A now-legendary compilation – an early effort to reissue funk on the Stones Throw label – and a set that virtually gave birth to all the fantastic projects they've done under the Now Again banner over the years! Compiler Egon has gone through a range of rare singles, masters, and demos – and has come up with tunes that burn with a brightness that's undeniable. The grooves are all on the harder end of the James Brown Funky People side of the spectrum – and the whole thing is a massive dig into the funky 45 underground – featuring a few groups who rose to new fame over the years, thanks to the legendary status of this project! Titles include "Don't Go" by Aristocrats Organization, "Loaded To The Gills (edit)" by Michael Liggins & The Supersouls, "Mr Chicken (alternate)" by The Soul Seven, "Slipping Into Darkness" by Dayton Sidewinders, "James Brown Medley" by The Apollo Commanders, "Scorpio" by Kashmere Stage Band, "Sad Chicken" by Leroy & The Drivers, "Street Scene" by Leon Mitchinson, "Free Your Mind" by Amnesty, "The Thing" by Carleen & The Groovers, "Go For Yourself (edit)" by Kenny Smith & The Loveliters, and "The Stretch (edit)" by Detroit Sex Machines. LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent early album from Latin leader/trumpeter Willie Rodriguez – one of his gems for the Fonseca label, with vocals from Leo Casino – a tight mix of Latin Soul, descarga, and salsa tracks that hit hard from the start and don't let up! Rodriguez leads a great band, and they're joined by vocalist Casino some of the tracks – with tunes that have an uncommon, heated intensity without sacrificing the groove – some of it with the feel of an after hours session full of players just hit with a mighty second wind, and others that are just straight up tirelessly driven. The whole set cooks really nicely! Titles include "Dig It", "Descarga DJ", "Pussycat Bugaloo", "Simon", A Mi Negra". "Golden Bugaloo", and "Chickie's Choice". LP, Vinyl record album

A jazz records of sorts, but a funk one as well – recorded mostly by Gerald Bailey on a variety of instruments, and with an intimate vibe that really reflects the creative process! The tunes often have a nice kick, with some really great drums – and are short and melodic, with key passages on piano and keyboards, plus a bit of trumpet – not really solos so much as themes that come into the mix and really give each tune a particular color and flavor! This is definitely the case of hip hop influencing instrumental creativity, especially in production – and titles include "Dune Boogie", "Overnight Heat", "Crab Shell", "Raised By Frogs", "Aurica", Call To Act", "Dasani Falls", "Dusty Rhodes", and "Free Trial". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent album of funky drumbreaks – cut by a drummer who's a legend among funk fans, but who hardly ever gets mentioned in history books of jazz! Les DeMerle was a lesser-known LA player, and he had a monster approach to the kit – which is why most of the few albums he cut are very in demand for fans of a good funky drum break, as well as the longer grooves! This one's a stellar session that mixes together straight funk with some strong choppy fusion numbers – and it was issued on the tiny Dobre label, which came out with some excellent obscure sides during the 70s. Raul De Souza's on trombone, Milcho Leview plays piano, and Robby Robinson plays plenty of nice electric keyboards. Includes the break-heavy tracks "Moondial" and "Funk It!", the jazz dance cut "Canned Heat Suite", the choppy funky "Bacchanal", and the great groover "Kaballa". LP, Vinyl record album

This 1970 live recording arrived at the end of the line for the true Velvet Underground – before latter-day bassist Doug Yule took over the name for a short and (thankfully) long-forgotten stint, in a performance that became known as the group's last live set! Maureen Tucker and John Cale were indeed MIA at this point, making it Lou's show all the way, performing his soon to be seminal songs from throughout the REAL band's too-short existence – and tracks include "I'm Waiting For My Man", "Sweet Jane", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Sunday Morning", "Femme Fatale", "After Hours", and "New Age". 2LP version features bonus tracks – including "White Light/White Heat", "I'm Set Free", "Candy Says", "Some Kinda Love", and "Lonesome Cowboy Bill (version 2)". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little collection that's maybe the opposite of the long-running tradition of "desert island discs" – in that the music here is hardly essential, but would be plenty of fun to hear if you were trapped alone with nowhere else to go! Think of the set as the darker side of exotica at the end of the 50s – a spot where tropical sounds mix with Latin rhythms and some rockish touches too – material from the years before surf guitars were really hitting the mainstream, but older modes were being infused with a bit of electricity and new modes of production – all in ways that make for some very cool cuts collected in the set! The package brings together rare singles from a variety of sources – and titles include "Jivaro" by Harvey Anderson, "Babalu" by Phyllis Branch, "The Lonely Sea" by Rick & Trisha, "Strictly Polynesian" by Davy Jones & The Dolphins, "Midnight" by Hank Levine, "Bongo Heat" by Coral & The South Seas, "Martinique" by Ty & Ed, "Atlantis" by Blue Bells, "Rumba Rhapsody" by Hector Cari & The Dancing Strings, "Ho Ba La La" by Dariel Kay, and "Miserlou" by Vitin Aviles Y Su Orquesta. LP, Vinyl record album

A set that definitely lives up to the intrigue promised in the title – an alternative look at British music in the 80s, served up with some more experimental, unusual tracks that go way past the pop hits of the time! There's still some names here you might know, but there's also work from plenty of the hipper indie labels who kept things interesting – especially in the territory of companies like Factory, Rough Trade, and 4AD – who each get some space within! As with other sets done by Steven Wilson, there's some detailed notes that make the overall package a delight throughout – with 19 tracks on this vinyl version, work by Dif Juz, Cardiacs, A Certain Ratio, Perennial Divide, Cocteau Twins, Twelfth Night, This Heat, Ultravox, Durutti Column, Punishment Of Luxury, The Stranglers, Magazine, Bill Nelson's Red Noise, No Man, Slab, Robert Fripp & The League Of Gentlemen, and Dead Can Dance. LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool record, and one that digs deep into the earliest days of the disco scene – that time in New York where there weren't any records being made as strictly "disco" cuts – and DJs had to make their pick of soul and funk records from a time when the music was really changing things up! The album's heavy on New York and Philly-based tracks, and some of the artists here are ones who'd had an earlier life in soul music, but were picking up the rhythms, adding in some larger arrangements, and creating grooves that really knocked the whole thing out of the park! The presentation here is based on a famous 1975 article that looked at the underground scene out in Brooklyn for New York magazine – later made famous as Saturday Night Fever – and as such, the tracks here are full of surprises, and very different than the usual disco-inspired compilation. Titles include "Just As Long As We're Together (single version)" by Gloria Scott, "After You've Had Your Fling" by The Intrepids, "Welcome To The Club" by Blue Magic, "Mellow Me" by Faith Hope & Charity, "Got To Get You Back" by Sons Of Robin Stone, "Date With The Rain (LP version)" by Eddie Kendricks, "Georgia's After Hours" by Richard Popcorn Wylie, "If That's The Way You Feel" by White Heat, "It's The Same Old Story" by Act 1, "Tell Me What You Want" by Jimmy Ruffin, "Night Of The Wolf" by Ivano Fossati, "The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy" by John Gary Williams, "You Can't Hide Love" by Creative Source, "Wendy Is Gone" by Ronnie McNeir, "Free & Easy" by Satyr, and "Keep It Up" by Betty Everett. LP, Vinyl record album

A lean take on the double-length self-titled set from this mighty funky combo – one that brings together a range of great funky 45s, plus a few other hefty nuggets! If you don't know the group, they're totally great – as Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band go back to the funkiest moments of the 70s steel pan scene from the Caribbean – but also have a harder edge that comes from the group's ties to the Mighty Mocambos, and other corners of the deep funk universe! These cuts are funk first, steel drums second – and have a wicked groove that's actually hipper than most of the original steel drum records from back in the day. Titles include "Queen Of Cheeba", "Port Of Spain Hustle", "Tender Trap", "Dog Was A Doughnut", "Beetham Highway Ride", "Pimp", "Bacao Suave", "Jungle Fever", and "Tropical Heat". LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary debut of Fear – a landmark in the LA punk scene of the early 80s, and a set that's maybe also showing some of the key shifts that were happening at the time! There's still plenty of hard and fast work going on here, and that undercurrent of wit that marked so much of the best Cali punk – but there's also a sense of evil, darkness, and relentless energy that really gets at the way the heat was really turning up, almost as a competition for intensity that just kept on pushing the whole scene forward in a tremendous way. Titles include "We Destroy The Family", "I Love Livin In The City", "Let's Have A War", "Camarillo", "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones", "Gimme Some Action", "Foreign Policy", and "Beef Boloney". LP, Vinyl record album

A second great collaboration between Masta Ace and Marco Polo – the latter of whom really seems to bring a new sort of open, honest quality to the proceedings – at a level that helps Masta Ace get there as well! There's this down to earth quality to the proceedings that's totally great – and the record thematically follows some of Marco Polo's experience growing up in Richmond Hill outside of Toronto, while tying things to more contemporary issues as well. The album features lots of guest work – from Blu, Inspectah Deck, Stricklin Wordsworth, and others – on titles that include "Hero", "Life Music", "Brooklyn Heights", "Below The Clouds", "Heat Of The Moment", and "Jordan Theory". LP, Vinyl record album

African rhythms, jazzy instrumentation, rock inspiration, and a motherlode of funky sound library grooves from two of the best British maestros working in the business! The album's an early 70s gem from the KPM catalog – one of the most sought-after records ever issued by the label – and like the rest, never really made for public sale back at the time! Despite that humble origin, though, the grooves here are right up there with the funkiest work coming out from that side of the Atlantic at the time – a brilliant post-colonial blend of acoustic percussion, electric keyboards, and a fair bit of fuzzy guitar – all presented with a stripped-down, no-nonsense approach to the rhythms that's often funkier than work by some of the bigger names in the genre. Titles include "Heavy Water", "Ice Breaker", "Solid Satin", "Punch Bowl", "Frozen Steam", and "Black Light" by Alan Parker – and "Swamp Fever", "Range Rover", "Survival", "Afro Waltz", "Heat Haze", "Rocking Rhino", and "Afro Metropolis" by John Cameron. LP, Vinyl record album

Many years back, Brian Eno gave us a record called Music For Films – a set that came out during his initial run of Ambient recordings, showing us how strong his instrumental creations could be when and if applied to a cinematic mode! The tracks there were half imagined works for film – and those of us who loved Eno were always hoping that it would lead to more prominent scoring for the electrosonic genius. Turns out, that happened anyway – as this set of 17 tracks will attest – a rising Eno role in the film soundtrack world, served up on contributions from big productions and lesser-known gems. The set features work from films that include Heat, We Are As Gods, Trainspotting, Married To The Mob, Jubilee, Top Boy, Sebastiane, Hammerhead, Rams, Lovely Bones, Francis Bacon's Arena, and Cool World – a surprisingly rich array of material! LP, Vinyl record album

A stone classic from People Under The Stairs – a record that not only stands as some of their strongest work on wax, but which undeniably helped a lot of the west coast find a way forward after too many years stuck in the shadow of thuggish posturing! The set bristles with the kind of inventive production and lyricism that would unfold on the west coast in years to come – upbeat and positive at points, but without ever sounding weak, commercial, or watered down. The balance is key – and is what makes the record endure so strongly as the years go on – and tracks include "The Suite For Beaver parts 1 & 2", "OST(Original Soundtrack)", "Tales Of Kidd Drunkadelic", "Keepin It Live", "Empty Bottles Of Water", "The Outrage", "The Hang Loose", "The Double K Show", "Montego Slay", "8 Is Enuff", "The L.A. Song", "Acid Raindrops", "The Joyride", "The Breakdown", "The Dig", and "The Heat". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most compelling grooves the Talking Heads ever recorded – a set that sparkles with imaginative touches, and railroads forward on a wave of complicated rhythms! The sound is brilliant throughout – a genre-less approach that sheds the group's earlier art nerd aesthetic for one that's clearly influenced by late 70s funk and club – but takes that influence in a whole new direction! The whole thing's even fresher than some of the artier downtown moments that bubbled around at the time – as David Byrne and the group actually managed to cross over big with the record – hitting not only urban markets, but also getting some play from the classic rock crowd too. Brian Eno produced, and co-wrote the songs with the group – and some great Green World-esque electronics bubble through the mix, and hold the whole thing together beautifully. Titles include "Houses In Motion", "Once In A Lifetime", "The Great Curve", "Crosseyed & Painless", "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", "Listening Wind", "Seen & Not Seen", and "The Overload". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet fusion set from the Baltimore scene of the late 80s – served up by Larry Bright on keyboards, bass, and drums – and all done with a nice lean vibe and soulful sound throughout! There's guest work on bass, trumpet, and guitar from track to track – and the record has a vibe that's a stripped-down take on mainstream fusion of the time – still very influenced by elements of 80s R&B, but never too polished or commercial – and with some keyboard/rhythm moments that maybe echo 80s action soundtracks as well! Titles include "New Dimensions", "Sonic Image", "Spirit", "Sunbeam", "Heat", and "Generations". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that comes out a decade after the first album by footwork maestro RP Boo, but one that features tracks recorded in the first ten years of the 21st Century – music from a time when footwork was really exploding on the Chicago scene as a wonderful blend of house music influences and some of the grittier elements of hip hop! But as you'll hear on the record, the style here is tied to neither at all – as it offers up a blisteringly rhythm progression of sounds – as urban as some of the Afro-Futurist work from Detroit, but even more stark and spare as well. Titles include "Pop Machine", "Azzoutof Control", "Porno", "Off Da Hook", "Say Grace", "Total Darkness", "Heavy Heat", "Eraser", and "BOTO". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible treasure from a lost vocal jazz genius – the little-known Bobby Cole, every bit as great a singer as he was a songwriter, very unusual for the time! Bobby was probably best remembered as the house pianist at Jillys, but at the time of this 1964 recording, he was poised to emerge as a serious vocalist with a rich talent for penning interesting and witty little tunes. The album's got Bobby singing in a style that's halfway between Matt Dennis and Mark Murphy – with the sophisticated talents of both in place, and perhaps a bit of the wit of Bob Dorough or Roy Kral. The core album is completely brilliant – the kind of off-kilter vocal record we die for – and every track's a fresh original by Bobby! The original album features Bobby on piano and vocals, with only bass and drums behind him – and titles include "You Can't Build A Life On A Look", "Heat", "You Could Hear A Pin Drop", "Change Of Scene", "A Perfect Day", "Elegy For Eve", and "Status Quo". LP, Vinyl record album

That's "Heath", not "health" – as you might think the title's misspelled – as in Jimmy Heath, who arranged most of the numbers on the set! Heath's contribution is a good one too – as it helps Baker create one of his most tightly-wrapped albums of the time, a well-blown session recorded here with a group that includes Art Pepper on alto, Phil Urso on tenor, Carl Perkins on piano, and Lawrence Marable on drums. The presence of Urso is especially appreciated – as his sharper, deeper tone really brings a wider sound to the album than some of Chet's other dates of the time – especially when combined with the excellent sound of Pepper! Titles include "CTA", "For Minors Only", "For Miles & Miles", and "Resonant Emotions". LP, Vinyl record album

The last album that Jimmy Heath ever gave the world – and a record that makes us miss him even more – as the whole thing takes Heath back to that spectacular mix of solo expressionist, thoughtful composer, and sensitive arranger territory of his best early years! And if you want proof of Jimmy's warm, open spirit – the set begins with a one minute bowed bass solo before Heath's horn even comes into play – then works sublime magic on a number of original numbers, and a few well-chosen classics – all put together by Jimmy as a "ballads" album, but in a way that's hugely different from some of the more facile songbook sessions of over-recorded standards. Instead, the Heath arrangements throughout are wonderfully fresh, and have a soulful quality that really blows us away – more than even on some of his other late records, which is what makes this final session so bittersweet. The core group features Kenny Barron on piano, Monte Croft on vibes, Russell Malone on guitar, and Lewis Nash on drums – and the set features vocals from Gregory Porter on one track, and Cecile McLorin Salvant on another – and Wynton Marsalis blows a trumpet solo on a third track. Titles include "Ballad From Upper Neighbors Suiter", "Left Alone", "Inside Your Heart", "La Mesha", "Con Alma", "Fasion Or Passion", and "Don't Explain". LP, Vinyl record album

Warm and wonderful work from saxophonist Jimmy Heath – still sounding great here in the 90s, and working in an excellent format that places his tenor and soprano next to guitar, bass, and drums. The lack of piano is quite striking – and the guitar work of Tony Perrone freely steps around Heath's horn with a quality that's really nice – teaming up in a frontline style, as if he were a trumpet player in the group – but also letting back for a more rhythmic approach that also has him shading in certain aspects of the tunes. Drums are by Heath's brother and longtime partner Albert "Tootie" – and titles include "Prince Albert", "Basic Birks", "Sleeves", and "Soul Eyes". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer album of crossover soul from the mid 70s – one that dropped like a bomb when it hit, and gave this UK group a number of big hits in America! Keyboardist Rod Temperton wrote all the tracks on the album – and he's got keen talent for both funky numbers and ballads. If soul stations played album side specials the way that classic rock stations do, side one would be in heavy rotation – as it kicks off with the funky title cut, rolls into the hit "Boogie Nights", cuts to the sample classic "Ain't No Half Steppin" (forever made famous by Big Daddy Kane), and steps into the moody ballad "Always & Forever". It's hard to beat that lineup, but side two does a pretty good job – and includes a similar mix of titles like "Super Soul Sister", "All You Do Is Dial", and "Sho'nuff Must Be Love". This great version includes a full LP of bonus tracks – including "Turn Out The Lamplight", "Special Offer", "Slip Your Disc To This", "Boogie Nights (12" disco version)", "Ain't No Half Steppin (single version)", and "Always & Forever (single version)". LP, Vinyl record album

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A never-issued live performance by the legendary Heath Brothers – and a set that's got the same freewheeling spiritual jazz vibe as their classic album on Strata East! The group's a quartet here, with excellent piano work from Stanley Cowell – who also plays mbira, and might also account for the more open, spacious, spiritual quality of the record – although the Heath Brothers clearly bring a lot to the table too! Jimmy Heath is superb on tenor, soprano, and flute – blowing soulful solos that are as great as on his own 70s albums as a leader – and Albert Tootie Heath mixes in some flute work next to his drums and percussion. Percy plays a bit of baby bass next to his fuller, rounder acoustic – and titles include a great long reading of their classic "Smilin Billy" – plus "One For Juan" and "Watergate Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

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Don Cherry gave many wonderful musical performances on the European scene in the 70s, including this one – a gem of a record that was thought to be lost for years, and finally gets released to the world at large! The set's a live collaboration with electronic musician Jean Schwarz – whose contributions here are nicely subtle, and never challenge the acoustic energy of the session, but instead augment it in all these really cool, unique ways – very different than most improvised music with electronics at the time. Cherry plays pocket trumpet and some great doussn gouni – in the company of an equally fantastic lineup that features JF Jenny Clark on bass, Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, and Michel Portal on saxes, bass clarinet, and bandoneon. Given all the elements, there's some very unique sounds going on here – a really amazing record that includes the tracks "Bells One", "Doussn Gouni", "Tribute To Ornette", "Bando", and "Berimbau". LP, Vinyl record album

The long hinted at full duo effort from Danger Mouse & Black Thought – which despite the title arrives with no shortcuts taken by either party – they got to the highest level after decades of grinding and stellar play! Danger Mouse hasn't produced a straight-up, classic-schooled gritty hip hop album in quite a while and he couldn't have a finer foil than Black Thought – and guest spots include an archival verse from Danger Mouse's late partner MF Doom, appearances by Raekwon, Run The Jewels, Kid Sister and others. Titles includes "Cheat Codes", "Sometimes", "Darkest Part" with Raekwon & Kid Sister, "No Gold Teeth", "Belize" with the late great MF Doom, "Aquamarine" with Michael Kiwanuka, "Identical Death", "Strangers" with A$ap Rocky & Run The Jewels, "Violas And Lupitas" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful early work from Cannonball Adderley – and a record that's quite different than most of his better known sets from the time! The album's more spare and stripped-down than usual – with Cannon's alto in a quartet alongside Bill Evans on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Connie Kay on drums. The style is almost more that of Evans than it is Cannonball – lightly lyrical, with a good sense of space – in a way that has Adderley playing out front very strongly, cutting some beautiful lines with his solos, in a really unfettered way! Titles include versions of two of Evans' tracks – "Waltz For Debby" and "Know What I Mean?" – plus nice moody takes on other material, like John Lewis' "Venice", Clifford Jordan's "Toy", and Gordon Jenkins' "Goodbye". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautifully heavy sounds from Black Market Brass – a group who started out with more of a global funk approach, but who emerge here with the intensity of some lost funky soundtrack – all with the sort of edge you might expect from the cover! The style here is really revolutionary – unlike anything else we've ever heard from a group with "brass" in their name – in part because the group has some very cool distortion on the keyboards and guitar, which gives those electric elements a very sinister sound next to the straight ahead fire of the horns – served up with really hard-driving rhythms throughout, in a way that seems to pull together older traditions of Afro Funk, Nola Brass, and even some of the southern college bands – but all with a very 21st Century vision. Titles include "So Who (parts 1 & 2)", "Into The Thick", "War Room", "Cheat & Start A Fight", "Undying Thirst", and "NBT". LP, Vinyl record album

David Bowie at his most sinister for the 70s – a landmark set that combines the harder rocking sound of the Ziggy Stardust years with the more sophisticated theatrics of Aladdin Sane – in a style that features some of the darkest, most political work of Bowie's career! There's a depth to the record that goes way beyond the silly, sensational cover image – and there's also a sonic complexity that's wonderful too – a songs slide into each other with a deftness that never fails to amaze us! The album grew out of a failed project based around George Orwell's famous book 1984 – but the rights to that story were denied by the family – so Bowie went in his own directly, and honestly came up with work that was far better than if he'd done any sort of slavish reading of the novel (Rick Wakeman famously failed in that territory – and the Eurhythmics fared just slightly better.) The whole thing's great, and titles include "Diamond Dogs", "1984", "Sweet Thing", "Candidate", "Rebel Rebel", and "Big Brother". LP, Vinyl record album

David Bowie at his most sinister for the 70s – a landmark set that combines the harder rocking sound of the Ziggy Stardust years with the more sophisticated theatrics of Aladdin Sane – in a style that features some of the darkest, most political work of Bowie's career! There's a depth to the record that goes way beyond the silly, sensational cover image – and there's also a sonic complexity that's wonderful too – a songs slide into each other with a deftness that never fails to amaze us! The album grew out of a failed project based around George Orwell's famous book 1984 – but the rights to that story were denied by the family – so Bowie went in his own directly, and honestly came up with work that was far better than if he'd done any sort of slavish reading of the novel (Rick Wakeman famously failed in that territory – and the Eurhythmics fared just slightly better.) The whole thing's great, and titles include "Diamond Dogs", "1984", "Sweet Thing", "Candidate", "Rebel Rebel", and "Big Brother". LP, Vinyl record album

Clifford Brown only recorded a handful of sides for Blue Note – but all of the best ones are included in this excellent album – a full length set that culls together Brown's material from the 10" years, issued as a memorial to his early death in 1956! Side one features Brown with the modernist Gigi Gryce on flute and alto sax – plus Charlie Rouse on tenor, John Lewis on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Art Blakey on drums – a lineup that has a strong sense of soul, balanced with a dose of modernism – on titles that include the classic "Hymn to the Orient" – worth the price of the album alone – plus "Easy Living", "Cherokee", "Wail Bait", and "Minor Mood". Side two features an equally sharp group – with Lou Donaldson on some excellent alto, and the great Elmo Hope on piano – on titles that include "Brownie Speaks", "De Dah", "Cookin", "You Go To My Head", and "Carving The Rock". LP, Vinyl record album

A really obscure soul trio from the New Jersey scene of the 70s – and one who've got a nicely rough-edged approach to their harmonies! The record's definitely in the grittier side of the scene – more funky 45 production overall, and a nice current of funk on the record at times too – mixed with some of the mellower sweet soul styles that Jersey groups were delivering at the time! The approach is a bit like a more streamlined approach to territory that Soul Generation were hitting at the time – and titles include "Trespassin", "I Can't Take No Chances", "Crying Shame", "Love For My Girl", "Taking All The Love I Can", "I Caught You Cheating", and "Birth Of A Playboy". LP, Vinyl record album

Tomorrow may be the question, but the record screams "today!" – and even this many years after its recording, this early set by Ornette Coleman has an energy and presence that cannot be denied! The sound here is kind of a rougher take on the mode that would gel more strongly on Ornette's Atlantic albums – but even so, it's still incredibly fresh, and well worth seeking out – especially as an example of the sharper edges that were bursting forth from the once-cool west coast scene! Coleman's on alto sax and Don Cherry is on trumpet – but they're not joined by their more familiar associates, and are instead working with a more conventional rhythm team that includes either Percy Heath or Red Mitchell on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums – all clearly trying to make a bit of sense of Ornette's approach here, but in a way that also creates a great sense of tension on the record! Tracks are shortish, with great solos by Ornette and Cherry – and titles include "Tomorrow Is The Question", "Endless", "Rejoicing", "Lorraine", "Turnaround", "Tears Inside", and "Giggin". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic early John Coltrane for Prestige – less a bold statement as a leader than a strong batch of blowing session-styled tracks that show how well Coltrane could hold his own with more established players! The groups on the set vary from track to track – and feature players that include Sahib Shihab, Mal Waldron, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Al Heath – plus underappreciated Philly trumpeter Johnnie Splawn. Trane's in great form here – even though the overall set's a bit less structured than some of his later albums – and his tone and solo approach are already stepping out from the rest of the pack with great vigor! Titles include "Bakai", "Time Was", "Straight Street", and "Chronic Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful little album from the young John Coltrane, and one that hides its strong sense of depth behind a familiar jazz standard used as a title! In some way, the record is almost experimental for the time – as side one features the tenor of Coltrane alongside just the bass of Earl May and drums of Art Taylor – a saxophone trio setting that Sonny Rollins would used in a more progressive mode, but which here allows Coltrane to demonstrate his unique tenor phrasing on ballads, but in ways that are even set more free than his earlier material with Miles Davis. Side two adds in the piano of Red Garland, alongside bass from Paul Chambers, and drums from either Albert Heath or Louis Hayes – and the trumpet of Donald Byrd joins in on one track too. Trio tracks include "I Love You" and "Like Someone In Love", as well as the original "Trane's Slow Blues" – and Byrd plays on "Lush Life", and steps out on "I Hear A Rhapsody". LP, Vinyl record album

A real enigma from Miles Davis – rare material from the Blue Note vaults, issued here for the first time ever – and done as a totally sweet 10" album! The cover and package are great – and the music is even better – very much in the most sparkling spirit of Davis' early 10" albums for Blue Note – with a lineup that includes JJ Johnson on trombone, Jimmy Heath on tenor, Jackie McLean on alto sax, Gil Coggins on piano, Percy Heath or Oscar Pettiford on bass, and Art Blakey or Kenny Clarke on drums! Titles include "Enigma (alt take 1)", "Kelo (alt take 1)", "Chance It (alt take 3)", and "Chance It (alt take 4)". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant early work by Miles Davis – some of his first truly important sessions to appear under his own name – originally issued as singles or 10" LP recordings by Blue Note, and brought together here in a full length set that would help to define the early years of his career! This is work before Miles was able to stretch out on longer sessions for Prestige, but the material already showcases his unique contribution to jazz – shorter tracks that are perhaps more boppish, than you might expect from some of Miles' other 50s work – but in a way that still allows for many moments of lyrical beauty, and that brilliantly cool sound of his which forever changed the sound of jazz trumpet. The set features work from an assortment of players who vary from track to track – including Jimmy Heath on tenor, Jackie McLean on alto, JJ Johnson on trombone, Gil Coggins on piano, and either Kenny Clarke or Art Blakey on drums – on titles that include "Tempus Fugit", "Kelo", "Enigma", "Ray's Ida", and "CTA". LP, Vinyl record album