Includes work with the orchestras of Red Norvo, Eddie Sauter, Teddy Wilson, and Benny Goodman. LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent 60s collection of early Ellington material – presented here with great notes too! LP, Vinyl record album

A set that brings together the famous Charlie Parker performance on one of Verve's Jam Session albums in the early 50s – with other material too! Parker plays alto alongside Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges – in a group that also includes Ben Webster on tenor, Oscar Peterson on piano, and Barney Kessel on guitar – on a long "Ballad Medley", plus "Jam Blues", "Funky Blues", and "What Is This Thing Called Love". Also features a sextet with Flip Philips on tenor and Charlie Shavers on trumpet – on Blues For The Midgets", "Cottontail", and "If I Had You" – plus a quintet with Benny Carter, Oscar Peterson, and Buddy Rich – on "I Got It Bad", "Long Ago & Far Away", and "I've Got The World On A String". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Fine And Dandy", "Emaline", "Limehouse Blues", "I've Got The World On A String", "What Is This Thing Called Love", "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The moment when the group were really starting to ascend to greatness – with titles that include "Yours Is No Disgrace", "Starship Trooper", "I've Seen All Good People", and "Perpetual Change". LP, Vinyl record album

That's MISTER Rock Steady to you! Ken sings a sweet batch of Jamaican soul tunes in this classic album cut for Clement Dodd – with titles that include "Puppet On A String", "My Heart Is Gone", "Home Home Home", "Give Me Back My Heart", "Give Me The Right", "The Girl I Left Behind", and "Rock Steady". LP, Vinyl record album

Landmark stuff – a killer session of funky guitar jazz, and the record that gave Ivan "Boogaloo" Joe Jones his nickname! The set's a full-on wailer that really blows away Joe's first two on Prestige – breaking out ouf the box with a killer lineup that includes Rusty Bryant on tenor, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Sonny Phillips on organ – all working with Joe's incredibly tight guitar lines to craft some wicked tunes that take soul jazz firmly into the sound of the 70s! Titles include "Boogaloo Joe", "People Are Talking", "Dream On Little Dreamer", and "Atlantic City Soul". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet set of funky large group work, with some great rock touches as well! Every bit as funky and over the top as some of the best projects of this nature coming out of the UK – and the drums are especially nice, with lots of great bottom-end sounds that almost give the record an Axelrod vibe! LP, Vinyl record album

Despite the fact that he's one of the most influential jazz singers of all time (and certainly one with the biggest hit, as the original recording of "I'm In the Mood For Love" probably sold more copies than most other vocalese recordings combined), King Pleasure only ever cut three full albums – and this third one is the hardest to find! The album was recorded for United Artists during the time when Alan Douglas was cutting sides for the label, and it's very much in the same mode as his earlier recordings for Prestige and HiFi, apart from some occasional spare string backing that's added to the small group jazz playing. Pleasure's vocals are wonderful – incomparable, and right at the peak of vocalese sublimity – and the album's filled with great numbers like "That Old Black Magic (Diaper Pin)", "This Is Always", "Jazz Jump", "Don't Get Scared", "Swan Blues", and "Mean To Me", all completely transformed by Pleasure! LP, Vinyl record album

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A strange little late record from Sun Ra – transpose Hours After to After Hours, and you'll get a good idea of the feel of this one – late night, soulful and bluesy, with a sound that's in keeping with the traditionalism of the late Arkestra! The group's an all-star one – Pat Patrick, Danny Thompson, Marshall Allen, and John Gilmore – and Ra sings a bit on the session. Side B of the session steps out a bit more from the first side – which is the more traditional one – and Ra plays a bit of synthesizer, in a 70s avant kind of mode. Titles include "Dance Of The Extra Terrestrians", "Love On A Far Away Planet", "Hours After", and "Beautiful Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Smoking salsa from one of its greatest proponents in the 70s – the crowd-pleasing Ricardo Ray & Bobby Cruz ensemble, heard here at the height of their powers! Tracks here are mostly tight and lively – arranged by Ray and Cruz with help from Russel Farnsworth – but a few numbers also move into mellower modes too, and have Bobby's vocals taking on mainstream hits "My Way", "Soul & Inspiration", and "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" – but in a very different way than such hits might have been handled during the late 60s Latin Soul years. The approach here is more boundary-less – kind of a "hey, all music can be ours" sort of approach – and Bobby and Ricardo really move past simple boogaloo-ification of soul tracks into the more expansive territory that was their right. Other titles include "Aguzate", "Guaguanco Raro", "Traigo De Todo", and "Amparo Arrebato". LP, Vinyl record album

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A rare later date from tenor giant Arnett Cobb – and one of the few to match the groove of his Prestige Records sessions! There's an easygoing groove here that takes us back to the brilliantly understated soul of Cobb's Party Time Records – as the set's got a similar laidback rhythm vibe – with piano from Junior Mance, bass from George Duvivier, and drums from Panama Francis – all players who really keep things cool, while Cobb steps out with some well-blown solos in the lead. The album also features a bit of guest work on two tracks from Joe Newman on trumpet and Al Grey on trombone – and titles include "Cheatin On Me", "Blues For Lisette", "Keep On Pushin", "Stardust", and "Deep River". LP, Vinyl record album

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An amazing record, and one that forever transformed the sound of opera in the US – the amazing summation of all the many musical ideas that Philip Glass had been cooking up since the 60s, done as a mindblowing stage presentation with Robert Wilson! Voices, organ, reeds, and piano come together in wonderful lines that go on and on, seemingly forever, in endless variations and rivulets of sound – as simple in structure as the leaner small combo minimalist work from Glass – but with a very different style in the fuller setting, with a sonic quality that still is as groundbreaking today as it was back in the 70s! LP, Vinyl record album

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The follow up to the "Back In Black" album, with "Let's Get It Up" and the title track! LP, Vinyl record album

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Tracks include "U Can Do (Life)", "My Writes", "Oooh", "Thru Ya City", "IC Y'all", "View", "Set The Mood", "All Good?", "Declaration", "Squat!", "Words From The Chief Rocker", "With Me", "Copa (Cabanga)", "Foolin", "The Art Of Getting Jumped", and "U Don't Wanna BDS"! LP, Vinyl record album

Good ol' Chicago hip hop from the All Natural camp. Tracks include "Wildstyle" by Iomos Marad, "Talented Tenth" by Mr. Greenweedz & Spotlite, "Paragon" and Flavor" by Daily Plannet, Candy Store" by Bam-Ski The Bigot, "No Doubt" by All Natural, and "Mr. Greenweedz". The second LP is all instrumentals. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most successful albums ever from guitarist Eric Gale – a laidback understated player whose mellow sound had a tremendous influence on mainstream jazz funk in the 70s! The album takes off from the late 60s CTI and Verve sessions by Wes Montgomery – and features Gale riffing out chromatically over tightly woven arrangements by Bob James, who also plays keyboards on the set. There's no standout funky numbers on the record, but it's got a great conception overall – with lots of dreamy grooves that sound very nice! Titles include "Forecast", "Tonsue Corte", "White Moth", "Cleopatra", and "Dindi". LP, Vinyl record album

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A stone 70s classic from the Isley Brothers – a set recorded right at the height of their glory days – at a time when their sound was completely on the money! The cover has the group on stage – a photo taken during their run of arena concerts at the time – but the album's a studio effort throughout, and really shows the group's increasing understanding of the way the right production would bring out all the best elements in both their instrumentation and vocals! In fact, although the groovers are great, the group are maybe at their height with the impeccable production on two ballads – the sublime "Voyage To Atlantis" and "Footsteps In The Dark" – served up alongside the midtempo tune "Tell Me When You Need It Again", another great track that almost has the same power as the other two. But the whole thing's great – in the best Isley Brothers 70s way – and tracks include "Climbin Up The Ladder", "The Pride", and "Go For Your Guns". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that's sometimes overlooked in the career of the legendary Eartha Kitt – a set that came out on MGM in the early 60s, after Kitt's initial rise to fame on RCA, and before taking off for a long stretch overseas! The set hints at the sound of that era a bit – and arrangements by Billy May and Bill Loose have this gently sophisticated style that fits the growing sophistication in Kitt's phrasing as she really develops her style. Songs follow the themes of her famous work – and titles include "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend", "Good Little Girls", "Never On Sunday", "Always True To You In My Fashion", "La Dolce Vita", "All I Want Is All There Is & Then Some", and "It's So Nice To Have A Man Around The House". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly the best of the solo Phil Manzanera projects – a wonderfully tight album that's surprisingly soulful and funky at times! Phil gets some great studio help from Eno and Godley & Creme – the latter two of who can really be felt on the record's well-penned lyrical numbers – sung by Simon Ainley with these great compressed vocals! LP, Vinyl record album

A nice collection of tracks from some of John Martyn's best albums! Titles include "May You Never", "Bless The Weather", "Over The Hill", "Solid Air", "I'd Rather Be With The Devil", and "Spencer The Rover". LP, Vinyl record album

An important early recording from Sheffield Labs – with work by Joanne Grauer on electric piano, Al Casey on guitar, Plas Johnson on tenor, and Victor Feldman on percussion! LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic set from The Monkees – maybe the record that really had them coming together and finding that special groove that was all their own! The set features their completely sublime "Pleasant Valley Sunday" – but also has this great range of unusual material that seems to let everyone get some great space in the spotlight, while also hinting at trippier inclinations too – on other cuts that include "Love Is Only Sleeping", "She Hangs Out", "Cuddly Toy", "Hard To Believe", "What Am I Doing Hangin Round", "Star Collector", "Salesman", "Star Collector", and the completely bizarre "Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic big band work from Luiz Arruda Paes – one of Brazil's most captivating orchestra leaders in the 60s, and an artist who really kept pace with some of the changes going on in his country's music. This record is most famous for Paes' incredible reading of Edu Lobo's "Upa Neguinho", done in a rolling rumbling style that's been made famous as a jazz dance classic over the years. Lots of other stuff on the LP is every bit as great – and tunes include "Ole Ola", "Sonho De Um Carnaval", "A Banda", and "No Rancho Fundo". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet groover from Don Randi – one of his great 70s sides with the Baked Potato group, and a combination of soulful piano jazz and added percussion – a slightly Latinized approach that makes for some great skipping grooves, almost like Monty Alexander's best work from the time. Tracks include "Leah Rose" and "Tubesteak" – both of which are originals, and very nice groovers. Also features versions of "Mercy Mercy", "Samba De Orfeo", "2001", and "I Found Gold". LP, Vinyl record album

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A beautiful portrait of the later Jack Teagarden – that musician who'd matured wonderfully with age, and really brought the best of that experience to bear on his records like this! Jack sings on a handful of tracks, but really spends much of the record on trombone – blown with a style that's quite illuminating, if you only know his more famous earlier material – occasionally with modern currents, in a way that's a bit like Pee Wee Russell when he had his late-life revival too! The album's got a wonderfully understated feel on most numbers – never trying to oversell the listener on Teagarden's charms, even though they're quite abundant – and titles include "Portrait Of Mr T", "Just Friends", "In The Dark", "Handful Of Keys", "Keepin Out Of Mischief Now", and "I Can't Get Started". LP, Vinyl record album