A record that's a lot more jazz than you'd guess from the title – a seminal set from the mighty Mel Brown! The "blues" here are hardly the familiar kind – and instead, the album really stresses the more soul-based sound of Mel Brown's work – thanks to some very groovy arrangements from Artie Butler! Tracks have a vamping, stomping sort of sound that's all-soul all the way through – using both Mel's guitar and some of his vocals to top some wonderful grooves from Artie – all done up in the best mix of soul jazz and more conventional vibes that was going down at Verve and Impulse in the late 60s. The tunes are all plenty hip too – with titles that include a great version of Tom Scott's "Freaky Zeke", plus Mel's own takes on "Son Of A Preacher Man", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "Indian Giver", and "Set Me Free". (Jazz, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

There's no suffering here – as the record's a real delight, and one of the more unique sessions in the career of the great John Lee Hooker! The record was done for Impulse Records, mostly known for its jazz recordings at the time – and the session has the vocals and guitar of John Lee next to a trio of more jazz-based players, one that features Barry Galbraith on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, and Panama Francis on drums – who somehow do a fantastic job of backing Hooker up! The set has a beautiful recording quality – very crisp and clear, yet never polished – and the work of the other players is incredible, as they really move into John Lee's mode, and somehow have him shining even more strongly than on some of his other albums from the time. This isn't a folk blues set done by a jazz label – and instead, the best of Impulse is used to give Hooker a fantastic showcase – on titles that include "Bottle Up & Go", "Sugar Mama", "Decoration Day", "You're Wrong", and a good cover of "Money". LP, Vinyl record album

Mel Brown's fifth album – as we'd assume by the title – and a pretty darn tasty batch of funky numbers! There's still a bit of the bluesy playing that can sometimes ruin a Mel Brown record –but the best cuts are just super-dope guitar funk numbers, either chopping along at a tight funky pace, or kicking back and letting Mel open up in kind of an O'Donel Levy mode. Plenty of tasty nubmers – including "Good Stuff", "Time For A Change", "Cheap At Half The Price", and "Luv Potion". (Jazz, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album