Really cool cuts from the second generation of Bollywood funk – that 80s moment when things were still ever bit as groovy as during the heyday of 70s soundtracks, but served up with some slightly different instrumentation in the mix! There's maybe a bit more keyboards here at times – but not the cold kind that were dominating European films, especially horror – as they're mixed with plenty of percussion, basslines, and other elements – then topped with vocals by some of the greats who made the music so wonderful back in the previous decade! As you'll guess from the title, all the cuts here are from the vaults of CBS – beautifully remastered, and with great notes and design – in a set of tracks that include "Prem Ashram" by Asha Bhosle, "Aage Bhi Dushman" by Suresh Wadkar & Sadhana Sargam, "Baahon Me Leke Mujhe" by Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle, "Mere Jaisi Mehbooba" by Sharon Prabhakar & Bappi Lahiri, "Hero" by Amit Kumar, "Meri Akhon Mein Zara Jhanto To" by Asha Bhosle, and "Becho Becho" by Amit Kumar & Mahendra Kapoor – plus some cool instrumental tracks too! LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible bit of global jazz from the French scene at the start of the 70s – one of those really unique records that's beyond easy definition, and which really represents all the cool criss-crossings in styles that were taking place on the Parisian scene at the time! Majole Hajary was born in Suriname, raised in Amsterdam, and has a background in Indian culture – but he also works here with the very groovy French arranger Roger Guerin, who plays trumpet and does a masterful job of bringing the whole thing together – in a blend of voices, rhythms, and instrumentation that all feels like some of the more compelling work on Saravah Records at the time! Lyrics are in French, traded between a few different singers with a very spiritual vibe – and Guerin's trumpet solos over the top, often like Donald Byrd in his "with voices" mode, but hipper – especially as other instrumentation includes sitar, organ, tablas, and lots of other great elements! Titles include "Judas", "Notre Pere", "Priere", "Gethsemani", "Les Apotres", and "La Mort De Judas". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet little record from this Japanese trio – all instrumental, and put together in a style that blends elements of electro pop, electric fusion, and maybe a bit of sound library funk! The tunes are all pretty vivid – maybe evoking the scene in the title – but they also have elements that tie them more strongly to the emerging electronic groove coming from the Japanese scene at the end of the 70s – almost as if you were stripping away vocals, and coming up with spare tracks that are heavy on keyboards and other eletric touches. Titles are all in Japanese – but translate as "Aegean Fantasy", "Rose Between The Waves", "Image", "Daybreak", "Aphrodite's Mourning", and "Mykonos' Bride". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic bit of female funk from the 70s – and a set that was recorded in Germany by a very exotic singer! The album is Asha Puthli's first – and includes some unusual interpretations of work by JJ Cale, John Lennon, Bill Withers, and George Harrison – plus a great tune of her own – set to these cool backings that have lots of spacey electric modes blended with smoother funk passages – kind of a precursor to later Munich disco modes, but with a slower, slinkier feel. Asha's voice is very weird – a bit in the "love to love you baby" mode, and with a range of sounds that moves up and down the scale almost as much as Minnie Riperton. The record's got a nice mix of jazzy arrangements, and Asha's unique high-pitched vocals work great on tracks like "Lies", "Right Down Here", "I Dig Love", "Truth", "I Am A Song", "Let Me In Your Life", and "This Is Your Life". LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece of spacey soul by the great Asha Puthli – a really unique 70s singer who has this incredible vocal range, and a great way of using it amidst slinkily soulful tracks – a bit like Minnie Riperton, or maybe like some of the Sylvia Striplin work with Roy Ayers! The sound here is handled by Dieter Zimmermann – a German producer who adds in all these great keyboards that go perfectly with Asha's vocals – often hitting a midtempo pace that's quite different than some of the more disco-based material she'd record later on in the 70s. Titles include the standout break track "Space Walk", which is one of our all time favorite obscure soul tracks – and other tracks include "Wonder Why", "Hello Everyone", "Flying Fish", "The Devil Is Loose", "Good Night", and "Say Yes". LP, Vinyl record album

A totally unique album from the Brazilian scene of the 60s – a set that was recorded right in the middle of the big Tropicalia years, but which has more of the earthier touches that would emerge in the Brazilian scene during the 70s! Yet there's also a sense of tight arrangement here too – a bit like the soulful crackle that came from some of the EMI/Odeon sessions, but served up with a more folklyric sense of instrumentation – lots of percussion, cuica, and other regional elements – sometimes topped with a single horn, or maybe just a string flourish – but never in a way that dampens the earthy energy at the core! The sound is fantastic – mostly instrumental, although with some spare vocals too – and titles include "Agua Viva", "Ritual Negro", "Desengano Da Vista", "Dual", "Arabindu", "Quem Sou Eu", "Advertencia", and "Sem Sombra". LP, Vinyl record album

A Japanese-only album from Weather Report – recorded early in the group's career, and with some of the same sort of freedoms that Miles Davis was getting on his own double-length dates from Japan! The tracks here are quite stretched out, and often adventurous – showing a marked ability to jam heavily at one moment, get contemplative the next, and continually explore sounds on the frontiers of fusion in the 70s. The group's the "second chapter" Weather Report – with Wayne Shorter on reeds, Joe Zawinul on keyboards, Miroslav Vitous on bass, Eric Gravatt on drums, and Dom Um Romao on percussion – and titles include "Orange Lady", "Vertical Invader/Seventh Arrow/TH", "Surucucu/Lost/Early Minor/Direction", and "Tears/Umbrellas". LP, Vinyl record album

Tremendous early work from German saxophonist Joki Freund – a player who would go onto much greater fame in the progressive years at the end of the 60s, but who already sounds plenty darn great on this early combo side from 1963! The style of the work is incredibly hip – with a definite John Coltrane modal groove in place, but also a sense of globally conscious jazz that's very much in the spirit of classic Saba/MPS work, but which predates most of that by a number of years! Freund plays tenor and soprano sax here – in a sextet with Wolfgang Dauner on piano, Emil Mangelsdorff on flute and alto, Eberhard Weber on bass, Karl Theodor Geier on bass, and Peter Baumeister on drums – and the record is overflowing with great tunes that more than live up to the compelling title and cover image! Lots of "Eastern" styled numbers – and titles include "Aisha", "Carribean Ringo", "Yogiana", "HL 20", and "Killer Joe". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant modern jazz from German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff – recording here in 1964, but sounding years ahead of his time, with an amazing a blend of jazz and Asian styles! The album's one of Mangelsdorff's best ever – a set of rhythmic tunes that seem clearly informed by the work of Ornette and Joe Harriott, but also based along eastern themes picked up by the group on a tour of the Orient – and performed by a sharp-edged quintet that includes Heinz Sauer on tenor and soprano sax, Gunter Kronberg on alto, Gunter Lenz on bass, and Ralph Hubner on drums. There's some nice traces of MPS/Saba modal and Jazz Meets the World styles – and overall, the rhythmic pulse keeps things from getting as free and out as on Mangelsdorff's 70s sides – really soaring, but never too far out – and always with a cool exotic groove. The whole thing's great – instantly striking, and always a treasure – and titles include "Sakura Waltz", "Now Jazz Ramwong", "Raknash", "Theme From Vietnam", and "Burungkaka". LP, Vinyl record album

Really beautiful sounds from Australian pianist Judy Bailey – a musician that most folks know for her funk work of the 70s, but who was already pretty darn great, right at the start of her career! This lovely little set was recorded in Sydney's El Rocco Jazz Cellar at the start of the 60s – and it features Bailey working with a magically fluid trio with Lyn Christie on bass and John Sangster on drums – the latter of whom you might know for his later work on vibes, and who seems to already have a melodic touch on his drums here! At times, Sangster's almost got a Chico Hamilton-like sense of subtle sound and rhythmic inflection – which works very well alongside the lyrically blue piano lines from Judy. Titles include "Night Dreams", "Night & Day", "Deep Night", "You & The Night & The Music", "Round Midnight", and "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes". LP, Vinyl record album

Incredible early work from one of Germany's greatest modernists – one of the key records that showed the world that German jazz was way more than just a rehashing of American modes in the postwar years! This rare 1963 recording features the quintet of trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff – a groundbreaking unit that includes tenorist Heinz Sauer, altoist Gunter Kronberg, bassist Gunter Lenz, and drummer Ralf Hubner – a fantastic combo that comes together in a stark modernist groove that's right up there with the best work of Ornette Coleman or Joe Harriott from the time – very rhythmic, in ways that offset the freedom of the horn solos beautifully – letting the saxes and trombones soar, while the bass and drums lock into a tight groove. The no-piano, three-horn frontline is incredibly strong – bracing and powerful, but never in a way that's too cold or modern, thanks to an inherent sense of soul in allt he players. Titles include "Varie", "Ballade Fur Jessica Rose", "Club Trois", "Set Em Up", and "Tension". LP, Vinyl record album

A super-huge moment for Ozzy Osbourne – as he furthers his horror movie image, and also adds a bit more synth into the mix – maybe in a way that echoes some of the horror film soundtrack styles of the time! There's still plenty of heavy guitar on the record from Jake E Lee, and Ozzy continues to send his vocals over the top – maybe a bit more catchy with the keyboards, but still with that arch-sinister style he really let loose after leaving Sabbath! Titles include "Bark At The Moon", "Waiting for Darkness", "Slow Down", "So Tired", "Centre Of Eternity", "You're No Different", "Now You See It", and "Rock N Roll Rebel". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album in the British folk scene at the start of the 70s – one of those records that was maybe a bit ignored at the time, but which has gone on to shape the sound of generations in the decades that followed! Anne Briggs has a really haunting voice – one that's got this spare, eerie quality that maybe follows from earlier American work by a singer like Jean Ritchie – and she's also a hell of a guitarist too, playing here with a complexity and sense of sound that instantly rivals some of the greats of both the Takoma Records generation, and UK contemporaries like Bert Jansch and John Renbourn. The album mixes vocals and instrumentals beautifully – and although the sound is lean, the whole thing has a tremendously powerful sound – on titles that include "Standing On The Shore", "Tangled Man", "Clea Caught A Rabbit", "Fire & Wine", "Highlodge Hare", "Sandman's Song", "Time Has Come", and "Tidewave". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the greatest work we've ever heard from legendary British guitarist Ray Russell – a set that was not issued to the public at the time, but recorded especially for the BBC – and with a sound that's every bit as striking as his famous albums for CBS! There's maybe a slightly more inside vibe going on here – music that often has these nice modal currents, but still delivered with plenty of Ray's unusual flair and style on the guitar – in a lineup that also includes the great Harry Beckett on trumpet and flugelhorn, plus Tony Roberts on saxes, Nick Evans on trombone, Daryl Runswick on bass, and Alan Rushton on drums – a lineup who seem to understand each other intimately, whether in moments of free improvisation or cohesive swing! The record's a great addition to Russell's too-small catalog from this time – and titles include "Disinterested Bystander", "Forget To Remember", "Triple Goddess", and "Rites & Rituals". LP, Vinyl record album