An incredible album that has Cleanhead moving way past his usual bag! Sure, he's normally known as an R&B vocalist and alto player, but here, in one of those great Riverside "Cannonball Adderley Presents" sessions, Vinson gets into a whole new bag on some cuts. He's playing with Cannonball's group of Nat, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones, and Louis Hayes – and there's one track in particular that's amazing – "Arriving Soon", an instrumental that has Vinson soaring on alto, wailing with an almost Coltrane-esque level of freedom. It's a killer modal track, and is worth the price of the album alone. There's another instrumental called "Vinsonology", plus vocal numbers like "Hold It", "This Time", and "Kidney Stew" – all with a nice groovy Adderley quintet kind of groove. CD also includes 4 bonus tracks! CD

Muddy Waters can't get no grinding – but that's hardly a problem, given the strength of this sweet early 70s set! The album marks Muddy's return to more basic Chicago blues after his funky electric period on Chess – but the set's still got some of the trippier touches of a few years before – laid out in a much more spare, basic way! The guitar has a weird quality at times – possibly from the way the electric piano comes across at points – almost a bit like Sun Ra's rocksichord, with all the freaky fuzz that might imply! The harmonica almost feels electric too – and all three instruments come together with a nicely offbeat quality that's really head and shoulders above the usual from the Chicago scene. Titles include "Funky Butt", "After Hours", "Garbage Man", "Love Weapon", "Muddy Waters' Shuffle", and "Mother's Bad Luck Child". CD

A great little set that really lives up to the promise of its title – and it's claim to offer up "commercial recordings of Anglo-European American vernacular music that challenges the stereotypes"! The set's a wealth of obscure 78rpm recordings that really defy genre convention – and which show that the 20s was easily one of the most experimental times in American music – a point when later common styles were really quite new, and still very fluid – bits of later blues, folk, or country intermingling equally – often from sources that you wouldn't expect a decade or two later. These tracks are all acoustic, but feature really inventive instrumentation – especially when modes of a generation or two before are pushed into new phrasings with decidedly (then) modern flavors. As usual with these Tompkins Square reissues, the sound quality is great – and the package offers up some good notes to help situate the music too. Titles include "Caliope" by Lewis Brothers, "Bacon & Cabbage" by Blind Joe Mangrum & Fred Shriver, "Don't Get One Woman On Your Mind" by Willard Hodgin, "The Whale Did I Know He Did" by Mustard & Gravy, "Ladies Quadrille" by The Happy Hayseeds, "Dill Pickles Rag" by McLaughlin's Old Time Melody Makers, and "Down In Tennessee Blues" by Homer Davenport. (Folk/Country, Blues) CD