An amazing record that's as powerful as the political message of the title – the hippest record ever cut by Amiri Baraka, and that's saying a heck of a lot! Baraka delivers a long and complex set of poetic reflections on the state of Black America, spiritual awakening, and political redemption – set to musical backings that shift from funky, to jazz, to avant, and back again. Players on the set include Gary Bartz, Lonnie Liston Smith, Idris Muhammad, and Reggie Workman – and there's a host of additional players, percussionists, and vocalists that join Amiri in the delivery of his message. Titles include "Answers In Progress", "Peace In Place", "Bad News For Your Highness", "Was Gon Happen", "All In The Street", "Pamoja Tutashinda", and "Pull The Covers Off". One to listen to when you get past your Last Poets records! LP, Vinyl record album

A weird little record from John Barry – the soundtrack to a 1963 television special recorded by Elizabeth Taylor at the height of her early popularity, and featuring Taylor reciting a variety of poems and speeches over music by Barry! There's a relatively high concept feel to the album – as Barry's backings are fairly string-laden and serious, penned to match the mood of Taylor's presentation of material written by William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, William Pitt, Winston Churchill, and Queen Victoria. And although Taylor speaks on about half the record, the best tracks here are actually the instrumental ones – which have more of the depth of Barry's serious soundtrack work from the time, and manage to have their own sense of presence apart from the star quality of Liz on the set. Arrangements are by Johnnie Spence, and titles include "Elizabeth", "London Theme Jazz Waltz", "Queen Elizabeth At Tilbury", "Queen Victoria", "English Garden", "The Fire Of London", "Lovers & Browning", and "London At Dawn". (Soundtracks, Spoken Word) CD

A weird little record from John Barry – the soundtrack to a 1963 television special recorded by Elizabeth Taylor at the height of her early popularity, and featuring Taylor reciting a variety of poems and speeches over music by Barry! There's a relatively high concept feel to the album – as Barry's backings are fairly string-laden and serious, penned to match the mood of Taylor's presentation of material written by William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, William Pitt, Winston Churchill, and Queen Victoria. And although Taylor speaks on about half the record, the best tracks here are actually the instrumental ones – which have more of the depth of Barry's serious soundtrack work from the time, and manage to have their own sense of presence apart from the star quality of Liz on the set. Arrangements are by Johnnie Spence, and titles include "Elizabeth", "London Theme Jazz Waltz", "Queen Elizabeth At Tilbury", "Queen Victoria", "English Garden", "The Fire Of London", "Lovers & Browning", and "London At Dawn". (Soundtracks, Spoken Word) LP, Vinyl record album

A righteous treasure from the end of the 60s – an album of vocal tracks recorded by the Minister Of Information for the Black Panther Party, set to backings from the legendary jazz visionary Horace Tapscott! Elaine Brown's less of a soul singer than a powerful speaker who delivers the lyrics with an almost folksy quality – singing boldly and with a sense of power that matches Tapscott's great orchestrations for the record – done in a style that's a fair bit like his Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra work for Nimbus Records, but a bit more inside – given the vocal setting of the record. Titles include "The Meeting", "The Panther", "Assassination", and "Very Black Man". (Soul, Spoken Word) LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal 70s work from Sarah Webster Fabio – an amazing blend of poetry and music, and incredibly hip all the way through! Fabio's got a depth that goes beyond other commercial poets of the time – a righteousness that's right at home in the spiritual jazz scene of the 70s, and which is supported here by some great backings on guitar, bass, and percussion – plus some especially evocative saxophone, played by Denianke (Leon Williams) on some of the best tracks. The voice of Thomas Fabio joins Sarah on some of the numbers – with a brooding, echoey feel that's really great – and titles include "Eclipse", "Interrogation", "Together To The Tune Of Coltrane's Equinox", and "A Black Girl's Mean Ol Low Down Blues". (Soul, Spoken Word) LP, Vinyl record album

A great little album – a lot better than you might think from the concept! After the death of JFK, Oliver Nelson penned this extremely strong tribute to the man – featuring snippets of speeches made by Kennedy during his time in office as president, used as bridges between jazz based backings by Nelson that are filled with some of his strongest writing of the time. The notes are more devoted to Kennedy's memory and Nelson's genius than the usual liner notes – so we're not sure who the players are – but the overall style is right up there with some of Nelson's best serious work from the time, and features a striking use of strings against jazz solo instrumentation, almost in a manner that recalls Ralph Burns' best styles of the 50s. Titles include "The Artists Rightful Place", "Jacqueline", "Day In Dallas", "Let The Word Go Forth", and "John Kennedy Memory Waltz". (Jazz, Spoken Word) CD

A wonderful blend of spoken word and jazz – contemporary, but put together with the strength of similar records from the 70s – those secret texts of knowledge that often used to be sold as much in bookstores as in the record racks! AK Toney and Jasik provide the spoken passages, set to avant spiritual backings from players who include Jamael Dean on piano and keyboards, Carlos Nino on percussion, Aaron Shaw on saxes, and Mekala Shaw Session on drums – musicians who shift their presence depending on the needs of the tracks – as Toney and Jasik weave a wonderfully blend of poetic language and deeper ideas. Sharada Shashidar sings on a few tracks too – and titles include "Amun", "Neptune", "Our Greatness", "Major & Minor Aspects", "House Of Good Spirit", "We Wear The Mask", and "Afronauts". (Jazz, Spoken Word) LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overdue follow-up to Ken's last Word Jazz album for Dot – done for Nordine's own Snail Records label nearly 20 years after the last one! The style here is less "jazz" and more atmospheric than before – very much in the mode of Nordine's Word Jazz syndicated radio show from the 80s and 90s. The vocal tricks and sense of humor's still nicely in place, and if anything the experimental style of the record is pushed even more than before. Backings include Howard Levy on keyboards and Paul Wertico on drums – and side one is a suite of tracks on "The Seasons", while side two features "Other Stuff". Individual titles include "The Swami", "Feet Of Clay", "Charlie Bingbang", "What's So Funny", "Summer Madness", "Getting Ready", and "Winter Sketch". LP, Vinyl record album

Kenneth Patchen, like Kenneth Rexroth, was one of the few poets who really understood what it meant to read and write in a jazz idiom – as you'll hear on this excellent set of beatnik jazz tracks! The album features Patchen reading in a great style – angular, cynical, really working the words of his poems perfectly over backings by the Alan Neil Quartet. The poems are set to music written by George Wallington, Charlie Parker, and others – and tracks include "There's A Place", "They Won't Let You In There", "Do I Not Deal With Angels", "Not Many Kingdoms Left", "The Lonesome Boy Blues", "As I Opened The Window", and "A Sight Is Little Altered". CD