One of the few albums ever issued under the name of Emil Richards – an important percussionist on the LA scene, and one who played on countless jazz albums and other sessions over the years! This set has Richards working almost exclusively on vibes – as a rare outing for the mostly-rock Del-Fi label, done in a mode that seems to challenge the Latin jazz styles that Cal Tjader was developing at the time on Fantasy Records! And as a bit of a surprise, Emil's working with a similar group to Cal's – one that includes Francisco Aquabella on congas, Cuco Martinez on timbales, and Marcelino Valdez on other percussion instruments – alongside a core trio that features Richards' vibes with Al McKibbon's bass and Paul Moer's piano. The tunes are filled with lots of great modal moments – and titles include "Little Niles", "Green Dolphin Street", "Friday The 13th", "Oh Very Well", "Half & Half", and "Yazz Per Favore". CD

A killer Verve Records set from vibist Cal Tjader – a set that brings together both his Latin inclinations and his groovier 60s mod style – all in a blend that's handled perfectly by arranger Oliver Nelson! Other players include Jerry Dodgion and Jerome Richardson on flutes, Attila Zoller on guitar, Chick Corea on piano, and Jose Mangual, Patato Valdez, and Victor Pantoja on Latin percussion! Titles include "Descarga Cubana", "Morning", "Oran", "Curacao", and "Chuchy Frito Man". Very nice! CD

A killer Verve Records set from vibist Cal Tjader – a set that brings together both his Latin inclinations and his groovier 60s mod style – all in a blend that's handled perfectly by arranger Oliver Nelson! Other players include Jerry Dodgion and Jerome Richardson on flutes, Attila Zoller on guitar, Chick Corea on piano, and Jose Mangual, Patato Valdez, and Victor Pantoja on Latin percussion! Titles include "Descarga Cubana", "Morning", "Oran", "Curacao", and "Chuchy Frito Man". Very nice! LP, Vinyl record album

A jaw-dropper from Terrace Martin – the kind of record that sneaks on the market under everyone's ears, but will no doubt be one of those sets we'll all go back to again and again over the years! Martin's got a beautifully fresh take on funky jazz – steeped somewhat in the classic inspiration of the 70s era, but with a distinctly 21st Century execution – with crispy edges, cosmic currents, and a chunky approach to rhythm that makes the whole thing come across with a really subtle sort of power! The album's overflowing with guests – including Robert Glasper, Thundercat, Kamasai Washington, Keyon Harrold, and Laylah Hathaway – but there's also a core energy that's all Terrace's own, with lots of snakey keyboards that weave these magical tonal patterns in a wonderful way. Brilliant, and completely captivating – with tracks that include "Push", "Curly Martin", "Never Enough", "Turkey Taco", "Tribe Called West", "Think Of You", "Bromalia", and "Valdez Off Crenshaw" – a nice remake of the Donny Hathaway classic "Valdez In The Country". LP, Vinyl record album

Great jazzy work from keyboardist Jorge Dalto – a set that's got a warmer, more acoustic feel than some of his other fusion-based material from the time! Jorge still plays both electric and acoustic keyboards for the date – but the overall format is a lot more stripped down, and strongly rooted in Latin jazz – with great work from Nicky Marrero on timbales, Carlos Patato Valdez on congas, and Art Webb on flute! Adela sings a bit on the record, but things are mostly instrumental – and other guests include Jose Mangual on bongos and Jose Neto on guitar – on titles that include "Killer Joe", "Samba All Day Long", "Ease My Pain", "Skydive", and "La Costa". CD

Possibly the best of the rare few albums that Richard Davis cut as a leader during the 70s, and a very soulful batch of tracks that has Davis on lead bass, with additional backing by Bill Lee, and a group that includes Chick Corea, Sam Brown, and Frankie Dunlop. The overall sound is nice and warm, with a good mellow groove, over near the left end of the soul jazz spectrum. Titles include "Juan Valdez", "Baby Sweets", "The Rabbi", and "Oh My God". LP, Vinyl record album

Soulful bossa from Blue Note – and a real lost treasure! Tenor giant Charlie Rouse makes a rare appearance as a leader here – working with a percussion-heavy group that includes Willie Bobo, Potato Valdez, and Garvin Masseaux – and hitting a sax-meets-bossa groove that's simply outta site! The tunes on the set feature 2 guitarists – one of them Kenny Burrell – snaking alongside Rouse's tenor as he blows over the grooves – and the whole feel of the album's at once spare, yet full – quite different than the Brazilian take on bossa jazz, with a really uniquely wonderful sound! Titles include "Velhos Tempos", "Back To The Tropics", "Un Dia", and "In Martinique". LP, Vinyl record album

Benson plays his guitar and also sings on some of these tracks, joined by Phil Upchurch on rhythm guitar, Ronnie Foster on electric piano & mini-moog, Jorge Dalto on clavinet & acoustic piano, Stanley Banks on bass, Harvey Mason on drums and Ralph MacDonald on percussion. Claus Ogerman arranged and conducted the orchestra. Titles include "Nature Boy", Foster's "The Wind & I", "The World Is A Ghetto", "Gonna Love You More", Donny Hathaway's "Valdez In The Country", and "Everything Must Happen". LP, Vinyl record album

A true orgy in rhythm from Art Blakey – a set that not only features his drums next to the kit of Art Taylor, but which also adds in a bevy of other percussionists – including Sabu Martinez, Patato Valdez, and Jose Valentine! Joe Jones and Specs Wright also bring in additional jazz drums – making for more drummers than you might even find in a high school band – all working together with amazing qualities in sound, sometimes even melodic amidst all of the rhythms. Lighter lyrical touches are provided by Herbie Mann's flute, and Ray Bryant throws in some great lines on piano – underscoring the grooves in a nice way. Titles on this first volume include "Buhaina Chant", "Split Skins", and "Toffi". LP, Vinyl record album

A true orgy in rhythm from Art Blakey – a set that not only features his drums next to the kit of Art Taylor, but which also adds in a bevy of other percussionists – including Sabu Martinez, Patato Valdez, and Jose Valentine! Joe Jones and Specs Wright also bring in additional jazz drums – making for more drummers than you might even find in a high school band – all working together with amazing qualities in sound, sometimes even melodic amidst all of the rhythms. Lighter lyrical touches are provided by Herbie Mann's flute, and Ray Bryant throws in some great lines on piano – underscoring the grooves in a nice way. Titles on this second volume include "Amuck", "Elephant Walk", and "Abdallah's Delight". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic record from Blue Note guitar genius Grant Green – and a set that's got a sound that goes way past his goofy look on the cover! The title's a bit right – in that there's something of a Latin vibe going on, with more percussion than usual in a small group – but the sound is also not straight New York Latin, with looser currents that are borrowed a bit from bossa nova, but also given a fluid soul jazz spin! There's maybe a slight touch of some of Cal Tjader's records from the period, but with more of the edge that we love on his guitar – served up in a combo that features the mighty Willie Bobo on drums, Johnny Acea on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, Patato Valdez on congas, and Garvin Masseux on chekere. Together, the group makes for a very hip set of tracks that includes "Tico Tico", "Mama Inez", "Besame Mucho", and "Mambo Inn". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly the greatest record ever by Mike Longo – a wicked batch of electric funky piano tunes, recorded with a sublime 70s feel! The set's got a really stripped down group – with Ron Carter on bass, Mickey Roker on drums, and Patato Valdez on percussion – all grooving behind Longo's work on electric and acoustic piano, creating some magical rhythms that snap a groove out of just about every single tune! The whole set's great – not just a "one number" funky jazz set – and titles include versions of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", Dizzy Gillespie's "Ole' For the Gypsies", Les McCann's "Samia", and Longo's own "Southern Soul" and "Funkia". CD

Herbie Mann returns to the stage at the Newport Jazz Festival – but opens up in ways that are even hipper than some of his other material from that scene! The tracks here are quite long – driven by some great rhythms from Carlos Patao Valdez, and featuring round, rolling basslines from the mighty Reggie Workman. And in addition to Herbie's own smoking work on flute, the set also features great young trumpet from Jimmy Owens – whose bold style here really gives the record a nice sort of depth. The set features four tracks from Newport, plus one more studio number with Attila Zoller on guitar – and titles include "Project S", "Scratch", "She's A Carioca", and "All Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A real stormer! This was one of the few albums ever cut as a leader by the great hardbop drummer Art Taylor – and it's one of the best from the Blue Note catalog at the time! The band is a heavily smoking one – with Dave Burns on trumpet, Stan Turrentine on tenor, and Wynton Kelly on piano – and Patato Valdez backs them up on conga on a number of tracks, too. The whole thing is perfectly put together, with an insanely tight rhythm line, and perfectly placed solos by Turrentine and Burns – really cooking with an intensity that matches some of the best Jazz Messengers albums of the time. Features a great version of Coltrane's "Syeeda's Song Flute", plus the tracks "Cookoo & Fungi", "Blue Interlude", and "Move". LP, Vinyl record album

Very groovy stuff – and one of Herbie Mann's best records from the 60s! In a way, this album's very similar to some of the best Verve "groovy experimental" albums from the same period – like some of Cal Tjader's Eastern/Latin work – and it features Herbie playing with a wide range of instrumentation that includes oud, zither, harp, and lots of eastern percussion – really adding some great elements to the jazzy tunes. Keeping things real, though, are some key musicians – Roy Ayers on vibes, Jimmy Owens on trumpet, and Julian Priester on trombone – plus wicked rhythm from Reggie Workman on bass, Bruno Carr on drums, and Patato Valdez on percussion. Tracks are very groovy – with a mixture of jazz and exotic instrumentation – and titles include "Turkish Coffee", "Odalisque", "Uskudar", "Eli Eli", and "Dance Of The Semites". LP, Vinyl record album

Benson plays his guitar and also sings on some of these tracks. He is joined by Phil Upchurch on rhythm guitar, Ronnie Foster on electric piano & mini-moog, Jorge Dalto on clavinet & acoustic piano, Stanley Banks on bass, Harvey Mason on drums and Ralph MacDonald. Claus Ogerman arranged and conducted the orchestra. Tracks include "Nature Boy", Foster's "The Wind & I", "The World Is A Ghetto", "Gonna Love You More", Donny Hathaway's "Valdez In The Country", and "Everything Must Change". CD

A true orgy in rhythm from Art Blakey – a set that not only features his drums next to the kit of Art Taylor, but which also adds in a bevy of other percussionists – including Sabu Martinez, Patato Valdez, and Jose Valentine! Joe Jones and Specs Wright also bring in additional jazz drums – making for more drummers than you might even find in a high school band – all working together with amazing qualities in sound, sometimes even melodic amidst all of the rhythms. Lighter lyrical touches are provided by Herbie Mann's flute, and Ray Bryant throws in some great lines on piano – underscoring the grooves in a nice way. Both original volumes are super-tough to find on LP, and this cool CD brings them both together as a single release, for a total of 8 long tracks that includes "Elephant Walk", "Amuck", "Ya Ya", "Abdallah's Delight", "Split Skins", "Buhania Chant", and "Toffi". CD

Herbie Mann's groove is mighty darn great here – a rich refinement of his earlier flute jazz styles, into the tighter sound that really sparkled with soul during the Atlantic Records years of the 60s! Most cuts mix Latin rhythms with some very soulful inflections in the overall instrumentation – with arrangements from Herbie, Oliver Nelson, and Rene Hernandez that really make the whole thing shine – and instrumentation from a tight group of hip players that features Dave Pike on vibes, Don Friedman on piano, Atilla Zoller on guitar, and added percussion by Willie Bobo and Patato Valdez! Titles include "Vikki", "Blues In The Closet", "Saudade De Bahia", "Spanish Grits", "Mushi Mushi", and "Soul Guajira". LP, Vinyl record album

Three great 70s albums from keyboardist Mike Longo! First up is Awakening, killer electric piano work from the mighty Mike Longo – recorded at a time when he was definitely at the height of his powers! The album sports a rare Mainstream Records appearance from James Moody – who was a frequent partner of Longos on sessions at the time – particularly on some of Dizzy Gillespie's funky records – which bear a lot of similarity to the sharp-edged grooves on this one! The rhythm section is wonderfully tight, and a big part of the success of the set – as they keep things grooving with a slightly sharper edge than some of Longo's other records – thanks to bass from Ron Carter, drums from Mickey Roker, and even a bit of extra congas from Dizzy Gillespie, of all people! Other players include Moody on alto, tenor, and flute – plus Virgil Jones on trumpet and Curtis Fuller on trombone. Titles include "Just To Let You Know", "A Piece Of Resistance", "The Awakening", "Pass It", and "Bitchin". Funkia is quite possibly the greatest record ever by Mike Longo – a wicked batch of electric funky piano tunes, recorded with a sublime 70s feel! The set's got a really stripped down group – with Ron Carter on bass, Mickey Roker on drums, and Patato Valdez on percussion – all grooving behind Longo's work on electric and acoustic piano, creating some magical rhythms that snap a groove out of just about every single tune! The whole set's great – not just a "one number" funky jazz set – and titles include versions of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", Dizzy Gillespie's "Ole' For the Gypsies", Les McCann's "Samia", and Longo's own "Southern Soul" and "Funkia". 900 Shares Of The Blues is stone funky, and one of his best albums ever! The whole thing's done in a really laidback style that's simply amazing – a lot like the best CTI work of the time, but somehow rougher, and with a darker edge. Longo riffs out on the keys over rhythm by Ron Carter, Mickey Roker, and Ralph MacDonald – and Joe Farrell and Randy Brecker add in some great horn work that fleshes out the tunes with a deeply soulful jazzy feel. The whole album's great, with a range of moods, emotions, and grooves that Longo hardly ever hit again – and titles include "Summers Gone", "El Moodo Grande", "Like a Thief In the Night", "Ocean Of His Might", and "Magic Number". CD