Kenny may be quiet, but he's never muted – and the record is far from the sleepy session you might guess from the title! The album's a real standout in the Dorham catalog – a set that let's Kenny's trumpet sparkle beautifully in a quartet that includes piano from Tommy Flanagan, bass from Paul Chambers, and drums from Art Taylor – all bringing their own spirit to the record, but really hanging back in the space to let Dorham's sound dominate the record. Kenny's notes are beautifully shaped throughout – in a mode that has echoes of Clifford Brown's sweetness, but which also speaks with a raspier, earthier tone overall! Titles include 2 key Dorham classics – "Lotus Blossom" and "Blue Spring" – plus "Mack The Knife", "My Ideal", "Blue Friday", and "Old Folks". CD

A Kenny Dorham-billed version of the only full album ever issued by tenor player Rocky Boyd – but a set so great, it's definitely made a name for him over the years! Boyd's got a wonderful tone on the set – sharp and soulful, with an approach to the tenor that almost reminds us of early 60s Jackie McLean – particularly in the way that Jackie could hit dark corners with raspy, personal tone. The rest of the group's no slouch either – and features Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Walter Bishop Jr on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Pete LaRoca on drums – a lineup so great, they give the album a real Blue Note sort of polish – and the album's definitely one that would have been a better-known date, if it hadn't died quickly on the short-lived Jazztime label. The whole thing's wonderful – and titles include "West 42nd Street", "Avars", "Ease It", "Samba De Orfeu", and "Why Not". CD features bonus tracks too – alternates of 4 tracks on the album! CD

Maybe one of the greatest albums ever from trumpeter Kenny Dorham – a set that has him really stretching out as a musician – not just showing off that impeccable sense of tone that marked his important records of the 50s, but also coming up with new ways of phrasing, and a sometimes-unique approach to rhythm as well! The set's about as all-star as you can get for a Blue Note date of the time – and that's really saying a lot – with the mighty Hank Mobley on tenor, whose work here is as important as Dorham's – and the rock-solid rhythm trio of Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums – who perfectly echo Kenny's new sense of changes in his music. Titles include the great "Sunrise In Mexico" – a very unique tune – plus "Buffalo", "Sunset", "Windmill", "Philly Twist", and "Dorham's Epitaph". CD

Dezron Douglas and Brandee Younger are two of our favorite jazz musicians to emerge in the past decade – and this set of duets may well be some of the greatest work that either artist has done on record to date! The setting is unique – material pulled from live stream broadcasts that bassist Douglas and harpist Younger did from their Harlem apartment during the lockdown in Spring of 2020 – and if that makes you think that the material's going to be low-fi or cheap, it's not – as there's a sense of majesty here that's really surprising, given that the album features just two musicians! Dezron's bass has never sounded better – and blended with the harp of Younger, the sound is amazing – as Brandee evokes both Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby on the instrument – but also brings in a spirit that's very much her own. The set features remakes of tracks from both Coltranes, and Pharoah Sanders – plus lots of other surprises and original material too – on titles that include "Gospel Trane", "Force Majeure", "This Woman's Work", "Nothing Stupid", "Sing", "The Creator Has A Master Plan", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "We'll Be Right Back", "You Make Me Feel Brand New", and "Equinox". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

The great Dr John at his freaky deaky best – working here in a mindblowing mix of New Orleans roots and late 60s psych – all served up in some heady studio space and instrumental touches! The sound's unlike anything that ever went before – and is way better here than on some of John's later, straighter material – clearly the work of years of creative genius, as the Doctor, Mac Rebennack, draws on both his heritage from the Crescent City, and his years of work in the underground rock scene in LA! Harold Batiste handled the arrangements – and the record really paves the way for so many famous LA/New Orleans albums to come in the 70s – but never with results this mindblowingly trippy. The tracks are wild, funky, and messed-up New Orleans R&B filtered through a heavy dose of psychedelics – and titles include "Mama Roux", "Croker Courtbullion", "Gris Gris Gumbo Ya Ya", and the original version of "I Walk On Guilded Splinters". LP, Vinyl record album

Gibraltar Drakus was one of the key members of world music powerhouse Les Tetes Brulees back in the 80s – and here, he pays tribute to the legendary guitarist Theodore Zanzibar Epeme, whose sound was such a big part of the group! Guitar lines criss-cross wonderfully, really livening up some of the more electric rhythms on the album – reminding us that although production styles were changing at the time, music like this still really relied on the lively interplay of guitar and voice to spark the best sort of energy on the songs! Titles include "N'Nom Wom", "Exode Rural", "O Zanzibar", and "Mekeya A Dzal". CD

Titles include "The Lesson Of Love", "Indian Summer", "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime", "In Exile", "In The Hands Of Love", "Hampstead Girl", and "Power To Believe". LP, Vinyl record album

Great stuff – one of the amazing early albums from the team of Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger – kind of a next-generation to the Brit beat group sound of the mid 60s – one that moves beyond simple R&B modes, to bring in more sophisticated soul and jazz touches! Driscoll's vocals are amazing – some of the boldest belted out in the British scene at the time – and Auger's Hammond work really cooks throughout – at a level that easily makes him one of the best UK organists to hit the scene, amidst some very heady company in the 60s. There's a few bluesy moments, but our favorites are the funky ones – especially the group's reading of "Season Of The Witch", which is tremendous. Other cuts include "In & Out", "Black Cat", "Goodbye Jungle Telegraph", and "Break It Up". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet, stretched-out session from saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera – one that still has a bit of the Latin roots of the past, but which also hits a more spacious style that almost reminds us of the best CTI sides of the early 70s! The album's recorded live at San Francisco's Keystone Korner – and Paquito's playing alto sax throughout, working with a hip sextet that includes Carlos Franzetti on keyboards – bringing in some warm, soulful touches to the music that are totally great! Other players include Claudio Roditi on trumpet and trombone and Daniel Ponce on percussion – and all tracks are nice and long, with titles that include "Song For Maura", "Red On Red", "Deja Vu", "Zanaith", and "Estamos Ah". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique little record from vocalist Frank D'Rone – one that's got a very different approach than some of his more pop-oriented sets! The album's recorded live at San Francisco's legendary Hungry I – often a haven to beats and folkies, and a venue that seems to have brought out a whole new level of Frank's talents! D'Rone's singing here with much lighter accompaniment than usual – just a small rhythm section – but the key part of the set is that Frank's also accompanying himself on guitar, strumming along with his vocals in a way that's sometimes gentle, sometimes jazzy – and which reminds us a lot of similarly swinging sides by vocalist Eddie Hazell (not the P-Funk guitarist!) Given the early 60s date of the set, there's a nice flexibility here with rhythms – and Frank opens up with slight bossa, swinging, and syncopated sounds on a few numbers – and sounds even better on the gentler tracks, which really mostly feature just voice and guitar. Titles include "Tea For Two", "Nancy", "But Not For Me", "Teach Me Tonight", "I Am In Love", "Out Of This World", and "I'll Remember April". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Two cuts from Dwele's Subject LP – one of the most anticipated Nusoul releases on the horizon! "Find A Way" is a romantic groover with some REALLY sweet soul guitar work, a trippy synth backdrop, and breathy romantic lead vocals, clearly modeled after the giants of 70s soul, but firmly rooted in a modern sound. It's a nice single – one with as much of a new jack feel as latter day NuSoul! "Truth" is a similar groover, with the same kinda sweet synth work, with even more deeply expressive vocals that remind us a lot of Donnie's recent work, and delicately overdubbed backing vocals that send the track off like a sunnier D'Angelo. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Key work as a leader from bassist Johnny Dyani – one of his most soulful, spiritual outings ever – and a record dedicated to the important South African political prisoner Stephen Biko! There's a sense of flow and rhythmic focus here that's wonderful – as Dyani comes together with a tremendous quartet that features Don Cherry on cornet, Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, and Makaya Ntshoko on drums – players that are joined as one in meaning and message as they make their way through the original Dyani compositions on the set. The album features a wonderful extended tune, running for all of side two, entitled "Jo'Burg–New York" – a musical journey that's worth the price of the album alone – and the set also features a number of great shorter tunes that include "Wish You Sunshine", "Song For Biko", and "Confession of Moods" LP, Vinyl record album

Dylan's wonderful foray into country rock – the great Nashville Skyline! He takes his voice into a strangely crooning arena that we hadn't heard from him before or since, kinda adding the mysterious vibe of the whole thing. Titles include a duet with Johnny Cash on "Girl From The North Country", plus "Lay Lady Lay", "Country Pie", "To Be Alone With You", and "One More Night". CD

With Busta Rhymes on the remix. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Great early work from trumpeter Jon Eardley – captured here at a point when he was a budding young modernist in the 50s! The album features 2 early 10" LPs – Jon Eardley in Hollywood and Hey There Jon Eardley – both recorded for Prestige within a few months in the mid 50s. The first date features Eardley's trumpet right out front in the mix – hard, spare, and a bit angular – with backing from the piano of Pete Jolly, as well as Red Mitchell on bass and Larry Bunker on drums. Titles include "Late Leader", "Indian Spring", "Black", and "Gloss". The second session is even more interesting, as it features Eardley's horn in tandem with tenor saxophonist JR Monterose, brimming with new ideas at this point in his career, and adding a real edge to the tracks. The remaining players include George Syran on piano, Teddy Kotick on bass, and Nick Stabulas on drums – and titles include "Hey There", "Sid's Delight", "Demanton", and "If You Could See Me Now". CD

A pair of spiritual soul classics – the rare early Warner Brothers albums from Earth Wind & Fire – back to back on a single CD! Earth, Wind & Fire's first album was recorded at a time when the group recently had ties to the Chicago soul and jazz scenes, and a range of experience that ran the gamut from work with Sun Ra, the Artistic Heritage Ensemble, The Pharoahs, Ramsey Lewis, and countless other influential groups. Headed up by Maurice White on drums and percussion, the group forged an amazing blend of all these influences, creating a future soul sound that pushed black music to the next level – taking a wealth of previously underground modes of expression, and fusing them into a soaring sound that would soon put them at the top of the charts. This album's a lot looser and freer than their Columbia albums – with plenty of raw funk and some nice off-beat jazz soling. Includes the classic break track "C'Mon Children", plus "Fan The Fire", "Bad Tune", and "Moment Of Truth". Need Of Love is one of the two early Earth Wind & Fire LPs recorded for Warner – and the one that shows their amazing roots in the avant-garde jazz scene in Chicago! At the forefront, the record's a righteous soul album with an ensemble funk sound – but deeper in, there's a lot of jazz-based playing, and a number of moments that almost get "out" in the solos! Surely this one couldn't have been made without the spiritual advancements in jazz made by the AACM – and EWF couldn't have helped rubbing shoulders with those players, considering that they all often gigged together in the Chicago studio scene, and that they'd also shared some time together in groups like The Pharoahs and Phil Cohran's Artistic Heritage Ensemble. Titles include "Energy", "Beauty", and a nice remake of Donny Hathaway's "Everything is Everything". CD

The genius of Earth Wind & Fire knows no bounds – and even on this double-length set, the group keep up their groove tremendously! The 2LP scope of Faces might make it seem like an ambitious enterprise, but it's really just an overstuffed package that tries to contain all the genius the group was capable of at the time – a flurry of well-written, nice-grooving, and still-righteous soul tracks that have the EWF sound glowing brightly at the end of the 70s – always seeming to re-ignite itself with its own bold sense of power. A few tracks get a bit mellow, and almost adult – but the best numbers here are the groovers – still done with plenty of jazz in the mix, and a sublime mix of guitar, horns, and percussion that few other groups could carry off this well! Titles include "Pride", "Let Me Talk", "Turn It Into Something Good", "Sparkle", "And The Love Goes On", "Sailaway", "Take It To The Sky", "Song In My Heart", and "Win Or Lose". CD

The genius of Earth Wind & Fire knows no bounds – and even on this double-length set, the group keep up their groove tremendously! The 2LP scope of Faces might make it seem like an ambitious enterprise, but it's really just an overstuffed package that tries to contain all the genius the group was capable of at the time – a flurry of well-written, nice-grooving, and still-righteous soul tracks that have the EWF sound glowing brightly at the end of the 70s – always seeming to re-ignite itself with its own bold sense of power. A few tracks get a bit mellow, and almost adult – but the best numbers here are the groovers – still done with plenty of jazz in the mix, and a sublime mix of guitar, horns, and percussion that few other groups could carry off this well! Titles include "Pride", "Let Me Talk", "Turn It Into Something Good", "Sparkle", "And The Love Goes On", "Sailaway", "Take It To The Sky", "Song In My Heart", and "Win Or Lose". LP, Vinyl record album