One of a few rare albums from Hammond player Sam Lazar – a lesser-known artist from the same searing generation as Baby Face Willette and Jack McDuff, but a musician who never full got his due! This record was done for the Argo side of Chess Records, and it's got a raw sound that's equal parts soul jazz and R&B – with Sam doing some great work on the keys, and the obscure tenorist Miller Brisker in the group too – a really great musician who works with lots of unique twists – and spurs Lazar onto new heights of playing, with maybe an even farther reach on the keys than his other albums. Lazar wrote most of the set, and the tracks include "Deep", "Fuzz Buzz", "S&S", "Scootin", and "Long Gone". A nice bit of soul jazz, with a deep rootsy sound all the way through! LP, Vinyl record album

Mid 60s concept pop from Appletree Theatre – a mix of unpredictable baroque pop, soaring string laden tunes, and more stripped down and moody numbers – and programmed as acts, in keeping with the theatre mode! What's most impressive, other than the tuneful songcraft, is that it never comes off as shtick, and the concept doesn't get in the way of the songs, making this a really nice discovery! Arranged as a 3 act play, with overture and epilogue, titles include "Lullaby", "Hightower Square", "Saturday Morning", "Nevertheless It Was Italy", "I Wonder If Louise Is Home", "E-Train", "Brother Speed", "Don't Blame It On Your Wife", "What A Way To Go" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest Yusef Lateef albums on Atlantic Records – and that's saying a lot, given the high level of quality he was hitting at the label! The album's a perfect blend of the newly-funky Lateef style with some hipper, more sophisticated touches – a mode that hints at his bigger-concept recordings to come, but which is still pretty lean and clean overall – and damn funky on most of the best tracks! Yusef plays a host of hip flutes here, plus tenor and oboe – and an almost equal star on the record is Kenny Barron, whose electric piano lines really make the album something special. The album begins with a long take on Barron's "Nubian Lady" which begins the record – and Kenny also contributed the tighter grooving "Jungle Plum". Other tracks include "African Song", "Queen Of The Night", "Poor Fishermen", "Below Yellow Bell", and a strange version of "Hey Jude" that goes on for a long time, and really messes with the volume – listed on the cover with the note "Do not adjust the playback level on your audio equipment – readjust your mind!" LP, Vinyl record album