Amazing early work from Amanda Ambrose – recorded in a style that's easily as hip as the best live sides from Nina Simone or Roberta Flack – but years before either singer sounded this great! The style is an ultra-hip version of jazz inflected with plenty of soul – reaching back into folk and gospel roots, but fusing the sound into a leaner, cleaner groove that often has a fair bit of rhythm – kind of in the manner of Oscar Brown Jr at his best from this time. Amanda plays piano, and the rest of her group features guitar, bass, drums, and some especially great percussion that drives the best numbers along nicely! Titles include "This Can't Be Love", "Besame Mucho", "A Foggy Day", "Lullaby For Toys", "Someone To Love", and "This Little Light Of Mine". LP, Vinyl record album

Really mindblowing music from Lonnie Holley – not the first album from this important visual artist, but maybe the one where he'll be firmly established as an equally important recording force too! There's a genre-less quality going on here – as Holley provides this mystic blend of roots from jazz, gospel, blues, and even serious compositional music – yet refined into a sense that's all his own, with that deeply personal force that we love in his paintings. At times, there's almost a dreamlike quality to the way the elements progress – such that even the presence of contributors like Moor Mother or Michael Stipe seem to float into the mix of the music presented by Lonnie – woven into this complex tapestry that seems to join past and present with a view towards a more promising future. Titles include "Kindness Will Follow Your Tears", "Earth Will Be There", "I Am Part Of The Wonder", "Future Children", "None Of Us Have But A Little While", "If We Get Lost They Will Find Us", and "Better Get The Crop In Soon". CD

Really mindblowing music from Lonnie Holley – not the first album from this important visual artist, but maybe the one where he'll be firmly established as an equally important recording force too! There's a genre-less quality going on here – as Holley provides this mystic blend of roots from jazz, gospel, blues, and even serious compositional music – yet refined into a sense that's all his own, with that deeply personal force that we love in his paintings. At times, there's almost a dreamlike quality to the way the elements progress – such that even the presence of contributors like Moor Mother or Michael Stipe seem to float into the mix of the music presented by Lonnie – woven into this complex tapestry that seems to join past and present with a view towards a more promising future. Titles include "Kindness Will Follow Your Tears", "Earth Will Be There", "I Am Part Of The Wonder", "Future Children", "None Of Us Have But A Little While", "If We Get Lost They Will Find Us", and "Better Get The Crop In Soon". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal work from one of the hippest jazz singers ever – a session that showed the world that Eddie Jefferson was firmly back in business during the 60s! The set's got a really rollicking feel, and a bit more influence from soul than the bop of Eddie's roots – with elements of gospel and R&B filtering into the mix from time to time, alongside some of the more sophisticated jazz styles we've always loved in Jefferson's vocals. The group features some great tenor work from James Moody – one of Eddie's frequent musical partners – plus Dave Burns on trumpet, Barry Harris on piano, Steve Davis on bass, and Bill English on drums. Titles include "Now's The Time", "So What", "Psychedelic Sally", "Filthy McNasty", "Oh Gee", and "See If You Can Git To That" – plus a very cool spoken introduction by Ed Williams! CD

Seminal work from one of the hippest jazz singers ever – a session that showed the world that Eddie Jefferson was firmly back in business during the 60s! The set's got a really rollicking feel, and a bit more influence from soul than the bop of Eddie's roots – with elements of gospel and R&B filtering into the mix from time to time, alongside some of the more sophisticated jazz styles we've always loved in Jefferson's vocals. The group features some great tenor work from James Moody – one of Eddie's frequent musical partners – plus Dave Burns on trumpet, Barry Harris on piano, Steve Davis on bass, and Bill English on drums. Titles include "Now's The Time", "So What", "Psychedelic Sally", "Filthy McNasty", "Oh Gee", and "See If You Can Git To That" – plus a very cool spoken introduction by Ed Williams! LP, Vinyl record album

Quite an unusual album for Dionne Warwick – a late 60s effort that has her returning to her gospel roots, and singing with backing from The Drinkard Sisters – a group originally founded by Dionne's mother, and which featured a young Cissy Houston! The sound here isn't as strictly gospel as you might expect – and in a way, it's almost an exploration of some of the more spiritual themes that echoed on some of Dionne's earlier hits written by Burt Bacharach – those slow-building and soulful moments that were themselves a reflection of Warwick's earlier roots. The arrangements aren't credited here, but they're also not as "churchy" as you might expect – and still have some of the sophistication of Bacharach backings from previous albums. Titles include "Somebody Bigger Than You & I", "The Magic Of Believing", "Steal Away", "Grace", and "In The Garden". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album