The middle child in the mighty Seoul combo San Ul Lim's trio of successive garage/psych masterpieces of the late 70s – and San Ul Lim 2 might be the best and most adventurous of the lot – full of spacey sounds and more experimental passages! If San Ul Lim 1 was the most sunshine rock oriented set, and San Ul Lim 3 flirted with hard rock, album 2 splits the difference with a little bit of groovy prog elements and lots of spacey organ! The tunes have some more languorous, moody bits that are rich with atmosphere and some really sweet work on bass, fuzzy guitars and the swirling organ – but the group's excellent ear for melody and a catchy groove are still very much intact! LP, Vinyl record album

A great bit of jungle exotica from funky sitar player Ananda Shankar – composed as a full piece with an "atmosphere of twilight and the feeling of watching animals at a water hole", but with a sweeping soundtracky feel that makes it more like some lost 70s film gem in the best places! There's some nicely subdued funk in the mix – as Ananda's sitar grooves over guitars, keyboards, and compressed bass and drum parts, occasionally touched with modern exotica styles, as in the work of Mandingo. Titles include "Night In The Forest", "Jungle King", "Jungle Symphony", "Sa Ra Ga Machan", "Romantic Rhino", "Charging Tiger", and "Monkey's Tea Party". LP, Vinyl record album

Consciousness-stretching grooves from Tonto's Expanding Head Band – one of the earliest avant electronic rock records we can think of – and certainly one of coolest of the early 70s! Zero Time is way ahead of the curve when it comes to instrumental electronics – with a sort of pulsing progressive sound that's like the best stuff by Tangerine Dream – and with a cool bubbling feel to it. Tracks include "Cybernaut", "Jetsex", "Timewhys", "Riversong", and "Aurora". Very groovy, very moogy, and a nice bit of tripped out electronic atmosphere! LP, Vinyl record album

Wow, this is SO not the Tortoise that first set the underground aflame in the early 90s – the group has evolved and opened up in ways we never would have expected. With It's All Around You it's emerged with an airy, open, stargazing set of tracks that resemble the languid atmosphere of Tangerine Dream as much as they do early post rock! Gone, for the most part from early Tortoise is that strong, rubbery electric bass groove and tightly thudding live drum sound. It's All Around You retains the bright vibes and sputtering electronics of the TNT album, and the out front, almost rock & roll guitar lines of the Standards album – and adds an ever present, ambient synthesizer bubble of sound to surround the thing. It's all so catchy, too, and almost sunny. If Tortoise hasn't really broken any new ground this time, it's only because they're the ones who broke it in the first place. Tracks include "It's All Around You", The Lithium Shifts", "Crest", "Stretch", "Dot/Eyes", "By Dawn", "Five Too Many" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The mostly orchestral music used for the Kubrick film, with alternating spooky and grand passages Strauss, Ligetti and others. Inlcudes "Also Sprach Zarathustra", "Requiem For Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Mixed Choirs & Orchestra", "Luz Aeterna", "The Blue Danube" and "Atmospheres". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderfully wide-ranging tribute to the great John Coltrane – served up here in a whole host of tracks recorded after his too-early death, each of which take his musical message in different directions! The sound is certainly spiritual – in keeping with the different volumes in this long-running series – but there's a nice mix of expressions and instrumentation, offering up a journey into John Coltrane's important influence on so many different spheres of jazz – far more than you might expect! And this isn't just a set of Coltrane remakes or covers, either, as new songs are mixed with familiar ones – in a well-chosen batch of tracks that includes "Trane" by Carmelo Garcia, "Transition" by Malachi Thompson, "John Coltrane" by Clifford Jordan, "Naima" by Darwin Strickland Trio, "Terre Engloutie" by Gilles Torrent Jazztet, "To Trane" by Carsten Meinert Kvartet, "Welcome" by Norman Connors, "Ole" by Sonny Fortune, and "Naima" by Jack McDuff. LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from guitarist Oren Ambarchi – a little more expansive than his preceding effort on Drag City, thanks to larger group and a wider range of instrumentation, while building on what loved about it! The style is tough to pin down in the best kind of way, with strains of improvisational jazz and hypnotic minimalism, but a unique melodic drive that's as compelling as it is tough to cleanly categorize. Collaborators this time include returning Swedish jazz bassist Johan Berthling, drummer Joe Talia, a second guitarist in Julia Reidy, Sam Dunscombe on bass clarinet – and for extra otherworldly, yet melodic atmosphere is some synth by Jim O'Rourke and pedal steel by BJ Cole on a couple of tracks. The whole Shebang is a 4 part set – each track running long, to give it a nice amount of space to build up, settle down, and flow into the next – and numbered 1 to 4. LP, Vinyl record album

Imagine gaining entry to a treasure trove of vintage keyboards and electronic music sources – then getting the chance to spend days improvising with them, and making new sounds of your own! That's exactly what happened to Jeremiah Chu, as he was set loose inside the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Los Angeles – where he handled dozens of amazing instruments, improvising throughout, and capturing most of his experiments live on tape! The result is a record that's maybe a bit more warm and organic than the sorts of older analog electronic albums, especially the more academic type – as Chiu creates these really beautiful progressions of sounds that flower and glisten with a very human sensibility – not electronic music for robots, but instead an embrace of electronic possibilities for altering contemporary living! Titles include "Rococco Rondo", "For Voices", "Seawater Swell", "Rhythm Bell", "Static Stone Railway", "Transparent Spheres", and "Echo Arp Hold". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little jam session from Verve – done in a style that's looser and freer than some of the JATP albums, and with a smaller group overall! Players include Stan Getz, Paul Gonsalves, and Coleman Hawkins on tenor, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, and Wynton Kelly on piano – plus bass by Wendell and drums from JC Heard. There's a rougher, more spontaneous quality here than even on some of the other Norman Granz jam session records – a feel that's almost more "real" overall, as if you were catching the players all working together in a club. Each side features 2 long tracks – one upbeat and one mellow – and the tenor interplay alone is worth the price of the record! Titles include long takes on "Dizzy Atmosphere" and "The Way You Look Tonight" – plus 2 additional ballad medleys! LP, Vinyl record album

Classic from the Chicago house scene – and still a bonafide club floor shaker! "Get The Hole" is a persistent jam that continues on in the "Acid Hole" version – getting more beats focused as it builds. "Under Control" and it's dub version on the flip are classic level, too, with some nice keyboards and vocal atmosphere. 12-inch, Vinyl record

One of the most memorable Esquivel albums, and perhaps the first record that really let him hit his fantastic mix of off-beat orchestrations and spacey electronicized production! The arrangements are splendid, with echoey piano lines in the front that seem to trail off into the stratosphere. Behind them, the orchestra swings in a tight rocket-fueled way, soaring and dipping to match the oddly arranged piano lines. Titles include "Playfully", "That Old Black Magic", "Speak Low", "It Had To Be You", and "Night & Day". Plus, the cover's got a groovily attired model, hanging out in a very green lunar scene! LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty remarkable set of spacey soul songcraft from Hiatus Kaiyote – a Melbourne group that blends moody, laidback live soul instrumentation with bubbling futuristic elements in a surprisingly seamless way – elevated even higher by strong songwriting and the soulful vocals of Nai Palm! Haitus Kaiyote has a sound that's steeped in cosmic soul, moody soul jazz and the artier/synth and programmed atmosphere of spacier moodscape figures like Flying Lotus – but it's band-based and song-based in a way that could really break Hiatus Kaiyote in a big way. Includes "Mobius Streak", "The World It Softly Lulls", "Leap Frog", "Malika", "Ocelot", "Boom Child", "Lace Skull", "Rainbow Rhodes", "Sphinx Gate" and "Nakamarra". LP, Vinyl record album

A very unique album from Hank Mobley – one that has him working alongside Milt Jackson, in an unusual format that mixes the soulful Mobley tenor with some well-crafted work on vibes! The "all star" title is certainly appropriate here – as Mobley and Jackson are joined in a quintet by Horace Silver on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Art Blakey on drums – almost bringing in an early Jazz Messengers sensibility to the record, but also hitting more of a looser, laidback blowing session approach. There's less of the tightness of other Mobley sessions from the time, and the record has the players really feeling each other out in the studio – with the sort of spontaneity you might hear in a Prestige or Savoy album from the time. Tracks are long, and titles include "Ultramarine", "Don't Walk", "Lower Stratosphere", and "Mobley's Musings". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest albums of European jazz from the early 60s – a tremendous effort from pianist Michael Naura, working here with lots of vibes and a fair bit of grooves – in a style that sounds a lot like some of the best early recordings made by the team of Roy Ayers and Jack Wilson! The groove here is definitely modern, but also plenty darn soulful too – and thanks to some alto sax in the mix, the tracks have a cutting quality that really gives them an edge – a kind of rasp that predates some of the late 60s soulfulness of the Saba/MPS scene, of which this album is a definite precursor! Alongside Naura's piano, the group also features vibes by Wolfgang Schluter, alto sax by Peter Reinke, bass by Wolfgang Luschert, and drums by the great Joe Nay – soaring together on tunes that includes Tubby Hayes' "Down In The Village", Oliver Nelson's "Three Seconds", Jackie McLean's "Dr Jekyll", and the originals "Night Flower", "Stratosphere", and "Grunga Mood". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Sun Ra's best non-Saturn live sets of the 70s – a nice little record that shows the group mixing it up with equal parts avant garde and straight ahead jazz, all handled in that ever-growing large group style that made them a real force to be reckoned with in a concert setting! The album was recorded during the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival, and has a bit more focus and polish than some of the other Arkestra live material from the time – a mature, coherent sound that almost points the way towards some of their work to come in the 80s – when Ra and the group were finally reaching the wider audience they deserved. The set's a double-length one, and features players who include John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen and Danny Davis on alto and flute, Pat Patrick on baritone, Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet, Craig Harris on trombone, and James Jackson on Ancient Egyptian Infinity drum – which is always a treat. Ra plays solar organ and moog, as well as piano – and titles include "Of The Other Tomorrow", "On Sound Infinity Spheres", "El Is The Sound Of Joy", "Gods Of The Thunder Realm", "Gods Of A Thunder Realm", "The House Of Eternal Being", and "Lights On a Satellite". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic soundtrack remix madness! The work of some of the greatest Italian composers of the late 60s and early 70s is updated for the modern dancefloor – and this set may well be the best of Easy Tempo's "Experience" series! Tracks include Piero Umiliani's "L'Uomo E La Citta" remixed by Raphael Sebbag, Umiliani's "Lady Magnolia" remixed by Kid Loco, Stefano Torrossi's "Walking In The Dark" remixed by DJ Vadim, Umiliani's "Panoramica" remixed by Cinematic Orchestra, Lesiman's "Messaggio" remixed by Gak Sato, Piero Piccioni's "Colpo Rovente" remixed by Benja & Fatalis, and lots lots more! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the proudest pop moments in the Windy City during the 60s – the fantastic Columbia debut of The Buckinghams, easily one of the most tremendous vocal groups of their generation! At their core, the quintet work in a sunny way that's not unlike other pop acts – but the key difference here is that they're getting some incredible production and arrangements from James William Guerico, working in a pre-Chicago mode that has complicated horn charts pushing up brightly underneath the vocals – edging the whole mix way up into the stratosphere with a uniquely soaring sound! Other instrumentation is great too – bright, but never slick, and really complementing the vocals perfectly. Titles include "The Married Life", "Don't You Care", "Pitied Be The Dragon Hunter", "And Our Love", "I'll Be Back", and "Remember". LP, Vinyl record album

A really breakout set from Jonathan Butler – a double-length album that really has the singer/songwriter taking off! Butler's really finding his best groove here – that mature blend of soul, jazzy bits, and a good ear for a hook – all done in that crossover careful style that helped Jonathan find a huge new audience up here in the Northern Hemisphere – and which continues to make this set one of Butler's best-remembered moments. Titles include "Lies", "Love Songs Candlelight & You", "Holding On", "I Miss Your Love Tonight", "One More Dance", "Barenese", "Overflowing", "Loving You", "Say We'll Be Together", and "Give A Little More Loving". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful spare electronics, art rock, and even a little bit of avant funk from the Cluster team of Rodelius & Moebius! Grosses Wasser is an underrated effort from a combo that's been consistently underappreciated – one of the non-Eno collaborations, and showing that Cluster is a formidable artistic force with and without the aforementioned genius. Most tracks start out on the spare tip and slowly build in mood – utilizing electronics and ambient atmosphere. It has some dark touches, but is playful at times, too, and this is a vital piece of the Cluster puzzle. featuring the tracks "Avanti", "Prothese", "Isodea", "Manchmal", and "Grosses Wasser". LP, Vinyl record album

A mighty big party from tenor giant Arnett Cobb – a player who always blew strongly in other settings, but really hit his height on these albums for Prestige! The record is a perfect mix of Cobb's bluesy roots and a more sophisticated modern jazz setting – with support from a crack rhythm combo of Ray Bryant on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Art Taylor on drums – plus the special addition of Ray Barretto on congas, who brings in this rolling kick that definitely opens things up to the party atmosphere in the title – even when things are mellow! Most numbers have a open, soulfully blowing feel – and titles include "Slow Poke", "Lonesome Road", "Party Time", and "Blues In the Closet". LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous non-Prestige moment from tenorist Booker Ervin – one of his first albums ever as a leader, and a record that bristles with 60s modern energy! The group here is only a quartet – with Horace Parlan on piano – and the album's got Booker's amazing tenor right out front, played with those angular, searching tones that are heard most famously on the Space and Freedom Book sessions for Prestige – but which seem to get almost more room for expression here! The remaining players are George Tucker on bass and Al Harewood on drums – both of whom help the album maintain a nicely rhythmic pulse, even when Ervin is going off into the stratosphere – and the album features 4 original tunes – "Mojo", "Uranus", "Boo", and "Booker's Blues" – plus versions of "Speak Low" and "Poinciana". LP, Vinyl record album

Mia Joy blends layered, dreamy atmosphere and strongly personal songwriting with such surehanded craft on Spirit Tamer, it's hard to believe it's only her first album! The vibe is the kind of softly layered, gently expansive guitar and synth atmosphere that's a bit reminiscent of classic 4AD and Creation label heroes and heroines, but in Mia's hands it's in the service of personal songwriting, which never gets lost under the airy sound or hazy mood. Such a strong debut! Includes "Spirit Tamer", "Ye Old Man", "Heaven Forbid", "Across Water", "See Us", "Saturn", "Sword (I Carry)", "Phone Home", "Candle Prayer", "Haha" and "Last Night Together (Arthur)". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet 80s groover from KC and his Sunshine Band – a set that's got the group sounding a lot different than during their Miami hit years of the 70s – but still every bit as groovy! The style is more 80s funk than before – a bit more emphasis on the keyboards, and basslines that rocked straight through the grooves – and Wayne "KC" Casey's voice often uses that cool level of processing you'll know from his hits, but in a wider range that even makes for some unusual moments on the mellower cuts and the ballads. Overall, there's still lots of sunshine in the mix – that ebullient atmosphere that always made KC and the group so great – and titles include "Don't Run", "Give It Up", "You'd Gimme Some More", ""When You Dance To The Music", and "You're Going Out Of Your Mind". LP, Vinyl record album

Two rare Charlie Parker albums in a single set! First up is Bird On 52nd Street – one of the more obscure Charlie Parker sessions of the 40s – at least in the original release! The material was recorded in 1948, on a home tape recorder, but not issued until after his death – part of a huge wave of Charlie Parker material that hit the market at the end of the 50s and start of the 60s! The sound here is quite raw – made even more so by the recording quality – but it also offers up a good illustration of the sheer power of Bird back in the day, the kind of bold, bracing energy that made even more than the regular jazz world sit up and take notice. The group's a quintet – with Miles Davis on trumpet, Duke Jordan on piano, Tommy Potter on bass, and Max Roach on drums – and there's been a few tape tricks in the mastering, in order to come up with a better version of some of the recordings. Tracks are short – in true bebop format – and titles include "Night In Tunisia", "Dizzy Atmosphere", "Out Of Nowhere", "My Old Flame", "How High The Moon", "This Time The Dream's On Me", "Hot House", and "Chasin The Bird". Next is Bird At St Nicks – a posthumous issue of an early 50s live set by Charlier Parker – one of the many that were rushed to the public in the years after his early death. The set, like many of the other live ones from the time, isn't recorded that well – but the music is still pretty wonderful. There's a real focus on Bird in the way the microphone was set up – so although you hear the rest of the band comping in the background, the album almost works like a session of solo sax work by Parker – as his alto is right out front in the mix, playing with a faltering style at times – but in a way that only seems to deepen our vision of his genius. Players include Red Rodney on trumpet and Al Haig on piano – and titles include "Ornithology", "Star Eyes", "Visa", "I Didn't Know What Time It Was", and "Confirmation". LP, Vinyl record album

Great late 60s work from Oscar Peterson – a player who's definitely Travelin On here, thanks to a great approach to production, and a trio that features Sam Jones on bass and Bob Durham on drums! These MPS sessions are essentially identifiable for the relaxed, soulful warmth that came so naturally from the atmosphere of the home of producer/engineer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer – who manned the booth as well as provided the venue. Tracks include "Travelin' On", "Emily", "Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)", "Sax No End" and "When Lights Are Low". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing early work from Sonny Rollins – the first of his tremendous Blue Note albums – and a record that really shows him taking off at the time! The record captures Rollins at a key turning point – emerging from his firey bop years, moving into a much more complicated, introspective tenor style that was a perfect showcase for his developing genius for improvisation – not as far out as in a few years to come, but already awash in imagination and creativity. The group here includes Donald Byrd on trumpet, Wynton Kelly on piano, Gene Ramey on bass, and Max Roach on drums – but as with all Rollins Blue Note sessions, his tenor is the dominant force. Titles include "Bluesnote", "Plain Jane", "Sonnysphere", and "Decision". LP, Vinyl record album

With tracks by Craig Armstrong, Nils Petter Molvaer, Dreadzone, Swati Natekar, Trilok Gurtu, Photek, Tuu, Vibrasphere, Ali Farka Toure, Dub Tractor, dZihan & Kamien, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. LP, Vinyl record album

A real treasure, and a record that may well be our favorite Jimmy Smith album for Verve – a masterful meeting of his smoking Hammond work with some swingingly sophisticated arrangements by Oliver Nelson and Claus Ogerman! Both Nelson and Ogerman bring a fuller spectrum of horn work to the album than heard on other Smith sides of the time – using an almost orchestral approach to the backings, one that pushes Jimmy even further into the stratosphere as he solos madly on the organ! But don't think that the larger backings are clunky at all – because they're not – and there's a surprisingly deep soul to all the proceedings on the album, making it one of the tightest, grooviest, and deeply soulful records that Jimmy cut after leaving Blue Note! The LP includes two very long cuts – killer versions of "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf" and "Slaughter On 10th Avenue" – plus shorter takes on "Bluesette", "Women Of The World", and "Wives & Lovers" that are all plenty amazing too! LP, Vinyl record album

The incredible second album by The Wipers – a record that cements Greg Sage's status as not only a pioneering figure in Pacific Northwest punk/post punk songcraft, but also as one of the more innovative guitarists in that scene. Youth Of America carries on the surprisingly melodic, yet blazing intensity of the debut, but with richer guitar atmosphere. The 10+ minute title track is the biggest step forward in that regard, but the whole record is a underappreciated gem! Other titles include "Taking Too Long", "Can This Be", "Pushing The Extreme", "When Its Over" and "No Fair". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the deepest-digging entries in the Super Funk series so far – a blistering batch of underground singles that serve up some of the roughest funk of their generation! We'll be honest in saying that we'd only heard a few of the tracks here before – and our hats are off to BGP for taking this already-great series and making it go even deeper – far past familiar funk classics that usually get showcased on the label, and much more into the realm of the crate-digging underground, or the ebay-rarity stratosphere! A handful of cuts here are previously unreleased – never even issued on wax back in the day – and the rest are all pretty darn hard to find too, and all plenty darn great from a musical perspective. The package features a whopping 21 tracks in all – including a rare 1970 funky remake of "Twine Time" by Alvin Cash, plus "Home Brew" by Miles Grayson, "Just Sitting" by Smithstonian, "Can't Get Enough" by 87th Off Broadway, "Hi Off Life" by Eternal Flames, "Give Me Another Chance" by The Uniques, "Hold On" by Lorenzo Holden, "Free The Soul Man" by La May & Company, "Little Boy Blue" by The Phillips Brothers, "You'd Be Good For Me" by Jeanette Jones, "Who Done It? Who Drained The Pool?" by Big Daddy Green, "Low Rider (Deuce & A Quarter)" by Smokey Wilson, "Can't Buy Soul" by Hebrew Rogers, "Shake A Leg" by Jackie Wilson, "Face To Face" by The Explosions, and "Turn Around & Go" by Lee Bernard. LP, Vinyl record album

The first all new, all original effort from Bitchin Bajas in a few years finds the group's core synth-driven vibe just as hypnotic, but more expansive than ever! The tracks are all on the longer side, and have this beautiful way of working in subtle shifts in sound and texture that build up, ease back and ultimately evolve from starting base layer of bells, chimes and vibes-y soundscapes. The core trio of Cooper Crain, Rob Frye and Daniel Quinlivan are joined by Mike Reed, Nori Tanaka and Rex McMurry on cymbals and drums that nicely add to atmosphere – and the titles include "Amorpha", "Geomancy", "World B Free" and "Quackenbruck". LP, Vinyl record album

The first of 3 LA EPs from Flying Lotus – rich, textural and sublimely soulful tunes from one of the more inventive soundscape makers on the Warp label! LA EP 1 features a couple of the best tracks from the fine Los Angeles LP, plus four worthy non album tracks that meld Asian string accented grooves, layers of crackling beats and synth, spare atmosphere and heavier dynamics when the mood fits. Titles include "Sleepy Dinosaur" and "Roberta Flack" from the album – plus "Rickshaw", "My Chippy" , "Paper Crane Gang" and "Interference". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the lushest, most melodic material from Four Tet yet – straight up beautiful for the most part – and a pretty strong contender for his best to date! He's blending electronics and more natural sounds in ways that aren't out of character given his past work, but the title is wholly appropriate. Up to this point, he's so fully embraced creative evolution, it's gratifying to hear a Four Tet record in which he brings in bits of the styles he's worked on past efforts with a new energy and fresh life. It'll roll from almost beatless mixes of electronic atmosphere and natural sounds on one track, to beats-centric and spacey on the next, but it gels all the way through, all parts of a hypnotic whole. Includes "Alap", "Two Thousand Seventeen", "LA Trance", "Tremper", "Lush", "You Are Loved", "10 Midi", "Daughter", and "Planet". LP, Vinyl record album

The recordings are prime Diz, cut in the height of his bop years, hard grooving with a lot of pyrotechnics, a bit of vocalization, and a great sense of humor! Titles include classics like "He Beeped When He Shoulda Bopped", "Groovin High", "Dizzy Atmosphere", "Ray's Idea", "Oop Bob Sh'bam", "That's Earl's Brother", and "One Bass Hit". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing little record – easily one of the coolest albums ever on the legendary Ovation label – and a set that has the small imprint almost hitting the heights of their Chicago neighbor Cadet Records! The core sounds here are from the folksy duo of Chuck Hollins and Dave Starr – but their music is really expanded with some key studio touches – jazzy inflections from session players, some slight fuller arrangements – and an overall vibe that carries the same sense of hope and new voice that you'd find in records by Terry Callier or Rotary Connection! The dawn of the 70s was a great time to push the boundaries of what could be done with folk and psychedelic trappings, and these guys really find a great little space – balancing trippy lyricism, lots of ethereal atmosphere, and a few heavily percussive jams! Titles include "Talking To Myself", "Krishna Dov", "Cry Baby Cry", "Twin City Prayer", "John Hurt", "Hard Headed Women", "Lovable", "Digress", "Staying High", "Sidewalk's Talkin'", and "Feelin' Good". LP, Vinyl record album

Wild and wonderful work by Keith Jarrett – light years away from his records on ECM! The album features a quartet that includes Dewey Redman on tenor, Charlie Haden on bass, and Paul Motian on drums – but it's clearly Keith who's driving the bus here, taking lots of odd twists and turns for playful moments that come as an unexpected surprise. One of the best of these is the short percussion track "Pre Judgement Atmosphere", which almost sounds like a Moondog number – and another is the rollingly funky "Gypsy Moth", a tune that always seems to be careening out of control, but is never "outside", just percussively grooving. Side two features two longer jamming tracks that almost have a loft jazz feel – "El Juicio" and "Piece For Ornette" – and Keith plays alone on the track "Pardon My Rags". LP, Vinyl record album

Volume 2 of this hard to find early side on the legendary Debut label – a unique 4 trombone session originally issued on 10"s featuring JJ Johnson, Kai Winding, Benny Green, and Willie Dennis – with an all star rhythm section of John Lewis on piano, Charles Mingus on bass, and Art Taylor on drums! Though there's some ensemble lines in the heads, the horn players get lots of room to do their own thing too, taking turns soloing on long takes of "Now's The Time", "Trombosphere", "Ow" and "Chazzanova". LP, Vinyl record album

The Liverpool Scene mix smart and smartass wordplay, taking the piss out of pop & rock stars and the overall cultural atmosphere of the era thanks in no small part to leader Adrian Henri, with some excellent musical backing – ranging from jazzy brass & bass, to acoustic folk rock. Wholly unique and pretty amazing stuff! LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet 80s groover from the South African scene – a set that makes great use of drum machine rhythms and keyboards, but at a level that's nicely warmed up by the group's vocals! There's plenty of elements here that link up with that moment when electric African material was getting wider circulation in the Northern Hemisphere, thanks to work by labels like Celluloid or Jive – and although this set never got hat sort of larger exposure, it's right up there with some of the best South African soul of the time! Titles include "Mind Games", "Right On Time", "Fire Passion Ecstasy", "Where Did We Go Wrong", and "Say Say No". LP, Vinyl record album

A great set of keyboard work from the legendary Piero Umiliani – and one that's definitely heavy on the Fender Rhodes promised in the title! Piero first started out with a more jazz-based sound in the 60s, and that definitely returns here – but updated nicely with a sweet set of 70s electric keys – used here in ways that move between funky jazz, gentler bossa numbers, and a whole range of other styles that fit very nicely on the groovier side of the sound library spectrum! As with most of Umiliani's music during the decade, this album wasn't commercially released at all – just done as a sound library session under the name of Rovi – but pure Piero all the way through, on titles that include "Medium Cool", "Honey Moon", "Jolly", "Pianofender Blues", "Proposal", "Good Job", "Dark Blues", and "Atmosphere". LP, Vinyl record album

Imagine gaining entry to a treasure trove of vintage keyboards and electronic music sources – then getting the chance to spend days improvising with them, and making new sounds of your own! That's exactly what happened to Jeremiah Chu, as he was set loose inside the Vintage Synthesizer Museum in Los Angeles – where he handled dozens of amazing instruments, improvising throughout, and capturing most of his experiments live on tape! The result is a record that's maybe a bit more warm and organic than the sorts of older analog electronic albums, especially the more academic type – as Chiu creates these really beautiful progressions of sounds that flower and glisten with a very human sensibility – not electronic music for robots, but instead an embrace of electronic possibilities for altering contemporary living! Titles include "Rococco Rondo", "For Voices", "Seawater Swell", "Rhythm Bell", "Static Stone Railway", "Transparent Spheres", and "Echo Arp Hold". LP, Vinyl record album