One of those rare Blue Note sessions from tenorist Tina Brooks – originally recorded for the label in 1960, but never issued at the time – yet easily on a par with their more famous work of the period! Brooks' horn has a nice hard edge here – that sharp-edged modernism you'd hear with Jackie McLean, who makes a key appearance here on the album's famous "Street Singer" track. Jackie's not on the rest of the record, but that's fine with us – because other players are all equally great, and include Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. Apart from "Street Singer", other titles include "The Ruby & The Pearl", "Back To The Tracks", "For Heaven's Sake", and "The Blues & I". CD

A very groovy album from jazz drum legend Buddy Rich – a set that's very different than anything else he ever did, including his other groovy albums from the 60s! The album's a surprisingly strong blend of jazz and Indian music – Rich on drums, and Alla Rakha on tablas – working under the direction of Ravi Shankhar, who helped put together the set! Tracks are long, all ragas, but with jazz inflections – and the record also features great work from Paul Horn on flute, a player who's perfect for these experiments – next to other musicians on sitar, tamboura, and dholak. Titles include "Tal Sawari", "Nagma E Raksh", "Rangeela", "Duet In Dadra", and "Khanda Kafi". CD

A very cool late 60s spy soundtrack from Italian maestro Armando Trovajoli – possibly one of his most dynamic scores of the time, filled with a range of modes – from jazzy, to moody, to mellow! The main theme of the film has a leaping, soaring piano/horn line that's totally great – quite driving and catchy, with enough of a groove to make it alone worth seeking out – but other tracks are plenty wonderful too, and feature a nice array of jazzy passages mixed with sweeter strings, plus a few sparer, more contemplative moments that echo the theme in very subtle ways. The lovely Lara Saint Paul sings the theme song "The Touch Of A Kiss" – and other titles include "The Report Is Completed", "Just Pull The Trigger", "The Last Gift", "A Bank In Zurich", "The Cottage Over The River", "Unexpected Note", "A Forced Meeting", "Suddenly An Old Friend", "Tears & Spies", and "She Dangerous Stuff". CD

Three overseas sessions from American tenor great Eddie Lockjaw Davis! Jaws Strikes Again is a slightly different setting than some of the other 70s albums from Eddie Lockjaw Davis – in that the set was recorded for the Black & Blue label, who always liked to get a nice gritty punch out of the players they recorded! Given Eddie's legendary tone, the approach works perfectly here – on tracks that are short and focused – and which feature some mighty nice work on Hammond from Wild Bill Davis, plus guitar from the great Billy Butler, and drums from Oliver Jackson! Titles include "Jumpin With Symphony Sid", "The Man I Love", "When Sunny Gets Blue", "Candy", "After You're Gone", and "Light & Lovely". Nice Jazz 1978 is a great example of Eddie in collaboration – as Eddie Lockjaw Davis is a hell of a player on his own – but he's maybe even more amazing when he works alongside other horn soloists – who always seem to inspire Davis to bring out the boldest, mouthiest side of his horn! That tenor is alive and well, and wonderfully set up here – in five different live performances from the Nice Jazz Festival in 1978 – two with Illinois Jacquet on tenor, six with Harry Edison on trumpet, and one more with Paul Bascomb on tenor and Eddie Vinson on alto. Tracks are nice and long – that back/forth jam session style that Eddie does so well – and titles include "Rompin With JC", "Brazil", "Lover Come Back To Me", "Just Friends", "On Green Dolphin Street", and "Misty". Jaw's Blues is a nice one from the start of the 80s! Tenorist Eddie Lockjaw Davis always had a hell of a tone – and although his best-remembered dates are maybe from the 50s and 60s, the saxophonist still kept on making great records for many years to come! This album's definitely one of those – a European live recording, done in Munich, with Eddie stretching out with the sort of raspy tone that always made his early duets with Johnny Griffin such a delight – getting the sort of sensitive accompaniment here that Griff had on some of his later European dates too. The wonderful Horace Parlan is on piano, with Reggie Johnson on bass, and Alvin Queen on drums – and although it's clear that the Davis tenor solos are the main attraction, the album's a very sold group effort too. Titles include "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Jaw's Blues", "I'll Remember April", "Young Man With A Horn", and "But Beautiful". CD

Red Garland's piano was certainly humming strong at the time of this session – as Red's trio were one of the key rhythm components of many Prestige albums of the late 50s, but also a real starring act on their own! The album's got a laidback, almost mellow feel that's a bit different from some of the Garland accompaniment on horn-based sessions – a style that's introspective, but always spirited – sprightly, but never flowery – that magical style that allowed Garland to bridge different worlds of jazz piano in the 50s. Paul Chambers is a perfect accompaniment here on bass, Art Taylor's work on drums is a masterpiece of understatement, and although the titles are all familiar, they're certainly given a special Garland touch! Titles include "The Very Thought Of You", "If I Were A Bell", "Please Send Me Someone To Love", "I Know Why", and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love". CD

Three full albums from tenorist Illinois Jacquet – served up in a single set! First up are the two volumes of Illinois Jacquet with Wild Bill Davis – a nice lean set from this legendary tenorist – one that features his raw, raspy tone in the company of early Hammond organ giant Wild Bill Davis! Both players get plenty of room here to open up and shine – in a group with the drums of Al Bartee, on soulful takes on tunes that include "Blue & Sentimental", "Blues For New Orleans", "No Sweat", "Just A Sittin & A Rockin", "It Don't Mean A Thing", "Pamela's Blues", "Misty", "The Man I Love", "What Am I Here For", and "All Of Me". Nice Jazz 1978 is a great set of performances recorded live in France in the late 70s! The tracks are long, open, and relaxed – and really seem to bring out the best in Jacquet's horn – as he's paired with the tenor of Eddie Lockjaw Davis on three tracks, the tenor of Paul Bascomb on another, and the trumpet of Clark Terry on one more – while working with help from either Hank Jones or Roland Hanna on piano. Our three favorite tracks are the ones with Davis – which almost have a reworked version of the groove that Eddie cut with Johnny Griffin on a number of records – but overall, the material is all pretty great, and is a strong showcase for the Jacquet raspy sound. Titles include "Lean Baby", "Blues From NO", "Mop Mop", "Cotton Tail", "Blues From Louisiana", and "Robbin's Nest". CD

A double-length live set from Oregon – one that acts as a nice bracket to their 70s work for the Vanguard label, and which maybe points the way towards the direction they'd soon take at ECM! As some of their contemporaries were maybe getting even more electric, the group deliver a fantastic acoustic set throughout – guitars from Ralph Towner, who also plays piano and a bit of French horn – plus sitar and tabla from Collin Walcott, bass and violin from Glen Moore, and a mix of saxes, flute, and other reeds from Paul McCandless! The sound is nice and open – maybe more spacious and patient than the group's earlier work – really opening up on the longer live tracks on the set. Titles include "Arion", "Waterwheel", "Buzzbox", "Along The Way", "Wanderlust", "Icarus", "Free Piece", and "Deer Path". CD

A really hard-edged set from trumpeter Louis Smith – one of his only two albums as a leader from the early years, and a heck of a great little album, thanks to tenor work by Charlie Rouse! Rouse is blowing beautifully here in one of his classic pre-Monk appearances – recorded at a time when he was more of a hard bopper than a modernist, but still working with an ear for unusual tones and phrasing. His horn sounds beautiful next to the deeply soulful trumpet of Smith – and the pair are supported by a rhythm team that includes Sonny Clark on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. Titles include "Smithville", "Embraceable You", "Wetu", and "Later" – all done in nice long versions! CD

The Jazzman label hits a whole new level of brilliance – as they turn their funk-trained crate digging skills to the world of spiritual jazz! The collection's an amazing batch of ultra-rare tunes – tracks that take inspiration from the John Coltrane/Archie Shepp work on Impulse Records in the 60s, then run with those roots in bold new directions – soaring, spiritual aims in jazz that reach for new freedoms, but never lapse into the totally-outside modes of free jazz! Instead, there's a really great balance here between structure and struggle – as many tunes often have a good rhythmic pulse, usually modal and soulful, then let the horn solos stretch out more in their own sounds and directions. The mix is amazing, as is the selection of tunes – rare numbers pulled mostly from American independent jazz releases of the 60s and 70s – most of which are as obscure as the funky 45s we normally get from Jazzman. As with the label's US funk compilations, there's full notes on all the music – a heck of a lot of detail on these artists – and tracks on the set include "Paul's Ark" by Morris Wilson Beau Bailey Quintet, "Ayo Ayo Nene" by Mor Thiam, "Nomusa" by Ndikho Xaba & The Natives, "The Afrikan In Winter" by The Positive Force, "Neveen" by Salah Ragab, "Ja Mil" by Hastings Street Jazz Experience, "Be There" by Leon Gardner, "Psych City" by Ohio Penitentiary 511 Jazz Ensemble, "Introduction" by James Tatum Trio Plus, and "No Jive" by Frank Derrick Total Experience. US pressing has 2 bonus tracks – "All Prasies To Allah (parts 1 & 2 edit)" by Lightmen Plus One, and "Bada Que Bash" by PE Hewitt Jazz Ensemble. CD

The birth of a legend – a smoking double-length collection of early work from Paul Butterfield and his Blues Band – a group that forever changed the sound of rock in the 70s, thanks to the way in which they really pushed their blues influences into great new territory for the psych and harder rock crowd! Butterfield was the real deal, right from the start – a young kid playing in Chicago blues bars on the south side, which gave him plenty of experience by the time he banded together with the key musicians who'd help him forge his groove – Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop, both masters of guitar whose work alongside Butterfield's vocals and harmonica really helped the music cook. Other players come into the mix along the way too, including the great Nick Gravenites – and the group sometimes add in more horns to further expand the soulful sound of their music. Titles include "Look Over Yonder's Wall", "Walkin Blues", "East West", "Spoonful", "One More Mile", "Mary Mary", "Born In Chicago", "Love March", "Last Hope's Gone", and "One More Heartbeat". CD

A rock-solid effort from De La Soul at the start of the 21st Century – a record that really has the group coming back into their own! On previous records, it had been a little difficult to tell if De La Soul has been trying harder to please their critics, or simply finally being true to themselves by expelling all traces of the perceived hippy-isms of their earlier work – and the answer is probably somewhere in between, but leaning towards their autonomy. They've been a new group all together since Stakes Is High, and Bionix is certainly their best work since – with the Wu Tang-like piano driven beat of the title track, the catchy soul of "Baby Phat" and "Simply", both of which should be nice club hits, and more than a few subtle nods to the Prince Paul years, especially on the "Simply Havin" interlude. "What We Do (For Love)" makes great use of a Slick Rick guest spot – complete with the horny fanfare. Cee-Lo shows up on "Held Down", and B-Real appears on "Peer Pressure" – both of which suggest that De La spent a little time in Stankonia last year. Other tracks include "Watch Out", "Special", "The Sauce", "Pawn Star", "It's American", and "Trying People". CD

An early moment of brilliance as a leader for bassist Peter Kowald – and maybe a record of his that matches the early FMP albums of Peter Brotzmann for sheer, raw intensity! There's almost a Machine Gun-like power here – as the group comes on with all the amazing energy that the early European free jazz scene had to offer – that moment when music like this was as much a force in politics and the larger cultural world as it was in jazz – with Kowald at the head of a group that also features Gunter Christmann and Paul Rutherford on trombones, Peter Van De Locht on alto, and Paul Lovens on drums. The trombones alone are worth the price of admission – and Kowald sometimes joins in on tuba and alphorn – on improvisations that include "Pavement Bolognaise", "Guete Luuni", "Platte Talloere", and "Wenn Wir Kehlkopfoperierte Uns Unterhalten". CD

Jimmy McGriff in a very cool 70s mode – hitting some of the fuller, more soul-based styles that Johnny Hammond and Jimmy Smith were exploring in the middle of the decade – while still also displaying a hell of a talent on the organ as well! The album has extra keyboards from Pat Rebillot and Paul Griffin – which makes for a nice mix of organ and electric piano sounds, plus some occasional moog that's very nicely placed – all backed by a largeish group that has tight horns, and some occasional soul vocals from Al Downing and Denise Wooten. The vocals are often an augmentation of the tunes, and there's still plenty of room for solos by Jimmy in the middle – on titles that include "Tailgunner", "Flexible Flyer", "Sky Hawk", "Grandma's Toe Jam", and "Bullfrog". CD

A lost session by Hank Mobley – originally recorded in 1966, but not officially issued until 1979, and then only briefly until another short issue in the mid 90s! The record has Mobley really reaching out into a new bag – hitting a more soulfully arranged sound than on some of his other straighter Blue Notes – a full, rich groove that's totall wonderful! Duke Pearson arranged the group, and it's slightly larger than usual – with James Spaulding on alto, Lee Morgan on trumpet, McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, Billy Higgins on drums, and Kiane Zawadi and Howard Johnson providing a very unique tuba/euphonium bass part – hardly the clunky horns you might expect, and instead sort of a rumbling bottom-end sound that's really great. Titles include "Hank's Other Bag", "Touch Of Blue", and "A Slice Of The Top". CD

Wahoo is right – as Duke Pearson sets up one of his hippest sessions of the 60s, a lyrical batch of soul jazz tracks, with that slight edge of darkness that he was putting into his best work as the decade progressed! Players include James Spaulding on alto and flute, Joe Henderson on tenor, and Donald Byrd on trumpet – and the overall feel is perhaps a bit like some of those Byrd sessions that were heavily influenced by Pearson, but also with a bit of the later expansive style of writing for horns that you'd find on albums like Pearson's Prarie Dog or Bobby Hutcherson's The Phantom. Titles include "ESP", "Fly Little Bird Fly", "Farewell Machelle", "Bedouin", and "Amanda". CD

The "shellac dust" in the title will let you know what sort of territory you're in here – Christmas songs that go way way back, to the glory days of the 78rpm single, served up in a host of jazz and vocal modes! The set features a fair bit of tracks from the prewar years, and although some of the song titles are familiar, the choice of cuts is unique – so that you'll hear a fair bit of unusual readings of Christmas classics – all of which makes for a package that really lives up to other Bear Family Holiday sets that we've been digging for years! CD version features 28 tracks in all – and titles include "Snow Ball" by Louis Armstrong, "Peace Sister Peace" by Monette Moore & The Ebonaires, "Jingle Bells" by Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke, "And The Angels Sing" by Count Basie with Helen Humes, "What Will Santa Claus Say" by Louis Prima, "Blow Blow Thou Winter Winds" by Bob Crosby with Marion Mann, "Let It Snow" by The Ramblers Orchestra, "Santa's Secret" by Johnny Guarnieri with Slam Stewart, "Ring Dem Bells" by Charlie Barnet, "Christmas Night In Harlem" by Paul Whiteman with Jack Teagarden, "There's Frost On The Moon" by Chick Webb with Ella Fitzgerald, "Bells Of Auld Lang Syne" by Joel Cowan & Thornel Swartz, and "Santa Claus Came In The Spring" by Putney Dandridge. CD

Great work from Neil Larsen – a keyboardist who doesn't always get his due in the hipper sides of the jazz spectrum, but who sounds mighty nice on this solo album for A&M! The set's got Neil's keyboards very firmly in the lead, and also features lots of fuzzy guitar from Buzz Feiten – a player who has the same laidback groove as Larsen – and the record group gets some nice rhythmic help from the mighty Steve Gadd on drums and Paulinho Da Costa on percussion. There's a bit of horns on the set – courtesy of Michael Brecker on tenor and Joe Farrell on flute – and one track features a bit of backing vocals. Nick De Caro did Arp arrangements – and titles include "Nile Crescent", "Rio Este", "Night Letter", "Futurama", and "Demonette". CD

Three 70s killers from Jimmy McGriff! Groove Grease is a nice bit of funky organ work from Jimmy McGriff – a set that's got his famous talents on the Hammond out front of a larger ensemble – but in a way that's very different than some of his albums of that type from the 70s! There's lots of electricity in the mix – electric piano from Horace Ott, bass from Richard Evans, and guitar from Wayne Bennett – mixed with sharp work on horns from Cliff Davis on tenor and flute, Murray Watson on trumpet, and Johnny Beard on baritone – three players who really flesh out the sound! The album's got some excellent stone funky classics – like "The Bird", "Groove Grease", and "Plain Brown Bag" – plus some surprisingly funky readings of standards like "Canadian Sunset" and "Mr Lucky", both made to sound super-nice, thanks to excellent work on bass and drums! Main Squeeze is one of the grooviest albums ever from Jimmy McGriff – a hard-wailing session that's filled with plenty of cooking lines on the organ, and a few especially funky tracks! The groove here is tight, short, and very sharp – strongly in the mode of other post-Sue sessions by McGriff – like The Worm or other Groove Merchant sides – with a style that's often much more focused than Jimmy's earlier years, and strongly turned towards the rhythms of the tunes! A few numbers are more familiar soul jazz, but these are nicely offset by the harder funk numbers of the record – like the romping, stomping break classic "The Main Squeeze", the totally groovy "The Worm Turns", and the fast-vamping "GMI". The group features Jimmy Ponder on guitar and Connie Lester on alto sax – and other titles include "The Sermon", "Stella By Starlight", and "The Blues Train To Georgia". Tailgunner has Jimmy McGriff in a very cool 70s mode – hitting some of the fuller, more soul-based styles that Johnny Hammond and Jimmy Smith were exploring in the middle of the decade – while still also displaying a hell of a talent on the organ as well! The album has extra keyboards from Pat Rebillot and Paul Griffin – which makes for a nice mix of organ and electric piano sounds, plus some occasional moog that's very nicely placed – all backed by a largeish group that has tight horns, and some occasional soul vocals from Al Downing and Denise Wooten. The vocals are often an augmentation of the tunes, and there's still plenty of room for solos by Jimmy in the middle – on titles that include "Tailgunner", "Flexible Flyer", "Sky Hawk", "Grandma's Toe Jam", and "Bullfrog". CD

Don't let the pot reference on the cover put you off, or give you the wrong sort of idea about the record – as the whole thing's tight, sharp, and pretty darn groovy – a wicked batch of blue-eyed soul from the Bay Area scene of the mid 70s, served up at a level that's not too far from some of the best work on Fantasy Records at the time! These guys are clearly a rock band, but have drunk up a heady brew of funk and soul – augmented in both the rhythm elements and the nice use of horns, as well as some of the great lead vocals from singer Paulette Collins! The record's a lost one, but definitely continues that great late 60s Bay Area mode of mixing soul and rock together in a very joyous way – on titles that include the funky sample cut "Mess Up Your Mind", plus "You Got Something", "Clap Your Hands", "First Taste Of Love", "Gonna Make It", "Sativa", "Don't You Worry", "Trying To Hold It Down", and "Skyrocket". This CD includes 3 bonus tracks: "Catch A Falling Star", "Evil That Brings You Down" and "It's A Feeling". CD

Alex Norris has a wonderful sense of tone here on both trumpet and flugelhorn – instruments he trades back and forth nicely across the set, in ways that really help illuminate the different flavors of the original songs that make up most of the album! Tenorist Ari Ambrose is also great too – balancing the phrasing and tonal placement of Norris in a way that opens up the record beautifully – as the pair get some strong accompaniment from Rick Germanson on piano, a player whose energy really seems to resonate with both Ambrose and Norris! The group also features Paul Gill on bass and Brian Floody on drums – and original titles by Norris include "Short Waltz", "Too Many Trips", "No News", "Lights Out", "There It Went", and the especially nice "Bossa Tranquillo". CD

Guitarist Karl Ratzer is great enough on his own here – but he's also joined by the flugelhorn of Art Farmer on three wonderful tracks – all of which offer up a wonderfully fresh setting for Farmer! The core group has older MPS legend Fritz Pauer on piano, with Paulo Cardoso on bass and Marlo Gonzi on drums – and Karl Ratzer has a nice edge in his strings at times – an ability to play with a swing, but also have these sharper tones too – maybe a bit like older Jimmy Raney when he really wanted to sharpen his edge, a quality that seems to inspire Farmer's performance too. Art's on the tracks "Waltz For Ann", "Sageways", and "Small Talk" – and other tracks include "Infant Search", "Hands & Feet", "For Martin", "Karl Call", and "What I Think Of You". CD

A rare treasure from Thad Jones – a unique one-off session for United Artists, cut right around the same time as his classic 50s dates for Blue Note! The format is very laidback and open-ended – not really a blowing session, but kind of a relaxed studio outing – one that has Jones working with some players from his Detroit hometown, laying solos in the cut over some warmly soulful rhythms! Tracks are all nice and long, which gives plenty of room for solos – and in addition to Jones on cornet and flugelhorn, the set also features trombone from Al Grey, tenor from Billy Mitchell, piano from Tommy Flanagan, bass from Paul Chambers, and drums from Elvin Jones. Mitchell is always amazing in a set like this – and the album's one of his few small group sets of the time – worth it alone for his excellent playing. Titles include "Like Old Times", "Minor On Top", "Let's Play One", and "No Refill". CD