A very dark set of vocals from Japanese singer Yoshiko Goto – quite different than most of the more standard jazz sessions of the 70s, and one that's recorded with a great sense of space and presence! Many of the numbers here follow the Three Blind Mice mode of instrumentation – using the elements sparingly and often in groupings that are less traditional than usual. Although the group here features alto sax, piano, bass, and drums – they don't always move together at once, leaving lots of space for Yoshiko's vocals to slide out with a moody and sad-tinged feel. Titles include "Angel Eyes", "I Got It Bad", "Jesse", "Everytime We Say Goodbye", and "Day Dream". CD

Mellow vocals from the lovely Ayako Hosokawa – one of Japan's greatest jazz vocalists of the 70s, singing here in a warm and intimate setting. Ayako sings in English, mostly American standards plus a few pop numbers – and the backing for the set includes keyboards, tenor, guitar, and strings – flowing out in the best mellow style of the Three Blind Mice label of the time. The real standout cut is Ayako's great reading of "Feel Like Making Love" – worth the price of the album alone for its dope 70s groove – and other cuts include "When You Smile", "The Lady Is A Tramp", "Misty", "Mr Wonderful", and "The Lady Is A Tramp". CD

A record that's far more beautiful than you'd guess from the "carcass" in the title – a strong set of vocal work from singer Kimiko Kasai – easily one of the hippest Japanese singers of the 70s! Although Kasai's sometimes straight on the album, she also stretches out in freer, more expressive modes – at a level that's quite similar to some of the more experimental modes used by Karin Krog during the same period – although with a slightly unique feel as well. Backings are from the quartet of reedman Kosuke Mine – whose lines on soprano and alto sax are almost worth the price of the album alone – and all tracks are long, with titles that include "Be Still My Soul", "Round Midnight", "Yellow Carcass In The Blue", "Alone Together", "River Dry", and "Blues In C Minor". CD

A real swinger of a record – one that features vocals and conga work by Koji Moriyama, with backing by the piano trio of Tsuyoshi Yamamoto! Given that Yamamoto's style is usually a bit more spare and laidback, it's nice to hear him grooving in a setting like this – as Moriyama's a hiply swinging vocalist, with a style that's clearly influenced by earlier work by Bobby Troup or Jackie Paris – never too over the top, but cool enough to swing in all the right spots! Vocals are in English, slightly accented, and titles include "For Once In My Life", "Night & Day", "The More I See You", "There'll Never Be Another You", and "Bye Bye Blackbird". (Jazz, Vocalists) CD

Mari Nakamoto is a jazz singer with a wonderful sense of tone – a musicality in her voice that comes through on the first few notes of the record, then continues throughout as she transforms familiar tunes with that special sort of magic that marks a rare breed of jazz vocalist! Nakamoto really understands the tunes, and clearly sees her voice as much as an instrument as just the conveyor of lyrics – very much in a Sarah Vaughan sort of school, although Mari's certainly got her own sense of phrasing too. Instrumentation includes lots of great touches that bring out the best in her voice – including vibes from Kazuhiro Matsushi, and guitar from Shoji Yokouchi – on titles that include "Love For Sale", "On A Clear Day", "Day By Day", "On Green Dolphin Street", and "No Moon At All". CD

A very cool setting for Japanese vocalist Mari Nakamoto – a unique trio outing that features guitar from Kazumi Watanabe and bass from Isao Suzuki – both really creative players who push the album way past the usual! The mix of guitar and bass is wonderful – gentle, but still quite swinging even in the mellow moments – but in ways that leave plenty of space for Nakamoto to get really expressive on her vocals, at a level that definitely marks her as one of the best female jazz singers in Japan during the 70s. Tunes are mostly standards, but done in really fresh ways – and titles include "Sunflower", "Just Friends", "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", "You Came A Long Way From St Louis", and "What A Difference A Day Makes". CD

Warmly wonderful work from singer Mari Nakamoto – perfectly recorded in a warm Three Blind Mice manner that really suits her style! As with some of the other records on the label at the time, the vibe here is a bit laidback – but in a great way, which lets Mari slink forward in the lead, often with some nicely soulful currents – amidst guitar lines from Shoji Yokouchi, and some occasional organ from Yuri Tashiro – balanced out nicely with some lean work on bass and drums. Titles include a great take on "Bag's Groove" – plus "Song For You", "Black Coffee", "Dreamsville", "I Wanna Be Around", and "Good Morning Heartache" – all done in nicely laidback, open takes! CD

Shigeko Toya looks mighty righteous on the cover – and she sounds mighty righteous on the record, too – working both as a pianist and a singer, and with a quality that's very different than most other Japanese vocalists of the time! The tracks are long, and often drenched in deeply soulful currents – both from the piano, and from the excellent work on bass from Takashi Mizuhashi – as Toya takes on a host of American classics, singing with unusual inflections that really fit the way she vocalizes the tunes – almost some sort of late 60s Bay Area hybrid of blues and jazz with some Fillmore influences – although the set itself is mostly acoustic, and definitely jazz all the way through. Other players include Akitoshi Igarashi on alto, Masayuki Takayanagi on guitars, and Masaru Imada on piano too – on titles that include "Fine & Mellow", "Unchain My Heart", "Body & Soul", "Willow Weep For Me", "Angel Eyes", and "The Very Thought Of You". CD

A really great vocal session from 70s Japan – and one that's got a much more spiritual sound at times than some of the others from the scene! Pianist Shigeko Toya has a way of really taking her time with the tunes – finding the right sort of vibe, then opening things up carefully – as singer Mari Nakamoto comes into the mix once the sound is right – using these very different inflections that are almost in some of the more expressively experimental modes of the European female vocal scene of the time. There's some standards on the set, but even these are given very different readings – and titles include "Greensleeves", "The Blues Ain't Nothin", "Hey There", "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", and "That Lucky Old Sun". (Jazz, Vocalists) CD

A split session of material – both sides recorded during the same concert in Yokohama, but with one side of instrumental work, and one side of vocals! Pianist Masaru Imada starts things out with three really beautiful original tunes – pieces that blend together some modal rhythms with some of the freer energy that he and his Japanese scene were opening up at the time – not avant modes, by wonderfully lyrical progressions that are urged on here by work from Isoo Fukui on bass and Tetsujiro Obara on drums! Both players continue on the vocal tracks, which have singer Shigeko Toya in the lead – and the quartet are also joined by Kenji Mori on alto on two tracks too. Instrumental tunes include "Ascent", "On The Green Pavement", and "Shadows In Spring" – and vocal numbers include "Call Me Irresponsible", "I'll Be Seeing You", "Fine & Mellow", and "Willow Weep For Me". CD

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