Wonderfully soulful grooves from the amazing Lucky Thompson! Despite the simple cover and title, this is a very nice set that brings together some of Lucky Thompson's excellent soulful recordings for the Groove Merchant label during the early 70s. Thompson started out his career as a more traditional tenorist, with a definite post-swing bias – but by the time of these sessions, he'd emerged (after a long stay in Europe) as a more spiritual, more soulful player, capable of deep emotion, and warm flowing introspective solos. He's caught in good company here – as both sessions feature Cedar Walton on keyboards – and the CD features Thompson on both tenor and soprano, which he plays in a delightful way. Titles include "Fillet Of Soul", "Then Soul Walked In", "Home Come'n", "Soul Lullaby", and "Sun Out". CD

Music from Misty Wizards, Capes Of Good Hopes, Freeborne, Id, Tea Company, Truth, Ballroom, Teddy And His Patches, Picture, The Gurus, Mongrels, and more - 25 songs in all. CD

A gently beautiful record from trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire – one driven by a desire to create open space, which Ambrose does wonderfully in the company of Bill Frisell on guitar and Herlin Riley on drums! All players have a great sense of timing and work with a "less is more" sort of approach – a quality you'll certainly know from some of Frisell's music, but which is delivered here with a warm balance that's also nicely different than those recordings too! In the wrong hands, the set could have the coldness of an ECM recording, but instead there's a much more sensitive approach going on here – but also one that's never sleepy or too laidback. Titles include "Mr Frisell", "Owl Song 2", "Weighted Corners", "Grace", "Mr Riley", "Henya", and "Flux Fuelings". CD

Don't let the "alternate" in the title fool you, because it's not like the Art Ensemble Of Chicago are getting all alt-rock or anything – nor is the album a set of alternate takes! Instead, the album's one of their best from the time – a well-crafted set of tunes, recorded in very familiar company in Chicago – issued only for the Japanese market by DIW. There's a richly organic quality to some of the tunes – as many of the numbers are sparer, more thoughtful tracks that focus on spare percussion and instrumental interplay between members of the group. The album also features the longer tune "Kush", which gets fairly outside at times – plus shorter numbers that include "Imaginary Situations", "And There Was Peace", "Whatever Happens", and "Alternate Express". CD

A great second chapter for Paul Rodgers after Free – with titles that include "Bad Company", "The Way I Choose", "Rock Steady", "Ready For Love", "Don't Let Me Down", and "Can't Get Enough". CD

The first full album featuring the incredible voice of Janis Joplin, as the singer of Big Brother & The Holding Company! Even at this early point, it's clear that there's some really incredible things happening with this band. Originally released on Mainstream, the production is a bit thin compared to the bigger sounding records to come, hich actually works incredibly well – as Janis's voice just tears right through in a really exciting way. The rawer Big Brother backdrop is great, too! Titles include "Easy Rider", "Bye, Bye Baby", "Intruder", "Women Is Losers", Moondog's "All Is Lonliness", and "Down On Me" – with bonus tracks "Coo Coo", ""The Last Time" and alternate takes of "Call On Me" and "Bye Bye Baby". CD

Some of Kenny's best recordings – especially from the early days! The albums contained on this 2CD set feature Kenny in the company of some of the best late 50's players at Blue Note. Junior Cook and Tina Brooks are on tenor, Duke Jordan or Bobby Timmons play piano, Louis Smith plays trumpet on some tracks, Sam Jones is on bass, and Art Blakey is on drums throughout. The cuts have a very open-ended blowing session feel, and Kenny comes through surprisingly well, really picking up steam on a way you don't always hear in more restrained recordings. The 2-in-1 combo is a nice idea, too – and it gives you all 9 long tracks from these two rare albums, including "Rock Salt", "Chuckin", "Scotch Blues", and "Phinupi". CD

Don Cherry gave many wonderful musical performances on the European scene in the 70s, including this one – a gem of a record that was thought to be lost for years, and finally gets released to the world at large! The set's a live collaboration with electronic musician Jean Schwarz – whose contributions here are nicely subtle, and never challenge the acoustic energy of the session, but instead augment it in all these really cool, unique ways – very different than most improvised music with electronics at the time. Cherry plays pocket trumpet and some great doussn gouni – in the company of an equally fantastic lineup that features JF Jenny Clark on bass, Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, and Michel Portal on saxes, bass clarinet, and bandoneon. Given all the elements, there's some very unique sounds going on here – a really amazing record that includes the tracks "Bells One", "Doussn Gouni", "Tribute To Ornette", "Bando", and "Berimbau". CD

Don Cherry gave many wonderful musical performances on the European scene in the 70s, including this one – a gem of a record that was thought to be lost for years, and finally gets released to the world at large! The set's a live collaboration with electronic musician Jean Schwarz – whose contributions here are nicely subtle, and never challenge the acoustic energy of the session, but instead augment it in all these really cool, unique ways – very different than most improvised music with electronics at the time. Cherry plays pocket trumpet and some great doussn gouni – in the company of an equally fantastic lineup that features JF Jenny Clark on bass, Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, and Michel Portal on saxes, bass clarinet, and bandoneon. Given all the elements, there's some very unique sounds going on here – a really amazing record that includes the tracks "Bells One", "Doussn Gouni", "Tribute To Ornette", "Bando", and "Berimbau". CD

Classic 60s soul jazz from Eddie Lockjaw Davis – more than an album's worth of materal on a single CD! First up is part of the album Misty – great work from the famous team that featured Eddie Lockjaw Davis on tenor and Shirley Scott on organ – recorded here in the mellow, open-ended setting of Prestige Records' Moodsville label – a perfect setting for the late nite stylings of the pair! There's a slight more groove to this session than some of the other Moodsville date – thanks to the presence of Ray Barretto in the group on congas –a longside the bass of George Duvivier and drums of Arthur Edgehill. CD also adds in the track "From This Moment On". Goin To The Meetin is a great one – and one of the rarest Prestige dates from Eddie Lockjaw Davis! The album features a unique group that includes Horace Parlan on piano – in place of the organ that had graced many of Davis' earlier Prestige records – with added groovy energy from Buddy Catlett on bass, Art Taylor on drums, and Willie Bobo on congas – all players who seem to give Davis an even sharper edge than before – not entirely the modern tones of his pairings with Johnny Griffin, but a bit less sleepy than in the company of a Hammond. The congas really kick things up nicely – and there's an undercurrent of fire that almost recalls some of the best Blue Note dates of this nature from the time. Titles include "Little Cougar", "Yes Yes", "Pass The Hat", "Goin To Meetin", and "Oh Babee". CD

A really cool set of work from the young Jackie DeShannon – records that were not issued to the public at the time, but which were instead used as a way to circulate her strengths as a songwriter! The material was originally captured as demo recordings by the Metric Music publishing company – and dovetails nicely with the Imperial records that Jackie would issue throughout the 60s – tunes that include some she's record later under her own name, or which would get picked up by other singers – as well as some more obscure material too. The set's got a 16 page booklet of notes on the contents – and includes 35 tracks in all, with titles that include "Hellos & Goodbyes", "Franklin Street", "Heart In Hand", "Just Like In The Movies", "So Deep", "Put On Your Kid Gloves", "I Must Be Dreamin", "He's So Heavenly", "Up On A Hill", "This Time It's Not Fun", "Little Ole You", "Takin The Long Way Home", My Heart Is Breaking All The While", and "You Don't Have To Prove A Thing To Me". CD

A magnificent follow up to the Undercurrent album from the team of Bill Evans and Jim Hall – and like that one, a set that features amazing interplay between piano and guitar! Hall's guitar has never sounded better – and in the airy company of Evans, it takes on many of the same qualities as on his famous late 50s recordings in the Jimmy Guiffre trio. Bill's work is great too – almost more tonally focused than before, with perfectly chosen notes that resonate beautifully in this very spare space. Titles include "Jazz Samba", "All Across The City", "Angel Face", and "Turn Out The Stars". CD

A rare batch of funky soul on the notorious Guinness label – the same company that gave the world the two fantastic albums by Newban – and somehow also managed to issue this gem of a set too! The vibe is similar to Newban – well-crafted upbeat soul that isn't really disco, but isn't hard funk either – instead this really unique hybrid of modes that moves along at a mighty nice clip – while tight, fast guitar really carves out most of the groove – but is matched by some great basslines and drums, and topped by horns that really warm things up alongside the vocals! There's a soaring, positive vibe to the whole record – energy that really belies the fact that the set hardly got any circulation at the time – almost as if the group were poising themselves to be huge. Titles include "Love Love Love", "Hold On", "Can You Feel It", "All In Time", "Fine Lady", and "Smoke Up". CD

Later work from bossa legend Antonio Carlos Jobim – and a set that shows just how creative his talents could grow over the years! Jobim was never stuck in the simple trappings of the generation from which he emerged, and could instead find ways to bring the airy brilliance of his style into play with new modes of arrangement and production – holding onto his legacy in all the right ways, but never being just a rehash of himself. The younger Paulo and Daniel Jobim produced – and Antonio both sings and plays piano, in the company of Raul De Souza on trombone, Marcio Montarroyos on trumpet, and Paulo Jobim as well. Sting guests on one track, but never gets in the way – and the album also features guest appearances by Dorival Caymmi and Maria Luiza Jobim. Titles include "Piano Na Mangueira", "Trem de Ferro", "Radames Y Pele", "Pato Preto", "Maricotinha", "Forever Green", and "Samba De Maria Luiza". CD

A quadruple-header from Ramsey Lewis – four albums from his great 70s electric period on Columbia Records! First up is Funky Serenity – sweet electric funk from Ramsey Lewis! The album's one of his best from the 70s – and it's got Ramsey on Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and other keyboards, grooving away in an open-ended 70s mode that still retains all the heavy soul of his classic work for Chess. Morris Jennings adds in some very nice percussion with his drum work, and Cleveland Eaton's on funky bass, giving the set a strong bottom groove. Features the sublime sample cut "My Love For You", a great version of "Knights In White Satin" that's done with a weird spacey groove, plus the tracks "Kufany Mapenzi (Making Love)", "Serene Funk", "What It Is!", and "Dreams". Golden Hits isn't a "best of", but instead has Ramsey and his funky mid 70s trio with Morris Jennings and Cleveland Eaton revisiting some of his best loved material from the Cadet years, but with the groovy Rhodes and wah wah sound that we dig so much about his CBS recordings. Unlike some of the other records from this period, the group's nice and stripped down, just the electric piano, bass and drums, so the groove's nice and wide open, Ramsey and company popping along with the sanctified soulful vibe of his 60s work, but updating their sound with some nice electric touches. 9 numbers in all: "Hang On Sloopy", "Blues For The Night Owl", "Hi-Heel Sneakers", "Carmen", "Delilah", "Wade In The Water", "Slippin' Into Darkness", "Somethin' You Got", and "The In Crowd". Solar Wind was cut smack dab in the middle of Ramsey's glory days at Columbia Records – with great production help and work on bass from the mighty Cleveland Eaton! The style is nice and lean, with just some occasional fuller touches – and Ramsey plays plenty of Fender Rhodes, in addition to bits of Arp and moog too – in a setting that's mostly trio, with a few guest players stepping into the mix from track to track! There's a nice degree of fuzz at points, thanks to added help from Steve Cropper – and titles include a great funky version of "Summer Breeze", plus "Solar Wind", "Come Down In Time", "Love for A Day", "Hummingbird", "Jamaican Marketplace", and "Sweet & Tender You". Sun Goddess is one of our favorite Ramsey Lewis albums ever – and a perfect summation of the genius that was brewing on the Chicago scene in the late 60s and early 70s! The album has Ramsey working strongly with Earth Wind & Fire – no surprise, given his close ties to Maurice White, who was the drummer in Ramsey's trio before starting his own group – and the shared relationship both artists had with producer Charles Stepney! The three were all key parts of the late 60s sound at Chess Records – but here, they've brought the same soulful energy to Columbia – working in a wider, more mature groove for the 70s – one that has Lewis' wicked Fender Rhodes lines stretching out strongly over tight, compressed, funky lines from EWF! The centerpiece of the set is the massive 7 minute "Sun Goddess", but there's lots of other nice ones like "Living For The City", "Gemini Rising", and "Jungle Strut". Funky, electric, and sublimely wonderful all the way through! CD

The meeting of two key modern jazz talents in the late 50s third stream of jazz – heard on material pulled from three different Atlantic albums recorded at the Music Inn during 1956! The core of the set features the clarinet of Jimmy Giuffre blowing alongside the Modern Jazz Quartet – in a spacious style that's very much in the spirit of Jimmy's own loosely-crafted groups of the time, and which makes surprisingly gentle use of piano, drums, and vibes next to his own gentle phrasing on clarinet. 2 of the 5 tracks with the MJQ add in Giuffre trio members Jim Hall and Ralph Pena – and titles for all include "A Fugue For Music Inn", "Serenade", "Fun",j "Da Capo", and "Fine". Added to these are 4 more titles that have Giuffre in the shifting company of other all-star players on tunes that take on a more traditional nature overall – longer jamming tracks that feature Rex Stewart, Pee Wee Russell, Teddy Charles, and Herbie Mann on titles that include "Blues In E Flat", "In A Mellotone", "The Quiet Time", and "Body & Soul". The last 3 tracks on the set return us to the Modern Jazz Quartet – working here on their own – on tracks that include "2 Degrees East 3 Degrees West", "Variation No 1 On God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and "Oh Bess Where's My Bess". CD

Steve Nelson's been one of the hippest talents on vibes for many years now – and an album like this is a great reminder of why we love his music so much! Nelson's never content to just echo the sound of previous masters of his instrument – and instead, like a rare few, he finds a way to integrate the instrument into a familiar jazz combo, but all without ever making the vibes stand in second place – really soaring out and ringing forth with a commanding power that really leaves us breathless! Here, Nelson's in some very well-matched, deeply soulful company – a killer quartet with Danny Grissett on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums – superb rhythm players whose own fires rise and burn with the energy of the leader. The ballads on the record are as great as the burners – and it's the burners we love most of all – on titles that include "Eastern Joy Dance", "Soul-Leo", "Grew's Tune", "Samba D'Blue", "New Wheels", "Brothers Under The Sun", and "Melody For Mulgrew". CD

Heavy rhythms from the Brazilian scene of the 50s – a set of grooves originally used to accompany a touring dance production, but a set of tracks that's gone on to have quite a life of its own! The music here isn't the cool bossa or spare samba you might expect – and instead has this full-on, very heady sort of vibe – almost Afro-Cuban in the way the album was recorded, although lots of the core elements of the music have a distinctly Brazilian feel, and seem to point the way towards more ambitious recordings of the 60s – such as the work of Moacir Santos on the Forma label, or the Afro Sambas of Baden Powell and Vinicius De Moraes! Percussion is very heavy, and nicely earthy – and most tracks feature some chorus vocals buried alongside the rhythms, plus occasional leads from Ivan De Paula – who's got a deep style that really matches the music. Titles include "Imbae Sofa", "Ogum Olojo", "De Luanda", "Tem Brabo No Samba", "Onika", and "Maracatu Da D Santa". CD

An album from the 80s, but one that echoes a much older tradition of folk and blues – with a vibe that hardly fits the dated spelling of the duo's name! Serious Bizness is the team of Jaribu and Ngoma Hill – who harmonize together on some very message-oriented music, in a way that was often a bit overlooked in the generation of beatboxes and keyboards, but which has all the pride and power of acoustic sessions from the Civil Rights generation! Instrumentation is just acoustic guitar on most numbers, but Jaribu and Ngoma have a way of really making the songs ring out with a great deal of power – on titles that include "High Tech", "Southern Shame", "Down Underground In A Company Town", "Stolen Dreams", "Stop The Bosses", and "Malcolm Lives". CD

Lonnie Smith's a long way from his Blue Note years here – but the sound is still plenty darn great, thanks to some fuller arrangements from the great Brad Baker – of B Baker Chocolate Company fame! The whole thing's quite electric – with Lonnie on Fender Rhodes and other keyboards on most tracks, and rhythms that bring in bits of strings amidst the smaller jazz combo vamping – a blend that's smoothly soulful, but still more than funky enough to please our ears. Lonnie even sings a bit on the record, too – in this slightly-spacey quality that has echoes of Stevie Wonder – but the main focus overall is on his keyboards, which step out nicely over the backings. Titles include "Keep On Lovin", "What I Want", "No Tears Tomorrow", "Sizzle Stick", "Lean Meat", and "Filet O Sole". CD

Lonnie Smith's a long way from his Blue Note years here – but the sound is still plenty darn great, thanks to some fuller arrangements from the great Brad Baker – of B Baker Chocolate Company fame! The whole thing's quite electric – with Lonnie on Fender Rhodes and other keyboards on most tracks, and rhythms that bring in bits of strings amidst the smaller jazz combo vamping – a blend that's smoothly soulful, but still more than funky enough to please our ears. Lonnie even sings a bit on the record, too – in this slightly-spacey quality that has echoes of Stevie Wonder – but the main focus overall is on his keyboards, which step out nicely over the backings. Titles include "Keep On Lovin", "What I Want", "No Tears Tomorrow", "Sizzle Stick", "Lean Meat", and "Filet O Sole". CD

Tracks include "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Chances Are," "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues," and many more 22 tracks total. CD