Some of the best work ever cut by ZZ Hill – a deep soul singer with roots in Texas, but who really got the chance to shine on these 60s recordings in California! Hill is completely hard-burning here – even more so than on his later, bigger-label material in the 70s – with an intensity that we'd rank right up there with top-shelf standards like early Bobby Blue Bland on Duke Records, or Otis Redding on Stax! Yet ZZ's work is much more obscure than both of those artists, partly because the Kent label never got these tracks out that much back in the day – especially in parts of the country that were maybe even more suited to Hill's style than Cali. Production is wonderful – totally on the money, with arrangements that even surpass the usual greatness of Kent – and as with Bland, there's often a lot of jazz and blues inflections that really help round out the soulful style of the songs. 2CD set features the full album A Whole Lot Of Soul, plus all the Kent Records singles, and even unissued tracks too – a massive 49 titles that include "You Don't Love Me", "Greatest Love", "Have Mercy Someone", "Hey Little Girl", "If I Could Do It All Over", "Steal Away", "What Am I Living For", "You Just Cheat & Lie", "Greatest Love", "Nothing Can Change The Love I Have For You", "Nothing Takes The Place Of You", "You Won't Hurt Me No More", "My Girl Has Gone Away", "Please Take Me Back", "I'm Gonna Love You", and "You Can't Hide A Heartache". (Soul, Blues) CD

With selections by Big Joe Turner, Albinia Jones, St Louis Tommy, Sunnyland Slim, Pleasant Joseph, and Hot Lips Page. LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual album from singer Tedd Brown – who mixes in a blend of jazz, blues, and calypso styles to his music! LP, Vinyl record album

A smoking live performance from these two Chicago blues legends – recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, but with a gritty electric vibe that's very much like the duo's best work back home! The approach is very stripped-down and unadorned – just vocals by both Guy and Wells – with Buddy on guitar and Junior on harmonica – plus additional piano from Pinetop Perkins, and even the mighty Bill Wyman on bass. Wyman produced the set – very faithfully too – and titles include "How Can One Woman Be So Mean", "Hoodoo Man Blues", "My Younger Days", "Messin With The Kid", and "Ten Years Ago". CD

If you only know BB King from later years, you'll really be stunned at the sound of this great set from the start of the 60s – a record that's much more R&B than the straighter blues of King's bigger label work – and which has a jumping groove nearly all the way through! The mix of modes is right in that best Memphis style of the 50s – currents of jazz, jump blues, and other soulful styles – all topped by King's bold vocals, and given a bit of sweet guitar solos on most tracks – already razor-sharp, even at this early point in his career! Titles include "Bad Luck Soul", "Shut Your Moth", "My Reward", "Don't Cry Anymore", "Just Like A Woman", and "Blues For Me". CD features 8 bonus tracks – including "Broken Promise", "Mercy Mercy Baby", "Lonely", "You're Gonna Miss Me", "I Can Hear My Name", and "Just A Dream". CD

Wild electric work from Les McCann – an album of free, open sounds that's quite a change from his styles of the 60s – and from most of his other work of the 70s too! Side one features an extended 26 minute track titled "The Lovers" – a slow-building number that has Les on sublime Fender Rhodes, as things build slowly with this really spiritual current that comes from the addition of Yusef Lateef on reeds, Cornell Dupree and David Spinozza on guitar, Corky Hale on harp, and both Bernard Purdie and Alphonse Mouzon on drums! The track is loose, but builds into some great funky moments – almost a keyboard version of electric Miles Davis at the time, but a lot more soulful. And side two continues the heavy keyboard vibe – with a killer remake of Les' classic "Beaux J Poo Poo" and a similar "Poo Pye McGoochie", both with the kind of choppy funky grooves Les laid down with Eddie Harris a few years prior! (Jazz, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic material from Jimmy Witherspoon – that sublime mix of blues and jazz that really set him apart from the rest! Titles include "Failing By Degrees", "Big Fine Girl", "Have A Ball", "Fickle Woman", "Sweet Lovin Baby", and "Ain't Nobody's Business". (Vocalists, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album