Seminal 70s work from one of the most righteous jazz musicians ever! On this set, Alice Coltrane moves past the rawer spiritual sound of her Impulse albums – working with a more focused vision and an approach to jazz that takes her way past the identity of just being "Mrs Coltrane", into territory that's a more perfect expression of her spiritual vision. The approach calls for more ambitious orchestrations, yet never in a way that overwhelms the jazz basis of the music – and Alice herself is on Fender Rhodes, organ, and harp – working with players who include Fred Jackson and Hubert Laws on reeds, Oscar Brashear on trumpet, George Bohannon on trombone, Charlie Haden on bass, Ben Riley on drums, and Armando Peraza on congas. Titles include "Spiritual Eternal", "Om Supreme", "Morning Workshop", "Wisdom Eye", and "Los Caballos". LP, Vinyl record album

The fantastic third album from Common – the record that really catapulted him on his way to stardom, yet a set that still retains all the best aspects of his early days in Chicago! Part of that quality comes from the superb production of No ID, who gets a bit of local help from Dug Infinite and Twilite Tone – all talents who have that special, sophisticated vibe that was really starting to flow from Chicago out to the rest of the world – and which here is perfect for the well-crafted lyrics from Common! The balance is great – never too hard or heavy, yet also not trying to ape either a west coast quirky or New York native tongues approach. This time around, there's also plenty of guests on board, of the sort that Common would soon be rubbing shoulders with on a regular basis – a lineup that includes The Roots, Q-Tip, Erykah Badu, Canibus, Black Thought, Lauryn Hill, and De La Soul. Yet throughout, the vibe is Common's and Chicago's – something that's always made us very proud to be from the same scene at the same time. Titles include "1 2 Many", "Reminding Me Of Sef", "Invocation", "Stolen Moments", "My City", "Real Nigga Quotes", and "Retrospect For Life". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album – one that has the Fania All-Stars playing in a Latin club style that greatly influenced dance music for years to come! The title "Cross-Over" might make you think of this one as a sell-out attempt, but it's not – it's a brilliant effort by the New York Latin scene to reach a much larger audience, and at the time, it really really worked! The album's actually got a surprisingly strong jazz basis to a lot of the playing – mixed with soul, disco, and funk influences that helped make this one a big album in the crates of plenty of non-Latin listeners. Features work by Eric Gale, Ruben Blades, Louie Ramirez, and Johnny Pacheco – and includes the cuts "You Want It You Got It", "Brazilian Paradise", "What A Big Thing", "Los Bravos", and "Prepara". LP, Vinyl record album

A triple-action classic from alto genius Jackie McLean – and one of those key records from the years when he stunned the world by moving from hardbop into the more experimental modes of the "new thing" generation! The approach here is very formative – not just for some of Jackie's spiritual expressions in the 70s, but also for the way that more creative jazz moved forward in years to come – as McLean is working alongside key players who include Charles Tolliver on trumpet, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Cecil McBee on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums! Higgins' lyrical playing is a perfect complement to the more avant tones of the others – giving the album a free dancing soul, but also never letting things get too out of hand to lose the jazz basis of McLean's best work. The album includes an early recording of Tolliver's classic tune "Plight", plus the tracks "Wrong Handle", "Action", and "Hootnan". LP, Vinyl record album

A slightly warmer sound than before from OMD – an album of well put together pop tunes that still hold true to the simple basis of their roots! At this point, the group's really got their sound down wonderfully – and they've also learned how to write slightly better pop hooks than before – still edgey and a bit dark, but also the kind of tunes that make you say "hey, what's this?" more than you might have with some of the earlier records. Titles include "Joan Of Arc", "The New Stone Age", "She's Leaving", "Souvenir", and "The Beginning and The End". LP, Vinyl record album

Later solo guitar free-kout by guitar legend Sonny Sharrock, accompanying himself by way of overdubs. In some ways his most exploratory work, Sonny sprays shards of melody across his patented wall of sound guitar playing. The pieces never lose momentum, even without a rhythm section, perhaps because of the frenetic energy that was the basis of his playing, though there's still the fragile beauty that's evident in all of his work. "Blind Willie" is, as you might expect, a bluesy excursion, while "Broken Toys" is Sharrock going off at his best, and there's also the amazing longer suite on side b: the "Princess Sonata". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first big moments of global fame for the legendary Ennio Morricone – and a record that still stands as one of his landmark albums all these many years later! The set's famous for its haunting theme – that "wah-wah-wah" melody that led to countless covers and samples over the years – but the whole thing's a lot more complex than just that tune – with lots of the same sense of space and brooding that Morricone brought to his music for Once Upon A Time In The West – with careful use of key instruments on a track by track basis, and these floating lines that almost signaled a whole new way of recording music for a film soundtrack. And yes, there's certainly key western elements like guitar or harmonica – but maybe more striking are all the points at which these obvious tropes disappear – to leave us with those really unique Morricone sounds that go way beyond music! Titles include "The Sundown", "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly", "Marcia", "The Desert", "The Strong", and "The Trio". LP, Vinyl record album