One of the grooviest records ever – a sublime blend of African percussion, soulful orchestrations, and Dorothy Ashby's amazing electric harp! By the time of this landmark album, Dorothy had been knocking around the jazz world for a number of years, but it wasn't until she hooked up with Richard Evans at Cadet Records that her sound really began to cook – breaking down genres and expectations in the trademark style of the best late 60s sides from the Chicago underground. The record's got a bit of funk, a bit of jazz, and a heck of a lot of soul – and the setting works perfectly for Dorothy's harp, giving it a lot more room to work around than some of her smaller jazz combo albums. The album includes two great originals – "Soul Vibrations" and "Afro-Harping" – both of which have a nice funky edge, and a groovy soulful bounce – and other tunes include "Lonely Girl", "Life Has Its Trials", "Look Of Love", "Come Live With Me", and a great version of Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower". (Jazz, Now Sound) CD

2 LP set compiling some of the greatest tracks by this legendary Chicago studio assemblage led by the great bassist/arranger Richard Evans. The track list is a perfect example of the sound that they did so well, and is more proof that Chicago had one of the most interesting soul scenes in the world. Cuts include "Burning Spear", "Zambezi", "The Stepper", "Soul Prelude", "Groovin", "Listen Here", and lots lots more! (Soul, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest albums ever by the Soulful Strings – certainly the hippest, and the one with some of the most complex moments! The record still features arrangements by Richard Evans – who's even better here than before – but you can also feel the presence of Donny Hathaway, who contributed two great numbers to the album – "Zambezi", which he wrote with Evans, and the fantastic "Valdez In The Country", one of Donny's greatest songs ever, given its first-ever performance here, with vocals (probaby Donny's) underneath the instruments, humming away soulfully. The record also features some other fantastic Cadet/Chisoul numbers – like "Voices Inside" (which Donny did on his first album), and Eddie Harris' "It's Cold Duck Time" and "1974 Blues". A massive batch of funky soul instrumentals – right up there with the best Cadet/Concept work of the late 60s! (Soul, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

A damn funky record – way more so than you might expect from the "string" in the title! The group's kind of an answer to the Soulful Strings ensemble headed by Richard Evans for Cadet/Concept in Chicago – and like that group, it mixes up funky rhythms with some sweet large orchestrations – in a style that's almost a precursor of blacksploitation funk to come in the 70s! Paul Riser handles arrangements – very much in the same spirit of Evans – and he picks up a hip Motown groove that bridges sweeping soul and gritty funk – all played to perfection by an ensemble led by Gordon Staples, and featuring players from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra! There's lots of funky nuggets in the set – and titles include excellent originals like "Strung Out", "Toonie", and "Sounds of the Zodiac" – plus "The April Fools", "The Look Of Love", "Get Down", "If Your Love Were Mine", "Someday We'll Be Together", and "From A Heart That's True To Only You". (Soul, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album