Pianist Danny Grissett is fantastic here – not just bursting out with so many deft colors and changes on both piano and Fender Rhodes, but also really showing some great strengths as a leader too! One of those strengths is the way he puts together the tunes – especially the more familiar numbers, which feel completely fresh here – augmented by some wonderful work on both soprano and tenor sax from Dayna Stephens, who's almost the co-star of the record – especially when he takes on a tune from the lead! The quartet's balanced out nicely by Bill Stewart on drums and Vicente Archer on bass – all players who really seem to "get" each other in the best way possible. In addition to Grissett's original tunes "Renatus", "Lament For Bobby", "Digital Big Foot", and "A Friend Indeed" – the set also features versions of "Just Enough", "Prelude To A Kiss", "Detour Ahead", and "Gallop's Gallop". CD

Titles include "Kiss On My List", "Gotta Lotta Nerve", "Hard To Be In Love With You", "Everytime You Go Away", "You've Lost That Lovin Feelin", "Diddy Doo Wop", and "You Make My Dreams". CD

The title's a reference to the double-length nature of the set – but it might also be taken as a reference to the group's sound, too – as Heron's got a slightly fuller approach than on their debut album! There's more electric instrumentation in the mix, and arrangements that have the band stepping out more strongly with some rockish inflections, even though the overall approach is still pretty darn folksy – and handled with that really unique, really personal style that makes the group one of the best of the Brit folk scene from the period. Titles include "Madman", "John Brown", "Miss Kiss", "Love 13", "Winter Harlequin", and "Big A". CD

Jackie & Roy at the height of their ABC powers – really stepping out strongly here with a bold jazz vocal approach that nobody else can touch! Both Roy Kral and Jackie Cain get a few moments of their own in the spotlight, especially Jackie, who steps out on a number of the tracks – but as usual, the duo's at their best when singing together – which they do beautifully here, trading lyrical lines with tremendous charm! Most instrumentation is small combo – with Roy on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums – and titles include "From This Moment On", "Kiss & Run", "Cake Walk", "Have You Met Miss Jones", "Who Cares", and "How Are You Fixed For Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic step forward for singer Morgana King – just the kind of record that really let the vocalist unlock all the sort of special power that would set her apart from the rest for decades to come! Morgana's got this completely distinct approach to jazz singing – a mode that's short on attack, robust on decay, and which flows in a way that really illustrates the lessons the lady learned from instrumentation – a sense of flow and phrasing that makes her instantly recognizable, no matter what the setting. Arrangements by Torrie Zito – with the same hip, dark mode he used with Tony Bennett – and titles include "A Taste Of Honey", "Easy To Love", "Prelude To A Kiss", "Corcovado", "When The World Was Young/Young & Foolish", and "Lazy Afternoon". CD

A stunning example of the way that the harmony trio had developed in late 60s Jamaica – a short but fantastic evolution of a mode that began in American soul, yet quickly expanded into something else entirely during the rocksteady years – to the point where it became the global calling card of a group like The Wailers! Yet despite the big fame of that group, there were many others working in Kingston who were equally wonderful – case in point is The Kingstonians, a wonderful trio with a very rich vibe – honed to perfection here with the production talents of Derrick Harriott, who makes the record as powerful a statement as any coming from the scene at the start of the 70s. This is the kind of music that should have been passed upwards along the same chain as Bob Marley, but which sadly never fully got its due – which makes it ripe for rediscovery, on titles that include "Hold Down", "Singer Man", "Sufferer", "Nice Nice", "Come We Go Moonwalk", "The Clip", "Rumble Rumble", and "Winey Winey". CD features lots of bonus tracks, most of them instrumental – 12 more tracks that include "Kiss A Little Finger", "Undertaker's Burial", "Splash down", "Sic Him Rover", "The Bad", "Musical Madness", "Rumble (version 2)", "Out There", and "Right From Wrong". CD

Great double album live set with Roland leading a tight group through a long and varied set of material, all of which showcases the odd goofy sound of his music, and his offbeat approach to more familiar tracks. He talks a bit, makes the odd joke about being blind, and never ceases to amaze with his playing. A bit of vocals too, but sung in such a heartfelt way that you've gotta love 'em! Tracks include "Pedal Up", "Clickey Clack", "Prelude To A Kiss", "Bright Moments Song", "If I Loved You", and "Jitterbug waltz". CD

A nice little 50s album that compiles Gene's work from the early 40s – his groundbreaking early swing sides, some featuring singer Anita O'Day, others with the great Roy Eldridge on trumpet! Tunes are tight, lively, and feature some killer drum work (natch!) – and titles include "After You've Gone", "Murder Hey Says", "Tuxedo Junction", "Massachusetts", "Disc Jockey Jump", "Knock Me A Kiss", "Drum Boogie", "Let Me Off Uptown", and "Slow Down". LP, Vinyl record album

Three of Lea's albums on two CDs! First, A Woman In Love, a beautiful early album from vocalist Barbara Lea – her only session for Riverside, and a date that's a bit leaner lighter than some of her albums for Prestige! The group on here is totally great – the Billy Taylor Trio with bassist Earl May and drummer Percy Brice – augmented by guitarist Jimmy Shirley and trumpeter Johnny Windhurst, the latter of whom slides in some well-placed lines that really keep things fresh, and help push the album away from the usual territory of a vocal-plus-trio album. Lea's approach to the tunes is a bit like that of another Lee – Lee Wiley – but in a way that strips things down a bit more, and gives the traditional numbers a slightly more modern inflection. Titles include "Love Me", "As Long As I Live", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", "A Woman Alone With The Blues", "I Didn't Know About You", and "Thinking Of You". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" and "I'll Bet You A Kiss". Second, Barbara Lea, a session with a slightly unusual feel – in that it's not really torchy, but also not as outrightly swinging either – and part of that feel might have to do with the backings, which are by 2 different small groups led by trumpeter Johnny Windhurst, who swings things along on the record, but never in a way that's too over the top. Barbara herself has a style that's expressive, but not overly emotive – a bit like Lee Wiley or some of her contemporaries, but slightly "cooler" at points. Titles include "I've Got A Pocket Full Of Dreams", "I Had Myself A True Love", "Baltimore Oriole", "Blue Skies", "My Honey's Loving Arms", and "Nobody Else But Me". Last is Lea/In Love, a really dark little album of vocal jazz – recorded here with small combo backing, and a strange sound that's a fair bit different than most other efforts of this type from the time! At one level, there's definitely a leaner 50s vocal jazz approach going on – similar to work on Bethlehem – but Barbara also serves things up with some odd notes of nostalgia and sentimentality, echoing earlier eras not in the style of the music, but almost in a sense of sadness and wistfulness that comes through in her vocals. The style's quite a change from the iciness of other postwar chanteuses – but it's also not as overly emotional as those from other eras either. Players in the groups include Dick Cary on piano, Jimmy Raney on guitar, Johnny Windhurst on trumpet, and Jimmy Lyons on piano. Titles include "Will I Find My Love Today?", "Sleep Peaceful Mr Used To Be", "Am I In Love", "Autumn Leaves", "We Could Make Such Beautiful Music Together", and "More Than You Know". CD

A classic bit of Chicago house goes mainstream – and a suprisingly big hit from the late 80s. The main reason most folks bought this album was for Louis' "French Kiss", a sex-sound infused house cut with a "fast-then-slow-then-fast" groove that was endlessly dropped into mixes on radio and in clubs at the time. However, like late 80s house contemporaries Blaze, Louis actually turned out to be a pretty interesting soul talent when given a whole album to work with – and although "French Kiss" is on the beat-heavy "dance" side of the album, there's also a pretty interesting "romance" side that has some nice home-made late 80s soul tunes with great warm keyboard-heavy production. Titles include "Lil Tanya", "The Luv U Wanted", "6 AM", and "Brittany". CD

The third album from Little Feat – and one that brings a bit of Crescent City rock and soul into the mix – but it's still Little Feat, so it's got a restless creative energy that's beautifully tough to classify! There's quite a bit of soul influences in the mix – especially the tunes with the female chorus backing vocals. Not a Dixie rock cliche to be found anywhere on it, either! Includes "Dixie Chicken", "Two Trains", "Roll Um Easy", "Kiss It Off", "Fat Man In The Bathtub", "Fool Yourself" and more. CD

Breathy vocals from the great Julie London – an album recorded early in her years on Liberty Records, but with a slightly full sound overall! Backings are by the orchestra of Pete King – a little heavy on the strings, but never too much so – just enough to give the tunes a sad-tinged sort of sound that glows and shimmers nicely behind Julie's vocals – very much in the moody feel you might expect from the trashy image of London in an alley on the cover! The set's never sleepy, and has a nicely dark undercurrent – on titles that include "Nobody's Heart", "The Exciting Life", "Something I Dreamed Last Night", "Well Sir", "In The Middle Of A Kiss", "Pousse Cafe", "Mad About The Boy", and "My Man's Gone Now". CD

A Philly soul classic from The Manhattans – one of their best 70s albums, and a record that showed that they were firmly out of the indie ghetto, and totally on top of their game! The record features arrangements and production by Bobby Martin and Bert DeCoteaux – bubbling along in that soaring style that you'd recognize best from Philly International albums of the time, but which also has some nice traces of the mellower ballad work that first put the group on the map. Every tune is perfect – the kind of sublime soul that easily explains why a record like this could be found in every single record collection of every single soul listener of the time – and titles include "La La La Wish Upon A Star", "We'll Have Forever To Love", "Take It Or Leave It", "Reasons", "Wonderful World Of Love", "Searching For Love", and the incredible "Kiss & Say Goodbye". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the warmest records we've heard in years from Wynton Marsalis – a really unique little album that actually features bits of poetry spoken by Wynton in between the tracks! Before you cringe at the thought, give this one a chance – as the words were penned by Marsalis himself, and have a great deal of charm – dropped in for just a fraction of a minute here and there, in a poetry-meets-jazz tradition that hearkens back to the work that Langston Hughes did with Charles Mingus. The group really respond to the words with a personal sort of feeling, too – opening up with a lyrical sensibility that offsets the poems wonderfully – making the album as musically poetic as it is verbal. Marsalis plays trumpet, in a quintet that features tenor and soprano sax from Walter Blanding, piano from Dan Nimmer, bass from Carlos Henriquez, and drums from Ali Jackson. Titles inlcude "The Razor Rim", "A Train A Banjo & A Chicken Wing", "First Time", "First Kiss", "Zero", "School Boy", and "The Sun & The Moon". CD

Johnny Mathis' self-titled debut from 1956 – an all-jazz album that's quite different than most of his other work! Mathis here is working in a decidedly modern style – none of the smooth, mellow pop of his hits – and instead awash in sharp edges, rich colors, and modern sounds served up by the charts of arrangers Gil Evans, Teo Macero, and John Lewis! Johnny's vocals have that familiar warm and smooth quality, but also a subtle sense of tension and drama too – one that really makes the tunes, even the familiar ones, come alive as miniature little portraits in sound – painted with a brush that's confident, but youthful enough to be fresh! Players include Phil Woods, Art Farmer, JJ Johnson, Tony Scott, Hal McKusick, and John Lewis – and titles include "Street Of Dreams", "Caravan", "Prelude To A Kiss", "Star Eyes", "Autumn In Rome", "Babalu", "Fly Me To The Moon", and "Angel Eyes". CD

A very unique little record – and one with a sublime blend of Latin, soul, and vocal styles! The record's a fair bit more sophisticated than most other efforts like this from the 60s – thanks to a strong batch of talents that includes Gil Fuller on arrangements, Phil Moore III on piano, Leni Groves on vocals – and a host of small combo players who include Joe Pass on guitar, Hadley Caliman on tenor and flute, and Francisco Aquabella on percussion! There's a warmly soulful west coast jazz sound here that's perhaps the strongest aspect of the record – a style that steps off nicely from the hipper side of LA, but throws in a few Latin influences – making for a really great sound that's totally fresh, and which really makes this record stand out from the pack! Titles include a great version of "What Is Wrong With Groovin", plus "Midnight Blue", "Batucada", "I Want Your Kiss", "Lavender Lady", and "The 8th Day". LP, Vinyl record album

A record's that's billed as "The Singing Album" – and a whole new chapter in the career of Rudy Ray Moore! The set definitely features Rudy on vocals, but the instrumentation's just as important too – some nice funky undercurrents and rootsy soul bits, all arranged and conducted by Arthur Wright – with a vibe that's somewhere in the Petey Wheatstraw mode! Moore's actually going for a deep soul approach on a few cuts – maybe trying to give Blowfly/Clarence Reid a run for his money – and music is by the Fillmore St Soul Rebellion and Rabbit Foot Minstrel Group. Titles include "Need To Belong", "Put Your Weight On It", "Turning Point", "Knock Me A Kiss", "I Cried A Tear", and "Great Pretender". CD

James Mtume is an artist with deep roots in jazz – including some excellent spiritual jazz material in the early 70s – but here, he's hitting superstardom in the soul music world – by pairing up with Reggie Lucas for a great run of music from the Mtume group! Lucas also hails from jazz – Mtume met him when they were both working with Miles Davis – and both artists bring something really special to their sound that moves it away from simple commercial soul – a bit like the depth that lays behind Earth Wind & Fire, who have similar righteous roots, but are able to fuse a wonderfully smooth, groovy sound – and there's also a similarity to the late 70s material of Norman Connors, another artist who followed a similar path. This set spans the full run of excellent recordings Mtume did for the Epic label – almost a decade's worth of music, including some other mixes, and a few side projects with singer Tawatha. Titles include "Just Funnin", "Anticipatin", "Mrs Sippi", "Love Lock", "Closer To The End", "Funky Constellation", "The After 6 Mix (Juicy Fruit part 2)", "You Me & He (polygamy mix)", "COD", "Prime Time", "We're Gonna Make It This Time", "The Closer I Get To You", "Kiss This World Goodbye", "It's Non-Functional", "Body & Soul", "Breathless (A&G mix)", "Did I Dream You", and "Would You Like To Fool Around". CD

"I need a fix – and a kiiiiiiiiiissssssss!" What can we say? Johnny Thunders, David Johansen and the boys reinvented the wheel with the of wildly hedonist glam skronk spun on this still incredible debut record. Both records they made for Mercury are incredible, but this is the bonafide masterpiece. It's a classic purely on a primal rock 'n' roll level, but it's also one of rock's greatest examples of style equaling substance! The Dolls brought glammer to the gutter and vice versa, and this is no doubt their greatest moment! Includes "Personality Crisis", "Looking For A Kiss", "Trash", "Frankenstein", "Pills", "Bad Girl", "Private World" and "Jet Boy". Produced by Todd Rundgren and engineered by Jack Douglas – the former a legend in his own right, the latter whose name appears on so many great records that range from other proto-punk and punk-era classics (Patti Smith Group, The Runaways) to the trashier side of the mainstream (prime early Cheap Trick, Aerosmith and Alice Cooper). CD

Norvo may have cut some sleepy recordings in his day, but his early sides are usually all pretty great – especially this material, recorded with Tal Farlow on guitar and Charles Mingus on bass! The drum-less combination of vibes, guitar, and bass makes for an almost-exotic approach – one that rings out with some new moods and tones on tracks that are old standards – in a manner that really helps us understand why folks from the old days think Norvo's so great! Titles include "Night & Day", "Godchild", "September Song", "Have You Met Miss Jones", "Swedish Pastry", "Time & Tide", "Little White Lies", and "Prelude To A Kiss". CD

Great lean grooves from vibist Red Norvo – exactly the kind or record that shows why he was such an amazing talent on his instrument in the 50s! The album has Red working without piano or drums – just the guitar of Jimmy Raney and bass of Red Mitchell – both players who are hipper than the usual cats to handle their instruments too, especially Raney, whose sharp tone is a great match for Norvo's vibes. Red's vibes are way up front on most of the tracks, but leave plenty of space for the other players to shine, especially Raney's guitar work on "J9 Hate K9" and "Out Of Nowhere". Other tracks include "Crazy Rhythm", "Puby La Keg", "Just One Of Those Things", "Everything I've Got", and "Prelude To A Kiss". LP, Vinyl record album

A lovely groover – one of the swinginest soundtracks penned by Nino during the 60s, written for a sex comedy starring Uno Tognazzi and Juliet Prowse. The feel of the work is great – somewhere between Piero Piccioni and John Barry – with a mixture of strings, tight rhythms, and some excellent occasional work on organ. Even the mellow numbers are nice – with a lilting feel that makes them dance a bit. Titles include "Girls On The Golfing Green", "Sunday Parley", "A Feel For The Latin", "All", "Sounding The Surf", and "Martinis & A Good Night Kiss". Vocal version of "All" is sung by Frankie Randall. LP, Vinyl record album

A great little jazz version of the score to the musical Bye Bye Birdie – one that we love for its original tunes, and which really lends itself to jazzy interpretation! Arranger Bill Potts really gets at the spirit of the original score, but also opens things up nicely as a jazz solo vehicle – using top shelf players who include Phil Woods on tenor, Billy Costa on piano, Willie Dennis on trombone, Gene Quill on clarinet, and Clark Terry on trumpet – all of whom get some nice space to step out and solo amidst the larger arrangements! Titles include "Kids", "The Closer", "I've Got A Lot Of Livin To Do", "Baby Talk To Me", and "One Last Kiss". LP, Vinyl record album

The music of Prince lives on – in this beautiful collection that features a number of mixes that appear here on CD for the first time ever, and an unreleased track as well! The unreleased "Moonbeam Levels" may well be the prize here for longtime Prince completitsts – but the set also includes a number of never-seen photos from Herb Ritz, and marks the CD debut of "Let's Go Crazy (single edit)", "Take Me With U (single edit)", "Let's Work (single edit)", "Alphabet Street (single edit)", "Girls & Boys (single edit)", "Glam Slam (single edit)", and "Little Red Corvette (single edit)". The 2CD set features a whopping 40 tracks in all – and other titles include "Kiss", "Sign O The Times", "Cream", "Mountains", "Batdance", "Thieves In The Temple", "I Would Die 4 U", "Paisley Park", "Pop Life", "Purple Rain", "When Doves Cry", "Raspberry Beret", "7 (album edit)", "My Name Is Prince", "Sexy MF", "Gett Off", and "Nothing Compares 2 U". CD

Prince in a grand groove – really hitting a new level of funk with a razor-sharp edge – and even blowing away some of his work on previous records! The record's a soundtrack for a film – Under The Cherry Moon – and although that movie never had the success of Purple Rain, we actually think it left behind an even stronger musical legacy – one that has Prince finding even more of a funky voice than before, with so many wonderfully freaky twists and turns! The music never got the showcase it might have deserved, because of the failure of the film – but it's one of our favorite Prince albums ever, and includes the massively funky "Kiss", the closest Prince ever got to James Brown, The whole album's got some great sweeping, pop psyche orchestral arrangements by Clare Fischer – and titles include "Christopher Tracey's Parade", "I Wonder U", "Under The Cherry Moon", "Girls & Boys", and "Anotherloverholenyohead". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic late live material by Sun Ra and the Arkestra – presented here properly for the first time ever – with fantastic sound, and the full contents of two different sets – which really lets you get to hear the Arkestra at their best! Each concert is a wonderful progression of material – and really show the way that, near the end of Ra's life, the group was able to embrace so many different generations of jazz at once – sounding straight one minute, out the next, leaning trad at others, and snapping back with a sense of modernity that's still years ahead of its time! June Tyson and Michael Ray sing on a few tracks – and John Gilmore even sings once, too – and the group features Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on flute and alto, James Jacson on flute and bassoon, Tyrone Hill on trombone, Knoel Scott on alto, Jothan Callins on bass, Charles Davis on baritone, and Ahmed Abdullah and Michael Ray on trumpets. As with most Arkestra concerts, the transition between moods and songs is what really makes this set great – with lots of unique moments that further our faith in the live Sun Ra experience. Titles include "Yeah Man", "Mayan Temples", "Advice To Medics/Friendly Galaxy", "Opus In Springtime", "Carefree", "Cocktails For Two", "Planet Earth Day", "Space Loneliness", "Retrospect/East Of The Sun", "Early Autumn", "Hocus Pocus", "Prelude To A Kiss", and "Space Is The Place/We Travel The Spaceways". LP, Vinyl record album

It's been many years since The Replacements made their amazing music – but the genius of the group lives anew, thanks to the release of this tremendous live set from 1986! The group had moved from an indie label to Sire by the time of the show, but there's a searing intensity to most of the tracks that recalls their Twin/Tone material at its best – much more punkish than in the final years of the group – played with a deftness and speed that they didn't even have a few years before! In fact, if we were to find a way to describe the set, we might well call it the great lost album between Let It Be and Tim – as it combines all the best aspects of those sets, and has impeccable songwriting mixed with the raw edge that the group had at the start. The recording quality is wonderful – the set was captured at the legendary Maxwell's club in Hoboken, back when Hoboken was cool enough to have a scene – and titles include fantastic remakes of "Fox On The Run" and "Black Diamond" – plus "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out", "Kiss Me On The Bus", "Hitchin A Ride", "If Only You Were Lonely", "Hold My Life", "I Will Dare", "Color Me Impressed", "Dose Of Thunder", "Bastards Of Young", "Baby Strange", "Take Me Down To The Hospital", "Left Of The Dial", "God Damn Job", "Answering Machine", "Gary's Got A Boner", "Waitress In The Ky", "Favorite Thing", and "Can't Hardly Wait". CD

The masterpiece by one of the greatest, most sincere rock bands of all time! Let It Be veers all over the place, or at least as much as jangly rock music can, in the best way possible. Includes the pseudo twangy opener "I Will Dare", with the distinctly midwestern hardcore of the group's earlier years showing up on "We're Coming Out" and "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out", and Westerberg's great heart-on-sleeve, ragged balladry appearing for the closers. Like the Meat Puppets and X, the 'Mats really found themselves after they shed the rigid rules of punk rock, and developed into something every bit as honest and heartfelt. They followed the rock songbook just enough to keep their work warm and familiar, but with way too huge and hard-pounding heart to ever seem even the least bit derivative. Hell, they even make Kiss's "Black Diamond" sound sincere! Other tracks include "Favorite Thing", "Androgynous", "Unsatisfied", "Seen Your Video", "Gary's Got A Boner", "Sixteen Blue" and "Answering Machine". LP, Vinyl record album

Late Sonny Rollins on Milestone, and a record with some really wonderful horn interplay – thanks to a group that includes an added brass lineup on a few cuts! The core combo, a quintet, features wonderful trombone from Clifton Anderson – a player who really made some of Rollins' records from this stretch light up nicely – bringing in a deeper sound on an instrument that Sonny didn't always work with in the past. The titles, as you might expect from the album's name, are "old flames" – standards worked nicely by Sonny, Anderson, and a group that also features Tommy Flanagan on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Tracks include "Prelude To A Kiss", "Darn That Dream", "Where Or When", "My Old Flame", and "Times Slimes". CD

Nice album that contains a mid-50s session recorded by Rollins for Prestige – with a quintet that includes the Clifford Brown-Max Roach ensemble, with Rollins filling in the tenor spot. Richie Powell's on piano, and the whole group has a very tight "roots of hardbop" sort of sound. Includes a classic reading of "Pent-up House", plus "Valse Hot", "Kiss & Run", and "Count Your Blessings". LP, Vinyl record album

Has there ever been anyone as lovely as Sade? We think not – and from the time she first hit our ears in the 80s, it was the start of an instant love affair that's continued for decades! Sade really brought something new to music at the time – a return to older styles of acoustic and jazz-based instrumentation, at a time when so many soul singers were mostly working with beats, keyboards, and samples – and a breathy voice that was instantly unique, and which kept on captivating us for years of recordings. This best of collection dates from the mid 90s – and provides an excellent sampling of tracks from Sade's albums Diamond Life, Promise, Stronger Than Pride, and Love Deluxe – titles that include "No Ordinary Love", "Like A Tattoo", "Cherish The Day", "Kiss Of Life", "Your Love Is King", "Hang Onto Your Love", "Sweetest Taboo", "Is It A Crime", and "Nothing Can Come Between Us". CD

A very cool small combo set from Johnny Scott – the British jazzman who'd also be known for his larger arrangements and soundtrack work! This set features a quintet with a very cool vibe – flute from Johnny, tenor from Duncan Lamont, and harp from David Snell – which gives the whole thing a nice sort of Dorothy Ashby vibe! Titles include "Mode Moderne", "Morning Theories", "Communication", "Girls Were Made To Love & Kiss", "MV4", and "Eleanor". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most engaging earlier records by the Chicago avant pop greats The Sea And Cake! The Biz has a reputation as one their looser, and more structurally sprawling records – but to honest, we don't really hear that – the drums are louder in the mix, the rhythms sink in deeply, Sam Prekop's vocals are more outwardly passionate – and to us, the songs are as memorable here as on any of their records. This album was a real alternative to mainstream "alternative rock" in its day, so much fresher and more inspired – and it sounds great to this day! Tracks include "The Biz", Leeora", The Kiss", "Station In The Valley", "Darkest Night", "Sending", "Escort", "An Assassin", "The Transaction", and "For Minor Sky", perhaps their single best song ever. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredibly groovy LP! Joe Sherman cut some mellower sides in years past, but this bouncy little record is filled with wonderful grooves – organ on top of percussion on top of some nice brassy arrangements – all making for a sound and style that's like the best 60s soundtrack albums from the time. Includes great and groovy versions of "Fever", "Kiss Of Fire", "Paradise", "More", and "Band Of Gold". Some great drums, too! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best recordings we've heard from Joya Sherrill – a set that has her taking on the music of Duke Ellington, but handling things with a cool sort of 60s feel! The arrangements are nice and lean – handled by Mercer Ellington, and featuring players who include Cootie Williams on trumpet, Ray Nance on cornet, Johnny Hodges on alto, and Paul Gonsalves on tenor – all working with Joya in formations that are much more small combo than the usual Ellington mode. Sherrill's vocals sparkle nicely in the setting – with a sense of poise and class that updates the older themes nicely. Titles include "Day Dreams", "In A Sentimental Mood", "Kissing Bug", "Mood Indigo", "Prelude To A Kiss", "Sophisticated Lady", "Duke's Place", and "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing". CD

An absolute stormer from Soul Scratch – a contemporary combo from the SoCal scene doing the legacy of the late 60s/early 70s raw funky soul style proud! Both the band name and album titles are appropriate – we wouldn't call it "truth in advertising", just straight up truth – with a genuine depth of soul in both the songs and performance, played with incredible energy in the more fiery number, but with a sure hand on the more tender numbers, too. Singer Dale Spollett can wail with the best of them, and the band has real firepower in their arsenal. The horns and rhythm section are stunningly tight, or have a loose swagger when the song calls, and there some tasty guitar, too. Includes the righteous opener "Pacified", "Look How Far We've Come", "Odessa Heat", the sweet little centerpiece ballad "Kiss Me In The Morning", "Be Kind", "Fireside Lounge", "Empty Cup", "It's Not Over", "Thank You" and more. CD

An absolute stormer from Soul Scratch – a contemporary combo from the SoCal scene doing the legacy of the late 60s/early 70s raw funky soul style proud! Both the band name and album titles are appropriate – we wouldn't call it "truth in advertising", just straight up truth – with a genuine depth of soul in both the songs and performance, played with incredible energy in the more fiery number, but with a sure hand on the more tender numbers, too. Singer Dale Spollett can wail with the best of them, and the band has real firepower in their arsenal. The horns and rhythm section are stunningly tight, or have a loose swagger when the song calls, and there some tasty guitar, too. Includes the righteous opener "Pacified", "Look How Far We've Come", "Odessa Heat", the sweet little centerpiece ballad "Kiss Me In The Morning", "Be Kind", "Fireside Lounge", "Empty Cup", "It's Not Over", "Thank You" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few albums ever cut by jazz singer Betty St Clair – a vocalist who got her start working in the Dizzy Gillespie band at the end of the 40s – but who's clearly a different sort of artist off here on her own! Betty's not really bop or big band-oriented – and instead, she's got a great way with a gentle, mellow tune – able to sing in a style that's never slavishly torch, but which has a fragile sort of late nite vibe – one that makes her phrasing here pretty distinct. St Clair can be soulful, but in ways that are more easygoing than Billie Holiday or Sarah Vaughan – moving gently through the music with help from Eddie Swanson on piano and Barry Galbraith on guitar. Titles include "Skylark", "That Old Black Magic", "Prelude To A Kiss", "Out Of Nowhere", and "East Of The Sun". CD

Just the kind of record that reminds us why Avery Sunshine is one of the best female soul singers to come up in recent years – an artist who was instantly a pro, yet also very much her own person too – able to write the kind of fresh lyrics that really keep us interested, and put herself on the line without ever selling out! Avery's got some great guest work on the record – including song contributions from Eric Roberson, and appearances by Frank McComb and Keyon Harrold – all artists we respect tremendously, and are glad to have endorse Avery as strongly as we do! But right from the start, the lady's the main attraction – as you'll hear on the sublime lineup of tunes that include "Come Do Nothing", "Used Car", "Jump", "The Ice Cream Song", "Everything I've Got", "Twenty Sixty Four", "Heaven Is Right Here", "Kiss & Make It Better", and "I Just Don't Know". CD

A great little soul album from this obscure west coast trio – a really wonderful group with two male singers and one girl – coming together here in a mix of sweet harmony numbers and upbeat groovers! Norman Connors produced, and he gives the group a really great sound on the set – really a cut above the usual act of this nature, almost with the deeper spirit of his own productions, or his work with Aquarian Dream – especially on the groovers and funky numbers! The title cut, "Sharing", is a great mellow number with a sweet soul feel – and the album's got another excellent cut called "Newsroom", which is a groover that sounds like it should be a theme song to a 70s sitcom about a TV news show – a recommendation that's tops in our book. Other tracks include "Kiss Away", "Back Here Again", "Last Night", "Pretty Girls", and "Snake Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes their classic "I'm Def (Jump Back & Kiss Myself)". 11 tracks in all. Also includes "Cash Money", "Rock You Again (Again & Again)", "Hooked On You" and "Remember Where You Came From". LP, Vinyl record album

Early soul and group vocal tracks from the Class & Rendezvous labels – a pair of hip LA indies that cut some of the better material in the city at the time! A few of the tracks on the set are pretty well known – but the bulk of the tunes are more obscure, and represent the labels' key contribution to the "birth of soul" years – helping to take the rougher R&B sound of the 50s, fuse it with some of the smoother LA male vocal blues tradition, and come up with some with seminal sides that point towards a wealth of great soul work on the west coast. Titles include "The Bear" by Johnny Guitar Watson, "Wow Wow Baby" by The Searchers, "I Ain't Goin For That" by Eugene Church, "No Time" by The Titans, "Ez Zee" by Googie Rene, "Nut Rocker" by B Bumble & The Stingers, "Rockin Robin" by Bobby Day, "Hey Girl Hey Boy" by Oscar McLollie & Jeanette Baker, "In The Mood" by Ernie Fields, "Miami" by Eugene Church, "I'm Confessin" by Jesse Belvin, "Texas Twister" by Ernie Fields, "Over & Over" by Bobby Day, and "One More Kiss" by Johnny Guitar Watson. CD

An extremely hip batch of southern soul from the start of the 70s – tracks that show the real growth in the genre as the decade approached – a move into deeper, more sophisticated forms that really helped break past the hit cliches of the 60s! All of the work here is from the Excello family of labels – including Mankind and A-Bet Records – all imprints dedicated to unearthing and exposing some of the deeper talents on the southern soul scene at the time – with fresh production styles that really gave the singers a chance to open up on the tunes. Most numbers are in a mellow or midtempo mode – presented with a nice degree of polish in the instrumentation, but never in a smooth or slick way. The package features great notes on these musical treasures – and the CD features a total of 22 tracks that include "I'm Going To Win Her Love" by Bobby Powell, "Bad Water" by Doris Duke, "Daddy's Home" by 5 Degrees Fahrenheit, "Tears (I Shed For You)" by Big T & The Pacemakers, "The Next Man" by Jean Stanback, "Got To Travel On" by Brooks O'Dell, "For The Good Times" by The Seventh Wonder, "Ten Carat Fool" by Jimmy Jules, "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" by Rose Davis, "Sun Comes Up" by Freddie North, "I'm Going To Try You One More Time" by Bobby Powell, "This Is My Chance" by Art Gentry, and "Lovin' On Back Streets" by Freddie North. CD

A wealth of laidback tracks that still have a nicely funky core – great work from that time when soul music really found a way to get mellow, but still hold onto a groove – often using some of the production styles of hip hop to fuse in a heavier bottom end to ballads and late nite love songs! The result is a perfect groove for the contemporary world – one that really sounds great in this overstuffed batch of tracks that showcase the modern approach to a slow jam – served up here in a collection of 36 cuts that includes some well-known classics, mixed with other numbers that we'd almost forgotten about! Titles include "Don't Wanna Be A Playaer (Joe Big Baby rmx)" by Joe, "Can U Get Wit It (gangsta lean edit)" by Usher, "5 Miles To Empty (Cutfather & Joe rmx up)" by Brownstone, "Reason For Breathing" by Babyface, "Keep Tryin (wet mix)" by Groove Theory, "Show You The Way To Go" by Men Of Vision, "In The Hood (rmx with rap)" by Donell Jones, "I Really Wanna Sex Your Body" by Link, "I Apologize" by Ruff Endz, "Kiss The Sky" by Tatyana Ali, "Holler (full crew smoove mix)" by Tyrese, "Shorty (Got Her Eyes On Me)" by Donell Jones, "Come Over Here" by Toni Braxton, "Days Like This" by Kenny Lattimore, "Naked Without You (full crew mix)" by Roachford, "Somebody Already Broke My Heart" by Sade, "Are You Still Down" by Jon B feat 2Pac, "They Like It Slow" by H-Town feat Roger Troutman, and "Sweet Lady" by Tyrese. CD

A great little collection of 70s soul – one that's mostly mainstream, and a really great reminder of all the wonderful sounds that were coming our way, back in the day! The work here is from a variety of Sony labels – old catalog cuts from Columbia, RCA, and Philly International – but served up with a really wonderful choice of cuts, and a nice focus on the kind of tunes that not only sounded great in the 70s, but which have continued to spark new interest with larger audiences as the years moved on! There's also a few unreleased tracks on the set – including "Use Ta Be My Guy (DJ Reverend P edit)" by MFSB, "Back Stabbers (DJ Reverend P Edit)" by The O'Jays, and "Let Em In (DJ Reverend P edit)" by Billy Paul – alongside other tracks that include "Fantasy (Shelter DJ mix)" by Earth Wind & Fire, "Harlem" by Bill Withers, "Wake Up Everybody" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "In The Mood" by Tyrone Davis, "You Are Gone" by The Delfonics, "Rolling Down A Mountainside" by Main Ingredient, "Kiss & Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans, "Strawberry Letter 23" by Shuggie Otis, "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter" by Nina Simone, "When Somebody Loves You Back" by Teddy Pendergrass, "The Sweetest Pain" by Dexter Wansel, "Show You The Way To Be" by The Jacksons, "The Creator Has A Master Plan" by Norman Connors, "If You Want Me To Stay" by Sly & The Family Stone, "It's Got To Be Mellow" by Leon Haywood, "Make Me Say It Again Girl (parts 1 & 2)" by The Isley Brothers, "Betcha By Golly Wow" by Norman Connors with Phyllis Hyman, "That's What Mama Say" by Major Lance, and "I Don't Wanna Cry" by Ronnie Dyson. CD

Red Garland's really cooking on this late 50s set – thanks to some added conga work from Ray Barretto on most of the album's tracks – and that great little groove that Barretto's percussion brought to some other soul jazz cookers like this from the time! Garland still gets plenty of space to spin out in that lyrical style he did better than just about anyone else – and core trio rhythm support is from George Joyner on bass and Charlie Persip on drums, who burn nicely when Barretto sits out – although we're definitely partial to the more complicated grooves featured with Ray. Titles include "Rojo", "Mr. Wonderful", "We Kiss In A Shadow", "Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup", and the nice groover "Ralph J Gleason Blues". CD

One of the strangest moments of success in the early years of Verve Records – and one of the label's few soundtracks too! The album's one that cleverly combines the core Verve jazz approach with some larger orchestrations by Adolph Deutsche – in a set of tunes based around the compositions of George and Ira Gershwin, used in a new catalog musical that starred Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, and Kay Thompson! The link to the music of the Gershwins is right up there with the important Songbook projects Verve was doing at the time – and of course, Fred Astaire recorded some great material for the label in the 50s too – reminding the world that he could be a pretty great singer when he wanted, even away from film. Fred's maybe the biggest attraction here, as are some of the new tunes added in by Roger Edens and Leonard Gershe – and titles include "Funny Face", "How Long Has This Been Going On", "Clap Yo Hands", "S'Wonderful", "Think Pink", "Bonjour Paris", "Let's Kiss & Make Up", and "He Loves & She Loves". CD features 7 more bonus tracks – all rare alternate takes! CD

A wonderfully laidback album from Barney Kessel – gentle guitar stepping around familiar standards, but all with a hip sort of west coast 50s flavor! The main group on the album features Bob Cooper on oboe and tenor, Claude Williamson on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums – but a few extra tunes, added to expand the full LP from the original 10" session, feature Hampton Hawes on piano and Red Mitchell on bass – plus the rest of the other group. Titles include "Speak Low", "Love Is Here To Stay", "How Long Has This Been Going On", "On A Slow Boat To China", "Barney's Blues", "A Foggy Day", "Prelude To A Kiss" and "64 Bars On Wilshire" – obviously not a standard! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the only early albums as a leader from pianist Ronnie Mathews – a player who recorded more often in later years, but who really sounds incredible in this rare session for Prestige! Although a lyrical player at heart, Mathews also has a very hard edge here – more of a soul jazz groove than you'd hear on his later records, and a great example of the sound he was picking up from some of his key 60s work as a sideman. The group is great overall – with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Charles Davis on baritone sax – both players who bring a Blue Note-like sense of imagination to their solos here. The rest of the group features Eddie Kahn on bass and Albert Heath on drums – and titles include the killers "The Thang", "Ichi Ban", and "The Orient" – plus "Let's Get Down", "1239A", and "Prelude To A Kiss". CD

New Order take a slightly sweeter turn for this mid 80s set – but still never lose the charm that won us from their first few records! There's a warmth here we might not have expected in the immediate post-Joy Division years – and a catchy tunefulness on some of the biggest crossover numbers on the set – yet, given the commercial dreck of the time, New Order are still way ahead of the pack – and from the perspective of these many years later, we're even more impressed at the way they manage to balance nascent pop sensibilities with some of the darker leanings of their roots. More than enough edgey guitar and moody basslines to please fans of the first two albums – on titles that include "Sunrise", "Elegia", "Love Vigilantes", "The Perfect Kiss", "Sub Culture", "Face Up", and "Sooner Than You Think". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "All Of Me", "Tangerine", "Brazil", "Embraceable You", "Green Eyes", "Amapola", "I Threw A Kiss In The Ocean", "I Said No", "One Sweet Letter From You", and "Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home". CD

Rare late 60s psychedelia from blue collar Rockford, Il – a totally great lost album of pop psych tunefulness from Pisces – who had an incredible knack for experimental sounds that weave in and out of the hallucinatory pop structure! The group centered around core players Jim Krein and Paul DiVenti, and a number of the tunes have fragile, beautiful lead vocals by Linda Bruner, bringing in a bit of Velvets style stark, haunting loveliness – and most of the tracks languished unreleased all this time! This is essentially the first real release of almost all of the tunes, and the best shot at finding an adventurous audience any of it has ever had! We think this stuff would have been hugely influential had it found an audience in its time, hell, it sounds to us like it actually did influence countless groups, even though that's hardly even possible! There's a tunefulness at the center that bears the fruits of the experimental pop sounds that came from benchmark scenes of the era, from Haight Ashbury to Abbey Road – but the found sound ephemera, tape manipulations, and tripped out atmospherics really bring in some far out vibes! An essential discovery from Numero that's as exciting, insistently groovy and eclectic as any of the rock oriented stuff they've dug up to date! Titles include "Dear One", "Children Kiss Your Mother Goodnight", "Motley Mary Ann", "Say Goodbye To John", "The Music Box", "Like A Hole In The Wall Where The Rat Lives", "Elephant Eyes", "Circle Of Time" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The music of Prince lives on – in this beautiful collection that features a number of mixes that appear here on LP for the first time ever, and an unreleased track as well! The unreleased "Moonbeam Levels" may well be the prize here for longtime Prince completitsts – but the set also includes a number of never-seen photos from Herb Ritz, and marks the full length debut of "Let's Go Crazy (single edit)", "Take Me With U (single edit)", "Let's Work (single edit)", "Alphabet Street (single edit)", "Girls & Boys (single edit)", "Glam Slam (single edit)", and "Little Red Corvette (single edit)". The 4LP set features a whopping 40 tracks in all – and other titles include "Kiss", "Sign O The Times", "Cream", "Mountains", "Batdance", "Thieves In The Temple", "I Would Die 4 U", "Paisley Park", "Pop Life", "Purple Rain", "When Doves Cry", "Raspberry Beret", "7 (album edit)", "My Name Is Prince", "Sexy MF", "Gett Off", and "Nothing Compares 2 U". LP, Vinyl record album

Prince in a grand groove – really hitting a new level of funk with a razor-sharp edge – and even blowing away some of his work on previous records! The record's a soundtrack for a film – Under The Cherry Moon – and although that movie never had the success of Purple Rain, we actually think it left behind an even stronger musical legacy – one that has Prince finding even more of a funky voice than before, with so many wonderfully freaky twists and turns! The music never got the showcase it might have deserved, because of the failure of the film – but it's one of our favorite Prince albums ever, and includes the massively funky "Kiss", the closest Prince ever got to James Brown, The whole album's got some great sweeping, pop psyche orchestral arrangements by Clare Fischer – and titles include "Christopher Tracey's Parade", "I Wonder U", "Under The Cherry Moon", "Girls & Boys", and "Anotherloverholenyohead". LP, Vinyl record album

Mostly dramatic material, written by Riddle to accompany this mid 60s film based on the John O'Hara novel of the same name. Ferrante & Teicher perform the main theme – which is jaunty enough – but the other tracks are pretty dark and orchestral, with a fairly gloomy feel overall. Titles include "Roger Bannon", "Table Talk", "Why Don't You Tell Her", "Kiss Me Pumpkin", "A Rage To Live", "I've Got A Husband", and "A Two Hour Drive". LP, Vinyl record album

A crackling bit of hardbop from Sonny Rollins – and a session that has Sonny playing with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown group that included Bud Powell's brother Richie on piano! Sonny had already made a strong name for himself on albums issued under the Roach/Brown tag at the time, and here the group returns the favor by allowing Sonny to lead, and by giving him a good deal of time in the spotlight! Rollins' solo ability is risen to a razor-sharp level for the set – really getting fire, and managing to invent at a speed and sharpness that's simply amazing. Titles include Sonny's classic reading of "Pent-up House", plus "Valse Hot", "Kiss & Run", and "Count Your Blessings". CD

Has there ever been anyone as lovely as Sade? We think not – and from the time she first hit our ears in the 80s, it was the start of an instant love affair that's continued for decades! Sade really brought something new to music at the time – a return to older styles of acoustic and jazz-based instrumentation, at a time when so many soul singers were mostly working with beats, keyboards, and samples – and a breathy voice that was instantly unique, and which kept on captivating us for years of recordings. This best of collection dates from the mid 90s – and provides an excellent sampling of tracks from Sade's albums Diamond Life, Promise, Stronger Than Pride, and Love Deluxe – titles that include "No Ordinary Love", "Like A Tattoo", "Cherish The Day", "Kiss Of Life", "Your Love Is King", "Hang Onto Your Love", "Sweetest Taboo", "Is It A Crime", and "Nothing Can Come Between Us". LP, Vinyl record album

Has there ever been anyone as lovely as Sade? We think not – and from the time she first hit our ears in the 80s, it was the start of an instant love affair that's continued for decades! Sade really brought something new to music at the time – a return to older styles of acoustic and jazz-based instrumentation, at a time when so many soul singers were mostly working with beats, keyboards, and samples – and a breathy voice that was instantly unique, and which kept on captivating us for years of recordings. This best of collection dates from the mid 90s – and provides an excellent sampling of tracks from Sade's albums Diamond Life, Promise, Stronger Than Pride, and Love Deluxe – titles that include "No Ordinary Love", "Like A Tattoo", "Cherish The Day", "Kiss Of Life", "Your Love Is King", "Hang Onto Your Love", "Sweetest Taboo", "Is It A Crime", and "Nothing Can Come Between Us". CD

Sade's last LP from the early 90s before she went into her brief recording and performing hiatus. Like the preceding records, the approach is heavy on the jazz side of things, with a crisp, spare touch on the production and a wonderfully soulful feel to the songwriting. At this point she no longer had to work to break into the charts, but that didn't stop her and her band from coming up with a great batch of material that managed to be easily accessible without losing any of the sublime grace that set her apart. Includes "No Ordinary Love", "Cherish The Day", "Feel No Pain", "I Couldn't Love You More", "Like A Tattoo", "Kiss Of Life", "Pearls", "Bullet Proof Soul" and "Mermaid". CD

Easily one of the best of the Bond-alike albums of "spy" grooves from the 60s – handled by Brit easy maestro Roland Shaw, with a sound that's in keeping with the best soundtrack work of the time! Shaw's got a jazzy mode here that really opens up some of these tunes – letting the horns and piano come into play a bit more on a few numbers, and differing the songs a lot from their more famous versions used in the films. The package has a great kitschy cover, plus a cool montage of film scenes on the back – and titles include "The Saint", "The Ipcress File", "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold", "Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", "Man From Uncle", "Our Man Flint", and "I Spy". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the finest moments ever from these proud sons of Milwaukee – with classics that include "Blister In The Sun", "Kiss Off", "Add It Up", "Gone Daddy Gone", and "Prove My Love". CD