A second volume from one of our favorite compilation series of 70s African music ever – Nigeria Special Volume 2 from the rare Afrobeat treasure diggers at Soundway Records! This deeper delve into the well of hard-to-find early to mid 70s material sticks is just as wonderful – chronicling rare singles, A-sides and B-sides, as well as lesser known album tracks that wonderful fuse styles of African funk, soul & jazz, highlife and more. Heavy rhythms and passionate sounds galore, from the first half dozen years of the decade in this second, and purportedly final installment of the flagship Nigerian Special series! It's very exciting that researcher and compiler Miles Cleret puts together compilations of such top caliber material, on a level that it's mindboggling that so much has languished largely unheard for so many years! 19 tracks : "Psychedelic Baby" by Fubura Sekibo, "Shango Oba Onina" by Black's Zenith, "Omohupa" by The Otarus, "The Lord's Prayer"m by The Don Isaac Ezekiel Combination, "Jeka Subu" by Bola Johnson & His Easy Life Top Beats", "Motako" by Fidel Sax Bateke & The Voices Of Darkness and more. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) CD

A pretty incredible legacy of jazz from the scene in Belgium during the late 60s and early 70s – a place that never got the kind of exposure as the jazz worlds of the UK, Scandinavia, and Germany – but one that was making some really amazing work at the time! Take the "progressive" in the title a bit loosely – this is neither prog jazz rock, nor work that's too academic to be groovy – as the groups here are often a bit funky, and play with a surprising degree of soul – just the right space between the notes to make for tunes that cross over very well to fans of American funky jazz from the 70s, with some moments that also rival the best in Brazilian 70s jazz too! The rhythms are wonderful – sometimes full-on funky, sometimes more modal and spacious – and the tracks mix electric and acoustic instrumentation perfectly – mostly instrumental, but with a few vocals from time to time. Some of the artists are ones here you might not normally associate with Belgium – and that's just because they're finally getting their due here, in a well-collected package that also illuminates the connections with a great set of notes. Titles include "Vas Y Voir" by Brussels Art Quintet, "Pathetic Dreams" by Koen De Bruyne, "Archangelo" by Raphael, "Memphis Talk" by Philip Catherine, "Naima" by Lou MacConnell, "Pro Forma 1" by Babs Robert, "Utopic Cities" by Solis Lacus, "SUS" by Placebo, "Face Reality" by Jacques & Micheline Pelzer, "Tohubohu (part 1)" by Marc Moulin, "Open Sky" by Open Sky Unit, and "Sakara" by Clarke Boland Big Band. LP, Vinyl record album

Way more than just a regular set of 60s soul jazz – as the package offers up a wide variety of styles, genres, and work from both European and American sources – all at a ridiculously low price! The set brings together 18 numbers from key 60s labels like Verve, MPS, and Impulse – all grooving together nicely in an upbeat mode that brings in plenty of Latin, Brazilian, and slightly funky touches too! All these tunes are plenty darn hip – longtime favorites at Dusty Groove that include "Jive Samba" by Peter Herbholzheimer, "Crickets Sing For Anamaria" by Marcos Valle, "Evil Ways" by Willie Bobo, "Terra Samba" by Fritz Pauer, "Um Grao De Areia" by Clarke Boland Big Band, "Cubano Chant" by Wolfgang Dauner Trio, "For Mods Only" by Chico Hamilton, "Love & Happiness" by Monty Alexander, "The Fakir" by Cal Tjader, "Big Schlepp" by Dave Pike Set, "Watermelon Man" by Jon Hendricks, "Why & How" by Mark Murphy, and "Sunshine Of Your Love" by Ella Fitzgerald. CD

They weren't kidding about the title with this one – because the whole set's pretty darn swinging all the way through! But even better than that, the collection's filled with rare work from a variety of different labels in the Universal Music spectrum, especially MPS – including a fair number of tracks recorded overseas at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s – some really great numbers that offer an unusual side of familiar American players. Titles include "La Petite Mambo" by Billy Taylor, "Speak Low" by Tete Montoliu, "Blue Alexander" by Monty Alexander, "Dark Eyes" by Francy Boland, "How Could You Do A Thing Like That To Me" by Eddie Thompson, "I'm All Smiles" by Hampton Hawes, "Daahoud" by Red Gardland, and "The Oregon Grinder" by Hank Jones. CD

Great 3rd volume in this legendary series of groovy compilations which dig through the vaults of MPS records to come up with an insane mix of jazz, fusion, and grooves that end up filling up all the little cracks in your record collection that you'd never been able to track down in the original. Every bit as great as the last two comps, and probably an even deeper fee – with titles that include "Stars & Rockets" by Peter Thomas, Suite Pour San Remo Overture" by Jef Gilson, "Big P" by Modern Jazz Group Freiburg, "Yaad" by Jazz Meets India, "Modal Forces Movement A" by Fritz Pauer, "Sakara" by Clarke Boland Big Band, "Burungkaka Tua" by Tony Scott & The Indonesian All Stars, "Just Give Me Time" by Mark Murphy, "Things We Said Today" by London Jazz 4, "Waldmadchen" by Gustav Brom, "Blue Dance" by Roland Kovac, and "Color" by Erwin Lehn. LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overdue look at the Belgian jazz scene in the postwar years – a nation that always seems to get overlooked next to the more famous jazz musicians that have recorded in Denmark, France, and The Netherlands at the time! Yet the Belgian scene also gave Paris some of its most important players of the 50s – and also helped provide a crossroads for American and other European musicians too – so there's a very lively sense of expression and exploration here – most that are mostly soulful, and in styles that include hardbop and modal – but in ways that share some of the best modern ideas of the Danish greats of the time. The package is way more than just music, too – as the notes are copious, and include images of all the rare records that provided the material – a few you might know, but not as Belgian classics – and lots more that should be very new! The set features both homegrown recordings, and Belgian contributions to other European recordings – and titles include "African Dance" by Jack Sels, "Dark Eyes" by Francy Boland, "Cecilia" by The Clouds, "Witch Of Salem" by Rene Goldstein & His Group, "Work Song" by Jacques Pelzer, "Let's Get Swinging" by The St Tropez Jazz Octet, "Grelots" by Philip Catherine & Robert Pernet, "Bernie's Taste" by Rene Thomas/Bobby Jaspar Quintet, "Ensadinado" by Fats Sadi, "Clarinescapade" by Bobby Jaspar, "Minor Works" by Lucky Thompson & Jack Sels, "Hall's Blues" by The Clouds, "Digging Chick" by Herman Sandy, "Subtroyan Influence" by Jon Eardley, and "Minor 5" by Saxorama & Jack Sels. CD