An early disco groover – with that classic east coast club sound! Lots of smooth soul production, uptempo but not too fast, and a soulful finish that keeps the track real, while still breaking onto the floor! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A lost funky classic from the Kool & The Gang side of the universe – cut by a group we've only seen on this one and only record – which was recorded for one of the sub-labels of De-Lite Records, home to the main Gang! There's clearly some mentorship taking place here – as the group works with producer Gene Redd, of K&TG fame – and they also serve up their own takes on some of the best early funky tracks of that group – while also using that inspiration to then move into some heavy jams of their own – all with razor-sharp instrumentation, but a sound that's still plenty raw as well! This maturation of the funky 45 underground is still in its very early stages here – no disco touches or commercial overproduction – which really makes the group shine on cuts that include "Gold Smoke", "Funky Granny", "Who's Gonna Take The Weight", "Mama Said-Papa Said", and "Funky Gene-Ra-Tion". CD features some great bonus cuts – "The Bump (parts 1 & 2)", "Juice It Up (parts 1 & 2)", and the tracks "Get Down Get Stank" and "I Like What I Like", both recorded by the related Hot Line combo. CD

A really rare side of the legendary De-Lite Records – served up here in a range of obscure 45s before the company exploded into bigger fame with the success of Kool & The Gang! The work here puts De-Lite right on the same level as important indies on the east coast at the turn of the 70s – and shows an especially strong ability to capture the best group styles of the period – from the sublime harmony styles being crafted in New Jersey and Philly, to some of the growing funky styles in the pre-disco years! The set's a much-needed look at this early part of the label – and also features titles on the related Red Coach label too – in a wonderful package of 25 tracks that includes "I'll Never Let You Get Away" by Universal Mind, "So Long Sweet Little Girl" by Reggie Saddler Revue, "I'm At The Breaking Point" by The Trumains, "Girl (part 1)" by Philadelphia Ambassadors, "Gotta Let Some Sunshine Into My Life" by The Exceptionals, "I'll Always Love You" by The New Cymbals, "So Fine" by The Fiestas, "The Story Of Our Love" by The Carstairs, "Love You Can't Shake It" by Reggie Saddler & The Jammers, "Nothing In The World" by The Electras, "Back On The Road Again" by Richmond International, and "Love Foundation" by Electrified Action. CD

Excellent work from this hard-blowing St Louis tenorist – a figure who started in more R&B-styled material, but also helped open the door for soul jazz modes in the 60s! The work here predates Jimmy's well-remembered records for Prestige – as the package features early material cut for United Records during the early 50s – tracks that have that amazing tenor sound of Forrest alongside work from Chauncey Locke on trumpet, Bart Dabney on trombone, and either Bunky Parker or Charles Fox on piano. A number of tracks have nice use of congas, making for a mambo jazz mode at times – and titles include Jimmy's classic version of "Night Train" – plus "Calling Dr Jazz", "Mister Goodbeat", "Bolo Blues", "Hey Mrs Jones", and "Coach 13". CD features a number of unissued bonus tracks too! LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from this hard-blowing St Louis tenorist – a figure who started in more R&B-styled material, but also helped open the door for soul jazz modes in the 60s! The work here predates Jimmy's well-remembered records for Prestige – as the package features early material cut for United Records during the early 50s – tracks that have that amazing tenor sound of Forrest alongside work from Chauncey Locke on trumpet, Bart Dabney on trombone, and either Bunky Parker or Charles Fox on piano. A number of tracks have nice use of congas, making for a mambo jazz mode at times – and titles include Jimmy's classic version of "Night Train" – plus "Calling Dr Jazz", "Mister Goodbeat", "Bolo Blues", "Hey Mrs Jones", and "Coach 13". CD features a number of unissued bonus tracks too! CD

Sax-heavy New Orleans R&B instrumentals from Herb Hardesty – the tenor player and secret weapon in Fats Domino's band – one of those incredible players whose name isn't as well known as the sound of his instrument! His sax sounds really great out front and in the lead – tightly grooving late 50s and early 60s rhythm & blues. This first ever CD retrospective of Herb's relatively few recordings as a leader features sessions recorded in New Orleans in '58, NYC in '59 and Cincinnati in '61 – with stellar players that include Hank Jones, Jimmy Davis, Walter Nelson, Clarence Ford and Roy Montrell. 12 of the tracks from a never-released Mercury LP – and the set has 20 tracks in all! Includes "Sassy", "Goldie", "Herb's Mood", "Nat", "Adam And Eva", "Coach Train", "69's Mother's Place, "The Chicken Twist", "Perdido Street" and more – plus 2 tunes with vocals by group guitarist Walter "Papoose" Nelson – "It Must Be Wonderful" and "Why Did We Have To Part". CD

A record that's definitely got plenty of layers, as Khalab works with a different collaborator on just about every track – which makes for a nicely varied vibe throughout the album! Tunes are often upbeat, but more complicated than clubby – layered with a nice sense of sound that has the collaborators' contributions shifting through subtle sonic patterns as the record moves on – in a lineup that includes "Romantic Loco" with Tenderlonious, "Drone Ra" with Yazz Ahmed & Alessi Obino, "Acid Vaccine" with Clap Clap, "Layers" with Joshua Idehan, "Mental Coach" with Gabin Dabire, "Female Side" with Tommaso Cappellato, and "Tunnel Of Jealousy" with Lady Blue Eyes. LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from this hard-blowing St Louis tenorist – a figure who started in more R&B-styled material, but also helped open the door for soul jazz modes in the 60s! The work here predates Jimmy's well-remembered records for Prestige – as the package features early material cut for United Records during the early 50s – tracks that have that amazing tenor sound of Forrest alongside work from Chauncey Locke on trumpet, Bart Dabney on trombone, and either Bunky Parker or Charles Fox on piano. A number of tracks have nice use of congas, making for a mambo jazz mode at times – and titles include Jimmy's classic version of "Night Train" – plus "Calling Dr Jazz", "Mister Goodbeat", "Bolo Blues", "Hey Mrs Jones", and "Coach 13". CD features a number of unissued bonus tracks too! CD

A brilliant pairing from the 50s hardbop years at Prestige – the tight trombone of Bennie Green, and the sweet trumpet of Art Farmer – both captured here at an early point when they had plenty of edge! The match is a great one – given the trumpet-like phrasing that often made Green stand apart from some of his contemporaries – and at some level, Bennie's even more punctuated, and with more bite than Farmer – leaving Art to warm things up a bit with his mighty fluid solos! Rhythms are nice and tight – just what both players need – and the group features Cliff Smalls on piano, Addison Farmer on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums – on titles that include "Skycoach", "Let's Stretch", "Cliff Dweller", "My Blue Heaven", and "Gone With The Wind". LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from this hard-blowing St Louis tenorist – a figure who started in more R&B-styled material, but also helped open the door for soul jazz modes in the 60s! The work here predates Jimmy's well-remembered records for Prestige – as the package features early material cut for United Records during the early 50s – tracks that have that amazing tenor sound of Forrest alongside work from Chauncey Locke on trumpet, Bart Dabney on trombone, and either Bunky Parker or Charles Fox on piano. A number of tracks have nice use of congas, making for a mambo jazz mode at times – and titles include Jimmy's classic version of "Night Train" – plus "Calling Dr Jazz", "Mister Goodbeat", "Bolo Blues", "Hey Mrs Jones", and "Coach 13". CD features a number of unissued bonus tracks too! LP, Vinyl record album

Very cool stuff – and a fittingly cool collection of work from the great ESP label! If you've never seen one of their samplers before, they're sort of a mad mix of many different styles – putting together tracks in short little blips, filtered out of longer original ones on albums, into a cool collage of sounds and moods – that includes material by Marion Brown, Sunny Murray, New York Art Quartet, The Fugs, Henry Grimes, Albert Ayler, Pearls Before Swine, Pharoah Sanders, and many others! This album features a number of great bits from records we've never seen, mixed together with some more classic moments, all packaged in a cool cover. Includes bits from "East Village Other" by Ishamael Reed, "The Lovebook Record" by Andrei Vozenensky, "Movement Soul" from a record of traditional recordings, "Ni Kantu En Esperanto" from an Esperanto recording, "The Coach With Six Insides" from a musical based on Finnegan's Wake, "Assemblage" by Gunter Hampel, "East Village Other" by Allen Ginsberg, "Call Me Burroughs" by William S Burroughs, "Zitro" by James Zitro, "Of Love & War" by Randy Burns, and lots more by some of the usual suspects. LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful, simply beautiful! The set features 23 tracks from a range of western-themed movies and TV shows – not really spaghetti westerns, but the sort of popular American work of the 50s and 60s, which often starred bigger names in show business, and which features popular vocal themes interpreted by chart stars of the time. The approach is quite different than most of our other soundtrack selections – a wealth of groovy pop vocal tunes united through western themes, and compiled together in a fantastic package with images from the films. Titles include "Fury" by The Prarie Chiefs, "The Man From Laramie" by Al Martino, "The Ballad Of Cat Ballou" by Nat King Cole & Stubby Kaye, "The Lonely Man" by Tennesse Ernie Ford, "Man With True Grit" by Glen Campbell, "Buttons & Bows" by Bob Hope, "The Wind The Wind" by Dean Martin, "Old Turkey Buzzard" by Jose Feliciano, "Marmalade Molasses & Honey" by Andy Williams, "The Legend Of Wyatt Earp" by Shorty Long, "Stagecoach To Cheyenne" by Wayne Newton, and "Bronco" by Johnny Gregory. CD

A really beautiful early album from the legendary Jean-Luc Ponty – a set that's maybe more straight jazz than some of his later work, and which also represents a pivotal shift in the use of the violin in jazz! Ponty's phrasing here is very different than previous players who handled the instrument in such a setting – almost more informed by a saxophone than earlier instrumentalists – often with notes that are not nearly as sweet as others, and heard to perfection in the company of this quartet! The whole group is great – Wolfgang Dauner on acoustic piano, also straighter than in later years – plus Niels Henning Orsted Pederson on bass, and Daniel Humair on drums. Titles include "Sunday Walk", "Cat Coach", "Suite For Claudia", and "Carole's Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime female sounds from the 60s – mostly soul, but a bit of rock too – all handled by landmark Cali producer Gary S Paxton! Paxton was a great talent at the time – not only for finding new aritsts, but also bringing them into their best light – coaching young solo singers and girl groups on some of their first trips into professional recording studios in some cases, so that the performances are remarkably assured and strong – girlish or naive-sounding only when the theme of the song calls for it, and more often surprisingly powerful for the early 60s period! As usual with Ace Records, the sound and the package are wonderful – crystal-clear remastering, and notes that show the whole underground world in which Paxton was a key! Includes "Just A Little Bit More" by The Idols, "Losing Control", "It's A Lonely World" and "A Tear" by Mary Saxton, "Keep A Hold On Him" and "Operator Operator" by Beatrice Lee, "I Won't Be Hurt Anymore" by Josephine Sunday, "Reap What You Sow" by Linda Mackey, "Why Mist I Cry" by The Idols, "Yosemite Sam" by Judy & The Jades, "It Kinda Picks Me Up" by Tanya Marie and more. 24 tracks in all. CD