12 sublime spells from Esperanza Spaulding – with 4 more spells added to the mix for the physical release of the album! The record's got Esperanza really blowing us away – not content to just stay in the safer territory that she virtually invented a few years back, and which could sustain her entire career – and instead coming across with a mode that's more complicated, more edgey, and more message-oriented than ever before – all awash with a pastiche of sonic colors that's echoed by the image on the cover! Spaulding's vocals just seem to get better and better as the years go on – but she also leads strongly with her basslines on most numbers too – while the production really lets some of the more cosmic-styled elements flow around the edges. Titles include "12 Little Spells", "To Tide Us Over", "Til The Next Full", "Thang", "You Have To Dance", "Now Know", "All Limbs Are", "Readying To Rise", and "Dancing The Animal". Bonus "spells" include "Lest We Forget", "How To", "Move Many", and "Ways Together". (Neo Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A completely charming vocal session from Louis Armstrong – done in the later pop years of his life, but a record that's not nearly as well known as his bigger hits for Kapp! Louis works with arrangements from Dick Jacobs – the Brunswick arranger who first provided the early charts for Jackie Wilson – and the style is kind of a 60s update of 20s styles – that retro mode that was showing up in the decade as a few artists like Armstrong were reinvented for the younger generation. But despite the setting, Louis is wonderful throughout – with that honest, raspy tone of later years – and just a bit of trumpet to jazz things up amidst the pop. Titles include "I Will Wait For You", "Sunrise Sunset", "Rosie", "Willkommen", "I Believe", "The Happy Time", and "Talk To The Animals". (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album