Don't hold the cover against it, because this is a pretty great little record – one with far more depth than you might guess from the image of Eydie holding oversized ice cream cones on the front! The album's an early solo effort from Gorme – an obscure Coral session that features arrangements from Neal Hefti, Dick Jacobs, and Monty Kelly – all of whom bring in a nice range of sensitivity to the setting. And while there's a bit less of the playful sort of tunes that Eydie usually sings with Steve, they're replaced by some great straight ballads. Steve guest stars on great versions of "Besame Mucho" and "Take A Deep Breath" – and other tracks include "Frenesi", "Fini", "That Night Of Heaven", "Give A Fool A Chance", "Don't Tell Lies", and "Tell Me More" CD

Bobby Hutcherson breaks it down in two different ways – solo on the first half of the record, and in a quartet on the rest! The set begins in a very spare way – Bobby playing vibes, marimba, xylophone, and bells – often a bit overdubbed, so that although alone, Hutcherson fills the tracks with a rich palette of sound – glowingly rhythmic lines that ring out with plenty of soul, and showcase a really under-tapped side of Bobby's talents! Remaining tracks are equally great, but in a totally different way – played by a righteous lineup that includes McCoy Tyner on piano, Herbie Lewis on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – really working together beautifully in ways that make the album feel like a lost 70s soul jazz set. Forget Hutcherson's slick look on the cover – because this album's drenched in open, honest, acoustic feeling – a rich tapestry of sound and emotion, on tracks that include "Gotcha", "The Ice Cream Man", "For You Mom & Dad", "Messina", "My Foolish Heart", and "La Alhambra". CD

We love this Jazz Liisa series from Finland – as it features unreleased work from the 70s, but which matches the quality of some of our favorite German and Japanese jazz records of the time! The first half of the set was recorded for Finnish radio, and features a group that really shows the power of that scene at the time! The lineup features trumpeter Mike Koskinen at the helm – blowing in a much more outside way than some of his later studio albums, with a cascading array of tones and soundshapes that recall some of the hipper British work of the end of the 60s – such as records like Mike Westbrook or Michael Gibbs – both of whom would be good comparisons here, especially in the tension between the idea of the group, and the strong solos of the individual members. Other players include Juhani Aaltonen on tenor and flute, Mircea Stan on trombone, Kaj Backlund on trumpet, Pekka Poyry on flute and soprano sax, Olli Ahvenlahti on piano and Fender Rhodes, and Edward Vesala on drums – and titles include "PS DC", "Murusia 2", "Numero Puolitoista", "Song For Sally", and "Peretelmia". On the second half, Otto Dorner's just the conductor on the set – but it's also clear that he's a very musically-minded fellow, as the action he gets from the group on the session is really wonderful! The players are all sharp-edged instrumentalists who represent the cream of the Finnish jazz scene of the time – Juhani Aaltonen on tenor and flute, Markku Johansson on trumpet, Seppo Paakkunainen on baritone, and Christer Boustedt on alto – all musicians who really bring a lot of their individual voices to the performance, and are given great space to solo by Donner – in a way that reminds us of some of the more open-ended bigger band performances from the MPS Records releases of the early 70s. Titles include "Och Tusen Tusen Strala Ock", "For Her", and "Saxballad". CD

Includes the 30 minute title piece, plus a short adaptation of Samuel Beckett's "What Is The Word" – read by Cream bassist Jack Bruce! CD

A legendary bit of Latin fusion from the 70s – one of the few albums ever recorded by vibist Bobby Vince Paunetto, and a monster! The session was recorded in New York with a cream-of-the-crop group that includes Tom Harrell, Ronnie Cuber, and Ed Byrne – but the real highlight of the session is Bobby, whose work on vibes, and unique angular way of cutting a groove is simply amazing. The record is a sublime blend of electric and acoustic playing – soaring with the majesty of an underground soul jazz release, but beats with the heart of a smoking Latin combo! The album's incredible all the way through – and tracks include "Spanish Maiden", "Good Bucks", "Delta", "Taz", and "Dragon Breath". CD

An incredible album – and one of the most revolutionary rock albums of the late 60s! The Who recorded this one as a tribute to mainstream radio at the time – linking together some solid stand alone tunes with shorter, wittier tracks that were recorded as commercials for products that included baked beans, acne cream, and deodorant – as well as cool announcer bits too! The end result is one of the most sonically complex records issued by a mainstream rock act of the time – sort of like The Who said "yeah, everyone's trying to copy Sgt Peppers with big arrangements, but we'll take this concept album thing in a whole new direction!" Brilliant all the way through, and with tracks that include "Armenia City In The Sky", "Heinz Baked Beans", "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand", "I Can See For Miles", "I Can't Reach You", "Rale", "Sunrise", and "Silas Stingy". CD features some great bonus tracks too – including "Glow Girl" and "Early Morning Cold Taxi". CD

An incredible album – and one of the most revolutionary rock albums of the late 60s! The Who recorded this one as a tribute to mainstream radio at the time – linking together some solid stand alone tunes with shorter, wittier tracks that were recorded as commercials for products that included baked beans, acne cream, and deodorant – as well as cool announcer bits too! The end result is one of the most sonically complex records issued by a mainstream rock act of the time – sort of like The Who said "yeah, everyone's trying to copy Sgt Peppers with big arrangements, but we'll take this concept album thing in a whole new direction!" Brilliant all the way through, and with tracks that include "Armenia City In The Sky", "Heinz Baked Beans", "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand", "I Can See For Miles", "I Can't Reach You", "Rale", "Sunrise", and "Silas Stingy". CD features an insane 53 tracks in all – both mono and stereo versions of the album, plus 27 bonus tracks that include additional songs, commercials, and previously unreleased versions – titles that include "Things Go Better With Coke", "Rael Naive", "Relax (early demo)", "Rotosound Strings (with final note)", "Girl's Eyes", "Sodding About", "In The Hall Of The Mountain King", "Top Gear", "Rael 1 & 2 (remake)", and "Coke After Coke". CD

Amazing sounds from Frank Zappa – and a record that showed the world that he was also one hell of an arranger too! The album's got all the offbeat, tripped-out qualities that you'd expect from late 60s Zappa – but at times, it's also got this tightness that's really amazing – almost as if Frank's showing the world that he can easily do the same things as the studio wizards of LA pop – but chooses to keep most of his efforts on the wrong side of the tracks! There's plenty of larger backings at points – handled by some of the cream of the crop of the LA studio and jazz scene – but other moments are pretty darn raw, and have a gritty, almost homemade sound collage feel. CD

50 Trojan master cuts on 3 CDs – all original, unfettered with deep reggae masters! Many of these 60s & 70s cuts went on to be pop hits in later covers by Blondie, UB40, Selector, Shaggy, and many others, but these reggae, rocksteady, and ska originals are as the title informs, the real deal by the cream of the Trojan roster! 50 cuts on three CDs, including "Cherry Oh, Baby" by Eric Donaldson, "Many Rivers To Cross" by Jimmy Cliff, "I Will Never Let You"by Cornell Campbell, "Wear You To The Ball" by U-Roy, "Mr. Fix It" by Max Romeo, "Sweet Sensation" by the Melodians, "Johnny Too Bad" by the Slickers, "Groovin' Out On Life" by Ken Parker, "Soul Rebel" by Bob Marley & The Wailers, "My Best Girl" & "The Tide Is High" by the Paragons, "Blood & Fire" by Niney the Observer, "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah", "Time Hard" & "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" by The Pioneers, "Red Red Wine" by Tony Tribe, "Crying Over You" & "Everything I Own " by Ken Boothe, "Love Of The Common People" by Nicky Thomas, "Rudy A Message To You" by Dandy Livingstone, "Monkey Man" by the Maytals and tons more! CD

A fantastic and ambitious project that's in the best tradition of the Jazz Composers Orchestra – a set that features music by Carla Bley and words by Paul Haines – in an extended set that mixes avant jazz instrumentation with spoken passages by a surprising lineup of voices – including Bley, Jack Bruce, Don Cherry, Jeanne Lee, and even Linda Ronstadt! Musicians are the cream of the crop of the international avant scene at the time – and include Roswell Rudd on trombone, Gato Barbieri on tenor, Perry Robinson on clarinet, Carla Bley on organ, Don Preston on moog, Michael Mantler on ring modulated piano, Paul Motian on drums, Charlie Haden on bass, John McLaughlin on guitar, and many others – too numerous to mention here! CD

A wild batch of jazz rock tunes – recorded by ex-Cream bassist Jack Bruce, along with a host of like-minded luminaries that include Chris Spedding, Harry Beckett, Dick Heckstall-Smith, and John Hisemann. Unlike Bruce's first solo album – Things We Like – which was an all-jazz outing, this album features Bruce singing as well, and an overall approach that has more of a rock-based song structure – yet still many of the expansive styles embraced by the Brit jazz rock generation of the time. Titles include "Rope Ladder To The Moon", "Theme For An Imaginary Western", "Tickets To Water Falls", and "The Clearout". CD

Quite possibly the best of the solo albums by ex-Cream bassist Jack Bruce – recorded immediately after the breakup of the band, with a great jazz-based lineup that includes John McLaughlin on guitar, Dick Heckstall-Smith on reeds, and Jon Hiseman on drums. The set's totally instrumental – and the choppy reed work of Heckstall-Smith is the strongest asset of the album, as he virtually sets the tone for a whole generation of European funky honkers to come for the next 10 years. Bruce's bass work is great too – and really pushes the album into some great moments, a few of which actually get a bit funky! Titles include "Over The Cliff", "Statues", "Sam's Sack", "Rill's Thrills", "Hckhh Blues", "Ballad For Arthur", and "Things We Like". CD features the bonus track "Ageing Jack Bruce, Three, From Scotland, England". CD

We're not normally ones to rave about electric blues albums, but this one's a lot nicer than you might think – recorded with plenty of deep soul touches, and even a dose of funk in the right places! We hate to admit it, but a big part of the credit here goes to Eric Clapton – who produced most of the record and gives Buddy and Junior a tightness that's missing from some of their other records of the time. There's almost a post-Cream sort of groove to the record – that "hipper than rock" sensibility that colored many of Clapton's old group members' projects for Atlantic in the years after Cream disbanded. But of course, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells are the real stars of the set – and the record's good enough to make even jaded Chicago residents like us appreciate their talents here! Titles include "A Poor Man's Plea", "My Baby She Left Me", "A Man Of Many Words", "I Don't Know", and "This Old Fool". CD

A 2CD tribute to the mighty Eddie Palmieri – one that's filled with some of his best work from the 60s and 70s! The 30 track collection features work from Eddie's key early years at the Alegre and his amazing mid period years on Tico – plus a few standout tracks from other labels like Coco and Barbaro, which stand as proof that Palmieri was always improving his groove as the years went on. The musical portrait here is a really amazing one – an evolution of sound that few other Latin musicians can match, served up with a great package that includes writings on Eddie's career and music. Titles include "Chocolate Ice Cream", "Ay Que Rico", "Palo De Mango", "Justicia", "Tema La Perfecta", "We've Loved Before", "Resemblance", "Cuidate Compay", "Azucar", "Cafe", "Si Echo Palante", "Lazaro Y Su Microfono", "Nada De Ti", "Una Rosa Espanola", "La Verdad", and "La Malanga". CD

A refresher collection of prime Prince – the biggest hits from the Warner and Paisley Park eras – including the long versions of the some of the best 80s and early 90s cuts! The first disc is a straight up greatest hits collection, starting with "I Wanna Be Your Lover" from the self titled LP and ending with "My Name Is Prince from the "Love Symbol" album – and includes many of the biggest hits in between! Other tracks include "Uptown", "Controversy", "1999", "Delirious", "When Doves Cry", "Purple Rain", "Sign O' The Times", "Gett Off", "Nothing Compares 2 U", and more. Disc 2 includes 11 remixes and/or alternate versions of other essential hits that do not appear on the first CD – including the longer original 12" versions, and similarly extended numbers – carrying everything great about the album versions, and giving you more! Tracks include "Let's Go Crazy (special dance mix)", "Little Red Corvette (dance remix)", "Pop Life (fresh dance mix)", "Rasperry Beret (12" version)", "U Got The Look (long look)", "Theives In The Temple (remix)" and "Cream (NPG mix)". 28 tracks on 2CDs! CD

2 different albums from Swamp Dogg – one recorded at the beginning of the 70s, one at the end of the decade, but both for the Hi/Cream label, which gives the material a more unified sound than you'd expect. The tracks are perhaps a bit less over the top than some of Swamp's recordings for other labels, but they still have his strong commitment to rough-edged soul – as you'll hear on the 18 tracks that include "Hang On, I'll Save You", "Sam Stone", "Complication No 5", "If It Hadn't Been For Sly", "Come A Little Closer Baby", "Mind Over What's The Matter", "What's Left For Y'Awll To Do", "In My Resume", "Captain Of Your Ship", and "Your Last Dirty Trick". CD

Pretty well peak era material from pianist Cecil Taylor – doing his thing with incredible line up of jazz greats on a couple NYC dates from early 1961! A couple of the pieces here are pure magic – we're especially loving the bits where Cecil is kind of hitting the keys heavily, spurring the players from a comfortable, measured gait into something a bit more feral, but it never busts wide open, creating a dynamic tension. The cream of the crop are on board, including Clark Terry, Roswell Rudd, Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp and Billy Higgins. The numbers mostly run north of 8 minutes, for a nicely loose, lingering groove, and titles include "Jumpin' Punkins", "OP", "O Forgot" and "Things Ain't What They Used To Be". CD

An incredible album – and one of the most revolutionary rock albums of the late 60s! The Who recorded this one as a tribute to mainstream radio at the time – linking together some solid stand alone tunes with shorter, wittier tracks that were recorded as commercials for products that included baked beans, acne cream, and deodorant – as well as cool announcer bits too! The end result is one of the most sonically complex records issued by a mainstream rock act of the time – sort of like The Who said "yeah, everyone's trying to copy Sgt Peppers with big arrangements, but we'll take this concept album thing in a whole new direction!" Brilliant all the way through, and with tracks that include "Armenia City In The Sky", "Heinz Baked Beans", "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand", "I Can See For Miles", "I Can't Reach You", "Rale", "Sunrise", and "Silas Stingy". CD features some great bonus tracks too – including "Glow Girl" and "Early Morning Cold Taxi". CD

Incredible work from Spencer Wiggins – a late 60s Memphis singer who travelled in the same circles as James Carr, Percy Sledge, and Otis Redding, but who hardly ever got his due – despite talents that were clearly equal to his contemporaries! This beautifully-done set brings together 22 tracks that Wiggins recorded for Goldwax Records in the late 60s – a label that was also home to Carr's best work, and who does an equally great job with Spencer's deep-burning vocals on these sides. Many of the tracks on the set were written by the cream of the crop of southern soul writers at the time – George Jackson, Quinton Claunch, Isaac Hayes, and others – and backings are often spare and subtle, really letting Wiggins' vocals take center stage! CD features 20 tracks in all, plus some incredible notes – and titles include "The Kind Of Woman That's Got No Heart", "Old Friend", "Once In A While Is Better Than Never At All", "He's Too Old", "Soul City USA", "Walking Out On You", "Who's Been Warming My Oven", "I'll Be True To You", and "Anything You Do Is All Right". CD

Two excellent albums of funky organ work from the great Reuben Wilson! Both sides were recorded for Groove Merchant after Reuben left Blue Note – and they're actually a lot better than his work for Blue Note, as they have him opening up his groove a lot more, funking it up in a mode that's a lot like Johnny Hammond's work for Kudu. The set features 13 tracks in all – including Reuben's great cover of "Inner City Blues" that was sampled by Tribe Called Quest, plus other funky numbers like "Cream Puff", "The Cisco Kid", "Sweet Life", "I'll Take You There", "Groove Grease", "Snaps", and "Superfly". CD

A nice overview of the best of the Wu Tang Clan – from their revolutionary early tracks to their best later singles! You'd never have guessed earlier in the 00s that their label would have taken the care to license the best tracks from the BMG and Sony years for one collection – at best, we'd have guessed there would be a great BMG "best of" and a so-so Sony "best of". Alas, those giant labels groups merged into one mighty monster, so here we are with a stellar Wu Tang sampler from all four albums to date! 16 tracks in all: "CREAM", "Method Man (Skunk mix)", "Protect Ya Neck (Bloody version)", "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin' To F Wit", "Can It All Be So Simple", "Reunited", "It's Yourz", "Gravel Pit", "Uzi (Pinky Ring)", "Shaolin Worldwide", "Diesel" and more. CD

Amazing sounds from Frank Zappa – and a record that showed the world that he was also one hell of an arranger too! The album's got all the offbeat, tripped-out qualities that you'd expect from late 60s Zappa – but at times, it's also got this tightness that's really amazing – almost as if Frank's showing the world that he can easily do the same things as the studio wizards of LA pop – but chooses to keep most of his efforts on the wrong side of the tracks! There's plenty of larger backings at points – handled by some of the cream of the crop of the LA studio and jazz scene – but other moments are pretty darn raw, and have a gritty, almost homemade sound collage feel. CD

A very well-titled set – and the best so far in this cutting-edge series! The "beats and pieces" this time around are mostly underground club tracks from the past few years – the cream of the crop of the best bits that hit our New Grooves section, often served up in harder-to-find mixes that represent the best version of the tunes so far! There's no overall stylistic logic to the set, which is what makes it so great – as mellow soul steps into funky club, into spacey fusion, global house, 21st century groove, then dancefloor jazz! 2CD set features 22 tracks that include "Wake Up" by Herbert, "La Malanga (Kenny Dope rmx)" by Bobby Hutcherson, "Fall Into You" by Stateless, "Hot In Here" by Tiga with Jake Shears, "Take Off (Nicola Conte's Campi's Idea version)" by Nathan Haines and Marco Di Marco, "Bukom Mashie" by Oscar Sulley & The Uhuru Dance Band, "Somebody New" by Georg Levin with Clara Hill, "Besides Myself" by DJ Shaheer Williams, "Timbuktu" by Pan African Electronic Beats, "Someone To Love" by Crusho, "Love & War (version)" by Amp Fiddler, "Forty Days" by Billy Brooks, and "Fall Into You" by Stateless. CD

Nice 50 track compilation with music from the Byrds, the Turtles, Vanilla Fudge, the Electric Prunes, Spirit, the Leaves, Love, the Beach Boys, Moby Grape, Donovan, Cream, July, the Move, and much more. CD

A motherlode of Big Star – a fantastic box set featuring nearly 100 songs on 4CDs, more than half of which are previously unreleased – including hard grooving demos, killer live versions, and alternate takes of many classic numbers – as well as the cream of the crop of their uber-essential 70s LP tracks! Big Star get the most props these days as progenitors of powerpop, an accolade they more than earned, but there's an irreplaceable soulful Memphis vibe in their music that's as sweet as can be. Masterful material from one of our favorite rock groups of all time, produced impeccably by the band the great Jim Dickenson. The first 3 discs features a mix of unreleased material and classic album tracks from all 3 of the original studio albums and those more: "Psychedelic Stuff" (original mix), "Try Again" (early version), "Don't Lie To Me", "Country Morn", "Way Out West". "O My Soul", "What's Goin Ahn", "I'm In Love With A Girl", "In The Street", "Dream Lover", "Big Black Car", "Jesus Christ", "Femme Fatale" and many more! The 4th disc features a live set at Lafayette's Music Room, in Memphis TN with 20 tracks, plus this disc is enhanced with "Thirteen" (alternate mix video), featuring what's labeled as the only existing film footage of the band. CD

A fantastic and ambitious project that's in the best tradition of the Jazz Composers Orchestra – a set that features music by Carla Bley and words by Paul Haines – in an extended set that mixes avant jazz instrumentation with spoken passages by a surprising lineup of voices – including Bley, Jack Bruce, Don Cherry, Jeanne Lee, and even Linda Ronstadt! Musicians are the cream of the crop of the international avant scene at the time – and include Roswell Rudd on trombone, Gato Barbieri on tenor, Perry Robinson on clarinet, Carla Bley on organ, Don Preston on moog, Michael Mantler on ring modulated piano, Paul Motian on drums, Charlie Haden on bass, John McLaughlin on guitar, and many others – too numerous to mention here! CD

Some of the rarest work ever by Sonny Criss – and a key link between his LA bop sides of the mid 50s, and his Prestige comeback sides of the late 60s! The CD features tracks from a rare album that Criss cut in Paris during the early 60s, while he was living in the city and working with the cream of its jazz players. This all-star set has Criss blowing some wonderfully soulful alto in a combo that includes Georges Arvanitas on organ and piano, Rene Thomas on guitar, Pierre Michelot on bass, and Philippe Combelle on drums. The original album is one of the rarest sides we've ever found ourselves looking for over the years – and it's wonderful to have the material back out again with such great fidelity! It's wonderful to hear Criss blowing with an organ/guitar group – but even the piano tracks are pretty darn great. Titles include "Early & Later (parts 1 & 2)", "St Louis Blues", "Once In a While", "Green Dolphin Street", and "Day Dream". CD

A really seminal album from Fela Kuti – searing live set that's presented with drummer Ginger Baker – formerly of Cream, and a huge supporter of Fela's music on the UK scene! Baker had already picked up a lot of Fela's influence in his music – and his presence here made for a key moment of global exposure for the new Afro Funk sound that Fela was creating with his Africa 70 group – playing here as part of the ensemble, which oddly doesn't seem to include Baker at all. That hardly matters, though, as the young Tony Allen is on drums, and the set features great trumpet from Tunde Williams and tenor from Igo Chiko – really wailing alongside Fela on the long tracks "Egbe Me O", "Ye Ye De Smell", "Black Man's Cry", and "Let's Start". CD

Seminal work from British tenor giant Tubby Hayes – one of his greatest, and most ambitious albums ever! The album features Tubby at the head of a larger ensemble of jazz musicians, working through his own arrangements of jazz standards – re-worked and expanded in ways that practically turn them into completely different tunes. Players on the set include the cream of British jazz of the mid 60s – like Kenny Wheeler, Ronnie Ross, Ronnie Scott, and Gordon Beck – and Tubby plays vibes and flute in addition to tenor, working in an open-ended style that is tremendously evocative. Titles include "Nutty", "Milestones", "Sonnymoon For Two", and "Night In Tunisia" – all done in very different versions than usual! The set also features Tubby's own "100% Proof" – a really great track in its own right! CD

Raw, sweet, deadpan pop songs about summer mornings, the ice cream man, rollercoasters, and cars from the strangely whimsical Jonathan Richman! This is Jonathan's third album for Beserkely (and the second to come out in early '77) – and the true beginning of the second phase of his career, which cast him as an oddball manchild who rattled out weird, three chord tunes about whatever seemed to be going through his development-arrested mind at the time. It's all still very sweet, very catchy, and all about acoustic stream of consciousness cuteness. This was all still very amazing in the mid 70s – well before tongue-in-cheek hipsters like the Violent Femmes used Richmond-esque quirkiness as pure gimmickery. It may a notch below his previous couple of classic albums – but Rock And Roll is still a gem! "The Sweeping Wind", "Ice Cream Man", "Summer Morning", "Fly Into Mystery", "Roller Coaster By The Sea", "Coomyah", "Egyptian Reggae", and "The Wheels On The Bus". CD

Classic Art Pepper material, recorded in one of his comeback periods, and featuring the famous Richard Claxton photo of Art Holding his horn next to a tree. There's several different lineups featured, with a coupl of quintet and quartet sides, and a few with larger horn section, and the sidemen are the cream of the West coast jazz crop, including Bud Shank, Chet Baker, Curtis Counce, Leroy Vinnegar, Mel Lewis, Stan Levey and Lawrence Marable. 9 numbers in all, with rousing takes on standards like "What Is This Thing Called Love" and "A Foggy Day" and Pepper originals "Diane A Flow", "Zenobia", and "Powder Puff". CD

One of Cecil Taylor's most striking albums of the 60s – and one of the few in which he works with a larger than usual group – not a trio or quartet, but an ultra-hip sextet! The lineup is incredible – the cream of the arch-modern players of the avant era, including Bill Dixon on trumpet, Jimmy Lyons on alto, Andrew Cyrille on drums, and both Henry Grimes and Alan Silva on bass – a double-use of the instrument that's really tremendous. Cecil himself plays with a firey style that's got the best energy of some of his earlier European recordings, but a tighter approach that's even more compelling. The album features 2 long tracks: "Conquistador", which is very free and wild; and "With (Exit)", which is a bit more subdued, but not too much! CD

One of Cecil Taylor's most striking albums of the 60s – and one of the few in which he works with a larger than usual group – not a trio or quartet, but an ultra-hip sextet! The lineup is incredible – the cream of the arch-modern players of the avant era, including Bill Dixon on trumpet, Jimmy Lyons on alto, Andrew Cyrille on drums, and both Henry Grimes and Alan Silva on bass – a double-use of the instrument that's really tremendous. Cecil himself plays with a firey style that's got the best energy of some of his earlier European recordings, but a tighter approach that's even more compelling. The album features 2 long tracks: "Conquistador", which is very free and wild; and "With (Exit)", which is a bit more subdued, but not too much! CD features an alternate edit of "With (Exit)" as a bonus track! CD

One of Paul Williams' greatest albums – produced by his friend and frequent collaborator Roger Nichols, with a style that's very much like the best work the pair recorded together! The songs are some of Williams' best – really warm and intimate numbers, done in a heartfelt style that lacks all the cloying touches of some of his later work – or that of bad interpretations of his work by other artists. Arrangements are by the cream of LA hipsters – Nichols, Perry Botkin, Chad Stuart, and Artie Butler – and the record has a mutedly groovy feel! Titles include "Time", "Roan Pony", "I Know You", "To Put Up With You", "Someday Man", and "So Many People". This great remastered UK edition has 12 bonus tracks: instrumental versions of "Someday Man", "So Many People", "Mornin' I'll Be Movin' On" and "To Put Up With You", sessions recordings of "Someday Man" and "The Drifter", plus mono versions several album tracks and a couple demo versions. CD

Excellent work from this Chicago tenorist – a killer postwar talent who was equal parts jazz and R&B! Although the cover of the record includes a picture of Eddie's wife, Dinah Washington, and the "Friend" in the title would seem to imply that she's on the album, the set's really just a bunch of hard jazz cuts that showcase Eddie's screaming tenor sax, and which don't include Dinah's vocals. Not that that's a problem, though, because the record's a great one, and it's a good peek at player who was one of the biggest in Chicago during the 50's, and who had a loud hard R&B sound, in a mode that was similar to other Chicago players, such as Gene Ammons and Red Prysock. The record's got a number of originals by Chamblee, plus a few tracks written by Julian Priester and Dinah Washington (but did she really write them?). Titles include "Back Street", "Strollin Sax", "Village Square", and "Swing A Little Taste". CD

Non-stop screamers from the initial Alice Cooper run at Warner Brothers – a hefty set list that includes "School's Out", "Be My Lover", "I'm Eighteen", "No More Mr Nice Guy", "Elected", "Billion Dollar Babies", "Teenage Lament", "Muscle Of Love", "Is It My Body", "Under My Wheels", and "Hello Hooray" – 22 tracks total. CD

Excellent material from Sonny Criss' late 60's comeback period! By this point, Criss had a sound, style, and maturity that was unmatched by any of his LA contemporaries – a way of blowing the alto that was neither boppish, nor cliched in R&B modes – and instead burst forth with a sense of soulful sophistication that was quite unique! Sonny's sound here is incredible throughout – a clear, clean approach to his instrument that is quite different than his style of a few years before – and he's set up in a great little combo that includes Hampton Hawes on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and Shelly Mann on drums. Titles include the killer "California Screamin" – plus "I'll Catch The Sun", "Blue Sunset", "Cry Me A River", and "Don't Rain On My Parade". CD

Don't pass this one up! Although lots of other albums by Eddie Lockjaw Davis are laidback quartet and quintet sessions, done in a soul jazz organ/tenor mode – this session features Eddie working with stunning bigger band backings, in a searingly soulful sound that's simply incredible! The leadoff track, "Trane Whistle", has Lockjaw really working new waves of sound into his tenor sax – screaming the horn in a way that you thought you'd never hear, and playing with tones that are a lot darker than usual! The set moves on from there in a nice batch of material that includes "Whole Nelson" and "Stolen Moments", two fantastic originals by Oliver Nelson, who also arranged the album – and takes a great deal of responsibility for the strength of the set. The record shows a whole new side of Davis' talents – one that was barely if ever recorded like this again – and which is made even better by the presence of freshly modern players that include Eric Dolphy, Richard Williams, Melba Liston, and Roy Haynes. Great stuff! CD

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Includes the albums Meet Oliver Nelson, Taking Care Of Business, Screamin' The Blues, Soul Battle, Blues & The Abstract Blues, Straight Ahead, Main Stem, and Afro-American Sketches. CD

Titles include "Born To Be Wild", "Rock Me", "Move Over", "Snowblind Friend", "Ride With Me", "Magic Carpet Ride", "The Pusher", "Sookie Sookie", "Screaming Night Hog", "Monster", "Tenderness", and "Jupiter's Child". CD

One of the last couple of great records Waits made for Island, and a defining moment in his career! Leave it to Waits to cut a bunch of songs that wrestle with mortality and the fleeting nature of life head on, but have as much fun with it as he does worry or mourn. It's got some rumbling raw material as gritty as anything he'd recorded before or since, beautifully sung ballads and cool, creaky speak-singing tunes. Truly a signature effort and one for both the casual fans and Waits diehards. Includes the classic "I Don't Wanna Grow Up", "Earth Died Screaming" "Dirt In The Ground", "Such A Scream", "All Stripped Down", "Let Me Get Up On It", "Whistle Down The The Wind", "That Feel" and more. CD

Includes tracks by John Lee Hooker, Screaming Jay Hawkins, BB King, Cissy Houston, Jimmy Reed, Memphis Slim and others. 36 tracks total! CD

Music from Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, Paul Westerberg, the Lovemongers, Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Smashing Pumpkins, Mudhoney and more. CD

An archetypal album from the legendary Paul Butterfield – and a set that would shape the sound of countless blues rock records to come! Despite what you might think of the genre or its many later incarnations, there's a raw power here that's really amazing – the young Butterfield and his Chicago comperes, hanging out at clubs on the south side, drinking in the relatively new electric sound of the city, and turning out a groove that's a lot more hard-edged than some of the overseas imitators at the time! Paul's pretty darn great on vocals and harmonica – but the group has some even more powerful sounds in the twin guitar talents of Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop – the former on slide, the latter on rhythm – along with Jerome Arnold on bass, Sam Lay on drums, and Mark Naftalin on some Hammond too. Titles include "Blues With A Feeling", "Born In Chicago", "Shake Your Money Maker", "Mystery Train", "Screamin", "Last Night", and "Look Over Yonders Wall". CD