Milt Jackson and JJ Johnson – working here together on 1954 session cut in New York – but some of which features contributions from the famous French pianist Henri Renaud! At this point in their career, Jackson and Johnson had a very similar modern swing – and the record makes for a great matching of their talents – a bit like some of the earliest Blue Note work recorded under the leadership of either player. Johnson sits out on a few tracks, and Jackson plays a bit of piano in addition to vibes – on the tracks that don't feature Renaud – and other players include Al Cohn on tenor, Percy Heath on bass, and Charlie Smith on drums. Titles include "Jay Jay's Blues", "If I Had You", "Out Of Nowhere", and "Indiana". LP, Vinyl record album

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A legendary bit of cubop! Diz is playing here with the band that virtually invented Latin Jazz – the one that featured Chano Pozo on conga, plus great soloists like James Moody and Ernie Henry – all blowing beautifully in a style that's one of the most perfect realizations of the cubop Latin Jazz groove of the time! The recording was done live, but the quality's strong – and titles include "Good Bait", "Emanon", "Ool Ya Koo", and a classic reading of "Manteca"! LP, Vinyl record album

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An obscure west coast set – featuring some very hard-driving big band arrangements, short but with breakout solos that really keep things moving along at a good pace. Murphy wrote and arranged most of the material – cool little offbeat tunes, many with a space theme to match the cover of the album. Players include Frank Morgan, Milt Bernhart, Chico Hamilton, Buddy Colette, and Bob Gordon – and titles include "Lost In A Fugue", "Frantastic", "Frankly Speaking", "Tone Poem", and "Orbit". LP, Vinyl record album

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A fantastic record from The Seeds, and one that definitely earns its title – as it points the way towards a psychedelic future that would have made the group giants on the international scene, had they continued in this direction! The sound is very different than the garage punk of their previous two albums – a lot more complex, yet still never overdone – a real testament to the genius of Sky Saxon and the rest of the group as they opened up their minds, and allowed all sorts of new ideas to spring forth! And if you like the earlier records, you'll still find plenty to love here, as the whole thing still has a mighty sinister edge – as you'll hear on the cuts "Travel With Your Mind", "Flower Lady & Her Assistant", "Fallin'", "Six Dreams", "Two Fingers Pointing On You", "Now A Man", "Painted Doll", "Out Of The Question", and "Where Is The Entrance Way To Play". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the great fake live albums of the 60s – a set that promises to be a concert performance from the title and cover, but which actually just features The Seeds playing live together in the studio! Yet that little trick is hardly a problem – because the album's the last-ever from this seminal group, and captures them in a format that really lets them take off! Their studio sessions were always great, but this one's got a special edge from letting all the instruments work together in the same space at once, with no edits or dubs. The core combo sounds wonderful – searing guitar, trippy keyboard lines, and all the sneering vocals the young Sky Saxon can muster – served up over tracks that include "Mr. Farmer", "No Escape", "Satisfy You", "Night Time Girl", "Up In Her Room", "Gypsy Plays His Drums", "Mumble And Bumble", "Forest Outside Your Door", "900 Million People Daily All Making Love", and "Pushin' Too Hard". LP, Vinyl record album

A great set of tracks that features Wayne's early work as a leader – all recorded for the Vee Jay label, either under his name, or with the Young Lions group. The material is fantastic, and is proof that even as a youngster, Wayne was one of jazz's best writers and players. Titles include "Seeds Of Sin", "Powder Keg", "Black Diamond", "Dead End", "Wayning Moments", "Down In The Depths", and "Moon Of Manakoora". Great stuff that we never see on vinyl anymore! LP, Vinyl record album

Recorded at the Crescendo, with titles that include "It's Only A Paper Moon", "Just A Gigolo", "On The Sunny Side Of The Street", "Mean To Me", "Body & Soul", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Can't We Be Friends", "Among My Souvenirs", "Fine & Dandy", "Stay As Sweet As You Are", and "Crazy Rhythm". LP, Vinyl record album

A perfect example of why the Charlie Ventura group was one of the most popular live acts on the west coast scene of it's day! Producer Gene Norman really manages to capture the charm of the group in all its glory – recorded live in a lineup that features Conte Candoli on trumpet, Bennie Green on trombone, and Boots Mussulli on alto – plus some great scatted vocals from the team of Jackie & Roy! The recording's got a natural, flowing quality that really gets at the liveness of the set – and the horns come together beautifully throughout – in that wonderful mix of bop and swing that was the Ventura trademark! Titles include "Boptura", "Flamingo", "Birdland", "Dark Eyes", "High On An Open Mike", and "Lullaby In Rhythm". LP, Vinyl record album

Volume 2 in this remastered series of music from the Star Trek TV show of the 60s! Features the original theme, written by Alexander Courage – plus music by Sol Kaplan and Gerald Fried, from episodes entitled "The Doomsday Machine" and "Amok Time". CD

Seminal session that was virtually one of the only west coast attempts to replicate the famous "cubop" mix of bebop and Latin that had been evolving over the years in the New York scene. Machito percussionists like Jose Mangual and Ubaldo Nieto join a west coast group that includes alto player Frank Morgan, trumpeter Conte Candoli, pianist Carl Perkins, and other LA boppers. The back of the record proclaims that with the death of Charlie Parker, someone must step in as the new bop genius – and Morgan does a capable job on tracks like "Wippet", "Chooch", "The Champ", and "Bernie's Tune" – and on the record's non-Latin numbers, included here to expand the release to a 12" format. LP, Vinyl record album

Very cool combo work from Gerry Mulligan – and very much in the Pacific Jazz style of the time, given that Chet Baker is in the group on trumpet! There's no piano at all – just Carson Smith on bass and Larry Bunker on drums – and Mulligan is already at his modern best! LP, Vinyl record album

A great little album of percussion grooves – hidden under a package that looks like it's going to be a lot more rootsy, but which ends up sounding like some of the hipper conga-heavy sessions on labels like Liberty or GNP from the late 50s. Jackson plays much of the percussion, but there's other players on the set who kick in with some other percussion instruments – and some occasional piano and flute. Tracks include "Mambo Ricci", "Conga", "Jungla", "Road March", "Shango", and "Guaguanco". LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to overstate the influence of Max Roach and Clifford Brown on the west coast scene of the 50s – as the two players helped draw out the bop sound of LA that was quickly getting lost in the cool jazz shuffle of the time, and gave it a strength and focus that not only made the group one of the strongest of the time, but which also sparked new life and a hardbop generation on the LA scene! This classic set of live recordings was one of the first great Brown/Roach moments – recorded during 2 different concerts by Gene Norman Presents, and featuring some great tenor work by LA giants Teddy Edwards and Harold Land, plus some piano by the amazing "sideways" player Carl Perkins, as well as Bud Powell's brother Richie – a key factor of the group's studio recordings on Mercury, and a player who would perish in the same accident that took the life of Clifford Brown. This CD features the full versions of most of the tracks that have been highly edited on the GNP albums over the years – including "Clifford's Axe", "Sunset Eyes", "Jordu", "I Can't Get Started", "Parisian Thoroughfare", and "Tenderly". A few edits persist in a few parts, as the unedited tapes appear to be lost – but many of the tracks are in nice longish versions! CD

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An amazing album produced and arranged by legendary Philly mastermind Larry Gold – the cello player/writer/arranger for MFSB – and a key player in the best Philly soul of the last several decades! Don Cello & Friends features Gold as Don Cello – and the friends include Black Thought of the Roots, McFadden & Whitehead, Carol Riddick, Gerald Levert, Kindred The Family Soul, Jaguar Wright, Bunny Sigler and others. The goal for the set was not only to celebrate the depth and rich history of Philly soul with a variety of vocalists, but to draw a direct parallel with the best of today's scene. It succeeds at both masterfully. Gold's production and arranging is lush and sparkling – and the vocalists bring the very best of their games. Black Thought's rhymes on the lead off remake of "No Stoppin'", with McFadden & Whitehead, sets the stage perfectly – think the Roots on Curtom, and that's about half the picture! Much of the album carries more of a classic soul sheen – smooth and sparkling, with just enough grit for a nice edge! In the liner notes, Gold explains that he loves songs from "Gamble, Huff to Timbaland" – and this album is the perfect sonic encapsulation of that aesthetic! Possibly the best album yet with the relatively fledgling Beat Generation imprint – and a great signpost for the future of underground soul! 12 tracks including "Loving You" with Carol Riddick, "Dance" with Gerald Levert, "And I Hope" featuring Floetry, "Travelin'" with Kameelah Waheed, ""All That You Are" featuring Kindred, "Nothin'" with Jaguar Wright, "Just A Dream" with Erro, "Everybody" with Cristal Oliver, "Can I" with Bunny Sigler, and Larry Gold's "Outro". CD

A record that offers up one slice of a key live moment in the career of Keith Jarrett – his return to work in a New York club after the space of more than a decade! The group here is Jarrett's fantastic Standards trio – Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – working with Keith on these longform explorations of tunes that are familiar, but which really transform in that mode that Jarrett brought to his own solo improvisation work of the 70s. The tunes are there, somewhere – but often just as subtle signposts for the direction of the flow from the master's hands on the piano. Titles include "Autumn Leaves", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "When I Fall In Love", and a version of Jarrett's "Bop Be". CD

A record that offers up one slice of a key live moment in the career of Keith Jarrett – his return to work in a New York club after the space of more than a decade! The group here is Jarrett's fantastic Standards trio – Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – working with Keith on these longform explorations of tunes that are familiar, but which really transform in that mode that Jarrett brought to his own solo improvisation work of the 70s. The tunes are there, somewhere – but often just as subtle signposts for the direction of the flow from the master's hands on the piano. Titles include "Autumn Leaves", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "When I Fall In Love", and a version of Jarrett's "Bop Be". CD

A really seminal album from Fela Kuti – searing live set that's presented with drummer Ginger Baker – formerly of Cream, and a huge supporter of Fela's music on the UK scene! Baker had already picked up a lot of Fela's influence in his music – and his presence here made for a key moment of global exposure for the new Afro Funk sound that Fela was creating with his Africa 70 group – playing here as part of the ensemble, which oddly doesn't seem to include Baker at all. That hardly matters, though, as the young Tony Allen is on drums, and the set features great trumpet from Tunde Williams and tenor from Igo Chiko – really wailing alongside Fela on the long tracks "Egbe Me O", "Ye Ye De Smell", "Black Man's Cry", and "Let's Start". LP, Vinyl record album

An expanded document of a key live moment in the career of Keith Jarrett – his return to work in a New York club after the space of more than a decade! The group here is Jarrett's fantastic Standards trio – Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – working with Keith on these longform explorations of tunes that are familiar, but which really transform in that mode that Jarrett brought to his own solo improvisation work of the 70s. The tunes are there, somewhere – but often just as subtle signposts for the direction of the flow from the master's hands on the piano. CD

A record that offers up one slice of a key live moment in the career of Keith Jarrett – his return to work in a New York club after the space of more than a decade! The group here is Jarrett's fantastic Standards trio – Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums – working with Keith on these longform explorations of tunes that are familiar, but which really transform in that mode that Jarrett brought to his own solo improvisation work of the 70s. The tunes are there, somewhere – but often just as subtle signposts for the direction of the flow from the master's hands on the piano. CD

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One of those bright, charismatic Billy Ocean records from a couple years before his massive pop soul crossover – just a sublime 80s club groover that pumps along at a nice mid tempo clip – a real favorite around these parts! This was Billy's debut for Epic and there's plenty of signposts here of his potential to bust out in a big way commercially – it's hooky and insistent, but still plenty soulful, less steeped in pop gloss and with fewer ballads – lean, danceable soul that holds up very, very well. Also includes "Stay The Night", "Are You Ready", "Whatever Turns You On", "Don't Say Stop", "Another Day Won't Matter", and "Taking Chances". LP, Vinyl record album