Four incredible albums from the young Georgie Fame – plus a bonus CD of rare material, bonus tracks on all CDs, and 18 previously unreleased tracks – all in a box set with a 48 page book, 5 postcards, and a poster too! First up is Rhythm & Blues At The Flamingo – blistering early work from a young Georgie Fame – a set that definitely lives up to the Rhythm & Blues in the title! The set was recorded live at London's hip Flamingo club – and Georgie and The Blue Flames are very much in command of the crowd – burning with the intensity of a American small organ combo, especially the early 60s variety that often played equal parts soul jazz and R&B! Georgie's on the Hammond, and also sings with a rough-edged style that's plenty soulful, and incredibly appealing – a mode that oozes charisma, but never sounds fake or forced. Titles include "Do The Dog", "Eso Beso", "Work Song", "Baby Please Don't Go", "Shop Around", "Humpty Dumpty", and "You Can't Sit Down". Fame At Last is a brilliant mix of jazz, soul, and R&B – all filtered through a mod sort of London freshness, as early proof that the city could always take some great things from our own musical roots, and feed it back to us with a whole new flavor! Georgie's no copycat here, though – and the sound is instantly Fame-like – a style that's really not the sort that any Americans were doing at the time, and certainly never this well. Hard-burning Hammond colors most of the tunes here – played with a tightly vamping quality – but it's Georgie's charmingly crackling vocals that really win us over! Titles include "Gimme That Wine", "Pink Champagne", "Monkeying Around", "Green Onions", "Let The Sunshine In", "Get On The Right Track Baby", "I'm In The Mood For Love", and "I Love The Life I Live". Sweet Things is a definite sweet thing from Georgie Fame – a record that has him filling in his sound even more than before, with tremendously soulful results! The backings here are bigger than before – a bit tooled in an American soul mode, but still with that beautifully raspy Georgie Fame touch – lots of jazzy inflections on the vocals, and a way of handling a tune, even a familiar one, and really working it on his own level. Hammond still fills in most of the tunes, but other instrumentation includes some nice African percussion from Speedy Acquaye, saxes from Pete Coe, and some nice bold drums from John Mitchell. These come out to the forefront on the classic funky tune "Music Talk" – and still sound great on other numbers that include "The World Is Round", "Last Night", "Dr Kitch", "My Girl", "Ride Your Pony", and "Sweet Thing". Sound Venture is one of the jazziest early albums from Georgie Fame – a set that has him singing with the big band of Harry South, at a level that's a lot more complicated than some of his other work with The Blue Flames! The style here still has that mod 60s London feel, but it also has some deeper inflections as well – modes borrowed a bit from Jon Hendricks or Mose Allison, yet served up with even greater complexity – at a level that really points towards the tremendous growth Fame would unleash over the next few years. Members of the group include Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Tony Coe, Dick Morrisey, Kenny Wheeler, and many other key Brit jazz figures of the time – and titles include "Three Blind Mice", "Dawn Yawn", "Feed Me", "Lovey Dovey", "Lil Darlin", "Lil Pony", "I Am Missing You", and "Many Happy Returns". CD5 is Bend A Little – a package with 20 unusual titles – demos, rare tracks, and outtakes – including unreleased tracks, IBC recordings, and even two German tracks too! Plus, each individual CD comes with bonus tracks – 40 bonus tracks, in addition to the 20 more titles on the Bend A Little set – a huge amount of material! CD

A great session that was recorded in Tokyo in 1973 – featuring Abbey backed by a small group that includes Dave Liebman on sax and flute, Al Foster on drums, and Hiromasa Suzuki on piano. The record's pretty darn hip – and it's a nice version of Abbey's haunting approach to vocal jazz, touched by some of the new directions vocalists were going at the time, yet firmly rooted in the firm command of voice and emotion heard on Lincoln's best records from the early 60s. Titles include "Africa", "You & Me & Love", "Naturally", "Living Room", and "Natas", which seems to have Abbey singing along with overdubs of her own voice, to very cool effect! CD

(Soul, Vocalists) CD

A wonderful live set from Joe Williams – recorded at Birdland, as you'd guess from the title – and done with a raw depth that surpasses much of his studio work from the time! Joe's really moving past cliche here – using his voice with a power that hadn't been heard since his sides for Savoy – and really commanding the audience with a charisma that shines through with incredible clarity. Harry Edison's leading a small group that also includes Jimmy Forrest on tenor and Ike Issacs on bass – and titles include "Teach Me Tonight", "Come Back Baby", "September In The Rain", "Roll Em Pete", and "Have You Met Miss Jones". CD features 4 previously unissued numbers too! CD

Music from Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, Artie Shaw & his Orchestra, Lennie Hayton & his Orchestra, Sonny Rollins, Shorty Rogers & his Giants, Frank Sinatra, Irving Aaronson & his Commanders, Roy Rogers, Dinah Shore, Manny Albam & his Orchestra, Ray Noble & his Orchestra, Lennie Hayton & his Orchestra, Leo Reisman & his Orchestra, Paul Desmond, Tommy Dorsey & his Orchestra, Leo Reisman & his Orchestra, Perez Prado & his Orchestra, and Esquivel & his Orchestra. CD