A gospel singer, but with a great ear for soul – the mighty Rance Allen was one of the key figures to bridge the spiritual and secular worlds in the 70s! This excellent set features Rance Allen gems from his early 70s years at Stax Records – tunes that burn with all of the deep soul styles of other work on the Memphis label, but which also seem to get an extra push deep down inside, thanks to Allen's spiritual leanings. Most cuts have excellent piano and keyboards alongside the vocals – and titles include "Let The Music Get Down In Your Soul", "Ring My Bell", "Up Above My Head", "Lying On The Truth", "Joy", "What Is This", "I Belong To You", "Ain't No Need Of Crying", "That Will Be Good Enough For Me", "What A Day", and "The Painter". CD

A key moment in the career of vocalist Ernestine Anderson – a record that not only returned her to the public eye after a flurry of initial sides in the late 50s and early 60s, but which also finally helped Anderson find a sound that worked! The album's done with backing by the Monty Alexander trio – in a style that's bluesy and soul jazz inflected, but with a sweeter west coast sound – almost an early 80s equivalent of the groove explored by Lou Rawls or Ernie Andrews in LA during the mid 60s, but done with an even more relaxed, jazz-based approach here. The title track – "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" – was an instant standout that got Anderson play in many corners of the US – and other tracks are more familiar numbers, but done in a similar mode – with titles that include "Old Folks", "As Long As I Live", "Just One More Chance", "Poor Butterfly", and "My Shining Hour". (Vocalists, Soul) CD

Never-heard work by Ray Charles – a surprisingly great batch of tracks presented here for the first time – most recorded in the 80s, with work from the 70s and early 90s too! There's a nicely unified feel to the record – Ray's strong vocals really holding things together, and an instrumental approach that follows well from some of the Tangerine label styles of the early 70s – kind of a leaner take on the southern-inflected modes that Charles pushed strongly once he got his own label – free of any hoke, or any attempts at over-commercialization, possibly because the music was never polished up too strongly at the time. Titles include "Love's Gonna Bite You Back", "Wheel Of Fortune", "It Hurts To Be In Love", "She's Gone", "A Little Bitty Tear", "Isn't It Wonderful", "There'll Be Some Changes Made", and "I'm Gonna Keep On Singin". CD

Macy's best album since The Id, the slept on second album that we must be all alone in thinking is far better than her smash hit debut – coming here with hooky, fun and anthemic pop soul framing Macy's distinctively gritty lead vocals and memorable hooks! Macy Gray has always mixed it up stylistically in a way you could call "taking risks", still with ultra catchy and commercial gloss, but we just think she's creatively restless and up for anything. Here she flirts with 70s bubblegum glam rock on "Kissed It", but for the most part the album layers pop and R&B influences from the past couple decades and we'll call it an appealing win for Ms Gray....even with the Auto-Tune, dammit. Includes "The Sellout", "The Comeback", "Lately", "Still Hurts" feat Romika, "Stalker", "Real Love" (with Bobby Brown!!!), "On & On" and more. (Neo Soul, Soul) CD

Stone funky work from the late 60s – a landmark batch of tracks by Quincy Jones – originally recorded for the soundtrack of the first Bill Cosby show, and issued here to the public for the first time ever! The show's famous theme "Hikky-Burr" is a well-known groover with a sinister snapping edge that sums up all the best of Quincy's funky jazz soundtrack work in the 60s – and the rest of the tracks on the set follow in a blend of California soul jazz modes that's mighty mighty nice! Players on the tunes include Milt Jackson, Monty Alexander, Joe Sample, Eddie Harris, Ray Brown, and Paul Humphrey – and the tracks have a loose, improvised feel that's a nice contrast from a lot of Quincy's tighter soundtrack work. Along with 2 different versions of "Hikky-Burr" (one with vocal by Cosby, one without), the set also features tracks that include "Toe Jam", "Jive Den", "Monty Is That You", and "Eubie Walkin" – plus a loosely disguised version of "Listen Here", and a take on "Oh Happy Day". Great stuff – and wonderful to finally have out on CD! (Jazz, Soul) CD

Valerie June's been bubbling under for almost a decade – recording work with other artists, doing a variety of projects, and finally getting her chance to shine in the spotlight with her previous debut – yet it may well be this well-crafted second album that finally puts the singer over the top! Valerie's completely her own woman here – not beholden to any sort of easy tags or cliches – including the "rootsy soul" or "folksy diva" tags that we heard batted around before – and instead, almost inventing her own genre for the record – which has a vibe that makes us guess that it's going to be the start of a huge legacy of fame to come for June. Her voice is timeless, the instrumentation is nicely understated, and the production is very easygoing – yet the whole thing comes across with a crispily compelling sound that could appeal to both hipsters and their more mainstream friends. That might sound like a dig, but it's not – just our way of illustrating the soon-to-be universal appeal of the singer! Titles include "The Front Door", "Astral Plane", "Long Lonely Road", "Just IN Time", "Slip Slide On By", "Two Hearts", and "Got Soul". (Neo Soul, Soul) CD

(Blues, Soul) CD

Includes bonus disc of other Specialty artists. CD

A recent set by Marlena Shaw – still going strong in her fourth decade as a singer! The album's got a slightly stiffer feel than some of Shaw's best-known recordings of the 60s or 70s – but it's still quite nice overall, with jazz-tinged backings that are often cut with a bit of added keyboards to charge things up. The core group features David Hazeltine on piano, plus some guest tenor from Stanley Turrentine on a few tracks. There's a slightly bluesy quality to a few numbers, but the focus is still mostly jazzy soul overall – and tracks include "Your Mind Is On Vacation", "Where Do You Start", "Why Oh Why", "Brothers", "Once Again We've Begun To Love", "I'm Alone Again", and "Paint Your Pretty Picture". CD