Heavenly soul by one of the best voices to come out of the New York Uptown Soul scene of the 60s! Maxine's got an amazing style that never stops being soulful, yet which also reaches new levels of sophistication, not often heard from other 60s soul divas. This original Wand LP is a treasure, and is filled with loads of original cuts – like "Forget Him", "Now That You've Gone", "Wanting You", "Think Of Me", and the classic "Funny". Great stuff, and a tough one to find! LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty great little live set – recorded in Central Park in the late 60s, before a very large crowd! Lou sounds great, as always – and the Ramsey Lewis material is very much in the spirit of the live mid 60s Cadet recordings. Maxine Brown is the real treat, though, as the live setting is quite a contrast to her more staid sides for Wand. Maxine sings "In The Midnight Hour" and "Soul Serenade", Lou Sings "They Don't Give Medals", "Tobacco Road", and "On Broadway", and Ramsey plays "Salute To Ray Charles", "Hang On Sloopy", and "Goin Out Of My Head". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

One of Oscar Brown's great ones, recorded live at the Cellar Door in Washington before an enthusiastic crowd of hipsters! The record's a beautiful mix of soul, jazz, and folk – in the same Chicago tradition that spawned Terry Callier (although Brown's style has a bit more of a "show" feel to it). There's a lot of great stuff on here, and most of it doesn't appear on Oscar's other albums in studio versions. Tracks include "Call of the City", "Muffled Drums", "Maxine", "Brother Where Are You?", and more! Backing's by a tight little combo that includes Floyd Morris and Phil Upchurch! LP, Vinyl record album

Hardly any ragtime here – despite the title – and instead, the album's one of the greatest ever from drummer Beaver Harris – cut with his ultra-hip 360 Degree Music Experience group! The title is somewhat accurate in that the record brings together a long history of jazz-based expression – almost a century's worth of music, served up by Harris and the group members with the same fluid sensibility as Jaki Byard in his best work, although Byard was never this ambitious! The ensemble is somewhat large, but really comes together well – with an impressive range of artists who include Doc Cheatham on trumpet, Marshall Brown on trombone, Dave Burrell on piano, Keith Marks on flute, Cecil McBee and Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Maxine Sullivan and Bill Willingham on vocals. The album's sort of a mini-history of jazz, but one that's hardly hokey at all – and which usually veers towards Harris' more righteous modes of the 70s, even when hitting older styles. Sullivan is especially great – singing here as a sophisticated soul jazz diva of the 70s, and hardly the older-styled singer we might expect. A few moments are stripped down and percussive – and other odd instrumentation includes a bit of sitar and steel drums. Titles include "It's Hard To But We Do", "I Wish I Knew", "Can There Be Peace?", "Down In Brazil", "African Drums", and "Round Trip". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice selection of classic 60s soul numbers, focusing on women who like to exercise their pipes, and while we had remembered this set hewed close to the mainstream, there's a few nice little nuggets on here that they dug a little deeper for. 14 tracks in all: "The Nitty Gritty" by Shirley Ellis, "Tell Mama" by Etta James, "Hard To Handle" by Patti Drew, "Bold Soul Sister" by Ike & Tina Turner, "Lee Cross" and "You Send Me" by Aretha Franklin, "Heartbeat" by Gloria Jones, "Stay With Me" by Lorraine Ellison, "Wang Dang Doodle" by Koko Taylor, "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)" by Barbara George, "Rescue Me" by Fontella Bass, "Hypnotized" by Linda Jones, "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)" by the Sweet Inspirations, and "Ask Me" by Maxine Brown. LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from Wand Records, a real powerhouse in 60s soul – featuring not hits, but nicely obscure tracks by Nella Dodds, The Gentlemen Four, The Ivories, Darryl Stewart, Clarence Reid, Wally Cox, the Charts, Ed Bruce, Billy Thompson, Walter Wilson, and The Masqueraders – plus two by Maxine Brown! LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Dionne Warwick, Barbara Lewis, Gladys Knight And The Pips, Gloria Lynne, Ketty Lester, Betty Everett, Maxine Brown, Gloria Jones, and Bessie Banks. LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark early moment from Doris Troy – a set that has her shining not just as a key 60s soul singer for Atlantic Records – but also as a heck of a great songwriter too! She's got a really fresh approach here – one that's right up front for the time – with a mix of raw vocals and classy production, in a style that's partly New York uptown – but which also has the kind of strongly individual vibe you'd get from singers like Maxine Brown or Barbara Lewis too! Arrangements on the record are by Gregory Carroll, who also wrote the bulk of the material with Doris – including tracks like "Lazy Days", "Bossa Nova Blues", "Whatcha Gonna Do About It", "Time", and "Just One Look". Other tracks include "Stormy Weather", "School For Fools", and "Somewhere Along The Way". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic heartbreaking soul from Brenda Holloway – one of the weepiest early records on Motown, as you might guess from the title! The style here is almost more New York uptown than Detroit at times – a fair bit like Maxine Brown with its mix of strength and fragility on the vocals, and scored by the Davis/Gordon team with a subtle sense of drama. Strings step in on most numbers, but never in a sleepy way – and there's plenty of nicely stepping tunes here that maintain a good sense of Motown rhythm, even in mellower moments. Titles include "Sad Song", "I've Been Good To You", "Every Little Bit Hurts", "Too Proud To Cry", "A Favor For A Girl", "Suddenly", "You Can Depend On Me", and "Can I". LP, Vinyl record album

Soul singer Ruby Johnson never recorded a full album back in the day – and this set nicely corrects that fact, by bringing together some of her rare singles as a wonderful ten track album! Ruby's got a richness that's in the best southern soul mode of the time – a voice that would fit easily right next to the best Chess material by Etta James, but occasionally giving a slight uptown pitch in the backings – maybe a bit like Maxine Brown at moments too! Yet whatever the case, Johnson's a wonderfully expressive singer – and really knocks it out of the park on this set of heartbreaking gems – titles that include "No No No", "If I Ever Needed Love", "It's Not That Easy", "I'll Run Your Heart Away", "Let Me Apologize", "I'd Better Check Myself", "Come To Me My Darling", and "How Strong Is My Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Great work from Max Roach's Double Quartet of the mid 80s – a group that wasn't just an octet, but an expansion of Max's regular four piece group with the addition of a string quartet! The core jazz sound of Odeon Pope's tenor, Tyrone Brown's electric bass, and Cecil Bridgewater's trumpet is expanded by a string group that includes Maxine Roach on viola – and that family relation is probably one reason that made experimentation like this easy for Max! The approach is a surprisingly great one – as the quartet seems to hold the Roach group a bit more inside than before – letting Pope and Bridgewater stretch out on their solos, but not get as sloppy as they had in some of the more outside Roach quartet outings. And the strings color in things really nicely in classic "with strings" jazz mode – but one that echoes more with 70s soul jazz use of such styles than earlier approaches. Titles include "A Little Booker", "Easy Winners", "Sis", and "Birds Says". LP, Vinyl record album

A great early collection of upbeat 60s soul from Ace/Kent Records – featuring 16 cuts by The Rocky Fellers, Benny Gordon, Rosco Robinson, Shirelles, Maxine Brown, Young Holt Trio, Jackie Wilson, Isley Brothers, Chuck Jackson, Artistics, Roy Head, and The Esquires! LP, Vinyl record album