Special 2LP package, with bonus "Re-Works" album! LP, Vinyl record album

Near-perfect work from Ashford & Simpson – really grooving in full powerhouse mode here, and never missing a beat! By all rights, the team should have run out of steam by this point, but the album's another winner from their sublime Warner years – caught in a unique space between chart soul, ensemble funk, and disco – taking all the best elements of each, and really sending the whole thing home with some incredible vocals and impeccable production and arrangements! Titles include "Rushing To", "Love Don't Make It Right", "We'll Meet Again", "Get Out Your Handkerchief", and "I Ain't Asking For Your Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Sublimely satisfying work from Ashford & Simpson – a stone killer from the height of their late 70s glory days on Warner Brothers! The pair are working together wonderfully at this point – wrapped up in that blend of upbeat soul and righteous undercurrents that made them a real cut above in mainstream soul – getting great help from arrangers William Eaton, Paul Riser, and Al Gorgoni – all of whom know how to hit that perfect Ashford & Simpson balance between tightness, class, and soulful spontaneity! Backings are always filled with lots of jazzy touches, too – the kind of sophisticated soul elements other would cop from the pair in years to come – and titles include "Over & Over", "It's You", "If You're Lying", "Couldn't Get Enough", "Destiny", "So So Satisfied", and "Tried Tested & Found True". LP, Vinyl record album

Sublimely satisfying work from Ashford & Simpson – a stone killer from the height of their late 70s glory days on Warner Brothers! The pair are working together wonderfully at this point – wrapped up in that blend of upbeat soul and righteous undercurrents that made them a real cut above in mainstream soul – getting great help from arrangers William Eaton, Paul Riser, and Al Gorgoni – all of whom know how to hit that perfect Ashford & Simpson balance between tightness, class, and soulful spontaneity! Backings are always filled with lots of jazzy touches, too – the kind of sophisticated soul elements other would cop from the pair in years to come – and titles include "Over & Over", "It's You", "If You're Lying", "Couldn't Get Enough", "Destiny", "So So Satisfied", and "Tried Tested & Found True". LP, Vinyl record album

Remixed by Francois Kevorkian. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Great stuff! From Motown songwriters to world-class superstars, the trip was a well-deserved one for Valerie Simpson and Nick Ashford – and this album's perhaps their crowning achievement in sophisticated club soul! The record's got a great groove that offers a more soulful version of disco than most of the competing albums on major labels at the time – a perfect summation of the care and craft that Ashford & Simpson had always put into their music right from the start! The pair handle all production on the record, and also contributed all the songs too – and the whole thing's so wonderfully tight, right, and on the money, the album soars to the top even before the vocals come into the mix. Titles include more than a few club classics, like "Found A Cure", "Stay Free", and "Nobody Knows" – plus the cuts "Dance Forever", "Crazy", "Follow Your Heart", and "Finally Got To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweetly compressed work from Attitudes – kind of a mid 70s crossover group, but one with a strong sense of soul overall! The production on the record is great – and pushes everything nicely together in the mix, but without ever sounding too slick – and the group's got some great guitar work from Danny Kootch, whose riffing sounds great alongside the funkier rhythms and keyboards. The sound's a bit like Average White Band at their best – surprisingly great on the mellower numbers, and funky on some of the groovers – especially the great instrumental cut "Squank"! Other titles include "Chump Change Romeo", "Lend A Hand", "Street Scene", "Ain't Love Enough", and "Honey Don't Leave LA". LP, Vinyl record album

An overdue reunion for Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll (now billed as Tippetts) – and a late 70s session that sounds quite a bit different than their mod soul of the 60s! The format here is still somewhat in a soul-based vein – but the sound is much more 70s, and much more "adult" as well – sometimes smooth, sometimes mellow, with Julie singing in a way that's still heartfelt, but not with the clear nod to American soul of her earlier work. Brian's still playing plenty of keyboards, although not getting in as many licks as on his own albums of the decade – yet still with enough space to help transform some of the best tunes. Titles include "Git Up", "Freedom Highway", "Spirit", "Future Pilot", "Rope Ladder To The Moon", "No Time To Live", and "Nothing Will Be As It Was" – a great English remake of a song by Milton Nascimento! (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Really hard-jamming work from keyboardist Brian Auger – the first of a 2-part live set from the US, and easily some of his greatest work on record! The tracks are all very long and stretched out here – an extrapolation of the territory Auger was already exploring on studio sides, taken into even more cosmic realms through the lively nature of the set. As with other records from the time, Alex Lighterwood sings on some cuts – but the real highlight is the keyboard work of Auger – served up on both organ and electric piano, and hitting a great blend of funk, fusion, and keyboard soul! Titles include a really great funky remake of "Bumpin On Sunset", the original break track "Don't Look Away", and the tunes "Truth", and "Beginning Again". (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

The second smoking Live Oblivion set from Brian Auger and crew – twice as long, and maybe even twice as funky as the first! The tunes on here all really push the ten minute mark – stretching out the original Auger conception on studio sides, and featuring plenty of room for really wicked solo work on organ and electric piano! The live setting seems to inspire the group to even greater new heights – and there's an intensity here that makes for some really great moments. Titles include the wonderful break-heavy version of "Compared To What" – plus "Second Wind", "Maiden Voyage", "Straight Ahead", "Freedom Jazz Dance", and "Inner City Blues". (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

One of Roy Ayers' best-remembered albums of the 70s – a sublime blend of mellow numbers and some of his more club-oriented grooves of the time – all wrapped together with a genius that we can only describe as Ayers-like! The album's a beautiful example of the balance that Roy was striking in his work at the time – because alongside some of the more upbeat, catchy numbers, there's other tracks that are a fair bit more laidback, and almost abstract at times – a wonderful extrapolation of that sensitive Ayers blend of jazz and soul, with key emphasis on the vibes and keyboards. Titles include the massive groover "Running Away" – which you'll recognize from a key sample history over the years – and club cuts "Cincinnati Growl", "Fruit", "Sanctified Feeling", and "Stranded In The Jungle" – plus the more laidback cuts "Gotta Find A Lover", "I Still Love You", "Lifeline", and "This Side Of Sunshine". LP, Vinyl record album

An early album as a leader from the great Roy Ayers – a set that captures the vibes man at a time when he'd been working on the west coast soul jazz scene, and was stepping into even greater fame in the group of Herbie Mann! Yet this set is definitely Roy's own – kind of an introduction to the more righteous sounds he'd pursue in the 70s, set up in an instrumental mode with great help from Herbie Hancock on piano, Gary Bartz on alto, Charles Tolliver on trumpet, and Hubert Laws on flute – all ultra-hip players who really bring a lot to the record! And despite the colorful cover, and its reference of a pop hit, there's a much deeper vibe going on here – on titles that include a great version of Jobim's "Wave" – done like we've never heard it before – plus the original cuts "What The People Say", "Lil's Paradise", and "A Rose For Cindy". (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

It's like a dream come true – 13 previously unissued recordings by Roy Ayers, all from the height of his glory years on Polydor! Roy's work from this time is some of our favorite ever – a burning blend of jazz, soul, and funk – handled with impeccable charm, and a level of soul that few other artists of the time ever matched. Roy's genius was strongly documented at the time by a series of excellent Polydor albums – but there was also a heck of a lot of great material that never saw the light of day, and which is every bit as great as the classics that we've come to know and love over the years. Hearing this set is incredible – like upping our already-massive appreciation of Roy's talents, and like finding a lost corner of soul music history that nobody's ever heard before. The tunes are all amazing – a great blend of jazzy soul, mellow soul, and dancefloor groovers – and the package is only the tip of the iceberg, from what we've been told! The full album does a great job to not cross over too much with the 12" singles previously issued in this "Virgin" series – and titles include "What's The T", "I Really Love You", "Sugar", "Mystery Of Love", "Green & Gold", "Brand New Feeling", "I Did It In Seattle", "I Just Wanna Give It Up", "Together Forever", "Boogie Down", "I Am Your Mind", and a great alternate version of "Mystic Voyage"! LP, Vinyl record album

The genius of Roy Ayers knows no end – and as this set of unreleased work from the 70s proves, Roy was always working at top form back in the day – even above and beyond his classic albums from the time! The grooves here are tremendous – funky, soulful, jazzy, and every bit as wonderful as the work that Roy did for his classic albums on Polydor – and in a way, the whole set's even tighter and heavier than any of Roy's full LPs, because it's a distillation of his sound from the time, hand-picked from the vaults with an ear towards the kind of timeless grooves that have been a huge influence on many worlds of music for years! You've never heard any of these tunes before, but we can promise you'll love them every bit as much as Roy's tracks on albums like Coffy, Vibrations, Mystic Voyage, and other classics – and the quality of the set only further pushes our jaw-dropping respect for the man! Titles include "Holiday", "Kwajilori", "I Am Your Mind (part 2)", "Touch Of Class", "Third Time", "Come To Me", "Wide Open", "Funk In The Hole", "Liquid Love", "Tarzan", "Sunshine (demo)", and "I Like The Way You Do It To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A far-reaching early gem from Roy Ayers – a set that's much more jazz-based than his later work, and a record that has him touching base with the Blue Note and Strata East sides of the jazz spectrum! The lineup here is incredibly hip – a mix of players that includes a young Charles Tolliver on trumpet, Harold Land and Joe Henderson on tenor, Jack Wilson on piano, and Reggie Workman on bass – not to mention Roy himself on some mighty great vibes! There's a surprising spiritual undercurrent to the music – pointing the way towards jazz to come in the 70s – and titles include "Glow Flower", "Ayerloom", "Virgo Vibes", and "In The Limelight" – plus an early take on Charles Tolliver's "The Ringer". (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Rare Hawaii soul from the end of the 70s – an album that's a great extension of the sunny sound heard previously from Lemuria! Babadu's got a gently grooving glow that's right up there with the Free Soul sound of years back – an approach that's smooth, but not in commercial or chart soul ways – and which instead has an earnest, honest appeal – all the feeling right up front, gliding along with the breezy rhythms in a really great way! The balance is a bit hard to describe accurately, and it's the brainchild of producer/arranger Kirk Thompson – who does a great job with Babadu's vocals, compressing them nicely into the music for a fused-up sound that's mighty nice! Titles include "I Did The Right Thing", "I've Got My Roots", "I Love Music", "All I've Got To Give", and "We're Not To Blame". LP, Vinyl record album

A millennial classic from Erykah Badu – a record that came along right as the current century was starting up, to show a soulful path that would keep things strong for many years to come! The album grabbed a bigger audience than Erykah's first, but still kept things strong – really focusing in on that amazing vocal style that made the singer such a unique talent – and which always had edges that were sharper, and runs that were deeper, than some of her contemporaries who might be able to trick a phrase with a bit of spirit, but never deliver the whole thing in the way that Badu can! Themes are both personal and hinting at her political turns to come – and titles include "Kiss Me On My Neck", "Didn't Cha Know", "My Life", "AD 2000", "Bag Lady", "In Love With You", and "Booty". (Neo Soul, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

A heck of a great batch of blue eyed soul tracks – much harder-hitting than you'd expect from the name of the group, and done with a "live studio" feel that really makes the session kick! The group's a big one, of mixed origin – of the sort of party club type acts that used to play a lot in the south in the 60s – and alongside original tunes, they also really groove on some upbeat numbers in a soaring Sam & Dave sort of mode. Titles include "I've Been Trying", "I'm Losing You", "Hey You", "Such A Fuss About Sunday", "Soul Man", "Shake", and "I Feel Good". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few albums cut by the great soul singer JR Bailey – done with production from Buddy Scott, who also wrote most of the lyrics – in conjunction with Phil Medley, who also did the arrangements! The set begins with an uptempo clubby remake of "Taste of Honey", and also features a nicely grooving take on "Stella By Starlight". Other tracks include "Million To One", "Live Love & Play", "Love & Conversation", and "The Coming Of Your Love". LP, Vinyl record album