A hell of a jam session record from Emarcy Records – a set that almost seems as if they jazz label were trying to beat Verve Records at their own game! The style here is a bit more unusual than some Verve dates, though – maybe even more in the spontaneous spirit of a real jam session – with a lineup of all-stars that includes Clifford Brown, Clark Terry, and Maynard Ferguson on trumpets – plus Herb Geller on alto, Harold Land on tenor, Max Roach on drums, and either Richie Powell or Junior Mance on piano! There's a definite tie here to the Brown/Roach recordings for Emarcy – augmented by the presence of Powell and Land – but the others clearly change things up, and Dinah Washington even makes a vocal appearance on one track too. Titles include "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Darn That Dream", "Move", and a medley of "My Funny Valentine/Don't Worry Bout Me/Bess You Is My Woman/It Might As Well Be Spring". LP, Vinyl record album

Guitarist Charlie Byrd was one of the first American players to record bossa nova tunes – but although his work with Stan Getz has always been well-documented, some of the titles under his own name can be quite hard to come by. This is one of the best ones that Charlie cut on his own – and it features tight guitar work in a mode that's similar to that used by Baden Powell on his early bossa recordings, augmented by trio rhythms – plus some occasional larger backings by Walter Raim, and some extended group settings that feature Charlie Hampton on alto, Earl Swope on trombone, and Willie Rodriguez on percussion. Tracks include "Ho Ba La La", "Samba Triste", "Yvone", "O Barquinho", "Un Abraco Do Bonfa", and "O Passaro". LP, Vinyl record album

Brian Eno's second installment in the Ambient series – a set of recordings done in collaboration with Harold Budd – who'd almost go on to carry the torch for this style more than Eno! The tracks are as spare and atmospheric as the previous Ambient album – but are also almost a bit warmer too – filled with some of the slightly more melodic moments we love in Budd's work, and almost a precursor to the darker soundscapes of the 4AD generation. There's a subtle sense of poetry here that's really beautiful – and titles include "Steal Away", "First Light", "Failing Light", "Wind In Lonely Fences", "The Chill Air", "Not Yet Remembered", and "Above Chiangmai". LP, Vinyl record album

Memphis Slim's installment in this excellent LP series from Chess – 60s packagings of earlier recordings done by key bluesmen in the Chicago scene, with slightly improved fidelity but enough of the "real folk blues" sound to warrant the title! Instrumentation here is a bit more augmented than some of the others in the series, as some tunes feature a bit of sax alongside Slim's bluesy piano and light percussion backing – but the overall feel is still quite rootsy. Titles include "For A Day", "Mother Earth", "Blues For My Baby", "Marack", "Having Fun", "Tijuana", and "Trouble Trouble". LP, Vinyl record album

A strange little record, but a great one too – a posthumous album that took older Wes Montgomery sides and souped them up a bit after his death! The core material here is quartet recordings done in 1965 – Montgomery's guitar in a hip group with Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums – other material recorded at the same time as the Smokin At The Half Note set, discovered later by Verve, and augmented with fuller backings from Claus Ogerman for this record in 1968. In contrast to some of Wes' other albums of this nature, the core combo grooving was done first, which then ends up directing Ogerman's arrangements – and not the other way around – making for a really unique mix of sounds, especially on some of the longer tracks. Titles include "Four On Six", "Oh You Crazy Moon", "Willow Weep For Me", "Misty", "Impressions", and "Portrait Of Jennie". LP, Vinyl record album

2LP set that brings together 2 (then) unreleased sessions recorded by Sam Rivers for Blue Note during the mid 60s! The first album was later issued as Dimensions & Extensions – and features Sam Rivers starting to stretch out and get kind of free in a bit of a Blue Note late 60s New Thing mode, but still hanging back from the freer side he'd explore on later recordings for Impulse. James Spaulding, Donald Byrd, Julian Priester, and Cecil McBee are in the larger piano-less band which Rivers would later move away from as he started playing in more trio and small group settings. 6 tracks in all: "Precis", "Paean", "Effusive Melange", "Involution", "Afflatus" and "Helix". Next up is extremely dark material recorded by Andrew Hill as a leader, but featuring Rivers on tenor – a quartet date that's filled with jagged edges and bold fragments of sound! There's a really strong new thing vibe going on here – at a level that matches the brilliance of Hill's Smokestack album, but which is perhaps even better, given Rivers' sharp lines on tenor! As with many of the best Blue Note sets in this mode, the bass and drums almost get equal space with the main solo instruments – so that the percussion of JC Moses and bass of Walter Booker often hang out in space, shaping the sound of the record on their own, as all players contribute equally to the structure of the songs. Hill wrote all the numbers on the set, and titles include "Violence", "Pain", "Illusion", "Hope", "Lust", and "Desire". LP, Vinyl record album

Incredible early work from the legendary T Bone Walker – very early recordings of the electric guitar in blues, and maybe still some of the best! Walker's already a master here – playing with this hard tone on the strings, but one that also has a surprising amount of sensitive jazz inflections too – a hollow-body mode that echoes Charlie Christian at times, but definitely explores the bluer side of the spectrum – yet never with that sort of hit-you-over-the-head quality that later artists might use. Instead, Walker's a master of understatement here – in a sublime way – and the blend of guitar solos and his own enigmatic vocals is often given a slight west coast R&B undercurrent. Still some of our favorite electric blues ever – with tracks that include "No Worry Blues", "Got A Break Baby", "T Bone Shuffle", "You're My Best Poker Hand", "First Love Blues", and "T Bone Jumps Again". LP, Vinyl record album

Wild funky grooves – and even crazier than the first volume! The set follows the format of the first, in that tracks are selected by the enigmatic Barry 7 – but the source material is completely different, making for a very unique sound. This time around, Barry's dipped into the rich catalog of Italian soundtrack label CAM – one of Italy's greatest sources of work for film scores, and home to plenty of wonderful tunes over the years! Tracks here are a mad blend of guitars, keyboards, voices, orchestrations, rhythms, electronics, and strange instrumentation – as groovy and cool as they are upbeat and funky. Many of the titles are unfamiliar to our ears, and they sound even better laid back to back in this great-looking package! Titles include "Margaret" by Giuseppe De Luca, "Iniziazone 72" by Ennio Morricone, "Motivi Psichedelici" by Daniele Patucchi, "Sisy" by Giampiero Boneschi, "Rio A Los Angeles" by Giuseppe De Luca, "Dies Irae Psichedelico" by Ennio Morricone, "Saturns Ambush" by Giampiero Boneschi, "Omicidio Per Vocazione" by Stefano Torossi, and "Secondo Rito" by Ennio Morricone. LP, Vinyl record album

Although Jimmy Webb is best known to the world for the pop hits he gave LA when he was a wee wee lad ("MacArthur Park", "Up Up & Away", etc), he also has a lesser-known recording history, the better part of which is represented by his early recordings for Reprise. This album has a very different sound than you'd expect from Jimmy's hits – and features sort of a hip insider LA kind of semi-singer/songwriter sound, plus some C&W influences, set in wild baroque arrangements. The songwriting is far more complex, and far more far-reaching than Webb's pop writing for other artists – and although it sometimes doesn't always work, the album has an enigmatic pull that keeps us returning to it more than we'd expect. Titles include "P.F. Sloan", "Carless Weed", "Psalm One-Five-O", and "Music For An Unmade Movie", a suite in 3 parts that takes up a big chunk of the album. LP, Vinyl record album