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... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

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... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Features Sonny Rollins on tenor – with Clifton Anderson on trombone, Bobby Broom on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Steve Jordan on drums. CD

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

Dakota Staton's looking a bit fuzzy in the photo on the cover, but her sound on the set is as sharp as ever – that soulful approach to jazz vocals she first crafted so well back in the 50s and 60s! The album's a surprisingly nice later date from Dakota – one done with a really classic feel, thanks to small combo backings from a quartet that features Bill Easley on tenor and flute, Bross Townsend on piano, Leon Dorsey on bass, and Michael Carvin on drums. Production is by Houston Person, who handles the record with an even more laidback feel than some of his other vocal sides of the time – and a few of the titles bring out a bluesier side of Staton's talents, but never in a way that's hokey at all. Titles include "Gone With The Wind", "I Thought About You", "I'm Just A Lucky So & So", "Your Husband's Cheating On Us", "Skylark", and "You Better Go Now". CD

There's a slight shift here from the first album by Steeleye Span – a bit of a shift to just a touch of electric guitar and organ next to the bass guitar lines of Ashley Hutchings – which makes for an even more sinister sound than before! In keeping with their approach, most songs are from older British sources – but they really get transformed by the presentation, which creates an acid folk vibe that really sets the stage for the Wicker Man scene – including some of the strange folk experiments of Current 93 many years later! Most of the rest of the instrumentation is acoustic, used in a way that creates this time-tripping approach that's really amazing – on titles that include "Boys Of Bedlam", "Cold Haily Windy Night", "The Blacksmith", "Female Drummer", "The King", "Lovely On The Water", and "The Lark In The Morning". LP, Vinyl record album

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

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A killer set from Count Basie – recorded during the height of his years at Roulette! The back cover of the record proclaims that "Basie Is Back Home" – clearly a bit by Birdland to lay claim to being the Count's home address, which is a bit of a challenge to his KC roots! Whatever the back story, though, the set's a nice one – swinging hard in that completely tight 60s mode, with a great lineup that includes Frank Foster and Budd Johnson on tenor, Thad Jones on trumpet, Bennie Powell on trombone, and Freddie Green on guitar – a really great group who definitely make the record a cooker! Tracks include "Good Time Blues", "Segue In C", "Little Pony", "Discommotion", and "Whirly Bird", which has a vocal by Jon Hendricks! CD features 8 more bonus tracks – recorded at the same time, and first issued on the Mosaic set Complete Roulette Live Recordings – titles that include "Easin It", "Corner Pocket", "Discommotion", "Whirly Bird (inst)", "I Needs To Be Bee'd With", and "A Little Tempo Please". CD

Tremendous work from one of the greatest pairings in 50s jazz – the crack later group of Count Basie and the amazing arranging talents of the great Neal Hefti! Hefti later went onto greater fame as a 60s soundtrack composer, but back in the day him and Basie were an incredible team together – as Hefti's talent for quirky, witty, whimsical horn passages really opened up the Basie sound of earlier years – and took the band far past any Kansas City cliches, into a groove that was much more suited for a modern audience! This album's one of the best the two ever cut together – and it's overflowing with Hefti gems that include "Cute", "Pensive Miss", "Sloo Foot", "Scoot", "A Little Tempo Please", "Count Down", and "Pony Tail". CD

Tremendous work from one of the greatest pairings in 50s jazz – the crack later group of Count Basie and the amazing arranging talents of the great Neal Hefti! Hefti later went onto greater fame as a 60s soundtrack composer, but back in the day him and Basie were an incredible team together – as Hefti's talent for quirky, witty, whimsical horn passages really opened up the Basie sound of earlier years – and took the band far past any Kansas City cliches, into a groove that was much more suited for a modern audience! This album's one of the best the two ever cut together – and it's overflowing with Hefti gems that include "Cute", "Pensive Miss", "Sloo Foot", "Scoot", "A Little Tempo Please", "Count Down", and "Pony Tail". CD

Two great Eurpoean performances – with a lineup that features Frank Foster, Billy Mitchell, Frank Wess, Snooky Young, and Freddie Green. Tracks include "Why Not", "Easy Money", "A Little Tempo Please", "Jumpin' At The Woodside", "Blee Blop Blues", and "Stella By Starlight". 30 tracks total. CD

Count Basie plays the piano and Joe Williams sings in his bluesy way and they are backed by a slew of musicians who include Thad Jones on trumpet, Ben Powell on trombone, Frank Foster on tenor saxophone, Sonny Payne on drums and many, many others. Frank Foster did all of the arrangements and the tracks include Williams' "My Baby Upsets Me", "Ev'ry Day", and "Please Send Me Someone To Love". CD

One of Joe Williams' standout classics from the 50s – just the sort of record that put him on top of his game at the time! The album's one of Joe's classic outings with Count Basie – one recorded for Roulette with a slightly looser, slightly rawer feel than their work together on Verve. Joe's rendition of "Everyday I Have The Blues" is a near-definitive one – tight, syncopated, and grooving in a style that stretches back to its roots, but which also steps out with a fresh sort of groove that points the way towards changes in soulful vocal styles during the 60s. Other titles work equally well in the mode – bluesy, but never hokey, all freshened up by the Basie approach of the time – and titles include "Baby Won't You Please Come Home", "Going To Chicago", "Joe Sings The Blues", and "What Did You Win". LP, Vinyl record album

Easily the best-ever collection we've seen of the work of Fontella Bass – and one that really goes past her oft-remembered hit, to feature the full scope of her mid 60s work for Chess Records! To most folks, Fontella's remembered for a few reasons – her Aretha Franklin-styled hit "Rescue Me" (often mistaken for Aretha herself), or the fact that she married Art Ensemble member Lester Bowie. But back at the start, Fontella was a heck of a great little soul singer – capable of a wide variety of modes, all of which are included here! The 25 track package really shows an evolution in music – and Bass sings in styles that include deep soul ala Atlantic, sweet soul ala Motown, uptown soul ala Wand, soaring soul ala Brunswick, and tight duet soul, in the mode of some of the more famous duets coming from Detroit or New York. CD really digs deep and brings back a full range of singles, plus some unreleased tracks – and the sound here is totally great. Titles include "Oh No Not My Baby", "Our Day Will Come", "Free At Last", "I Surrender", "I Can't Rest", "Leave It In The Hands Of Love", "You've Lost That Lovin Feelin", "The Soul Of A Man", "Joy Of Love", "Don't Mess Up A Good Thing", "You're Gonna Miss Me", "Come & Get These Memories", "Rescue Me", "Since I Fell For You", "I'm A Woman", "How Glad I Am", "Impossible", and "Lucky In Love". CD

An early American release on Capitol – kind of a "catch up" album that brings together material before the label had rights for US issue of their records! Titles include "Twist & Shout", "Love Me Do", "Anna", "Chains", "Ask Me Why", "Please Please Me", "Do You Want To Know A Secret", "PS I Love You", and "Baby It's You". LP, Vinyl record album

A bittersweet farewell from The Beatles – a record that definitely shows the fracturing unity of the group, with lots of near-solo moments – but a set that also makes us really wonder what they'd have done with all this genius, had they managed to hold it together! There's great hints here of the solo work to come – especially from George Harrison and John Lennon – and the Phil Spector production really helps open up a new sound for the group. Includes the genius cuts "I Dig A Pony", "Two Of Us", "Across The Universe", "I Me Mine", "One After 909", "For You Blue", and "Let It Be". Cassette

A cool little album from Joe Beck – very different than most of his other work! Although Beck's best known for his guitar work on funky 70s jazz records, this early album has him working in a mixture of rock, jazz, and folk styles – all cast in the hipster mode of Verve's Forecast imprint. There's a few funk tunes on here, but the best numbers are stretched out trippy ones that bring together jazz and folk, in a floating "folk funk experience" sound that we totally love, perfect for the generation of Tim Hardin and Nick Drake. Beck sings on some cuts, and others are instrumental. Titles include "Ain't No Use Talkin", "Goodbye LA", "Please Believe Me", "Let Me Go", "Come Back: Visions Without You", and "Spoon's Caress". CD

More of a journey than just a straight record – as this incredible 3CD set brings together all the recordings that went into Big Star's amazing Third (or 3rd if you please) – one of the best one-time lost rock albums of the 70s! How this could have ever been thought of as anything less than essential is a mystery – and the 3 discs here really show the amazing work that went into recording the whole thing There's this weary quality to the vocals and songwriting of Alex Chilton that's sublime – paired with a raw, rocking underbelly – and finished with strings, horns and other Memphis-y accents. You could think that it all sounds like an ill fit – but no, it's glorious! Titles on the core album include "Stroke It Noel", their great cover of the Velvets "Femme Fatale", "Thank You Friends", "Jesus Christ", "Holocaust", "Blue Moon", and "Take Care". But the package goes way past that – to feature the core album in 20 master tracks (more than the original) – plus 24 more tracks that are "demos to sessions to roughs" – and 25 more tracks that are "roughs to mixes". You'll hear lots of songs change along the way – and the whole thing comes in a book-style package, with detailed notes from both the original session participants, and artists influenced by the group! CD

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Early work from one of the heaviest hard rock bands of the 60s – presented here on a set of demo tracks that were originally broadcast on San Francisco radio, and helped the group earn their recording contract with Philips Records! Blue Cheer were maybe the first group to think of turning their amps up to 11 – and there's a rawness to this work that may even top the fire of their classic debut, with really mindblowing guitar from Leigh Stephens all the way through! Titles include the 10 minute jammer "Doctor Please", a killer take of "Summertime Blues", and the mighty fierce "Second Time Around". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal criss-crossing of styles from the late 60s Cali scene – served up by a group who were steeped in blues, but a big part of the psychedelic scene at the time – and somehow managed to merge both of their worlds effortlessly, at a level that was even more powerful and effective than most of their contemporaries! Leigh Stephen is a monster on guitar – already using lots more freak and fuzz than the earlier generations who inspired him – and bassist Dick Peterson also sings, almost as if he's channeling his instrument to give him the same soulful depth that would later come from Phil Lynott – all supported by the driving drums of Paul Whaley. The whole thing's got a nice freaky sound, thanks to production from Abe Voco Kesh – and titles include the great long original "Doctor Please", plus takes on "Summertime Blues" and "Parchment Farm" – and the titles "Out Of Focus", "Rock Me Baby", and "Second Time Around". CD

A seminal criss-crossing of styles from the late 60s Cali scene – served up by a group who were steeped in blues, but a big part of the psychedelic scene at the time – and somehow managed to merge both of their worlds effortlessly, at a level that was even more powerful and effective than most of their contemporaries! Leigh Stephen is a monster on guitar – already using lots more freak and fuzz than the earlier generations who inspired him – and bassist Dick Peterson also sings, almost as if he's channeling his instrument to give him the same soulful depth that would later come from Phil Lynott – all supported by the driving drums of Paul Whaley. The whole thing's got a nice freaky sound, thanks to production from Abe Voco Kesh – and titles include the great long original "Doctor Please", plus takes on "Summertime Blues" and "Parchment Farm" – and the titles "Out Of Focus", "Rock Me Baby", and "Second Time Around". LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent vocal jazz from postwar Paris! The Blue Stars were a legendary combo that were led by Blossom Dearie, and which featured a host of great vocal talents that would later go onto form groups like Les Double Six or The Swingle Singers, including Mimi Perrin and Christine Legrand, as well as instrumental jazz artists like Fats Sadi and Roger Guerin, who are doing some rare vocalization here. The first 4 tracks on the set are pulled from a 1956 ep – and it features the group on the tracks "Jumpin At The Woodside", "C'est La Vie", "Broadway At Basin Street", and "Grapevine". The next 12 tracks are from the Pardon My English LP – which has the group down to a sextet, working without Dearie, in a groovy accented English vocal style that's a direct precursor of the vocalese grooving of Les Double Six. Titles on that set include "Small Talk", "Move", "Did You Close Your Eyes?", and "Promises & Lies". The last 3 tracks on the set are a bit different – featuring vocals and guitar by Henri Salvador, with backing on bass and drums. The style of Salvador's work is still similar, though – way more vocalese than the "blues" in the title would make you expect – and the tracks are lifted from a rare Fontana ep-only release that was recorded in the same year. Titles include "Don't Blame Me", "Salvador Plays The Blues", and "Stompin At The Savoy". CD

Genius, pure genius from a young David Bowie – an album that we've always treasured as much as Ziggy Stardust! This set's pre-Hunky Dory, pre-Space Oddity – and it's an amazing little record that's almost completely devoid of guitars – instead using weird woodwinds (lots of oboe!), soaring strings, and offbeat orchestrations to carry off the tunes – all of which are as weird, mad, and wonderful as anything Bowie wrote in later years! The subject matter of the songs is almost a dark reflection of the picture postcard England that you'd find in work by The Kinks – the local pederast, weird guy who lives with his mum, old military geezer who can't get out of the past, cross-dressing soldiers, a gravedigger about to meet his death, and hip Londoners gallivanting all over town – all delivered with a sharpness that's stunning. We honestly think the record is flawless – incredibly complicated instrumentally, but incredibly groovy too – with all the edge you'll always love in Bowie, but in a fresh young flavor too. Years back, as young Bowie-heads, we always passed this one by – assuming it was unformed early roughness – but it's not, and is an incredible album that would have been more than enough for any other artist to build a career on. Titles include "Uncle Arthur", "Sell Me A Coat", "Rubber Band", "Love You Till Tuesday", "There Is A Happy Land", "When I Live My Dream", "Maids Of Bond Street", "We Are Hungry Men", "She's Got Medals", and "Please Mr Gravedigger". LP, Vinyl record album

A really beautiful album from singer Bobbi Boyle – the kind of local jazz singer who never fully got her due, but didn't let a lack of fame stop her from giving her all! The set's got this amazingly intimate sound – mostly just Bobbi's piano or vibes, with guitar and bass in the background – which leaves plenty of room for Boyle to really open up, stretch out, and bring a very personal feel to her music – the kind of hip presentation that you'd normally hear from a much bigger name jazz singer. Bobbi only worked the small club scene of the San Fernando valley at the end of the 60s – but she's got a quality here that matches the hippest singers in New York at the time – on titles that include "Get Together", "Windmills Of Your Mind", "Rain Sometimes", "No Easy Way Down", and her own great "Love Please Tell Me". CD

A landmark album from Boyz II Men – and a set that shows that the classic harmony style was alive and well into the 90s! Although the production and rhythms here are somewhat contemporary, the vocals have a classic approach all the way through – maturing masculine soul styles that are totally great, and which have aged beautifully over the years – way past the chart-reaching cliches of other groups of the time, and well deserving of attention as a great later Motown moment! Most production is by Dallas Austin – who structured the album beautifully into "adagio" and "allegro" sections – and titles include "Please Don't Go", "Lonely Heart", "Little Things", "Motownphilly", "Under Pressure", "Sympin", "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday", and "Uhh Ahh". CD

Classic crossover pop from Laura Branigan – a singer who might have hit the soul scene a bit more strongly, had she worked in the disco era – but who here gets a mix of 80s modes that proved quite big at the time! Branigan brings some of the richer emotion of the club diva era to play with more pop-tuned keyboards and guitars – used to best effect on the more upbeat tracks on the set – of which the overall standout is the hit "Gloria", maybe Laura's best-remembered song. Titles include "Gloria", "All Night With Me", "Down Like A Rock", "Maybe I Love You", Please Stay Go Away", and "Living A Lie". CD

A massive set, and one that features way more material than this legendary group released back in the day – all the full albums from Brinsley Schwarz, plus unissued studio material and other rarities too! The group were named after their guitarist, Brinsley Schwarz – but the group also featured key work from a young Nick Lowe, sounding wonderful here before going out as a solo act – and, with Schwarz, really helping to craft that smaller group, pub rock-styled approach that was such a strong antidote to prog and classic rock excesses of the period! There's a very down to earth vibe on many of these cuts – not entirely the roots rock of the US scene, but not far off – and also already echoing some of that tunefulness that Lowe would continue in his own recordings and productions – almost a secret evolution of a mod aesthetic, but hidden amidst other 70s trappings. Maybe we're pitching it wrong – but the records don't lie, and have plenty to tell here – full albums Brinsley Schwarz, Despite It All, Silver Pistol, Nervous On The Road, Please Don't Ever Change, The New Favourites Of Brinsley Schwarz, and It's All Over Now – plus dozens of bonus tracks, both live and studio – including work as The Brinsleys, The Hitters, and Limelight. 132 tracks on 7CDs, with very detailed notes! CD

Solidly socking soul from Chicago – a great little set recorded with a really old school feel, but one that's also different than the usual deep funk record! The Uptown Sound have a vibe that's all their own – at one level, a quality that's steeped in classic soul – but at another, with a quality that's strangely offbeat too, almost with an undercurrent of darkness in some of the instrumentation that somehow mixes slight punkish roots into funk! Lead singer JC Brooks follows suit strongly – hitting topics that aren't your usual soul music standards, even though his vocals would be right at home with such fare – and instead, the album's got a range of themes that really keep an edge to the set, of the sort that's bound to find these guys a large audience way outside the usual deep funk underground. JC's a real superstar – even larger on stage, which is a recommendation to catch the group live! Titles include "Love One Another", "Hold You Back", "75 Years Of Art Sex", "How To Stop Loving Someone Who's Stopped Loving You", "He Does The Town", and "Berry Please". CD

A 10th Anniversary performance by the Chicago Tentet – a wonderful group that's become the fruitful union of saxophonist Peter Brotzmann with a younger generation of players who were working heavily on the Chicago scene at the time! Back when the group first started, it was something of an experiment – but over the following decade, the ensemble won great attention for their playing, and for good reason too – considering the solo contributions of players like Ken Vandermark and Mats Gustafsson on reeds, Joe McPhee on trumpet and tenor, Johannes Bauer on trombone, Kent Kessler on bass, and Paal Nilssen Love on drums – all working under the visionary leadership of Peter Brotzmann! The tracks are all somewhat long and open-ended – almost more spacious than on other Chicago Tentet records, with a freely improvised feel. Titles include "Ten By Ten", "Little By Little", and "Step By Step". CD

A really dramatic live performance from these free jazz giants – three musicians who really know each other well, but who seem to come off with an even more majestic sense of power here! The performance is from 1974, and it burns with energy right from the start – this sense of inventiveness as if all three players had already mastered their instruments, yet were also surprising themselves during performance with new aspects they had just discovered – a freshness that comes through note after note after note – and in plenty of sounds that aren't notes either! Brotzmann blows alto and tenor, Fred Van Hove plays piano, and Han Bennink nearly destroys his drum kit – on titles that include "Filet Americain", "Involved", "Boogie For Fred", "Der Mammutzahn Aus Balve", and "Schwarzspect". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice album compiling of some of the less-collected work by Clifford Brown – 1953 recordings done in Europe for the Metronome and Vogue labels, recorded with a great larger group. Sides feature Brown working with Quincy Jones, Gigi Gryce, Anthony Ortega, Juimmy Cleveland, and others alongside Parisian and European players that include Henri Renaud and Pierre Michelot. The set features "Brown Skins", "Keeping Up With Jonesy", "Bum's Rush", "Chez Moi", "All Weird" and "No Start No End". CD

A killer double-length album from James Brown – a smoking set that stands strongly right next to similar packages like Get On The Good Foot and Payback! The album's a bit different than the latter, in that the tracks are mostly shorter, and there's some mellower cuts too – but they also work together like some sort of cool stack of funky 45s, which then ends in the massive track that ends the record – a killer 13 minute take on "Papa Don't Take No Mess", every bit as anything from the JBs own albums. And Fred Wesley and the rest of the group are backing up James – on other titles that include "My Thang", "Coldblooded", "I can't Stand It 76", "Please Please Please", "Sayin & Doin It", "Don't Tell A Lie About Me", "Sometime", "Hell", and "A Man Has To Go Back To The Crossroads". CD

A killer double-length album from James Brown – a smoking set that stands strongly right next to similar packages like Get On The Good Foot and Payback! The album's a bit different than the latter, in that the tracks are mostly shorter, and there's some mellower cuts too – but they also work together like some sort of cool stack of funky 45s, which then ends in the massive track that ends the record – a killer 13 minute take on "Papa Don't Take No Mess", every bit as anything from the JBs own albums. And Fred Wesley and the rest of the group are backing up James – on other titles that include "My Thang", "Coldblooded", "I can't Stand It 76", "Please Please Please", "Sayin & Doin It", "Don't Tell A Lie About Me", "Sometime", "Hell", and "A Man Has To Go Back To The Crossroads". CD

A landmark album that forever changed the face of live recordings – and soul music too! As has been told and retold often, King records not only had the genius idea of bringing recording equipment into the Apollo Theater to catch James in a smoking live setting – the sort of show that really set his fans on fire – but they also went out of their way to record and re-record the audience, creating a wonderful interplay on the record between James and the crowd. The result is the stuff of legend – and the record's filled with loads of nice tracks like "I'll Go Crazy", "Try Me", "I Don't Mind", "Lost Someone", "Think", "Night Train", and the massive medley featuring "Please Please Please/You've Got The Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album that forever changed the face of live recordings – and soul music too! As has been told and retold often, King records not only had the genius idea of bringing recording equipment into the Apollo Theater to catch James in a smoking live setting – the sort of show that really set his fans on fire – but they also went out of their way to record and re-record the audience, creating a wonderful interplay on the record between James and the crowd. The result is the stuff of legend – and the record's filled with loads of nice tracks like "I'll Go Crazy", "Try Me", "I Don't Mind", "Lost Someone", "Think", "Night Train", and the massive medley featuring "Please Please Please/You've Got The Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen". CD

A landmark album that forever changed the face of live recordings – and soul music too! As has been told and retold often, King records not only had the genius idea of bringing recording equipment into the Apollo Theater to catch James in a smoking live setting – the sort of show that really set his fans on fire – but they also went out of their way to record and re-record the audience, creating a wonderful interplay on the record between James and the crowd. The result is the stuff of legend – and the record's filled with loads of nice tracks like "I'll Go Crazy", "Try Me", "I Don't Mind", "Lost Someone", "Think", "Night Train", and the massive medley featuring "Please Please Please/You've Got The Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen". This newly remastered edition features five bonus tracks/single mixes of original LP tracks! CD

James Brown's great second album recorded live at the Apollo Theater in Harlem – a set we like even better than the first famous volume – because it's much more stretched-out, harder-hitting, and full of fire! You'd be hard pressed to find a better example of Brown's showmanship on record – as James urges the band through these triple-time takes on some of his classics, and turns in some amazing work in the process! The set includes a killer long version of "There Was A Time" – almost the blueprint of the James Brown funk sound to come – and other titles include "Bring It Up", "Let Yourself Go", and a wonderful duet version of "Think" – plus "Prisoner Of Love", "Out Of Sight", "Try Me", "It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World", "Lost Someone","Thanks", "Cold Sweat", "I Feel Alright", and "Please, Please, Please". Features 30 minutes of extra material, with remixed tracks, set in the original running order, and lots of great notes! CD

An amazing James Brown live set from the crucial year of 1968 – the show that marked the debut of "Say It Loud I'm Black & I'm Proud" – a cut that would become an anthem for much of America in the years to come! The feel here is somewhat similar to Brown's famous Boston show of the same year – a mix of blistering uptempo funk tracks, played by the band at a clip that's even faster than their studio sides, mixed with a few more stripped-down, personal cuts that feature James getting a bit more intimate with the audience. The production quality of the set is wonderful – and it leaves in all the hip spoken bits between tracks, really preserving the liveness of the concert, and packaging the whole thing with some great notes and photos too! Titles include "I Guess I'll Have To Cry Cry Cry", "Say It Loud", "If I Ruled The World", "There Was A Time", "Maybe The Last Time", "I Got The Feeling", "Cold Sweat", "Please Please Please", "Tighten Up", "Licking Stick", and lots more! CD

Some of the most unique vocal work ever recorded – a stunning collection of Columbia sides by Oscar Brown Jr, a singer who mixed together equal parts jazz, soul, and folk – and came up with a sound that was all his own! Oscar bubbled out of the hip Chicago scene of the early 60s – and had a much more righteous approach than most of his contemporaries – not only writing his own lyrics for most of the tunes, but working in a genre-blending style that crossed over to a variety of difference audiences. Oscar could groove with the best in a southside club, but also appeal to the northside intellectuals – opening doors wherever he went with a fresh approach to jazz vocals! The set features work from all 4 of his Columbia albums – including a number of tracks on CD for the first time – and features arrangements by Quincy Jones, Floyd Morris, and Ralph Burns – on 23 tracks that include "All Blues", "Work Song", "Excuse Me For Living", "The Snake", "Mr Kicks", "Afro Blue", "Signifying Monkey", "Dat Dere", "Hazel's Hips", "Jeannine", "Opportunity Please Knock", "The Tree & Me", "Elegy (Plain Black Boy)", "Tall Like Pine", and "But I Was Cool". CD

Great early work from Oscar Brown Jr – a hip mix of jazz and soul, working in Brown's unique sense of showmanship, and his almost beat-like flair with a lyric! Ralph Burns and Quincy Jones handled the arrangements – and the album's filled with great original tracks by Brown, including "Mr. Kicks", "Opportunity, Please Knock", Love is Like a New Born Child", "Elegy (Plain Black Boy)", "Hazel's Hips", and many more! Nice jazzy groove, and very much in the best style of Oscar's 60s work! LP, Vinyl record album

A hip little set from Ruth Brown – miles away from her earlier R&B for Atlantic, and much more in the adult, righteous, and contemporary mode you'd expect from the title! The session's one of the key sides from the late 60s Skye Records catalog – and like others on the label, it features Gary McFarland production, and some great small group backings by a group that includes Richard Tee on organ, Billy Butler on guitar, and Herbie Lovelle on drums. Ruth's trials and tribulations are listed in detail inside the notes – and the record was one of the first re-discovery efforts that Brown undertook – a session that was trying to help her pay her dues, and expose her to the same sort of audiences that were lapping up Aretha Franklin at the time, but not giving as much attention to older singers. Tracks are a mix of (then) contemporary numbers and updated older tunes – with titles that include "Yesterday", "Please Send Me Someone To Love", "Lookin Back", "Try Me & See", "Miss Brown's Blues", "My Prayer", and "This Bitter Earth". CD

A hip little set from Ruth Brown – miles away from her earlier R&B for Atlantic, and much more in the adult, righteous, and contemporary mode you'd expect from the title! The session's one of the key sides from the late 60s Skye Records catalog – and like others on the label, it features Gary McFarland production, and some great small group backings by a group that includes Richard Tee on organ, Billy Butler on guitar, and Herbie Lovelle on drums. Ruth's trials and tribulations are listed in detail inside the notes – and the record was one of the first re-discovery efforts that Brown undertook – a session that was trying to help her pay her dues, and expose her to the same sort of audiences that were lapping up Aretha Franklin at the time, but not giving as much attention to older singers. Tracks are a mix of (then) contemporary numbers and updated older tunes – with titles that include "Yesterday", "Please Send Me Someone To Love", "Lookin Back", "Try Me & See", "Miss Brown's Blues", "My Prayer", and "This Bitter Earth". LP, Vinyl record album

A great Japanese-only collection – rare Atlantic Records material by Ruth Brown – way past the hits! Titles include "RB Blues", "Jack O Diamonds", "Love Me Baby", "Shine On", "I Can Dream", "Why Me", "This Little Girl's Gone Rockin", "Please Don't Freeze", "Tears Keep Tumbling Down", and "Somebody Touched Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Stanky Brown have a sound here that's very much in keeping with their look on the cover – confident and cheeky 70s cats who can lay down a record that's tight, but easygoing too – on a set that's very much the sort that got all the right sort of funding and attention in the studio, but which never fully got its due in the mainstream! Songs are all well-penned – catchy, but never too cloying – and the style is slightly sharper than the smoothness of the AOR generation – on tracks that include "Falling Fast", "Chains", "Chance On Love", "She's A Taker", "Please Don't Be The One", "Master Of Disguise", and "Back In Your Arms Again". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer record from bassist Paul Brusger – a set that features plenty of great work from Eric Alexander on tenor and alto – the latter an instrument that he's really begun to embrace in recent years! The rest of the group is wonderful too – Steve Davis on trombone, Rick Germanson on piano, and Willie Jones III on drums – a combo with a hard-swinging energy, and lots of individual identity in the way each member expresses themselves within the group – no egos getting in the way of the groove, even though the musicians themselves are an all-star group! Yet credit should really be given to Brusger for not only pulling the whole thing together, but also composing most of the material for the set – really great tunes that bristle with fresh life and vision, on selections that include "A Slice Of Gryce", "Just A Tadd More Please", "Do Dreams Really Matter", "The Sugar Glider", and "Blues For Another Time". CD

A killer record from bassist Paul Brusger – a set that features plenty of great work from Eric Alexander on tenor and alto – the latter an instrument that he's really begun to embrace in recent years! The rest of the group is wonderful too – Steve Davis on trombone, Rick Germanson on piano, and Willie Jones III on drums – a combo with a hard-swinging energy, and lots of individual identity in the way each member expresses themselves within the group – no egos getting in the way of the groove, even though the musicians themselves are an all-star group! Yet credit should really be given to Brusger for not only pulling the whole thing together, but also composing most of the material for the set – really great tunes that bristle with fresh life and vision, on selections that include "A Slice Of Gryce", "Just A Tadd More Please", "Do Dreams Really Matter", "The Sugar Glider", and "Blues For Another Time". CD

A stunner from Kenny Burrell – one of his most sophisticated and soulful sessions of the 60s! Kenny's working here with the ultra-cool arranger Johnny Pate – best known for his work with Curtis Mayfield, and his 70s soundtrack fame – but a heck of a creative talent when it comes to a jazz session like this! For the record, Pate's created these spare little backdrops – not nearly as full as those penned by Don Sebesky or Claus Ogerman – and with a gentle sort of grooving quality that really pushes Kenny along nicely. Burrell's guitar is very strongly upfront in the mix – working chromatic magic at a level hardly ever matched again on record! Side one features the extended "Asphalt Canyon Suite" – a magnificent tune that's simply sublime – and side two features 5 shorter tracks, "Things Ain't What They Used To Be", "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", "Please Send Me Someone To Love", "Going To Jim & Andy's", and "Sugar Hill". CD

An early moment of global exposure for South African guitarist/singer Jonathan Butler – with titles that include "Baby Please Don't Take It", "Crossroads Revisited", "Thinking Of You", "Gentle Love", "Song For Jon", and "7th Avenue South". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes the songs "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone", "Mad Monk", "Billie's Bounce", "I Surrender Dear", "Red Cross","Dynamo A", "Summertime", "Stardust", "Old Man River", "Night And Day", "The Man I Love", "Georgia On My Mind", "Easy To Love", "Over The Rainbow", "Where Or When", "En Ce Temps-La", "Somebody Loves Me", "Riviera Blues (Blues A la Don)", "Laura", and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". CD

Titles include "My Back Pages", "Mr. Spaceman", "It Happens Each Day", "Reputation", "I Am A Pilgrim", and "Draft Morning" – 24 tracks total. CD

Titles include "Chestnut Mare", "Just Like A Woman", "Glory, Glory", "Truck Stop Girl", "Lazy Waters", "Turn! Turn! Turn!", "Paths Of Victory", and "Tiffany Queen" – 21 tracks total. CD