A sprawling set of material Dionne recorded for Scepter before departing the label – a good number of which were made with Memphis producer Chips Moman during the sessions for the excellent Soulful album – and some diverse, equally great material that spans her years at the label! It includes a host of great Bacharach/David productions – with some nice medleys of hits and wide range of covers, including some classic Sly Stone and Curtis Mayfield on the edgier end, plus nice takes on the Beatles and others. It's got some great gospel-leaning numbers, too! A far-reaching set with more than 30 tracks – including "Grace", "People Get Ready", "Summertime", "Give A Damn", "Slaves"., "People Got TO Be Free""The Love Of My Man", "I've Been Loving You Too Long", a cool cover of The Band's "The Weight", "Someday We'll Be Together", "Games People Play" and "Everyday People". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe not the funk of ages, but a mighty nice solo set from Bernie Worrell – done at a key stretch when he was working away from George Clinton and the P-Funk universe! The set's got Bernie opening up in a blend of jazz and funk – and some tracks feature lead vocals, in a style that takes off from his earlier solo album on Arista, but tuned here with a bit more of that electro vibe that the Gramavision album was doing so well at the time! Bernie handles much of the music himself, but there's plenty of key guests on the record too – rhythms from Sly & Robbie, more keyboards from Herbie Hancock, guitar from Keith Richards and Vernon Reid, and seven some backing vocals from David Byrne and other old associates from the P-Funk years. Titles include "Straight Ahead", "Sing", "Don't Piss Me Off", "Ain't She Sweet", "V Spy", "BW Jam", "Volunteered Slavery/Bern's Blues/Outerspaceways", and "Beware Of Dog". CD

A record from the more electronic years of the sound library scene – yet one that's also got a nicely sensitive side too, in a way that really lives up to its title! Both artists get plenty of space to serve up their songs – mostly shorter numbers in variations for most tracks – heavy on keyboards, but with flute, cello, and acoustic guitar as well – so that there's almost a pastoral approach to the album – very different than other Colorsound library releases of the time, and most mid 80s sound library work in general. Titles include "Emotional Tension", "Moonset", "Sentimental View", "Personal Mood", "Soft Thoughts", "In The Garden", "Pastoral Walk", and "Sundown". LP, Vinyl record album

Images of the Caribbean in many styles – from the striking color image on the front, to vintage black and white shots throughout the book – all at a level that really illuminates the criss-crossing cultures of the island scene! The book's got a wonderfully sharp sensibility – as it mixes images of vacation paradise with rural poverty, American tourists with ongoing slavery, local ritual with political overthrow – all in a series of wonderfully well-chosen photographs! The book was put together by Stuart Baker – who's done so many other great books and records for Soul Jazz – and text is by Paul Gilroy, author of There Ain't No Black In The Union Jack. Book is hardcover, super-heavy, LP-sized, and full of glossy pages! Book

Soundtrack to the PBS series. CD

A wonderful collection of modern Brazilian grooves lifted from the legendary Far Out label! The set is much more than a regular compilation – as it's now the only place you can get some of the out-of-print singles on the label, plus a few rare mixes that aren't available elsewhere! The groove is nice and smooth, with a good mix of Brazilian roots and modern production, all with the high quality you've come to expect from Far Out. Includes the stellar groover "Ponteio", done here in an excellent remake by Da Lata – plus the tracks "Consteleacao" by Tutty Moreno, "Canto De Libertacao" by Aricia Mess, "Amazon Adventure (Jazzanova rmx)" by Azymuth, "Freio Aerodynamico" by Marcos Valle, "Times Before (Ape rmx)" by Azymuth, "Quem Com Quem" by Azymuth & Marcos Valle, "Os Escravos Do Jo (Jos Slaves)" by Friends From Rio 2, and "Soberana" by Wilson Das Neves. CD

Greasy Mike's been making the global rounds on records like this – serving up an imagined landscape of weird and wonderful sounds, all pulled from rare singles of late 50s/early 60s vintage! We're not sure Mike's efforts will ever win him a harem, but he's done a great job here – coming up with tunes that often have some slight exotic or Eastern sort of vibe, mixed with more familiar American sounds of the time – like electric guitar or Latin percussion! Titles include "Ole Tsasa" by Valisas & His Slaves, "Desert Wind" by The Vaqueros, "Cairo Twist" by The Royce McAfee Combo, "Cobra" by The Boys, "Sahara" by The Cotillions, "Port Said" by The Kasuals, "Moroc-Kin" by Arabian Knights, "Snake Charmer" by Torrents, "The Bagdad Fantasy" by Ilo Kay & His Trio, and "Istanbul" by Jol Coyes Boys. LP, Vinyl record album