One of the best albums ever from reedman Buddy Collette – a great small group session with a harder edge than some of Buddy's later records for bigger labels! Collette was always one of the more interesting players from the LA scene of the 50s – and although he had his roots in harder jazz styles, he also played a lot of studio sessions – and had an amazing ability to shift through different modes and settings with effortless ease – and also shift his work on different reed instruments too! This album's a nice mix of both sides of his style – with some cuts that have Collette playing flute or clarinet with a lyrical groove, and some more hard-blowing tracks that feature alto and tenor – in a cool quintet that features Gerald Wilson on trumpet, Al Viola on guitar, Wilfred Middlebrook on bass, and Earl Palmer on drums The session's a darn tough one to find, despite its importance in Collette's career – and titles include "Walkin' Willie", "Changes", "The Cute Monster", and "Orlando Blues". CD features a bonus track – "Soft Touch (take 5)". CD

A seminal 50s session from the mighty Dexter Gordon – one of his few full albums from the decade, and one of the only ones to really capture him at the heart of his original LA scene! The set's got a nice bite, and a strong sense of focus – shorter tracks that step off strongly from the bop years that saw Gordon rise to fame, but without as much of the longer blowing from some of his "chase" recordings with other tenorists. Instead, the focus here is on great tight group sounds – just the right solo space to let each player open up and groove a bit, then come back together in sharp formation. The group features Dex on tenor, Jimmy Robinson on trumpet, Carl Perkins on piano, Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Chuck Thompson on drums – and titles include "Silver Plated", "Rhythm Mad", "Bonna Rue", "Blowin' For Dootsie", and "Cry Me A River". CD

Supposedly one of the first records of Dr King's speeches to be recorded – put together by Dootsie Williams in LA, and the forebearer of what would become a very popular genre in the 60s! The album was issued after King's death, but was recorded years before – and themes include the poverty and political situation in India and The American Dream. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best albums ever from reedman Buddy Collette – a great small group session with a harder edge than some of Buddy's later records for bigger labels! Collette was always one of the more interesting players from the LA scene of the 50s – and although he had his roots in harder jazz styles, he also played a lot of studio sessions – and had an amazing ability to shift through different modes and settings with effortless ease – and also shift his work on different reed instruments too! This album's a nice mix of both sides of his style – with some cuts that have Collette playing flute or clarinet with a lyrical groove, and some more hard-blowing tracks that feature alto and tenor – in a cool quintet that features Gerald Wilson on trumpet, Al Viola on guitar, Wilfred Middlebrook on bass, and Earl Palmer on drums The session's a darn tough one to find, despite its importance in Collette's career – and titles include "Walkin' Willie", "Changes", "The Cute Monster", and "Orlando Blues". CD features a bonus track – "Soft Touch (take 5)". CD

A great little album that's every bit as wonderful as you might expect from its cover – one of the key late 50s sides as a leader from bassist Curtis Counce – cut with a killer lineup that includes Harold Land on tenor sax, Rolf Ericson on trumpet, and Elmo Hope on piano! The set's got the mix of modernism and soul bop leanings you might expect from the players – a really fresh approach that comes off especially well in the non-iconic production style of the Dootone label – a mode that really let the players do their own thing, and break out from some of the tighter restrictions of other LA labels on the scene. Frank Butler completes the quintet on drums – and titles include "The Countdown", "Into The Orbit", "Race For Space", "Move", "Angel Eyes", and "So Nice". CD also features 3 bonus tracks – the previously unreleased "Foreplay", plus unedited takes of "Move" and "The Countdown". CD

A great little album that's every bit as wonderful as you might expect from its cover – one of the key late 50s sides as a leader from bassist Curtis Counce – cut with a killer lineup that includes Harold Land on tenor sax, Rolf Ericson on trumpet, and Elmo Hope on piano! The set's got the mix of modernism and soul bop leanings you might expect from the players – a really fresh approach that comes off especially well in the non-iconic production style of the Dootone label – a mode that really let the players do their own thing, and break out from some of the tighter restrictions of other LA labels on the scene. Frank Butler completes the quintet on drums – and titles include "The Countdown", "Into The Orbit", "Race For Space", "Move", "Angel Eyes", and "So Nice". LP, Vinyl record album

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

One of the few albums as a leader cut by legendary LA pianist Carl Perkins – an amazing talent on his instrument, and one who had an unusual "sideways" approach to the keys! Perkins kind of leaned alongside the piano – so that his body was parallel to the instrument, and his fingers reached out, moving back and forth on the ivories – with a sound that was almost as if he was strumming the whole thing! The style really stands out, and makes for some especially deft moments here in this classic trio set for Dootoo – a fluid and grooving session that also features Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Lawrence Marable on drums. Tracks include "Marble Head", "Way Cross Town", "Carl's Blues", and "Lilacs In The Rain". CD

One of the few albums as a leader cut by legendary LA pianist Carl Perkins – an amazing talent on his instrument, and one who had an unusual "sideways" approach to the keys! Perkins kind of leaned alongside the piano – so that his body was parallel to the instrument, and his fingers reached out, moving back and forth on the ivories – with a sound that was almost as if he was strumming the whole thing! The style really stands out, and makes for some especially deft moments here in this classic trio set for Dootoo – a fluid and grooving session that also features Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Lawrence Marable on drums. Tracks include "Marble Head", "Way Cross Town", "Carl's Blues", and "Lilacs In The Rain". With eleven bonus tracks. CD

A huge batch of material from female R&B singer Mickey Champion – possibly best known for her work with Roy Milton, but presented here in a range of other singles as well! Mickey's got a style that's especially nice on the mellower, bluesier tunes here – tracks sung in a way that's almost a precursor to 60s female deep soul, but still with plenty of R&B overtones. Tracks on the set were originally issued on labels that include Modern, Aladdin, Dootone, RPM, and King – and the CD features mostly numbers done under Champion's name, plus a few more with Roy Milton or The Nic Nacs. 24 tracks in all – including "Bam A Lam", "Good For Nothin Man", "Best Friend", "Two Faced Daddy", "I've Got It Bad", "Lovin Jim", "If That's The Way You Feel", "If You Can't Hold Your Man With A Kiss", "Rockin Pneumonia & The Boogie Woogie Flu", "You're Gonna Suffer Baby", and "Don't Say You Love Me". CD

Roy Milton definitely rocks, even though he wasn't a rocker at all – and instead was one of the key artists in postwar R&B who helped really chart the course for other decades of musicians to follow! As you'll see from the image on the cover, Roy's a drummer, but his real strength is leading a tight small combo – effortlessly blending together influences from jazz and blues in the years before soul, and really setting loose with both searing instrumental solos and great lead vocals – including work from Camille Howard, who also plays piano in his combo! The package features a whopping 31 tracks in all – with material from both his Specialty and Dootone years, on titles that include "One Zippy Zam", "Train Blues", "It's Later Than You Think", "Succotash", "Wakin Up Baby", "Big Fat Mama", "Red Light", "Hop Skip & Jump", "Junior Jumps", "Train Blues", "Bam A Lam", and "Baby I'm Gone". CD