A killer Mirwood bit of northern soul – solo work from Bobby Garrett, usually heard in a duo but plenty great here on his own – bringing this raspy charm that keeps the tune nicely down to earth, even when the arrangements and backing vocals really soar! Those elements get plenty of play on the flipside – an all instrumental romp that follows the groove of the main track! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Some of the funkiest work we've ever heard from Vernon Garrett – recorded in California, but with a nicely gritty southern soul sound! The tunes have some of the bluesy inflections of Vernon's more famous work – but they also come across with a groove that's tighter, especially on the drums, which snap out of the warmer backings with a kick that's a bit unusual for a record like this – and which keeps things lively throughout, even on some of the mellower numbers. Vernon's vocals are great – rich, and touched with a bit of Tyrone Davis-like styles – and female vocalist Margaret Love makes an appearance on many of the numbers on the record too. Titles include "Satisfied Woman Satisfied Man", "I Made My Own World", "Don't Do What I Do", "I Learned My Lesson", "Going To My Baby's Place", "Love Junkie", and "Something Went Wrong". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most ambitious recordings in the excellent Jazz Is Dead series – and one that marks a long-overdue return for Garrett Sarracho – an artist who gave the world the excellent En Medio album for Impulse Records in the early 70s – but who has mostly kept his talents underground for the past few decades! Here, Saracho is really majestic on piano – and brings in all sorts of currents from Latin jazz, which makes for a very different sound than some of the leaner records in this series – heavy percussion, soaring horns, and all sorts of other wonderful elements – served up next to the core contributions of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. The duo have definitely let Sarracho loose to explore his own musical vision, and the record is very much his own – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Trucha", "The Gardens", "Altitude", "White Buffalo", "Sabor Del Ritmo", "El Cambio Es Neccesario", "73", and "Calo". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic addition to the John Coltrane catalog, and a set that's wonderful for so many different reasons it's hard to fit them all in one short passage! As the title implies, the album features a rare live performance of "Love Supreme" – done in 1965, when the work was new both to the world, and the classic Coltrane quartet with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Yet the version here is also very different than the album reading – looser, with more "interlude" passages – at a level that already has the group drinking in the spirit of the tune, and finding a way to rise with a new spiritual majesty! Another key part of the recording is the presence of Pharoah Sanders on tenor – making a very early appearance with the group – amidst a septet lineup that also features a very young Carlos Ward on alto, and Donald Rafael Garrett on bass – players who expand the lineup in ways that show some of Coltrane's growing experiments past the quartet structure. The whole thing was recorded at the Penthouse Club in Seattle – a place that's given us some other fantastic "lost" recordings from the 60s in recent years – and the record is essential listening, even if you own the studio Love Supreme record, or any other Coltrane records at all. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the excellent non-Art Ensemble sessions cut by the team of saxophonist Joseph Jarman and percussionist Don Moye – work that draws on their experience in the groundbreaking Chicago group, but also takes them into rich new territory on their own! The group's a quartet – with trombone and flute by Craig Harris, and bass and reeds by Rafael Garrett – and the tracks long, and slow-building – as concerned with sound overall as they are with improvisation, in a style that reminds us of some of the best mellower early 70s moments of the Art Ensemble, but with loft jazz touches too. Jarman plays a very large range of reed instruments, and Moye matches with lots of varied percussion – and titles include "Sunspots", "Jawara", "Happiness Is", and "Zulu Village". LP, Vinyl record album

Forget the hokey pun in the title, as the album's a sharp-edged set that has way more going on than that bad wit might imply – a brilliant record that has the same sort of post-loft vibe as some of the best Black Saint/Soul Note sessions from the time! The group here features players who worked on many of those records too – the mighty Billy Bang on violin, sounding incredible, and so different than generations of others touching that instrument in jazz – sharp, soulful, and almost "blown" more like a saxophone! Frank Lowe's tenor follows with a similarly bold voice – and the group features very urgent work on bass from Rafael Garrett and drums from Dennis Charles. Titles include great readings of Jackie McLean's "Little Melonae" and Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" – plus the tracks "Loweology", "Ballad With One L", and "Blood On The Cross". LP, Vinyl record album

Archie Shepp in Europe is always an amazing thing – and here, the spiritual master is captured right between his late 60s free French recordings, and some of his more tightly-controlled Italian albums of the second half of the decade! There's a great balance here – as Archie's still flowing forth with some of the inspirations of his Impulse sessions, while also pushing that spirituality into an exploration of older jazz material too – at that level that would really evolve in his recordings of the following decade. The lineup here is nicely unusual – with some superb piano from Dave Burrell, plus bass from Donald Garrett, percussion and flute from Zusaan Fasteau Garrett, and drums from Muhammad Ali. Shepp plays piano on one track, and Jasper Van't Hof plays piano on another – and titles include "Dr King The Peaceful Warrior", "Little Willie Leaps", "Round Midnight", "Sonny's Back", "African Blues", and "Sophisticated Lady". LP, Vinyl record album

Important 70s work from the greta La Monte Young – a set that takes off strongly on his exploration of tones and sonic waves – heard here in two very unique settings! Side one features a quartet – with Young on voice and sine wave generator, alongside Jon Hassell on trumpet, Garrett List on trombone, and Marian Zazeela on voice – all elements that are fused togther beautifully in these slow-moving waves of sound – rising and falling with the kind of organic tonalit that Hassell later explored in his own music, but in a more dynamic way. Side two features Young solo, but working with three different sine waves – which are set up in one of La Monte's drift studies – a progression of sound with very subtle shifts – almost constant in quality from the outside, but with a slow-moving drift that's very hypnotic, and which lives up to the dreamlike promise of the title. LP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from one of the smokinest soul labels of the west coast scene of the 60s – mighty Mirwood Records, a company that's kept the Northern Soul scene humming for decades! Mirwood wasn't one of the biggest, or most chart-topping labels – but the company came up with some incredible work in the uptempo mode that's really held strongly over the years. The label boasted some great singers with a straightforward, no-nonsense approach – often working with tight rhythms and rolling piano lines to send the tunes home with a solid sort of punch! This special vinyl-only set features some of the most crackling cuts from the Mirwood catalog – 14 titles that include "Do The Temptation Walk" by Jackie Lee, "That Beatin Rhythm" by Richard Temple, "My Little Girl" by The Bob & Earl Band, "I Wanna Do Everything For You Baby" by The Mirettes, "I Can't Get Away" by Bobby Garrett, "Is She In Your Town" by Curtis Lee, "Mine Exclusively" by The Olympics, "Where There's A Will" by Jimmy Thomas, "I Can't Stop You" by The Performers, "Stubborn Heart" by The Sheppards, and "Don't Pretend" by The Belles. LP, Vinyl record album