A double-length live set – and a famous reunion of this legendary duo! LP, Vinyl record album

A great addition to the Nina Simone catalog – material recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival on a number of different dates – all very different performances that really show the legendary singer at the top of her game! The setting shifts here from date to date – the package features shows from 1968, 1976, 1981, 1987, and 1990 – with early material that features a full group with Henry Young on guitar and Sam Waymon on organ, plus later sets that feature a trio, a duo with harmonica player Claude Nobs, a solo piano/vocal date, and a final set with guitar, vibes, and keyboards. As with other live performances, Nina is completely stunning – able to completely transform tunes with that legendary vocal style, and augmenting her words with all the right touches on piano. Titles include "Just In Time", "African Mailman", "Me Me Quitte Pas", "Liberian Calypso", "Stars", "Don't Smoke In Bed", "Little Girl Blue (parts 1 & 2)", "Backlash Blues", "See Line Woman", "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free", "Four Women", "No Woman No Cry", "Montreux Blues", and "My Baby Just Cares For Me". 2CD set features 29 tracks in all – including the full 14 song performances recorded at Casino Kursaal in 1968! CD

Funky soul by this Chicago duo that takes the Sam and Dave sound into the funky 70's. Gene Chandler produced. 7-inch, Vinyl record

Some of the most beautiful, personal work we've heard from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith in many years – a wonderful set of duets with bassist John Lindberg – done at a level that recalls some of Smith's most organic, most spiritual sounds of the 70s! There's a real back to basics vibe here – a return to the initial spirit of the AACM, something we possibly infer from the album's long tribute to Malachi Favors, but which we can also feel in the spirit of collaboration between Smith and Lindberg – a way of coming together that never overwhelms the individual, yet also never allows one individual to ever upstage the other – as the duo reach out brilliantly for a breathtaking range of sounds, on titles that include "Malachi Favors Maghostut A Monarch Of Creative Music", "Celestial Weather Suite", and "Feathers & Earth". CD

Hypnotic and frenzied instrumental sounds from the early 70s – heavy rhythms and fuzzy walls of guitar from Bob Thompson and Doug Snyder – a masterful piece of avant rock! Daily Dance is one of those records that's so far ahead of the pack stylistically, you can hardly believe it was made when it was. The songs are long and roll out in a way that makes it clear the players are unafraid of noise, but it's wholly riveting and finds a real groove – they set up their own dynamics and they work well within them. The duo does more with electric fuzz, echoes, and pounding rhythms than all too few boundless artists dared to even attempt – and it's a record that you could have easily convinced us was produced at some point in the 80s, 90s, or 00s rock underground had we not been informed it was from early 70s southern Ohio! Timeless, original and exciting stuff. Includes "Daily Dance", "Living With The Crocodiles", "Time Overlaps Itself", "Soul And Universe", "Hit And Run", "Truth Is A Pathless Land" and "Teenage Emergency". CD

Hypnotic and frenzied instrumental sounds from the early 70s – heavy rhythms and fuzzy walls of guitar from Bob Thompson and Doug Snyder – a masterful piece of avant rock! Daily Dance is one of those records that's so far ahead of the pack stylistically, you can hardly believe it was made when it was. The songs are long and roll out in a way that makes it clear the players are unafraid of noise, but it's wholly riveting and finds a real groove – they set up their own dynamics and they work well within them. The duo does more with electric fuzz, echoes, and pounding rhythms than all too few boundless artists dared to even attempt – and it's a record that you could have easily convinced us was produced at some point in the 80s, 90s, or 00s rock underground had we not been informed it was from early 70s southern Ohio! Timeless, original and exciting stuff. Includes "Daily Dance", "Living With The Crocodiles", "Time Overlaps Itself", "Soul And Universe", "Hit And Run", "Truth Is A Pathless Land" and "Teenage Emergency". CD

The mighty SOS Band, still grooving hard well into the 80s – and still showing the world that their sound is way tighter than any of their many imitators! The style here is updated a bit from the group's first few records – given a sharper punch and polish by the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis team – yet the record's still got a depth that goes way past some of the more commercial soul the duo had been working on at the time – a great evolution of an older funk style into a sweet, lean sound for the latter half of the 80s! Keyboards soar over bouncy basslines – and the trademark mix of male and female vocals really works well on the album's hook-heavy cuts. Tracks include "Borrowed Love", "The Finest", "Do You Still Want To", "Sands Of Time", "Even When You Sleep", "Nothing But The Best", "No Lies", and "Two Time Lover". CD

The mighty SOS Band, still grooving hard well into the 80s – and still showing the world that their sound is way tighter than any of their many imitators! The style here is updated a bit from the group's first few records – given a sharper punch and polish by the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis team – yet the record's still got a depth that goes way past some of the more commercial soul the duo had been working on at the time – a great evolution of an older funk style into a sweet, lean sound for the latter half of the 80s! Keyboards soar over bouncy basslines – and the trademark mix of male and female vocals really works well on the album's hook-heavy cuts. Tracks include "Borrowed Love", "The Finest", "Do You Still Want To", "Sands Of Time", "Even When You Sleep", "Nothing But The Best", "No Lies", and "Two Time Lover". LP, Vinyl record album

The mighty SOS Band, still grooving hard well into the 80s – and still showing the world that their sound is way tighter than any of their many imitators! The style here is updated a bit from the group's first few records – given a sharper punch and polish by the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis team – yet the record's still got a depth that goes way past some of the more commercial soul the duo had been working on at the time – a great evolution of an older funk style into a sweet, lean sound for the latter half of the 80s! Keyboards soar over bouncy basslines – and the trademark mix of male and female vocals really works well on the album's hook-heavy cuts. Tracks include "Borrowed Love", "The Finest", "Do You Still Want To", "Sands Of Time", "Even When You Sleep", "Nothing But The Best", "No Lies", and "Two Time Lover". Includes 4 bonus tracks "Even When You Sleep (extended)", "Borrowed Love (extended)", "No Lies (12 inch mix)" and "The Finest (extended)". CD

A really fantastic showcase for the Chicago-raised Otis Spann – a musician who'd already had plenty of recordings under his belt by the time of this session, but definitely gets a different sort of exposure here – thanks to the unique presentation of the Candid Records label! Candid mostly recorded modern jazz, and had a very open ear to getting the best out of their musicians – which they definitely do here with Spann's piano, set up in spare duo formation next to the guitar of the equally great and important Robert Lockwood. Both players sing on the record, alternating vocals from track to track in a set of all-original material – with titles that include "Worried Life Blues", "Great Northern Stomp", "Otis In The Dark", "The Hard Way", "Take A Little Walk With Me", and "Beat Up Team". LP, Vinyl record album

A real turning point for Sparks – a set that has the duo of Russell and Ron Mael finding a whole new focus for their music on the UK scene! The style is a bit glammy at times – not in the execution, so much as the production – which has a great way of compressing the vocals up against the guitars – while still keeping all the sharpness of the group's earlier music, which is a key component in pushing forward the subtle wit of the tunes! There's also a slight warble to both the vocals and some of the melodies – which might sit nicely next to early Roxy Music in listening spirit, even though Sparks themselves are very much their own thing. Titles include "Here In Heaven", "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us", "Amateur Hour", "Equator", "Complaints", "Thank God It's Not Christmas", and "Talent Is An Asset". LP, Vinyl record album

A real turning point for Sparks – a set that has the duo of Russell and Ron Mael finding a whole new focus for their music on the UK scene! The style is a bit glammy at times – not in the execution, so much as the production – which has a great way of compressing the vocals up against the guitars – while still keeping all the sharpness of the group's earlier music, which is a key component in pushing forward the subtle wit of the tunes! There's also a slight warble to both the vocals and some of the melodies – which might sit nicely next to early Roxy Music in listening spirit, even though Sparks themselves are very much their own thing. Titles include "Here In Heaven", "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us", "Amateur Hour", "Equator", "Complaints", "Thank God It's Not Christmas", and "Talent Is An Asset". 2LP pressing features some great bonus tracks – demos from 1973 that include "When I Take The Field ON Friday", "Windy Day", "Marry Me", "My Brains & Her Looks", "A More Constructive Use Of Leisure", "Barbecutie", and "Alabamy Right". LP, Vinyl record album

Jazz Alchemy "Six Pieces For Trumpet, Drum & Bass" with Charles McGhee on double trumpets, Richard Davis on bass, and Brian Brake on drums. Three Problems "Duo Versions" with Marilyn Crispell on piano and Reggie Workman on bass, and Three Problems "Solo Versions" with Joshua Pierce on piano. CD

"Total improvisation on sonic canvas" from the team of pianist Nobu Stowe and sound designer Lee Pembleton – joined on the set by Perry Robinson on clarinet and micro ocarina, Blaise Siwula on tenor and alto clarinet, John McLellan on drums, and Ross Bonadonna on bass clarinet, alto sax, and guitar. The sound is heavily dominated by Stowe's piano – no surprise, since he's one of the constant elements throughout the set – but Pembleton's light, sonic touches are also heard too – although delivered with a nice sense of subtlety, enough to preserve the acoustic soul of the set. Titles include "Duo 1A", "Quartet", "Duo 2E", "Trio 3B", "Round Midnight", and "Hommage An Klaus Kinski". CD

A cinematic blend of electronics and percussion – served up in a way that every bit as evocative as a vintage soundtrack, especially work from the 80s action years – yet handled with a sonic richness that often surpasses music from that generation too! The group's a duo – and features Latarnik on keyboards and piano, an artist you may know from other great titles on the Astigmatic label – working in collaboration here with drummer Cancer G, who also plays some keyboards as well – as the pair craft these tracks that open up with all sorts of subtle shifts in tone, color, action, and life. Titles include "Minus 10 Celsius", "Nadeszia Zima", "Zamrozenie", "Zamiec", "Roztopy", "Ostatnia Taka Zima", and "Lawina". CD

A cinematic blend of electronics and percussion – served up in a way that every bit as evocative as a vintage soundtrack, especially work from the 80s action years – yet handled with a sonic richness that often surpasses music from that generation too! The group's a duo – and features Latarnik on keyboards and piano, an artist you may know from other great titles on the Astigmatic label – working in collaboration here with drummer Cancer G, who also plays some keyboards as well – as the pair craft these tracks that open up with all sorts of subtle shifts in tone, color, action, and life. Titles include "Minus 10 Celsius", "Nadeszia Zima", "Zamrozenie", "Zamiec", "Roztopy", "Ostatnia Taka Zima", and "Lawina". LP, Vinyl record album

A second album of sorts from Suicide – but one that came out a long four years after their seminal debut, at a time when all of the groups that Suicide had influenced had grown up on their own to fill up the underground! Yet the duo of Martin Rev and Alan Vega are still way ahead of the pack here – and even production by Ric Ocasek can't smooth their edges or dampen their madness, or bog them down in any sort of new wave cliches! Instead, it just feels like they've upgraded their electronics a bit, and maybe put a slight bit of care into the recording of Vega's vocals – without messing with the mix too much. Titles include "Harlem", "Be Bop Kid", "Diamonds Fur Coat Champagne", "Fast Money Music", "Sweetheart", "Mr Ray", and "Shadazz". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that really delivers the paradise promised in its title – especially if you dig laidback, keyboard-heavy work with a very mellow vibe! The music is somewhere between some of the best Japanese minimal music of the time, and some of the warmer instrumental experiments from the UK and European scenes – especially that moment in the post-punk years when a few key artists decided that things could be tuneful at the level of some of the best cinematic recordings of the time – but freed from that territory as well, and done at a much more personal, organic level than "serious" music of the concert halls. The duo here work mostly on a range of keyboards, mixed with percussion and cello, all with beautiful results – on titles that include "Boat People", "Dance Of The Prophets", "Re-Incarnation", "Race To The Oasis", and "Nothing's Wrong In Paradise". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most striking albums we've ever heard from pianist Aki Takase – in large part because of some great work from David Murray on tenor sax – and some especially nice bass clarinet! The album's from a moment when it seemed as if duo modes were some of the best for Murray – a way of maybe reaching back into deeper jazz roots, while also bringing forth some of the fresher ideas he'd unlocked exploring the farther side of the jazz spectrum – but also demonstrating his amazing ability to be sensitive to a wide variety of musical partners, in ways that are even more compelling than his work in a larger group! As you'd guess from the title, the set's got a fair bit of numbers from the songbook of Thelonious Monk – and Takase's take on them is great, maybe blocky and spacious than Monk's own – which is offset by the warmly soulful blowing of Murray. Titles include "Ba Lu Bolivar Ba Lues", "Ellingtonia", "Blue Monk", "Ask Me Now", "Presto VH", "Mr Jelly Lord", and "Ballad For The Blackman". CD

It's been over 15 years since the last Liberation record from Talib Kweli and Madlib, and the planet's changed a lot – and maybe not for the better, which is a good reason the duo are back to serve up a heady helping of their message-oriented music! We've always thought that Talib sounds best in the company of Madlib, and this time around he's also got plenty of help – from a great leadoff spoken passage by Diani, through work from Seun Kuti, Mac Miller, Amani, Q Tip, Goapele, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jaimie Branch, and even Roy Ayers – all present as maybe a tribute to what's at the core! Titles include "Loop Digga's Revenge", "One For Biz", "Nat Turner", "Air Quotes", "Wild Beauty", "Ad Vice", "Assata's Code", "After These Messages", "Something Special", and "Marathon Through Babylon". CD

It's been over 15 years since the last Liberation record from Talib Kweli and Madlib, and the planet's changed a lot – and maybe not for the better, which is a good reason the duo are back to serve up a heady helping of their message-oriented music! We've always thought that Talib sounds best in the company of Madlib, and this time around he's also got plenty of help – from a great leadoff spoken passage by Diani, through work from Seun Kuti, Mac Miller, Amani, Q Tip, Goapele, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jaimie Branch, and even Roy Ayers – all present as maybe a tribute to what's at the core! Titles include "Loop Digga's Revenge", "One For Biz", "Nat Turner", "Air Quotes", "Wild Beauty", "Ad Vice", "Assata's Code", "After These Messages", "Something Special", and "Marathon Through Babylon". LP, Vinyl record album

It's been over 15 years since the last Liberation record from Talib Kweli and Madlib, and the planet's changed a lot – and maybe not for the better, which is a good reason the duo are back to serve up a heady helping of their message-oriented music! Yet for this instrumentals set, Talib steps out and lets Madlib deliver all the force of the record – which is a-OK with us, as we're always great fans of a Madlib record on its own! Titles include "One For Biz", "Nat Turner", "Air Quotes", "Best Year Ever", "Assata's Code", "Something Special", "Richies Part Two", "Ad Vice", and "Wild Sweet Beauty". LP, Vinyl record album

Twice as sweet, and mighty neat – a killer set from Taste Of Honey, and one that has the girls moving away from Mizell Brothers help in the studio, and getting some great grooves from George Duke! Duke brings in all his best jazzy soul to the duo – lots of keyboards stepping around the tight vocals, and a way of laying together the rhythms so that they're nicely focused, yet never too commercial – that same great balance that George had in his own music at the time! Titles include the single "Sukiyaki", plus "Ain't Nothin' But A Party", "Rescue Me", "I'm Talkin Bout You", "She's A Dancer", and "Don't Lead Me On". LP, Vinyl record album

Tremendous live work from avant piano legend Cecil Taylor and always-creative drummer Tony Oxley – a duo who recorded most famously for FMP at the end of the 80s, but who also turned in some great live performances over the following decades! This set is definitely one of those – captured at a time when Taylor was not making many forays into the studio, but still very much at the top of his game in the sort of long form improvisational setting that defined his 70s material – especially when in the company of a player as great as Oxley! There's a balance here between percussive attacks and gentler flows on both instruments – spontaneous creativity in action from both musicians, on the very long titles "Power Of Two" and "Being Astral & All Registers". CD

Prime 80s work from Tears For Fears – a duo who manage to mix new romantic charms with some surprisingly strong electro pop styles! This set has the group rivalling Human League on their first few tuneful records – with maybe even some darker echoes around the edges – and though the album was part of a big flurry of electric UK pop that was coming out over the space of a few short years, it's also got more depth than most – which has given the album a surprisingly strong run over the decades. Titles include Change", "Mad World", and "Pale Shelter" – plus "Watch Me Bleed", "The Prisoner", "The Hurting", "Suffer The Children", "Ideas As Opiates", and "Start Of The Breakdown". LP, Vinyl record album

Was there a finer moment of 80s pop than this little gem? Maybe not – as the duo are at their most floppy-haired charming throughout – serving up some of the catchiest new romantic material of their generation, including the hits "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" – plus the tracks "Broken", "Listen", "Head Over Heels", "Mothers Talk", and "The Working Hour". CD

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The Teen Queens were a hip R&B duo who deserve a lot more credit than their silly name might make you think. They had a style that was part raw R&B, and part 60s girl group, years before the girl group format was around long enough to become a cliche! LP, Vinyl record album

The Teen Queens were a hip R&B duo who deserve a lot more credit than their silly name might make you think. They had a style that was part raw R&B, and part 60s girl group, years before the girl group format was around long enough to become a cliche! LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy 60s pop from the sunny brother & sister duo of Nino Tempo & April Stevens – wonderful stuff that's crafted as sweetly as can be, encapsulating influences from a wide range of pop styles of the time – and it still sounds great! This anthology features a bunch of the their best duo numbers, as well as some earlier and later separate projects we'd never heard before. 24 tracks in all: "Deep Purple", "All Strung Out", "Sweet And Lovely", "Follow Me", "Hey Baby", "Out Of Nowhere", "Wings Of Love", "Lovin' Valentine" (April Stevens), "Sister James" (Nino Tempo & 5th Ave Sax), "Hey Baby", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Whispering", "Amazon River" and many more. CD

One of the crowning moments of genius from 10CC – a record that has the duo of Godly & Creme really hitting their stride in the studio, and taking the group into completely different territory than on their first few records! The brilliance of the mega-hit "I'm Not In Love" is very well-known – and the rest of the record follows with a similar sort of sonic intensity, one that holds strong even as the song styles shift throughout – almost with the sort of mini-masterpiece in album format that Trevor Horn would so loudly proclaim at ZTT. The record's both a key part of 70s pop, and one that's also very much apart from the pack – with titles that include "I'm Not In Love", "The Second Sitting For The Last Supper", "The Film Of My Love", "Brand New Day", "Blackmail", "Flying Junk", and the three part "Une Nuite A Paris" suite. LP, Vinyl record album

A well done survey of the career of Thievery Corporation to date – selected by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton – wonderful stuff from the reigning kings of downtempo jazzy grooves! It's made up of the duo's best known tracks as well as their own personal favorites. You couldn't really ask for a better or more careful curated set! Includes "Amerimacka", "Lebanese Blonde", "Facing East", "Holographic Universe", "Until The Morning", "All That We Perceive", "The Richest Man In Babylon", "The Passing Stars", "Satyam Shivam Sundaram", "Vampires", "Warning Shots", "Shadows Of Ourselves" and more. CD

A collection of remixes all handled by Thievery Corp – featuring a wide range of tunes, all filtered through the duo's consummate hipster sensibilities! Features remixes of "KC Doppler" by Slide 5, "Porno 3003" by Pizzicato 5, "Savoir Faire" by Ursula 1000, "Transmission Central" by Rockers Hi Fi, "Hijack" by Thunderball, "I Will Follow You" by Baba Maal, "Tickertake Of the Unconscious" by Stereolab, and "Ave Maria" by Edson Cordeiro. CD

A tremendous album from Thundercat – an artist who just seems to get better and better with every new record, and who's maybe here defining a genre that's completely unto himself! The record is soulful, and has a lot of contemporary cosmic currents – but it's also more far-reaching and fluid than anything that Thundercat's ever given us before – still done with key help from Flying Lotus, but with a majestic, confident quality that seems to have the duo ready to take over the universe! The airy soulful vocals are great, but the rhythms and instrumentation are maybe even more compelling – as there's a number of tunes here that are almost impossible to describe in words, even though they're instantly appealing and wonderfully soulful – a balance that's the sort of special genius from an artist who's ready to write himself into the pop music history books with a key release like this. There's a whole host of guests – including Ty Dolla Sign, Childish Gambino, Louis Cole, Kamasi Washington, Badbadnotgood, Miguel Atwood Ferguson, and many others – but it's clear that the Thundercat/Flying Lotus axis holds all the power – on titles that include "Fair Chance", "Funny Thing", "How Sway", "Miguel's Happy Dance", "Lost In Space/Great Scott/22-26", "Interstellar Love", "Overseas", "Dragonball Durag", "King Of The Hill", and "Existential Dread". LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked gem from trumpeter Charles Tolliver – not as well known as his Strata East sessions with Music Inc, but equally great! The sound here is a bit different than some of Tolliver's other albums of the 70s – as the group features the guitar of Nathan Page in place of the usual piano – working with an incredible rhythm duo of Steve Novosel on bass and Alvin Queen on drums, both players who gel together beautifully here, making the album a rhythmic delight throughout! Page's guitar often has these weird little edgey moments, which seems to bring out the same in Tolliver – adding in a new complexity to his well-known style of far-reaching lines on trumpet. The album's got 4 long tracks, nicely hung together with a sound that's searching, but never too loose to swing – and titles include "Earl's World", "Impact", "Truth", and "Compassion". LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked gem from trumpeter Charles Tolliver – not as well known as his Strata East sessions with Music Inc, but equally great! The sound here is a bit different than some of Tolliver's other albums of the 70s – as the group features the guitar of Nathan Page in place of the usual piano – working with an incredible rhythm duo of Steve Novosel on bass and Alvin Queen on drums, both players who gel together beautifully here, making the album a rhythmic delight throughout! Page's guitar often has these weird little edgey moments, which seems to bring out the same in Tolliver – adding in a new complexity to his well-known style of far-reaching lines on trumpet. The album's got 4 long tracks, nicely hung together with a sound that's searching, but never too loose to swing – and titles include "Earl's World", "Impact", "Truth", and "Compassion". LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked gem from trumpeter Charles Tolliver – not as well known as his Strata East sessions with Music Inc, but equally great! The sound here is a bit different than some of Tolliver's other albums of the 70s – as the group features the guitar of Nathan Page in place of the usual piano – working with an incredible rhythm duo of Steve Novosel on bass and Alvin Queen on drums, both players who gel together beautifully here, making the album a rhythmic delight throughout! Page's guitar often has these weird little edgey moments, which seems to bring out the same in Tolliver – adding in a new complexity to his well-known style of far-reaching lines on trumpet. The album's got 4 long tracks, nicely hung together with a sound that's searching, but never too loose to swing – and titles include "Earl's World", "Impact", "Truth", and "Compassion". CD

A key pairing of vocalist Mel Torme and pianist George Shearing – two aging jazz artists who really helped re-ignite each others' careers in the 80s! The format here takes Torme back to the best years of his jazz roots – and features spare backing from Shearing's trio, at a level that's intimate, but never too sleepy or prone with cliche. Shearing's touch on the keys is wonderfully sensitive – never just standard backing to a singer – and in a way, he brings out a new sense of depth in Torme's vocals, one that never showed itself so strongly, or so personally in the past. And best of all, at the time of this recording, the duo haven't yet lapsed into the cliches that would later mar their pairing – and instead really work together beautifully in a fresh sense of discovery and joy in each others' company. Titles include "The Midnight Sun", "Someday I'll Find You", "Whisper Not/Love Me Or Leave Me", "Since I Fell For You", "Out Of This World", and "Little Man You've Got The Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A hell of a comeback for Tribe Called Quest – maybe one of the best musical comebacks ever, and a fantastic reminder of why we loved the group so much in the first place! 18 years have passed since we last heard from the trio (now, sadly, a duo) – and that time only seems to have sharpened their sound, and given them a more powerful presence than ever! Everything we loved about them is still very firmly in place – that sense of collaboration, almost improvisation in a jazz-like way, and those moments of surprise and wonder at all the deft turns they can take in a short space. Yet there's also a new edge – one that might be even more powerful in this highly politicized moment in American history – a bite that the group never had before, and a larger social agenda that makes all of their incredible skills even more amazing, when focused on a target. We've certainly missed them – but the album's also well worth the wait! Titles include "Black Spasmodic", "The Donald", "The Space Program", "We The People", "Solid Wall Of Sound", "Dis Generation", "Kids", "Melatonin", "Enough", "Movin Backwards", and "The Killing Season". CD

A hell of a comeback for Tribe Called Quest – maybe one of the best musical comebacks ever, and a fantastic reminder of why we loved the group so much in the first place! 18 years have passed since we last heard from the trio (now, sadly, a duo) – and that time only seems to have sharpened their sound, and given them a more powerful presence than ever! Everything we loved about them is still very firmly in place – that sense of collaboration, almost improvisation in a jazz-like way, and those moments of surprise and wonder at all the deft turns they can take in a short space. Yet there's also a new edge – one that might be even more powerful in this highly politicized moment in American history – a bite that the group never had before, and a larger social agenda that makes all of their incredible skills even more amazing, when focused on a target. We've certainly missed them – but the album's also well worth the wait! Titles include "Black Spasmodic", "The Donald", "The Space Program", "We The People", "Solid Wall Of Sound", "Dis Generation", "Kids", "Melatonin", "Enough", "Movin Backwards", and "The Killing Season". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection of music from the great pianist Lennie Tristano – and maybe the first-ever set to truly get at the range of genius he could express on the piano! Given that Tristano only made a small amount of records during his too-short career, yet also left a major impact on the field of modern jazz – this set really documents the full span of everything that Tristano had to offer – pulled from a wonderful range of his own recordings, all of which appear here for the first time! These aren't casual solo recordings done in the basement – and instead, the package brings together a mixture of studio, live, and even television performances – all with a different spirit on each of the CDs in the set! One of the most revelatory is the final CD – which features a number of tracks in a "free session" in 1948 - with Tristano on piano, Lee Konitz on alto, Warne Marsh on tenor, and Billy Bauer on guitar – coming together with an amazing sound throughout. That same disc also features a superb 1962 live date at the Half Note – with Konitz on alto and Zoot Sims on tenor. CD1 is wonderful too – a selection of live material with the tremendous Billy Bauer on piano – a player, like Tristano, who was instrumental in shaping the sound of his instrument in modern jazz during the postwar years. CD3 features live performances by a sextet that includes Konitz, Marsh, and Bauer – plus Arnold Fishkin on bass and Jeff Morton on drums. CD2 features beautiful solo performances recorded from the early 50s through 1970. CD4 features trio session, most with Peter Ind on bass – while CD5 features different trio and duo material, but with Sonny Dallas on bass. The set is impeccably done – in cooperation with Tristano's family – and given the wealth of material, the whole thing may well have doubled his recording catalog in the process, while also really illuminating so many different aspects of his career! CD

A very cool Japanese-only 2LP collection of work from this legendary duo – served up in a super-heavy cover! LP, Vinyl record album

Sock-hard early soul from the team of Ike & Tina Turner – a great little batch of tracks recorded back in their early years on Sue Records, when the duo was just starting to come on strong, and really came across with a heck of a lot of power! There's none of the simple tricks or fake soul of some of the pair's later recordings – just down and dirty R&B-styled 60s soul – recorded when Ike was at the height of his bandleading power, and Tina was singing in a mode that blew away most other female singers at the time. Titles include "It's Gonna Work Out Fine"," Gonna Find Me A Substitute", "Sleepless", "A Letter From Tina", "Worried & Hurtin Inside", "You Should've Treated Me Right", and the instrumentals "Prancin" and "The Groove". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of late Ike & Tina albums in a single package! Workin' Together is a pivotal album – one that has them still retaining some of the earthiness of earlier years, yet also honing their groove for the crossover audience that was digging them big at the end of the 60s! The best results of this shift is the increasing funk component in their music – a move away from R&B into a tighter 60s groove, one that often featured very strong guitar parts in its best incarnation. The set includes the classic "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter", plus "Ooh Poo Pah Doo", "Let It Be", "Goodbye So Long", "You Can Have It", "The Way You Love Me", "Get Back", and "Workin Together". Let Me Touch Your Mind is a fairly loose set of diverse material from the tumultuous duo, from the tender, lovely chorus backed and string accented grit of the title track to more stripped down, kinda country funk accented number. Includes "Annie Had A Baby", "Don't Believe Her", "Early One Morning", "Up On The Roof", "Heaven Help Us All" and more. CD

The rare second album from Twilight – recorded five years after the first, and with a sound that's every bit as great! Twilight morphed a bit in the time since their debut – moving from a solo act into more of a duo, yet still very strongly under the guidance of mainman Lawrence Ross – a singer, musician, and self-produced artist with a great ear for pushing contemporary soul modes into some hip new directions! The overall feel of the set is more early 80s than you'd expect from the date – no too-tinny keyboards, and lots of warmth in the production – killer indie soul that really brings out the best aspects of Ross' original tunes, with lots of great keyboard work that falls more in a jazzy style than the usual soul modes of the time. There's plenty of groovers, but more in a funky soul style for the 80s than the more familiar boogie or dancefloor modes – and as before, there's some great ballads that show a good degree of depth in Twilight's sound. Titles include "Pains Of Love", "Love From You", "You're In Love", "I Wonder Who", "Dance With Me", "Find Someone Else", and "You Look So Good". CD

Seminal work from this legendary duo – singers Martha Wash and Izora Armstead – better known by their later name as The Weather Girls, but already pretty darn great here as Two Tons! The pair first famously sang backup for Sylvester in the Bay Area, but quickly stepped out on their own, due to their vocal strengths – already full formed here, and given some mighty sharp studio help from supersoul producer Harvey Fuqua! Fuqua was really hitting his clubby style at this time, which really lets the girls' vocals soar – in a way that's similar to their later Weather Girls work, but maybe a bit more tied here to the Bay Area soulful style of the Fantasy Records scene. Titles include "Gone Away", "Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven", "Do You Wanna Boogie", "Just Us", "Got The Feeling", "Taking Away Your Space", and "One-Sided Love Affair". LP, Vinyl record album

A tight bit of dancefloor funk from the duo of Frank and Eddie Dillard – one on guitar, one on bass, and both on vocals – both working here with some great clubby production from Walter Murphy! The set's got a bit more edge than Murphy's own records – thanks to the emphasis on the Dillard instrumentation – and the rhythms are often nice and sharp, in that disco style that's almost hinting at a break at points – and which might have been at home in a South Bronx mix as much as in the clubs! The set includes the single "Full Tilt Boogie" plus other tracks that include "I Like Funky Music", "Sky High", "Everybody's Got One, "We Came To Play", and "Bad Motor Folk". CD

A pretty cool, seemingly unlikely duo effort on Rhymesayers – pairing up underground hip hop mainstay Aesop Rock and avant indie vocalist Kimya Dawson of Moldy Peaches! It actually works well! Aesop's no nonsense sounding voice can deliver even the most abstract lyrics with strength and authority and it pairs well with Dawson's oddball nursery rhyme style. Includes "Kryptonite", "Delicate Cycle", "TV On IO", "Earthquake", "Organs", "Superheroes", "Jambi Cafe", "Scissorhands", "Eyeball Soup", "Teleprompters", "WYHUOM", "Boomerang" and more. CD

One of the biggest-selling albums ever on the Blue Note label – even though the music here started out in the realm of copyright infringement! Back in the early 90s, the British duo used a big Herbie Hancock sample for an underground club cut – and when Blue Note heard about the track, not only did they not challenge them, they signed them to the label, encouraged them to dig deep into the back catalog – and began a trend that started a huge amount of jazz sample-based records for decades to come! If you know Blue Note, you'll hear plenty of familiar moments here – recast as dance cuts on titles that include the hit "Cantaloop", built up from Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" – plus "I Got It Goin On", "Different Rhythms", "Eleven Long Years", "Lazy Day", "Cruisin", and "I Go To Work". CD

The music of Don Cherry, but delivered in a completely different way than his original recordings – served up here as a beautiful series of duets between Ken Vandermark on tenor and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion! The pair have a sympathy for each other that's amazing – and the music is often more rhythmic than you might be used to hearing from Vandermark – as the duo weave together themes from Don Cherry compositions in a variety of classic settings – yet work them anew with the sort of individual magic that really makes the record special! This isn't a set of covers, nor some staid "tribute" record – and instead, Vandermark and Drake really soar with inspiration that's delivered at a very personal level, and which marks the record as a testament to the still very vital talents of both musicians. LP, Vinyl record album

Own a piece of genius! All fun aside, this two CD set of duets between Chicago's youngest new tenor giant and several of Sweden's leading lights offers up moments of beauty, energy and interesting new dialogues between some of the best new players at the forefront of improvised music. Ken makes some poignant commentary about the state of contemporary improvised music in his notes, and more than stands behind his words on a variety of reeds alongside Raymond Strid's drums, Sten Standell's piano, David Stackenas' guitars and Kjell Nordeson's percussion. Most of the pieces are of shorter duration, allowing each player and Ken to approach the improvs from many different angles, always fresh, so there are about a half dozen of each duo. Titles include "Knapp", "Reeds And Hammers VIII", "Skitmoln" and "Morning Of Stagnelius". CD

Duo recordings with Venuti on violin and Romano on guitar. LP, Vinyl record album

Three albums from this great reedman! Gibraltar features a killer Dutch duo from the end of the 70s – tenorist Harry Verbeke, who's got a bold, clear sound – and pianist Rob Agerbeek, who's been making soulful sides from the 60s onwards! The pair get great accompaniment here from drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Herbie Lewis – the last of whom may be at his best here – with these well-placed, well-rounded lines that help the record groove right from the start – and which give the record a nice bounce, even in gentler moments – followed up strongly by Agerbeek and his strong sense of chord progressions. Most tunes are familiar, but get nice readings by the group – and titles include "Gibraltar, "Holy Land", "Soul Sister", "No Me Esqueca", and "No Problem". It's You Or No One is a gem, as Harry Verbeke's a tenor player we grow to love more and more over the years – especially as we discover more of his obscure Dutch recordings like this album from the 70s! Verbeke's a tenorist who's completely fully-formed and strong-voiced right from the very first note – maybe indicated by his choice of a Barney Wilen tune to lead off the set – as, like Wilen, Harry's one of these great under-discovered European talents who really helped move his instrument forward, but away from recognition on our side of the Atlantic. The rest of the group is top-shelf too – the great Irv Rochlin on piano, Harry Emmery on bass, and Max Bollerman on drums – on titles that include "Blue Bossa", "Prelude In Blue", "Mariette", "Sugar", and "Chelsea Bridge". As for Harry Verbeke Plays Romantic Ballads, the title's no lie, but it can't even begin to get at the very special sound of the record – as there's a lot more going on here than just a saxophonist taking on American standards! Harry Verbeke's got this sense of tone and phrasing that are very much his own – a quality that we love on his harder-swinging records from the 70s, but which opens up with even more individuality here – a raspy sort of charm that's hard to describe in words, but which makes the album very different than so many other tenor outings of this type. Another strong element is the use of organ instead of piano – an instrument played here by Carlo De Wijs, who mostly shades in things under Harry's lead, rather than try to challenge him to a sonic battle – as the core get gentle support from Hein Van De Geyn on bass and Arnoud Gerritse on drums. Titles include "Stella By Starlight", "A Child Is Born", "Chelsea Bridge", "Spring Fever", and "Everything Happens To Me". CD

The earliest album ever to be issued under the Globe Unity label – a very early project headed up by the mighty pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach – and a record that's noteworthy for the first album to feature the work of Peter Brotzmann and Peter Kowald! Right from the start, the vibe is completely in line with the highest ideals of the improvising orchestra – Schlippenbach directing the group and playing piano – in a large lineup that also features Brotzmann on alto, Manfred Schoof on cornet, Gerd Dudek on tenor, Willem Breuker on baritone, Gunter Hampel on bass clarinet, Karl Berger on vibes, and Peter Kowald and Buschi Niebergall on basses, one in each channel! And alongside these free jazz heavyweights, the album also sports the amazing rhythm duo of future prog rock giants Jaki Liebezeit and Mani Neumeier – both working here at a level that matches the free improvisations of the others – on two side-long tracks, titled "Globe Unity" and "Sun". CD

The earliest album ever to be issued under the Globe Unity label – a very early project headed up by the mighty pianist Alexander Von Schlippenbach – and a record that's noteworthy for the first album to feature the work of Peter Brotzmann and Peter Kowald! Right from the start, the vibe is completely in line with the highest ideals of the improvising orchestra – Schlippenbach directing the group and playing piano – in a large lineup that also features Brotzmann on alto, Manfred Schoof on cornet, Gerd Dudek on tenor, Willem Breuker on baritone, Gunter Hampel on bass clarinet, Karl Berger on vibes, and Peter Kowald and Buschi Niebergall on basses, one in each channel! And alongside these free jazz heavyweights, the album also sports the amazing rhythm duo of future prog rock giants Jaki Liebezeit and Mani Neumeier – both working here at a level that matches the free improvisations of the others – on two side-long tracks, titled "Globe Unity" and "Sun". LP, Vinyl record album

The title is maybe a bit un-prophetic – given that a few years later, Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton would hardly be together – but the record's a great one from that wonderful stretch when the pair could really make magic singing together on record! The tunes are all original numbers – some by Dolly, some by Porter – new material that makes the album every bit as strong as solo efforts by either singer, and which show that these RCA duo sessions weren't just filler material in the catalog! Titles include "Love's All Over", "Take Away", "Lost Forever In Your Kiss", "Looking Down", "Poor Folks Town", "Ten Four Over & Out", and "You & Me Her & Him". LP, Vinyl record album

An easygoing, long-flowing record from Cedar Walton – one that has the pianist in very relaxed space, playing with a style that's very open, contemplative, and beautiful! There's a bit more sensitivity here than the usual Walton trio date – and despite the cover's emphasis on the other members of the trio, bassist David Williams and drummer Billy Higgins, some of the standout tunes are the ones in which Walton is working out front, almost solo – although when the rhythm duo kicks in, things are pretty great too (we're always huge fans of Higgins' work on drums, especially in the company of Walton.) Titles include "Theme For Ernie", "For All We Know", "Jacob's Ladder", "Bluesville", and "Ojos De Rojo". CD

An easygoing, long-flowing record from Cedar Walton – one that has the pianist in very relaxed space, playing with a style that's very open, contemplative, and beautiful! There's a bit more sensitivity here than the usual Walton trio date – and despite the cover's emphasis on the other members of the trio, bassist David Williams and drummer Billy Higgins, some of the standout tunes are the ones in which Walton is working out front, almost solo – although when the rhythm duo kicks in, things are pretty great too (we're always huge fans of Higgins' work on drums, especially in the company of Walton.) Titles include "Theme For Ernie", "For All We Know", "Jacob's Ladder", "Bluesville", and "Ojos De Rojo". LP, Vinyl record album

Roger Troutman gets the front cover and Booker T Jones is on the back – Issue #35 of the funk & soul crate diggers bible Wax Poetics! Wax Poetics is far and away the brightest beacon of publications covering jazz, funk, soul & hip hop and the dusty wax that holds it – equally focusing on rare, classics, and new leaders of the grooves – and this issue has long features on the cover artists, plus Willie & The Bumblebees, The Joe Cuba Sextet and others in the always excellent Re:Discovery section, UK funk duo Broken Keys, the Shaolin Soul of the El Michels Affair, benchmark hip hop gamer Lord Finesse, EZ Mike Simpson of the Dust Brothers, heavy rhyme maestro Def Jef and much much more – filled with vintage rare photos of all parties that tell the story, on top of the exceptional writing and interview skills of team Wax Poetics! Magazine

A big package of work – all the albums recorded by The Weather Girls, plus solo material and bonus tracks too! First up is Success – maybe the greatest moment ever from The Weather Girls – a long-running duo who started out as backing singers for Sylvester in the 70s, then recorded as Two Tons O Fun, and finally got the chance to cut this classic for a major label in the early 80s! Both Martha Wash and Izora Armstead are great singers – and work here with previous disco maestro Paul Jabara, who has a great way of shifting the groove to 80s club, while still allowing all the playful elements of the decade before! In a way, this was definitely one of those records that showed the world that in the right corners, disco wasn't dead – heard to best effect on the classic "It's Raining Men" – alongside other cuts that include "Success", "Hungry For Love", "Dear Santa", "Hope", and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair". Next is Big Girls Don't Cry – soaring vocals from The Weather Girls, set to bouncy grooves that are equal parts soul and pop! Martha Wash and Izora Armstead have mighty vocal chops throughout – that bold duo approach they first crafted as Two Tons O Fun, and pushed even more strongly as The Weather Girls – set here to keyboard-heavy backings from Leon Pendarvis, who knows just where to put the best hooks in the grooves! Titles include "Well A Wiggy", "Lock Me Up", "No One Can Love You More Than Me", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "You Can Do It", "Laughter In The Rain", and "March". Next is the self-titled Weather Girls album – the last album in the original run of The Weather Girls – and a set that's full of well-produced tracks from Reggie Lucas and Full Force, balanced out nicely as a way of pushing the duo's sound strongly past the disco years from which they emerged! Sylvester makes a guest appearance on the cut "Love's On The Way" – and other titles include "Why Can't We Show Our Love", "Burn Me", "Love You Like A Train", "Opposite Directions", "Something For Nothing", and "Land Of The Believer". Last up is a super-huge solo set from Martha Wash – made a number of years after her fame in The Weather Girls, and at a time when she had really emerged as an important voice in dance music after a big cut with C&C! By this point, Wash had plenty of recording experience under her belt – and she knocks it out of the park with vocals that are disco-trained, but much richer in soul content overall – certainly more so than some of her other contemporaries on the early 90s club scene. The album features help from a huge amount of studio talent, but it's clear that Wash is the shining star in the lead – really blowing away so much of the work from the "sound system with singer" generation of club – on cuts that include "Leave A Light On", "Give it To You", "Runaround", "Things We Do For Love", "So Whatcha Gonna Do", "Someone Who Believes In You", "Just Us", "Hold On", "When It's My Heart", and "Carry On". 4CD set features bonus tracks on every CD – 22 more bonus mixes and more! CD

The record that really broke the White Stripes out of the box – a set that was recorded as an indie, then later got wider circulation around the globe – as a fantastic demonstration of the raw, back-to-basics energy that made the duo such a standout in contemporary rock at the start of the century! All these many years later, there's still a sense of power that has the group rivaling some of the bigger garage punk legends of the past – on titles that include "Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground", "Hotel Yorba", "Fell In Love With A Girl", "I Think I Smell A Rat", "Now Mary", "We're Going To Be Friends", "Expecting", "I'm Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman", and "The Same Boy You've Always Known". CD

The record that really broke the White Stripes out of the box – a set that was recorded as an indie, then later got wider circulation around the globe – as a fantastic demonstration of the raw, back-to-basics energy that made the duo such a standout in contemporary rock at the start of the century! All these many years later, there's still a sense of power that has the group rivaling some of the bigger garage punk legends of the past – on titles that include "Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground", "Hotel Yorba", "Fell In Love With A Girl", "I Think I Smell A Rat", "Now Mary", "We're Going To Be Friends", "Expecting", "I'm Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman", and "The Same Boy You've Always Known". LP, Vinyl record album

Debut of the underground garage rock duo who pretty much conquered modern rock altogether at the the end of the 90s! Includes "Jimmy The Exploder", "Stop Breaking Down", "The Big Three Killed My Baby", "Cannon", "Astro", "Little People", "One More Cup Of Coffee', "Slicker Drips" and more. CD

Sublime later work from French saxophonist Barney Wilen – working here with pianist Alan Jean-Marie, an artist that we totally love on his own! Some people know Jean-Marie best for his recordings of biguine jazz – mixing the rhythms of his native Martinique with more contemporary modes on piano – but here, he's in his other great mode of the time – this open, flowing, spaciously stepping sort of quality – which really brings out the best in Wilen on both tenor and soprano – showing especially the sort of extended, snakey solos that he always brought to his best live recordings in his final decades! The pairing is somewhere in the territory of Stan Getz and Kenny Barron on duo mode – but with the very big difference of the distinct musical personalities of Barney and Alain – on titles that include "Round Midnight", "I'm A Fool To Want You", "Repetition/No Problem", "My Funny Valentine", "Skating In Central Park", and "Besame Mucho". 2CD set features both the first and second sets of the evening – 17 tracks in all! CD

Sublime later work from French saxophonist Barney Wilen – working here with pianist Alan Jean-Marie, an artist that we totally love on his own! Some people know Jean-Marie best for his recordings of biguine jazz – mixing the rhythms of his native Martinique with more contemporary modes on piano – but here, he's in his other great mode of the time – this open, flowing, spaciously stepping sort of quality – which really brings out the best in Wilen on both tenor and soprano – showing especially the sort of extended, snakey solos that he always brought to his best live recordings in his final decades! The pairing is somewhere in the territory of Stan Getz and Kenny Barron on duo mode – but with the very big difference of the distinct musical personalities of Barney and Alain – on titles that include "Round Midnight", "I'm A Fool To Want You", "Repetition/No Problem", "My Funny Valentine", "Skating In Central Park", and "Besame Mucho". 2CD set features both the first and second sets of the evening – 17 tracks in all! CD

Fantastic work from one of our favorite jazz duos of all time – pianist Jack Wilson and the young vibes genius Roy Ayers – working here back before his soul/funk fame of the 70s, in a completely different style! Ayers and Wilson only made a handful of records together back in the day – including important dates for Atlantic and Blue Note – and this set of unreleased live material from 1966 provides a much-needed addition to their short catalog of sides together – sublime modal jazz that we'd put right up there with anything else they ever did! Wilson is already a hell of a pianist on his own – one of the unsung greats of his generation, with a fantastic sense of flow and this mixture of lyricism and soulfulness that leads to all these very vivid moments and tonal explosions. Add Ayers to the mix, and you've really got something special – a vibes/piano pairing that sounds like nobody else – and which shows that even back before he worked with Herbie Mann, Roy was a tremendously unique player, destined for greatness. The group has a rock-solid rhythm duo – Buddy Woodson on bass and Von Barlow on drums – and titles include "Serenata", "Harbor Freeway 5pm", "Here's That Rainy Day", "CFD", "Pensativa", "Stolen Moments", "Nirvana", and "Call Me". CD

Avant metal giants Khanate are on the cover – looking as dark as you might guess from their music – and the issue also has a look back at legendary Krautrock experimentalists Agitation Free, plus electroacoustic duo Beam Splitter, multi-instrumentalist Mpho Molikeng, Osaka group Violent Magic Orchestra, and the extreme metal festival in Berlin! As usual, there's a huge amount of reviews of avant and experimental releases in recent months – and singer Dali De Saint Paul tries out on the long-running Invisible Jukebox! Magazine

Sweet electric funk from Womack and Womack – a set that's got the same sort of tight songwriting as their classic Love Wars set from the 80s, but a groove that's maybe even heavier on the beats and keyboards too! The style's still nice and warm, in all the right ways to work with the duo's vocals trading back to back – and in addition to Fender Rhodes from Linda, the album also features some nice worm from Bobby Lyle, Neal Larson, and Eddie Noble on the keys. Titles include "No Relief", "Maze", "Night Rider", "Strange & Funny", "Eyes", and "Radio MUSC Man". LP, Vinyl record album

The full length debut of the Yancey Boys – Frank Nitt & Illa J – the former of the venerable duo Frank N Dank, the latter J Dilla's rhyme centric younger brother – who come together with the dual purpose of keeping J Dilla's production pedigree alive, and to simply deliver timeless, top notch Detroit hip hop! Production is provided by J Dilla's archive – and a pretty impressive roster of Dilla friends and collaborators take part as guests – include Common, Talib Kweli, Posdnuos of De La Soul, Dank, Rhettmatic, Eric Roberson, Guilty Simpson, J Roc and others. Titles include "Dilltro" with Dank, "Fisherman" feat Vice, J Rocc & Detroit Serious, "Flowers" with Kweli, Niko Grey & Rhettmatic, "Without Wings", "Beautiful" with Posdnuos, "Quicksand" with Slimkid3 & Niko Gray", "The Throwaway", "This Evening" and more. CD

The full length debut of the Yancey Boys – Frank Nitt & Illa J – the former of the venerable duo Frank N Dank, the latter J Dilla's rhyme centric younger brother – who come together with the dual purpose of keeping J Dilla's production pedigree alive, and to simply deliver timeless, top notch Detroit hip hop! Production is provided by J Dilla's archive – and a pretty impressive roster of Dilla friends and collaborators take part as guests – include Common, Talib Kweli, Posdnuos of De La Soul, Dank, Rhettmatic, Eric Roberson, Guilty Simpson, J Roc and others. Titles include "Dilltro" with Dank, "Fisherman" feat Vice, J Rocc & Detroit Serious, "Flowers" with Kweli, Niko Grey & Rhettmatic, "Without Wings", "Beautiful" with Posdnuos, "Quicksand" with Slimkid3 & Niko Gray", "The Throwaway", "This Evening" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The last-ever album from this legendary duo – and a set that's maybe their funkiest record too! Of course, that's probably no surprise, given that they're playing the Curtis Mayfield tunes from Superfly here – great tracks that make for a really wonderful setting for the pair's highly rhythmic style – Eldee Young on bass and Isaac Redd Holt on drums – plus great Fender Rhodes lines from pianist Ken Chaney! The set also features a bit of congas from Derf Reklaw, and organ and guitar as well – and the whole thing's a long overdue follow up to the funky electric jazz style of their earlier album Oh Girl, on Atlantic. Titles include great takes on "Freddie's Dead", "Give Me Your Love", "Pusher Man", and "Superfly" – plus a few of the group's own numbers, like "Hey Pancho" and "Mystical Man" – as well as a super-dope cover of "People Make the World Go Round". LP, Vinyl record album

The last-ever album from this legendary duo – and a set that's maybe their funkiest record too! Of course, that's probably no surprise, given that they're playing the Curtis Mayfield tunes from Superfly here – great tracks that make for a really wonderful setting for the pair's highly rhythmic style – Eldee Young on bass and Isaac Redd Holt on drums – plus great Fender Rhodes lines from pianist Ken Chaney! The set also features a bit of congas from Derf Reklaw, and organ and guitar as well – and the whole thing's a long overdue follow up to the funky electric jazz style of their earlier album Oh Girl, on Atlantic. Titles include great takes on "Freddie's Dead", "Give Me Your Love", "Pusher Man", and "Superfly" – plus a few of the group's own numbers, like "Hey Pancho" and "Mystical Man" – as well as a super-dope cover of "People Make the World Go Round". LP, Vinyl record album

An all-instrumentals set of tracks from the Jazz Is Dead duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – but one that also has some ties to their previous projects as well! The set features some material written with Jean Carne, who doesn't sing at all – and some written with Lonnie Liston Smith, who does play Fender Rhodes on a number of tracks – making a great return to the format of the series, after his own volume! And speaking of Fender Rhodes, Adrian Younge plays plenty of that great instrument – as well as Hammond B3, flute and saxes, and even some monophonic synth and electric sitar – all of which makes for a mighty nice, wide array of instrumental flavors! Titles include "Black Rainbows", "The Summertime", "Cosmic Changes", "Black Love", "People Of The Sun", "Come As You Are", "Visions", and "Love Brings Happiness". CD

An all-instrumentals set of tracks from the Jazz Is Dead duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – but one that also has some ties to their previous projects as well! The set features some material written with Jean Carne, who doesn't sing at all – and some written with Lonnie Liston Smith, who does play Fender Rhodes on a number of tracks – making a great return to the format of the series, after his own volume! And speaking of Fender Rhodes, Adrian Younge plays plenty of that great instrument – as well as Hammond B3, flute and saxes, and even some monophonic synth and electric sitar – all of which makes for a mighty nice, wide array of instrumental flavors! Titles include "Black Rainbows", "The Summertime", "Cosmic Changes", "Black Love", "People Of The Sun", "Come As You Are", "Visions", and "Love Brings Happiness". LP, Vinyl record album

An all-instrumentals set of tracks from the Jazz Is Dead duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – but one that also has some ties to their previous projects as well! The set features some material written with Jean Carne, who doesn't sing at all – and some written with Lonnie Liston Smith, who does play Fender Rhodes on a number of tracks – making a great return to the format of the series, after his own volume! And speaking of Fender Rhodes, Adrian Younge plays plenty of that great instrument – as well as Hammond B3, flute and saxes, and even some monophonic synth and electric sitar – all of which makes for a mighty nice, wide array of instrumental flavors! Titles include "Black Rainbows", "The Summertime", "Cosmic Changes", "Black Love", "People Of The Sun", "Come As You Are", "Visions", and "Love Brings Happiness". LP, Vinyl record album

Saxophonist Gary Bartz joins the duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – bringing a warm sense of soul to their soulful backings – which range from funky to spacey, and do a nice job of capturing the mid 70s feel of Gary on record! The sound isn't the Larry Mizell or Ntu Group version of Bartz – but a warm, spiritual take on alto sax – with strong solo that really soar out over the proceedings, even when the Young/Muhammad rhythms might not be as dynamic – but that's maybe no surprise, given that Gary Bartz always made the best of any situation – and really shines here amidst the Fender Rhodes, Hammond, guitars, and vibes that make up the rest of the music. Titles include "Soulsea", "The Message", "Day By Day", "Blue Jungles", "Spiritual Ideation", and "Black & Brown". CD

The jazz component of this wonderful series just seems to get deeper and deeper with each new release – despite what you might think from the title – and this time around, the presence of LA collective Katalyst really knocks things out of the park! The set's an all-instrumental one – and the Fender Rhodes, saxes, and other elements of the group really warm up the core sound laid down by Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – so much so that while other volumes in the series seem to have an artist joining the core duo, this one feels a bit more like they're sitting in on a session that's wonderfully driven by the soulful flow of Katalyst! Tracks are long and beautiful – with a masterful way of building, and a sense of energy that just seems to build as the record goes on – on titles that include "Dogon Cypher", "Juneteenth", "Summer Solstice", "Corridors", "Daybreak", "The Avenues", and "Reflections". LP, Vinyl record album

Spiritual keyboard giant Lonnie Liston Smith joins the duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – and the result is maybe one of the deepest records in this wonderful series! As you can imagine, Lonnie is on keyboards, and delivers some wonderful solos throughout – very much in the spirit of his classic Flying Dutchman albums of the 70s – at a level that even seems to bring out some deeper vibes from Younge and Muhammad as well! Vocalist Loren Oden joins the group on four tracks, recalling the great vocal style used on Lonnie's classic records, in this beautiful mix of jazz and soul that really shapes the tunes – in a set that that includes "A New Spring", "Love Brings Happiness", "Cosmic Changes", "Dawn", "Gratitude", "What May Come", and "Love Can Be". CD

Spiritual keyboard giant Lonnie Liston Smith joins the duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – and the result is maybe one of the deepest records in this wonderful series! As you can imagine, Lonnie is on keyboards, and delivers some wonderful solos throughout – very much in the spirit of his classic Flying Dutchman albums of the 70s – at a level that even seems to bring out some deeper vibes from Younge and Muhammad as well! Vocalist Loren Oden joins the group on four tracks, recalling the great vocal style used on Lonnie's classic records, in this beautiful mix of jazz and soul that really shapes the tunes – in a set that that includes "A New Spring", "Love Brings Happiness", "Cosmic Changes", "Dawn", "Gratitude", "What May Come", and "Love Can Be". CD

Spiritual keyboard giant Lonnie Liston Smith joins the duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – and the result is maybe one of the deepest records in this wonderful series! As you can imagine, Lonnie is on keyboards, and delivers some wonderful solos throughout – very much in the spirit of his classic Flying Dutchman albums of the 70s – at a level that even seems to bring out some deeper vibes from Younge and Muhammad as well! Vocalist Loren Oden joins the group on four tracks, recalling the great vocal style used on Lonnie's classic records, in this beautiful mix of jazz and soul that really shapes the tunes – in a set that that includes "A New Spring", "Love Brings Happiness", "Cosmic Changes", "Dawn", "Gratitude", "What May Come", and "Love Can Be". LP, Vinyl record album