... CD

... CD

Tremendous early work from German saxophonist Joki Freund – a player who would go onto much greater fame in the progressive years at the end of the 60s, but who already sounds plenty darn great on this early combo side from 1963! The style of the work is incredibly hip – with a definite John Coltrane modal groove in place, but also a sense of globally conscious jazz that's very much in the spirit of classic Saba/MPS work, but which predates most of that by a number of years! Freund plays tenor and soprano sax here – in a sextet with Wolfgang Dauner on piano, Emil Mangelsdorff on flute and alto, Eberhard Weber on bass, Karl Theodor Geier on bass, and Peter Baumeister on drums – and the record is overflowing with great tunes that more than live up to the compelling title and cover image! Lots of "Eastern" styled numbers – and titles include "Aisha", "Carribean Ringo", "Yogiana", "HL 20", and "Killer Joe". CD

Tremendous early work from German saxophonist Joki Freund – a player who would go onto much greater fame in the progressive years at the end of the 60s, but who already sounds plenty darn great on this early combo side from 1963! The style of the work is incredibly hip – with a definite John Coltrane modal groove in place, but also a sense of globally conscious jazz that's very much in the spirit of classic Saba/MPS work, but which predates most of that by a number of years! Freund plays tenor and soprano sax here – in a sextet with Wolfgang Dauner on piano, Emil Mangelsdorff on flute and alto, Eberhard Weber on bass, Karl Theodor Geier on bass, and Peter Baumeister on drums – and the record is overflowing with great tunes that more than live up to the compelling title and cover image! Lots of "Eastern" styled numbers – and titles include "Aisha", "Carribean Ringo", "Yogiana", "HL 20", and "Killer Joe". LP, Vinyl record album

A really joyous groove from Michel Fugain and his Big Bazar group – a sound that's a bit hard to describe, but which really grabs us right away! There's definitely some groovy rhythms going on in the set – and the style is kind of an updated French pop mode from the late 60s – swinging in a way that absorbs plenty of influences from the outside scenes, particularly some Brazilian ones – but with a sound that's definitely French all the way through. Fugain's vocals are in the lead, often supported by a chorus – and the backings by Jean Bouchety have this really cool soundtrack feel at points – especially when the rhythms are upbeat and grooving. Titles include "Allez Bouge-Toi", "Attention Mesdames Et Messieurs", "Notre Societe", "Les Gens Irremplacables", "Leda Leda", and "L'Arche De Noe". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool set, with work by players who include Albert Mangelsdorff on trombone, Ack Van Rooyen and Manfred Schoof on trumpets, Gunter Lenz on bass, Wolfgang Dauner on piano, and Rolf Kuhn, Heinz Saur, Gerd Dudek, and Emil Mangelsdorff on saxes! LP, Vinyl record album

With Teddy Wilson on piano, Lionel Hampton on vibraphone, and Gene Krupa on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible bit of global jazz from the French scene at the start of the 70s – one of those really unique records that's beyond easy definition, and which really represents all the cool criss-crossings in styles that were taking place on the Parisian scene at the time! Majole Hajary was born in Suriname, raised in Amsterdam, and has a background in Indian culture – but he also works here with the very groovy French arranger Roger Guerin, who plays trumpet and does a masterful job of bringing the whole thing together – in a blend of voices, rhythms, and instrumentation that all feels like some of the more compelling work on Saravah Records at the time! Lyrics are in French, traded between a few different singers with a very spiritual vibe – and Guerin's trumpet solos over the top, often like Donald Byrd in his "with voices" mode, but hipper – especially as other instrumentation includes sitar, organ, tablas, and lots of other great elements! Titles include "Judas", "Notre Pere", "Priere", "Gethsemani", "Les Apotres", and "La Mort De Judas". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

Titles include "This Is All", "Little Demon", "Just Don't Care", "You Made Me Love You", "Yellow Cat", "Frenzy", "Feast Of The Mau Mau", and "I Put A Spell On You" – 17 tracks total. CD

A sweet little record from this Japanese trio – all instrumental, and put together in a style that blends elements of electro pop, electric fusion, and maybe a bit of sound library funk! The tunes are all pretty vivid – maybe evoking the scene in the title – but they also have elements that tie them more strongly to the emerging electronic groove coming from the Japanese scene at the end of the 70s – almost as if you were stripping away vocals, and coming up with spare tracks that are heavy on keyboards and other eletric touches. Titles are all in Japanese – but translate as "Aegean Fantasy", "Rose Between The Waves", "Image", "Daybreak", "Aphrodite's Mourning", and "Mykonos' Bride". LP, Vinyl record album

The first breakaway effort from the trio of Ernie Isley, Chris Jasper, and Marvin Isley – a set that's got an even leaner groove than some of the Isley Brothers material from years before! The group really hit their stride right away – stepping out in a sweet array of funky rhythms that have some definite 80s touches on the beats, yet which still share all the best Isleys elements overall! Guitar parts are especially sharp – that carved in soul sound that showed up in most Isleys projects from the early 70s onwards – and the vocals have a great sense of warmth and soul, especially on the mellower tunes in the set, which turn down some of the more hook-heavy rhythms heard on other tracks. Titles include "Serve You Right", "Sex Drive", "Love Is Gonna Last Forever", "Kiss & Tell", "I Can't Get Over Losin You", "Look The Other Way", "Break This Chain", and "Broadway's Closer Than Sunset Blvd". LP, Vinyl record album

Takashi Kako on solo piano. CD

Includes "Love Symphony", "Living Double", "Look To The Rainbow", "What Can I Do For You", "If You Don't Know Me By Now", and "Where I Wanna Be". LP, Vinyl record album

Patti's first solo album – recorded after splitting with the group Labelle, moving into a more sophisticated Diva soul mode that kept her strong for years to come! The album's pretty great, stepping out into the solo soul realm with terrific footing – and the best tunes have a smoothed out modern approach that's actually quite refreshing – and a bit better than some of the work by Labelle in the late years! 9 tracks in all, including "Dan Swit Me", "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover", "I Think About You" and "Do I Stand A Chance". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant modern jazz from German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff – recording here in 1964, but sounding years ahead of his time, with an amazing a blend of jazz and Asian styles! The album's one of Mangelsdorff's best ever – a set of rhythmic tunes that seem clearly informed by the work of Ornette and Joe Harriott, but also based along eastern themes picked up by the group on a tour of the Orient – and performed by a sharp-edged quintet that includes Heinz Sauer on tenor and soprano sax, Gunter Kronberg on alto, Gunter Lenz on bass, and Ralph Hubner on drums. There's some nice traces of MPS/Saba modal and Jazz Meets the World styles – and overall, the rhythmic pulse keeps things from getting as free and out as on Mangelsdorff's 70s sides – really soaring, but never too far out – and always with a cool exotic groove. The whole thing's great – instantly striking, and always a treasure – and titles include "Sakura Waltz", "Now Jazz Ramwong", "Raknash", "Theme From Vietnam", and "Burungkaka". LP, Vinyl record album

With Kenny Kirkland on piano, Robert Hurst on bass, and Jeff 'Tain' Watts on drums. CD

A crucial bit of keyboard funk from the 70s – a wild album of many moods, recorded in 1974, and featuring the talents of keyboard whiz Marc Moulin! Moulin's since been resurrected and given the credit he deserves – but at the time of release, this rare gem was somewhat lost – caught underneath the weight of more famous work by players like Herbie Hancock or George Duke. The album's got a jazzy groove in parts – and in others it's got a totally stripped down feel, and sounds a lot like a lost David Axelrod album, or a rare Herbie Hancock Japanese session. Includes the totally excellent 17 minute cut "Tohubohu", plus goodies like "La Blouse", "La Bougie", and "From". CD

... CD

... CD

George Clinton may have pretty well disbanded Parliament and Funkadelic by the time the 80s came around, but the Mothership is still soaring highly on this first album from the P-Funk All Stars project – featuring some (but not all) of George Clinton's better players from various groups! Urban Dancefloor Guerillas his a pretty great little set of jammed-up cuts produced by Clinton, Bootsy, Gary Shider, and Sly Stewart. The flame was still burning, even in the "dark years" of the litigious early 80s – on a set that's actually a bit more stylistically diverse than some the related projects, though unified by never wavering funk! Titles include "Copy Cat", "Pumpin' It Up", "Catch A Keeper", and "Generator Pop". CD

Great material from a very famous session, recorded on 11/26/1945, originally issued on 78s, along with extra tracks, compiled here in one of Savoy's posthumous Bird LPs from the early 60s. The group includes Miles Davis on trumpet, Bud Powell on piano, Curley Russell on bass, and Max Roach on drums – and titles include original and alternate takes of "Thriving From A Riff", "Meandering", "Koko", "Now's The Time", and "Billie's Bounce", all in early famous versions! LP, Vinyl record album

UK issue of one of the better of the many posthumous albums that Savoy issued after Bird's death. The set combines master takes and alternates of classic Parker material for the label, and includes pivotal bop tracks like "Another Hair-do", "Blue Bird", "Bird Gets The Worm", "Constellation", "Ah-Leu-Cha", "Barbados", and "Klaunstance". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

A fantastic bit of female funk from the 70s – and a set that was recorded in Germany by a very exotic singer! The album is Asha Puthli's first – and includes some unusual interpretations of work by JJ Cale, John Lennon, Bill Withers, and George Harrison – plus a great tune of her own – set to these cool backings that have lots of spacey electric modes blended with smoother funk passages – kind of a precursor to later Munich disco modes, but with a slower, slinkier feel. Asha's voice is very weird – a bit in the "love to love you baby" mode, and with a range of sounds that moves up and down the scale almost as much as Minnie Riperton. The record's got a nice mix of jazzy arrangements, and Asha's unique high-pitched vocals work great on tracks like "Lies", "Right Down Here", "I Dig Love", "Truth", "I Am A Song", "Let Me In Your Life", and "This Is Your Life". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A smooth groovers from the mid 80s by Lonnie Liston Smith – a lot better than you might think for the time! Though this side's a set that leans a bit more towards being a straight jazz effort than some of Smith's more cosmic recordings of earlier years, it's got a sweet mellow feel – with Lonnie on acoustic piano, grooving with a small group on tunes that include "Duke's Place", "Close Your Eyes", "Speak Low", and "Wives & Lovers", plus the Cecil McBee original "Carry Paul & Louisa". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Solo work by Art Tatum, recorded with pretty high fidelity by Gene Norman at the Shrine Auditorium in LA! Despite the larger venue, there's a nice sense of intimacy here – both in the sound, and in Tatum's playing – which has a personal, speculative quality that's much more like hearing him in the wee hours at some small club. Titles include "The Man I Love", "Yesterdays", "Willow Weep For Me", "How High The Moon", "I Know That You Know", and "Tatum Pole Boogie". LP, Vinyl record album

Early trio material from the great pianist Louis Van Dyke – a set that's got that nice sense of space we always love in his muci! The trio here features strong work from Jacques Schols on bass and John Engels on drums, too. LP, Vinyl record album

Includes performaces with The Rhythmakers, Little Chocolate Dandies, Red McKenzie & His Mound City Blue Blowers, Ted Lewis & His Band, and Jack Teagarden & His Orchestra. LP, Vinyl record album

A Japanese-only album from Weather Report – recorded early in the group's career, and with some of the same sort of freedoms that Miles Davis was getting on his own double-length dates from Japan! The tracks here are quite stretched out, and often adventurous – showing a marked ability to jam heavily at one moment, get contemplative the next, and continually explore sounds on the frontiers of fusion in the 70s. The group's the "second chapter" Weather Report – with Wayne Shorter on reeds, Joe Zawinul on keyboards, Miroslav Vitous on bass, Eric Gravatt on drums, and Dom Um Romao on percussion – and titles include "Orange Lady", "Vertical Invader/Seventh Arrow/TH", "Surucucu/Lost/Early Minor/Direction", and "Tears/Umbrellas". LP, Vinyl record album

Early material from Lester Young's 78rpm years – pressed up on a sweet import compilation! Features some especially nice tracks with Glenn Hardman on organ! LP, Vinyl record album

A masterful meeting of two 50s modern jazz talents – the trumpet of Miles Davis balanced with the arrangements of Gil Evans – with results that have made the album one of Miles' greatest ever! The sound here is completely sublime – as Davis gets all chromatic and spooky over Evans' edgey arrangements – shimmering nicely in a perfect blend of modernism and lighter, more lyrical touches. The record's filled with loads of the kind of solos that Miles brought to his smaller group records – but they almost flower even more amazingly here in the larger setting. Titles include "Springsville", "Blues For Pablo", "New Rhumba", "Lament", and "Miles Ahead". This is the record that your dad bought to prove that he was cool – so buy it from us and keep up the family tradition! CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

One of Joe Farrell's first LPs as a leader – and a stellar session that's easily one of the early high points for the legendary CTI label! Farrell had been making some great noise in the underground during the late 60s – but here, he bursts forth as one heck of a soulful cat – working on these great modal grooves that slide out wonderfully and really have a sense of flow – a style that's different than Joe's later material, but equally powerful! Part of the strength of the record comes from the lineup – a key quintet of like-mined up-and-comers that includes Chick Corea on keyboards, John McLaughlin on guitar, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums – players who definitely know the farther reaches of jazz, yet hang just on the inside here with Joe – providing some amazing accompaniment for his lines on soprano, tenor, and flute. Titles include "Molten Glass", "Song Of The Wind", "Motion", "Follow Your Heart", and "Circle In The Square". CD

Loads of amazing keyboard lines – Glass on organ, intertwined with more keyboards and reeds! Titles include "Opening", "Floe", "Islands"," Rubric", "Facades", and "Closing". CD

... CD

A really cool British group, and one who work here with equal influences from blues and jazz – all at a level that has the complex riffing of a group like Colosseum mixed with some of the earthier woodwinds of Jethro Tull! Female lead singer Linda Rothwell has a really unique style, and one that doesn't try too hard to ape bigger American names of the time – while Joseph Rosbotham provides loads of cool work on flute and tenor, which further underscores the album's special kind of sound. Malcolm Grundy turns in some excellent work on guitar – and titles include "Port & Lemon Lady", "Hunters Song", "Men", "I Heard A Song About A Friend", "Emerge Breath Sunshine Dandelion", and "Prism". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Jazz funk genius from Freddie Hubbard in the mid 70s! Gleam was a Japanese-only double album from the jazz giant in its original release – mighty funky at times, too – right up there with some of the best Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock Japanese sets from the 70s! It's a live set captured in March of '75 at Tokyo's Yubin Chokin Hall – long numbers played by a group that includes Freddie on trumpet, Carl Randall on tenor and flute, George Cables on electric piano, Henry Franklin on bass, Carl Burnett on drums, and Buck Clark on percussion! Each player has plenty of space to groove, and it's very well captured – you can hear the most expressive solos and the most subtle nuances. Some great solos by Freddie and the rest of the players – breathless tenor & flute by Randall, keys by Cables that are jazz funk perfection and interplay between Burnett's drums and Clark's congas & percussion that's somehow tense and comfortable at the same time. The shortest number in the set runs more than the 7 minutes and the longest is more than 20 minutes – and none is one second shorter than necessary, actually leaving us pining for more – making it all the more vital in the double album format. Released on 2CDs for the first time ever here! How this great album has been so hard to find over the years is a mystery. Titles include "Kuntu", "Spirits Of Trane", an amazing cover of Stevie Wonder's "Too High", "Midnight At The Oasis", "Ebony Moonbeams", and "Put It In The Pocket". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge 80s moment for the Isley Brothers empire – a set that has Ernie and Marvin Isley stepping away from the main group with Chris Jasper – to reinvent their sound for the 80s! The record still has all the slinky soul and upbeat funk of the Isley material from the late 70s – but also pushes the groove in a slightly different way – often using leaner arrangements that are focused on beats, basslines, and keyboards – which only seem to make the warm vocals of the trio sound even more seductive in the end! There's that subtle sense of majesty that the group always had in their music at their height – an influence that might well come from the presence of Jasper – and the album's noteworthy for the wonderful "Caravan Of Love", a soulful spiritual tune that's kind of to 80s soul what The Impressions "People Get Ready" was to 60s soul! The album's got a good mellow harmony sound, and other titles include "Liberation", "I Can Hardly Wait", "Insatiable Woman", and "If You Believe In Love". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Titles include "Icarus Borne On Wings Of Steel", "All The World", "Mysteries & Mayhem", and "The Pinnacle". CD

... CD

An extended suite for a large ensemble conducted by Gunther Schuller and featuring 30 (!) musicians including Randy Brecker, Wynton Marsalis, John Handy, Bobby Watson, John Hicks, Sir Roland Hanna, John Abercrombie and Victor Lewis. CD

Melba Moore gets some great help here from the Philly soul duo of McFadden & Whitehead – whose soaring styles proves to be a perfect fit for her amazing voice! Melba had cut some great work before this set, but here things really seem to come together – her amazing range, her ability to be expressive without going over the top, and her maturing role as a soul singer – which would take her to great territory in years to come! There's almost an indie soul vibe to the record at times – never too overtly commercial, and sophisticated but not hitting you over the head either – on titles that include "You Stepped Into My Life", "Happy", "Pick Me Up I'll Dance", "There's No Other Like You", "Together Forever", and "It's Hard Not To Like You". LP, Vinyl record album

Murray's tenor and bass clarinet are nicely set in a warm lyrical quartet with John Hicks, Ray Drummond, and Ed Blackwell. The record features some nice long tracks that have Murray playing mostly inside, but with enough soul and raw talent to keep things moving nicely. Titles include "Walter's Waltz", "Ming's Samba", and "Spooning". CD

We know what you're thinking: "These guys were best in the 70s." Hold that thought for a moment and check out this great album – because unlike a lot of their other chart-topping contemporaries from 1972 and 1973, the O'Jays actually continued to mature as a group, and managed to turn out some really fantastic material during the 80s. This album is really quite nice – and feature the band's great harmony stylings set to some beautiful modern soul arrangements, with a really sweet mellow groove throughout. With "To Prove I Love You", "The Answer's In You", "Once Is Not Enough" and "You're The Girl Of My Dreams (Sho'nuff Real)". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Candy Man", "Only The Lonely", "Running Scared", "Love Hurts", "Leah", "In Dreams", "Uptown", "Mean Woman Blues", "Pretty Paper", "Oh Pretty Woman", and lots lots more! CD

A masterpiece of spacey soul by the great Asha Puthli – a really unique 70s singer who has this incredible vocal range, and a great way of using it amidst slinkily soulful tracks – a bit like Minnie Riperton, or maybe like some of the Sylvia Striplin work with Roy Ayers! The sound here is handled by Dieter Zimmermann – a German producer who adds in all these great keyboards that go perfectly with Asha's vocals – often hitting a midtempo pace that's quite different than some of the more disco-based material she'd record later on in the 70s. Titles include the standout break track "Space Walk", which is one of our all time favorite obscure soul tracks – and other tracks include "Wonder Why", "Hello Everyone", "Flying Fish", "The Devil Is Loose", "Good Night", and "Say Yes". LP, Vinyl record album

A totally unique album from the Brazilian scene of the 60s – a set that was recorded right in the middle of the big Tropicalia years, but which has more of the earthier touches that would emerge in the Brazilian scene during the 70s! Yet there's also a sense of tight arrangement here too – a bit like the soulful crackle that came from some of the EMI/Odeon sessions, but served up with a more folklyric sense of instrumentation – lots of percussion, cuica, and other regional elements – sometimes topped with a single horn, or maybe just a string flourish – but never in a way that dampens the earthy energy at the core! The sound is fantastic – mostly instrumental, although with some spare vocals too – and titles include "Agua Viva", "Ritual Negro", "Desengano Da Vista", "Dual", "Arabindu", "Quem Sou Eu", "Advertencia", and "Sem Sombra". CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

The starkest, sparest ever by Bruce Springsteen – sans accompaniment for the most part, having famously opted to release the haunting guitar, voice and harmonica demos as the actual album – and it's devastatingly strong to this day! The hallmark facet is that it's a largely solo acoustic record, the the great thing about that is how distinctively Springsteen sounding it is – with the all the earnestness of his more anthemic material, and more – just done with a sometimes somber, always intimate approach. One of those records that deserves all of the loft praise! Includes "Nebraska", "Atlantic City", "Mansion On The Hill", "Johnny 99", "State Trooper", "Used Cars", "Open All Night", "My Father's House" and "Reason To Believe".. CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

A beautiful album – the airy piano of Louis Van Dyke mixed with some sublime larger charts from Rogier Van Otterloo! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the biggest hits ever for Weather Report – thanks to Joe Zawinul's leadoff track "Birdland" – one of those tunes that entered the canon immediately, and saw countless covers pop up over the years – kind of a rare thing for a jazz tune at this point in time! The track's driving, building energy shows a newly focused side to Weather Report – one that's traded some of the spacier, more experimental moments of the past for a dynamic energy that still puts them ahead of most other 70s fusion supergroups. The presence of Jaco Pastorius is felt quite strongly here – especially on the way the colors ebb and flow up from the bottom – and the way that Jaco's using his bass with the energy of a solo jazz guitar! Alex Acuna and Manolo Badrena are on percussion, and Wayne Shorter's reeds still crackle with a nice degree of soul – on titles that include "Harlequin", "Rumba Mama", "A Remark You Made", "Teen Town", "Palladium", "Havona", and "The Juggler". CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Features additional guitar from Steve Khan. CD

Duets with Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, BB King, Stevie Wonder, and Ray Charles. CD

A killer late set by Bloodstone – one that holds on to all the excellent harmonies they brought to their 70s work, but which pushes their groove forward in a whole new direction! There's a warm modern glow to the set – one that works perfectly with the vocals – and the quintet still have a hell of a way with a ballad – singing in that slow-tripping style that was never too overly emotive, yet could pack a hell of a punch back in the day – especially in the wee hours! The tunes here are longer than before, and inflected by some rich arrangements by both the Isley Brothers and McKinley Jackson – and the set's got an Isleys-like approach by putting all the ballads on one side, and the groovers on another. These groovers really hold onto the harmonies wonderfully – making for a great follow-up to the ballads – and titles include the sublime smooth stepping track "We Go A Long Way Back", plus "Go On & Cry", "How Does It Feel", "Nite Time Fun", "My Love Grows Stronger", and "My Kind Of Woman". CD features great bonus tracks too – "My Love Grows Stronger (part 2)", "Go On & Cry (7" mix)", and "We Go A Long Way Back (12" mix)". CD

Features great work on tenor by Joe Henderson – alongside Eddie Gomez on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. LP, Vinyl record album