Features plenty of guests – Billy Taylor, Eric Reed, Geri Allen, Tommy Flanagan, Don Friedman, Benny Green, John Lewis, Junior Mance, and Kenny Barron – a heck of a lot of piano players! CD

One of Sarah's few albums for Columbia – and quite possibly the best, thanks to some great small group backing, heard on 8 of the album's 12 tunes! The group's a really great one – with Miles Davis on trumpet, Benny Green on trombone, Buddy Johnson on tenor, Tony Scott on clarinet, Mundell Lowe on guitar, and Billy Taylor on piano – all of whom get some surprising solo space on the album, and make the record one of Sarah's best jazz outings of the 50s. The remaining tracks on the set have a lusher ballad style, but are still quite nice – and titles include "Mean To Me", "Goodnight My Love", "Can't Get Out Of This Mood", "East Of The Sun", "Pinky", "Ooh Whatcha Doin To Me", and "Come Rain Or Come Shine". 10 bonus tracks too – including unreleased cuts and alternates. CD

124 tracks in all – all late 30s/early 40s recordings from the HRS label, mostly issued initially on 78s! Includes groups led by Harry Carney, Joe Thomas, Jimmy Jones, Sandy Williams, Billy Taylor, Rex Stewart, Brick Fleagle, Buck Clayton, Trummy Young, Russell Procope, and JC Higginbotham. CD

A fantastic collection of music – 66 tracks that show the huge influence of Cuban rhythms in American music during the mid-century years – presented here in a wider range of styles than you might expect! This isn't just Latin music, made by Cuban cats hitting the New York scene – and instead, these are tracks that show the very deep penetration of sounds from Havana – at a level that has the rhythms emerging in soul, hardbop, R&B, and even more standard blues material! The CD divides the music up into three different CDs, each with a different theme – one that looks at rumba in jazz music, another the influence of the mambo, and the third the range of slower Cuban rhythms well into the 60s. Titles include "Dem Tambourines" by Don Wilkerson, "Cuba Doll" by Lloyd Glenn, "Summertime" by Red Saunders, "Soony Roony" by Slim Gaillard, "De Laff's On You" by Louis Jordan, "Conga Brava" by Duke Ellington, "I Come From America" by Chris Powell, "Jock A Mo" by Sugar Boy Crawford, "Woke Up This Morning" by BB King, "Fool Burro" by Mabel Scott, "Cu-Blue" by Billy Taylor, "Arabian Love Call" by Art Neville, "Out Of Nowhere" by Cal Tjader, "I've Waited So Long" by Eddie Cochran, "She Wants To Mambo" by The Chanters, "Mambo Hop" by Oscar Saldana, and "Mambocito Mio" by Illinois Jacquet. CD

They weren't kidding about the title with this one – because the whole set's pretty darn swinging all the way through! But even better than that, the collection's filled with rare work from a variety of different labels in the Universal Music spectrum, especially MPS – including a fair number of tracks recorded overseas at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s – some really great numbers that offer an unusual side of familiar American players. Titles include "La Petite Mambo" by Billy Taylor, "Speak Low" by Tete Montoliu, "Blue Alexander" by Monty Alexander, "Dark Eyes" by Francy Boland, "How Could You Do A Thing Like That To Me" by Eddie Thompson, "I'm All Smiles" by Hampton Hawes, "Daahoud" by Red Gardland, and "The Oregon Grinder" by Hank Jones. CD

Thelonious Monk on piano – notable sidemen include Joe Gordon on trumpet, Charlie Rouse, Harold Land, and Johnny Griffin on tenor saxophone, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, John Ore, and Sam Jones on bass, and Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Billy Higgins, and Frankie Dunlop on drums. CD

Not much of a cover and a title, but a great little live date from Gerry Mulligan – material recorded in France in 1958, and easily on a par with any of his Verve work of the 50s! The tracks have a clean, crisp feel that hardly belies their concert setting – a sharpness that really brings out the best in Gerry's modern baritone lines, and which also showcases the talents of other players on the dates – including Art Farmer on trumpet, Billy Taylor or Claude Williamson on piano, and Dave Bailey on drums. There's a lean feel on most numbers – showcasing the sound that Mulligan was working on in his drum-based sextet and quartet groups – and titles include "North Atlantic Run", "Taurus Moon", "Out Back Of The Barn", "Festive Minor", and "Jeru". CD

Warmly expressive work from trumpeter Kenny Wheeler – a set that's got the same depth of tone as his work for other labels, but which has a bit of a different feel as well. The record has maybe a bit more bite – not necessarily on Wheeler's trumpet or flugelhorn, the latter of which still retains its wonderfully airy sound – but instead on the overall conception, which makes careful but creative use of other group members – especially John Taylor on piano and Dave Holland on bass, as well as Billy Elgart on drums, and Stan Sulzmann on soprano, tenor, and flute. All tunes are originals by Wheeler, and really lovely ones at that – and titles include "Gigolo", "The Little Fella", "Miold Man", "We Salute The Night", and "Everybody's Song But My Own". CD

An insane package – one that features the material from the 6CD Complete Concert Wattstax set, plus 5 more CDs from Summit Club Recordings in 1972, plus one more CD of additional material too! First up are 6 CDs that feature a stunning presentation of the legendary Wattstax concert – that huge moment of pride and power when the folks at Stax Records filled up the Los Angeles Coliseum with one of the most memorable shows of the 70s! The meeting of talents here is the stuff of legend – and this great package brings together the complete show in running order – really building up excitement as the concert progresses – with different acts each bringing their own sort of fire to the stage, culminating in a fantastic long finale by Isaac Hayes! The presentation is different than the two double albums that Stax issued back in the 70s – and this expanded package features a number of unreleased tracks in place of material the label later added – such as work from Richard Pryor and The Emotions. There's a whole instrumental section at the start, and more spoken links between some parts – and new material includes unissued work from Kim Weston, Freddie Robinson, Ernie Hines, Eric Mercury, Tommy Tate, Billy Eckstine, and Isaac Hayes – in addition to famous performances by The Soul Children, Jesse Jackson, Rufus Thomas, Albert King, Carla Thomas, William Bell, The Bar Kays, David Porter, The Temprees, Eddie Floyd, and David Porter – plus plenty more from Isaac Hayes too! Great package – with a full color book with new notes and essays, and plenty more too. The Summit Club material follows on five more CDs – material that was partly issued on some other reissues by individual artists, but augmented here with a wealth of unreleased material too! There's a a full show of work from Johnnie Taylor and Rufus Thomas – the latter of whom even does some comedy bits – plus some extra funky performances from The Sons Of Slum, heavy blues from Little Milton, great soul from The Emotions, and a huge amount of never-issued work from the great duo Mel & Tim – arguably better here than on their Stax studio sessions. CD12 features additional recordings that were layered into some of the LP releases issued under the Wattstax name – 15 more tracks that include titles by The Emotions, Isaac Hayes, The Dramatics, Staple Singers, and Eddie Floyd – plus some comedy routines by Richard Pryor. CD