Keyboardist Jorge Luis Pacheco works here mostly in a trio format, but has a way of coming across with a much broader sound – partly through his surprisingly deft command of the keyboard, which you might not expect from his youthful image on the cover – partly through the combination of the instrument with some additional layers of sound – used gently next to the bass of Helmut Reuter and drums of Thomas Hempel. Singer Anna Rabea Pacheco appears on two of the album's eight tracks, but most are instrumental – and titles include "Chan Chan", "705 Y Medio", "Sonnet 18", "To Oscar", "La Conga", and a remake of the Bee Gees classic "How Deep Is Your Love". CD

Maybe the first-ever album issued under the name of Gene Page – a set done at a time when he was an up-and-coming studio talent and arranger on the LA scene – a bit before his huge rise in that city's 70s world of soul music! The set features a few original tunes – "The Young", "The Music She Makes", and "Wanderlust" – plus some soul covers too, all arranged by Gene! LP, Vinyl record album

The complete presentation of a legendary live performance, and one that's often billed as a high moment in the history of bebop – a special concert-only group that brings together five key bop heavyweights – Charlie Parker on alto, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Bud Powell on piano, Charles Mingus on bass, and Max Roach on drums – all coming together in a unique one-off performance! The set was recorded up in Canada, and represents one of the first widely-circulated live recordings of a straight bop set – different than some of the mix of styles you'd get on a JATP record, with long tracks that really show the nonstop creative energy that shifts between the players. The original vinyl release broke the concert out into two records – both of which are united here with additional material! The set features two takes on the Quintet material – without overdubs, and with them added – on titles that include "Night In Tunisia", "Perdido", "Salt Peanuts", "All The Things You Are/52nd Street Theme", "Wee", and "Hot House". The package then also adds in the second half of the concert – a set that features the core rhythm trio, without Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie – a killer lineup that has Bud Powell on piano, Charles Mingus on bass, and Max Roach on drums! The tunes are a bit shorter than on the quintet sides, but maybe that's because Powell can always pack so much into such a short space – and Mingus has plenty of sharp small group imagination here, while Roach is a young genius, really breaking out here too. Titles include "Sure Thing", "Lullaby Of Birdland", "Jubilee", "Cherokee", and "Embraceable You". Plus, the set features a stunning solo drum performance by Max Roach – "Drum Conversation". CD

The complete presentation of a legendary live performance, and one that's often billed as a high moment in the history of bebop – a special concert-only group that brings together five key bop heavyweights – Charlie Parker on alto, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Bud Powell on piano, Charles Mingus on bass, and Max Roach on drums – all coming together in a unique one-off performance! The set was recorded up in Canada, and represents one of the first widely-circulated live recordings of a straight bop set – different than some of the mix of styles you'd get on a JATP record, with long tracks that really show the nonstop creative energy that shifts between the players. The original vinyl release broke the concert out into two records – both of which are united here with additional material! The set features two takes on the Quintet material – without bass overdubs, and with them added – on titles that include "Night In Tunisia", "Perdido", "Salt Peanuts", "All The Things You Are/52nd Street Theme", "Wee", and "Hot House". The package then also adds in the second half of the concert – a set that features the core rhythm trio, without Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie – a killer lineup that has Bud Powell on piano, Charles Mingus on bass, and Max Roach on drums! The tunes are a bit shorter than on the quintet sides, but maybe that's because Powell can always pack so much into such a short space – and Mingus has plenty of sharp small group imagination here, while Roach is a young genius, really breaking out here too. Titles include "Sure Thing", "Lullaby Of Birdland", "Jubilee", "Cherokee", and "Embraceable You". Plus, the set features a stunning solo drum performance by Max Roach – "Drum Conversation". LP, Vinyl record album

Two masters of sound and texture coming together wonderfully – in a set of live duets that feature McPhee on pocket trumpet and soprano sax, and Evan Parker on tenor! We haven't heard the players duet since their mid 00s release on Okka Disk – and this set shows an even more sympathetic meeting of minds – long tracks that slowly build and find a sonic space that's just perfect – rolling out with the kind of organic energy that Joe brought to his classic work of the late 70s, and which Parker has really reached in his own music of the past decade or two. The set features three long tracks, very improvised – with the titles "What", "If", and "They Both Could Fly". CD

A record with a very careful approach to sound – very slow-building work on soprano sax from Evan Parker, matched with equally thoughtful electronics from Matthew Wright – both players coming together in one of the most subtle executions of this mode we've ever heard! And that quality is only heightened by the fact that the group's a quartet – Peter Evans on trumpet and piccolo trumpet, and Mark Naussef on percussion – players who share the sensitivity of the dual leaders, as they build things up over long improvisations that really showcase that thoughtful sonic sensitivity that's always made Parker such a distinct reedman on the European scene. The whole thing is definitely a free jazz expression of electro/acoustic ideals first forged in the middle of the 20th Century – and titles include "At Altitude", "Drawing Breath", and "Engaged In Seeking". CD

Wicked work by pianist Horace Parlan – and one of his most stunning Blue Note sessions ever! The album was first recorded in 1963, but then kept on the shelf for years – seeing only brief release as part of a Booker Ervin package in the late 70s, and finally coming out with the proper cover and lineup at some point in the 80s! Why Blue Note waited so long is a mystery, because the album's a gem throughout – almost more important, and more starkly modern than any of Parlan's other work for the label. Booker Ervin leads the frontline on tenor, alongside Johnny Coles on trumpet, Grant Green on guitar, and the rhythm section of Butch Warren and Billy Higgins. Parlan's choice of material is fantastic – with a number of Africanist tracks that feature unique rhythmic patterns that really push the soloists! Titles include "A Tune For Richard", "Dexi", "Home Is Africa", "Kucheza Blues", and "Back From The Gig". CD

Guitar man Joel Paterson always has a great way with a Holiday record – maybe echoing the Chet Atkins sound of the past, but also bringing in a bit more jazz as well – all while working on the array of cool guitars pictured on the cover! As that image attests, Joel also plays a bit of steel guitar – an instrument that's handled with a wonderfully deft style, in a trio with Beau Sample on bass and Alex Hall on drums and percussion. Titles include "Christmas Island", "Christmas Guitar Boogie", "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Please Come Home For Christmas", "Here Comes Santa Claus", "Let It Snow", and "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer". LP, Vinyl record album

Legendary Paramount recordings from Charlie Patton – mostly recorded in Richmond, Indiana in 1929 – but easily some of the most important Mississippi blues of the time! The package features a wealth of seminal songs from the June, 1929 session that really helped launch the Patton legacy – tracks that are arguably as important to the development of blues as the work of Robert Johnson, and which quite possibly circulated even more at the time. Patton's got a slightly folksy approach, and a sense of darkness that really makes most of these numbers very riveting, even all these many decades later – an acoustic brilliance that's had folks coming back to his music time and time again over the years.. CD features 20 titles in all – and tracks include "Screamin & Hollerin The Blues", "Pea Vine Blues", "Hammer Blues", "Dry Well Blues", "Poor Me", "Hang It On The Wall", "Down The Dirt Road Blues", "Mississippi Boweavil Blues", and "Tom Rushen Blues". CD

An interesting look at MTV and its Canadian counterpart, MuchMusic – both of whom are considered back in the glory days, when they still focused on music! Author Kip Pegley traces similarities and differences in both programming and the way the networks interact with a larger cultural milieu – using a mix of history, analysis, and statistical data through examinations of larger cultural impact, including on issues of race and gender. The book is tighter than most academic books of this nature – and moves quickly through a great range of material, offering up more detail in the very large section of notes and appendix materials at the back. Softcover edition is 159 pages, with some black and white images. Book

The incredible start of Pere Ubu – music that burst onto the world from the Ohio scene of the mid 70s – at a time when nobody might have expected such fervent sounds to be coming from the Midwest! David Thomas and the group are years ahead of their time with this material – channeling some of the more staid arty rock of the period with early punk energy that had yet to be given a name – all with a mix of avant phrasing and wit that's much more like UK work of the post-punk generation to come! The package is a stunning tribute to this important explosion of sound – and features the full first two albums, The Modern Dance and Dub Housing – plus a full live at Max's Kansas City concert from 1977 – and the totally amazing Hearpen singles, including "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", "Heart Of Darkness", "Final Solution", "Cloud 149", "Street Waves", "Modern Dance", and "Heaven". Comes in a nice booklet with notes, too! CD

Oscar Peterson takes on two famous scores – back to back on a single CD! West Side Story features music from the famous musical – but handled here by the great Oscar Peterson Trio – in ways that really push the tunes past their Broadway roots! The approach is tight, soulful, and filled with strong lines from Peterson on piano – plus bass by Ray Brown and drums from Ed Thigpen – that classic trio from the early 60s that came together in different ways than Oscar's group of the 50s. The set features an especially nice long take on "Jet Song" – plus versions of "Something's Coming", "Somewhere", "Tonight", "Maria", and "I Feel Pretty". Porgy & Bess is less an interpretation of Porgy & Bess than an extrapolation of its themes – one that lets the Peterson trio recraft the music into their own! Given that the Porgy & Bess theme had been explored heavily by many other jazz albums of the late 50s – due to the release of the film at the time – Peterson clearly knows he's got to take a different approach here, and manages to dissect the tunes in really unique ways – bringing in gentleness where it wasn't before, and finding space for new music between notes that are already familiar. Of course, it helps a lot that he's got Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums – as the album's almost a three-pronged melodic attack – with great versions of titles that include "Summertime", "I Got Plenty O Nuttin", "I Wants To Stay Here", "Oh Lawd I'm On My Way", "Bess You Is My Woman Now", and "Bess Oh Where's My Bess". CD

A great one from Shawn Phillips – a set that has more of the jazzy tones of his later work coming to the forefront – in a sound that's fuller, richer than before – with larger orchestrations by Paul Buckmaster and Ian Green, and a growing sense of groove that's made Shawn one of the best examples of the early 70s folk funk generation! There's a tightly vamping energy to most of the best numbers that's really great – and a slightly jazzy sensibility too, even when things still sound mostly folksy overall. Titles include "Song For Mr C", "Sleepwalker", "Keep On", "Song For Sagittarians", "Steel Eyes", "Schmaltz Waltz", and "F Sharp Splendor". CD

Incredibly messed-up funk – a 70s instrumental classic that's delighted our ears for years! The set's got a cosmic sound that mixes together conventional guitar-based funky with some weird electronic touches at times – going for a fuzzed-out moogy quality that really deepens the groove – and which goes even further on those tunes that push the basslines all the way into the red! The group's headed by McKinley Jackson, and features some ex-members of Parliament – all coming together in a full, rich sound that almost has traces of soundtrack sophistication at times – yet which manages to come across with the burning energy of a funky 45! The album includes the classics "Funky Toes" and "Psycha-Soula-Funkadelic" – plus the group's legendary take on "Free Your Mind", a sample classic from years back! Great stuff if you dig a fuzzy Westbound sort of funk groove – and other tracks include "Church", "The World We Live In", "Everything Good Is Bad", "Speak On It", and "Politician's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

Incredibly messed-up funk – a 70s instrumental classic that's delighted our ears for years! The set's got a cosmic sound that mixes together conventional guitar-based funky with some weird electronic touches at times – going for a fuzzed-out moogy quality that really deepens the groove – and which goes even further on those tunes that push the basslines all the way into the red! The group's headed by McKinley Jackson, and features some ex-members of Parliament – all coming together in a full, rich sound that almost has traces of soundtrack sophistication at times – yet which manages to come across with the burning energy of a funky 45! The album includes the classics "Funky Toes" and "Psycha-Soula-Funkadelic" – plus the group's legendary take on "Free Your Mind", a sample classic from years back! Great stuff if you dig a fuzzy Westbound sort of funk groove – and other tracks include "Church", "The World We Live In", "Everything Good Is Bad", "Speak On It", and "Politician's Theme". Features bonus tracks "Love Machine (parts 1 & 2)". CD

Incredibly messed-up funk – a 70s instrumental classic that's delighted our ears for years! The set's got a cosmic sound that mixes together conventional guitar-based funky with some weird electronic touches at times – going for a fuzzed-out moogy quality that really deepens the groove – and which goes even further on those tunes that push the basslines all the way into the red! The group's headed by McKinley Jackson, and features some ex-members of Parliament – all coming together in a full, rich sound that almost has traces of soundtrack sophistication at times – yet which manages to come across with the burning energy of a funky 45! The album includes the classics "Funky Toes" and "Psycha-Soula-Funkadelic" – plus the group's legendary take on "Free Your Mind", a sample classic from years back! Great stuff if you dig a fuzzy Westbound sort of funk groove – and other tracks include "Church", "The World We Live In", "Everything Good Is Bad", "Speak On It", and "Politician's Theme". Features bonus tracks "Love Machine (parts 1 & 2)". CD

Three wonderful albums from this legendary Brazilian singer – all presented in a single set! First up is Nothing Will Be As It Was Tomorrow – a record that's quite different from Flora's earlier work, but in a way that we find very compelling! The record was produced by Leon Ndugu Chancler, and it's got a smooth fusion sound that's kind of in a southern California R&B mode, played by a huge range of excellent Brazilian and west coast talents that include Patrice Rushen, Dorothy Ashby, Fred Jackson, Raul De Souza, Toninho Horta, and Airto. While this sound overwhelms the core of Flora's usual Brazilian jazz approach, it also expands some of the tracks to a great groove – with Flora's vocals on top, stretching out in a whole new way! Includes a great English language version of the Milton Nascimento classic "Nada Sera Como Antes", plus the cuts "You Love Me Only", "I'm Coming For Your Love", "Corre Nina", "Angels", "Bridges", and "Fairy Tale Song". Every Day Every Night is a beautifully soulful record from Flora Purim – still awash with touches from her Brazilian roots, but also done with a great 70s LA sound! Airto's helping Flora out on production, but the real hero here is Michel Colombier – who handles most of the arrangements and wrote a good deal of the tunes with Purim and Airto – mixing his own expansive studio talents with their organically-forged groove, in a way that makes the record a real standout from the California fusion scene of the 70s! Players include Randy Brecker, Lee Ritenour, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Harvey Mason, and other jazz heavyweights – and titles include "The Hope", "I Just Don't Know", "In Brasil", "Blues Ballad", "Why I'm Alone", "Walking Away", and "Samba Michel". Carry On is one of Flora Purim's more R&B-sounding albums from the 70s, produced by George Duke with an appreciation for Flora's Brazilian jazz roots, but with a smoother sound that's in keeping with Duke's own work of the time! The combination is pretty sweet – a professional culmination of the mixture of fusion and Brazilian jazz that had been happening in the San Francisco scene during most of the 70s, and featuring many of the musicians who had helped make that groove so strong. Players include Airto, Sheila Escovedo, Joe Farrell, Ronnie Foster, Bobby Lyle, and Larry Williams – and tracks include "Niura Is Coming Back", "From The Lonely Afternoon", "Freeway Jam", "Beijo Partido", "Corine", and "Love Lock". Includes bonus tracks too – "Tango Blues" and "Sad Song". CD

Quite different from Flora's earlier work, but in a way that we find quite compelling! The record was produced by Leon Ndugu Chancler, and it's got a smooth fusion sound that's kind of in a southern California R&B mode, played by a huge range of excellent Brazilian and west coast talents that include Patrice Rushen, Dorothy Ashby, Fred Jackson, Raul De Souza, Toninho Horta, and Airto. While this sound overwhelms the core of Flora's usual Brazilian jazz approach, it also expands some of the tracks to a great groove – with Flora's vocals on top, stretching out in a whole new way! Includes a great English language version of the Milton Nascimento classic "Nada Sera Como Antes", plus the cuts "You Love Me Only", "I'm Coming For Your Love", "Corre Nina", "Angels", "Bridges", and "Fairy Tale Song". LP, Vinyl record album

Really wonderful work from Sun Ra – a host of recordings cut at the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Fest in the early 70s – always a very welcoming audience for the Arkestra at the time! We're not sure what was in the water, but it always seems like the group really hit their stride at the festival – opening up with a force and intensity that really goes past some of their other recordings! It's almost as if the enthusiastic mix of ages and cultures present really ignited the best energies in the Arkestra – having them hit the kind of righteous crescendo of their best Space Is The Place identity – and even some of the more avant, outside moments have a focus that the group hardly seems to reach this well! The material is from the John Sinclair archives – originally issued on the CDs Life Is Splendid, Outer Space Employment Agency, and It Is Forbidden – but somehow sounding even more amazing in a tight package like this – with loads of amazing keyboards from Ra, soulful vocals from June Tyson, Cheryl Banks, and Judith Holton, and wonderful supporting reeds from the Arkestra. Titles include "Space Is The Place", "Enlightenment", "What Planet Is This", "Immeasurable", "Love In Outer Space", "Watusi", "Images", and some great untitled improvisations. CD

Amazing grooves like you've never heard before – seminal sides by Salah Ragab and his Cairo Jazz Band – work done by the percussionist who'd also worked with Sun Ra, but who's even more amazing here on his own! As you can probably guess from their name, the ensemble was an Egyptian one – working in an incredible blend of jazz and more traditional Egyptian-styled sounds – a blend that comes across with all the exotic feel of the pyramids at dawn, but which manages to groove like some of the best funky work from America at the time! Instrumentation includes lot of percussion, heavy piano and horns, and some especially great flute on most tracks – all coming together with a sound that's unlike anything else we've heard before. This collection is the first time that this music has been brought together officially, all with the kind of top-shelf production and packaging we've come to expect from the Art Yard label! Titles include "Ramadan In Space Time", "Neveen", "Kleopatra", "Mervat", and "Oriental Mood". LP, Vinyl record album