One of our favorite records ever by Roy Haynes – a lyrical masterpiece that stands with his best work of the 60s! The set features some wonderful playing by Frank Strozier – who's handling both alto and flute on the set, grooving around like he did on his own great Riverside albums of the period, or on Haynes' excellent Cymbalism set, to which this one is a nice partner. The songs on here are a bit less hip than on that album – as many of them are 60s standards, like "People", "Mr Lucky", "Wives & Lovers", "Invitation", and "What Kind Of Fool Am I" – but they're done with a lot imagination, and a soulful modal groove that really opens them up! LP, Vinyl record album

Man, it's like a talent bomb exploded! This set's stuffed with work by some of the greatest jazz funk players of the early 70s – Johnny Hammond, Bob James, Deodato, George Benson, Joe Farrell, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Grover Washington Jr, Hubert Laws, and others – all playing together at a massive live concert recorded in Hollywood in 1972! And although you might worry that the collection of so many great talents on one stage might just create confusion – don't! The quality of the work is excellent – almost better than the best of the CTI studio sides, with a lean, clean sound that's really really tight – never overblown, just sweet electric funk with loads of great space for solo work. This second volume of the 3 LP set includes takes of "Blues Force", "Rock Steady", "People Make The World Go Round" and a medley of "Ithe From Love Story", "Pavane" and "Fire & Rain". LP, Vinyl record album

Sharp sounds from guitarist Jim Hall – a record that's filled with all the cool, complicated lines the musician could muster on his instrument – yet a record that also manages to swing a bit too! The sound here is a great evolution from the sound of Hall's music in the 50s – even more modern at most moments, with unique phrasing that shows just how much Jim continued to grow over the decades – delivered at a level that's very fresh, and without a debt to any other guitarist on the planet! Part of the album's unique feel comes from the large amount of original Hall compositions – interpreted by Jim with a trio that also features Don Thompson on piano and bass and Terry Clarke on drums – on titles that include "Kyoto Bells", "Echo", "Without Words", "Light", "Something For Now", and "Two Special People". LP, Vinyl record album

The classic debut from one of the weirdest concept groups of the 60s – a mime rock band brought together by producer Lew Futterman – who'd also worked on some killer funky jazzy sessions with Brother Jack McDuff! The style here is psychedelic pop through and through – and although the group didn't speak, they do sing (is that really mime?) – and work in a groovy sing-song blend of reeds and rockish rhythms, one that definitely has some of the same sharp changes and funky undercurrents you'd find in Futterman's jazz projects – although honed down here into much shorter Sunshine tunes! The album's a very unique little record – and oddly the group flourished for years. But somehow this first record has a charm that's really undeniable – and is maybe still their best effort ever. Titles include "White Winged Doves","Dream Of Tomorrow", "Pray For Rain", "How Does It Feel To Be Free", "I Ride To Nowhere", "Come & See Me", and "Jelly Jam". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet little large group session from Gerry – a bit harder swinging than some of his mid 50s small group work, but still with that mellifluous glide that's the trademark Mulligan sound! Arrangements are by some great talents – including Al Cohn, Johnny Mandel, and Bob Brookmeyer, who also plays valve trombone on the set – and titles include "Blueport", "Body & Soul", "Black Nightgown", and "Let My People Be". LP, Vinyl record album

Relatively straightforward guitar jazz grooving from Nathen Page – a player who's probably better known for his countless studio appearances on the west coast scene, but who also managed to cut a few albums like this as a leader! The style is relatively laidback and relaxed – with Nathen playing hollow body guitar in a soul jazz mode that's similar to some of Ray Crawford's work from the time. His lines get a bit complicated at times, but never too much so – and rhythm is by the team of Charles Covington on piano, Steve Novosel on bass, and Mike Smith on drums. Title sinclude "Invitation", "Once I Loved", "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", and "Lush Life". LP, Vinyl record album

"Fantastic" is right – because Dorothy Ashby is one of the coolest, grooviest people to ever lay her fingers on a harp – and just about one of the few who've ever found a way to use the instrument in a jazz-based setting! This mid 60s date is a pivotal one for Ashby – as it has her opening up with some groovier touches than on her previous jazz records for Savoy and Prestige – a bit more of the sound that would showcase more strongly on her Chess/Cadet albums, given a nice sort of Atlantic sense of soul here! Players here are very hip – and include Richard Davis on bass, Grady Tate on drums, and Willie Bobo on percussion – plus an expanded trombone section on a few titles too. Tracks include "Flighty", "Nabu Corfa", "Dodi Li", "Invitation", "I Will Follow You", "House Of The Rising Sun", and "Essence of Sapphire". LP, Vinyl record album

One the all time great funky albums of the 70s – a mad little record with a sense of rhythm and timing that was years ahead of its time! The Soul Searchers (along with Chuck Brown) later became known for their heavy-hitting Go Go work at the end of the decade – but here, they're a really free-thinking outfit with a lot of jazz in their funk – and a willingness to change up the beats and timings in ways that push the record miles ahead from an average funk outing. Tracks swirl around with an amazing intensity – supported by guitar work from Brown, organ from Hilton Felton, and some really great horns from Don Tillery and Lloyd Pinchback. The album features a wonderful remake of "Think" – plus the great originals "1993", "Soul To The People", "Blowout", and "We The People". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from the legendary Hoagy Carmichael – and one of the few albums to feature him singing his own work! Hoagy's name is one that you're more likely to see in the songwriting credits than in the artist slot for a record – but he's actually got a wonderful voice, one that's filled with honest, personal charms – and which has a sometimes broken-down quality that's perfect for the gentle words of his tunes. This wonderful set features Carmichael working with sublime small combo backing – players who include Harry Edison, Jimmy Rowles, and Art Pepper – working with arrangements penned by Johnny Mandel. Titles include "Rocking Chair", "Georgia On My Mind", "Skylark", "Two Sleepy People", and "Baltimore Oriole". LP, Vinyl record album

A gem of a record from vocalist Urszula Dudziak – the closest she ever came to doing a "straight" set of vocals, but still one that lives up to her unique style! The album was produced by Michal Urbaniak with a sweet electric vibe – never too smooth or overproduced, but with just enough American jazz funk to set things right – and make for some wonderful instrumentation that helps Urszula breathe new life into some older tunes! A few tracks on here are originals – like "Midnight Rain", "People Say", and "Cuckoo's Nest" – and the rest are wonderfully reworked versions of older tracks like "Lover", "Night In Tunisia", and "Bluesette". LP, Vinyl record album

Well, we don't know if Mr B could ever be considered "modern", but this is a pretty groovy batch of 60s pop tunes – like "Mister Kicks", "People", "Wanted", "Wives & Lovers", and "A Beautiful Friendship" – all done to arrangements by Billy Byers, Benny Carter, and Bobby Tucker, with that great mid 60s Mercury pop feel to them. There's some nice jazz elements in the mix, and Billy's always a treat for us! LP, Vinyl record album

Pretty great stuff by Aretha – despite what the pro-Atlantic Records books say! The record is one of the first she cut with John Hammond at Columbia, and although it's not in the classic soul mode of the Atlantic sessions, it's a darn nice batch of bluesy jazz tracks that would still stand the test of time well if people weren't so hung up on the propaganda that plays down the Columbia years. Backings are by Richard Wess on most tracks, and at times Aretha's voice is recorded with a nice echoey touch that gives the material almost an R&B-ish feel. Titles include "Rough Lover", "You Made Me Love You", "It's So Heartbreakin", "Nobody Like You", "I Told You So", and "Just For You". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet overview of the early years of Aretha Franklin's career – her formative days at Columbia Records, when she was working in a variety of styles before heading over to bigger fame at Atlantic! Even at this early stage, Aretha's one hell of a singer – and, despite what folks who listen to Jerry Wexler might say, this early Columbia work is pretty darn amazing throughout – steeped in a number of different modes, with bits of jazz, R&B, and early soul sewn together beautifully throughout. The double-length set is filled with key early moments from Aretha – and titles include "Don't Cry Baby", "Lee Cross", "Skylark", "One Step Ahead", "Evil Gal Blues", "Take A Look", "Runnin Out Of Fools", "People", "Try A Little Tenderness", and "Take It Like You Give It". LP, Vinyl record album

Groundbreaking work from Ketty Lester – a really important singer who equally skirted the worlds of jazz and soul! Ketty's got a great sophisti-soul style on the set – working with arrangements by Lincoln Mayorga, and coming off with a sound that would clearly go onto inspire Nancy Wilson and Marlena Shaw. Includes the hit "Love Letters", plus "You Can Have Him", "When Day Is Done", "Lonely People Do Foolish Things", "Hello Lover, Goodbye Tears", and "Looking For A Boy". LP, Vinyl record album

A key record in the second chapter of Joni Mitchell on record – a set that has both her vocals and her overall music style flowing with all these amazing touches you might not have heard a few years before – jazzier currents in her music that really set the album apart from earlier work in Joni's career! Mitchell responds to the music with soaring vocals that are completely wonderful, and nicely changed up in character from tune to tune – given backing by a host of great jazz and studio players who include Tom Scott on reeds and Joe Sample on keyboards! Titles include her classic version of "Twisted" – a redone version of the old Annie Ross track – plus the classic hit "Help Me", and "Just Like This Train", "Car On A Hill", "Court & Spark", "Down To You", "Free Man In Paris", and "People's Parties". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best albums that Lou Rawls cut with the team of HB Barnum and David Axelrod – that incredible duo who made some of his 60s Capitol albums so great! The style here is wonderful – upbeat grooves from Barnum – who brings more soul into Lou's music than before – recorded by Axelrod with the right sort of sharpness and punch – that special quality he brought to Cannonball Adderley's 60s soul classics too! Rawls is really at home in the setting – stepping out in some points with these hip monologue passages that are as great as his singing – maybe even better, too – as they show a whole new side of Lou's personality – that badass, totally hip quality that people might never have expected from the early days. One of the best of these is the excellent "Old Man's Memories", about a guy sitting on a bench in Washington Park on the south side of Chicago, which then rolls into an amazing version of "It Was A Very Good Year". Other tunes have a great mix of soul and jazz – and titles include "Love Is A Hurtin Thing", "A Whole Lotta Woman", "Don't Explain", "Old Folks", and "Breaking My Back (Instead Of Using My Mind)". LP, Vinyl record album

Jeri Southern can be a hell of a jazz singer when she wants – and that was definitely the case on this gem of a record – a laidback small combo setting with excellent guitar accompaniment from Johnny Smith! Smith's trademark tones really color the record in a great way – enriching the sound and offsetting some of the more understated vocals from Jeri – but in a way that also lets us really hear her phrasing, too. The setting is spare and simple – and the song choice is great, too – with shifts between standards and a few more obscure numbers that show Jeri working at a deeper range than we know from other records. Titles include "Robins & Roses", "Without A Warning", "Where Or When", "Two Sleepy People", "Isn't It Romantic", and "Until The Real Thing Comes Along". LP, Vinyl record album

The last-ever album from this legendary duo – and a set that's maybe their funkiest record too! Of course, that's probably no surprise, given that they're playing the Curtis Mayfield tunes from Superfly here – great tracks that make for a really wonderful setting for the pair's highly rhythmic style – Eldee Young on bass and Isaac Redd Holt on drums – plus great Fender Rhodes lines from pianist Ken Chaney! The set also features a bit of congas from Derf Reklaw, and organ and guitar as well – and the whole thing's a long overdue follow up to the funky electric jazz style of their earlier album Oh Girl, on Atlantic. Titles include great takes on "Freddie's Dead", "Give Me Your Love", "Pusher Man", and "Superfly" – plus a few of the group's own numbers, like "Hey Pancho" and "Mystical Man" – as well as a super-dope cover of "People Make the World Go Round". LP, Vinyl record album

One of a few rare albums recorded as a leader from bassist Cleveland Eaton – a player who first rose to fame with Maurice White in the second Ramsey Lewis trio – and one who gave the world some amazingly hip records on the Black Jazz label in the 70s! This set is a unique effort for the label of Philly soul team of Gamble & Huff – yet the set was recorded in Chicago, and has a wickedly funky vibe that's very much like the coolest Chess/Cadet material of the period – nice fuzzy touches around the edges, and some righteous soul currents too! There's plenty of great Chicago players on the session – Odell Brown on Fender Rhodes, Artee Duke Payne on tenor and flute, and Morris Jennings on drums – on titles that include "Keep It Funky", "Slipping Into Darkness", "Here Comes Funky Lou", "Day Dreaming", "Ah Movin On", and a nice cover of "People Make The World Go Round". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of great American albums from Dexter Gordon – back to back in a single set! First up is Tower Of Power – recorded at a time when Dexter Gordon certainly was a tower of power – as his lengthy 60s stay in Europe helped him to work work work, and season his playing considerably – to a point at which he emerged as a masterful soloist far beyond the limits of his early bop recordings! This session features Dexter back with an American group – one that features Barry Harris on piano, Buster Williams on bass, and Tootie Heath on drums – plus a very welcome James Moody on tenor on one track, "Monmartre", blowing in that raspier tone of the late 60s we love so much! Other titles include "Stanley The Steamer", "The Rainbow People", and "Those Were The Days" – all nice and long! More Power is one of Dex's few great group sessions from the late 60's. Unlike a lot of other records from the time – in which he solos long and meanderingly with a piano trio backing him up, on standards he's played a million times – this one has him playing with a tight group that includes James Moody, Barry Harris, Buster Williams, and Albert Heath, on a set of nice original material with titles like "Fried Bananas", "Boston Bernie", and "Sticky Wicket". There's also 2 jazz standards – "Lady Bird" and "Meditation" – but they're both taken in a nice tight way, and in keeping with the rest of the album. LP, Vinyl record album

A genre-defining moment from pianist Keith Jarrett – a record that really set the world on fire, and which continues to charm all these many decades later! Although Jarrett had already made some amazing music in a trio setting during the 60s, and in his more freewheeling groups with Dewey Redman in the early 70s, it's this sort of format that forever put him on the map – long, extended improvised passages on solo piano – played at a level that's still extremely lyrical, tuneful, and thoughtful – quite different than the free jazz waves that were building at the time! And while so many other people copied the style over the years, nobody does it better than Jarrett – especially on this landmark outing for the style. The work is amazing – extremely compelling as little melodies drift in and out of the waves of piano improvisation – without any of the sloppiness of some of Jarrett's imitators, and a surprising sense of soul and direction throughout! LP, Vinyl record album

A super-huge album for Kool & The Gang – and for good reason too! The set features their massive hit "Celebration" – a cut that firmly planted the group in the mainstream, and which keeps getting countless play over the decades – probably still earning them a fortune in royalties year after year from wedding bands alone! The group's got some great help on the record from Deodato – the Brazilian keyboardist who scored big with his own records in the 70s – and who's working here to arrange, conduct, and produced the album with a sweet jazzy finish! In a way, it's Deodato's ear for a great warm groove that really seems to make the set sparkle – giving it a strong soul sound, even with tighter production – still somewhat down to earth, despite its hit status – that core quality that's always made Kool & The Gang so great! Apart from "Celebration", other tracks include "Jones Vs Jones", "Love Festival", "Love Affair", "Night People", and "Morning Star". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the Last Poets greatest albums – and one of their most sophisticated as well! Gone are the rough-hewn rhymes of the group's first album, and in their place are better arranged, more thought-out tracks that mix in a wealth of musical influences – and which expand the group's verbal expression past simple protests, and into the realm of Jazzoetry that became their trademark during the mid 70s. Tracks include "Related to What", "Black Is", "White Man's Got a God Complex", "Black People What Y'All Gonna Do", and "This is Madness" – and a number of tracks are preceded by strong and forceful chants before the lyrics kick in! LP, Vinyl record album

A strange but great chapter of The Blue Notes – working here without Harold Melvin or Teddy Pendergrass, but still sounding pretty great on their own! This version of The Blue Notes is a male quartet – not the Melvin group with Sharon Paige who were recording for ABC – and they get some fresh help in the studio from George Perry, who brings in this soaring groove that still echoes earlier Philly work, but also has a bit more of a clubby vibe overall! The style's never disco, but makes for some great uptempo soul – the sort that really lets the group's wonderful vocal style soar strongly – a rich blend that's totally great even without Teddy, and which has a great mix of raspy leads and warm harmonies. Titles include the wicked jazzy dancer "The Girl Makes Me Wanna Sing" – plus "It's Over", "Memories", "Standing By You Girl", "People Are Running Around", and "The Truth Has Come To Light". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet jazzy soul from Angie Bofill – recorded in 1979 with Dave Grusin, who gives the album a smooth edge that really works perfectly with her vocals! The set's a perfect blend of the more soulful elements in the fusion scene of the late 70s, combined with Angie's warm vocal style and some excellent songwriting. Titles include "I Try", "Angel Of The Night", "What I Wouldn't Do", "Rainbow Child", "The Voyage", and a great cover of "People Make The World Go Round". LP, Vinyl record album

Chicago's second album – not as familiar as the first, and with some really great moments! The group is working here in the same extended-length format as on their debut, going for some more complicated tunes spread across the album's double length – jazzy riffing still firmly in place, and going for some vocal moments that almost have a nice Brother-era Beach Boys sound to them. Includes the great "Make Me Smile", plus the cuts "Poem For The People", "In The Country", "Wake Up Sunshine", "25 Or 6 To 4", "To Be Free", "Fancy Colours", "West Virginia Fantasies", "Where Do We Go From Here", and "Memories Of Love". More grooves than you might remember, too! LP, Vinyl record album

A rare funky gem from Madcliff – an early project from Chris Hills, who'd soon go onto greater fame in Players Association! The album's got a much more soul-based sound than Hills' later material – still upbeat and groovy, but delivered with an indie soul vibe that keeps things nice and raw – much more tight funk than slick disco, even though some of the grooves here are perfect for the club! The album only saw brief release on the tiny Guinness label – who also gave us the classic Newban set – and this record's got a similar blend of righteous currents and jazzy funk – all served up at a level that's very individual, and which has made the whole thing an overlooked gem for years! Chris uses some bold piano currents, light string flourishes, and some right rhythms that really keep things funky, even when clubby – on titles that include "Goin To The Disco", "I Like It", "You Can Make The Change", "It Takes A Little Time", "Just Another Woman", "What The People Say About Love", and "Steal You Away". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer Latin dancefloor material! Compiled by Brit Latin DJ Gerry Lyesight, and filled with loads of storming cuts that we don't see elsewhere, wrapped up into one lovely package with the usual BBE high standards! There's 14 cuts, and titles include "Tumba El Quinto" by Hector Rivera, "Coco My Way" by Tambu, "Gaviota" by Jimmy Bosch, "Oromi" by Daniel Ponce, "Muneca" by Charlie Palmieri, "Red Onions" by Armando Peraza, "No Que Va A Llora" by Andy Harlow, and "Porque No Me Dices" by Linda Leida. Great stuff all the way through, and mostly slamming instrumentals, with a few tight jazzy vocal cuts thrown in! LP, Vinyl record album