Jimmy McGriff is tearing it up on the Hammond organ here – really hitting hard in that smoking soul jazz vein that made all of his albums for Sue Records instant classics! The group on this set is nice and small, nice and tight – featuring a young (pre-Black Jazz) Rudolph Johnson on tenor, Jimmy Smith (not the organist) on drums, and Larry (the "Lar" with the "Flair") Frazier on guitar – a really raw-toned player whose work often had a sound like that of George Freeman! Includes the single "Kiko", plus raw soulful versions of tracks like "Close Your Eyes", "All Day Long", and "That's All". (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Jimmy McGriff in a very cool 70s mode – hitting some of the fuller, more soul-based styles that Johnny Hammond and Jimmy Smith were exploring in the middle of the decade – while still also displaying a hell of a talent on the organ as well! The album has extra keyboards from Pat Rebillot and Paul Griffin – which makes for a nice mix of organ and electric piano sounds, plus some occasional moog that's very nicely placed – all backed by a largeish group that has tight horns, and some occasional soul vocals from Al Downing and Denise Wooten. The vocals are often an augmentation of the tunes, and there's still plenty of room for solos by Jimmy in the middle – on titles that include "Tailgunner", "Flexible Flyer", "Sky Hawk", "Grandma's Toe Jam", and "Bullfrog". (Jazz, Soul) CD

Jimmy McGriff in a very cool 70s mode – hitting some of the fuller, more soul-based styles that Johnny Hammond and Jimmy Smith were exploring in the middle of the decade – while still also displaying a hell of a talent on the organ as well! The album has extra keyboards from Pat Rebillot and Paul Griffin – which makes for a nice mix of organ and electric piano sounds, plus some occasional moog that's very nicely placed – all backed by a largeish group that has tight horns, and some occasional soul vocals from Al Downing and Denise Wooten. The vocals are often an augmentation of the tunes, and there's still plenty of room for solos by Jimmy in the middle – on titles that include "Tailgunner", "Flexible Flyer", "Sky Hawk", "Grandma's Toe Jam", and "Bullfrog". (Jazz, Soul) CD

Sweet funky blues from the team of Junior Parker and Jimmy McGriff – coming together here in a way that's even groovier than some of their previous work! Junior's got a sweet approach to the lyrics that grooves nicely with Jimmy's Hammond – and the set's got some full and soulful arrangements by Horace Ott that really tighten things up nicely – getting past any of the blues cliches that might ruin things, and instead going for that lean groove that McGriff was really hitting at the end of the 60s! There's more of a soul vibe than a blues one going on most of the time – and titles include "Workin", "Inner Light", "Losing Battle", "Drownin On Dry Land", and "It Ain't What'cha Got". (Jazz, Soul) CD

An original compilation from this great soul label – with work by Inez Foxx, Soul Sisters, The Matadors, Johnny Darrow, The Duals, Barbara George, Ike & Tina Turner, Jimmy McGriff, Baby Washington, and Bobby Hendricks! LP, Vinyl record album

Smoking Hammond work from the young Dave Cortez – sounding grittier here than on some of his other albums of the time – less pop, and almost with a soul jazz vibe overall – especially given some of his snakey solos! The record may be the closest that Cortez ever came to sounding like Jimmy McGriff – and the backings are tight and soulful, very similar to McGriff at Sue Records – handled by Henry Grover, who also produced. There's an uncredited tenor player on the record who's mighty nice – and a few cuts feature cool female backing vocals – and titles include "Belly Rub (parts 1 & 2)", "In Orbit", "Countdown (parts 1 & 2)", "Sticks & Stones", and "Peg Leg". LP, Vinyl record album

Lloyd Price steps off to the side a bit, and allows his great backing band to really get some time in the spotlight – on this smoking set that was issued on LLoyd's own LL label! The group have this wicked mix of jazz, R&B, and mod soul – and often use sweet Hammond in the lead, in a way that makes the whole thing feel a bit like some of the Jimmy McGriff albums on Sue Records or Veep, or maybe like some of the most soulful Benny Golson arrangements on Prestige, when the horn players step out more in the front! There's a great mod soul groove to the whole thing – a style that's quite different from the vocal material that Price gave us on his own records, with more mof a jukebox-thumping style on cuts that include "Brother Eliajah", "Go Straight Ahead", "Soulful Waltz", "Oh Pee Day", "Number Four", "Trouble (parts 1 & 2)", "No Limit", and "Cool Blue". LP, Vinyl record album

A heavy batch of Motown soul instrumentals – headed up by Funk Brother Earl Van Dyke! The set features backings that are often very similar to the vocal versions on Motown – but are topped with sweet organ solo work from Earl – who has this lean, mean style that's mighty nice – kind of a Jimmy McGriff groove that really fits the soul of the recordings! Most of the backings are exactly the same ones used for vocal hits, but the use of Hammond really transforms them nicely – making the whole record a sweet popcorn soul version of Motown – almost a bit grittier, with a nice sort of backroom jukebox flavor. Titles include "Try It Baby", "Can You Jerk Like Me", "Money", "Can I Get A Witness", "Come See About Me", and "All For You". LP, Vinyl record album