Beautiful and underappreciated 70s soul from Ted Taylor from his stint with Ronn Records – great series of singles and slew of excellent unissued tracks! Ted was a huge talent with a soaring voice, better remembered for his earlier work at Okeh, but still in incredible form and served well by the 70s style southern soul sound! It includes some early 70s singles that would have sounded at home on Hi Records, some mid 70s duets with Little Johnny Taylor, and a treasure trove of newly unearthed numbers. Titles include4 "Farewell", "Call The House Doctor", "Sweet Lovin' Pair", "A Lick And A Promise", "Why Do I Have To Suffer", "Got To Have A Woman", "She's Got A Munchy Tunchy" "Cry It Out Baby", "Funky Ghetto" and more with Little Johnny Taylor, "Cummins Prison Farm", "Let Me Fix Up Your Feelings" and more. 24 tracks in all. CD

A completely hilarious book, and one that maybe makes the best use of computer photoshopping technology that we've ever seen – as Sean Tejaratchi remakes and remixes work from a whole host of familiar sources – and comes up with these really weird and wonderful images in the process! Nothing is off-limits to the author – as Tejaratchi skewers billboards, paperbacks, album covers, movie posters, supermarket ads, cookbooks, and just about anything else you can imagine – moving images, titles, and subjects around with a sense of humor that's incredible – and which may well have you looking around the house, laughing at things that once seemed commonplace. It's a bit hard to describe the book's magic in words, but you might try checking Sean's Liarspace website for a start – then dive into the hundreds of full color images in the well-done book. Book

A tremendous document of work by Jake Thackray – one of the most unique talents on the British music scene of the 60s, but an artist who's sadly been un-remembered over the years! At first glance, Jake's definitely a folkie, but he's also one with a strong influence from French singer/songwriters like Jacques Brel or George Brassens – and takes key inspiration from them in the depth and darkness of his work. Like both Brel and Brassens, Thackray's got a style that's almost out of time – one that's ageless at some points, but with a very contemporary way of viewing the world – personal, pointed, and penned with an incredible sense of wit. In an era when most folkies were attacking the political or pushing into the fantastic, Jake spent careful time looking at human foibles and the complexities of interpersonal relationships – always from a distance, but close enough to note the odd humor in even the most banal situations. This wonderful set brings together 4 of Thackray's albums for EMI – Bantam Cock, Last Will & Testament, Jake's Progress, and On Again On Again – all of which feature Jake's slightly jazz-inflected vocals alongside acoustic guitar and very spare, but well-chosen additional instrumentation. Package also features a full disc of unreleased material – including different versions of other tunes on the albums. 97 tracks in all, and a wonderful musical discovery throughout! Titles include "The Cactus", "Country Bus", "Brother Gorilla", "The Girl In The Window", "Ulysses", "Scallywag", "Salvation Army Girl", "On The Shelf", "Go Little Swale", "Isabel Makes Love On National Monuments", "Joseph", "Famous People", "The Gravedigger", and "Leopold Alcocks". CD

One of the most unusual settings we've ever heard for the always-sharp saxophone work of John Butcher – a set that features lots of moogy moments from Pat Thomas, who uses both a theremini and electronics – alongside much more organic sounds on percussion from Stale Liavik Solberg! Butcher's always had this incredible ear for tones and unusual phrasings, but the trio here really brings out that quality even more than before – so much so, it's almost difficult to tell who's handling what elements at times – which is quite a testament to all three improvisers! Titles include "Dust", "Solution", "Threads", "Keys", "The Effort & A Smile", and "Heartaches". CD

One of the hippest records ever cut by pianist Enrique Villegas – very different than his early material, and a set that's got this strong, stretched-out, and highly spiritual vibe – thanks in very large part to his musical partner on the date, saxophonist Ara Tokatlian! In many ways, the record is clearly Ara's own – as he blows tenor, soprano sax, flute, and bandura – sometimes with processing and effects that are almost in the early mode of John Klemmer on Chess/Cadet, but with a more searing tone that's like his countryman Gato Barbieri on early Impulse records sides – sounding incredible in a lean setting that has the pair getting just a bit of additional percussion and bass from Guillermo Bordarampe. Tunes are long, soaring, and very spiritual – and titles include "Maritimaria", "A La Sombra De Los Dorados", "Camino A Samarkanda", and "En La Ola De Tus Ojos". CD

An incredible album from Mel Torme – easily his best set ever, and a record that helped raise the bar for all other singers back in the 50s! A key part of the success of the set is the presence of Marty Paich as an arranger – as Marty swings the whole thing with a fluid groove that's really amazing, and which is a style that hadn't ever been done on record this well before. The group is filled with hip west coast players like Pete Candoli, Jack Montrose, Bob Cooper, and Bud Shank – all of whom really soar together, and elevate Mel's vocals from the older velvet fog mode, into a leaner, hipper style that's really tremendous! Titles include "The Blues", "The Lady Is A Tramp", "Lulu's Back In Town", "The Carioca", "Sing For Your Supper", and "Lullaby Of Birdland". CD

A really incredible album of acid folk from the UK scene – and a set that mixes female vocals with acoustic and electric instrumentation, in a style that echoes Fairport Convetnion at their best! This set features a full bonus album of different mixes and some BBC material too. CD

A hell of a comeback for Tribe Called Quest – maybe one of the best musical comebacks ever, and a fantastic reminder of why we loved the group so much in the first place! 18 years have passed since we last heard from the trio (now, sadly, a duo) – and that time only seems to have sharpened their sound, and given them a more powerful presence than ever! Everything we loved about them is still very firmly in place – that sense of collaboration, almost improvisation in a jazz-like way, and those moments of surprise and wonder at all the deft turns they can take in a short space. Yet there's also a new edge – one that might be even more powerful in this highly politicized moment in American history – a bite that the group never had before, and a larger social agenda that makes all of their incredible skills even more amazing, when focused on a target. We've certainly missed them – but the album's also well worth the wait! Titles include "Black Spasmodic", "The Donald", "The Space Program", "We The People", "Solid Wall Of Sound", "Dis Generation", "Kids", "Melatonin", "Enough", "Movin Backwards", and "The Killing Season". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most amazing jazz vocalists of our generation returns here with an incredible group – a majestic combo to match all the spiritual inclinations in his music – with work from Kamasi Washington on tenor, Mark De Clive-Lowe on piano, Miguel Atwood Ferguson on viola, and both Carlos Nino and Derf Reklaw on percussion! Dwight Trible on his own is already more than enough to get us to run out and buy a record – but here, the combination of his unique voice with these musicians makes for an album that's an instant masterpiece – and one that even has lots of new colors and styles compared to some of Dwight's previous work! Songs include numbers by older west coast spiritual jazz heavyweights – like Horace Tapscott, Linda Hill, Nate Morgan, James Leary, and Jesse Sharps – mixed with some of Trible's own songs, and versions of work by Carmen Lundy, Oscar Brown Jr, and Donny Hathaway. From top to bottom, start to stop, the album's a treasure – with tracks that include "It's All About Love", "Thank You Master", "Song For My Mother", "Brother Where Are You", "Some Other Time", "These Things You Are To Me", "Desert Fairy Princess", and "Mothership". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most amazing jazz vocalists of our generation returns here with an incredible group – a majestic combo to match all the spiritual inclinations in his music – with work from Kamasi Washington on tenor, Mark De Clive-Lowe on piano, Miguel Atwood Ferguson on viola, and both Carlos Nino and Derf Reklaw on percussion! Dwight Trible on his own is already more than enough to get us to run out and buy a record – but here, the combination of his unique voice with these musicians makes for an album that's an instant masterpiece – and one that even has lots of new colors and styles compared to some of Dwight's previous work! Songs include numbers by older west coast spiritual jazz heavyweights – like Horace Tapscott, Linda Hill, Nate Morgan, James Leary, and Jesse Sharps – mixed with some of Trible's own songs, and versions of work by Carmen Lundy, Oscar Brown Jr, and Donny Hathaway. From top to bottom, start to stop, the album's a treasure – with tracks that include "It's All About Love", "Thank You Master", "Song For My Mother", "Brother Where Are You", "Some Other Time", "These Things You Are To Me", "Desert Fairy Princess", and "Mothership". CD

An incredible collection of music from the great pianist Lennie Tristano – and maybe the first-ever set to truly get at the range of genius he could express on the piano! Given that Tristano only made a small amount of records during his too-short career, yet also left a major impact on the field of modern jazz – this set really documents the full span of everything that Tristano had to offer – pulled from a wonderful range of his own recordings, all of which appear here for the first time! These aren't casual solo recordings done in the basement – and instead, the package brings together a mixture of studio, live, and even television performances – all with a different spirit on each of the CDs in the set! One of the most revelatory is the final CD – which features a number of tracks in a "free session" in 1948 - with Tristano on piano, Lee Konitz on alto, Warne Marsh on tenor, and Billy Bauer on guitar – coming together with an amazing sound throughout. That same disc also features a superb 1962 live date at the Half Note – with Konitz on alto and Zoot Sims on tenor. CD1 is wonderful too – a selection of live material with the tremendous Billy Bauer on piano – a player, like Tristano, who was instrumental in shaping the sound of his instrument in modern jazz during the postwar years. CD3 features live performances by a sextet that includes Konitz, Marsh, and Bauer – plus Arnold Fishkin on bass and Jeff Morton on drums. CD2 features beautiful solo performances recorded from the early 50s through 1970. CD4 features trio session, most with Peter Ind on bass – while CD5 features different trio and duo material, but with Sonny Dallas on bass. The set is impeccably done – in cooperation with Tristano's family – and given the wealth of material, the whole thing may well have doubled his recording catalog in the process, while also really illuminating so many different aspects of his career! CD

An incredible guide to sound library music around the world – one that features artwork from countless different labels, and brief notes on their history and output! The package is quite unique – not really a discography, not really an art book – but kind of a mix of both – and the only resource so far we've seen for tracking down the elusive musical gems that have come out of sound library sources of the 50s, 60s, and 70s! The book lists hundreds of records from 230 different labels – each presented alphabetically, with information and history on each label – alongside a huge amount of color images of the covers that are as beautiful as the music contained within. Trunk Records head Jonny Trunk put the whole thing together – and this huge second edition is twice as big as the first – really showing the full scope of new information on some of the more obscure labels that have come into play in recent years. 248 pages, hardcover, full color – and beautiful! Book

Fantastic sounds from a Colorado trio who only existed for a few short years at the start of the 70s – and worked in this wicked blend of fuzz and freak, acid and heavy – all with a sound that's really incredible, given the homemade nature of these recordings! The tracks here aren't half-warmed psyche, or more-sophisticated garage – but instead show a group instantly ready to express their own sort of style – longish tracks that have a really great sense of structure, and which are unified by a really sharp sense of instrumentation from the trio, despite a few different lead singers in the mix! There's a nice current of sadness in the mix, too – almost a morning/mourning after the 60s sort of sound – and titles include "Jupiter Probe", "Ho Pideous", "Denver Over Glide", "Ides", "Siberia", and "Bloon Moan". CD

Piero Umiliani gave the world some fantastic soundtracks in the 60s, and incredible electronic and sound library work in the 70s – but in the immediate postwar years, he was a jazz musician at heart – as you'll hear in this great set of small combo jazz from 1959! The vibe is right up there with some of the hippest Italian moderns of the period – like the Basso/Valdambrini group, or work by Gil Cuppini – and if you've heard some of the early 60s jazz soundtracks from Piero, you'll know that he can definitely serve up straight jazz work when he wants to! Umiliani plays piano, and other musicians include Marcello Boschi on alto and flute, Ivan Vandor on tenor, Bill Gilmore on trombone, Peppe Carta on bass, and Roberto Zappulla on drums. All tracks are originals – and include "Tempo Jazz", "Tema In Blues", "Mezza Cottura", "Tipi Misteriosi", and "Battesimo Dell'Aria". LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection of groundbreaking early work from Michal Urbaniak – early European recordings that are very different than his American records from later years! First up is Paratyphus B – some of Michal Urbaniak's heaviest work of the 70s – an album of relatively free and exploratory fusion, recorded in Stuttgart with a group of Polish contemporaries who include Urszula Dudziak on voice and percussion, and Adam Makowicz on electric piano! Urbaniak plays soprano sax, tenor, and flute next to his more familiar electric violin – and many of the tracks are spacey explorations in sound, with some sort of rhythm, but really more a focus on the jamming of the keys, violin, and Dudziak's incredible voice. Titles include "Valium", "Irena", "Sound Pieces", "Winter Piece", and "Paratyphus B". Inactin is one of the greatest albums that Polish jazzman Michal Urbaniak ever cut – and a sparkling session of funky fusion recorded in Germany, at the studios of Horst Jankowski! The album feels like one of the great MPS electric albums from the 70s – and it's got loads of cool Fender Rhodes and clavinet playing, spacey electric violin, and some tight choppy soprano work. Urszula Dudziak lays down some incredibly spooky vocals on the best tracks – riffing away in an otherworldly way that matches the funk on the album. Includes the nice breakbeat tracks "Inactin" and "Ekim", plus the cuts "Lato", "Fall", and "Groovy Desert". 3CD set features 2CDs worth of rare bonus live material – a concert recorded in Bremen in 1972, with very long tracks that include "Introduction/Valium", "Sound Pieces", "Irena", and "Groovy Desert/Silence/Lato". CD

A wonderful testament to the mindblowing collaborative powers of reedman Ken Vandermark – one of the most consistently creative saxophonists of the past few decades, and a spirit with a heart that's as big as his music! Ken's a wonder by himself, but one of the things that's always really impressed us is his strong ear for others – which includes not just fellow jazz musicians, but also decades of sounds in other styles too. Here, Vandermark displays his strong sensitivity towards five key contemporaries – in a box set that features different duets on each CD! The set features one album each of improvisations with Paul Lytton on drums and percussion, Ikue Mori on laptop and electronics, Kris Davis on piano, William Parker on bass, and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion – and Ken is mindblowing throughout, with an incredible ear for his partners, delivered over a number of different reed instruments. Box set also features great notes from Vandermark – who's also a hell of a writer, too! CD

In the years immediately preceding the rise of the MPB giants of the post-Tropicalia years, Geraldo Vandre was one of Brazil's best talents, and an extremely strong singer/songwriter who managed to build a bridge from the bossa era to the present. This incredible album from the mid 60s is one of his best – and features an amazing set of songs that match any of the best Brazilian work of the 60s. Some tracks are folksy, some have a bit of a jazz sound – and the range of styles seems to run from Leonard Cohen to Marcos Valle to Dick Farney. Really great stuff – with an imagination and soulfulness that still leaves us breathless. Titles include "Requiem Para Matraga", "Tristeza De Amar", "Pequeno Concerto Que Ficou Cancao", "Rosa Flor", "Que Quizer Encontrar O Amor", and "Porta Estandarte". LP, Vinyl record album

Totally wonderful live work from Sarah Vaughan – a Berlin performance that takes off strongly from the grooviest styles of her mid 60s work on Mercury – but with an approach that's maybe even more unfettered overall, given the live setting of the material! Sarah's voice is incredible – working with an amazing demonstration of that famous range that made her such a key force in transforming jazz vocals during the postwar years – always swinging, but with all these inflections that really show just how much she'd developed her voice as an instrument during the 60s. Backing is from an unusual trio – Johnny Veith on piano, Gus Mancuso on bass, and Eddy Pucci on drums – players who really fit the groovy nature of the material – titles that include "On A Clear Day", "Passing Strangers", "I Cried For You", "A Lot Of Livin To Do", "And I Love Him", "Fly Me To The Moon", "The Sweetest Sounds", "What Now My Love", "Time After Time", and "I Had A Ball". LP, Vinyl record album

A jazz vocal masterpiece from Sarah Vaughn – one of her greatest albums ever, and a record that raised the bar for countless vocal sessions in years to come! Sarah's working here in an intimate group arranged by Ernie Wilkins – filled with famous trumpet solo work by Clifford Brown, during his last few years on the planet – plus tenor from Paul Quinichette, flute from Herbie Mann, and piano from Jimmy Jones. Sarah's vocals are incredible – curving, turning, and lilting with a tremendous amount of jazz-based inflection – and titles include "Lullaby Of Birdland", "April In Paris", "September Song", "He's My Guy", and "I'm Glad There Is You". CD