There's two stylish British hipsters on the cover, but the album's filled with classic American jazz tracks – each hand-picked by Martin Freeman and Eddie Piller, and served up with plenty of soul! The work here begins in hardbop territory, and moves through 60s soul jazz and more righteous moments in the 70s – and while there's a few more recent tracks, the vibe of the record is very vintage throughout – and really reflects that longtime London love of obscure American records – sounds from a scene that has really taught us a lot over the decades! There's a few tracks here we haven't seen in years, and some great old favorites too – and titles include "Now At Last" by Blossom Dearie, "Trees & Grass & Things" by Charles Williams, "The Hipster" by Harold McNair, "Chains" by Blacks & Blues, "Bend Your Head Down Low" by Geoffrey Stoner, "Sphynx" by Brand New Heavies, "Look At Me Look At You" by Marlena Shaw, "Get Up Off Your Knees" by David Axelrod, "Psychedelic" by Lee Morgan, "Terra Firma Irma" by Joe Gordon,"The Rhythm Changes" by Kamasi Washington, "Just In Time To See The Sun" by Leon Thomas, "Mother Of The Future" by Norman Connors, and "Mi Hermano" by Blue Mitchell. LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous entry in this wonderful series – a set that proudly proclaims its contents with the "NOW" on the cover! Back when the Spiritual Jazz series first started on the Jazzman label, the music was mostly relegated to material of the John Coltrane generation and the generation that followed – but in the past decade or so, there's been a huge explosion in new artists that explore the deeper, more righteous currents of jazz – music that's pulled in from the farther reaches of free improvisation, to righteous, message-oriented styles that often mix modal rhythms with more exploratory solo passages. Yet this new generation is hardly slavish to the sounds of Impulse Records – as they've really moved beyond, and have used a globe's worth of influences and new 21st Century concepts to bring fresh spirit to the music – opening things up in ways that have made this new movement one of our greatest sources of inspiration in recent years. This double-length entry is a fantastic overview of the sounds that are currently reshaping the planet – and titles on volume 2 include "Flute Song" by Wildflower, "Slow Sweet Burn" by Abeeku, "Palms To Heaven" by The Cosmic Range, "Nova" by Menagerie, "Avo's Tune" by Teemu Akerblom Quartet, "Paris" by Jonas Kullhammar, "Vessels" by The Jamie Saft Quartet, "What Do I Tell My Children Who Are Black "by Angel Bat Dawid, "Trane's Groove" by Carla Marciano, "For Coltrane" by Steve Reid Foundation, "Empty Streets" by Vibration Black Finger, and "Memory Ritual" by The Pyramids. LP, Vinyl record album