest for Motown – and features that tight snapping groove that helped Jr take the tenor out of the R&B sound of the 50s, and place it into a whole new mode for the soulful 60s! CD

A treasure trove of rare postwar blues from the west coast – material cut for Dootsie Williams, best known as the head of the seminal Dootone label in LA! The set offers both tracks from Dootone and Williams' rarer imprint Blue – the latter of which existed from the late 40s into the early 50s, and featured a fair bit of excellent material done in the more laidback bluesy mode of LA after the war – styles popularized by Charles Brown, Cecil Gant, and others – echoed strongly in many of the performances here. As the set rolls on into the later 50s, some of the tracks pick up a bit more of an R&B sound – but the work is still relatively unified here, thanks to a good focus on the more blues-based work on Dootone. 30 tracks in all, plus some really great notes – all at the usual high Ace level! Titles include "Rent Day" by Stormy Herman, "Richmond Blues" by Betty Hall Jones, "West Coast Baby" by Johnny Taylor & His Mellow 5, "I Got A Country Girl" by Bobby Nunn, "Everybody's Jumpin Tonight" by Dootsie Williams & His Rhythm Kings with Joe Turner, "You'd Better Come Home Baby" by Violet Hall, "The Hole In The Wall" by Cleo Brown, "Are You Ready To Go Steady" by Paul Monday, and "Katy Lee" by Fats Gaines. CD

Music from Big T Tyler, the Five Keys, Illinois Jacquet, Louis Jordan, Pigmeat Markham, Ike & Tina Turner, Amos Milburn, Cleo Brown, T Bone Walker, Floyd Dixon & more. CD

The best work we've heard in years from Terry Callier – the legendary soul singer from Chicago who's finally getting his due! This album avoids many of the mistakes of Terry's recent comeback efforts – and has him working with the best of the London scene – extremely fitting, as London's always given Terry some of his biggest support, and were crucial in bringing him back from obscurity! Most of the tunes on the set are produced by Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick, of Incognito – and they go for a spacious sound that's a strong extension of Terry's classic work for Cadet – rough vocals and acoustic guitar mixed with warmer keyboards, tight rhythms, and touches of strings. The album also features guest appearances by Paul Weller, Marc Mac of 4 Hero, and a number of other important London forces – and tracks include "Brother To Brother", "Imagine A Nation", "Monuments Of Mars", "Darker Than A Shadow", "Running Around", and "Speak Your Piece". CD features 14 tracks in all – including "Turn This Mutha", "Caravan Of Love", "Sierra Leone", "Just My Imagination", and "Tokyo Moon". CD