One of the most full-on funk albums that Bohannon recorded for Mercury – a set done with a sextet of additional players, in a groove that's much more in the ensemble mode of other funk acts on the label! The usual Bohannon drive is still in full effect, though – and Hamilton's rhythms are as compelling as ever, served up with his usual percussive undercurrent, and plenty of extra work on bass, guitar, and keyboards. Carolyn Crawford sings ovcals on most numbers, and titles include "Groove Machine", "The Boogie Train", "Andrea", "The Time Is Now", "Love Floats", and a remake of "Stop & Go". LP, Vinyl record album

A massive amount of fast funk groovers from the mighty Hamilton Bohannon – just the kind of skittish, upbeat, and totally amazing tracks that have made him a legend for years! The sound is really stripped down – usually just bass, drums, and guitar – wrapped together in this groove that's super tight, but not slick at all – like someone had dug deep into the best resources of the funky 45 underground, then pushed them to the limit! The guitar work alone is completely amazing – razor-sharp perfection at a level that blows away any previous chicken scratch lines – and titles include "Can You Feel It", "Think Of Me", "The Funky Reggae", "The Bohannon Walk", "Bohannon's Beat Part 1", and "Gentle Breeze". LP, Vinyl record album

A much-needed look at the Mercury years of Hamilton Bohannon – and a treasure-trove of unreissued funky dancefloor tracks! Bohannon first sprang onto the scene with his early funky work for Brunswick – chunky numbers that showed a very unique approach to rhythm, and an odd heavily-repetitive style that clearly had a huge influence on house music in the 80s, and much of modern dance in years to come. In 1977, he made the switch to the Mercury label, where the extra cash helped him tighten things up in the studio – pushing his hypnotic groove to a whole new level with a host of amazing tracks! The really amazing thing about these tunes is the way in which Bohannon has the band working in complete unison – grooving at a tightness that would make even James Brown blush, as they craft fast snapping dancefloor numbers without the use of any samples or programming. We'd honestly always overlooked these years, but the 14 tracks on this set have really caught our ear – as they're the best funky club tracks from Bohannon's Mercury years, and include such gems as "Me & The Gang", "The Hammer", "The Funk Walk", "Git On Up", "Disco Symphony (single version)", "Just Doing My Thing (single version)", "Let's Start The Dance", "Summertime Groove", "Come Dance With Me", "I Got To Stay Funky", "Mighty Groovy", and "The Beat". CD

Easy to dance your ass off with music this great – a fast, firey form of funk that's very much in the best Bohannon mode – that unique groove that was unlike anything else to hit the American scene for years to come! The record's a locomotive right from the start – a completely tight union of guitar, bass, drums, and just about anything else that gets into the mix – served up at a fast chugging groove that's very different than either typical funk or 70s disco! A few tracks add in a bit of extra strings, but these are always subsumed by the strong strong rhythms – and titles include the cut "Zulu", which has always been a favorite here in Chitown – plus "Party People", "Dance Your Ass Off", and "Bohannon's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

A bit of a different sound than usual for Bohannon – but a great one as well! The album's got a slightly different pitch than some of Bo's more straightforward dancefloor work – and the rhythms are electric, sometimes skittish, and often a bit spooky – almost prefacing changes to come a few years later, but also showing a bit of a German progressive influence too. We might be tempted to say that the sound's a bit smoother than before, but there's actually a lot of rough edges and weird corners to the tracks – in a way that makes the record more unsettling than it is slick! The rhythms, as always, are the main focus – and they're pretty darn great, and often surprisingly complicated. Don't know who could really dance to this, but that's hardly the point – and titles include "Git On Up", "Maybe You Can Dance", "I Found My Love On A Saturday", "You & I", and "On The Weekend". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer bit of early funk from the great Hamilton Bohannon – and quite possibly his greatest album ever – a really unique approach to funky rhythms, with a sound that's unlike anything else we can think of! The album's got a slower funk sound than Bohannon's later disco groove a few years later – and the wonderful rhythms mix together scattershot drums with funky wah wah guitar, organ, and hard-plugging basslines – all in a blend that's pretty mindblowing not just for its instrumental dexterity, but also for the way it brings complex patterns together in a really hypnotic way! All cuts are instrumentals, save for a few chorus vocals – and players on the album include Wah Wah Watson, Ray Parker, Travis Biggs, and Mose Davis. Bohannon's on drums and percussion – and titles include "The Pimp Walk", "Stop & Go", "Getting to the Other Side", "It's Time For Peace", "Save Their Souls", and "Singing a Song for My Mother". CD features two bonus tracks – "Run It On Down Mr DJ (parts 1 & 2)". CD

Hamilton Bohannon was completely unique in the world of soul and funk. He had a tight uptempo style that was sort of pre-disco and club oriented, yet which also had lots of choppy elements that made the groove a lot different than other artists of his time. Hard to pin down, but this selection of 14 tracks will give you more than enough of a good picture of his work – especially as it includes many rare gems, like "Foot Stompin Music", "South African Man", "Run It On Down Mr DJ", "Bohannon's Beat", and "You're The One". Also features his wonderful smooth steppin classic "Thoughts And Wishes", but we think the mix on here is different from the one on the original album. CD

A really cool take on two holiday tunes from Vince Guaraldi – both of them done in very unusual versions! "Christmas Time Is Here" has lots of offbeat steel guitar, plus other instrumentation that shades in the edges and gives the whole thing a nicely moody, blue-tinged sort of vibe! "Skating" has lots more guitar and a nice sort of echo – cascading lines than are almost in a Les Paul sound, but with moody inflections and more pedal steel! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Tremendously tight grooves from Hamilton Bohannon – tunes that have this amazing way of wrapping together the bass, drums, and guitar – all in this fast-chugging style that's plenty funky all the way through! Bohannon was one of the most minimal of his 70s funk contemporaries – and has this way of really focusing in on one key rhythm, then rolling it out with incredible tightness – slowly changing things with some slight phase shifts in tone or timing, but always returning to the core of the tune. The approach is maybe even more striking here than on his previous records – and far grittier than on his later 70s work, too – and at some level, the vocals are almost thrown in as an afterthought, once Bo and the combo get things grooving! Titles include "Come Winter", "South Africa 76", "Feel Good At Midnight", "Gittin Off", and "I'm In Love". CD features two bonus tracks – single versions of "Gittin Off" and "Come Winter". CD

A killer bit of early funk from the great Hamilton Bohannon – and quite possibly his greatest album ever – a really unique approach to funky rhythms, with a sound that's unlike anything else we can think of! The album's got a slower funk sound than Bohannon's later disco groove a few years later – and the wonderful rhythms mix together scattershot drums with funky wah wah guitar, organ, and hard-plugging basslines – all in a blend that's pretty mindblowing not just for its instrumental dexterity, but also for the way it brings complex patterns together in a really hypnotic way! All cuts are instrumentals, save for a few chorus vocals – and players on the album include Wah Wah Watson, Ray Parker, Travis Biggs, and Mose Davis. Bohannon's on drums and percussion – and titles include "The Pimp Walk", "Stop & Go", "Getting to the Other Side", "It's Time For Peace", "Save Their Souls", and "Singing a Song for My Mother". CD features two bonus tracks – "Run It On Down Mr DJ (parts 1 & 2)". CD

Arthur Adams has his roots in blues, but he comes across here with a wonderfully warm Cali soul sort of vibe – that mix of earthy currents and tighter touches that was showing up in some of the best Fantasy Records work of the period! On the album It's Private Tonight, Arthur sings and plays guitar, and he's set up nicely in some larger backings that include help from jazz/funk greats like Joe Sample on keyboards, George Bohannon on trombone, Phil Upchurch on guitar, Wilton Felder on bass, and Ernie Watts on alto – all great players who make the record way more than just another blues session! Tracks include "I'm Going Home", "I Gotta Help My People", "Happiness", and "Get On The Ground". Home Brew is great – an overlooked album of funky guitar! Arthur Adams was one of the many excellent west coast session players of the early 70s – and if you check the notes on some of your favorite California soul albums, you'll find that you've probably heard his guitar an awful lot over the years! As with some of the other Fantasy albums of the mid 70s, this one gives a more obscure player a chance to step out in the light – as Adams does wonderfully with smooth jazz funk production by Wayne Henderson, which brings out some great tonal colors in Adams' guitar playing. There's a bit of a New Orleans sound in the record, but the real feel is Fantasy Records jazz funk – as you'll hear on the cuts "Chicago Sidewalk", "Bumpin' Around", and "That's the Way It's Gonna Be". Plus, 2CD set features 17 more bonus tracks – including "Last Night", "Got Your Back", "She's A Superwoman", "Is That You", "Let Your Hair Down", and "She Drives Me Out Of My Mind". CD

A nice bit of space age disco fantasy from Boney M – a set that's got a few more electronic touches than some of the group's other records, but which still continues in a straight ahead poppy vein! There's a sound here that's arguably a bit more sophisticated than before – especially on some of the rhythms, which almost hint at Bohannon like complexity at the bottom. There's almost a bit more club appeal than you might expect – although other tunes are definitely more the stuff of hotel lobby dancefloors than warehouse parties in New York. Titles include "King Of The Road", "Nightflight To Venus", "Voodoonight", "Brown Girl In the Ring", "Heart Of Gold", and the hit version of "Rivers Of Babylon". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record – one of the best on Motown's short-lived Workshop Jazz subsidiary! The album is the first to feature Roy Brooks as a leader – and the super-hip drummer from Detroit really knows what to do with the opportunity! He's working here with a hip group that includes members of the Horace Silver quintet – including Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor, and Gene Taylor on bass – as well as Detroit contemporaries George Bohannon on trombone and Hugh Lawson on piano. The overall style of the record is quite different from Brooks' work with Silver – and has a much more open-ended feeling emotionally – an early hint at the qualities that Roy would unveil on his rare indie sides at the start of the 70s. The tracks are a mix of soul jazz numbers and others with a rougher-hewn sense of modernism – almost like the excellent work coming out of Chicago during the early 60s, from artists like Gene Shaw or the MJT+3. All the players are at their best, and the album features some of the nicest tenor work we've ever heard from Cook. Titles include "Soulsphere", "Soulin", "Homestretch", "Passin The Buck", and "My Secret Passion". LP, Vinyl record album

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

Funky, soulful, and completely sublime work from keyboardist Gene Harris – working here with some great help from Jerry Peters on arrangement and production – in a style that makes the album one of Harris' most compelling sets of the 70s! The backings are full, but tight too – and in addition to Gene's own sweet work on keyboards, the set's also got some massive drums from Harvey Mason and James Gadson – both of whom really help things crackle at the bottom! Other instrumental highlights include more keyboards from Jerry Peters, tenor from Azar Lawrence, and trombone from George Bohannon – plus guitar from Lee Ritenour too. There's a bit of vocals on the set – mostly a soul chorus sort of mode that works perfect with Peters' groovy arrangements – and titles include "Love For Sale", "Theme For Relana", "Rebop", "Zulu", and "Soft Cycles". CD

One of the most sophisticated albums that Bobby Hutcherson recorded with reedman Harold Land – a very hip session that features the arrangements of piano player Todd Cochran – also known as Bayete for a pair of early 70s albums on Prestige! The sound here is more farther-reaching than before for the team of Hutcherson and Land – a deepening of the soulful spirits first cooked up on their earlier collaborations, stretched out to farther-reaching territory in the hands of Cochran's arrangements and compositions. The group's got a full sound too – with trumpet and flugelhorn from Oscar Brashear, trombone from George Bohannon, and added reeds from players who include Ernie Watts, Fred Jackson, and Charles Owens. Harold Land plays tenor and flute, Hutcherson vibes and marimba, and Cochran is on acoustic piano throughout – but the record also features some electric keys from William Henderson. Titles include the 3 part suite "At The Source", plus "Many Thousands Gone", "Clockwork Of The Spirits", and "Mtume". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most sophisticated albums that Bobby Hutcherson recorded with reedman Harold Land – a very hip session that features the arrangements of piano player Todd Cochran – also known as Bayete for a pair of early 70s albums on Prestige! The sound here is more farther-reaching than before for the team of Hutcherson and Land – a deepening of the soulful spirits first cooked up on their earlier collaborations, stretched out to farther-reaching territory in the hands of Cochran's arrangements and compositions. The group's got a full sound too – with trumpet and flugelhorn from Oscar Brashear, trombone from George Bohannon, and added reeds from players who include Ernie Watts, Fred Jackson, and Charles Owens. Harold Land plays tenor and flute, Hutcherson vibes and marimba, and Cochran is on acoustic piano throughout – but the record also features some electric keys from William Henderson. Titles include the 3 part suite "At The Source", plus "Many Thousands Gone", "Clockwork Of The Spirits", and "Mtume". CD also features 3 great bonus tracks – the funky 17 minute "Hey Harold", plus "Jonathan" and "Togo Land". CD

Smoking work from Donald Byrd – post-Blue Note, post-Larry Mizell, and with a modern funk groove that's still pretty darn tasty! Not one to rest on his laurels – which he could have easily done with endless Mizell-based recordings – Donald shifts his groove here towards more of a boogie-styled 80s approach – one that's got the same sort of loping funk that was showing up in the work of Tom Browne and some of the younger players on the scene at the time. There's a fuller, richer, more soul-based approach to the set – but still some strands of the Mizell years – especially in the album's great keyboard work by Clare Fischer, and its use of chorus vocals on a number of tracks. Wade Marcus and George Bohannon helped with arrangements – and titles include a great funky remake of Fischer's "Morning" – plus "Veronica", "Gold The Moon, White The Sun", "Marilyn", "Pretty Baby", and "People Suppose To Be Free". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer soul set from Caroline Crawford – with production, arrangements, and songwriting by Hamilton Bohannon – soaring, beautiful, uniquely soulful sounds from the late 70s! Crawford's got a hell of a voice – equally well-suited to deeper soul ballads and uptempo groovers – and with Bohannon on board, there's plenty of groovers – although we like the mellow cuts just as much! Crawford was sort of Bohannon's big vocal discovery, and the Mercury efforts were a good use of his instrumental sound in a vocal driven framework – one that succeeds not just on the clubby soul level of his own records, but which also hits a more emotional tone than a lot of the dancefloor soul of the era. Johnny Allen contributed the string orchestrations – and titles include "Riding On Your Love", "Tell Me You'll Wait", "Coming On Strong", "It Rains Because" and "Caroline Breakdown". CD

An unusual bit of club from Lee Garrett – a singer who's got a relatively rootsy sound overall, but who's working here with a set of smooth and and jazzy backings! Arrangements on the set are by Tom Sellers, who plays piano at the hed of a combo that includes Dave Grusin on synth, Tom Scott on saxes, Ernie Watts on flute and alto, George Bohannon on trombone, Lee Ritenour on guitar, and Harvey Mason on drums – all top-shelf fusion players who help bring a bit of polish to the set, in stark contrast to Lee's rougher vocals. The approach is almost a bit like some of Swamp Dogg's work for the clubs at the time – and titles include "How Can I Be A Man", "Heart Be Still", "You're My Everything", "Sad Sad Story", and "Stop That Wrong". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from one of Chico Hamilton's greatest groups! The record features Chico's quintet with Charles Lloyd on tenor and flute, Gabor Szabo on guitar, the great (and under-recorded) Al Stinson on bass and George Bohannon on trombone – and the tracks have that spaced out, slightly-Spanish tinge that Chico was crafting during his trippier years at Impulse. Szabo's guitar is a key element of this sound – but you can't discount Chico's amazingly open approach to the drums, and his freewheeling manner of spinning out a lively dancing rhythm. Titles include "Lady Gabor", "El Toro", "Passin Thru", and "Lonesome Child". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky organ and plenty of vamping – a really tight little set from the mighty Charles Kynard – who's working here with a really wide-ranging command of the keyboard! As with some of the other Mainstream Records sessions of the time, the backings here are somewhat full – arranged and conducted by Richard Fritz with a style that's almost soundtrack funk at points, but which still has a more jazzy feel overall – thanks to the space given to Kynard's organ solos, and to backings from players who include George Bohannon on trombone, Arthur Adams on guitar, and Paul Humphrey on drums. The set features a surprising cover of Joe Quarterman's classic "I Got So Much Trouble On My Mind" – one that's almost as funky as the vocal original – plus "The World Is A Ghetto", "Superstition", "Zambezi", "Summer Breeze", "Momma Jive", and "You've Got It Bad Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

A breakout solo moment from the great Edwin Birdsong – an artist who participated in some of Roy Ayers great albums of the 70s, and who cut some great underground records of his own – but who finally got the chance to step into the limelight on this set for Philadelphia International! Birdsong's always been his own man – one of the quirkiest funk artists you'll ever find – and the set's got a very different vibe than anything else from the Gamble & Huff house of hits – mostly because Edwin produced and arranged the whole thing on his own. There's a few slight Roy Ayers touches at times – we sometimes think of Edwin as the Bootsy to Roy's George Clinton – and the rhythms have a nicely romping groove that's more Bohannon than the usual disco tracks. There's also some mellower numbers – like the great "Autumn Eyes" and "Lollipop (Slow)", both of which have a mellow Ayers steppin' groove – and other more upbeat titles include"Cola Bottle Baby", "Phiss Phizz", "Kunta Dance", "Goldmine", and "Freaky Deaky Sities". CD features lots of 12" single bonus tracks – "Phiss Phizz (12" disco)", "Lollipop (12" disco)", "Goldmine (12" disco)", "Freaky Deaky Sities (12" disco)", and "Kunta Dance (part 1)". CD

Smoking work from Donald Byrd – post-Blue Note, post-Larry Mizell, and with a modern funk groove that's still pretty darn tasty! Not one to rest on his laurels – which he could have easily done with endless Mizell-based recordings – Donald shifts his groove here towards more of a boogie-styled 80s approach – one that's got the same sort of loping funk that was showing up in the work of Tom Browne and some of the younger players on the scene at the time. There's a fuller, richer, more soul-based approach to the set – but still some strands of the Mizell years – especially in the album's great keyboard work by Clare Fischer, and its use of chorus vocals on a number of tracks. Wade Marcus and George Bohannon helped with arrangements – and titles include a great funky remake of Fischer's "Morning" – plus "Veronica", "Gold The Moon, White The Sun", "Marilyn", "Pretty Baby", and "People Suppose To Be Free". CD

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

A great bit of work from the hip LA scene that centered around the Nimbus label at the end of the 70s – a collective who work together here with the same spiritual jazz modes you'd find on labels like Tribe or Strata East! The group features some bigger names from the scene, including some solo Nimbus acts – plus some other overlooked players – a lineup that includes Henry Franklin on bass, George Bohannon on trombone, Wilbert Hemsley on tenor, Dadesi Komolafe on flute, Jeff Clayton on baritone, and Gary Bias on alto and soprano sax. The album's also got some beautiful vocals from BJ Crowley – who co-leads the group, and sings out with a proud righteousness that recalls some of Dee Dee Bridgewater or Jean Carn's early early soul jazz recordings. The tracks are all long and spiraling numbers – never really "out", but in a free searching mode that's a perfect platform for the piano work of the other co-leader, Kaeef Ruzadun. Titles include "One Step Out", "Flashback Of Time", "All Praises Due", and "Stars In Lightyear Time". CD

A great bit of work from the hip LA scene that centered around the Nimbus label at the end of the 70s – a collective who work together here with the same spiritual jazz modes you'd find on labels like Tribe or Strata East! The group features some bigger names from the scene, including some solo Nimbus acts – plus some other overlooked players – a lineup that includes Henry Franklin on bass, George Bohannon on trombone, Wilbert Hemsley on tenor, Dadesi Komolafe on flute, Jeff Clayton on baritone, and Gary Bias on alto and soprano sax. The album's also got some beautiful vocals from BJ Crowley – who co-leads the group, and sings out with a proud righteousness that recalls some of Dee Dee Bridgewater or Jean Carn's early early soul jazz recordings. The tracks are all long and spiraling numbers – never really "out", but in a free searching mode that's a perfect platform for the piano work of the other co-leader, Kaeef Ruzadun. Titles include "One Step Out", "Flashback Of Time", "All Praises Due", and "Stars In Lightyear Time". CD

Different is right – as this obscure early 60s side shows Chico Hamilton really opening up, moving past the modern chamber style of the late 50s, into the freer modal rhythms that characterized his incredible work of the 60s! The group's the beginning of that sound too – with Charles Lloyd on tenor and flute, Gabor Szabo on guitar, and Albert Stinson on bass – joined by George Bohannon on trombone, who slides around the grooves to expand the bottom of the album's sound nicely! The album's perhaps not as "eastern" as some of Hamilton's mid 60s work – but the roots of that sound are definitely there, with stretched out tracks that really show some great writing and playing working together! Titles include "Voice In The Night", "A Different Journey", "The Vulture", "One Sheridan Square", and "Sun Yen Sen". CD

Born in Mississippi, raised in Tennessee, but recorded in California with some mighty great grooves! The album's a great mix of the rootsy blues of John Lee Hooker and some of the best production modes ABC Records was using at the time – no hoke or attempt to dampen the energy of the core music – but just the key addition of fresh elements from players who include Clifford Coulter on piano, Sugarcane Harris on violin, Oscar Brashear on trumpet, Mel Brown on bass, George Bohannon on trombone, and John Klemmer on electrified sax with effects! These players all have a great ear for messing up jazz, blues, soul, and funk – and help Hooker to make the set one of his hippest ever – a record that nods strongly at the new generation, yet never panders to it at all. Titles include "Younger Stud", "King Of The World", "Tell Me You Love Me", and "Going Down". LP, Vinyl record album

Born in Mississippi, raised in Tennessee, but recorded in California with some mighty great grooves! The album's a great mix of the rootsy blues of John Lee Hooker and some of the best production modes ABC Records was using at the time – no hoke or attempt to dampen the energy of the core music – but just the key addition of fresh elements from players who include Clifford Coulter on piano, Sugarcane Harris on violin, Oscar Brashear on trumpet, Mel Brown on bass, George Bohannon on trombone, and John Klemmer on electrified sax with effects! These players all have a great ear for messing up jazz, blues, soul, and funk – and help Hooker to make the set one of his hippest ever – a record that nods strongly at the new generation, yet never panders to it at all. Titles include "Younger Stud", "King Of The World", "Tell Me You Love Me", and "Going Down". LP, Vinyl record album