A jazz guitar/Hammond organ session – the former by Shoji Yokouchi, the latter by Yuri Tashiro – but a variation on the form that's quite different than usual, and very much in the groundbreaking style of the Three Blind Mice label! Shoji plays a few different guitars – both acoustic and electric – and rather than just ape an American use of guitar next to organ, the style here is often nicely changed up – partly because the phrasing can be different when the guitar is acoustic, but also because in true Three Blind Mice form, the arrangements are often very inventive and unusual. Other players include Kunimitsu Inaba on bass and Hajime Ishimatsu on drums – and titles include "New Orleans Sunday", "Drink Up Vodka Martini", "Misty", "Moanin", "Greensleeves", and "Your Watch Is Ten Minutes Slow". CD

A really unique little record from Herbie Hancock – one that's almost completely improvised over Latin percussion! The setup is quite spare – and quite different than Herbie's other Blue Note work – and the group features improvised backgrounds by bassist Paul Chambers and 2 Latin percussionists, Willie Bobo and Osvaldo "Chihuahua" Martinez. Herbie only wrote simple sketches for the songs on the album, and most of the work on the tracks was done live, spontaneously, in the studio – creating a very free groove that never goes too far out, but which is far more adventurous than usual. All tracks are long, and titles include "Succotash", "Triangle", and "Mimosa". CD features the bonus track "Mimosa", in an alternate take! CD

Unreleased live material – recorded in New Jersey in 1950 with an unknown group; in New York in 1953 with Charles Mingus on bass, Bud Powell on piano, and Candido on congas; and at the Hi Hat in Boston in 1954 with Herb Pomeroy on trumpet. CD

Sidemen include Miles Davis, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, and Max Roach. Tracks include "Night In Tunisia", "Ornithology", "Yardbird Suite", "Dexterity", "Bongo Bop", and "Dewey Square" – 25 cuts in all. CD

Live broadcasts, recorded on three different dates. CD

Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet, Mccoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Mel Lewis on drums. CD

Miles Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. CD

Sweet electric magic from Ramsey Lewis – four 70s albums in a single collection! First up is Don't It Feel Good – massive keyboard work from the great Ramsey Lewis – easily one of his best records ever, thanks to some spaciously funky production by Charles Stepney! Stepney plays keyboards here along with Ramsey, and the twin-keys approach makes for a sound that's extra-special – one that sums up all the earlier soulful creativity of both artists in their late 60s Cadet Records years, and hones it down to an even sweeter groove for the 70s! A number of tracks have some sort of vocal component, but usually in a chorus mode that soon drops out when the keyboards hit home – and the record features a few great short "interlude" tracks that are almost as great as the longer numbers! Titles include the classic "Juaacklyn", a cover of Earth Wind & Fire's "That's The Way Of The World", and the tracks "I Dig You", "Fish Bite", "Don't It Feel Good", "Something About You", and "Can't Function". Salongo is a tremendous little record, and one of the funky 70s sets that Ramsey Lewis recorded with Earth Wind & Fire! Well, not Earth Wind & Fire entirely – but the Kalimba Productions team of Maurice White and Charles Stepney that gave the group its sound – plus a nice sprinkling of other players that were often associated with sessions by the group! Ramsey's own combo here includes Steve Cobb on drums and vocals, and Derf Reklaw on reeds and vocals as well – and the overall sound has bits of African and Brazilian influences, worked into a soulful fusion groove that sounds a lot like the instrumental backings EWF were using at the time. Titles include "Brazilica", "Slick", "Rubato", "Salongo", and "Seventh Fold". Tequila Mockingbird is an overlooked gem from the Columbia Records years, filled with loads of great grooves, and some pretty mighty keyboards! Part of the record has Ramsey working with Larry Dunn of Kalimba Productions – getting plenty of the Earth Wind & Fire groove that made so much of his Columbia sessions sparkle – while the rest of the set has the great Bert DeCoteaux handling things, and giving Lewis just the right mix of sophistication and soul he was using with other Columbia acts at the time. The album's a perfect example of the way that Ramsey stepped way ahead of the pack during this time in his career – using keyboards and grooves together in ways that so many artists today are still trying to match – but never hit it this right! Titles include "Camino El Bueno", "Caring For You", "Intimacy", "That Ole Bach Music", "Skippin", "Tequila Mockingbird", and "Wandering Rose" – that cool cut by Neal Creque! Love Notes is a great little album of mid 70s funk from Ramsey Lewis – very much in the mode of his Earth, Wind, & Fire related work – no surprise, since the album's dedicated to Charles Stepney, whose influence was such a key part of the sound of the group, and of some of Ramsey's other Kalimba-produced albums from a few years before! Ramsey plays Fender Rhodes, mini moog, and Arp – and he gets help on keyboards from Stevie Wonder and Derf Reklaw, who also plays saxes and percussion on the set. Features versions of Wonder's "Love Notes" and "Spring High", plus Reklaw's "Chili Today Hot Tamale", "Shining", and "Stash Dash". CD

Includes the songs "I Found A New Baby", "Body And Soul", "Moten Swing", "Coquette", "Lady Be Good", "Blues", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Cherokee", "You Say Forward, I'll March", "Lonely Boy Blues", "Vine Street Boogie", "Jump The Blues", "One O'Clock Jump (Theme)", "Bottle It", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams", and "One O'Clock Jump (Theme)". CD

A brilliant late Impulse Records album from Archie Shepp – material recorded on a variety of dates at the end of the 60s, but packaged together as an extremely soulful set in the mid 70s! There's a feel here that rivals some of the best moments of the Attica Blues years – a mix of spiritual soul jazz and bolder modern moments – reigned in nicely from the freer Shepp sound of a few years before, and given a really righteous focus by the addition of vocals on some tracks. Archie sings a bit himself, and one number features Leon Thomas singing with Tasha Thomas and Doris Troy – a very odd meeting in the studio! Players include Woody Shaw, Jimmy Owens, Dave Burrell, Grachan Moncur III, and Wally Richardson – and the tracks even get a bit funky at times! Titles include an excellent version of "New Africa", which was recorded later in Paris by Grachan Moncur III – plus "Back Back", "Spoo Pee Doo", "Slow Drag", and Cal Massey's "Bakai". CD

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Includes 33 tracks featuring Muggsy Spanier, Pee Wee Russell, Hot Lips Page, Benny Morton, and Lee Wiley! CD

Previously unissued radio broadcasts with Joe Carroll on vocals. CD

Spare duets between Roger Kellaway on piano and Red Mitchell on bass! Titles include "Doxy", "I'll Never Be The Same", and "St Thomas". CD

A fantastic 4CD set – featuring all of the historic Charlie Parker recordings for the legendary Dial label! The sessions were recorded in the years 1946 and 1947, and they comprise some of Bird's best work – as they include original recordings of classics like "Ornithology", "Bongo Bop", "Dexterity", "Relaxin At Camarillo", and "Moose The Mooche". There's a total of 89 tracks on the set – including master takes, excerpts, and a number of alternates that show very different approaches to the same material. Very nice – and nicely done in compact form! CD

Notable sidemen include Miles Davis on trumpet, Duke Jordan on piano, Barney Kessel on guitar, and Max Roach on drums. CD

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With Kenny Barron on piano – plus Erik Friedlander on cello. (Vocalists, Jazz) CD

With Nick Brignola on baritone saxophone, Roger Kellaway on piano, John Lockwood on accoustic bass, and Adam Nussbaum on drums. CD