Marvin Marvin Marvin – just when we thought you couldn't impress us any more, you took it to the next level! Trouble Man is a heck of a wonderful surprise from an artist that most folks really only knew as a singer – a fantastically funky blacksploitation soundtrack, conceived and composed by Marvin himself – and served up with some occasional vocals that work beautifully with the album's cool instrumental grooves! The set's easily one of Gaye's most righteous records ever – almost a second chapter to What's Going On, but more instrumental – and like that classic set, it really shows the whole new range of vision that Marvin was able to work in the studio. Gaye gets a bit of arranging help on some tracks from Gene Page and JJ Johnson – and the album's filled with great cuts – including the landmark "T Plays It Cool", plus other gems like "Don't Mess With Mister T", "Main Theme From Trouble Man", "The Break In", and "T Stands For Trouble". Very funky, very sophisticated, and very soulful! LP, Vinyl record album

Tenor giant Dexter Gordon recorded in a quartet setting – live ath Jazzhus Montmarte in Copenhagen on July 21, 1967! He's backed by Kenny Drew on piano, Al Tootie Heath on drums and Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass – and numbers include a great 11+ minute take on Lou Donaldson's "Blues Walk" plus "I Guess I'll Have To Hang" and "My Tears Out To Dry", and an epic, 15+ minute take on "Love For Sale" that fills the second side. LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet bit of electro soul from the 80s – served up here by a trio who are heavy on keyboard sounds, but also get some warmer elements from an array of other musicians who help out on the set! The tunes have a nicely punched-up vibe – catchy 80s soul, but without any too commercial modes – almost more in the lean territory of some of the indies of the period – something that might have made the record hard for RCA to get into the charts, but which has given it a hell of a lot of charm all these many years later! Titles include the great mellow cut "Perfect Lover", plus the tracks "Tell Me What's On Your Mind", "Love Thang", "Help", and "Won't Cha Give It To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

The classic debut album by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – one of the pioneering groups in hip hop -history- not that we didn't need to tell you that! With prototypical party jams and the original conscious rap landmark "The Message", all over old school grooves laid down under Sylvia Robinson's watchful eye by the Sugar Hill rhythm section with Doug Wimbish, Skip McDonald, Keith LeBlanc and crew. That funky depth keeps it fresh to this today, with deeper classics like "Scorpio" and "It's Nasty", plus "Dreamin", "It's A Shame" and "You Are". LP, Vinyl record album

The classic debut album by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – one of the pioneering groups in hip hop -history- not that we didn't need to tell you that! With prototypical party jams and the original conscious rap landmark "The Message", all over old school grooves laid down under Sylvia Robinson's watchful eye by the Sugar Hill rhythm section with Doug Wimbish, Skip McDonald, Keith LeBlanc and crew. That funky depth keeps it fresh to this today, with deeper classics like "Scorpio" and "It's Nasty", plus "Dreamin", "It's A Shame" and "You Are". LP, Vinyl record album

Great small group backing – with arrangements from pianist Claude Hopkins, plus tenor from Coleman Hawkins, trumpet from Doc Cheatham, and clarinet from Buster Bailey! LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark bit of jazz funk – from one of the greatest backup groups of the 70s! Herbie Hancock first brought The Headhunters to light – working with the San Francisco-based combo that included Bennie Maupin, Mike Clark, Paul Jackson, and Bill Summers – using their sound to give his work the right dose of funk it needed to reach new audiences during the decade. This album's the first to feature the group on their own, without Herbie – and if we don't mind saying so, they sound even better without him! The whole thing's a wonderful mix of jazz funk grooves and very unusual rhythms – and the record contains the monster full length version of "God Make Me Funky", which is 9 minutes and 35 seconds of non stop funk, plus the cuts "If You've Got It, You'll Get It", "Magic", and "Here & Now". LP, Vinyl record album

Groove Holmes is definitely dancing in the sun here – working with full arrangements from Mario Sprouse, in a sweetly soulful style that's not unlike Johnny Hammond at the time! Groove still plays Hammond on most numbers – but also a bit of mini Korg too – and although the backdrops are in a fully-arranged jazz funk mode, there's still a strong focus on Holmes' keyboard lines up front, which still get plenty of space to stretch out and do their thing. Sprouse plays a bit of keyboards on the record too – and titles include a remake of "Misty", plus "Let's Groove", "Dancing In the Sun", "Highway Of Life", and "Calypso Holiday". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album that is perhaps the single most influential beat source in hip hop! The record was the brainchild of bongo player Michael Viner – who also happened to be running the Pride subsidiary of MGM at the time. Viner's got a meeeeeean touch on the bongo, hitting it hard and funky like the best 70s conga players – and his approach to the instrument is kind of like a funky update of popular instrumental styles laid down on guitar by The Ventures or on moog by Hot Butter. This album features the classics "Apache" and "Bongo Rock" – both with monster funky breakdowns that showed up on a heck of a lot of hip hop records over the years – plus loads of other goodies like "Last Bongo In Belgium" and "Bongolia". Excellent stuff – and darn hard to find! (We can still remember how stunned we were when we found our first copy in a Canadian record store back in 1987 – and even then we had to pay plenty!) LP, Vinyl record album

The late live album from Jefferson Airplane – who were at the end of their journey, but whatever their personal differences may have been at the time, they still put on a helluva great rock and roll show! Thirty Seconds Over Winterland was recorded at that legendary San Francisco venue, and at Chicago's Auditorium Theatre, with the post-Marty Balin line-up of Grace Slick, Paul Kanter, Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukomen – plus violinist Papa John Creach, drummer John Barbata and vocalist David Freiberg from Quicksilver Messenger Service. Titles include "Have You Seen The Saucers", "Feel So Good", "Crown Of Creation", "When The Earth Moves Again", "Milk Train", "Trial By Fire" and "Twilight Double Leader". LP, Vinyl record album

Smooth and sweet soul from Jeffree – an unsung 70s vocalist with a really great approach! Jeffree, aka Jeff Perry, is the brother of Greg Perry – and works in a similar style to his more famous brother – warmly grooving soul with a fluid, mellow approach – served up with great production, bubbling rhythms, and a really solid sound overall. The work is very much in the best tradition of 70s giants like Marvin Gaye or Leroy Hutson, and the collection brings together the best tracks from the self-titled Jeffree album on MCA from 1979, plus other assorted singles recorded under the name of Jeff Perry for Arista and Epic. Titles include "Love's Gonna Last", "Gentle Love", "Love Loan", "Unforgettable Person", "Call On Me", "Love Don't Come No Stronger", "Mr Fix-it", "Honest Baby", and "Take My Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Too young to have caught a 70s funk band in the clubs? Here's the solution – a rare performance by a cool combo from Tulsa – captured live in a very hip club setting! The mode here is different than sounds experienced on a funky 45 – as the tracks are open, long, and have a nicely jamming vibe – really pushing towards the 10 minute mark on each track, as the group lets their instrumental interplay flow, peppering the performance with lyrics to egg the instruments on! The group features Fender Rhodes, riffing guitar, bass, and drums – plus two lead singers, and a sometime female backup – on the original cuts "Love Everything About You", "Valentine Love", "Just A Song", and "Keep On Smiling". LP, Vinyl record album

Although the Mary Kaye Trio put out a number of goofy Vegas-y show albums, this one's actually got them singing some great stuff with a bit more of a traditional vocal style. Mary takes the lead solo on most of these, and she lays down a great version of "How Does the Wine Taste?", plus "Charade", and the title cut, which is very very cool. LP, Vinyl record album

DAMN!, indeed – Kendrick has yet to take even a small step down from the creative peak he's been riding for years – and takes another daring step forward with this strong, strident, no-mess-taking classic in the making! The surprise-announced DAMN! finds him taking on timely concerns – some longtime inherent to everyday racial, social, and class struggles issues in American life,and others that are purely personal. The production is diverse to a degree, but a bit straight forward compared to the sprawling, years-in-the-making To Pimp A Butterfly – all by design, as DAMN! is clearly made to sound fresh and urgent right now. But like all great musical art, it's built to stand the test of time. Includes guest producers, musicians and vocalists as varied as Thundercat, U2, Kamasi Washington, Kid Capri and Rihanna. Titles include "BLOOD.", "DNA.", "YAH.", "ELEMENT.", "LOYALTY." feat Rihanna, "PRIDE.", "LUST." with strings arranged by Kamasi Washington, "XXX." feat U2, "FEAR.", "GOD." and "DUCKWORTH." LP, Vinyl record album

A classic session of cool jazz from the 50s – a majestic meeting of the alto of Lee Konitz and the tenor sax of Warne Marsh! The album's a perfect example of icy modernism at its best – swinging nicely, never too uptight, but with a well-composed approach that really shows the magic of the Konitz approach. The group features the great Billy Bauer on guitar, plus either Ronnie Ball or Sal Mosca on piano – and rhythm is by Kenny Clarke and Oscar Pettiford. Tracks are short, and titles include "Topsy", "Lee", "Donna", "Don't Squawk", and "Ronnie's Line". LP, Vinyl record album

A funky vibes classic – and a landmark set from Detroit vibist Johnny Lytle! The set's one of the purest examples of Johnny's great early groove – a tightly stepping version of soul jazz that played big in the clubs at the time, and which has forever made Lytle one of the favorites of the mod jazz dance circuit! Lytle mixes his own heavy work on vibes with some great work from his regular trio members Milt Harris on organ and William "Peppy" Hinnant on drums – augmented here by some additional bass from Bob Cranshaw and percussion from Willie Rodriguez. The sound is strong and tight – arguably even more classic than that of Lytle's Tuba recordings – and the title cut "Village Caller" is a wonderfully angular groover that still gets heavy play in Chicago to this day! Other tracks include the modal dancer "Kevin Devin", plus the tracks "Pedro Strodder", "Green Dolphin Street", "Solitude", and "Unhappy Happy Soul". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet bit of funky club from Tee Mac – a set that was recorded in Lagos at the end of the 70s, but which has plenty of American disco touches overall! Tee plays some sweet flute solos in the mix, and the record also features some great lead vocals from Majorie Barnes – who tops off some of the best tracks as they step around in a mix of clubby rhythms and Mac's jazzy solos! Before returning to Nigeria in the late 70s, Tee scored big fame for some work on the biggest singles by Silver Convention (he wrote "Fly Robin Fly" and "Stand Up & Boogie") – and while that disco experience shows in the care and class of the production, the overall sound here is a lot warmer and more fluid than any sort of Euro disco. Titles include "Night Illusion", "Living Everyday", "Struggle", "Hit Hit", "A Certain Way To Go", and "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo". LP, Vinyl record album

Although the Main Ingredient were best known for their early 70's singles, this album from '74 is a wonderfully complex batch of tunes that shows that the group were taking a cue from some of their hipper contemporaries, and pushing past a stock hit formula. Bert DeCoteaux was still arranging, but the group produced themselves, giving the record a sexy funky feeling in the best parts, not that dissimilar from some of Marvin Gaye's work, or records by groups like The Isley Brothers or The O'Jays. Includes great versions of two Seals & Crofts songs – "Summer Breeze" and "Euphrates" – both a perfect example of this style, as is "Happiness Is Just Around The Bend" – plus a great reading of Willie Hutch's "California My Way", which has a super-dope sample at the beginning. Of course, the album still includes material like their hit " "Just Don't Want To Be Lonely", a sweetly style AM radio pop hit in the band's best style of earlier years. LP, Vinyl record album

A rare album that Rusty Evans cut as Marcus for the Kinetic label – a beautifully produced set of lushly-accent psych folk! Evans may be best remembered for his San Fransisco Sound production work, late 60s psychedelia that's a perfect encapsulation of the Haight-Ashbury scene of the time. His material as Marcus (which is his real first name) bridged that vibe with gentler folk rock touches, with lots of great acoustic instrumentation and flute in mix. His fragile, quivery vibrato vocals are laidback and unique, as is the spriritually trippy lyricism! LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime work from our favorite time in Tania Maria's career – the time she spent in Paris, where she learned to weave her bossa jazz style with lightly breezy influences from European jazz! Fender Rhodes make up a bit part of the grooves here – as Tania plays both electric and acoustic piano side by side, often overdubbed in a groovy way that dances along with the jazzy rhythms laid down by Helio on Fender bass and Boto on drums and percussion. But perhaps the best thing of all is Tania's voice – deely soulful, yet always fluid and grooving – at a level that digs deeper than most other bossa singers of her generation, and which resonates beautifully with the deeper notes from her work on the keys! Titles include the funky "Transamazonica", plus "A Felicidade", "No Ano Que Vem", "Sem Compromisso", "Do A Flor", "Teimosa", "Biero Do Mar", and "Cancao Do Sal". LP, Vinyl record album

Spare duets between these two Brazilian jazz giants Cesar Camargo Mariano and Helio Delmiro – but great work throughout, and filled with a lot more soul and energy than you'd expect! Mariano plays mostly electric keyboards – but not in a way that overrides the acoustic guitar of Delmiro – and the set's got a lot of the same elements of the best jazzy backing that Mariano provided for Elis Regina in the 70s, that great sense of darkness at the bottom – plus all the tight solo moments of Delmiro's own work from the 80s. Titles include "Curumim", "Samambaia", "Ninhos", "Choratta", "Emotiva No 4", and "Milagre Dos Peixes". LP, Vinyl record album

An older instrumental style makes the move into a 70s groove – as The Marketts take on a smoother LA electric sound than their 60s sides, adding in more keyboards and quieting down the "twang" on the guitar. The album includes a nice version of "Mystery Movie Theme", plus "Sister Candy", "Thoughts", "Cast Your Fate To The Wind", "The Gnome", and "Lucky Me". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite Wailers LPs – as solid a statement as Marley had made, and to our ears, the finest moment of his later career, not to mention one that would give him some of his most well known hits, and deliver him to a wider international audience. By now, Marley had solidified a larger working group, with the Barrett brothers still at the the core, and the I-Three's well entrenched as his backing vocalists, plus a handful of other musicians The album features classics like "Natural Mystic", "Three Little Birds", "One Love/People Get Ready", sleepers like "So MuchThings To Say", and "Waiting In Vain" and the excellent, driving title track, "Exodus". LP, Vinyl record album

A righteous classic from the legendary Bob Marley – and a set that really pushed the roots reggae sound strongly into the mainstream – almost making the mode the defining global understanding of Jamaican music, thanks to the power and presence of the album! All the Marley Tuff Gong modes are gelling perfectly here – bad-stepping rhythms from The Wailers, sweet backup from the I-Threes, and even some great guitar lines from Chinna Smith – all to complement Marley's tremendous vocal power in the lead – rising here with majesty on tracks that include the classic "Roots, Rock, Reggae", plus "Crazy Baldhead","Rat Race", "Night Shift", "Positive Vibration", 'Who The Cap Fit", "Cry To Me", "Johnny Was", and "Want More". LP, Vinyl record album

An open-ended live set from Wynton Marsalis' 80s run for Columbia Records – and a set that's sometimes a bit more unbridled than his studio work at the time! There's still plenty of the Marsalis manner in place here – that great talent for subtle shadings, and quiet exploration of sound – but the longer tracks also have Wynton blowing his top a bit more, and really running along with his horn. The group's a quartet – with Marcus Roberts on piano, Robert Hurst on bass, and Jeff Watts on drums – and titles include "Juan", "Autumn Leaves", "Much Later", "Au Privave", "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans", "Just Friends", and "Chambers Of Tain" – plus a few interludes of "Knozz Moe King". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare spiritual jazz by reed player Milton Marsh – one of the harder-to-find albums on Strata East – and one of just a couple incredible records to Marsh's name! Obscurity aside, this is prime Strata East – with some sprawling moments in a larger band formation that go just far out enough, but an overall approach that's pretty inside, very much in the label's strong 70s soul jazz tradition. There's a pretty large cast of players in action, including some legendary ones like saxophonist David Ware, percussionist Greg Bandy, Cedric Lawson on piano and others. Titles include "Vonda's Tune", the incredible "Monism" with its spoken word excerpt from Hazrat Inayat Khan's Sufi Message, nicely read by Marsh himself over an amazing mix of soulful strings and tense interplay, plus "Metamorphosis", "Community Music", "Sabotage 3 Preparations" and "Ode to Nzinga". A lost masterpiece! LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet countrified Dean – two albums with that hit Jimmy Bowen sound, a mix of country touches, mellow organ or guitar, and nicely syncopated rhythms, which often gave even the mellower cuts a nice two-step groove. Dean's in great form vocally on the numbers, bubbling his way through a range of tunes that might sound a bit sappy in the hands of anyone else, but which come off with a fair degree of wit and maturity in the hands of Dino. Titles include "Blue Blue Day", "I Walk The Line", "I Can't Help It", "Candy Kisses", and "Room Full Of Roses". LP, Vinyl record album

A real sleeper – and a hip little set that's well worth the listen! Spider's a pretty soulful tenor player in his own right, but one of the things that makes the record really great is work by a set of guest players that include Joe Locke on vibes, Jimmy Owens on trumpet, Pepper Adams on Baritone, and Billy Skinner on trumpet. The album shifts between smoother, soulfully oriented jazz and a few more traditionally hardbop numbers – swinging along a pace that's rough, but which marks them with a sense of honesty that's really appreciated, given the time and setting. The album includes one standout jazzy groover – the amazing "A Lil Different", a great track that starts off straight, then leaps into a blend of funky bass, keyboards, and vibes that really really grooves! Other tracks include the Jimmy Owens funk number "Uh Ah", plus "That's Nice", "Nica's Dream", and "Never Can Say Goodbye". LP, Vinyl record album

Pat's opening up his guitar lines here, and playing in a freer, post-Coltrane way than on his earlier albums. He's backed up here by Eddie Green on electric piano, plus Tyrone Brown on bass and Sherman Ferguson on drums. Tracks include "Impressions", "Consciousness", and "On The Stars". LP, Vinyl record album

Martino plays in a 2-guitar quartet – with Bobby Rose backing him up on guitar, plus rhythm accompaniment by Richard Davis and Billy Higgins. The sound's definitely in the trippier, post-hippie style of Martino's work, with a sort of looseness and fluidity that you either love or hate, but a nicely swinging rhythm underneath. Titles include "Footprints", "Road Song", "The Visit", and "Alone Together". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic Philly soul from Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – a killer batch of studio tracks, despite the live image of the group on the cover! The album's got a slightly more expansive feel than some of the other Teddy Pendergrass-era albums by The Blue Notes – almost a mini-symphony of soul, and one that takes arrangements from Bobby Martin, Norman Harris, and Vince Montana – and wraps the vocals up in a soaring, righteous sort of feel! The rougher, more personal Teddy Pendergrass style of I Miss You is folded a bit more into the harmonies of the rest of the group here – and the result is a powerful wave of soul that pushes The Blue Notes right to the top of the pack. The album features classics like "The Love I Lost" and "Is There A Place For Me" – plus other nice material like "Concentrate On Me", "It All Depends On You", and "I'm Weak For You". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer stuff from this legendary Philly soul instrumental combo – with funky soul horns, unstoppable dancefloor ready rhythms and those soul-stirring strings – and right up there with their best ever! Bobby Martin arranged almost every track – and the record's a great example of the kind of lean and mean Philly groove that he had going at the time, a sound that was hard to beat, and hard to copy without sounding silly and overblown. Top shelf soul instrumentals from Philly International in the mid 70s – what more could we ask for? Includes classics like "K-Jee", "MFSB", "TLC" and "Let's Go Disco" – plus the equally great "Sexy", "Love Has No Time Or Place" and "My Mood". LP, Vinyl record album

A massively expanded package of music – filled with previously unreleased gems! The set features a landmark collaboration between John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk – two generations of jazz modern, working here to create some really incredible music! The core of this material is from the pair's work issued on the amazing Monk's Music album for Riverside – but the expanded collection also features lots of additional work from the same period too – including some unusual and alternate studio moments too! Other players vary from track to track – and include Gigi Gryce on alto sax, Ray Copeland on trumpet, Coleman Hawkins on additional tenor, Wilbur Ware on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. Titles wonderful versions of "Ruby My Dear", "Trinkle Tinkle", "Nutty", "Well You Needn't", "Crepescule With Nellie" and "Monk's Mood" – plus some alternate versions, false starts, and more – all wrapped up with notes and reflections from original producer Orrin Keepnews. LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overdue tribute to the legendary Moondog – one of the true visionaries of American music in the 20th Century! Moondog got his starts as a blind musician working the streets of New York at the end of the 40s, but he did so (as you'll note on the cover photo) with a range of unusual instruments of his own invention, and in a minimal, rhythmic style that linked together primitivism with higher musical ideals. Moondog's often been called "the father of minimalism" – and while his experiments of the 50s prefaced the work of Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and others, his work was also much more personal, and had an earthy intensity that's still tremendously powerful even decades later! This collection is one of the first to dip into the earliest of Moondog's recordings – his recordings for the Mars, SRC, Brunswick, and Moondog labels – which are presented here alongside selected tracks from his albums for Epic and Prestige, also of similar vintage. Nearly all the tracks here offer a very primitive blend of percussion that's sometimes mixed with unusual woodwind or stringed instruments – nearly all of Moondog's own invention – and the package also features some great notes on his long career, plus some photos that are as gripping as the music itself! Titles include "Down Is Up", "Big Cat", "Bumbo", "Rimshot", "Rabbit Hop", "Instrumental Round", "Be A Hobo", "Dog Trot", "Oasis", "2 W 46th Street", and "Why Spend The Dark Night With You". LP, Vinyl record album

Looks like a 60s soundtrack, but the set's actually an unusual psychedelic project by The Damned – released as if the whole thing was a record designed to accompany one of those schlocky AIP exploitation films from years back – but actually better than most of those albums from a musical perspective! Given that the whole thing was recorded in 1983, it's actually surprisingly powerful stuff – and seems to preface the big wave of UK sounds from the Creation Records scene – a surprising move for The Damned, but one that comes off surprisingly well. Singer Naz Nomad is actually Dave Vanian – and tracks include covers of songs that the group loved, plus originals of their own. Titles include "Action Woman", "The Wind Blows Your Hair", "Kicks", "Cold Turkey", "She Lied", "I Can't Stand This Love Goodbye","The Trip", and "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night". LP, Vinyl record album

A tasty jazz session from David Fathead Newman – straight ahead, as the title implies, but still with some of the R&B touches that Newman crafted during his years with Ray Charles! The jazz side of the album's held down very nicely by a rhythm section that features Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Charlie Persip – and Newman himself plays flute, alto, and tenor – on a selection of longer tunes that really open up with some nice solo space! Titles include "Batista's Groove", an early composition by Marcus Belgrave – plus "Cousin Slim", "Night Of Nisan", and "Congo Chant". LP, Vinyl record album

Yoko's stunning Plastic Ono Band LP – utilizing the same incredible group of players from John Lennon's same-titled effort – and an out there masterpiece that could be argued as one of the benchmark noise rock albums of all time! As with John's Plastic Ono Band LP, this one features guitars by the Walrus himself, drums by Ringo, bass by Klauss Voorman, plus additional bass by David Izenzon, Charles Haden, and trumpet by none other than Ornette Coleman – but Yoko's brutal banshee vocal improvisation is far and away the lead instrument here. Amazing, amazing, amazing – try to even imagine contempory noise rock without it! Original LP tracks include "Why", "Why Not", "Greenfield Morning I Pushed An Empty Baby Carriage. . .", "AOS", "Touch Me" and "Paper Shoes". LP, Vinyl record album

An essential collection of rare material from this legendary Brazilian group – and a set that shows the importance they had in the Tropicalia movement beyond their own famous albums! The package brings together key collaborations between Os Mutanes and other key figures in music at the time – including some from rare singles, or other albums that maybe haven't shown up on your radar if you've only been tracking the group by records issued under their own name. As a whole, the set's a much-needed addition to their too-small catalog from these essential years – and titles include work with Caetano Veloso on "Saudosismo", "Marcianita", "A Voz Do Morto", and "Baby" – plus "Lady Madonna" and "Cinderella Rockafella" done with Clelia Simone and Kier – both live and 7" single versions of "Ando Meio Desligado", work with Gilberto Gil on "Domingo No Parque", work with Rogerio Duprat on "Cancao Para Ingles Ver Chiquita Bacana" and "The Rain The Park & Other Things" – and the track "Mande Um Abraco Pra Velha", from a rare Brazilian 60s compilation. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most beautiful, most sophisticated, and most fully-realized sessions from trumpeter Hannibal Marvin Peterson – and a record that features some incredible larger backings from David Amram! The set's a haunting suite dedicated to the children of Vietnam – one that starts out in a darkly brooding mode, but which opens up with some extremely redemptive moments as the set moves on – done in a very spiritual approach to soul jazz that's strongly in the Alice Coltrane tradition! Instrumentation includes a small string group, plus added percussion – and musicians on the set include Art Webb on flute, Richard Davis on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Michael Cochran on piano, and Hannibal himself on both trumpet and koto. The lovely Alpha Johnson sings on a few of the album's tracks, and the whole thing is very warm and deep, and has a lot of variance in tempo and mood, with a strong spiritual feel similar to that of some of the more ambitious Strata East recordings from the time! Titles include "Forest Sunrise", "The Bombing", "Prayer", "Aftermath", and "Finale". LP, Vinyl record album

The heavy soulful trumpeter hits the Belin Jazz Festival in this classic MPS recording from 1976. He's backed by a sextet that includes George Adams on tenor, Diedre Murray on cello, and Michael Cochrane on piano – and the set is a lot straighter than usual, but still with the good spiritual sound that comes through on his more "out" recordings. Tracks include Coltrane's "Bessies Blues", plus "The 23rd Psalm", "My Favorite Things", and "Willow Weep For Me". LP, Vinyl record album

The heavy soulful trumpeter hits the Belin Jazz Festival in this classic MPS recording from 1976. He's backed by a sextet that includes George Adams on tenor, Diedre Murray on cello, and Michael Cochrane on piano – and the set is a lot straighter than usual, but still with the good spiritual sound that comes through on his more "out" recordings. Tracks include Coltrane's "Bessies Blues", plus "The 23rd Psalm", "My Favorite Things", and "Willow Weep For Me". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most ambitious works ever by Marvin Hannibal Peterson – a larger work dedicated to the 20 African-American children murdered by a serial killer in Atlanta, performed here with a mix of choral voices and jazz instrumentation! The piece follows strongly in a legacy of that format started by Max Roach and continued by Billy Harper – and Peterson works here with players that include George Adams on tenor, Kenny Barron on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Dierde Murray on cello – plus the voices of The Harlem Boys Choir, and lead vocals by Pat Peterson. The whole thing's wonderful – soaring and spiritual without sounding hokey at all – and titles include "The Angels Of Atlanta", "The Story Teller", "The Inner Voice", "Mothers Land", and "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child". LP, Vinyl record album

Iggy's first proper solo record, and a strange morass of junkie desperation and guttural punk funk! The Idiot is the ultimately the culmination of a very smart decision to move away from the guitar roar of the Stooges and closer to the sounds his longtime champion David Bowie was experimenting with at the time, with a little bit of Lou Reed for good measure – but make no mistakes, this is Iggy's show. It's as fascinating overall as it is impressive on a more visceral level, with heavy bass rhythms and keys intergral to the sound, and weary latenight storytelling that trips you out on contact. All tunes co-written by Bowie, who would go on to make a lot of money off "China Girl" a few years into the 80s when the world was more ready for it, plus the classic "Nightclubbing", "Sister Midnight", "Baby", "Dum, Dum Boys", "Tiny Girls" and "Mass Production". LP, Vinyl record album

Iggy Pop may have left The Stooges behind, but he's lost none of his edge – and really finds a new level of solo greatness on this sublime classic from the 70s! The set was produced by David Bowie, who also plays piano on the set – and has Carlos Alamar adding in some guitar – and the overall sound has that raw Berlin mode you might find on some of he headiest tracks on Heroes – kind of "Joe The Lion" meets the gritty truth of Iggy's Detroit! The title cut is maybe the best-known Iggy Pop tune ever – used in countless films and commercials – but the whole thing's great, and a brilliant new focus for Mr Pop's genius. Titles include "Lust For Life", "The Passenger", "Some Weird Sin", "Neighborhood Threat", "Success", "Fall In Love With Me", and "Turn Blue". LP, Vinyl record album

A whole new side of the talents of Sun Ra – especially if you only know the longer-style jams on some of his albums from the 60s and 70s! From the very start of his career, Ra was every bit as interested in issuing music on 45s as he was on albums – and in fact, at some of the more desperate times, the 7" single turned out to be a very affordable format to try out new ideas – including some great projects with other artists! The array of work presented here is stunning – as the set includes some very up-close and personal moments with Ra on record, plus some tight jazzy tracks from the Arkestra, surprising vocal group material designed to crack the R&B market, and some especially cool projects with other singers too. The package is put together with very detailed notes on all the singles – and while the bulk of this material comes from the key Arkestra years of the late 50s through the early 80s, there's also a few tracks from other dates too – including a handful of songs that were only issued as 45s in later years. This limited part 2 of the vinyl set features wonderful tracks from later years – including "The Blue Set", "Space Loneliness", "State Street", "Love In Outer Space", "Mayan Temple", "Quest", "Rough House Blues", "Journey To Saturn", "Blues On Planet Mars", "The Bridge", "Rocket #9", "The Perfect Man", "Outer Space Plateau", "Extensions", "Orbitration In Blue", "A Blue One", "Big City Blue", "I'm Gonna Unmask The Batman", "Saturn Moon", "Disco 2021", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "I Am The Instrument", "Cosmic Drama", "Nuclear War", "Hell #1", and "Cosmo-Extensions" – plus the tracks "Tell Her To Come On Home" and "I'm Making Believe" by Little Mack. LP, Vinyl record album

Kind of an unusual variation on the Martians Come Back album – done during a time when record labels almost saw their stereo releases as a completely different product! The tracks aren't the same entirely as Martians – although the album does include "Astral Alley" and "Chant Of The Cosmos" – plus "Dickie's Dream", "Baklava Bridge", and "Serenade In Sweets" – all in stunning early stereo! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Mongo Santamaria's best albums from the 70s – and one of his funkiest too! The record's got a sweet electric groove that sounds mighty nice next to the Latin jazz arrangements on the set – almost in the feel of some of Candido's funky work from the time, but possibly even heavier! Justo Almario is on tenor and flute in the set – and Mongo's group here is a small combo, with electric bass, piano, and lots of sax and flute! Includes loads of great original tunes – like "Chambique", "Don't Step On My Tears", "Crazy Lady", "Besame", and "Malcolm X" – plus Mongo's semi-hit version of "Last Tango In Paris". LP, Vinyl record album

Let's party is right! Mongo and his Latin Soul combo groove through a tight tasty batch of tracks, with heavy conga from Mongo, and killer soulful solos by Bobby Capers, Marty Sheller, and Hubert Laws. The set's got a few soul covers – like "Walk On By", "Shotgun", and "I Got You" – plus some originals like "Baila Dance" and "El Bikini", and a nice cover of "Call Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal moment in the career of Mongo Santamaria – and probably the first record to show that he was destined for greatness! As you might guess from the title, the set features Mongo's key recording of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" – served up here in a sharp-edged Latin jazz version that pushed the tune into a whole new audience, and which was one of the first big groovers of its type in the pre-Latin Soul years! The group here is totally great – with players that include funky flautist Mauricio Smith, baritone genius Pat Patrick, and the always-great Bobby Capers – all key players who illustrate Santamaria's genius for picking horn players. Titles include "Watermelon Man", "Yeh Yeh", "Funny Money", "Go Git It", "Sauvito", "Cut That Cane", and "Bayou Roots". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic album of keyboard funk instrumentals – a set that starts somewhere in a late 70s soul fusion vibe, then makes a move through some of the more broken, cosmic territory of the European scene in recent years! On some of the straighter tracks, there's Fender Rhodes, at a level that recalls the best work of musicians like Bobby Lyle or Ramsey Lewis during their 70s jazz funk years – while other tracks get a bit more abstract, with complicated rhythms that change things up nicely, while still keeping things in soulful territory. There's a bit of muted vocals at spots – but really layered down in the rhythm section, with a more instrumental vibe to the record overall. Titles include "Warm Day", "Illusion", "Flying Fantasy", "O Alivio Das Ferias", and "Disco Song For My Son". LP, Vinyl record album

A varied set of players – with Gilbert Kalish on solo piano on "Rotation" by Allan Blank; Betty Bang Mather on flute and John Simms on piano on "Musique Printaniere" by Donald Martin Jenni; Allen Blustine on clarinet with the Contemporary String Quartet on "Quintet For Clarinet & Strings"; and a trio with amplified cello, piano, and percussion on M William Karlins' "Variations On Obiter Dictum". LP, Vinyl record album

A freaky, fuzzy classic that should have been huge – an album recorded by an LA group who'd moved to Hawaii – which was probably the reason the never broke as big as they should! The trio definitely borrow a page or two from the Jimi Hendrix Experience – especially in the way they fly their fuzz flag high on some of the heavier tunes – but they're also equally committed to an overall group sound, especially on the more catchy numbers – which have these great hooks that maybe sound even better, given the raw indie presentation of the songs! In the hands of a bigger label, these guys would have easily hit the hard rock heights of the early 70s – but maybe it's also the obscurity of this set that makes it so delightful too. Titles include "Remember Mary", "Goin Down The Road", "Sweet Pea", "Standin By The River", "Walk Marie", "Thru Rusty Windows", and "Bugalusa Baby" – plus a drum solo titled after the drummer, "Willy Bims". LP, Vinyl record album

Raw early genius from the 13th Floor Elevators – cut back at a time when the Texas combo were one of the hippest things going in the late 60s American underground! There's lots of sounds here that other cats would copy over the decades – but the record has a gritty brilliance that's way better than any of its many imitators – that kind of unique burst of new ideas and young energy that made psych so wonderful when it first emerged in remarkable moments like this! Roky Erickson is wonderful – and the record will definitely illustrate his genius way better than any later efforts to bear his own name in the lead – and the production is just the right blend of studio tricks and homegrown oddness to make the whole thing electrified throughout. Tracks include "Slip Inside This House", "Slide Machine", "Dust", "Earthquake", "Levitation", "Postures", "Baby Blue", and "Nobody To Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Marcos Valle might look a bit sad and forlorn with all those fruity drinks on the cover – but the record itself is a wonderfully upbeat session, and one that's very much in the same modern soul mode of Vontade De Rever Voce! As on that record, the sound here shows strong traces of Marcos' early 80s collaborations with Leon Ware in California – and the overall groove is a nice mix of boogie, two step, and smoother soul – a genre that we never would have expected during Valle's bossa years, but which comes off tremendously well here! There's lots of warmly stepping bass amidst smooth jazzy horns – and the tracks all have a compressed groove that keeps things nice and crisp – plenty classy, in a way that's supremely appealing if you dig early 80s mellow soul. Titles include a remake of "Viola Enluarada", plus "Naturalmente", "Estrelar", "Samba De Verao", "Dia D", "Mals Que Amor" ,"Fogo Do Sol", "Tapa No Real", and "Tapetes Guardanapos Cetins". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most amazing records we've heard from Scott Walker in years – a set that even stands out from the incredible sounds of his revived career in the past decade or two! Walker's been a dark artist during all of those times – far moodier than any of his work of the 60s or 70s might make you expect – but here, he steps sideways a bit, and casts his shadow in a slightly different light – working with larger orchestrations on the music, which was designed as the soundtrack to the film in the title – although the album has more than enough appeal to Walker fans on its own! The big difference this time is that the setting is instrumental – a large batch of strings and woodwinds conducted by Mark Warman, with all the moody currents that Walker has given us in his music from Tilt onwards – but reflected here without those trademark vocals, in ways that put even more emphasis on Scott's tonal conception of the different instrumental elements. Longtime studio partner Peter Walsh produced the set with Walker – and the whole thing really lives up to the legacy of haunting sounds that began with their collaboration on Climate Of The Hunter. LP, Vinyl record album

A fairly orchestral and dramatic score to this film that starred Marlon Brando as a GI in Japan. The opening features Irving Berlin's famous song "Sayonara", and the rest of the album features original compositons by Franz Waxman, plus variations on the "Sayonara Theme". Titles include "Death Scene", "Street Fight", "Eileen", "By The Bridge", and "Sakura Sakura". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic 70s classic from Stevie Wonder – part of a great run of records in which he broke completely from his earlier Motown sound – and showed the world that he was one of the true musical visionaries of the decade! The righteous currents of his previous few albums are fully in place here, taken with a bit more focus that helped the record gain Stevie a few new followers in the crossover market, while still offering up plenty to please all the minds that had already been blown by is initial work of the 70s! There's some fantastic themes here, and so many new ideas too – and titles include the slow-funk moog classic "Creepin", which has these wonderful washes of sound throughout, weird vocals by Stevie, and some drums that bump around in off-kilter little patterns just at the right moments. The album also includes the hit "Boogie On Reggae Woman", plus "Too Shy To Say", "You Haven't Done Nothin", "It Ain't No Use", "Bird Of Beauty", and "Please Don't Go". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic 70s classic from Stevie Wonder – part of a great run of records in which he broke completely from his earlier Motown sound – and showed the world that he was one of the true musical visionaries of the decade! The righteous currents of his previous few albums are fully in place here, taken with a bit more focus that helped the record gain Stevie a few new followers in the crossover market, while still offering up plenty to please all the minds that had already been blown by is initial work of the 70s! There's some fantastic themes here, and so many new ideas too – and titles include the slow-funk moog classic "Creepin", which has these wonderful washes of sound throughout, weird vocals by Stevie, and some drums that bump around in off-kilter little patterns just at the right moments. The album also includes the hit "Boogie On Reggae Woman", plus "Too Shy To Say", "You Haven't Done Nothin", "It Ain't No Use", "Bird Of Beauty", and "Please Don't Go". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic record from the late 60s years of Herb Alpert – a time when the trumpeter was really opening up his sound, and starting to hit some of the same cool styles of his other great acts on the A&M label! Gone are the trademark Cali-Mex arrangements of the early Tijuana Brass records – and in their place are these soaring, soulful styles that draw heavily from the late 60s changes in Brazilian music, American soundtracks, and jazz! Shorty Rogers helped a bit with the charts, and you can definitely hear his cool touches in the mix – and the trumpet solos are nicely changed up from previous records too. Herb does a great job with Nilsson's excellent cut "Without Her", and the band grooves nicely on Brazil cuts "The Sea Is My Soil" and "Zazueira", plus "Pretty World", "To Wait For Love", "Sandbox", "Marjorine", and "The Continental". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic set from this Swedish nine piece ensemble – a record that's overflowing with brash performance and unbridled energy – adventurous, but never totally free – and always given the right sort of focus to make things come across with a tremendous amount of power! The feel is almost like a Moserobie Records take on a Charles Mingus style – and the lineup features Martin Kuchen on alto and tenor – who also composed the album's five long tracks – plus Magnus Broo on trumpet, Matthias Stahl on vibes, Goran Kajfes on cornet, Mats Aleklint on trombone, Eirik Hegdal on baritone, Alexander Zethson on piano, Johan Berthling on bass, and Andreas Werliin on drums. If you know any of those players at all, you can imagine the greatness of the group – on titles that include "Adror", "Equality & Death", "Pacemaker", "Disappeared Behind The Sun", and "Love Flee Thy House". LP, Vinyl record album

A well-titled set from one of the greatest soul groups to ever come from Chicago – a sublime quartet who had a way of voicing their tunes that was really head and shoulders above most of their contemporaries! This killer record showcases The Artistics' genius right from the start – mixing in some deeper soul modes than you might expect from the Windy City side of Brunswick Records – yet still keeping the Chicago contingent firmly in place thanks to production by Carl Davis, arrangements by Sonny Sanders, and a wonderful set of material written by the likes of Eugene Record, Floyd Smith, Marvin Smith, and Gerald Sims. The vocals are wonderful – rawer at some moments than others, which really gives the album a great sense of personality – and titles include their hit "You Left Me", plus "The Other Side Of Sadness", "Fading Memories", "Man With Feeling", "Have No Pity", and "Ain't That The Way It Goes". LP, Vinyl record album

A really breakout moment for The Artistics – and the start of a really sublime run with the great Brunswick Records! The group had already broken a bit on Okeh a few years before – securing a top spot on the Chicago scene with their bouncy northern soul groove – a love of rhythm that made them as much a favorite on dancefloors as they were with fans of harmony soul. But on this sweet set, things come together even better than before – thanks to strong leads by singer Marvin Smith, who brings a real sense of personality to the group's harmonies – and wonderful Brunswick studio help that includes Sonny Sanders arrangements and Carl Davis production. The whole thing's wonderful – and tracks include the hit "I'm Gonna Miss You", plus "On & On", "Sweeter Than Sugar", "Hope We Have", "Girl I Need You", "You're Wonderful", and "Love Song". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful early Verve recording by Basie – one that's packaged here in a great David Stone Martin cover, with a red and blue watercolor of Basie himself. Players include Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Ernie Wilkins, Marshall Royal, Joe Newman, Thad Jones, Bennie Powell, and Freddie Green – plus Basie, of course. Titles include "Two Franks", "Ska Di Didle Dee Bee Doo", "Rails", "Blues Backstage", and "Perdido" – and there's a very strong focus on the best soloists in the group! (Note: this material was also issued under the title The Band Of Distinction – but this is the first version.) LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album from Joe Bataan – so great, that it made the entire record company change its name! The record has Joe really bursting out after his seminal Latin Soul work of the late 60s – blending Latin rhythms and American soul into a whole new style of music – one that Joe called "Salsoul", because of it's mixture of salsa and soul! The blend is fantastic, a real milestone in the NuYorican scene – and handled perfectly by Joe on every cut! There's some massive Latin funk on here, including the tracks "Latin Strut" and "Aftershower Funk", plus some straighter Latin jazz, like "Sunny Gets Blue Mambo", and a great Latin Soul cut with English vocals called "Johnny". LP, Vinyl record album

Bernstein at his best – coming up with a strong and driving score, written to accompany this great little western that starred Dean Martin and John Wayne! The main theme's got a lot of punch, and is very much in a "Magnificent 7" mode, and the other tracks on the album are good variations of the style. There's one vocal number – "The Sons Of Katie Elder", sung by Johnny Cash – plus a recitation by John Wayne, called "Texas Is A Woman". Other tracks include "Katie's Bible", "Rebuked", "Memories Of Clearwater", and "Dangerous Journey". LP, Vinyl record album

The landmark first album recorded by Andy Bey and his hip sisters Salome and Geraldine – cut even before their 2 rare classics on Prestige! The style here is completely sublime – a unique blend of jazz, folk, and some earthier elements – all served up with the warm and wonderful harmonies the Beys brought to jazz. The tracks are sometimes familiar numbers, but they're done with a really unique twist – and the album features an incredible reading of "A Felicidade", plus the cuts "Mood Indigo", "Zombie Jamboree", "Dreamy", "Smooth Sailing", "Trees", "Revenge", and "It Must Be So". LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary debut of Black Moon – and a landmark classic indie hip hop classic from the early 90s east coast scene – given the top shelf deluxe box set treatment at long last! Beloved by the deeper digging hip hop heads back in the day, and making a few waves commercially with the singles "Who Got Da Props?" and "I Got Cha Opin" – this one never really got its due in the mainstream despite being hugely influential. Produced by Da Beatminerz and featuring appearances by Smif-N-Wessun and Havoc from Mobb Deep, this one's well worth catching up on – with the tracks ""Powaful Impak!", "Ack Like U Want It", "Sh** Iz Real", "Enta Da Stage" and more. 2016 box set edition from Fat Beats has 6CDs with the original album, complete Beatminerz instrumentals and full album of remixes – 2LPs each – plus an 18-page insert with new notes, unreleased photos and interviews! LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual early 70s live date – with long tracks that include "Perception", "Blues March", and "Bird Like" – plus work by Bill Hardman on trumpet, David Schnitter on tenor, Mickey Tucker on piano, and Cameron Brown on bass! LP, Vinyl record album

The breakthrough album by Blondie! Parallel Lines is their third album overall, and having been released only 7 months after their second, you know they were hungry to break big – and they do it here with unbeatable cool. For as tight and bright as as the sound is, a trademark of producer Mike Chapman, there's still something of the raucous downtown energy here – and also some pretty great stylistic strides, such as the disco-aware smash "Heart Of Glass". Includes the equally classic "One Way Or Another" plus "Hanging On The Telephone", "Just Go Away", "I Know But I Don't Know" "Will Anything Happen", "Picture This", "11:59 and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The breakthrough album by Blondie! Parallel Lines is their third album overall, and having been released only 7 months after their second, you know they were hungry to break big – and they do it here with unbeatable cool. For as tight and bright as as the sound is, a trademark of producer Mike Chapman, there's still something of the raucous downtown energy here – and also some pretty great stylistic strides, such as the disco-aware smash "Heart Of Glass". Includes the equally classic "One Way Or Another" plus "Hanging On The Telephone", "Just Go Away", "I Know But I Don't Know", "Will Anything Happen", "Picture This", "11:59" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A lost album of funky jazz that features work by the great Nathan Davis! The combo's a hip rock-influenced one – mixing together acoustic funky jazz with a slight touch of electric bass, in a manner that's in keeping with some of the hipper jazz rock groups that were coming out of England and Germany at the end of the 60s. Scott Bradford's the leader of the group – and he plays piano, Hohner electric, and organ – and other players include Stu Martin on drums, Gunther Lenz on bass, Nathan Davis on tenor sax and flute, and Philip Catherine on occasional guest guitar solos. The tracks follow nicely in the messed-up vibe of some of the MPS groups of the time – with lots of chunky hard-hitting grooves, peppered with real jazz soloing, especially from Davis, who gets in some of the weirdest reed work of his career on the album! Titles include two Davis originals – "Mid Evil Dance", and "Kansas City Mascher" – plus the cuts "Samsara", "Essential Horror", and "Issa". LP, Vinyl record album

Pure greatness from Brand Nubian at their early best! The Nubes' have made a handful of solid-to-great albums, but none could top this essential debut. Grand Puba, Sadat X and Lord Jamar are on point with the politicized rhymes over classic early 90s jazzed up, funky beats, built from now well known breaks – and truly raising the bar for classic east coast production. With the classics "All For One", "Slow Down", "Drop The Bomb", "Concerto In X Minor", and 2 mixes of "Wake Up" (Stimulated Dummies mix and the penultimate reprise), plus "Who Can Get Busy Like This Man. . .", "Ragtime", "To The Right", "Dance To My Ministry", "Step To The Rear", "Try To Do Me", "Grand Puba, Positive & LG" and "Dedication". LP, Vinyl record album

The lone album from the Bubble Puppy – a monumental effort of late 60s hard grooving psychedelia – and one of very best albums to come out of the original Texas psych scene! A couple of the Pup's labelmates at United Artists get a lot of revelry all these years later, and rightfully so – who would argue the importance of The Red Krayola and 13th Floor Elevators – but Bubbly Puppy deserve to be on that top shelf, too. The sound is tight and hard hitting, with trippy lyricism and groovy group harmonies, while the guitars range from cathartic fuzz to some surprisingly pretty melodicism. Not as far out as some of their peers, but the groove is absolutely killer. Titles include the benchmark single "Hot Smoke And Sasafrass", plus "Todd's Tune", "I've Got To Reach You", "Lonely", "Hurry Sundown", "Elizabeth", "It's Safe To Say", "Beginning" and much more. LP, Vinyl record album

The great self-titled Alice Clark LP on Mainstream plus earlier singles for Warner Brothers and unreleased tracks – the complete studio recordings from '68-72 – in one great set! There weren't many vocal albums on the Mainstream label during the early 70s, and this rare soul side is a real overlooked gem! Alice Clark has a rich soulful voice, with a style that sounds a bit like Esther Marrow, mixed with some of the lead vocalists in Voices Of East Harlem – a really right-on sort of sound that's totally great, and way hipper than most 70s chart soul! Arrangements are by Ernie Wilkins, who brings in a touch of jazz – but again, with a much hipper feel than most of his other backings – and most of the tracks are quite obscure, well-written tunes – of the sort of material you might expect to hear sung by Gil Scott-Heron or Donny Hathaway. Includes "Don't You Care", "Charms Of The Arms Of Love", "Maybe This Time", "Looking At Life", "Hey Girl", "Don't Wonder Why", "It Takes Too Long To Learn To Live Alone", "Hard Hard Promises" and the rest from the classic and always sought self-titled album from 1972 – plus great earlier Warner Brothers singles "You Hit Me (Right Where It Hurts Me)" and "Heaven's Will (Must Be Obeyed)" from 1969, and the previously unreleased "Before Her Time". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic album of mellow soul by jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb! Yes, that's right, the same Jimmy Cobb who played with Miles Davis in the 50s. This album's very different than Cobb's jazz work – and is a smooth album of jazzy soul, with a wonderfully warm vibe that sounds like some of the material on the Capitol Rare compilations. Nearly every track has vocals – either by the lovely Marilyn Redfield or by Gregory Hines – and the players on the album include jazz greats like Freddie Hubbard, Dave Liebman, Walter Booker, Larry Willis, Pee Wee Ellis, and others. Includes the jazzy stepper's classic "So Nobody Else Can Hear", plus "Pistachio", "Little Girl", "Remembering The Rain", "Spotlight", and "Cute". LP, Vinyl record album

Mad funk from Dennis Coffey – and the follow-up to his landmark Evolution album! It's interesting to note that Coffey's group is listed as the "Detroit Guitar Band" – which kind of foregrounds their link between the city's two strongest music sides of the late 60s: the hard heavy rock of groups like The Stooges and MC5, and the still-strong soul industry, of which Coffey was a seminal part. But note also that Coffey's the only guy playing guitar on the record, thanks to the magic of overdubs! The album features a funky follow-up to Coffey's earlier hit, called "Son Of Scorpio", plus plenty of other funky guitar numbers like "Capricorn's Thing", "Lonely Moon Child", "Twins Of Gemini", and "The Sagitarian". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark first album from drummer Norman Connors – a spiritual jazz masterpiece that builds wonderfully on the post-Coltrane tradition! Norman is years away from his smoother soul recordings at this point, and coming out of a righteous jazz background that included work with Marion Brown and Archie Shepp. For this initial set, Norman's in incredible company – working with players that include Herbie Hancock on both electric and acoustic keys, plus Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Gary Bartz and Carlos Garnett on saxes, Stanley Clarke on bass, and Billy Hart and Airto on percussion – plus a chorus of vocalists on the album's mighty title cut! Tracks are all long, spiritual, and freely exploratory – but never in a style that goes too far outside, or that forgets the joy and love that can spring forth in a forward-thinking session like this one! Titles include "Dance Of Magic", "Give The Drummer Some", "Morning Change", and "Blue". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant mix of soul and jazz from the legendary Norman Connors – a key album in breaking Norman out back in the 70s – and a record that's still pretty darn perfect all these many years later! You can hear Connors' deep roots throughout the set – but they're often used towards a more sophisticated soul agenda, too – blending in elements of jazz vocals and modern R&B, at a level that so many other artists would copy in years to come – but which Norman virtually helped invent with this landmark album! There's some mellow moments on the record that are every bit as wonderful as the funky ones – some laidback tracks that feature sublime vocals from Jean Carn, pre-Philly – and which also really introduce the soul side of Michael Henderson – an artist who most folks had previously known as a bass player. Connors mixes the funky and the smooth at a level that rivals the best Roy Ayers material of the same time – and titles include the massive hit "Valentine Love" – plus "Saturday Night Special", "Kwasi", "Dindi", "Akia", "Skin Diver", and a sweet version of "Maiden Voyage"! LP, Vinyl record album