Heavy funk from the Bahamas – a whole bunch of groups that will show you that Nassau had a lot more to offer than The Beginning Of The End! The groove here is totally wonderful – somewhat like American funk of the late 60s and early 70s, but served up with some very unusual rhythmic patterns too – a bit Jamaican at times, but certainly not reggae – and somewhat sunny and Caribbean styled, but not in a way that's cheesy or filled with any hokey island-styled stereotypes. Instead, the tunes are deeply funk and soulful – grooving with plenty of dark edges and gritty instrumentation that's often heavy on the guitar. Many numbers have vocals, and those are great too – and as usual with the Numero label, the whole thing's put together with amazing notes and packaging, so that you get a full history lesson and a heck of a lot of photos to support the music too! Titles include "Gonna Build A Nation" by Cyril Ferguson, "Mustang Sally", "I Am The Man For You Baby", and "Funky Fever" by Jay Mitchell, "Theme From Shaft" by Esquires LTD, "Gimme Some Skin (inst)" by Frank Penn, "Words To My Song" by Dry Bread, "People Won't Change" by Willpower, "Take Five" by Ozzie Hall, "Watcha Gonna Do Bout It" and "The Time For Loving Is Now" by Mustangs, "Honesty Is The Best Policy" by Gospel Chandeliers, and "Don't Touch That Thing" by Sylvia Hall. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) CD

There's an island on the cover, but the music is all-soul, all the way through – a great collection of classic mellow moments from years back, plus a few excellent choices from more recent years as well! Still, the island's a great image for the sound of the set – as the music has this kicked-back vibe that provides a nice sort of escape from the everyday world – heavenly soul sounds that come both from rare classics, and some of the best of the current underground – brought together with the kind of care and class we've come to expect from the folks at Expansion Records. A wonderful mix of tunes – with titles that include "Remember To Remember" by Rick Holmes, "Under The Moon & Over The Sky" by Angela Bofil, "Living So Fast" by Novocento with Danni Gottlieb & Dave Liebman, "I Choose You" by Paris, "You Are My Starship" by Norman Connors, "It Should Be you" by Ashanti Munir & Neil Letendre, "He Mandu (mother mix)" by Mouth Music, "Far Beyond" by Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band, "It's Like Air" by Sunny Hawkins, "Blending Colors" by Debra Debs, "Unconditional Love" by Greg Dean with Chantae Cann & Jarrod Lawson, "Mississippi Delta Blues" by Lamar Thomas with Carrie K Thomas, and "Peace In The Middle East" by Miri Ben-Ari & Kerri Chandler. CD

Mindblowing jazz from Japan – a tremendous introduction to the 70s scene in Tokyo if you've never heard this music at all – and a package that also includes a fair bit of rare tracks, even if you're not a newcomer! The Japanese love of American jazz is no secret – and the music was spread widely there by American forces after WWII – but during the 70s, something really special happened, and the scene found a voice that was all its own – exploding with new energy to create sounds that were soulful, spiritual, and powerfully poetic! By the end of the 70s, Japanese fusion would get more global exposure – but most of the tracks here are acoustic, save for Fender Rhodes lines – and feature completely inventive, imaginative sounds – often set to grooves that are modal and spiritual too. A fantastic collection throughout – with tracks that include "Blind Man" by Shintaro Quintet, "White Fire" by Takao Uematsu, "Aya's Samba" by Eiji Nakayama, "Earth Mother" by Koichi Matsukaze, "Dead Letter" by Tohru Aizawa, "Kaze" by Takeo Moriyama, "Long Neal" by Kiyoshi Sugimoto, "Unknown Point" by Mitsuaki Katayama, and "Little Island" by Fumio Karashima. CD

A deep dive into the work of a wonderful record label – the Strata imprint from Detroit at the start of the 70s – a company who served up some very spiritual sounds in the short time they were issuing records! Don't confuse Strata with Strata East – although the labels do have some similarity – as Strata also brought in a bit more electricity on some of its cuts, and some slight touches of funk as well – a very special brew in which the Detroit jazz underground of the time were mixing things up in so many different ways – really given a lot of freedom to explore styles that are still ahead of their time all these many years later! Key albums on Strata have been reissued in recent years, but the set also features some overlooked gems by more obscure artists too – titles that include "Maiden Voyage" by Ursula Walker, "Salsa (part 1)" by Fito Foster, "Time Is Wasting" by TJ, "Joy Road" by Lyman Woodard Organization, "All But Blind" by Mixed Bag, "Island Song" by Kenny Cox, "Face At My Window" by Sam Sanders, "People We Got To Do Better" by The Soulmates, "You're The One" by TJ, "Noh Word" by Contemporary Jazz Quintet, "Tune For LN" by Larry Nozero, "Where Is The Place" by Maulawi, "Saturday Night Special" by Lyman Woodard, and "Beyond The Dream" by Kenny Cox. LP, Vinyl record album

Another round of Studio One butter from the folks at Soul Jazz! By this point you're well informed about the status of Coxsone Dodd's Studio One operation as the cornerstone of so much Jamaican music, and Soul Jazz has approached the catalog from just about every angle, covering nearly all the bases before landing here on this dub set. The sly Island grooves are stripped down to their bare essentials, then given a tasteful bit of dubby gloss at the hands of Sylvan Morris, for a massive collection that'll rule your stereo like Studio One rocked the sound systems back in the day. 17 tracks in all, wrapped in a nice package that includes interviews with Morris and Dodd, and fully annotated as to which numbers the rhythms were originally cut as the backing for. Includes "Bionic Dub", "Sky Rhythm", 'Taurus Dub 2", "Hooligan", "Dub Rock", "Hi Fashion Dub", In Cold Blood Version" and "Feel The Dub". (Reggae, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album

A massive overview of work from the legendary Front Line label – an imprint started by Virgin Records in the mid 70s, and one that quickly became as important as Island or Trojan in the growing world of reggae! Front Line was heavy on roots, but also released some great dub material as well – all of which is brought together in this huge box of 92 tracks – which includes 11 previously unreleased selections, and 30 that had never been issued on CD! The package is divided up into sections – with a three chapter evolution of the label, plus additional 12" mixes on one CD, and another devoted entirely to material from the vaults – which makes the collection an essential set for collectors, and not just an introduction to the label. Artists include The Mighty Diamonds, U Roy, Twinkle Brothers, Gladiators, Gregory Issacs, Sly Dunbar, Jah Lloyd The Black Lion, Big Youth, Delroy Washington, I Roy, Tapper Zukie, Althea & Donna, Prince Far I, Poet & The Roots, Johnny Clarke, The Revolutionaries, Keith Hudson, and many many more! (Reggae, Funky Compilations) CD

An ear-opening set of Japanese jazz from a time when that nation's scene was really taking off – a period in the 70s when all sorts of new artists and new ideas were really flying around – and leaving behind a huge recorded legacy that's been mostly out of reach for us in the west! Japan always had a few big names in jazz that got exported overseas, but the work here is from some of the smaller names who were still turning out incredible music – much of it only issued on vinyl, and not reissued later – brought together here with copious notes that really tell you a heck of a lot about the music! There's definitely a post-Coltrane vibe going on – lots of spiritual elements, mixed with both moments that are funkier and more soulful, and others that are a bit more freewheeling – often stretched out on extended tracks that really let the artists take off and find their space. Titles include "Black Nile" by Hideyasu Terakawa, "Kirisame" by Ryusei Quartet, "Honey Sanba" by Katsuyuki Itakura, "Cumulonimbus" by Shigeharu Mukai, "Song Of Island" by Yasuhiro Kohno Trio + One, "Phoebus" by Hiroshi Murakami & Dancing Sphinx, "Morning Tiede" by Kohsuke Mine, "Kemo Sabe" by Masao Nakajima, "Song For Hope" by Aki Takase, "Planets" by Masaru Imada Trio + 1, "1/4 Samba" by Tatsuya Nakamura, "Acoustic Chicken" by Koichi Matsukaze, and "Cumorah" by Eiji Nakayama. CD features bonus tracks – "Wolf's Theme" by Seiichi Nakamura, "Burning Cloud" by Ryojiro Kurusawa, and "Groovy Samba" by Hideo Shiraki. CD

More burning instrumentals from Coxsone Dodd and his mighty crew at Studio One! Soul Jazz has already established Dodd and Studio One as a near household name in bad, bold island grooves, and this set of fiery instrumentals keeps up the pressure, with 16 burning numbers! All flavors of Jamaican soul get represented here, from spacey, mellow grooves at the hands of Jackie Mittoo, to mellow snapping clavinet numbers from Pablove Black, deep roots from Cedric Brooks or jaunty ska numbers from the Soul Vendors and the Skatalites. As usual, the packaging is in the deluxe vein that has graced previous chapters in the series, and this set includes "Gumbay Jump" by the Dub Specialist, "A Big Car" by Jackie Mittoo, "Joe Grazer" and "Sidewalk Doctor" by VinGordon, "Sound Almighty" by the Soul Defenders, "Black Wax" by Pablove Black, Dick Tracy" by the Skatalites, "Cousin Joe Pt 1" by Sugar Belly, and "Black Is Black" by Im & David, plus many more! (Reggae, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing jazz from Japan – a tremendous introduction to the 70s scene in Tokyo if you've never heard this music at all – and a package that also includes a fair bit of rare tracks, even if you're not a newcomer! The Japanese love of American jazz is no secret – and the music was spread widely there by American forces after WWII – but during the 70s, something really special happened, and the scene found a voice that was all its own – exploding with new energy to create sounds that were soulful, spiritual, and powerfully poetic! By the end of the 70s, Japanese fusion would get more global exposure – but most of the tracks here are acoustic, save for Fender Rhodes lines – and feature completely inventive, imaginative sounds – often set to grooves that are modal and spiritual too. A fantastic collection throughout – with tracks that include "Blind Man" by Shintaro Quintet, "White Fire" by Takao Uematsu, "Aya's Samba" by Eiji Nakayama, "Earth Mother" by Koichi Matsukaze, "Dead Letter" by Tohru Aizawa, "Kaze" by Takeo Moriyama, "Long Neal" by Kiyoshi Sugimoto, "Unknown Point" by Mitsuaki Katayama, and "Little Island" by Fumio Karashima. 3LP set features bonus tracks – "Sea Breeze" by George Otsuka and "Ode To Workman" by Terumasa Hino and Reggie Workman. LP, Vinyl record album