Bennie Maupin's first LP for Mercury, and a great bit of spiritual funky jazz that recalls a lot of the sound of his work with The Headhunters. The first track, "It Remains to Be Seen", is an excellent groover, with some very dark keyboard work by Patrice Rushen, and the rest of the tracks are pretty great too. Pat Gleeson produced and plays synth on the LP, and the cuts include "Quasar", "You Know the Deal", "Water Torture", and "Lament". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most earthy, organic offerings of the Herbie Hancock scene of the 70s – a session that's led by Headhunter reedman Bennie Maupin, and which also features Herbie on acoustic and electric piano – all in a sound that's quite different from his own work of the time! The tracks here have a very spacious, slow-building approach – a sound that's often quite stark at times, and not nearly as funky or soul-directed as you might expect. Maupin shows incredible sensitivity in his way of putting together a tune – letting things come together quite naturally, almost with the botanical quality you might expect from the title. Other players include Buster Williams on bass, Freddie Waits and Billy Hart on drums, Bill Summers on percussion, and Charles Sullivan on trumpet – all used quite spaciously and sparingly. Titles include "Esenada", "Mappo", "Excursion", "Past Is Past", "The Jewel In The Lotus", and "Song For Tracie Dixon Summers". LP, Vinyl record album

The Yusef here is Yusef Lateef – and reedman Bennie Maupin teams with Adam Rudolph in a set of richly organic numbers that we're guessing Lateef would have really appreciated! There's less "symphonic" and more "tone poem" on the record than the title might imply – as the setting is very intimate, with just a variety of reeds from Maupin, used in sonic territory created by Rudolph – a mix of percussion, electronics, and plenty of effects – but all used gently, and without any sort of bombast – so that the music progresses with a careful unfolding that lets all the best elements find a way to resonate together! The album features one long track, divided into five movements – and Maupin is at his most experimental here, while Rudolph really seems to respectfully address the legendary legacy of his collaborator. LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overview testament to the genius of Miguel Atwood Ferguson – a string player whose work has graced countless other great spiritual jazz projects from the west coast scene, and one who finally gets a chance to showcase his beautiful sense of creation in all its glory! The massively extended set is worth all the room that Miguel has been given – as the package features over three hours of music that flowers with all sorts of emotion, especially joy and hope – with Atwood-Ferguson working with help from friends who include Bennie Maupin and Kamasi Washington on reeds, Jeff Parker on guitar, and a whole host of musicians – including Domi & Beck, Carlos Nino, Thundercat, Jamire Williams, Jamael Dean, and others! There's a majestic quality to the record, but also a very personal tone too – as if Miguel has taken the wide range of his experience over decades on the scene, and woven it into a brilliant sonic poem of his own – served up here on 52 selections that leave us breathless! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few cases in jazz where an oft-played classic still resonates with power! The record itself is a key cap to Miles Davis' already-groundbreaking years of the 60s – a bold step forward, not just for his nascent electric sound, but also for jazz in general – and the benchmark by which so many other records would be judged (and fail) in years to come! The double-length set makes full use of all four sides of the record – expanding the flow (as well as the lineup) of the original Davis modal vision – and using all players to amazing effect, so much so that most players here turn out some of their best recorded work ever! The lineup is virtually a whose who for the sound of fusion in the 70s – including Wayne Shorter on soprano sax, Bennie Maupin on bass clarinet, Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea on keyboards, John McLaughlin on guitar, Dave Holland on bass, and Lenny White and Jack DeJohnette on drums – plus Jumma Santos and Don Alias on added percussion. Titles include "Pharaoh's Dance", "Spanish Key", "Sanctuary", "Bitches Brew", "John McLaughlin", and "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few cases in jazz where an oft-played classic still resonates with power! The record itself is a key cap to Miles Davis' already-groundbreaking years of the 60s – a bold step forward, not just for his nascent electric sound, but also for jazz in general – and the benchmark by which so many other records would be judged (and fail) in years to come! The double-length set makes full use of all four sides of the record – expanding the flow (as well as the lineup) of the original Davis modal vision – and using all players to amazing effect, so much so that most players here turn out some of their best recorded work ever! The lineup is virtually a whose who for the sound of fusion in the 70s – including Wayne Shorter on soprano sax, Bennie Maupin on bass clarinet, Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea on keyboards, John McLaughlin on guitar, Dave Holland on bass, and Lenny White and Jack DeJohnette on drums – plus Jumma Santos and Don Alias on added percussion. Titles include "Pharaoh's Dance", "Spanish Key", "Sanctuary", "Bitches Brew", "John McLaughlin", and "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down". LP, Vinyl record album

Though there are a number of different LPs using the VSOP title in a few different ways, this was the first, a double album recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival, featuring Herbie leading groups that represented a number of different points in his career. The first lineup later recorded under the name VSOP, and was a re-grouping of the classic Miles quintet, with Freddie Hubbard in Miles' place, in fine form here, the group playing nice expansive lines as they stretch out. They take on "Maiden Voyage" and "Nefertiti" and really stretch out on "Eye Of The Hurricane". Sides 3 and 4 are the real treat, with Herbie's early electric band that had recorded the spacey Warner's LPs playing "Toys" and "You'll Know When You Get There", and then the funk band that was contemporanious with the release of the LP, featuring Headhunters Paul Jackson & Bennie Maupin, and some heavy wah wah funk from Wah Wah Watson, on "Hang Up Your Hang Ups" & "Spider". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary pairing of talents – as Japanese jazz singer Kimiko Kasai works alongside Herbie Hancock – in a setting that's very much on the soul side of the spectrum! Both Herbie and Kimiko started out with a straighter jazz sound in their early years – but by the end of the 70s, they'd both picked up plenty of influences from R&B – although Kasai's work was largely unknown to American audiences. This set is one of those rare Japanese-only sessions by Herbie at the time – a few of which have gotten released overseas as the decades have gone on – and Hancock is in his best keyboard groove, and also gets additional help on the keys from Webster Lewis – who no doubt brings a strong soul current to the music too. Other musicians include Bennie Maupin on soprano and tenor sax, Paul Jackson on bass, Ray Obeido on guitar, Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion – in a groove that's like a tighter take on the sound of The Headhunters. Kimiko sings in English – and titles include some great versions of Herbie Hancock tunes – including "Maiden Voyage", "Sunlight", "Butterfly", "Tell Me A Bedtime Story", and "Harvest Time" – plus a great take on Stevie Wonder's "As", the cut "Head In The Clouds", and the funk-steeped opener "I Thought It Was You". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite Lee Morgan albums, and one of his least known – a set recorded in the crucial last five years of his life, and a sparkling mix of hard bop, soul jazz, and slight bits of modernism – that magical mix that Lee was hitting as he reached farther and farther with his music – an amazing legacy in jazz that has us loving every Morgan session from 1965 onward! Lee's playing in very comfortable territory, with a group that includes Bennie Maupin on tenor, Cedar Walton on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – but that doesn't mean that the proceedings are relaxed at all, because the interplay between the players is flawless, and they use their familiarity as a great springboard to soar off into rich new territory. Lee wrote all the tunes on the record – like "Caramba", "Suicide City", and "Soulita". An excellent record throughout, and one that we'd never part with! LP, Vinyl record album

A great late 60s gem from pianist Horace Silver – and a great bridge between his earlier soul jazz for Blue Note, and some of his more righteous work to come in the 70s! At one level, the sound here steps off from classics like Serenade To A Soul Sister or The Jody Grind – but at another level, there's a more open approach to the music – one that has Horace sliding into new tones and colors, with a slightly lyrical undercurrent as well. As on some of his later dates, the mellower moments are often the most compelling – showing a newly mature side of Silver's talents, and a new love of space between the notes that really helps to break the mode of previous recordings! The group here features the great Bennie Maupin on tenor and flute, Randy Brecker on trumpet and flugelhorn, John Williams on bass, and Billy Cobham on drums – and titles include "Lovely's Daughter", "Risin Sun", "You Gotta Take A Little Love", "Down & Out", and "Brain Wave". LP, Vinyl record album

With Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and flugelhorn, Huber Laws on flute and alto flute, Bennie Maupin on tenor sax and bass clarinet, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes and marimba, Stanley Clarke on acoustic bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Bill Summers on congas and percussion. LP, Vinyl record album

Soulful 70s work from Herbie Hancock – a record that tightens things up from the Headhunters and Sextant sessions, but which still retains a lot of their depth and charm! Players here including some previous partners – like Bennie Maupin on reeds and Paul Jackson on bass – plus the mighty Wah Wah Watson on guitars, James Levi on drums, Kenneth Nash on percussion, and Ray Parker on additional guitar. Tracks are tightly electric fusion, but still have some of the sharper tones of Herbie's electric work – weird moogy moments mixed into more straight ahead funk – all with a sound that's not unlike some of Ramsey Lewis' best Columbia work of the period. Herbie plays Fender Rhodes, Arp, clavinet, mini-moog, and more – and titles include "Doin' It", "Spider", "Swamp Rat", "People Music", and a remake of "Cantelope Island" that's pretty darn tasty! LP, Vinyl record album

Rare work by Andrew Hill – recorded in the 60s – but not issued until this 1975 2-fer package, which then went out of print very quickly! One session's from 1969, and features Hill with Bennie Maupin, Charles Tolliver, and Pat Patrick. Another has him and Maupin playing a few tracks with a string quartet. And the last set (which covers all of the second record) is a straighter set from 1965, with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Richard Davis, and Joe Chambers. The album's a motherlode of great rare material by one of the best piano players of the 60's, and a talent that Blue Note made sure to record as much as they could. Tracks include "Diddy Wah", "Fragments", "Erato", "Pax", and "Eris". LP, Vinyl record album

A real gem from Freddie Hubbard's 60s years – an all soul jazz outing, cut with a hip array of players that show that young Fred was definitely on the forefront of jazz at the time! Despite the "blues" in the title, the main groove is spiritual soul jazz – in a style that puts Freddie a few years ahead of the Strata East crew, and working here in a mode that he oddly didn't continue into the 70s. The album's got a really righteous sound overall – with long tracks that really stretch out wonderfully with rich feeling and spirit – thanks to work from players who include Weldon Irvine and Kenny Barron on piano, Bennie Maupin and James Spaulding on reeds, and Freddie Waits on drums. The set's filled with great original tunes that include Freddie's "Latina", "True Colors", and "For BP" – as well as a version of Weldon Irvine's "Can't Let Her Go". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible fusion of all the greatness that was going on in the Bay Area scene of the 70s – put together by Coke Escovedo – the brother of Pete and Sheila E, former leader of Azteca, and onetime member of Santana! Yet this set sounds like none of that previous work at all – and instead is great grooving soul, infused both with the sophistication of fusion and some of the Latin elements of Escovedo's roots – all produced to perfection by Patrick Gleeson – who most folks know for his own spacey keyboard work with Bennie Maupin and others! The mix of elements going on is really complex, but comes across with effortless ease – one of those rare fusions that could happen at a bigger label when all the right talents were brought together. The record kind of "out-Fantasys" the best of Fantasy Records in the Bay Area at the time – and makes great use of singers Linda and Calvin Tillery, plus the great Harvey Mason on drums. Titles include wonderful covers of Lamont Dozier's "Why Can't We Be Lovers" and Leon Ware's "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" – plus the tracks "What Are You Under", "No One To Depend On", "Easy Come Easy Go", and "Make It Sweet". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer electric work from Herbie Hancock – right on par with his groundbreaking Headhunters set, but a bit spacier too! The album features a Headhunters-solid lineup – with Bennie Maupin on saxes, Paul Jackson on bass, Mike Clark on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion – all grooving wonderfully with Herbie on a set of super-long tracks! Hancock himself handles a host of incredible keyboards – Fender Rhodes, clavinet, Arp, and lots more – all in a lean electric style that still sounds as fresh today as it did way back in the mid 70s – perhaps even more so, given the return to this sort of basic groove that has happened in recent years! Tracks are long, tight, and super funky – and titles include "Actual Proof", "Palm Grease", "Spank-A-Lee", and "Butterfly". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite Lee Morgan albums, and one of his least known – a set recorded in the crucial last five years of his life, and a sparkling mix of hard bop, soul jazz, and slight bits of modernism – that magical mix that Lee was hitting as he reached farther and farther with his music – an amazing legacy in jazz that has us loving every Morgan session from 1965 onward! Lee's playing in very comfortable territory, with a group that includes Bennie Maupin on tenor, Cedar Walton on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – but that doesn't mean that the proceedings are relaxed at all, because the interplay between the players is flawless, and they use their familiarity as a great springboard to soar off into rich new territory. Lee wrote all the tunes on the record – like "Caramba", "Suicide City", and "Soulita". An excellent record throughout, and one that we'd never part with! LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent set that spans the gamut of Miles' work on Columbia – from his early hardbop sides to his later experimental ones! All of the material on the 2LP set was unreleased until the time of this release in 1979 – and the album features Miles in the company of a wide variety of players that include George Benson, Cannonball Adderley, Bennie Maupin, Hank Mobley, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Red Garland, and Joe Beck. Titles include "Teo's Bag", "Side Car (1 & 2)", "Sanctuary", "Guinnevere", "Circle In The Round", and "Two Bass Hit". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal jazz funk session of the 70s – Herbie Hancock's legendary meeting with The Headhunters, and a killer batch of tunes that really gave the combo their name! Herbie's playing a wide range of keys here – including Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and Arp – but almost even better is the work from the rest of the group – including Bennie Maupin on soprano and tenor sax, Paul Jackson on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion! The earthier elements of the rhythm players really keep Herbie on track – bringing him back to the planet from previous trips into space, and helping him hit an all-solid, all-righteous funky groove! Titles include a great remake of "Watermelon Man", the classic original recording of "Chameleon", and the cuts "Vein Melter" and "Sly" – all nice and long! LP, Vinyl record album

Funky mid 70s Herbie Hancock – one his funkiest albums of the era! Herbie plays a host of cool keyboards – like Fender Rhodes, Arp, and clavinet – and he's joined by a group that includes just about all of the Headhunters – including Paul Jackson on bass and Mike Clarke on drums – plus help from a great array of other excellent guests – including Bennie Maupin and Wayne Shorter on reeds, Harvey Mason on drums, and even some guest keyboards from Stevie Wonder! The album's great – maybe a bit understated than Thrust, but still equally wonderful – and the whole thing's worth it alone for the classic uptempo cut "Hang Up Your Hang Ups" – alongside other cuts that include "Bubbles", "Heartbeat", and "Sun Touch". LP, Vinyl record album

A great post-Miles/post-Herbie space funk jam – produced by Skip Drinkwater before he got into his later, more well-known slick Jazz-funk style. Eddie's set up with some of the hippest players of his generation – including Bennie Maupin, Buster Williams, Billy Hart and Patrick Gleeson, who kicks out some amazing work in a moogy synth mode! Herbie Hancock also plays Fender Rhodes and Clavinet on the album – and titles include "Inside Out", "Dreams", "Fusion", "Discoveries", and "Moussaka". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary album from bassist Paul Jackson – best known for his work in Herbie Hancock's Headhunters group – getting a rare chance to shine as a leader on his own, in a session that was originally only issued in Japan! Jackson is in prime Headhunters territory here, but also brings a spirit of his own – working with a wonderful lineup that includes Herbie Hancock on piano and keyboards, Ray Obiedo on guitar, Bennie Maupin on saxes, Webster Lewis on organ and keyboards, and Alphonse Mouzon on drums – all players who really help knock the record out of the park! The tracks are nice and long, and mix funk with more spiritual currents – with occasional vocals from Jackson that come as a nice surprise. Titles include the killer "Funk Times Three", which starts with a massive drum break – "Tiptoe Thru The Ghetto", "Burning In The Heat (Of Your Love)", and "Black Octopus". LP, Vinyl record album

Genius jazzy soul from Webster Lewis – one of his amazing late 70s sets for Epic Records! By this point in his career, Lewis had honed his keyboard craft to perfection – and on albums like this one, he laid down some excellent smooth soulful fusion that soared in a righteous way that few other artists of his generation could match! The sound's never cheesy, and has a wonderfully fusion-based bottom that's served up by a range of great players that include Paul Jackson, James Gadson, and Bennie Maupin – and which is topped off by very jazz-sensitive production from Lewis and Herbie Hancock. Most cuts have vocals – some by Lewis himself – and the album includes the monster dancefloor cut "Give Me Some Emotion", plus the cuts "Fire", "Go For It", "You Deserve To Dance", and "The Love You Give To Me". LP, Vinyl record album