An excellent bossa session led by pianist Oscar Castro-Neves and his band, and recorded during the blitz of early bossa sessions by the Audio Fidelity label! The group's a large one, but not too large to lose the groove – and Castro-Neves put the whole thing together so that the album's always got a nice bounce to it, and so that the jazz component comes through nice and strong! There's loads of good groovers on here, all played with a very strident hard bossa feel – and tracks include "Outra Vez", "O Menino Desce O Morro", "Chora Tua Tristeza", "Zelao", "Doralice", and "Patinho Feio". (Brazil, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Features Tony Mottola on guitar, Doc Severinsen on trumpet, Phil Bodner on saxophone, and Eddie Costa on vibes. LP, Vinyl record album

A groovy batch of Varitone sax tracks – featuring Al Serafini on the electric sax, with backings arranged by Tom Baker and Chuck Curtis in a mod late 60s kind of groove! Some of the best numbers have a strong electric bass at the bottom – rolling around with a nice kick to the drums. Titles include "Sir Albert", "Lil Rosey", "Hey Soul Man", and "Charade". Plus, the original tunes on the album are written by Lou Ragland – who we assume is the same Ragland of Hot Chocolate fame, given that Al's from Cleveland! LP, Vinyl record album

A killer set by one of the greatest pianists of the postwar era – and one that features Horace Parlan's piano trading lines with the legendary Turrentine brothers (both Stanley & Tommy), playing here at the height of their powers! Tommy Turrentine's trumpet is especially great here – spurring on Stanley's tenor into a groove that's a lot deeper, and more soulful than usual – a perfect sound in the frontline, kicked up nicely by Horace Parlan's piano! Rhythm is from the team of George Tucker on bass and Al Harewood on drums – very tight and crackling throughout – and the album's easily one of the most cooking Blue Notes from the time. Titles include "Wadin", "Oh So Blue", "Speakin My Piece", "Up In Cynthia's Room", "Rastus", and "Borderline". CD

One of the Direct Cutting audiophile recordings made during the 70's, pressed up on Japanese vinyl, and pressed so that it needs to be played at 45 rpm for maximum fidelity. Apart from that geeky sort of information, though, the set's a nice quartet session featuring Lew Tabackin on tenor and flute, Toshiko Akioshi on piano, Bob Daugherty on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums. The set's a rare opportunity to hear Tabackin and Akioshi from the time without their big band, and the group plays nicely on 4 extended tracks. The best of these is a Tabackin original called "Trackin", but there's also a nice rendering of "Summertime". LP, Vinyl record album