A warm tribute to the great Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and one that features Griffin's trombone in a group with Gary Bartz on alto sax, Stanley Cowell on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and either Billy Hart or Idris Muhammad on drums – all wonderful players who really fit the soulful spirit of the session. The material is hardly a batch of easy covers of Kirk tunes, and instead features some really wonderful numbers penned by Griffin – tunes filled with all the sense of soul and joy that Rahsaan brought to his own music. Titles include "There Is A Time For Love", "Darkness Of Duke", "It's About That Time", "A Dream For Rahsaan", and "Come Dance With Me". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best-remembered albums from the Atlantic Records run of the legendary Rahsaan Roland Kirk – a set that stands as Kirk's answer to all the hipper soul currents that were taking place at the time – including some that were being issued by singers on Atlantic Records! The album is mostly instrumental, but Roland has this way of singing through his reeds at times, especially his flute – really bringing an earthy sense of personality to the whole thing – as he mixes his acoustic lines on flute, tenor, and other reeds with work from Richard Tee on electric piano, Mickey Tucker on organ, Billy Butler on guitar, and Dick Griffin on trumpet. There's a few vocal spots from other singers – Cissy Houston sings on two great cuts – and titles include remakes of "Never Can Say Goodbye", "What's Going On", "Mercy Mercy Me", "My Girl", and "Ain't No Sunshine" – plus some other nice originals by Roland, including Blacknuss", "Which Way Is It Going", and "One Nation". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best-remembered albums from the Atlantic Records run of the legendary Rahsaan Roland Kirk – a set that stands as Kirk's answer to all the hipper soul currents that were taking place at the time – including some that were being issued by singers on Atlantic Records! The album is mostly instrumental, but Roland has this way of singing through his reeds at times, especially his flute – really bringing an earthy sense of personality to the whole thing – as he mixes his acoustic lines on flute, tenor, and other reeds with work from Richard Tee on electric piano, Mickey Tucker on organ, Billy Butler on guitar, and Dick Griffin on trumpet. There's a few vocal spots from other singers – Cissy Houston sings on two great cuts – and titles include remakes of "Never Can Say Goodbye", "What's Going On", "Mercy Mercy Me", "My Girl", and "Ain't No Sunshine" – plus some other nice originals by Roland, including Blacknuss", "Which Way Is It Going", and "One Nation". CD

Tremendous work from the 70s jazz underground – music that comes from a special place where freedom and rhythm walk hand in hand! Most of the artists here are ones with a legacy that includes some more outside performances – but the cuts here are all upbeat and grooving – often in a modal jazz style that's completely sublime, and which provides boundless energy for the soloists to really take off! Most numbers are from a spiritual, post-Coltrane generation – and most of the work here is not that easy to find otherwise. Tracks include "Abuella" by Billy Bang, "V Movimento" and "III Movimenhto" by Giorgio Gaslini, "Latin Black Funk" by Sparrow, "Theme/Souls" by George Russell with Jan Garbarek, "Benediction" and "Pursuit" by Tina Marsh Creative Opportunity Orchestra, and "Now Is The Time" by Dick Griffin. (Funky Compilations, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from the short time that saxophonist King Curtis recorded for Prestige records – mostly on their R&B-tinged Tru-Sound label! Players include Paul Griffin on piano, Billy Butler on guitar, and Jack McDuff on Hammond! LP, Vinyl record album

with Pepper Adams, Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, Johnny Griffin, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Haynes, Billy Higgins, Philly Joe Jones, Sam Jones, Thad Jones, Harold Land, Gerry Mulligan, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Rouse, and others. CD

Two killers from Eddie Lockjaw Davis – both records that are different from his Cookbook sessions with Shirley Scott, and his twin-tenor battles with Johnny Griffin! First up is I Only Have Eyes For You – easily one of our favorite Eddie Lockjaw Davis albums! The record's a lot livelier than most – and it's recorded with the little-known Paul Weeden trio, who featured a young Don Patterson on organ. Weeden's a pretty good guitarist himself, and the whole session has a nice groovy groovy feel. Titles include "I Only Have Eyes For You", "Street Lights", and "The Way You Look Tonight" – and all tracks are taken at a good clip, with a strong club sound to them. Next is Trackin – a tight little soul jazz cooker from Eddie Lockjaw Davis – done with a sound that's leaner and cleaner than some of his Cookbook sessions – thanks to great Hammond from Don Patterson, working here in the trio of guitarist Paul Weeden! The combo's totally great – nicely focused, and hitting that more mature soul jazz swing that started to really come into play during the mid 60s – that stripping down of the organ stops, focused bite on tenor, and tight comping of guitar – all of which the combo carry off wonderfully – with help from George Duvivier on bass and Billy James on drums. There's a nice long cut with a laidback groove called "Beano", and a number of other shorter standards given the tenor/organ treatment – including "What's New", "Day By Day", and "Robbin's Nest". CD

A weird batch of groovy tracks from Diz – more of a pop soul jazz instrumental set than a straight jazz one, recorded in 1969 with arrangements by Jimmy Mundy, who conducts a group with Paul Griffin, Billy Butler, and Jerome Richardson. As usual, Dizzy rises to any occasion – and brings out some great work for the album, grooving in a number of different modes as the moods of the tracks change with the backing colors of the band. Titles include a medley of "Aquarius" and "Let The Sun Shine In", plus "Exotica", "Besame Mucho", "Magic Tree", "This Girl's In Love With You", and "Galveston". Not all great – but with some really nice moments! LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant sextet session from Stanley Cowell – one of his few larger group sessions of the time, done during a period when he was recording almost exclusively in trio format! The album features a well-crafted sextet with lots of nice edges – bringing together Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Rick Margitza on tenor, Dick Griffin on trombone, Peter Washington on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – all to shade and color Cowell's rich piano work and fresh compositions for the set. There's a deeply soulful feel to the record that's quite wonderful – a new exploration of Cowell's inspirations from the 70s, taken to some very tight territory here – but never with any sense of slickness at all. Titles include the excellent "Bright Passion", plus "Departure", "Setup", "Varions", "Bip Bip Bam" and "Sendai Sendoff". CD

Thelonious Monk on piano – notable sidemen include Joe Gordon on trumpet, Charlie Rouse, Harold Land, and Johnny Griffin on tenor saxophone, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, John Ore, and Sam Jones on bass, and Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Billy Higgins, and Frankie Dunlop on drums. CD