Meshell Ndegeocello just seems to grow more and more with each new record – quite a feat, given how unique she was at the start! Yet this record clearly marks a new chapter in her wonderful legacy – effortlessly weaving together soul, funk, and plenty of jazzy inspiration – all with an approach that's complex, but with a very down to earth appeal – and served up with all sorts of great guests on the sessions – including Brandee Younger on harp, Joel Ross on vibes, Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet, and Jeff Parker on guitar! Yet it's Meshell who's clearly the leader, the visionary, and the artist who's never content to stay in one lane – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Clear Water", "ASR", "Good Good", "Omnipuss", "An Invitation", "Call The Tune", "Georgia Ave", "Virgo", "Perceptions", "Towers", and "Tha King". CD

Lizz Wright continues to grow and grow with each new release – with a style that's maybe more globalist than just the jazz and soul vocal modes that first informed her music – this really expressive mode that's moved into territory that's all Lizz's own – and which takes all these different shapes throughout the set! A key force in creativity here is bassist Chris Bruce – an artist we loved years back, when he was part of our Chicago scene – clearly a talent who's also evolved tremendously, and is a great partner for Wright, with whom he co-wrote some of the album's best tracks. The set features guest appearances from Meshell Ndegeocello, Brandee Younger, and Angelique Kidjo – and titles include "Root Of Mercy", "Sweet Feeling", "Lost In The Valley", "Circling", "Who Knows Where The Time Goes", "No More Will I Run", "This Way", "Your Love", and "Sparrow". CD

A wonderfully genre-hopping collection – put together by Toru Hashimoto, the man behind such incredible Japanese series as the Free Soul, Cafe Apres Midi, and Suburbia compilations for many different labels! Toru really lives up to his legend here, and mixes music from different scenes and styles, but in a way that not only makes total sense – but also seems to have the tracks resonate even more strongly in the company of each other – moving from soul to bossa, jazz, vocal, and even hip hop cuts! Titles include "It's You" by Joyce Cooking, "I've Got You Under My Skin" by G9 Group, "Persian Love" by Holger Czukay, "Never Did I Stop Loving You" by Alice Clark, "What Else Can I Say" by Ingram, "Another Day" by Precise Hero, "NYC Tonight (version voc Shintaro Sakamoto)" by Dump, "Beautiful Love" by Myron & the Works with Meshell Ndegeocello and Robert Glasper, "Just The Way You Are" by Meta Roos & Nippe Sylwens Band, "Little Girl Lost" by Penny Goodwin, "Hunk Of Heaven" by Lemuria, "Why Don't We Fall In Love" by John Valenti, "Love Oh Love" by Vince Andrews, "You've Got To Have Freedom" by Pharoah Sanders, and "In All The Wrong Places" by Kero One. CD

A fantastic little set that looks at the huge wave of top-shelf AOR material recorded in recent years – part of a huge global re-awakening to the charms of the genre – often with results that are even groovier than the classic records of the 70s! One of the compelling things here is that the music isn't being made by big names on major labels – and instead is an almost-underground thing – but handled at a level that's completely faithful to the best Cali styles of the 70s – from sweet jazzy instrumentation right down to the perfect production styles to get the whole thing right. You'll recognize a few names here – and will hopefully discover a lot more too – as titles include "Tell Me" by William Sikstrom, "Quiet Storm" by Workshy, "Liberation Groove" by Incognito, "You Make My Life A Better Place" by Mamas Gun, "What You Deserve" by Chris Cauley, "See Me Slumber" by Young Gun Silver Fox, "Melt The Night" by Lucas Arruda, "All Smiles" by Jeremy Passion, "Walkin On Air" by Tomi Malm, "Good To Live" by Monkey House, "Thoughts" by Michael Carreon, "Dangerous" by Umii, "Hello Monday" by Briamarie, "The Greatest" by King, "Perish The Thought" by Ned Doheny, "Sweet Life" by Mike Champion, and "Don't Disturb This Groove" by Meshell Ndegeocello. CD

It's been over 15 years since the last Liberation record from Talib Kweli and Madlib, and the planet's changed a lot – and maybe not for the better, which is a good reason the duo are back to serve up a heady helping of their message-oriented music! We've always thought that Talib sounds best in the company of Madlib, and this time around he's also got plenty of help – from a great leadoff spoken passage by Diani, through work from Seun Kuti, Mac Miller, Amani, Q Tip, Goapele, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jaimie Branch, and even Roy Ayers – all present as maybe a tribute to what's at the core! Titles include "Loop Digga's Revenge", "One For Biz", "Nat Turner", "Air Quotes", "Wild Beauty", "Ad Vice", "Assata's Code", "After These Messages", "Something Special", and "Marathon Through Babylon". CD

The start of an amazing new chapter in the career of Robert Glasper – one that would soon set the tone for a number of other records to come! This set features loads of Glasper's enigmatic piano lines – those fluid, elliptical sounds that are always filled with plenty of soul and imagination – matched here with guest vocals from a host of key talents – including Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway, Musiq Soulchild, Meshell Ndegeocello, Bilal, and Lupe Fiasco! The blend is surprisingly wonderful – not a sell out at all, but a way for Glasper's music to reach a rich new level of expression – as the vocals really help the instrumental elements come alive – and unlock this side of Robert's potential that was always lurking in the background. One of the best musical moments from Blue Note at the time – with titles that include "Always Shine", "Move Love", "Ah Yeah", "Lift Off", "Afro Blue", "Cherish The Day", "Black Radio", and "Letter To Hermione". Deluxe edition features great bonus material – the cuts "Twice", "Love Supreme", and "Fever" – plus the full work of the Recovered Remix EP – including "The Consequences Of Jealousy (Georgia Anne Muldrow's sassy geemix)", "Letter To Hermoine (Robert Glasper and Jewels rmx)", "Dillalude #2", "Twice (?uestlove's twice baked rmx)", "Black Radio (Pete Rock rmx)", and "Afro Blue (9th Wonder's blue light basement rmx)". CD

Contemporary soul, but with a very classic vibe – material pulled together by the P-Vine label from Japan, with a vibe that partly echoes some of the warmer styles of the city soul generation from years back! We've always dug compilations of this nature, but these days so much music gets just a digital release, it's even more important than ever to trust our ears to a well-done compilation like this – one that mixes together some recent favorites with neo soul tracks that are a very fresh discovery to our ears! There's a few older tracks in the lineup too – and titles include "April" by Spangle Call Lilli Line, "A Merry Feeling" by 9m88, "Gonna Love You Right" by The Mighty Soulmates, "Fast Food" by Fieh, "Farewell" by Covert, "Tender Love" by Meshell Ndegeocello, "Call You Right Now" by Jwestern, "With The Music" by Matt Johnson, "Valencia" by Emm Gryner, "Hard Enough" by Zachary Crawford, "Let's Stay Out" by Halfby with Ginger Root, "Broken" by Robohands, and "Don't Let Me Get Away" by Nate Smith with Stokley. CD