Fred P offers up two very fresh takes on these cuts from the team of Nicola Conte and Gianluca Petrella – both nice and long, and with a sense of flow that's really wonderful! "African Spirits" comes across with a tribal house sort of vibe – lots of live instrumentation on percussion and trombone, but also a percolating groove that stretches into more house-based energy as the tune moves on! "Tribes" follows a similar groove – also stretching way past 10 minutes as Fred builds the whole tune nicely out of acoustic elements layered into the rhythms! 12-inch, Vinyl record

70s spiritual soul jazz lives again – in this righteous tribute to the late John Coltrane! The incredible collection is filled with wonderful tracks both classic and current – and is a great bridge between the first waves of this kind of music at the end of the 60s, and the contemporary revival that's been going on at a global level! Perhaps the best thing here is the way that there's no apparent difference in sound or style between the old and new cuts – and the folks at Free Spirits have really found a way to make the whole thing flow together wonderfully by selecting music that's deeply soulful, extremely positive, and filled with soaring vocals and instrumental solos! Titles include "Mode For Trane" by Billy Gault, "Naima" by Mark De Clive-Lowe, "A Love Supreme" by Rufus Harley, "John Coltrane's A Love Supreme" by Karin Krog & Nils Lindberg, "Duke & Trane" by Haikki Samarto Ensemble, "John Coltrane" by Our Cry For Peace (Dwight Trible/Build An Ark), "Prince Of Peace" by Pharoah Sanders, "Liberation Of The Spirit" by Kamau Daaood, "Naima" by 4 Hero, and "A Love Supreme" by Dwight Trible. CD

Two great cuts get a nice warming-over! Tall Black Guy takes the mix of acoustic percussion and keyboard lines on "Nigeria", and really deepens the soul – adding vocals from Broken Keys, and coming up with a clubbier vibe for the cut overall – one that has some nice currents for the tribal house crowd! That vibe also continues on "African Spirits" – which gets its beats kicked up by Andres, who also stretches out the tune and really lets it run wild! 12-inch, Vinyl record

Contemporary grooves with a cosmic undercurrent – some wonderful tracks from the Kindred Spirits label – a real 21st Century heir to spiritual modes of expression from the 60s and 70s! As with the first volume in this series, the styles here are heavy on influences from jazz – especially in the keyboards – but also bring in a fair bit of current sounds as well – broken beats, choppy rhythms, and spun-out instrumental bits that are often in the spirit of the post-4 Hero generation. The few warmer, mellower moments flesh out the record with a fair bit of spirit – and although some of the tracks have been out on other Kindred Spirits releases, there appear to be others here exclusive to the set. Titles include "Raw War" by Mweslee, "Dirtdegree" by Tom Grago, "Holdin Up" by Rich Medina, "Wonderlove (Jazzanova rmx)" by Heavy, "Till Tomorrow" by Rednose Distrikt, "Moving In Circles" by Nomo, "Door Of The Cosmos (12" mix)" by Build An Ark, "Spread" by Meikbar, "Roll On" by Flowriders, "Dickriders" by INT, and "Say What" by Chico Mann. CD

Cosmic soul from Danish singer Astrid Engberg – an artist with a voice that's already great on its own, but sound seven better amidst the album's slightly spacey, slightly jazzy instrumentation! The record has a very contemporary vibe – as although Astrid's vocals could work in an old school soul setting, they seem even better here with the moody electric crackle of the backings – sometimes served up by just a trio, but featuring guest work from the great string master Miguel Atwood Ferguson on a number of tracks – and other appearances from Moo Latte, Maria Dybbroe, and Tobias Wiklund as well. Titles include "Spirits Came Told Me", "Chains", "Loving Contemplation", "I Should Care", "Adaptation", "Body Follows Body", and "Blue Rise & The Fall". LP, Vinyl record album

Really wonderful work from Towa Tei – an artist who's lost none of the charms that first made us fall in love with him when he was a member of Deee Lite! As with his earlier solo material, this set's got a wonderful combination of sounds, samples, and styles – that quality that has Towa maybe bringing forward some of the best spirits of the initial Japanese electro pop generation, but fused with a more dynamic sense of rhythm that he picked up while part of the scene in New York in the early 90s! All the elements crash together with non-stop action and a real sense of sonic delight – and titles include "Beautiful", "My Baby", "Sea Change", "Immunitas", "Ear Candy", "Hold On", and "OPA". LP, Vinyl record album