One of the grooviest records cut by this incredibly groovy combo! The Gimmicks are a sweet pop harmony combo from Sweden – in a style that's a lot like Brasil 66 or Bossa Rio – and like the work of those two in the early 70s, this 1972 set shows The Gimmicks expanding their sound a lot, picking up influences from 70s LA pop, electric samba from Brazil, and some of the hipper styles of European pop-oriented grooves. The record's got a sparkling electric sound and some really wonderful harmonies – and tracks include "Que Maravilha", "Once I Loved", "Somewhere In The Hills", "Colours Of Love", "It's Too Late Baby", "Ye Me Le", "Pais Tropical", and "Stone Slipper Cindy". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic second album from this ultra-hip French combo – a group who effortlessly mix up jazz, funk, and global elements in the best cross-cultural tradition of the Parisian scene! Cotonete have been around for many years, even though they haven't given us many records – and it's clear from this set that their sound has gelled and evolved even more than before – no gimmicks or easy tricks on the record, and instead this really cohesive blend of keyboards from Florian Pellissier with trumpet, saxes, guitar, trombone, bass, and plenty of percussion! Guests include Omar, Leron Thomas, and Sabrina Malheiros – each of whom sing on a single track – and titles include "Satori", "La Derniere Guitare", "Bebete Vaobora", "Venezuela", "Cinq Pour L'Aventure", and "What Did You Run For". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest Bobby Darin albums ever! Gone are all the gimmicks of some of his teen records, and in their place is a solid, serious approach to jazz vocals that has Darin standing tall with the likes of Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. Honest, this is one of our favorite vocal albums from the time – and Darin glides effortlessly over arrangements by Torrie Zito, sort of in the way that Mel Torme could when he was at his best. Titles include "How About You", "No Greater Love", "Long Ago & Far Away", "I Didn't Know What Time It Was", and "In Love In Vain". A real treasure – and one that we've loved for years! LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime late 50s work from Martin Denny – his third album under the Exotica banner, and almost a deeper and weirder album than the other two! The sound here is extremely haunting – even more freed from conventional melody than the rest, and very fixated on the tonal possibilities that could be produced from Denny's unique grouping of percussion, piano, bass, and vibes. There's few tricks or gimmicks on the set – just a spare and other-worldly approach to music that's totally great! Titles include "Manila", "Mama Iti E Papa E", "Bamboo Lullaby", "Ringo Oiwake", "Moon Of Manakoora", "Congo Train", and "Beautiful Kahana". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful late chapter in the jazz journey of Rahsaan Roland Kirk – and an album of subtle genius that's really opened up to us over the years! The setting here isn't as "hit you over the head" as on some of Kirk's Atlantic Records – because at one level, the tunes are mostly straight, and free of gimmicks – yet also still manage to conjure up the warmth, spirit, and soul that Roland brought to his best work. There's a slightly electric vibe running through some of the tunes, thanks to keyboards from Hilton Ruiz – and the album also benefits from organ work by Trudy Pitts and guitar from Billy Butler – both of whom are wonderfully restrained, in a way that matches the subtlety of the entire conception of the set. Titles include "Theme For The Eulipions", which features a great recitation from Betty Neals, plus cool chorus vocals – and other titles include "Goodbye Porkpie Hat", "Giant Steps", "Loving You", and "I'll Be Seeing You". LP, Vinyl record album

A prime Argo gem from James Moody – and key proof that when he wanted to, he could be one of the hippest cats working in 60s jazz! The approach here is subtle, but amazing – a blend of hardbop with some of the more modern ideas that were coming up in the post-bop generation from the team of Moody and Dizzy Gillespie. The rhythms are quite complicated at times – very fresh and vibrant, but without any of the easy gimmicks that other 60s artists would fall into – like vamping soul jazz or borrowed bossa lines. Instead, working in a combo with a young Kenny Barron, Moody concentrates on fresh timings and complicated changes – modes that push his own work on alto, tenor, and flute far from expected territory – and which also features Barron on piano and organ, George Eskridge on guitar, Chris White on bass, and Rudy Collins on drums. Tracks include "Zanzibar", "Dizzy", "Ole", "Sonnymoon For Two", and a nice version of "Fly Me To The Moon". LP, Vinyl record album

Two great bassists, working here together in a really fantastic setting – not as a spare duo, but also not lost in a too-large group as well – as the lineup features guitar from Philip Catherine and drums from Billy Higgins – both very sensitive players who let Sam Jones and Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen take the lead! The basses move nicely between rhythm and melody – almost with a gypsy swing guitar inspiration – which is maybe echoed just a bit by Catherine, who is at his best here – a great straight jazz player without some of the gimmicks of other albums of the period. Higgins is, as always, a delight – and he gets help from Tootie Heath on percussion on two tracks too. Titles include "A Notion", "Giant Steps", "Au Privave", "Yesterdays", "Little Train", and "Miss Morgan". LP, Vinyl record album

Soaring Italian disco from the end of the 70s – a set arranged and conducted by Rudy Trevisi, with superb polished production from Jacques Fred Petrus! The style here is very commercial, but still pretty great – long tunes that spin out with gimmicks that might appeal to a crossover club scene – including catchy pop vocals that might have you humming some of these tunes more than others as you're riding home in a cab from Studio 54! Titles include a cover of "White Room", plus "Just Take My Body", "Thank You Baby", and "Can You Stop Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first moments of genius from a young Pharoah Sanders – a set that builds on the energy of John Coltrane's Love Supreme generation – but takes it in a much more expansive direction! The album's got a sense of majesty that's years ahead of its time – righteous, positive, spiritual jazz that flows out with a timeless power, and a quality that almost out-Coltrane's Coltrane! All tracks are long, expressive, and freely flowing – building with a very organic sense of energy – totally free from any gimmicks or cliche. Players include Dave Burrell on piano, Henry Grimes on bass, and Sonny Sharrock on guitar – and Pharoah plays alto, tenor, and piccolo – and even vocalizes a bit. The album begins with the amazing "Upper & Lower Egypt" – which is a perfect illustration of the two sides of Pharoah's genius – free/out & spiritual/modal – and other titles include "Japan", and "Capricorn Rising". LP, Vinyl record album

Three guys, one gal, and nothing else – just voices with no other instrumentation, and one of the best-ever realizations of the amazing Singers Unlimited sound! Although often associated with the superb studio sound of the MPS label, the group were often at their best when just working vocally – letting the voices fold over one another, grow in the warmth of their company, and issue forth in beautiful waves of sound that no other groups could ever hope to match. The production is impeccable – beautifully rich and deep, with a sonic quality that never even needs the missing instruments in the session – and there's also a surprising groove here too, but one that's never forged through hokey tricks or gimmicks. Titles include the sublime "One More Time Chick Corea", plus "Anything Goes", "The Way We Were", "All The Things You Are", "I Wish You Love", "Someone To Light Up My Life", and "Sweet Lorraine". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hippest albums ever from singer Joe Lee Wilson – a righteous vocalist with a style we'd rank right up there with Leon Thomas or Andy Bey in the 70s! The album's got an easygoing vibe that's a nice change from some of Joe's other records – a quality that's never too forced, and which has Wilson sliding into the tunes wonderfully without any sort of gimmicks or tricks. His voice often has a nice crackle, which further underscores his instrument-inspired approach – and also makes the lyrics sound that much more wonderful too. The set was produced by Noah Howard, possibly in Paris – and it features a quartet with Bobby Few on piano, Steve Sax on saxes and flute, Jack Gregg on bass, and Al Levitt on drums. Includes the lovely originals "Dedicated To My Father", "Come & See", and "Secrets From The Sun" – plus a great take on Billy Gault's "Mode For Trane". LP, Vinyl record album

Great 70s work from Paul Desmond – a sweet little quartet date that easily rivals his genius live album for A&M from the same stretch! The record's done in the simple, unadorned style that made the short-lived Artist House label so great – a real back to basics setting that's free from any gimmicks, and which has that sublime Desmond alto sound out front, in a quartet that features Ed Bickert on guitar, Don Thompson on bass, and Jerry Fuller on drums. Titles include the original "Audrey", plus "Line For Lyons", "Too Marvelous For Words", "When Sunny Gets Blue", and "Darn That Dream" – all nice and long! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Otis Redding's greatest LPs! Unlike some of his others – which either had some filler, some gimmicks, or were collections of material released after his death – this one is a totally solid batch of southern soul tracks that ranks with some of the best work to come out of Memphis during the 60s. The record features some real gems – originals by Redding like "Hey Hey Baby", "Security", "These Arms Of Mine", "Something Is Worrying Me", and "That's What My Heart Needs" – plus some great covers, like "The Dog", "Pain In My Heart", and "I Need Your Lovin". LP, Vinyl record album

A return to basics after Sonny Stitt's late 60s Varitone and funk experiments – all-bop and all soul all the way through, and recorded with a tight quartet that features Barry Harris on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Roy Brooks on drums! The style's a bit like Sonny's work of the late 50s, but there's also a fluidity to the rhythm section that makes it a bit different too – a sound that's warm, open, and soulful – creating a space into which Stitt settles nicely and blows like mad. There's no gimmicks at all, just solid classic jazz skills – and titles include "Casbah", "Constellation", "By Accident", "Webb City", and "Topsy". LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary debut of Black Moon – one of those records that was slept on by the mainstream at the time, but which has gone on to be an undeniable part of hip hop history as the years moved on! The group are part of that great second wave of young east coast talent who really set this edge, and managed to rival some of the attitude of the west, but without falling into cliches and overplayed gimmicks. Part of the record's strength is its excellent Beatminerz production – very standard-setting work – and the set also features guest appearances from scenemates Smif N Wessun and Havoc – on cuts that include the singles "Who Got Da Props" and "I Got Cha Opin" – plus "Powaful Impak", "Ack Like U Want It", "Sh** Iz Real", "Slave", "Make Munne", "How Many MCs", "U Da Man", "Enta Da Stage", "Buck Em Down", and "Make Munne". LP, Vinyl record album

Solid 80s grooving from Kool & The Gang – a group who inspired so many others in the early 80s soul generation, but who could still do it better than most of the rest! The style here is tight and smooth, but never too slick – and Deodato's giving the group some really great production for the album – helping them to focus their energy and soar soulfully, but without resorting to any stiff gimmicks or cliches! There's a great groove running through most of the numbers here – a confident quality that's never too commercial, and which bubbles along nicely throughout. Titles include "Street Kids", "Big Fun", "As One", "Hi De Hi Hi De Ho", "Let's Go Dancin", and "Pretty Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

An open, beautiful, and really well-recorded album from guitarist Lage Lund – a set that really lets all the careful tones and colors of his music come across beautifully – as he plays in a spacious trio with Matthew Brewer on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums! Lage is always a chromatic master, but that quality seems even more foregrounded here, in a way that certainly marks Lund as one of the most distinct talents of his generation on guitar – and a player who really advances some of work of the important masters on his instrument, in ways that hits territory that they never would have even expected – yet all while working with a subtle sense of beauty that easily avoids any gimmicks or tricks. Titles include "Vashkar", "En La Orilla Del Mundo", "Bobby's Tune, "Ashes", "Everything Means Nothing To Me", and "Erato" LP, Vinyl record album

One of Dean Martin's greatest early albums for Capitol! Dino was always more of a singles artist than an LP artist – but this album is one of his few fully-conceived albums, much more in the Sinatra 50s mode than some of the other "hits plus filler" or "songs with gimmicks" albums that got issued under his name. Pretty Baby is a great album – with orchestrations and choral backing by Gus Levene, on a set of older standards brought up to date by Dino. Titles on that one include "Only Forever", "Maybe", "Pretty Baby", "It's Easy To Remember", and "Sleepy Time Gal" – and the record has a wonderful easy quality to it! LP, Vinyl record album

A standout set from Shorty – tightly arranged numbers performed by a quartet that includes Jimmy Giuffre, Pete Jolly, Curtis Counce, and Shelly Manne – all working with Shorty in perfect west coast form! Despite the length of the tunes, the overall feel is similar to Rogers' excellent Wherever The Five Winds Blow album for RCA – and makes the record a great set, done without any gimmicks or tricks – and enough of the modern touch still left from Rogers' first few years on record. Titles include "Martians Go Home", "Trickleydidlier", "Not Really The Blues", and "Michele's Meditation". LP, Vinyl record album

A really pivotal album in the career of Mongo Santamaria – one that has Mongo stripping down the groove, kicking up some jazz, and mixing together soulful styles that brought him to the top of the Latin crowd of the 1960s! There's a tightness here that goes beyond any of Santamaria's previous albums – a no-nonsense approach that makes for some incredibly hard-hitting numbers – heavy on the conga, but also featuring strong piano lines from Rodger Grand, trumpet from Marty Sheller, flute and tenor from Hubert Laws, and alto sax and baritone from Bobby Capers! This small combo provides pretty much all of the instrumentation for the record – and there's no added tricks or gimmicks, just hard-grooving Latin jazz at its best! Titles include "El Pussy Cat", "Together", "Black Eyed Peas", "Ritmo Negro", "Sarai", "Hammer Head", and "Afro Lypso". LP, Vinyl record album

Texas boogie badassery from the great ZZ Top – the follow-up to the absolutely killer Tres Hombres! One side features the trio doing what it does best – slaying a live audience, this one at The Warehouse in New Orleans – and the other side features a handful of hard grooving studio tracks. Here ZZ Top proudly promises "hot, spontaneous and presented to you honestly, without the assistance of studio gimmicks." Later on they'd wholy embrace those gimmicks, but boy, did they ever kill it in the mid 70s without that stuff! Includes "Thunderbird", the greasy "Backdoor Medley", "Nasty Dogs And Funky King", "Tush" and more. LP, Vinyl record album