A stone classic from Jerry Butler – the kind of album that goes way past his hits, and which shows the full depth of his work in the early years! The set features a great assortment of tunes that dwell in the darker corners of adult love – some of the first really well-crafted male vocal sides in soul, sung in Jerry's rich-voiced Iceman style of the time! The whole thing's great, with a deep palette of soulful emotion – and titles include "Where Do I Turn", "Aware Of Love", "Without Your Love", "When Trouble Calls", "Find Another Girl", "Is This True Love", "Love Me", "One By One", and "Couldn't Go To Sleep". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Two Atlanta soul tracks from the 70s – back to back on a funky 45! "Higher Than High" has a great quick-stepping groove – almost a blacksploitation sort of vibe, which is matched by some nice Curtis Mayfield-type changes as the lyrics progress – but served up by Joe Graham in a style that's definitely his own! The flipside has John Edwards working some great magic on a sweet tune by Sam Dees – really opening up that emotion that Sam can bring to a song like "It's Got To Be The Real Thing"! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Warmly well-rounded sounds from a mighty strong trio – a group who are certainly aware of some of the newer modes of expression that have opened up for the piano trio in the 21st Century, but who also balance things out with a more standard approach from time to time too! There's a very cohesive blend of elements here – drums from Mark Guiliana, bass (both electric and acoustic) from Tim Lefebre, and acoustic and electric piano from Jeff Babko – in a modes that move between hardbop swinging and more tangled-up approaches that really emphasize a rhythmic energy. Most tracks are nice and long – and titles include "New Wave Theater", "This West", "The Church Of Bill Hilton", "Chongo's Song", "Boo Boo's Birthday", and "Fugue Robotique". LP, Vinyl record album

Really fantastic later work from Bobby Darin – material that's quite different than the simple pop of his early Atco years, and even the jazzier style he used earlier on in the 60s! The set is one of two issued by the Direction label – and features Bobby taking off from some of the Tim Hardin-inspired modes he was using later on at Atlantic – picking up some of the deeper themes of the earlier singer-songwriter years – and singing in a very moody, contemplative style! According to some, Darin was aware that his health only gave him a few more years to live – which was part of the introspection of the music – and although the style owes a lot to Tim Hardin and some of his contemporaries, the songs are all originals by Darin – with some elements that are very different than before. Tracks include "Hey Magic Man", "Light Blue", "Distractions", and "Song For a Dollar". Features four bonus tracks too – "Sweet Reasons", "Maybe We Can Get It Together", "Baby Man", and "RX Pyro (Prescription Fire)". LP, Vinyl record album

We love the music of Chip Wickham – a very soulful reed player who easily moves between spiritual and modal modes – sometimes grooving, sometimes a bit more open – and always working with a fantastic sense of color and tone! Here, Chip plays both flute and tenor sax – the latter on just one track, as most of the record features his flute lines stepping out over these well-crafted rhythms – served up by Phil Wilkinson on piano, Simon Houghton on bass, and Jon Scott on drums – with guest work along the way from Ton Risco on vibes, and Malcolm Strachan and Eoin Grace on trumpets. The tunes have a quality that's like late 60s Blue Note or Verve material from the generation who were aware of Coltrane, but not directly copping his approach – maybe more loving modal energy, which you'll hear plenty of on the tracks "Slow Down Look Around", "Seven Worlds", "Love & Life", and "Space Walk". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible little record with a sound that's unlike anything else we've ever heard before – a set that mixes jazzy inflections on vibes, organ, guitar, percussion, and flute – the last of which is played here by a young Hermeto Pascoal! The set was done after Pascoal's work in Quarteto Novo but before some of his more complicated jazz albums of the 70s – and it's got a style that mixes his own love of playful rhythms and complicated shadings with a lighter, freer approach to the music – one that's almost in line with some of the EMI/Odeon work of the time, but which comes off with a slightly different feel. The drums get quite funky at times, and the mix of instruments reminds us a fair bit of the legendary Aquarians album on Uni from the US – but with an influence that's more bossa-driven, in comparison to the Latin modes of that set. At times, there's a lightly dancing beauty to the record that's almost in soundtrack mode – but tunes are more focused overall, and clearly aware of their own instrumental power. Titles include "Gamboa", "Rhodosando", "Cancao Latina", "Summer Hill", "Pavane", "Chaye", "Gosto De Ser Como Sou", "Casa Forte", and "O Passaro". LP, Vinyl record album

A blistering live set from the legendary Sister Rosetta Tharpe – an artist who may be a gospel singer, but was also a huge influence on soul and rock music too – thanks to an incredible vocal range, and a way of playing the electric guitar that influenced countless others! This 1966 live set has Rosetta captured at a time when she was well aware of her influence on newer styles of music – and maybe working even harder than usual to top them, commanding the stage with a presence that's incredible – just guitar and vocals, but with a righteous power that would blow most other large ensembles away! Titles include "Up Above My Head I Hear Music In The Air", "Down By The Riverside", "Sit Down", "Moonshine", "This Train", "Didn't It Rain", "Go Ahead", "Bring Back Those Happy Days", "Beams Of Heaven", and "Two Little Fishes Five Loaves Of Bread". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost classic in the funky poetry mode of the 70s – and right up there with the best work from the time by the Last Poets, Jim Ingram, or Gil Scott Heron! Bama's got a rough-edged voice that works very well with the funkier backings of the set – handled by a team that includes Bernard Purdie on drums, Richard Tee on keyboards, and Cornell Dupree on guitar – and this rough vocal style also fits the themes of the tunes, which are still as political and righteous as other work in the genre, but a bit more down to earth as well. The music itself was arranged and composed by Jimmy Wizner and Billy Jackson – and titles include "Ghettos Of The Mind", "The Right To Be Wrong", "Nothingness", "Drunken Sister", "I Got Soul", "Welfare Slave", "Social Narcotics", and "Blackman, My Brother". LP, Vinyl record album

The breakthrough album by Blondie! Parallel Lines is their third album overall, and having been released only 7 months after their second, you know they were hungry to break big – and they do it here with unbeatable cool. For as tight and bright as as the sound is, a trademark of producer Mike Chapman, there's still something of the raucous downtown energy here – and also some pretty great stylistic strides, such as the disco-aware smash "Heart Of Glass". Includes the equally classic "One Way Or Another" plus "Hanging On The Telephone", "Just Go Away", "I Know But I Don't Know" "Will Anything Happen", "Picture This", "11:59 and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic showcase for the early genius of John Hartford – one of the most unique singers to record for RCA in the late 60s! Hartford has roots in folk, an appeal that reaches the hipper side of the Nashville scene, but also is very much his own man – kind of a wittier version of some of the social commentators of a few years before, with as much of a post-modern critique of his own music as of society in the 60s. In some ways, this self-aware approach makes Hartford almost a country version of Harry Nilsson – although less tragic, too – and this album features the core sound of the previous records augmented by these beautiful larger arrangements by Al Capps – which only further the hip vibe of tunes that include "Mr Jackson's Got Nothing To Do", "The Collector", "I've Heard That Tearstained Monologue You Do There By The Door Before You Go", "Orphan Of World War Two", "I Didn't Know The World Would Last This Long", and "The Wart". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Eddie Palmieri's greatest albums of the 70s – even though it was recorded for a major label! Like a number of his old counterparts in the New York indie world at the time, Eddie made a move to Columbia Records in the late 70s – a shift that should have dampened his soul, but which only served to set him free in a broad wash of new styles! The sound here is fuller than before, but in a really great way – a style that takes the inventive rhythms and piano work of Eddie's earlier albums, and infuses it with that breakout groove of the late Nuyorican generation – a style that was both keenly aware of tradition, yet also able to communicate the local flavor of the New York scene to an increasingly global audience! Most of the album's in a Latin jazz mode, but there's also some great soul touches on the set from time to time – and tracks range from spare, raw percussive numbers to others that have a swirling set of arrangements that really take off. Soloists include Ronnie Cuber and Afredo "Chocolate" Armenteros, plus a great lineup that includes Franceso Aquabella, Dom Um Romao, and the other Palmieri, Charlie, on piano and organ – and most of the vocals are in choro format. Titles include "Spirit Of Love", "Lucumi Macumba Voodoo", "Colombia Te Canto", "Mi Congo Te Llama", and "Highest Good". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic early album for Ze Records, like other sets on Ze at the time a brilliant blend of funk, punk, rock, and soul – done with a post-P Funk approach to the grooves that puts plenty of bass on the bottoms, and which also flows lots of other interesting instrumentation into the grooves to keep things fresh. The production is stellar – soulful, bouncing, and joyously aware of every element of the full album's potential – and the whole album's a lively ensemble affair that features work by artists as diverse as Wayne Kramer, Marcus Belgrave, and Sweet Pea Atkinson! 8 tracks in all, including "Oh, Mr Friction!", "Out Come The Freaks", "It's An Attack", "Carry Me Back To Old Morocco", "The Sky's Ablaze" and "Tell Me That I'm Dreaming". LP, Vinyl record album

Bobby Harden's got a great way of putting over a tune – he's not a soul singer out to top James Brown, or try to leap into the fray with a real funky frenzy – and instead, he approaches the material with the laidback confidence of some of our southern soul favorites from years past – all with a vibe that really makes the album shine! The presentation of the songs by the Soulful Saints is great – themselves an equally understated group, and clearly aware that Bobby's the main attraction of the set – which he definitely is, in this overdue debut that's clearly going to make him one of the best underground soul singers in years to come. Titles include "One Tribe", "Wounded Hearts", "Bridge Of Love", "Runnin", "Raise Your Mind", "It's My Time", "Feels So Good", and "One Night Of The Week". LP, Vinyl record album

A hell of a groove from organist Don Shinn – one of the legendary albums recorded for the Landsdowne Series in the UK at the end of the 60s – and like the rest, a set that turns conventional jazz on its ear! Shinn plays Hammond, and a bit of piano – but hardly in ways that echo the American scene, save maybe for some of the changes of Larry Young – but even then, maybe more in the mode of Young when he would start to jam a bit more in the 70s – as Don works here alongside guitarist Paul Hodgeson, who's not afraid to add in some exotic elements to his strings – with bass from Eric Ford and drums from Peter Wolf – all delivered with the intensity of a group who are clearly aware of the changes in rock, but still lean more heavily towards jazz. This isn't fusion, and it's not really prog either – but a very special blend that makes the album a treasure through and through, on titles that include "Pits Of Darkness", "A Minor Explosion", "The Jolly Dance", and "Hearts Of Gladness". LP, Vinyl record album

A new album from the great Willie West – an artist we love for his rare vintage New Orleans work of the 60s and 70s – still sounding surprisingly wonderful all these many years later! Willie's vocals have this raspy, honest charm that's totally great – and like Lee Fields during his revival years, West gets superb backing from a small combo of younger players who really appreciate the best roots of the music – tight but unpretentious grooves that feel just like a vintage 45, and suit Willie West to a T! The style is less New Orleans than it is a more righteous, sophisticated version of funky soul – one with some nice dark corners that really raise our opinion of Willie's talents – again with the sort of deeper vibe we love in the recent work by Lee Fields. Titles include "Slow & Easy", "Cold In The Storm", "She's So Wise", "The Devil Gives Me Everything", "Getting Down", and "I'm Aware Of What You Want". LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece of messed-up LA funk – and one of the crowning moments in the career of Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band! Charles and crew do an excellent job with all the tracks – most of which are more open ended than some of their earlier ones, and run on for longer than usual with some good trippy instrumental moments that really stretch out the groove from their funky 45 days. The album includes the stoner funk classic "High As Apple Pie", done here in two "slices", plus the classic "Express Yourself", a monster number that still sounds great every time we hear it – even though it's been used on commercials and sampled plenty of times over the years! Other tracks include "I'm Aware", "Love Land", and "I Got Love" LP, Vinyl record album

A real genre-defying record from the contemporary London scene – a set produced by Shabaka Hutchings, and done with that post-jazz vibe that's really been creeping into his music in recent years! There's a very strong hip hop component to the record at times – thanks to key appearances from Billy Woods, Elucid, Anthony Joseph, and others – but the album also has an instrumental focus at the core, with work from Alex Hawkins on piano, Ross Harris on reeds, Daisy George on bass, and Jas Kayser on drums – players who work with lots of production and processing, so that their contributions are often abstracted into part of a richer, darker whole. Kofi Flexx is less of an artist than a process, as described in the notes – and that process is very strongly at work here – on titles that include "It Was All A Dream", "Apothecary", "Increase Awareness", "Aim", "Fire", "Babylon Dun Topple", "Flowers In The Dark", "By Now", and "Show Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic record by this important Japanese band, and one that was actually made in Canada, despite the title – at a time when the group were visiting, and managed to create this wonderful record with a very relaxed, organic vibe! Vocals are in English, and lead singer Joe Yamanaka has a style that's unlike anyone else we can think of – not afraid to really run up with expressive passages when needed, but also sometimes nestled right down next to the fuzzy guitar and heady bass – which occasionally have echoes of some of the new hard rock modes of the UK, but with more of a sense of space between the notes, which Joe is more than happy to fill in a really great way! Guitarist Hideki Ishima also plays a bit of sitar – and titles include "Spasms", "Heaven & Hell", "That's All", "Hiroshima", "Aw Give Me Air", "Kamikaze", and "Unaware". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic record by this important Japanese band, and one that was actually made in Canada, despite the title – at a time when the group were visiting, and managed to create this wonderful record with a very relaxed, organic vibe! Vocals are in English, and lead singer Joe Yamanaka has a style that's unlike anyone else we can think of – not afraid to really run up with expressive passages when needed, but also sometimes nestled right down next to the fuzzy guitar and heady bass – which occasionally have echoes of some of the new hard rock modes of the UK, but with more of a sense of space between the notes, which Joe is more than happy to fill in a really great way! Guitarist Hideki Ishima also plays a bit of sitar – and titles include "Spasms", "Heaven & Hell", "That's All", "Hiroshima", "Aw Give Me Air", "Kamikaze", and "Unaware". LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overdue full length album from The Mojo Men – one that's comprised of rare singles and early demo cuts by the group – a killer act on the San Francisco scene who followed the same Beau Brummels path from Autumn Records to Warner Brothers! The music definitely echoes some of that legacy, but also has a vibe that's very much its own – psychedelic garage at times, and delivered in a way that's nicely lean, and unadorned by the kind of larger production that another label might have used to either muddle or ruin their sound. The lean brilliance is right up there with some heady Cali favorites that were issued by Warner and Reprise at the time – and had the label had the smarts, this record would have been another classic catalog release from those glory days! Titles include "Watch You Walk Away", "Sure Of Your Love", "When You're Down", "I Wish Today Was Yesterday", "Take Me Away", "Unaware Of Me", "Candy", and "It's Okay". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hippest entries in the Red Hot series so far – a set of tracks dedicated to the legendary Fela Kuti – felled by AIDS after years of influential grooves – still being felt strongly by the rich array of artists collected in the set! Most tracks are contemporary, but feature a strong influence of the 70s modes of Fela's generation – those sharp percussive lines at the bottom of the tracks, soaring Afro-styled horn passages, and a righteous energy that really drives the whole thing all the way through! The package was put together in support of AIDS/HIV awareness, but is hardly an act of charity – as it's overflowing with great cuts that more than make the set stand as an Afro Funk collection on its own. Most tracks are remakes of older Fela numbers – and titles include "Buy Africa" by Baloiji & L'Orchestre De A Katuba, "Yellow Fever" by Spoek Mathambo & Zaki Ibrahim, ""Gentleman" by Just A Band & Baja, "Go Slow" by King, "Sorro Tears & blood" by Kronos Quartet & Kyp Malone, "Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am" by My Morning Jacket, "Afrodisco Beat 2013" by Tony Allen & M1, and "Lady" by Tune Yards, ?uestlove, and Angelique Kidjo. LP, Vinyl record album

Jimmy Smith heard in the kind of setting that spawned him – playing live at Delaware's Club Baby Grand – just the sort of smoky little jazz room that initially fostered his talents! The liveness of the set brings a really nice edge to the album – a sound that's grittier than some of Jimmy Smith's studio work of the early Blue Note years – and which features him really stretching out on the Hammond, taking close to 10 minutes to run through each tune – and that's saying a lot, given that there's hardly any other soloists! The rest of the group features Thornel Schwartz on guitar and Donald Bailey on drums – and tracks on this first volume include "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Where Or When", "Rosetta", and "The Preacher". LP, Vinyl record album