A hell of a record of Latin Jazz – recorded in the UK, but with a vibe that puts the whole thing right up there with some of the most inventive American albums of a few years before – such as Latin jazz classics by Sabu Martinez, Cal Tjader, or Eddie Palmieri! Robin Jones is the leader, and plays drums and timbales here – and the group are a tight sextet who work with no vocals at all – just flutes and saxes from Olaf Vas, a great talent who really shades in the sound – plus piano and Rhodes from Ian Henry, bass from Percy Borthwick, and percussion from Simon Morton and Tony Uter. Given the lack of other instrumentation, there's a fantastic focus on the percussion, reeds, and piano – and the whole thing's a cracker through and through, with titles that include "Africa Revisited", "Urubu", "Con Fuego", "Denga", and "Sucio Mambo". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic presentation of all that's wonderful with the mighty Daptone label – one of the hippest, funkiest record companies of the past few decades – the company that gave the world Sharon Jones, Charles Bradley, and other great artists – all of whom are heard here in an extended length live set! The package documents three nights of music at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem – home to famous live shows by James Brown – whose tight way of presenting a variety of singers is replicated here – as Daptone cycle through some of their hippest acts in the lead, offering up a few songs by each – while the mighty Dap Kings provide all the backing! There's a huge amount of songs by both Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley – plus more by Budos Band, Antibalas, Menahan Street Band, Como Mamas, Sugarman 3, Saun & Starr, and Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens – then everybody comes together to perform a version of "Family Affair" at the end! Binky Griptite acts as the MC for the evening – and the whole thing has a rock-solid sound that's every bit the best that Daptone can offer. LP, Vinyl record album

A mighty nice little package – one that's overflowing with the special sort of Latin and soul music hybrids that rose up from the Spanish Harlem scene in the late 60s – the kind of cuts that helped establish Fania Records as one of the most important Latin labels around – and one of the grooviest too! These aren't the 70s salsa tracks that Fania spread across the globe – but the more New York-styled numbers that often had English language lyrics in the lead, sung by a soulful vocalist – and set to small combo rhythms that were overflowing with energy, and plenty of touches of jazz, soul, and funk! 2LP set features great notes on this special time in Latin music – and many titles are presented in their rare 45rpm single mixes. The set comes with 26 gems that include "Geronimo" from Bobby Valentin, "Willie Baby" by Willie Colon, "Hey Girl" by 125th Street Candy Store, "Batola Boogaloo" by Bobby Quesada, "Camel Walk" by The Latinaires, "Silent Heart" by 125th Street Candy Store, "Ungawa" by Ali Baba, "Spinning Wheel" by El Apollo Sound, "Let's Get Together This Christmas" by Harvey Averne, "Some Lonely Heart" by Ronnie Marks, "Grazin In The Grass" by Orchestra Harlow, "Soul Drummers" by Ray Barretto, "Micro Mini" by Harvey Averne, "Mess Around" by Larry Harlow, "Juicy" by Monguito Santamaria, "Johnny's No Good" by WRLC, "Just A Little While" by Ralfi Pagan, "Shaft" by Joe Bataan, and "Just Try A Little Harder" by Butter Scotch. LP, Vinyl record album

A record that's as trippy as its cover – crisp modern jazz at the core, but served up in ways that often have the waves of sonic activity flowing nicely in all these criss-crossing directions – which makes for a sound that's surprisingly dense, but never too dark or murky at all! The core group features Sam Shalabi on guitar, Morgan Moore on basses, Liam O'Neill on drums, and Devin Brahja Waldman on alto, keyboards, and piano – the latter of whom has a style that shifts up throughout the performance, really keeping things interesting in terms of the palette of sounds! The alto lines are especially nice, and carve some deeply soulful lines on the set – and on one track, Janice Lowe joins the group on flute and voice, and on another, Ala Dehghan joins on voice. Titles include "Jitters", "Care", "Medicine Woman Meets Father Sky", "Apollo-gy", and "Nooo". LP, Vinyl record album

James Brown cooking it live – recorded (as the cover says) "at home in Augusta, Georgia with his bad self"! The groove here is a nice extension of earlier Apollo modes – one that shows the increasing funkiness of the James Brown Band, captured with a raw power that few other groups could match – in a style that really paves the way for the James Brown/JBs sound of the 70s – with long tracks, and some killer fast versions of some of the best funky cuts from the late King Records years! The set includes a smoking 10 minute version of "Sex Machine" –plus other groovers like "I Got the Feeling", "Mother Popcorn", "Licking Stick", and a great version of "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing". LP, Vinyl record album

A collection of cuts that's way hipper than you might expect – partly the hard rock promised in the title, but also served up in all these really weird and wild ways that more than live up to the unusual spirit of the Finnish scene of the 70s! At the time, Finland was a surprising hotbed of creative recording activity – farther reaches in jazz, inside grooves in fusion, and a strong legacy of rock groups who were really picking up the fuzz and power that UK groups had unleashed at the end of the 60s! There's plenty here that would stand perfectly right next to the headiest guitar hero groups of that generation – but there's also differences at times, too – like a cool, compressed production style that often makes for some really great sonic play overall – and heavy drums that almost get into some funky passages at points. And of course, the lyrics are all in Finnish, which makes these tracks sound even cooler than they might in English – served up on a well-chosen set list that includes "Superkingi" by Jigsaw, "Palaa" by Yellow, "Rokkilauaja Vain" by Danny, "Uskontunnustus" by Woodoo, "Pikku Nainen" by Hard Rock Sallinen, "Plastic Maailma" by Paroni Paakkunaien, "Kivistdan" by Sulo's Rock Band, "Vieras Sateesta" by Apostolit, "American Look" by Haikara, and "Hideko Tojo" by Apollo. LP, Vinyl record album

A mighty nice combination of sounds – nice and lean, recorded both live and in a home studio – then wrapped together with that special sort of magic that Ronald Langestraat brings to his albums! At the time of the date, Langestraat was playing daily in the Apollo Hotel in Amsterdam – and the music here features live cuts he recorded during those performances, which were then augmented back at home – in a mix of modes that has Ronald on both acoustic piano and plenty of Yamaha and Roland keyboards over drum machine rhythms – while also adding in some clarinet, soprano sax, and even a bit of voice in a few spots! The music isn't entirely jazz, but it's also leaner than soulful fusion too – a really personal, unique blend that's totally great – on titles that include "Music From Outer Space", "A Fast Drive Through The Universe", "Orpheus", "Worldwide Clarinet", "Space Train", and a nice take on the Boz Scaggs classic "Lowdown". LP, Vinyl record album