Four classics from this legendary Motown group – including 2 albums on CD for the first time ever! First up is What Love Has Joined Together – excellent work by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – recorded with a super-heavy vibe that's very different than his sweeter 60s work! The record has an amazingly large conception of arrangements – mostly handled by Smokey, and done in a complicated baroque harmony style that points forward towards his later Quiet Storm sound – but which isn't as laidback and compressed. Most tracks are covers, but they're redone fantastically – with better vocals than you could imagine – and titles include "What Love Has Joined Together", "My Cherie Amour", "If This World Were Mine", "This Guy's In Love", and "And I Love Her". Pocket Full Of Miracles is a great one by The Miracles! Smokey and the group are clearly pushing the envelope here – stretching out for a deeper harmony sound, moving towards some of the smoother styles they'd use a bit more in the 70s. The result is a slightly-confused album, but one with some really interesting material that gives the group a chance to experiment more with their vocal phrasing. Includes the heavy soul number "Flower Girl", plus the tracks "Who's Gonna Take The Blame", "Darling Dear", "The Reel Of Time", "Wishful Thinking", "Point It Out", and "Don't Take It So Hard". Also features a great medley of "Something" and "Something You Got". One Dozen Roses is an early 70s set from Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – and a set that mixes great new material with a few older gems from the previous decade too! The new cuts are fantastic – and have Smokey and the group continuing that mellower, more laidback harmony style that really knocks it out of the park – almost as if The Miracles were trying to challenge some of the younger sweet soul acts who were coming onto the scene. Titles include the older cuts "Tears Of A Clown" and "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game" – plus "I Don't Blame You At All", "That Girl", "I Love You Dear", "No Wonder Love's A Wonder", and "When Sundown Comes". Flying High Together is excellent 70s work by Smokey and crew – sort of their way of showing the emerging east coast vocal stars how much talent they still had! The record has a sweet, slightly modern sound – with an approach that hints at Smokey's later Quiet Storm sound, but maybe a bit more laidback overall – set up with really great arrangements from both David Van De Pitte and HB Barnum. Titles include a killer reading of Stevie Wonder's "We Had A Love So Strong", plus "Got To Be There", "You Ain't Livin 'Till You're Lovin", "Flying High Together", "It Will Be Alright", and a cover of "Betcha By Golly Wow". CD features bonus tracks "You've Got Me Looking Through The Eyes Of Love" and "Paper People". CD

A never-issued live performance from a really incredible trio – and a set that has reedman Perry Robinson coming across with some of the bold energy he brought to his important avant recordings on the New York scene of the 60s! The pairing of Barry Altschul's drums and David Izenson's bass is wonderful – as they work with that freewheeling sense of rhythm learned from their earliest experiences with important avant players a decade before, and Izenson's especially great here, as he moves between plucked and bowed passages that remind us just how great he can be in the right setting! Robinson is a delight throughout, and his use of clarinet continues to be a next step past the work of Jimmy Giuffre in terms of free, avant expression on the instrument – much sharper here than on some of his more common European recordings from the period. The set features four long improvisations – and is a revelation throughout! CD

Super-righteous work from William S Fischer – the ultra-hip arranger who was one of the most important forces in the late 60s underground soul jazz scene! Fischer is best known for his work with Eugene McDaniels, Eddie Harris, and Les McCann – almost akin to the sorts of collaborative influence that David Axelrod had with Cannonball Adderley or Lou Rawls, but with a style that was decidedly darker, and trippier. This album's one of the few ever recorded under his own name – originally done for the tripped-out jazz imprint Embryo, and featuring a unique blend of moog, strings, funk, and soul! Billy Cobham plays drums and percussion on the set, Bill Robinson sings on a few numbers, and Walter Sear adds in some extra moog next to Fischer's own work – but the real brilliance comes from the overall concept – funky one minute, laidback and trippy the next, very much in the spirit of some of the righteous crossover funk, soul, and rock recordings coming from McDaniels and Axelrod at the time! Titles include "Patience Is Virtue", "Saigon", "Green Forever", "Chains", "Electrix", "Capsule", and "There's A Light That Shines". LP, Vinyl record album