A legendary album – and for good reason too – a set that's as mysterious as it is funky, and a record that's stayed at the top of our crates for years! The album features a really unusual collective of musicians, pulled together under the guidance of producer Paul Winley – a group that features George Benson on guitar, Dave Baby Cortez on organ, Willis Jackson on tenor sax, and Earl Williams on some massively funky drums! The music's a mix of funky jazz and gritty soul – put together with some really weird studio touches – including an uncredited male voice that comes in and out of the tracks, bad-rapping along with some very hip commentary. Ann Winley sings the female vocals on the set – often egged on by the dude – but the real charm of the record lies at the bottom – the wicked drums, funky basslines, and choppy instrumental bits that have gotten the set sampled plenty over the years. Titles include the classic "Smokin Cheeba Cheeba" alone, the groovy "Finger In It", a great breakbeat version of "Ain't No Sunshine" with a tenor solo by Willis Jackson, and the slow bluesy talking cut "Fed Up", a baaaad rap about a couple splitting up – done here in both vocal and instrumental versions. CD

Fantastic new music from Detroit reedman Wendell Harrison – working here with a renewed version of the Tribe Records scene, at a level that makes the album one of his best in many years! Wendell blows tenor and bass clarinet, and his group here is mostly younger, lesser-known players – but who soar with Harrison in a mix of spiritual jazz modes and a few more rhythmic currents – all with the kind of powerful, progressive vibe that made the Tribe Records material of Harrison and his contemporaries so important in the 70s! Other musicians include Vincent Chandler on trombone, Steve Woods on flute, Luis Resto on piano, Walter White on trumpet, and Jacob Schwantz on guitar – although players shift often from track to track – and frequent Harrison partner Pamela Wise also provides a bit of keyboards, and the set features both sung vocals on two tracks from Pathe Jassi, and a recitation from Mbiyu Chui on another. Titles include "Revoltuion", "Siera", "Wandering Thoughts", "Samoulen Khale Yi", "What's Up", and "Saga Of A Carrot". CD

Some of our favorite work ever from the mighty Lee Hazlewood – material recorded under his own name for Reprise Records – during a stretch when he was also producing for the label with Nancy Sinatra and Dean Martin! The 2CD set features 3 full albums, plus great bonus tracks too – and the assembled lot is as great of a tribute to Hazlewood's genius as we've ever seen! First up is The NSVIPs – a set that follows up the same sort of "story song" format that Lee laid down on his wonderful Trouble album for Mercury – but done here with themes that are a bit hipper, and more wry – in keeping with his Reprise persona. Next is Friday's Child, which has some of Hazlewood's most beautifully-penned tunes – tracks that mix the whimsy of his bigger hits with some great darker elements. Last up is the amazing Love & Other Crimes – one of our favorite albums of the 60s, magically recorded in Paris with a very unique sound – and a style that's a bit different than some of Hazlewood's other records. Titles include "First Street Blues", "I Had A Friend", "Everybody Calls Me Something", "Me & Charlie", "A Real Live Fool", "Hutchinson Jail", "By The Way", "Houston", "Morning Dew", "The House Song", "Love & Other Crimes", "Pour Man", and "Wait & See". Bonus tracks are great too – and include Hazlewood tracks "Ode To Billie Joe", "Rainbow Woman", "I Am You Are", and "Charlie Bill Nelson" – plus other gems that include "Just Bluesin" and "Houston" by Sanford Clark, "A Stranger In Town" by The Vanguards, "The Whisk" by The Whisk Kids, "Zapata" by Jack Nitzsche, "What Are We Gonna Do In 64" by The Wildcats, "Our Man Flint" by The Ring A Dings, and "This Town" by Duane Eddy. 55 tracks in all. CD

Jonas Hellborg on bass, Shawn Lane on guitar, and V Selvaganesh on kanjira, udu and vocals. CD

A killer bit of Southern modern soul from Ron Henderson – a tune that's got this easy-stepping vibe that's totally great, and slides into a warmly seductive vocal from Ron! The tune's laidback, but tight – and there's a nice edge that's so different than commercial soul of the time – this wonderful quality that sounds equally wonderful in the alternate vocal version of the tune! 7-inch, Vinyl record

John Hicks works in some really wonderful company here – a trio with bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Idris Muhammad – both of whom really add a lot to the date! We're always big fans of Lundy's sound on bass – and his approach here has the same warm-rolling quality you'd find in his own best 80s work – really helping to push Hicks' lyrical agenda on the piano with a rhythmic support that's tremendous. Muhammad's pretty great too – definitely on the understated side of his talents, that nicely subtle sound he developed in the 80s – and Hicks, as always, is more than a cut above most of his contemporaries, and continues a long legacy of extremely soulful work on the keys of the piano. Titles include "Pas De Trois", "Hold It Down", "Airegin", "Coral Keys", "Ted's Delight", and "Blue In Green". LP, Vinyl record album

Pianist John Hicks at his lyrical best – stretching out here on really lovely, long tracks that were recorded in Tokyo with a really superb sound! There's an undercurrent of spiritual energy here that really recalls Hicks' classic 70s album on the Strata East label – and even without bass or drums, he's got this inherently rhythmic quality that's wonderful – and which only seems to encourage the magical flow of ideas from his fingers on the keys! Hicks has sounded great before on record, but this set is definitely a demonstration of the pianist at his best – full of imagination and focused emotion – on titles that include "After The Morning", "What Am I Here For", "Meditation", "Naima", "Talking", "Pensativa", "Steadfast", and "Avotcja". CD

Missouri State Duck Calling Champion. 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Great experimental work from Holger Hiller – a set that was issued on the important German new wave label Ata Tak, but which was maybe even more revolutionary than most other records on the imprint at the time! Hiller bridges so many different worlds here – earlier German electronic experimentation at an academic level, some of the spacier sounds of the prog generation, and the really creative exploration of earlier ideas in a more personal level that marked the new wave of the post-punk years – using some elements here that would be right at home on a cold wave recording, but with modes that are sometimes more playful, and almost in territory that Holger Czukay would explore on some of his solo work of the decade. The mix of keyboards, vocals, and analog elements is great – and titles include "Jonny", "Hosen Die Nicht Aneinander Passen", "Mutter Der Frohlichkeit", "Das Feuer", "Ein Hoch Auf Das Bugeln", and "Budapest Bukarest". CD

Great experimental work from Holger Hiller – a set that was issued on the important German new wave label Ata Tak, but which was maybe even more revolutionary than most other records on the imprint at the time! Hiller bridges so many different worlds here – earlier German electronic experimentation at an academic level, some of the spacier sounds of the prog generation, and the really creative exploration of earlier ideas in a more personal level that marked the new wave of the post-punk years – using some elements here that would be right at home on a cold wave recording, but with modes that are sometimes more playful, and almost in territory that Holger Czukay would explore on some of his solo work of the decade. The mix of keyboards, vocals, and analog elements is great – and titles include "Jonny", "Hosen Die Nicht Aneinander Passen", "Mutter Der Frohlichkeit", "Das Feuer", "Ein Hoch Auf Das Bugeln", and "Budapest Bukarest". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest early 70s recordings from Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino – a richly organic session that builds from spare trumpet and percussion, into a fuller, more spiritual sound! Hino starts out the set working in almost Don Cherry territory – blowing alongside some slight accompaniment on percussion, bells, and drums in an earthy, introspective mode – before a larger group moves in to sweep up his horn, and push the album with a tremendously soulful spirit. The mix of styles gives the record a wonderful depth – one that's sometimes missing in Hino's other work, but which makes this set a real standout from the time. Other players include Hidehumi Toki on sax, Motohiko Hino on drums, and Hideo Miyata on alto and flute – and titles include "Oriental Dance", "Thanks Toko", "Reve Provencale", and "Open Vision". LP, Vinyl record album

With a name like Home Boy & The Cost Of Living, it's gotta be the 80s – as just a quick listen to this set will attest! The rhythms are heavy in basslines and drum machine modes – with lots of sweet styles that are somewhere between electro/street soul, and a mellower boogie bounce on some of the groovers – almost that criss-crossing of modes that often went on in the old school hip hop years! Homeboy handles lead vocals and riffing guitar – and titles include "You Turn Me Out", "When Will You Be Mine", "Pleasure", "I Saw You Dancing", "Happy Feeling", and "Money's Funny Change Is Strange". CD also features the bonus track "Love Connection (long version)". CD

Really great early work from guitarist Earl Hooker – and a set that also feature some soulful sides by Jody Williams too! The bulk of the album features Hooker laying down that amazing guitar sound that always made him so distinct, and such a key precursor to funk as well – working in combos with organ and piano from Big Moose, tenor from AC Reed, and more piano from Pinetop Perkins – on titles that include "How Long Can This Go On", "Bright Sounds", "Off The Hook", "Nothing But Poison", "Nothing But Good", and "Leading Brand" – plus cuts with vocals from Ricky Allen and Lillian Offitt. Jody Williams plays guitar, but he also sings too – and brings a nicely soulful vibe to tunes that include "You May", "Hideout", "Morning For Molasses", "Looking For My Baby", and "Lucky You". CD

About as classic as you can get for the legendary John Lee Hooker – a set of recordings from his early postwar years that perfectly define the special touch and electric genius of his music! The sound here is often as spare as rural acoustic blues from years back – but Hooker's using an electric instrument with a nice current of fuzz, which almost acts like a louder, fuller chorus behind his vocals – often hinting at feedback possibilities, which creates this hypnotic quality to the music – whether or not John's grooving high, or stepping low! And the vocals are something equally wonderful, too – sung and hum at the same time, in that classic Hooker way – again a huge influence on so many others to come. Japanese CD features 24 tracks in all! CD

A sweet little record from this Japanese trio – all instrumental, and put together in a style that blends elements of electro pop, electric fusion, and maybe a bit of sound library funk! The tunes are all pretty vivid – maybe evoking the scene in the title – but they also have elements that tie them more strongly to the emerging electronic groove coming from the Japanese scene at the end of the 70s – almost as if you were stripping away vocals, and coming up with spare tracks that are heavy on keyboards and other eletric touches. Titles are all in Japanese – but translate as "Aegean Fantasy", "Rose Between The Waves", "Image", "Daybreak", "Aphrodite's Mourning", and "Mykonos' Bride". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost album from the legendary Stax Records – a full set of tracks from the deep soul group Hot Sauce – planned as a record of its own in the final years of the label, but never issued at the time! Hot Sauce were one of the funkiest groups on Stax in the early 70s – a wickedly badass group who sported great lead vocals from Rhonda Washington – a singer who really knew how to stay on the groove and send the whole thing home! The work on this set is a great evolution of the Stax groove – and shows where the label might have gone in terms of 70s funk, had they stayed the course – and although the album's long overdue to get released, we're plenty happy to finally have it out after all these years. Many tracks were issued over the years as singles, and the set also features a few tracks not intended for the album too – titles that include "Stop Dogging Me", "Funny", "Mama's Baby", "I'll Kill A Brick", "Good Woman Turning Bad", "I Can't Let You Go", "Echoes From The Past", and "I Can't Win For Losing". CD

Fiercely funky Freddie Hubbard – a late 70s live date, but one that has the same bold power as his early 70s albums for CTI! Like those classics, the tracks here are all quite long – and served up in this beautifully flowing mix of acoustic and electric elements – Freddie on trumpet, Hadley Caliman on tenor and flute, Billy Child on piano and keyboards, Larry Klein on bass, and Carl Burnett – a group that works together so beautifully in the live environment, you'd think their performance was the process of multiple takes! We love the spiritual energy that Hubbard can get in such a setting – and most of the record stretches out with very long tracks, including two that go past the 20 minute mark. Titles include "Take It To The Ozone", "Little Sunflower", "One Of A Kind", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Blues For Duane", and "Love Connection". CD

A collection of some of vocalist Humes best known songs from the 1940s and early 1950s. Tracks include "Fortune Tellin Man", "Central Avenue Boogie", "Pleasing Man Blues", "Airplane Blues", "Loud Talkin Woman", "You Played On My Piano", "Helen's Advice", and "They Raided The Joint". 13 songs in all. LP, Vinyl record album

A really inventive album from the key years of the British psych scene – and a set that goes way beyond even the important experiments of the bigger names of the time! Clark Hutchinson is just a duo – Mick Hutchinson on guitars, piano, and lots of percussion – and Andy Clark on keyboards, saxes, and flute – both members of the group Sam Gopal's Dream, stepping out here on a series of long tracks that draw from jazz, Indian music, and other global styles! The titles hint at a lot of improvisation – but in a style that's more proggish than free jazz and it's clear that budding studio modes were used to nicely layer the performances by both musicians, for an even fuller sound. Titles include "Improvisation On A Modal Scale", "Textures In 3/4", "Improvisation On An Indian Scale", and "Acapulco Gold". 2CD version features lots of bonus tracks – including "Summer Seemed Longer", "Can't Carry On", "Seymour's Boogie", "Crow Jane", "Bad Loser", and "Someone's Been At My Woman". CD

A trio of later gems from this legendary South African pianist! Mindif is a great set that features Abdullah Ibrahim's soundtrack music for the 1988 Clair Denis film Chocolat – some of his best group recordings of the 80s! The feel here is a bit more African-styled than usual – even for Ibrahim – with strong use of reeds to inflect the tunes with the right degree of color and tone for their use in the film. The ensemble on the record features Ricky Ford on tenor and soprano, Craig Handy on flute and tenor, Benny Powell on trombone, David Williams on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and the tracks have a languid groove that recalls some of Dollar Brand's best South African recordings with Kippie Moketsie. Titles include "Earth Bird", "African Market", "Pule", "Star Dance", and "Serenity". African River is one of the great larger group recordings that pianist Abdullah Ibrahim gave us in the 80s – from a moment when he was able to use added horns to really expand that amazing sense of color and rhythm he'd brought to his music on earlier trio recordings! There's a sense of musical vision here that really lives up to Abdullah's majestic look on the cover – a fantastic merging of flute and tenor from John Stubblefield, soprano and alto from Horace Alexander Young, tuba and baritone from Howard Johnson, and trombone from Robin Eubanks – all vibrant horn players who seem to have just about every tone and mood covered with their horns – given this wonderfully warm support from Buster Williams on bass, and Brian Adams on drums. All titles are originals by the leader – and tunes include "Chisa", "Sweet Samba", "Duke 88", "The Wedding", and "Joan Capetown Flower". Yarona is a beautifully sensitive set from Abdullah Ibrahim – recorded live at the Village Vanguard, and with an open, lyrical sound that almost seems to recall some of Bill Evans' magical moments in the venue! Ibrahim's quite a different player, of course – but there's an open, exploratory quality to his music that's a bit unusual here – maybe not as rhythmically based as it is balanced between sound and silence – given very respectful company in the bass of Marcus McLaurine and drums of George Johnson. Titles include "Cherry/Mannenberg", "Duke 88", "African River", "Stardance", "Tuang Guru", "Tintinyana", and "African Marketplace". CD