Juan De La Cruz is a band, not a guy – and they're one of the hardest rocking combos of the far east in the early 70s! The trio's propelled strongly by some razor-sharp guitar from Wally Gonzales – a player who stands mightily with some of the biggest British names of a few years before – but who's all the more compelling because of his lack of commercial fame in this scene. Vocals are often in that same blues-into-rock mode initiated by the Rolling Stones – but are often taken to weirder, wilder territory overall. Titles include "Round & Round", "I Wanna Say Yeah", "Take You Home", "Shake Your Brains", and "Big Boss Man". CD

A stunning celebration of one of the greatest pairings in Brazilian music – and in American music as well, given that both Airto Moreira and Flora Purim recorded plenty of these cuts up in our neck of the woods! Airto's percussion is the stuff of legend – a key force in Brazilian recordings in the late 60s, and then equally important in American jazz – in famous recordings with Miles Davis and other artists, and plenty of great records on his own! Flora's vocals are equally crucial – a soaring, fluid approach that forever changed the way that female singers approached jazz – bred in 60s bossa, but instantly something new by the time the 70s came along – especially when Airto was supporting her with great grooves! This huge package brings together material that both artists recorded – often under the name of one or the other, but often with the other artist present on the recording – with a heavy batch of work from the 70s and 80s, but also crucial cuts from other years too! 3CD set features 37 tracks and a really great package – with titles that include "Love Lock", "The Happy People", "Hungry On Arriva", "The Road Is Hard", "Samba De Flora", "O Canto Da Sereia", "Jeito Bom De Sofrer", "Papo Furado", "Xibaba", "Back Streets Of Havana", "Vera Cruz", "Flora's Song", "When Angels Crie", "Celebration Suite", "Casa Forte", "Black Narcissus", "A Secret From The Sea", "O Cantador/I Just Want To Be Here", "Jump", and "Hot Sand". CD

A perfect illustration of the rich new directions Wayne Shorter was taking at the start of the 70s – an amazing flurry of sounds and styles that's light years ahead of where he began in the 60s! Shorter's one of those players who was already great at the start – an amazing tenorist, both on his own and with the groups of Art Blakey and Miles Davis – yet by the time of this record, he'd absorbed a huge amount of influences from Brazilian music, modal jazz, the spiritual underground, and even the free European scene – all of which come to play on the long, complex tunes on the set! The record has Shorter working with some other key contemporaries of this new moment in jazz – John McLaughlin on 12 string guitar, Chick Corea on marimba and percussion, Dave Holland and Miroslav Vitous on bass, and Ron Carter on cello – all players who have the same open, exploratory vibe as Wayne's own lines on tenor and soprano sax. Titles include an excellent cover of Milton Nascimento's "Vera Cruz", plus the tracks "Antiqua", "Iska", and "Montezuma". CD

A great set that's way way more than the "chill out" promised in the title – a collection of Brazilian groovers pulled from some of the best labels in the business! As with previous volumes in this series, the focus is on work done for the groundbreaking Far Out label – but this time around, they've also thrown in some choice bits from outside sources, including some killer underground bits from Brazil and a few choice classics! Titles include "Without Words" by 4 Hero Presents Nature's Plan with Ed Motta, "Na Batida Do Agogo (Osunlade rmx)" by Grupo Batuque, "Os Oculos Escuros De Cartola" by Max De Castro, "Papa" by Azymuth featuring Sabrina Malheiros, "Preguiciman" by Mamond, "Falso Amour" by Jirzinho Oliveira, "Escape" by Marcos Valle, "Beleza Nao Vai Embora" by Orlandivo, "E O Meu Amor Vi Passar" by Patricia Marx, and "Vera Cruz" by Vox Populi. CD

A massive assortment of tracks that go way past the familiar – not a collection of standard classics from Blue Note, Impulse, or Prestige – and instead a whole host of jazzy groovers that we'd never have discovered otherwise! This volume of the series does a great job mixing in contemporary cuts with rare nuggets from years past – in ways that never make you notice the passage of years, as almost all of this work is rooted in a solid blend of tight rhythms and inventive improvisation – heavy on acoustic instrumentation, but with occasional electric moments too! Imagine the kind of groove that Gilles Peterson used to turn us onto years back, when he was spinning rare jazz records, and you'll get the vibe here – served up on titles that include "Tape Your Beat" by Born 74 & Onj, "Still In Love" by GeeW, "46 To Somewhere" by The Sultan's Swing, "Unreachable Galaxy" by Stefano Di Santis, "Movin" by Charro Band De Emilio Guerro, "Caught In A Fever" by Moreen Meridian, "Mr Fool" by Alonson Gonzalez & Jazz Latino, "Cla Samba" by Juju, "I Face East" by Mary Greer Mudiku, "Mende" by Jacques Schwarz Bart, "Mother Of The Future" by Venus Dodson, "Wanting Touch (inst)" by Juju, "Mambo De Papi" by El Caballo Y Su Orquesta, "Ponteio" by Miho Nobuzane, "Samba De La Cruz" by Tres Men, and "I'll Bet You Thought I'd Never Find You" by Lifetime. CD

A legendary bit of Latin from the New York scene of the 60s – recorded by a host of youthful players working under the direction of percussionist Montego Joe! The group's name is a contraction of "Harlem Youth" – a program in which all players participated, as part of an effort to get kids involved in music uptown – spearheaded by Montego Joe, whose guidance in the set is greatly appreciated! There's a strong Latin Soul vibe running through the set – but one that's different than Joe's other work, a bit more rootsy at times, given all the percussion in the lineup – but warmed up nicely with bits of guitar, trumpet, and alto sax. The album's filled with great groovers – including the classic "Welcome To The Party", and the amazing "Oua-Train" jazz cut, which has a slightly spiritual feel. Other tracks include "Feed Me Good", "Barrets Bag", "Tico", "Ngoma", and "Santa Cruz". CD

A fantastic collection of music from Cuba – not the jazzy descarga styles that led to salsa, nor the more romantic singers that are maybe some of the nation's best-known artists – but instead a wealth of work that mixes raw percussion and vocals to support the spiritual practice of santeria! The music here represents a shifting spiritual culture that was taking place in the Caribbean during the 20th Century – as African and Spanish ideas were coming into play with each other – forming new modes of understanding, which also led to new musical practices as well! Many of these recordings were done at the same time that larger, more polished orchestras were dominating the Cuban scene – but they represent rootsier, rawer recordings that often just have percussion and vocals as the dominant force – sometimes quite a surprise when you might hear a bigger star as part of the lineup. As with every collection on the Fremeaux label, the package offers up a lot of music for the price, and a very detailed set of notes in both French and English – with a total of 66 tracks in all – including work by Chano Pozo, Miguelito Valdez, Celina Y Reutilio, Mongo Santamaria, Celia Cruz, Sabu, Arsenio Rodriguez, Julio Gutierez, and others – as well as a set of field recordings done on acetate in 1940! CD

A hip batch of underground poetry tracks – collected together by the Before Columbus Foundation, a group dedicated to promoting the works of African-American and Native American artists! Despite the 1980 date, the collection has a feel that's similar to earlier righteous poetry albums on the Folkways label – proof that the flames were still burning strong in the underground, even though artists such as these weren't getting as much mainstream attention at the end of the 70s! Most readings are recorded live, with a relatively spare, stark sound – and performances include "Dope" by Amiri Baraka, "St Louis Woman" by Ishmael Reed, "For The Poets" by Jayne Cortez, "Bark Is What Us Dogs Do" by David Meltzer, "Flipochinos, Being Your Woman, & Pacific Lover" by Cyn Zarco, and "Artist/Art This" by Victor Hernandez Cruz. CD

A rare bit of funky fusion – with some really great guitars and keyboards! The original album is quite rare – recorded in Switzerland, and only issued in a handful of copies back in the mid 70s – but the groove here is tight enough to rival that of bigger fusion heavyweights on MPS and some of the other European labels – with a depth in quality that really makes the record worth rediscovering all these many years later! The keyboards are especially great – electric piano and other bits, played with a style that's nicely frenetic, but never in a way that's too rock-jamming – thanks to the strong sense of space the rhythm section brings to their grooves. Titles include versions of "Vera Cruz" and "Too High" – plus originals "Very Lights", "Rocking Bird", "Rainmaker", "Dr Bonnie Mr Clyde", "Leave Me Alone", and "Gargantua". CD

The never-before released full album from keyboardist Manzel Bush – the legendary 70s funk figure well-remembered for his classic break tracks! As a whole, the album's a masterpiece of spacey keyboards and funky drums – funkier than just about any other record we can think of from the late 70s! The set was put together by Manzel in collaboration with Kenny Dope, and many of the tracks feature new mixes by Kenny & The Undercover Brother – done in such a way that really respects the original grooves of the tunes, and which only sweetens them a bit in the right places, or brings out the funky drums even more. Every cut is a stone monster – and the quality of the set is amazing – with obscure cuts that sound every bit as wonderful as the more famous sample tracks like "Space Funk" or "Midnight Theme". 13 tracks in all, with titles that include "Jump Street", "Sugar Dreams", "Long Way Home", "Just For You", "It's Over Now", "The Party", "Vera Cruz", "Space Funk", "Midnight Theme", and "Evil Wicked Mean & Nasty". CD

A private press relic from the Santa Cruz Mountains by Eddie Callahan – a really cool mix of soft rock melodies with soul searching lyricism and unpredictable instrumentation – one that's been heavily sought by collectors and is well worth it! There's a bit of post hippie spiritualism, but it a plainspoken, unpretentious way that's really endearing – and the music is totally creative. There's some laidback folk rock guitars and oddball bits of Moog, mellotron and stylistic detours abound. Cool stuff revived with reverence by Time-Lag Records! Includes "Paper Rain", "Dying To Sing", "Don't You Know (How I Feel?)", "Judge Me", "Where Will I Be Tomorrow?", "Just Across The Line", "Santa Cruz Mountains", "Shake Your Woogie" and "Flying". CD

Extremely early work from the great Milton Nascimento – one of his first albums ever, and oddly recorded in America, not Brazil! The set was done in the A&M studios, with production by Creed Taylor – but has a spacious, soulful sound that's a lot like Milton's first few records from Brazil. The album is a huge meeting of talents – and features Herbie Hancock and Deodato on keyboards, plus a host of excellent other jazz players who give Milton's music a nice lyrical edge. The record features that classic Nasicmento mix of soulful vocals, baroque songwriting, and incredible jazz-tinged arrangements – and a few tracks have lyrics in English, too! Tracks include classics like "Bridges", "Vera Cruz", and "Gira Girou" – plus "Tres Pontas", "Rio Vermelho", and "Catavento". CD