Features 31 tracks over 2 discs! CD

Quite possibly the greatest Larry Young album of the post-Blue Note years – and a massive bit of funk that totally redefines his sound! Larry's working here with his hip group Fuel – an ensemble that features Laura Logan on lead vocals, giving the tunes a real focus through her lyrics – and letting them pack a bit more punch too, since her voice sounds a lot like Betty Davis at the time! Larry's keyboards are forceful, but never too over the top – and he's notched things down a bit to focus on the overall groove of the set – still keeping things adventurous on the keys, but also working in a mode that's much more heavily jazz funk! The album's one of THE essential electric jazz sets of the 70s – and features the classic break cut "Turn Out the Lights" – plus other great tracks that include "Floating", "Fuel for the Fire", "I Ching", "H+J=B (Hustle + Jam = Bread)" and "New York Electric Street Music". CD

2 classics by the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – back to back on one CD! At the time they were taking Paris by storm, the Art Ensemble recorded these brilliant albums – both of which are some of their strongest early work, far more well-formed than any of their individual expressions recorded earlier in Chicago! The CD features the group at their best – playing very tightly, but also with a sense of whimsy and imagination, and the kind of free-thinking exploration that informed a whole generation of jazz musicians, offering a different mode of expression than the spiritualism of the post-Coltrane years. Includes "A Brain For The Seine", a real classic by the band – plus "Jackson In Your House", "Get In Line", "Song for Charles", "Dexterity" and "Old Time Religion", and "Rock Out". CD

Seminal work from the Art Ensemble of Chicago – recorded during their most creative period ever! The album was recorded live in October of 1969 – at a time when the group had pulled up roots and moved to France for a few years, bursting on the European scene with unique creativity that was not getting the recognition it deserved in their hometown of Chicago. The studio sets from this time are already the stuff of legend, and have thankfully made it back on reissue heavily the past few years – and this brilliant live set stands perfectly next to them – matching any of the LPs in the Great Black Music series on BYG/Actuel for sheer creative brilliance and soulful energy! Fontella Bass joins the group for a bit of vocals, and the 2CD set features 2 long tracks – "Bon Voyage" and "Oh Strange". CD

Beautiful work from the Art Ensemble – and one of their undisputed classics! The record features some of the most perfectly realized moments the band ever cut to wax, with a blend of whimsical multi-instrumental improvisation, and a strong sense of the spiritual tradition in jazz. The album features one long piece – "Reese & The Smooth Ones" – and it's a stunning array of spontanteous instrumentation, with a jagged sound that never stops reinventing itself! CD

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Stephane Grappelli on violin, Denny Wright, Diz Disley, Marc Fosset, and Martin Taylor on guitar, and David Etheridge and Patrice Caratini on bass. CD

18 tracks in all – including "I'm Satisfied", "Rich Women Blues", "Chicken", "here I Am Oh Lord Send Me", "Coffee Blues", "Shake That Thing", "Make Me A Pallet On The Floor", "Salty Dog", and "Trouble I Had All My Days". CD

An incredible record from Mississippi Fred McDowell – a set that was issued on a big label, but which has a wonderfully rootsy feel throughout – in a way that almost out-does any work from the indie blues labels of the time! The package was put together by Tommy Couch as an early Malaco production – but it's even more stripped-down than later blues work from those studios – as it features mostly just Fred on vocals and guitar, introducing himself and his music – then working through these incredible inflections on electric guitar, which are as far from the rockish sound of all the crossover blues that McDowell promises he won't provide in the title! Really timeless stuff, brilliantly recorded – with cuts that include "Red Cross Store", "61 Highway", "Jesus Is On The Mainline", "Kokomo Me Baby", and "Good Morning Little School Girl". CD

An unusual live recording by Thelonious Monk – one recorded at the tail end of his famous quartet years on Columbia, but which features him leading an expanded nine-piece group for the date! Usual group members Charlie Rouse (tenor), Larry Gales (bass), and Ben Riley (drums) are expanded by the addition of Ray Copeland on trumpet, Johnny Griffin on tenor, Jimmy Cleveland on trombone, and Phil Woods on alto – all of whom join together in some nice angular readings of Monk classics that include "Epistrophy", "Evidence", "Blue Monk", and "Oska T". CD

Really unique material from Sun Ra – a pair of recordings that were initially circulated much more strongly than some of his Saturn Records material, thanks to the power of the BYG/Actuel label in the early 70s – but tracks that actually come from a variety of different sessions that Ra himself did with the Arkestra in the late 60s! Tracks are shortish, but very inventive – a well-chosen snapshot of all the new ideas that the group were cooking up during the end of the 60s in New York, with an increased mission to explore the outer reaches of space, and use more electronics than ever before! Ra plays some killer keyboards – moog, spacemaster, and acoustic piano – often with these really eerie tones – and other players include Kwame Hadi on trumpet, Akh Tal Ebah on space dimension mellophone, Ali Hassan on trombone, Marshal Allen and Danny Davis on alto and flute, John Gilmore on tenor, and Pat Patrick on baritone – and the whole group vocalizes at points, joined by other singers who include June Tyson and Art Jenkins. There's also some great use of "strange strings" on the sessions, not to mention a bit of reverb – and tracks titles include "Spectrum", "The Satellites Are Spinning", "Seen III Took 4", "Adventures Of Bugs Hunter", "Legend", "The Realm Of Lightning", "The Utter Nots", "Outer Spaceways Inc", "Scene 1 Take 1", "Strange Worlds", "Ancient Ethiopia", "Pyramids", and "Interpretation". CD

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Allen Toussaint productions, arrangements and all around greatness from the classic period – material that's been harder to come by in later years, but stands up nicely with the best of it – with numbers by Willie & Allen, Aaron Neville, The Rubaiyats, Willie Harper, Lee Dorsey, Diamond Joe and Allen Toussaint himself! 16 tracks in all: "I Don't Need No One" by Willie & Allen, "If YoU Love Her" by Benny Spellman, "Fairchild" by Willie West, "Gotta Travel On" by Allen Toussaint, "Wait A Minute Baby" by Diamond Joe, "Hercules" by Aaron Neville, "Get Out Of My Life, Woman" by Lee Dorsey and more. CD

Very righteous work from Fontella Bass – an album done after her time at Chess Records, and after her work in Paris with the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – in a heartfelt, southern soul mode that's totally great! Fontella's back working with producer Oliver Sain, who first brought her fame back in the 60s – but the sound is a bit more sophisticated than before, drenched with roots from gospel and country soul, but also inflected with some of the more righteous modes of the early 70s too. Fontella's vocals are incredible – with a range that should have made her one of the leading ladies of soul in the 70s – and titles include "To Be Free", "I Need Love", "Wiping Tears", "Hold On this Time", "Talking About Freedom", and "My God My Freedom My Home". CD reissue also includes 4 bonus tracks! CD

One of Anthony Braxton's great records for BYG, and like the other one, a very cool session that has Braxton playing in a vibe that shows his AACM roots much more clearly than a lot of other sessions! He's playing here with a number of other Chicago expatriates – including Leo Smith on trumpet, Steve McCall on percussion, and Leroy Jenkins on violin – and between them, the four players handle a huge amount of string, reed, percussion, and keyboard instruments, switching off and on in a warmly experimental sound that characterizes the best work of the Chicago avant garde from the time. Tracks include "The Light On the Dalta", "Simple Like", and one of Braxton's weird symbol compositions. Ironically, this French session from the late 60s still stands as one of the best ways to witness the budding Chicago genius of the AACM! CD

Includes the songs "Soul Twist", "Twisting Time", "Sack O' Woe", "Wobble Twist", "Irrestible You", "Twisting With The King", "Midnight Blue", "Hot Potato", "Air Raid" and more. CD

2 of Sunny Murray's classic sides for the BYG label, on one CD! Sunshine is one of Sunny's rarest from the time – and a full-on session that features Lester Bowie, Arthur Jones, Roscoe Mitchell, Archie Shepp, Kenneth Terroade, Dave Burrell, and Malachi Favors. The large group wails mightily, with a spiritual edge that's a bridge between Murray's New York avant roots and some of the late 60s work of the AACM. Side one features the extended "Flower Trane", and side two contains "Real" and "Red Cross". Even Break is one of the best-ever BYG/Actuel sessions, and one that has the unlikely pairing of east coast avant players Sonny Murray and Byard Lancaster, with Art Ensemble Of Chicago bassist Malachi Favors! Murray plays drums, and reads a bit of poetry, while the band wails behind him in powerful turgid lines of hard free jazz that represent all there is to say about the freedom of the Paris jazz scene in 1969. 4 long tracks – "Invisible Blues", "Complete Affection", "Giblets – Part 12", and "An Even Break". CD

2 landmark Archie Shepp albums in one package! Blase is filled with long, spiritual tracks that comprise some of his best European recordings of the decade, and the titles include "There is a Balm in Gilead", "Touareg", and "My Angel". The group includes Jeanne Lee on vocals, plus Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, Dave Burrell, and Philly Joe Jones – and the whole thing has that great Paris spiritual free jazz party feel to it! Live At The Pan-African Festival was recorded in Algiers during the Pan-African Festival in 1969. The recording is a very unique one, and features Shepp's group with Grachan Moncur, Clifford Thorton, and Dave Burrell – plus lots of Algerian musicians! The sound is haunting, and the record really stands apart from Shepp's other BYG albums. Titles include "We Have Come Back" and "Brotherhood at Ketchaoua". CD

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Some of the best work ever from Puerto Rican percussionist Rafael Cortijo Verdejo – sides recorded in New York for the Ansonia label, at a time when Cortijo's music was even more rootsy than it was a decade before! The material here marks a renewed sense of tradition in players of Cortijo's generation – almost a back-to-basics mode that was their answer to the hybrids of the late 60s – a style that often has Rafael focusing even more on the rhythms at the bottom of the tracks, and leaving behind some of the fuller orchestrations of the 50s. The mighty Kako joins in on percussion on a number of tracks too – and singers include Chivirico Davila and Johnny Vega – on titles that include "Chiviriquiton", "Tele Tele Ya", "La Madama", "Que Linda Te Ves", "Tu Y Tu Guarapo", "Quien Fuel El Primero", "Echando Un Pie", "Alegria Bomba Es", "Dorotea", "Dudando", and "El Negrito Bailador". Comes with great notes in Spanish and English, too! CD

Duke Ellington in fine fine form – working here in a selection of tunes played at jazz festivals in 1959 – a very good year for the Ellington Orchestra! The styles here are a mix of older Duke modes and some of the more sophisticated modernism of his late 50s years – and performances are often long and open-ended, with just the sort of spontaneous energy the Ellington organization offered to live crowds of the time. Titles include the extended "Idiom 59", plus "Launching Pad", "Perdido", "Duel Fuel", "Copout Extension", and "Things Ain't What They Used To Be". Includes bonus tracks "VIP Boogie" and "Jam With Sam". CD

A key early moment for Nina Simone – recorded live at Newport in 1960, at a time when the festival was one of the most important showcases for groundbreaking jazz – and a perfect setting for Nina to really let loose in that righteous style that would fuel her career during the 60s! Given that Simone could sometimes be turned out of the cabaret crowd with her politics, the warm welcome she gets at Newport is very fitting support – and you can really hear it in the way she approaches the material! The set's a hip batch of tunes that includes a few standards like "Trouble In Mind" and "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", all done with the righteous Simone flair – plus other lesser-known tracks like "Flo Me La" and "Nina's Blues", opened up in the setting with some nice small combo backing! CD

A really majestic album from this mighty nice group – a set that references older space-themed albums from the postwar years, but which serves up the sound in the best style of the Ghost Funk Orchestra! There's cool use of NASA dialogue between some tracks – and rather than burst out in a countdown of rocket fuel, the music moves slowly, almost dreamily at times – really reveling in laidback funk and fuzz, while also coming across with a slightly cinematic vibe that the group's never had before! A few tracks really rise above the usual, sometimes with really great vocals or jazz solos – and titles include "Casadastra", "Space Walk", "A Solar Wind", "Helios", "Nova", "To The Moon", "Eyes Of Love", and "Infinite Dark". CD

A gently beautiful record from trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire – one driven by a desire to create open space, which Ambrose does wonderfully in the company of Bill Frisell on guitar and Herlin Riley on drums! All players have a great sense of timing and work with a "less is more" sort of approach – a quality you'll certainly know from some of Frisell's music, but which is delivered here with a warm balance that's also nicely different than those recordings too! In the wrong hands, the set could have the coldness of an ECM recording, but instead there's a much more sensitive approach going on here – but also one that's never sleepy or too laidback. Titles include "Mr Frisell", "Owl Song 2", "Weighted Corners", "Grace", "Mr Riley", "Henya", and "Flux Fuelings". CD

A truly incredible collection – even more wonderful than we might have guessed from the title and cover – and both of those are already pretty darn appealing! This package might well be the most comprehensive we've ever seen on the early days of punk in England – a package that goes way past the big names, way past the classic cuts, and really digs deep into the huge explosion of indie labels that fueled the scene – creating a legacy of rare singles and amazing sounds that the British scene hadn't seen in years! If you dig the Sex Pistols or Clash, there's dozens of other tunes here to love – some by artists you'll know from later fame, represented here on very early tracks – and lots more from acts who maybe only gave the world a handful of brilliant singles. The presentation is as stunning as the music – 111 tracks on 4CDs, inside a heavy 64 page book-style jacket – with page after page of notes on each song and band, and lots of images as well. Consider this whole thing an overdue primer on all the punk you missed – even if you lived back in the day – and lose yourself in the huge array of tracks by groups who include The Radiators From Space, Puncture, Some Chicken, The Panik, The Only Ones, Suspects, Tueway Army, The Boys, Acme Sewage Co, Raped, Bazoomis, Menace GLC, Sids, Rudi, Art Attack, Angelic Upstarts, Mean Street, Poison Girls, Chelsea, Demon Preacher, Leyton Brothers, The Dole, Riff Raff, The Tights, Social Security, Nicky & The Dots, No Way, The Wall, Hollywood Brats, Disco Zombies, Spizzoil, Horrorcomic, The Cravats, and lots lots more! CD

Not girl pop, not chart hits, and instead a whole host of hard-burning tracks from the underground – a well-done collection that showcases a huge range of positive, powerful female musical expressions from the mid 70s onward! The set begins during the heyday of the early punk years, and focuses on a few key acts who were offering a great antidote to some of the more testosterone-fueled work of the time – then picks up some especially great pos-punk tracks, before making a brief stop in the early 90s, and ending up with a few key grrrl power cuts from the current century! As always with Ace records, the presentation is as great as the music – very detailed notes that tell as much of a store as the songs themselves – in support of a set list that includes "Survive" by The Bags, "Iama Poseur" by X-Ray Spex, "Kray Twins" by Mo-Dettes, "Popcorn Boy" by Essential Logic, "It's About Time" by The Pandoras, "Shakedown" by Au Pairs, "Das Ah Riot" by Bush Tetras, "Earthbeat" by The Slits, "Come On Now" by The Pussywillows, "Rules & Regulations" by We've Got A Fuzzbox, "What's Wrong With You" by Bratmobile, "Rebel Girl" by Bikini Kill, "I Gave My Punk Jacket To Rickie" by Mary Monday & The Bitches, "You're A Million" by The Raincoats, and "Expert" by Pragvec. CD

One of Larry Coryell's greatest albums ever! Barefoot Boy is a much more expansive session than some of Coryell's others, fueled in part by the spiritual intensity of the Impulse Records generation. It's got a momentum that's pretty darn exciting throughout – but the compositions are nice and long, which gives the players plenty of space to explore. Personnel includes Steve Marcus on tenor and soprano sax, Mike Mandel on piano, Roy Haynes on drums, and Larry Killian on congas – working with Coryell on long trippy tracks that remind us a bit of 60s work by Chico Hamilton, Charles Lloyd, and Gabor Szabo. Titles include "Call To The Higher Consciousness", "The Great Escape", and "Gypsy Queen". CD

One of the most memorable Esquivel albums, and perhaps the first record that really let him hit his fantastic mix of off-beat orchestrations and spacey electronicized production! The arrangements are splendid, with echoey piano lines in the front that seem to trail off into the stratosphere. Behind them, the orchestra swings in a tight rocket-fueled way, soaring and dipping to match the oddly arranged piano lines. Titles include "Playfully", "That Old Black Magic", "Speak Low", "It Had To Be You", and "Night & Day". Plus, the cover's got a groovily attired model, hanging out in a very green lunar scene! CD

A storming mix of R&B, early soul, and rare rockers – all hand-picked by the famous team of Keb Darge and Little Edith! We first knew Keb as an expert in raw funk over 20 years ago – back at a time when few DJs cared about the style – and you can definitely hear Keb's funk-trained ears at work here – as the tunes are all plenty raw and filled with sharp edges – way way different than any mainstream assumptions you might have about rock or soul from this time! The vibe is similar to some of the best Cramps-fueled compilations, or some of the hipper Norton titles – and titles include "Get Whiz" by The Dazzlers, "Jam & Jelly" by The Col-Lee Jets, "Shis Kebab" by The Black Albinos, "Dance Franny Dance" by The Floyd Dakil Combo, "Nervous Breakdown" by Gregory Dee & The Avanties, "Steady With Betty" by Benny Joy, "Please Give Me Something" by Bill Allen & The Back Beats, and "The Shake" by George Fleming. CD

If Paul's Boutique was the Beasties heavily mind-blown Dust Brothers dusted psychedelic hip hop Sgt Peppers, then Check Your Head is their down and dirty back to basics raw funk run at something like Never Mind The Bollocks. Their first outing without the guidance of an outside producer, though the trio did bring in ringers like Money Mark and Mario Caldato Junior, this set's a ride into a whole other mindset, still fueled by sunny So Cal vibes and the Beasties own take on rhyme science. It's hard to imagine an album that would produce so many anthems for true heads and the Lollapalooza crowd alike, but this is it. Includes "Jimmy James", "Pass The Mic", "Gratitude", "Finger Lickin' Good", "So Whatcha Want", "Time For Livin'", "Something's Got To Give", "Groove Holmes" and "Professor Booty". CD

Huge, dark, and heavy – an album of mythical proportions, and that's a lot to say for a mainstream album – especially one that crossed over as big as this one! It would be hard to imagine the modern rock landscape without this album or group, who provided the template for so much music to follow – and the soundtrack to many bong-fueled excursions to the dark side – a huge legacy in sound, but one that may well still be best begun on this landmark self-titled album! Titles include "Black Sabbath", "The Wizard", "Behind The Wall Of Sleep", "NIB", "Wicked World", and "Warning". CD

One of Larry Coryell's greatest albums ever! Barefoot Boy is a much more expansive session than some of Coryell's others, fueled in part by the spiritual intensity of the Impulse Records generation. It's got a momentum that's pretty darn exciting throughout – but the compositions are nice and long, which gives the players plenty of space to explore. Personnel includes Steve Marcus on tenor and soprano sax, Mike Mandel on piano, Roy Haynes on drums, and Larry Killian on congas – working with Coryell on long trippy tracks that remind us a bit of 60s work by Chico Hamilton, Charles Lloyd, and Gabor Szabo. Titles include "Call To The Higher Consciousness", "The Great Escape", and "Gypsy Queen". CD

Early rock, rhythm & blues and boogie woogie-fueled numbers from the late 50s and early 60s southern Louisiana and southeast Texas scenes– a real treasure trove of tunes in the Boppin' In The Bayou series from Ace Records! This one's pretty heavy with sax and piano-backed proto rock – dynamite tunes from forgotten heroes and a few legendary cats alike – with numbers by Frankie Lowery, a great early tune by Mickey Gilley, Gene Dunlap, Pee Wee Trayhan, Shelby Martin and many more. 28 tracks in all – and the titles include "Made In The Shade" by Gene Dunlap & Jokers, "TC Show" by Gene King & His Mecaton Band, "Baby Hurry Home" by Pee Wee Trayhan, "My Baby's Cheating On Me" by Mickey Gilley, "Ha Ma Man" by Warren Storm, "Me And My Baby" by Rick Johnson, "Cinderella" by Paul Marvin, "Rock & Roll Baby" by Bobby Wheeler & His B-Bops, "Somebody Knocked At My Door" by Arnold Broussard, "Little Cajun Girl" by Gene Rodrigue and more. CD

A huge dip into the German rock scene of the late 50s and early 60s – a time when the nation was really getting back on its feet, and setting into the same sort of crazy consumer trends that also fueled the fires of rock and roll back in the US! The music here has a really nice range – some cuts are covers of American rock tracks, but with a nice difference in the way the language is structured – others are more homegrown German varieties, and a few are by less-likely artists, jumping into the fray to show the rest of the world that the German scene can romp its rhythms with the best! We'd not heard most of these tracks before – and the whole thing is every bit as revelatory as previous volumes – with 32 tracks, by artists who include Ted Herold, Harry Gluck, Conny Quick, The Gisha Brothers, The Rattles, Billy Sanders, Peter Kraus, The Javalins, Ronny Twen & Die Playboys, Ralf Bendix, and many others! CD