Beautiful new work from Joyce – possibly her best album in years! The lovely Brazilian singer/guitarist blows away all the newcomers in the modern bossa field – and shows the world that she's still one of the strongest talents of her generation. The album's got a stronger jazz component than some of her other recent albums, quite driving, in the mode of classic albums like Agua E Luz and Feminina – and Joyce's voice, guitar, and songwriting skills are top-notch all the way! An instant classic – one that will have you shelving all your faked-out remixed, Nu Brazil albums for the real thing! Titles include "Bota De Sete Leguas", "Azul Bahia", "Forcas D'Alma", "Na Casa Do Villa", "Quatro Elementos", "The Band On The Wall", and "Samba Da Silvia". CD

Wonderful live work from Joyce – a singer we love in any sort of setting, but one who really seems to open up nicely in front of an audience! The approach here is very much in classic Joyce mode – very intimate and personal, with instrumentation that just includes Joyce on guitar, Tutty Moreno on drums, plus a bit of bass and added guitar – all served up in a warmly jazzy style that fits beautifully with Joyce's legendary vocals. Most tunes have a breezy sort of feel, even when mellow – and the album features guest appearances by Joao Donato, Dori Caymmi, Leila Pinheiro, and Monica Salmaso – who all join Joyce here in a celebration of her 40 years in music. Titles include "Samba De Mulher", "E Era Copacabana", "Misterios", "Clareana", "E Passa O Carrossel", "Samba Da Zona", "Monsieur Binot", "Feminina", "Havana Me", and "Revendo Amigos". CD

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Brilliant work from one of our favorite Brazilian artists ever – a singer who only seems to get better with age, and who's working here with some beautiful help from Dori Caymmi! Caymmi plays guitar and sings on a good portion of the album with Joyce – helping to flesh out the overall sound and give it a bit more depth – taking Joyce's already-wonderful mix of breezy vocals, bossa rhythms, and light guitar, and inflecting it with a strong sense of history and tradition. With Dori on board, Joyce is actually freed from playing guitar on most of the record – a feature that seems to bring even more force to her vocals – and as usual, husband Tutty Moreno is in the group, providing some lightly dancing rhythms on the drum kit! Titles include "Mercador De Siri", "Rio Bahia", "Jogo De Cintura", "Saudade Da Bahia", "Demoro", "Pra Que Chorar", "Joaozinho Boa Pinta", and "Flor Da Bahia". CD

A hell of a singer, working here with some wonderful grooves from Timo Lassy – an artist we've really loved for his own jazzy projects in the past! Joyce Elaine Yuille has this style that's very classic, and very groovy – jazz-based, with a nice rasp in her voice that really brings out some of the more soulful qualities in the music – and able to write her own lyrics, too – which makes for a wonderful record that's full of fresh sounds at every turn! Lassy's music is wonderful too – tightly snapping on the rhythms, but never forced – and with a jazz current that's a nice change from other contemporary soul production, which might have been added to the record with a bigger label. But clearly, the real star of the show is Joyce – a talent that will definitely be huge in years to come – a rock-solid singer and songwriter who may well turn out to be the female equivalent of Gregory Porter. Titles include "Come With Me", "Tryin Times", "Chaos", "It's Madness", "Make Right", "Welcome To My World", "Follow The Sun", and "Late I Rise". CD

Really beautiful work from Joyce – a set that's as lovely as its name, and which contains a wonderful array of work from the less-collected years of her career! Most other Joyce collections focus on her older sides for EMI Brasil, but this set seems to offer more recent recordings – all done in a spare, but lively style that mixes acoustic guitar with earthy percussion, occasional jazz solos, and Joyce's always-warm vocals! Notes are all in Japanese, so the origin of the tracks is a bit obscure – but the album's got a magic power that sparkles only in Joyce's best work, and really presents her at the top of her unique style. Titles include "Sao Salvador", "O Chines E A Bicicleta", "Waters Of March", "Tenderly", "Estrada Do Sol", "Menini Das Laranjas", "Samba Da Zona", "Essa Mulher", and "Receita De Samba". CD

An overlooked gem from Joyce – an album that features a fair bit of help from famous friends! The set was recorded at a time when her star had faded a bit on the Brazilian market, but before she was yet to be rediscovered and re-recorded by labels in England and Japan – and despite the presence of some celebrity guest stars, the approach is often a bit mellow, in a way that makes for a very personal sort of sound. Roberto Menescal co-produced the set, and he brings a warm, acoustic feel to most numbers – kind of a gentle setting that lets Joyce relax into duets with artists who include Gal Costa, Emilio Santiago, Sandra Sa, Fatima Guedes, Ney Matogrosso, Clara Moreno, and Gilberto Gil. The sound is never too smooth or commercial – as in some other Joyce sets from the period – and titles include "Outras Mulheres", "Aleida De Ogum", "Misterios", "Da Cor Brasileira", "Stone Washed", "Essa Mulher", and "Minha Gata Rita Lee". CD

A wonderful album from the lovely Joyce – one of her best of recent years! The record features Joyce working with bossa maestro Joao Donato – who plays acoustic and electric piano, sings, and helps Joyce with some of the arrangements – and the overall style of the album is very much in the vein of some of his most beautiful work. The set was with contributions from Brazilian jazz players like Paulo Moura, Gilson Peranzzetta, and Tutty Moreno – and Joyce is in fantastic form, singing and playing acoustic guitar with all the soulful passion of her best early recordings. The production is great, too – and the album has a rawer edge than some of Joyce's other work from the 90s – nicely stripped-down, with a rasp in both her vocals and the work of the other jazz players. Titles include "Bananeira", "Anos 30", "Drume Negrita", "Tudo Bonito", "Gala Tanta", "Falta De Ar", "Adolescensia", and "So Tinha De Ser Com Voce". CD

Our favorite female Brazilian singer, Joyce, pays tribute to our other favorite female Brazilian singer, Elis Regina! The set was recorded a few years back, and Joyce is backed by a group that includes her husband Tutty Moreno on drums, plus Dori Caymmi, Joe Lovano, Mulgrew Miller, and Renee Rosnes. The set's longer than you'd expect, and includes classics from the Elis Regina songbook – like "Canto De Ossanha", "Upa Neguinho", "Aquarela Do Brasil", "Aquas Do Marco", and "Astronauta". The album's a bit mellow, but like all other Joyce recordings from overseas sources, it's way better than her recent work on major labels, and it really captures the best side of her cool gentle style! CD

An excellent mid 90s album from Joyce – and one of the first really great records she made in years! The album's got a nice no-nonsense sound that returns Joyce to the sparer settings of her earlier work – and which paves the way for more recent strong efforts, like Hard Bossa or Tudo Bonito. The backing's mostly by a jazz quintet of piano, tenor sax, bass, and drums – and Joyce plays guitar and sings in both English and Portugese. Tracks include "Upa Neguinho", "Cantaloupe Island", "No Tabuleiro da Baiana", "Tenderly", "Speak Low", "Here There & Everywhere", and "Delirios De Orfeu". CD

An obscure Joyce album from the late 80s, and a very nice set of mellow readings of Jobim classics, performed with help on keyboards from the great Gilson Peranzzetta. Joyce's guitar and vocals are in the lead, and Peranzzetta plays electric piano and a bit of synth, in washes of sound that feel a bit like some of the more recent recordings on the Lumiar label. Titles include "Wave", "Canto De Ossanha", "Garota De Ipanema", "A Felicidade", and a fantastic scat version of "Surfboard/Samba De Uma Nota So"! CD

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Pretty groovy recent live album, recorded with the participation of Chico Buraque and Boca Livre. Joyce runs through a nice mix of breezy bossa titles and some of her better and lesser-known tracks – and the overall sound is better than most of the recent Joyce albums on major labels, as it leaves off the schmaltzy studio work for some great straight-ahead live playing that reminds us more of her classic stuff. Cuts include "Feminina", "Todos Os Instrumentos", "Misterios", "Pindorama Blues", "Monsieur Binot", and "Barraco No Betro". CD

Beautiful new work from Joyce – possibly her best album in years! The lovely Brazilian singer/guitarist blows away all the newcomers in the modern bossa field – and shows the world that she's still one of the strongest talents of her generation. The album's got a stronger jazz component than some of her other recent albums, quite driving, in the mode of classic albums like Agua E Luz and Feminina – and Joyce's voice, guitar, and songwriting skills are top-notch all the way! An instant classic – one that will have you shelving all your faked-out remixed, Nu Brazil albums for the real thing! Titles include "Bota De Sete Leguas", "Azul Bahia", "Forcas D'Alma", "Na Casa Do Villa", "Quatro Elementos", "The Band On The Wall", and "Samba Da Silvia". CD

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Amazing work from singer Dee Alexander – a wonderfully soulful album of jazz vocals, and one that we'd rank right up there with our favorite records by Carmen Lundy or Dee Dee Bridgewater! Dee's a singer who's worked in Chicago for years, but we've honestly only begun to appreciate her talents of late – possibly because she's really hipped up her sound a lot over the years, picking up a range of spiritual, soulful influences that push her music to a whole new level – as you might have heard on her recent collaboration with IG Culture. The music on the set is wonderful too – work by Chicago players we know, but have never heard this strongly before – grooving in modal and soulful modes behind Dee's great vocals, with a lineup that includes Miguel De La Cerna and Michael Logan on piano, Harrison Bankhead on bass, and Leon Joyce on drums and percussion. Titles include versions of two tunes by AACM member Henry Huff – "Live" and "You & I" – plus the Alexander originals "Long Road Ahead", "Rossingnol", "Butterfly", and "C U On The Other Side". CD

Uri Caine on piano, Joyce Hammann on violin, Chris Speed on clarinet, Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Nguyen Le on electric guitar, Dj Olive on turntables, Drew Gress on double bass, and Jim Black on drums. CD

A pretty sweet set from the legendary Ramsey Lewis – possibly his best in years – all original material performed with his impeccable trio! If title Songs From The Heart has you expecting smooth, commercial fluff, you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's exceptional trio jazz all the way. Lovely and tender, but precise and very moving material. It includes songs Ramsey wrote, quite surprisingly, for the Joffrey Ballet Company, and other pieces he wrote to perform with the Turtle Island Quartet. Straight forward, lyrical jazz from Ramsey's piano to your soul, backed masterfully by bassist Larry Gray and drummer Leon Joyce, plus some equally wonderful solo pieces. Titles include "To Know Her Is To Love Her", "Touching, Feeling, Knowing", "Clouds In Reverie", "The Spark", "Conversation", "The Way She Smiles", "The Glow Of Her Charm", "Long Before She Know", "Watercolors" and more. CD

Ted Nash on tenor sax, clarinet & alto flute, Tomas Ulrich on cello, Ben Allison on double bass, Tim Horner on drums, Frank Kimbrough on piano, Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, Erik Charlston on vibraphone & percussion, Ron Lawrence on viola & Joyce Hammann on violin. CD

A fantastic collection of work by one of Brazil's greatest arrangers ever! Moacir Santos had an approach that was unlike anyone else – more complicated than Jobim, but with a gentle honesty that made any style sound spontaneous in his hands. The 2CD package features new versions of work from a number of different rare albums by Santos – including long out of print 60s sessions, his few Blue Note sides, and a few newer sets – and the sound of the album is very much in the vein of Santos' best moments from the 70s. Guest on the sessions include Ed Motta, Joyce, Milton Nascimento, and Joao Donato – and the quality of the work is impeccable, truly one of the greatest new releases we've heard from Brazil in years! Titles include "Coisa No 6", "Kathy", "De Repente, Estou Feliz", "Anon", "Coisa No 10", "Lamento Astral", "Marcatu, Nacao Do Amor", "Suk Cha", and "Bluishmen". 2CDs – and a great booklet too! CD

A soulful and ambitious session from saxophonist Nathan Davis – a funky little gem that's got a lot more to offer than just a simple tribute to Dr King! Nathan penned the set in a mode that's expanded from most of his other albums – using larger horns and electric instrumentation to give the record a groove that's almost like funky 70s soundtrack work, but which is also offset by some shorter, more introspective tracks that feature spoken narration about King and his legacy – read by Donald M Henderson, and done in an extremely poetic way. The session's as righteous as it is grooving – and showcases a side of Davis' talents we never even knew he had – a rich larger musical vision, handled perfectly throughout! Nathan plays a range of reed instruments on the album, and Frank Cunimondo plays some sweet electric piano on the record – and singer Brenda Joyce provides lyrics on a few numbers as well. Titles include "Funk A Dilly Molly", "MLK", "Atlanta Walk", "Mean Business", "Latin Happ'n", and "New Dues". CD

The first album in many years from Caesar Frazier – the organist you might know from his early 70s funk classics on Westbound Records – still very much at the top of his game in this small combo set! Frazier's very well-recorded here – given the care and respect that we love from the Doodlin label and its handling of Hammond organ giants – and Caesar's deft work on the keys is heard in the company of Lyle Link on tenor and soprano sax, Jacques Lesure on guitar, and Leon Joyce on drums – a nice tight combo who really give the organ plenty of room to groove! Frazier has a more standard organ jazz vibe here than on his earlier records – almost a return to roots that he never put on any other album – served up on titles that include "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", "Night In Tunisia", "Street Of Dreams", "You will Know", "Thieves In The Temple", "Don't Misunderstand", and two versions of "Purposeful", one that stretches out past the 12 minute mark! CD

Features multiple tracks from Sippie Wallace, Julia Lee, Dinah Washington, Alma Mondy, Joyce Jackson, Ella Johnson, Violet Hall, Zilla Mays, Myra Taylor, Vivian Green & Helen Humes – that's 57 songs on two CD's! CD

The last album in a legendary run of music from keyboardist Doug Carn – his final album for the Black Jazz label, and a set that pushes even farther than his previous efforts! Jean Carn isn't in the group this time around, but the set does feature a totally great twin-vocal approach – with singing by Joyce Green and John Conner, blending their voices together in a style that's right up there with the most righteous 70s jazz experiments by Horace Silver or Billy Gault! This vocal balance really brings a new sort of power to Carn's music – furthering the righteous spirit of earlier years with a hell of a lot of energy – also aided by great instrumental work from Ronnie Laws on tenor and soprano sax, Thurman Green on trombone, Calvin Keys and Nathan Page on guitars, and Big Black on percussion. Titles include the classic "Higher Ground" – plus "Adam's Apple", "Western Sunrise", "Chant", "Sanctuary", "The Messenger", and "Mighty Mighty". CD

2 of Woody Shaw's greatest albums – recorded 10 years apart, and forming a fantastic CD collection! Cassandranite features fantastic early work by Woody Shaw – an album originally recorded in 1965, when Shaw was part of a core soul jazz underground that was slowly forming an answer to the "new thing" movement of the mid 60s. The session was self-produced – and not only features some killer playing by Shaw, but contains a number of other wonderful touches. Larry Young plays piano (not organ) on two tracks; Herbie Hancock is on another 3; George Cables plays electric on the last track, which also includes Harold Vick; Joe Henderson plays tenor throughout; and the great Joe Chambers is on drums. The set is filled with fantastic modal originals, all along the lines of Shaw's "Moontrane" composition – and titles include "Baloo Baloo", "Three Muses", "Tetragon", and "Cassandranite". Love Dance is equally great – spiritual, soulful, and filled with some nice modal grooving! The group's one of the best he ever worked with on Muse – with Billy Harper on tenor, plus Rene McLean, Steve Turre, Joe Bonner, and Cecil McBee – and the approach reminds us of some of the work on Strata East from the same time. The highlight of the record is the cut "Sunbath", which was done in a more famous jazz dance version by singer Joyce Hurley – but Shaw's version has a very similar groove. Harper makes many of the other tracks shine brilliantly, and titles include "Love Dance", "Obsequious", and Harper's own beautiful composition "Soulfully I Love You". CD

The Silent Poets' excellent To Come album is remixed and repackaged for the US market. Typical stuff, as some of the tracks are given a bit more of a kick to make them crossover to the American market – clear proof that the folks at Warner think that US listeners aren't hip enough to understand the subtle complexity of this fantastic Japanese group. Still, the remixes aren't that over the top – and most of them still retain the flavor of the original tracks. Titles include "I Will Miss This Holy Garden (Slipper & Socks rmx)", "Someday (Extended Spirit rmx)", "Save The Day (Peaktime mix)", "Come Raising (Raisin'sun Mix)", "Get Ready (Freeform Arkestra rmx)", "Prisons (Frieze To A Phrase rmx)", "Where The Sidewalk Ends (scuba mix)", and "Sugar Man (The Man Who Sold The Time rmx)". Remixes by Kid Loco, Tom & Joyce, Taxi, and others. CD

Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone, Alex "Sasha" Sipiagin on trumpet, Robin Eubanks on trombone, Robin Eubanks on trombone, Joyce Hammann and Mark Feldman on violin, Lois Martin on viola, John Patitucci on bass, Iain Dixon on bass clarinet, Erik Friedlander on cello, Iain Dixon on clarinet, Antonio Sanchez on drums, Charles Pillow on English horn, Steve Wilson on flute, Peter Gordon on French horn, Adam Rogers on guitar, Charles Pillow on oboe, and Daniel Sadownick on percussion. CD

After years of obscurity, it seems like there's no end to the comeback strength of Joao Donato! This album is one of the best of the recent flurry of work from this under-recorded bossa master – a lightly jazzy set that features his warm lead vocals on nearly every track, plus some occasional duets with other singers like Joyce, Marisa Monte, Joao Bosco, and Marcelo D2! The record's really bubbling over with warmth – magical piano lines hitting a nicely rhythmic groove, Joao's vocals dancing underneath with his usual sense of modest charm. Old and new tracks are handled with equal magic – and titles include "Flor Do Mato", "Nao Tem Nome", "Muita A Vontade", "Caminho Do Sol", "Falta De Ar", "E Muito Mais", "E Vamos La", "Balanca", and "Nao Sei Como Foi". CD

Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, Peter Washington on bass, Dave Eggar on cello, Lewis Nash on drums, David O'Rourke on guitar, Mulgrew Miller on piano, Ron Lawrence on viola, and Joyce Hammann and Meg Okura on violin. CD

A surprisingly groovy musical based on the film Some Like It Hot – one of the better of a slew of 20s-set musicals that played big on Broadway in the 60s! The music and lyrics are by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, respectively – but the thing that really makes the soundtrack itself work is the lead performances by Robert Morse and Tony Roberts – the former always a charming presence on the stage, the latter a surprisingly good straight man. Elaine Joyce handles the Marilyn Monroe character – and the music sports some nicely jazzy arrangements by Elliott Lawrence. Titles include "It's Always Love", "Hey Why Not", "Sugar", "November Song", and "Sun On My Face". 2CD version features a full bonus mix of the score – remixed just for this release, with better sound than the original album! CD

Includes tracks by Jesse Johnson, Klique, Angela Winbush, Rick James, Ready For The World, Bobby Brown, Oran "Juice" Jones, Gwen Guthrie, Cameo, and Joyce Kennedy & Jeffrey Osborne. CD

A dream of a set from the folks at Numero Group – a special package that digs through all their many collections and archive projects, and comes up with some of the funkiest cuts in the bunch! Unlike some of their other compilations, this one focuses on the groove first – and the groove is nice and funky, hard and gritty, and feels like you're sitting next to the turntable, playing a stack of rare funk 45s, one after the other! Titles include "Function Underground" by We The People, "Jungle" by Young Senators, "Let Me Come Within" by Renaldo Domino, "Iron Leg" by Mickey & The Soul Generation, "Get It Right" by Soul President, "First Thing I Do In The Morning" by Joyce Williams, "Party Time" by Black Soul Express, "Money Won't Save You" by Boscoe, "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" by Robert Moore, "You Made Me Suffer" by Andrew Brown, and "Watch The Dog That Bring The Bone" by Sandy Gaye. CD

Extended long play club versions of 12 tracks by Black Box, Soul II Soul, Cece Peniston, Snap, Technotronic, Cathy Dennis, Crystal Waters, Lidell Townsell, Lil' Louis, Sybil, Gwen Guthrie, and Joyce Sims. CD

Brit DJ Keb Darge is (and has been for years) one of the world's foremost experts on the funky 45. This masterful comp put together by the folks at BBE brings together an amazing collection of rare tracks lost to the world – nearly all of which have never appeared on other comps of this sort of stuff. Excellent all the way through, with a masterful selection of tracks like "Quit Jive'in" by Pearly Queen, "Gimme Some Skin" by Frank Penn, "Zambezi" by The Fun Company, "Who Dun It" by The Originals Orchestra, and "The First Thing I Do In the Morning" by Joyce Williams. Great all the way through, and compiled with a feel that makes you think you're spending time at some great club night in London! Stormin funkiness! CD

Ana got her start in O Roda Samba, but sounds even better here on her own debut – a personal set of samba tracks that's every bit as lovely and compelling as her image on the cover photo! Ana sings and plays guitar throughout – mostly in a spare setting that echoes with roots in traditional samba, yet which sparkles even more from Costa's inflections on the lyrics of the tunes. She sings with styles that bring in just a bit of jazz, as well as some Joyce-like qualities that flutter and sparkle around the notes of the tunes – really warming the record with an instantly captivating spirit, and creating a whole new sound of her own! A tremendous debut, and an artist we're sure to be hearing more from in years to come! Titles include "Perdi", "Onde Quer Que Eu Va", "Pra Que Pedir Perdao", "Quintal Do Ceu", "Meu Carnival", "Brasileiro Da Gema", "Nao Sei O Que Da", and "Racas Brasil". CD