A double disc CD & DVD package showcasing one of our favorite souful acts on the contemporary landscape – Nicolay & Phonte's brilliant and ever-evolving Foreign Exchange project! Dear Friends showcases an acoustic concert performed for a private audience –- the great touring lineup that includes Zo!, Sy Smith, and singer/songwriter Jeanne Jolly. From the get go, we've been impressed by both the original songwriting from Foreign Exchange as well as the way they filter diverse influences into their own unique vibe – and this acoustic setting really gets to the heart and soul of it. This is an essential document for fans of the group, but it's also a fine intro if you're just now coming aboard! The live set includes "Fight For Love", "All Roads", "Take Off The Blues", "Lose Your Way", "Greatest Weapon Of All Time", a nice cover of James Taylor's "Something In The Way She Moves", "Laughing At Your Plans", "Daykeeper", "House Of Cards", Zo!'s "Greatest Weapon Of All Time" and "I Wanna Know". Also includes 2 new studio tracks: "Steal Away" feat vocals by Jeanny Jolly and piano by Zo! and "All The Kisses" feat Amber & Paris Strother of KING. CD

Moor Mother's an artist who just keeps on getting more and more interesting with each new release – definitely in a genre that's completely her own – one that lives up to the spirit of west coast underground pioneers in recent decades – and, as with those artists, seemingly finds a sonic space that none of us knew existed! Under her real name, Camae Ayewa, Moor Mother has roots in musical education in the world of higher learning – and here, she's managed to draw together many strands of that experience into a voice that's not only all her own, but completely organic and laidback too – a mixture of hip hop, soul, spoken word, and some of the jazzier currents promised in the title. Nearly every single track features a collaboration – artists include Nicole Mitchell, Melanie Charles, Jason Moran, Wolf Weston, and many others – and titles include "Woody Shaw", "Ode To Mary", "Umzansi", "Golden Lady", "Blame", "Blues Away", "Dust Together", "Arms Save", "Barely Woke", "Rap Jasm", and "Joe McPhee Nation Time Intro". (Neo Soul, Neo Soul) CD

Maybe the coolest album so far in the Red Hot series – even amidst the unique Sun Ra subgroup – as the album's the brainchild of Meshell Ndegeocello, and comes together with all the complex soulfulness of her own recent albums! Back in the 90s, Meshell was a great but more mainstream soul artist – and over the years, she's developed into a really fascinating talent – one able to reach out with a complex blend of jazz, funk, and soul elements – woven into patterns that are always very much her own – a musical legacy that the great Sun Ra might have appreciated! Ndegeocello leads a very diverse lineup here – playing bass and keyboards, and singing a bit – next to other players who include longtime Arkestra giant Marshall Allen on alto and EWI, plus Immanuel Wilkins on alto, Christopher Bruce on guitar, Darius Jones on saxes, Daniel Mintseris on keyboards, and Justin Hicks, Pink Siifu, Kenita Miller, Nio Levon, and Hanna Benn on vocals. The album channels Ra's spirit through territory that's very much Meshell's own – and titles include "Yet Differently Not Mars Hall", "El Soul The Companion Traveler", "The World Of Shadow", "Reproductive Manatees/Sunny Said Up", "Bedlam Blues", "#9 Venus The Living Myth", and "Departure Guide Of The 7 Sisters". (Jazz, Neo Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing work from Jill Scott – possibly the best thing we've heard from her since her classic debut – and a record that reminds us that she's still one of the greatest soul singers around! Jill's a bit more grown up here than before – shaking off some of the more passive themes of other tunes for a fuller, prouder approach that's followed through beautifully with tremendous vocals, and a production style that makes each tune explode with a range of new sonic delights! There's a sense of flow here that's simply amazing – a way of putting an album together, and putting a tune over that few other artists could ever touch – that special magic that first grabbed us in Jill's music years back, and which seems to have returned beautifully here. Instrumentation includes some especially great drums, which only add to the crisp, fresh feel of the record – and titles include "The Real Thing", "Hate On Me", "Come See Me", "Crown Royal", "Epiphany", "My Love", "Insomnia", "How It Makes You Feel", "Only You", "Celibacy Blues", and "All I". CD