We're not usually the sorts to dig tribute albums, but the mighty Mose Allison is one of our favorite talents from years back – and the lineup here do a great job of reviving some of the classic spirit of Mose, while also pushing things forward with their own creative reinterpretations of his legacy! If you don't know Allison, he was a jazz pianist first, and a singer second – the latter the quality that brought him great fame, with lots of New Orleans-inflected qualities in his vocals, and lyrics that had a nicely biting mix of contemporary wit and more vintage themes. That legacy has held up wonderfully over the years – and is interpreted here by a host of different artists – a lineup that includes "If You're Going To The City" by Iggy Pop, "Your Mind Is On Vacation" by Taj Mahal, "My Brain" by Robbie Fulks, "If You Life" by Jackson Browne, "Parchman Farm" by Richard Thompson, "Ever Since The World Ended" by Loudon Wainwright III, "Stop This World" by Chrissie Hynde, "Numbers On Paper" by Frank Black, and "Monsters Of The Id" by Amy Allison with Elvis Costello. Includes bonus DVD of the film – Mose Allison Ever Since I Stole The Blues. CD

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One of the coolest combos working in Chicago these days – a trad jazz group with a really wonderful sound – one of the few modern groups who can really illustrate the improvisational excitement of jazz back in the Windy City scene of the 20s and 30s! These guys have a freshness that you'd never find with other trad combos – maybe an energy that's generated by their youth, or the fact that in the 21st Century we're now so removed from the cliches of the trad revival, folks can start over again and really get things right. Whatever the case, their sound is great – an electrifying revival of modes we never thought we'd like this much from contemporary players. The lineup includes string bass, cornet, clarinet, alto sax, trombone, piano, drums, and banjo – and titles include "The Stampede", "18th & Racine", "I Can't Dance", "Stardust", "Oh Baby", "The Chant", and "Blueberry Rhyme". CD

The contemporary Chicago jazz scene gets more and more interesting – as this host of younger players take on the sound of the city from the 1920s – but with a fresh sort of edge! Trad jazz has been a stated influence on some of the contemporary Chicago avant players – but here, the music is taken at a style that's nice and straight – and played on a lineup that includes cornet, clarinet, trombone, piano, banjo, drums, and string bass. Titles include "Here Comes The Hot Tamale Man", "Black Snake Blues", "Snake Rag", "Froggie Moore", "Willow Tree", "Weary Blues", and "Tight Like This". CD

Al Green explores your mind – then moves onto your heart, your soul, and everything in between! The album's a classic in the best Hi Records tradition – and features Al moving into a style that's even more spiritual than before – serving up the sublime tracks "Take Me To The River" and "God Blessed Our Love", both of which seem to point strongly at the direction he would take in later years – but also managing to mix the secular with the spiritual, in a way that's as sexy as ever! Other tracks include the hit "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)", plus "One Nite Stand", "The City", "I'm Hooked On You", and "Stay With Me Forever". CD

Sammy Davis Jr is looking pretty darn hip on the cover – and all the artists inside are sounding pretty darn hip as well – coming together during the glory days of soul jazz, at a time when blues, vocals, and R&B were also criss-crossing into other styles too! There's an upbeat, soul-drenched, ultra-cool vibe to the whole thing – not too-familiar retro jazz numbers, but instead a wealth of rare cuts that often come from the sort of 7" singles that change hands for big money in the funky 45 underground, next to obscure album cuts too – mixed with the kind of unreleased material that the Ace/Kent label has always done such a good job of digging up! The package explodes with groovy musical delights – and titles include "What Is love" by Bobby Jenkins, "Out House" by Eddie Bridges & His Lowriders, "Empire City" by Gene Walker & The Combo, "Pushin The Button Of Soul" by Hank Jacobs, "Fat Man" by Montego Joe, "The Bold" by Russell Evans & The Nite Hawks, "Hey Mrs Jones" by Jimmy Witherspoon, "Poppa Nickel" by The Tempo Rhythms, "Sherry's Party" by Ray Johnson, "Hot Tamale Man" by Harold Betters, "Shank & Grits" by Ray Shanklin, "Pluckin" by Jimmy Mayes & The Soul Breed, "East 24th Ave" by Billy Graham & The Escalators, and "Do The Thing" by Gate Wesley. CD

An overlooked AOR gem from this cool southern group – one who've got a nicely funky vibe at times, and a style that creates this different spin on LA styles of the period! The vocals have an electrified vibe that works very well with the keyboards and guitar – and there's plenty of soulful currents in the rhythms that almost make some of the best cuts sound like the midtempo AWB gems from the late 70s! Titles include "City Of The Future", "Call Me", "Sunset Eyes", "A Fool In Line", "Little Bird", and "Fat Boy". CD

A strong collection of (mostly) early-to-mid 90s recordings by Mississippi blues legend Junior Kimbrough – compiling his Fat Possum recordings and as a set that really is essential! It includes recordings captured Junior's Juke Joint in Chulahoma, MS, home recordings and more – raw and right in Junior's unflinching element. Includes the great opener "Release Me" with Charlie Feathers – recorded in 1969 – and the subsequent 90s material sounds right at home with it . . .pretty amazing! Other tracks include "All Night Long", "Meet Me In The City", "Old Black Mattie", "I'm Leaving You Baby", "Keep On Braggin'", "Tramp", "Sad Days Lonely Nights", "Most Things Haven't Worked Out", the bone-chilling title track and more. CD

Excellent! An astounding 4CD set covering 15 years worth of fine Jamaican music, stopping at all the relevant points for novices, but digging deeply enough to unearth some nice hard to get bits for the initiated. The first disc in the set, Train To Skaville, represents an 8 year block during the formative years of the 60s, starting out with some Mento cuts, then a couple of nice Jamaican R& B numbers on through a nice batch of Ska. Disc 2, Do The Reggay, focus on the transition to Rocksteady and early reggae from 1968 to 1970, as the tempos started to get a little more laidback, and the dawn of the 70s gets highlighted with disc 3, Black & White: Reggae Rising. Disc 4, The Time Has Come, brings it all together collecting a tremendous batch of roots rock. 90 tracks in all, the set includes Derrick Morgan "Fat Man", Stranger Cole "Rough & Tough", Don Drummond & Tommy McCook "Music Is My Occupation", Roland Alphonso & The Soul Brothers "Phoenix City", Desmond Dekker & The Aces "Rudy Got Soul", Keith & Tex "Stop That Train", Toots & The Maytals "Do The Reggay", Lee Perry People Funny Boy", the Untouchables "Tighten Up", the Pioneers "Longshot Kick The Bucket", Gregory Isaacs "Don't Let Me Suffer", Harry J Allstars "The Liquidator", Niney "Blood & Fire", Ken Parker "Groovin Out On Life", Bob Marley & The Wailers "Small Axe", Horace Andy "I Fell Good All Over", Junior Byles "A Place Called Africa", Zap Pow "This Is Reggae Music", Slim Smith "The Time Has Come", Big Youth "S90 Skank", Burning Spear "Marcus Garvey", and way too many more to list here! CD

One of the few full albums ever issued under the name of trumpeter Fats Navarro – and like most of them, a posthumous collection of material cut before his untimely early death! The set's a memorial of sorts, and it compiles some important sides from the mid 40s, recorded for Savoy – material that really helped set the stage for bop at the time, even though most folks were still just finding a name for the form. There's some really standout elements here – like a handful of tracks that feature sparkling arrangements from Gil Fuller, with Sonny Stitt on alto and Morris Lane on tenor – on titles that include "Boppin A Riff (parts 1 & 2)", "Fat Boy (parts 1 & 2)", and "Webb City (parts 1 & 2)". The moody singer Kay Penton makes an appearance on a few other great cuts – "Bebop Carroll", "Gone With The Wind", "The Tadd Walk", and "That Someone Must Be You". And other numbers feature Kenny Dorham on trumpet and Sonny Stitt on alto – on titles that include "Good Kick" and "Serenade To A Square". CD

One of the few full albums ever issued under the name of trumpeter Fats Navarro – and like most of them, a posthumous collection of material cut before his untimely early death! The set's a memorial of sorts, and it compiles some important sides from the mid 40s, recorded for Savoy – material that really helped set the stage for bop at the time, even though most folks were still just finding a name for the form. There's some really standout elements here – like a handful of tracks that feature sparkling arrangements from Gil Fuller, with Sonny Stitt on alto and Morris Lane on tenor – on titles that include "Boppin A Riff (parts 1 & 2)", "Fat Boy (parts 1 & 2)", and "Webb City (parts 1 & 2)". The moody singer Kay Penton makes an appearance on a few other great cuts – "Bebop Carroll", "Gone With The Wind", "The Tadd Walk", and "That Someone Must Be You". And other numbers feature Kenny Dorham on trumpet and Sonny Stitt on alto – on titles that include "Good Kick" and "Serenade To A Square". CD

David Newman on flute and tenor and alto saxophone, Benny Powell on trombone, Winston Byrd on flugelhorn and trumpet, Howard Johnson on baritone saxophone, David Leonhardt on piano, John Menegon on bass, and Yoron Israel on drums. CD

Very hip work from Art Turk Burton – percussionist, educator, and underground figure on the AACM scene in Chicago for decades – working here on a set of very long, live readings of key jazz tunes, served up with help from some equally hip musicians on the scene! The great Ari Brown plays tenor in the group, alongside the alto of Edwin Daugherty, keyboards of Ed Beard, and bass of Yosef Ben Israel – in a group that also features plenty of congas from Art, and more percussion from Sammie Torres and Dushun Mosley too – as the group takes off on these very extended performances that are filled with plenty of strong solos over equally strong percussion too! Maggie Brown brings in some vocals and spoken parts too – and titles include long takes on "Song For My Father", "Freedom Jazz Dance", "Listen Here", "Afro Blue", and "Inner City Blues". CD

The lovely and soulful Hadda Brooks was one of the great talents on the LA scene of the postwar years – a vocalist and pianist with a style that blended blues and jazz, in a manner that was like some of her male counterparts on the scene at the time, such as Nat King Cole or Charles Brown. Brooks' fame in the city was great, and even led to a few famous film appearances – but the sophistication of her work often kept it from cracking the charts as strongly as other R&B stars at the time. This excellent album is really the only one she ever issued – a strong set of tunes recorded for Crown/Modern in the 50s. Titles include "My Ideal", "Take Me", "The Thrill Is Gone", "How Do You Speak To An Angel", "My Romance", and "Dream". CD

Very hip work from Art Turk Burton – percussionist, educator, and underground figure on the AACM scene in Chicago for decades – working here on a set of very long, live readings of key jazz tunes, served up with help from some equally hip musicians on the scene! The great Ari Brown plays tenor in the group, alongside the alto of Edwin Daugherty, keyboards of Ed Beard, and bass of Yosef Ben Israel – in a group that also features plenty of congas from Art, and more percussion from Sammie Torres and Dushun Mosley too – as the group takes off on these very extended performances that are filled with plenty of strong solos over equally strong percussion too! Maggie Brown brings in some vocals and spoken parts too – and titles include long takes on "Song For My Father", "Freedom Jazz Dance", "Listen Here", "Afro Blue", and "Inner City Blues". CD

A pair of great Jerry Goldsmith soundtracks – back to back on a single CD! Shock Treatment is a soundtrack that's as great as you might guess from the title – penned for a psycho-thriller, and done with a slight bit of "shock" in the music – not really electricity, but these odd tones that have a cool spacey feel at the best moments – similar to some of the ways that Goldsmith could work real magic with acoustic instrumentation on some of his sci fi scores. Even the more standard passages are pretty great – tense, and a real cut above the usual of the time. CD features bonus tracks added to the soundtrack – with titles that include "Broken Glass", "Home Work", "Night Scene", "Nelson's Seduction", "Another Treatment", "Hot Money", and "Nelson's Escape". Fate Is The Hunter has a decidedly different feel – kind of cool and gentle, almost watery at times – with an undercurrent of jazz that almost reminds us of some of Johnny Mandel's best soundtracks of the time! Titles include "Forest Scene", "Night Scene", "Moon Fish", "The Room", and "Fate Is The Hunter". CD

A wonderful package – four full albums by one of the most unique groups of their time! First up is These Things Too – the first Reprise album from Pearls Before Swine – a bit more straight ahead and folksy than their work for ESP – but in a really great way, one that lets you hear the best of Tom Rapp's amazing songs and vocals! The album follows in a tradition that includes Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin, Leonard Cohen, and Fred Neil – but it's also got a really unique style that's the unique province of Tom Rapp – the main force behind the group, and the voice on all of the tunes. Rapp's vision was quite unique for the time – not nearly as revolutionary or personally preoccupied – more sad at the fading world, and granted with a unique ability to paint any subject in shades of blue. Titles include "Wizard Of Is", "Frog In The Window", "Footnote", "Look Into Her Eyes", "These Things Too", and "Mon Amour". Use Of Ashes is an incredibly beautiful album from Pearls Before Swine – one that uses light orchestrations to create a baroquely folksy sort of feel – easily elevating the album past previous efforts, into classic territory we'd rank with the best from Nick Drake or Leonard Cohen! The whole album's great – with fragile and haunting songs from Tom Rapp, all supported by sparsely arranged instrumentation that includes harpsichord, flute, oboe, cello, and dobro. Genius throughout – and a clear inspiration for music still being made 30 years later – with classic tracks that include "The Jeweler", "Rocket Man", "Song About A Rose", "The Old Man", "When The War Began", and "From The Movie Of The Same Name". Next is Beautiful Lies You Could Live In – one of the most perfectly formed albums ever recorded by Tom Rapp's enigmatic group Pearls Before Swine – a record that does an incredible job of skirting between Rapp's earthy sense of the planet's passing, and his ambitions for larger forums of expression. The core group is lightly folksy – with strong use of acoustic guitar that goes far beyond any folk rock cliches – plus some additional arrangements that feature contributions from the team of Bob Dorough and Stu Scharf, who seem to have a habit of appearing on under-discovered gems like this one, and making them sound all that more hip! The whole thing's great – filled with beautiful songs that should have been as over-recorded as the best by Tim Hardin or Leonard Cohen – with titles that are even better, too! Tracks include "Snow Queen", "A Life", "Butterflies", "Simple Things", "Freedom", "She's Gone", and "Island Lady". Last up is City Of Gold – a return to folksier forms for Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine – working here in territory that's very different than some of the baroque light arrangements used on previous records. Rapp's emerging as a more confident singer/songwriter – recording in an almost Dylan-like setting, but with more of the irony of Leonard Cohen, and as always, working in a timeless idiom that's still beginning to be understood more than 30 years after its inception. Beautiful work throughout – as earthy as it is majestic – and with titles that include "My Father", "The Man", "Once Upon A Time", "City Of Gold", "Nancy", and "Wedding". CD

The excellent follow up to folk guitar great Harry Taussig's Fate Is Only Once album – appropriately titled Fate Is Only Twice – and it's only been 47 years since Fate struck for the first time! Fate Is Only Once was a mid 60s private press rarity, thankfully reissued by the obscure folk heroes at Tompkins Square – so it's fitting that Tompkins Square would see this worthy contemporary sequel into release. It's got a similarly brilliant mix of meditative, unfussy, but incredibly accomplished acoustic folk and blues instrumentals. A solo guitar stunner! Includes "Rondo In D – On Southern Tmemes", "Children's Dance", "Der Dritte Man Fantasia", "Living In The City", "In The Corner Of The Circle", "Perpetuum Mobile Revisited", "Azure", "Fate Is Only Twice" and more. CD

Wicked funky fusion from Opa – a Brazilian-inspired set, and one with loads of great electric moments! Although originally from Uruguay, Opa are best known for their Brazilian-tinged albums on the soul/jazz Fantasy records label in Cali during the mid 70s – great placement, given that their sound is a bit like Azymuth – with a similar mix of South American roots and contemporary electric grooves! This album is actually their first – captured in America before their two classics on Fantasy – and featuring a sharp quartet that includes legendary pianist Hugo Fattoruso on keyboards – a great talent who'd already made jazz and bossa records in the 60s – working here with George Osvaldo Fattoruso on drums, percussion, and flute – plus Ringo Thielmann on bass. The core trio is also joined for this record by percussionist Pappo Atiles – and although there's some light vocal touches, they've got that breezy style that was often used in Brazilian jazz at the time – almost more instrumental than vocal. Titles include a great take on Edu Lobo's "Casa Forte" – plus "Back Home (The Inner City)", "Brother Rada", "African Bird", "Goldenwings", "Brooklynville", and "One & One & One Is Two". CD

One of the greatest crossover albums of the 80s – and the record that catapulted Prince very firmly into the mainstream! There's a tightness here that surpasses even that of Prince's early classics for Warner Brothers – an unabashed love of a pop hook that makes for some incredibly catchy tunes that are still delivered with a nice funky undercurrent. The whole Prince family is at the top of their game at this point – and titles include "Darling Nikki", "Let's Go Crazy", "I Would Die 4 U", "When Doves Cry", "Baby I'm A Star", and "Purple Rain". This fantastic 3CD/DVD version features a completely new 2015 Paisley Park remaster of the album, done by Prince – plus a full CD that features unreleased songs and tracks from the vaults – with titles that include "Katrina's Paper Dolls", "We Can F**k", "Father's Song", "Possessed", "Computer Blue (hallway speech version)", "Love & Sex", "The Dance Electric", "Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden", "Wonderful Ass", "Velvet Kitty Cat", and "Electric Intercourse (studio version)". CD3 features lots of rare single edits and non-LP b-sides – with tracks that include "Erotic City", "Let's Go Crazy (special dance mix)", "17 Days (edit)", "Baby I'm A Star (edit)", "I Would Die 4 U (extended)", "Another Lonely Christmas (extended)", "Take Me With U (edit)", "God (edit)", "When Doves Cry (7" edit)", and "God (inst)". DVD features a never-issued concert performance, recorded at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse in March of 1985 – with 19 songs in all! CD

Finally! Andre Williams has been getting loads of press over the past few years as the true "Funky Godfather" that he is – but up until now, nobody's ever done a good compilation of his work! This long-overdue set from Tuff City digs through the vaults of Avin, Sport, & Wingate – smaller labels that Williams recorded with around the same period that he was working with Chess – and the result is a funky funky batch of great little tracks, the sort that we always sell for a bundle on our funky 45 pages! Williams hard funky talent rings loud and true here (a hell of a lot more than on those recent recordings) – and the album's filled with great gems like "Black Bull", "Loose Juice", "Soul Groove", "Bassology", "Hard Hustling", "Jivin Around", "Rip Tips (parts 1 & 2)", "Pearl Time", "Chicken Thighs", and the great "Sweet Little Pussy Cat". CD has 3 bonus tracks, too! CD

Wicked funky fusion from Opa – a Brazilian-inspired set, and one with loads of great electric moments! Although originally from Uruguay, Opa are best known for their Brazilian-tinged albums on the soul/jazz Fantasy records label in Cali during the mid 70s – great placement, given that their sound is a bit like Azymuth – with a similar mix of South American roots and contemporary electric grooves! This album is actually their first – captured in America before their two classics on Fantasy – and featuring a sharp quartet that includes legendary pianist Hugo Fattoruso on keyboards – a great talent who'd already made jazz and bossa records in the 60s – working here with George Osvaldo Fattoruso on drums, percussion, and flute – plus Ringo Thielmann on bass. The core trio is also joined for this record by percussionist Pappo Atiles – and although there's some light vocal touches, they've got that breezy style that was often used in Brazilian jazz at the time – almost more instrumental than vocal. Titles include a great take on Edu Lobo's "Casa Forte" – plus "Back Home (The Inner City)", "Brother Rada", "African Bird", "Goldenwings", "Brooklynville", and "One & One & One Is Two". CD also features the bonus track "I Came To This Country". CD

Includes "Lost Ones", "Ex-Factor", "To Zion", "Doo Wop", "Superstar", "Final Hour", "When It Hurts So Bad", "I Used To Love Him", "Forgive Them Father", "Every Ghetto, Every City", "Nothing Even Matters" , "Everything Is Everything", and "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill". CD

A great early album from David Pomeranz – a great 70s singer/songwriter who got the chance to record often, but never seemed to achieve the fame he deserved! This set's clearly got the Decca label investing heavily in David's talents – as he gets great production from Charles Callelo, who also helped with the arrangements – and uses an all-star group of jazz players who include Chick Corea and Jan Hammer on piano, Randy Brecker on trumpet, Joe Farrell on tenor, John Tropea on guitar, Billy Cobham on drums, and both Airto and David Friedman on percussion – players who really bring an instrumental complexity to the record that matches the inspiration of the well-penned tunes by Pomeranz. David himself also plays guitar and piano at times – and titles include "Dagger", "Hideaway Suite", "First", "Father Thoughts", "City Show", "I Need Time To Fly", "We Loved Just Fine", and "Day Prayer". CD

Totally excellent – and probably the best of the Planet Of The Apes soundtracks! The record features lots of snippets of dialogue from the film – including Cornelius telling the creed of the fate of man, General Ursus addressing Ape City, and the chilling Mass Of The Holy Bomb. The main score has some great work by Leonard Roseman, in kind of an off-kilter style with lots of atonal string passages – but it also features a few tasty funky cuts. The best of these is the "March Of The Apes", a great little funky 70s soundtrack number, and there's also a weird funky passage at the end of the "mass", with voices chanting in a hippy dippy kind of way! Plus, this expanded CD package features a lot more music than the original LP – a 19 track suite of instrumental orchestral titles by Rosenmann, plus 2 bonus tracks "Mind Control SFX" and "Nova Dies", plus the LP program of tracks, which includes the original dialogue bits! 32 tracks in all, very nicely done, and limited to 3000 copies! CD

A pretty deep collection of old school Rhythm & Blues recordings in a 3CD set – one billed as Classics, another as Dance Craze cuts and the third highlighting rarities – excellent stuff from legends such as Big Mama Thornton, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Ruth Brown, Dave Bartholomew, Wynonie Harris, TV Slim, Little Richard, Wilbert Harrison, The Dominoes, Louis Jordan and many more! The antology covers material from the years 1945 to 1959 and features 51 tracks on 3CDs. "I'm Ready" by Fats Domino, "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison, "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" by Ruth Brown, "Ain't I Talking To You Baby" by Sheri Washington, "That's Right Baby" by Piney Brown, "Who Drank My Beer, While I Was In The Rear" by Dave Bartholomew, "Speedoo" by The Cadillacs, "Speedoo" by The Bobbettes and more. CD

Amazing music from the depths of the Great Depression, but it's hardly a downer – this is a deeply felt collection of tunes by black & white singers and combos of the 20s & 30s that's cathartic, emotional, and a complete treasure trove! The songs are full of brutal beauty, tragedy, and some dark humor, especially when it gets to the murder ballads – and more than 30 of the 70 songs haven't been reissued before now! This is simply one of the very best sets of archival Americana since the epic CD releases of the Anthology Of American Folk Music. It's really that good! The discs are separated thematically – Man V Machine, Man V Nature, and Man V Man (And Woman, Too) – and titles include "Titanic Blues" by Hi Henry Brown & Charlie Jordan, "The Crash Of The Akron" by Bob Miller, "Wreck Of Old 97" by Skillet Lickers, "The Fatal Wreck Of The Blus" bu Mainer's Mountaineers, "The Story Of The Mighty Mississippi" by Ernest Stoneman, "When The Levee Breaks" by Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie, "The Death Of Floyd Collins" by Vernon Dalhart, "Peddler And His Wife" by Hayes Shepherd, "Frankie" by Dykes Magic City Trio, "Dupree Blues" by Willie Walker. 70 tracks on 3CDs! CD

The debut of father/daughter soul duo Dorian Holley and Nayanna Holley – stepping out here on a set of classic tunes that are mostly remade with their unique approach to the music! Instrumentation is lean and laidback – graced with lots of great organ and Fender Rhodes from jazz great Larry Goldings – plus gentle bass, guitar, and drums – as Dorian and Nayanna trade vocals back and forth on most cuts in an unusual way – then take a few solo moments as well. Tracks include versions of "People Make The World Go Round", "Can't Find My Way Home", "Don't Give Up", "Blackbird", "Somewhere", "People Get Ready", "Harvest For The World", and "Inner City Blues". CD

A wonderful little record that sounds nothing like Kansas City or something you might expect from a group with "jammers" in their name – as there's a sweet harmony style to the whole album that's a lot more like Cali work of the time! The trio harmonize together beautifully, and they mix acoustic and electric instrumentation in a nicely lean mode – yet with a quality that's still well-produced for such a small label indie release at the time! We might make an obvious comparison to CSNY, but the song themes are very different, as is the mood – and these guys are much more down to earth in a really great way! Titles include "For A Sign". "Live In Harmony", "Messiah", "For Father" "Chess Piece", "Hairy Tongued Turtle", "Midnight Watch", "Fall", "Fingers Foot & Fade", and "For Marti". 2CD edition features a full bonus disc – 14 more rare tracks from the time, a great expansion to the too-small legacy of the group! CD

An amazing world of music – rare funk, soul, reggae, and other grooves from Belize – all beautifully compiled in the rich Numero Music style! We're really stunned by the set – as we had no idea at all that Belize had anything going on at this level – and the collection is an amazing surprise to our ears, filled with new delights at each turn, and clearly marking Belize as a new funky capitol on our ever-expanding map of musical understanding. Numero really outdid themselves with this package – going far beyond their already-great collections of work from the Bandit and Capsoul labels – to dig up a range of tracks that have never really made it out to the world at large, but which bubble over with influences from American funk and soul at the time. The notes are great, and the booklet's got plenty of excellent images to back up the writings – but the music is the real star of the set, and is presented on 16 tracks that include "More Love Reggae" and "Boogaloo A La Chuck" by Lord Rhaburn, "Theme From The Godfather" and "Backstabbers" by The Professionals, "Can't Go Halfway" and "Shame Shame Shame" by The Harmonettes, "Things Are Going To Work Out Right" and "Rated G" by The Web, "Funky Jive (parts 1& 2)" by Soul Creations, and "Long Time Boy" by Nadia Cattouse. CD

A second great set of tunes from the Chicago scene of the early soul years – one that features a number of alternate takes and previously unissued tunes, including a few great numbers by unknown groups! The set was put together by Chicago soul expert Bob Miner – and has a real focus on group obscurities from the end of the doo wop era to the earliest years of Chicago soul. Miner's got a keen eye for the uncommon, and has pulled together a number of tracks from rare singles, acetates, and audition discs. The fidelity is surprisingly good, given the source of many of the materials – and the package is a refreshing change from the oft-compiled bigger hits of the Chicago scene. Titles include "No Greater Thing" and "My Love" by Twilites, "Wait A Minute" by The Kittens, "Honey Hush" and "Money Honey" by The Eagleaires, "Our Love" and "Stormy Weather" by Four Gents, "We Belong Together" by Upsetters, "Chaney" by The Cardinals, "Moments Of Infatuation" by Jackie Bee, "African Twist" by Harold Curington, "This Angel Of Mine" by The Amps, "In The Still Of The Night" by Larry & DuDrops, "Do Do De Dop" and "Can You Explain It" by The Devotions, and "Makin Eyes" by Cookie & The Dedications. 29 tracks in all! CD