Easily our favorite album by Baikida Carroll – a wonderfully spiritual session cut in Paris, and done with this open-ended, spacious sound that seems to bring AACM improvisation into play with some of the global currents that were happening overseas at the time! As on an AACM date, most players handle a fair bit of instruments – Carroll on trumpet, flugelhorn, seal horn, and percussion; Oliver Lake on soprano, alto, tenor, flute, and percussion too; and the great Nana Vasconcelos on lots more percussion – including cuica, tablas, timbales, bells, and more as well! Manuel Villardel plays both acoustic and electric piano – and the tunes build through these great improvisations between the horns and percussion, often with long, cyclical styles that are completely hypnotic! Titles include the modal groover "Forest Scorpion" – plus "Orange Fish Tears", "Rue Roger", and "Porte D'Orleans". LP, Vinyl record album

A really great album from the LA scene of the early 90s – very different than most of the west coast work of the period, and much more in the spirit of some of the east coast work from the Native Tongues posse! The group features early work from Mikah 9, Self Jupiter, PEACE, and Aceyalone – all working in a really inventive mix of jazzy and inventive samples that come together in a great way – leaner than the layering of Q Tip, and not nearly as polished as work of its type would sound on bigger labels. There's almost a "what if" vibe to the record – glimpse at a less thuggish, posturing west coast that never full came to be – on titles that include "We Are The Freestyle Fellowship", "My Fantasy", "7th Seal", "Let's Start Over", "Sunshine Men", "Physical Form", "120 Seconds", "We Will Not Tolerate", "It's On", "Sike", "5 O'Clock Follies", "Legal Alien", "Convolutions", "Jupiter's Journey", "For No Reason", and "Here I Am". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant testament to the songwriting genius of Scott Walker – and an incredibly haunting batch of original tunes, filled with images of lonely madness and unactualized emotion, all sung by one of the greatest voices of the century! The album's not a record to be taken lightly – as the Scott Walker approach to music is really over the top here – almost mini-movies in sound, pasted from scenes both epic and private – all held together by an impeccable set of arrangements! The style beautifully links Walker's older pop persona with the growing sophistication in European pop – especially from the French – and with a record like this, Scott easily matches the genius of Brel, Brassens, and Gainsbourg. All titles are originals – and titles include "Rhymes Of Goodbye", "The Old Man's Back Again", "Hero Of The War", "Boy Child", "Seventh Seal", and "On Your Own Again". LP, Vinyl record album

The last solo Jerry Garcia album, and a record that's a great illustration of just how far Garcia had come as an artist away from the Grateful Dead! The tunes are still full of that sunnier, more compact energy the group were doing on their own records in the period – but Jerry's also stepping out more with a sense of presence in the lead – and working in a lineup that has a lot more focus and punch than his more acoustic outings. There's plenty of great organ on the record – a bit by Merl Saunders, most by Melvin Seals – and bassist John Khan handles other instruments as well, and arranges most of the tunes. Titles include Jerry's version of the Dylan classic "Knockin On Heaven's Door" – plus "Midnight Getaway", "Run For The Roses", "Leave The Little Girl Alone", and "Valerie" – plus Garcia's take on the Clyde McPhatter soul tune "Without Love". LP, Vinyl record album