A classic vocal set from Ella – filled with standards from the Rodgers & Hart songbook – including "Isn't It Romantic", "My Romance", "Spring Is Here", "Thou Swell", "Bewitched", "Blue Moon", "A Ship Without A Sail", "I Could Write A Book", and "Where Or When". LP, Vinyl record album

We're not sure if the match is perfect, but it's still pretty darn nice – a live performance that has Ella Fitzgerald singing in front of the Count Basie Band – all recorded before a very enthusiastic audience at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1979! The set's a nice capper to one of Ella's biggest decades as a star – and she steps out here with a well-earned confidence that allows her to match the energy of the Basie group and take new inspiration from their fire. Titles include "Make Me Rainbows", "Round Midnight", "Basella", "You've Changed", "Fine & Mellow", "Some Other Spring", and "After You've Gone". LP, Vinyl record album

A key 70s session from Tommy Flanagan – a record that showed that he was still one of the most fluid and soulful players of his generation! The album has Flanagan working only with the bass of George Mraz – in a drum-less format with even less structure than usual, a perfect setting for Tommy to stretch out, open up, and do his thing on the keys of the piano. There's still always a gentle swing and good focus to most tracks here – and Flanagan never gets too indulgent with the setting, even on the longer numbers. Titles include "Blue Twenty", "With Malice Towards None", "Blues For Sarka", "Star Eyes", and "They Say It's Spring". CD

A sweet Tommy Flanagan trio date – recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977, but with a warmth and intimacy that's like catchy Tommy at a small club date! Trio members include Keter Betts on bass and Bobby Durham on drums – but the focus is very strongly on Flanagan's piano – given plenty of space to stretch out, in tones that are awash in rich colors – ringing out beautifully on tunes that include "Barbados", "Blue Bossa", "Woody N You", "Some Other Spring/Easy Living", and "Star Crossed Lovers/Jump For Joy". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those really great records from a time on the UK scene when some groups were effortlessly mixing jazz and rock elements up in the mix – but in ways that are very different than some of the more familiar jazz rock modes of the mainstream! Gaillard have plenty of strong horn solos on this set – not in a brassy bigger lineup, but as a way of bringing in tenor, trumpet, or other instruments where you might normally have a guitar solo – also blown with qualities that show that the musicians in the group are doing a lot more than just flavoring in the tunes! Players include Tony Roberts on tenor and flute, Lyle Jenkins on tenor and baritone, Dave Caswell on trumpet, and even the great jazz musician Harry Beckett on flugelhorn – and the record also sports some nice sitar, Hammond, and electric piano as well. Geoff Brown and Andy Abbott handle vocals – and titles include "Open Up Your Mind", "Something's Going On", "Premonition", "In Your Minds Eye", "Winter Spring Summer", "Ask For Nothing", and "New Dawn Breaking". CD

Essential early work by Stan – a 3 CD collection of his early 50s recordings for the Roost label, either under his own name and group, or with guitarist Johnny Smith. The Smith sides only make up a very small portion of the package – as most of the work are by Getz's quartet or quintet, the groundbreaking assemblage that featured Jimmy Raney on guitar, whose icy clear tone was a perfect counterpart for Getz's sweet breathy work on the tenor. The quality of the material is really great – and the package does a great job of presenting the work freshly, without an overload of alternate takes or tunes you don't want to hear. There's a total of 59 tracks in all – and titles include "Potter's Luck", "Tenderly", "Budo", "Signal", "Fools Rush In", "Lullaby Of Birdland", "It Might As Well Be Spring", "Yvette", "Melody Express", "Split Kick", "Hershey Bar", and "Penny". CD

Sublime early work from Stan Getz – a lyrical genius even at this early point in his career! The album features a group that includes a very young Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone, plus rhythm by Teddy Kotick, John Williams, and Frank Isola. Tracks are longish and easily swinging – and Getz's tone, as always, makes the whole thing come together like magic! Titles include "Pot Luck", "Love & the Weather", "Spring Is Here", and "Crazy Rhythm". LP, Vinyl record album

Long live tracks from Stan Getz – captured at one of his strongest points in the 70s, and working with a quartet that includes Richie Beirach on piano, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drum s! The feel here is a great extrapolation of the sound of Getz's seminal Sweet Rain sessions – tunes that spiral out with a style that's free and open-ended, yet never "outside" – just allowing Getz to blow magically with his incredible tone, shifting sound into ever-changing shapes and many-colored jewels! Titles include "Litha", "Invitation", "Fiesta", "Lucifer's Fall", and "Spring Is Here". CD

A lovely later recording from Stan Getz – very spare and spacious, and recorded with a casual approach that's quite striking, and really fresh! The album features Stan playing alongside pianist Albert Dailey – with no other rhythm accompaniment, just piano and tenor sax. The tunes are mostly familiar numbers, played in a relaxed, improvised mode that makes the whole thing feel like you're getting a lucky glimpse of Stan and Albert playing together in an after hours session or rehearsal. There's a bit of roughness in the recording, but given the depth of soul and color from both players, that quality also emerges as an honest humanity that only serves to make the recording more compelling! Titles include "Tune Up", "A Child Is Born", "Confirmation", "Round Midnight", and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most". CD

A lovely later recording from Stan Getz – very spare and spacious, and recorded with a casual approach that's quite striking, and really fresh! The album features Stan playing alongside pianist Albert Dailey – with no other rhythm accompaniment, just piano and tenor sax. The tunes are mostly familiar numbers, played in a relaxed, improvised mode that makes the whole thing feel like you're getting a lucky glimpse of Stan and Albert playing together in an after hours session or rehearsal. There's a bit of roughness in the recording, but given the depth of soul and color from both players, that quality also emerges as an honest humanity that only serves to make the recording more compelling! Titles include "Tune Up", "A Child Is Born", "Confirmation", "Round Midnight", and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most". CD

A lovely later recording from Stan Getz – very spare and spacious, and recorded with a casual approach that's quite striking, and really fresh! The album features Stan playing alongside pianist Albert Dailey – with no other rhythm accompaniment, just piano and tenor sax. The tunes are mostly familiar numbers, played in a relaxed, improvised mode that makes the whole thing feel like you're getting a lucky glimpse of Stan and Albert playing together in an after hours session or rehearsal. There's a bit of roughness in the recording, but given the depth of soul and color from both players, that quality also emerges as an honest humanity that only serves to make the recording more compelling! Titles include "Tune Up", "A Child Is Born", "Confirmation", "Round Midnight", and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful dreamy album that's quite different from the classic Getz/Gilberto collaboration – but which also shares much of that set's lyrical beauty! This album was recorded live, in 1964, when Stan Getz was playing with his quartet that included Gary Burton on vibes – an incredible lineup that made for some wonderfully moody sounds! The vibes/tenor approach was a high point in Getz's career – especially as the young Burton could create these beautiful washes of sound that were a perfect counterpoint to Getz's breathy playing. And although Astrud Gilberto is thrown into the mix here to give the album a bit of bossa appeal – vocals on 6 titles that include "Corovado", "Eu E Voce", "It Might As Well Be Spring", "One Note Samba", "Only Trust Your Heart", and "The Telephone Song" – there's also 4 more tracks that are all instrumental, and which show the Getz/Burton union in all of its glory! These tracks include "6 Nix Pix Flix", "The Singing Song", "Here's That Rainy Day", and "Summertime". And for reference, the rest of the group includes Gene Cherico on bass and Joe Hunt on drums – but on 3 tracks, Chuck Israels plays bass instead of Cherico, and on a few others, Helcio Milito plays drums instead of Hunt, and Kenny Burrell joins in on guitar. LP, Vinyl record album

A very different record than the first collaboration between Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto – but that's also one of the things that makes it great! The album's more of a split LP than a shared one – as side one features a live performance from the great mid 60s Stan Getz quartet that featured Gary Burton on vibes – a wonderfully cool combo that was very under-documented on record, and which makes a key appearance here. The combination of Burton's vibes and Stan's tenor is pure genius – a sound that's got all the subtle hues and cool colors of the Getz bossa recordings, but which is quite different overall. Stan's tone is amazing on these tunes – and titles include "Here's That Rainy Day", "Tonight I Shall Sleep With A Smile On My Face", "Grandfather's Waltz", and "Stan's Blues". Side two features Joao Gilberto without Stan – playing in a very groovy trio that's more straight bossa than most of his other US recordings – cool small combo grooving that's totally great! The lineup features Gilberto on guitar and vocals, Keeter Betts on bass, and Helcio Milito on drums – all working in a sweetly grooving mode on titles that include "Samba De Minha Terra", "Meditation", "Bim Bom", "Rosa Moreno", and "O Pato". CD also features 5 bonus tracks with vocals from Astrud Gilberto – "It Might As Well Be Spring", "Only Trust Your Heart", "Corcovado", "Garota De Ipanema", and "Eu E Voce" – all from the Getz Au Go Go album. CD

A very cool live set from the great tenorist Stan Getz, and one that really echoes some of the best styles of his Getz Au Go Go album – as it not only features guest vocals on a number of tracks from the lovely Astrud Gilberto, but also includes work from vibist Gary Burton throughout the entire performance! The combination of Burton and Getz is tremendous – one that wasn't captured nearly enough by Verve in the 60s, which makes these live recordings so essential – as Gary's modern chromatic elements really seem to unlock a fresh spirit in Stan's horn – all the fluidity of the bossa years, but with these unusual inflections that are completely mindblowing! The rest of the core group is equally hip – Chuck Israels on bass and the great Roy Haynes on drums – and Astrud Gilberto sings on seven of the album's nineteen selections. Titles include instrumental cuts "The Singing Song", "Blues Walk", "O Grande Amor", "Edelweiss", "Once Upon A Summertime", "Jive Hoot", "The Shadow Of Your Smile", and "On Green Dolphin Street" – and the vocal numbers "Voce E Eu", "Corcovado", "Telephone Song", "Girl From Ipanema", "It Might As Well Be Spring", and "Samba De Uma Nota So". CD

American bassist Oscar Pettiford left our planet on the other side of the Atlantic – after just a few years of making some big waves on the European scene, where this tribute to his genius was recorded in 1960! The material here appears for the first time – and the bulk of the set features tremendous performances from very hip European groups who were following in the legacy of modern jazz that Pettiford and some of his generation helped unlock on the scene. The set begins with a trio that includes pianist Finn Savery and bassist Erik Moseholm, on titles that include "Bohemia After Dark" and "Willow Weep For Me". Baritone saxophonist Max Bruel leads a quartet through a reading of his own "Blues For Oscar" – followed by four tracks from the trio of pianist Bengt Hallberg, one with vocals from Alice Babs – titles that include "Blues By Alice" and "Dinah". Next is the legendary Jazz Quintet 60 – with Allan Botschinsky on trumpet, Bent Jaedig on tenor, and Bent Axen on piano – doing their renditions of Pettiford tunes "Why Not That's What" and "Blues In The Closet". Vibist Louis Hjulmand follows in a quartet with pianist Finn Savery on the Pettiford tune "Now See How You Are" – then the great Stan Getz comes in to finish things off in a quartet with Bengt Hallberg's trio – serving up takes of "Without A Song", "Get Happy", "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most", and "Nobody's Sweetheart". CD

There's few singers lovelier than Astrud Gilberto – and this "great women" set is a perfect introduction to her music – a package filled with the key cuts she recorded for Verve Records during the big bossa nova boom of the 60s – a movement that lifted Astrud from obscurity into the realm of undeniably classic singers! The set features some of Gilberto's original recordings with tenorist Stan Getz, and others on her own – with backings from arrangers Don Sebesky, Claus Ogerman, Gil Evans, and Marty Paich – and one tune done with Brazilian organist Walter Wanderley too! Titles include "Agua De Beber", "Take Me To Aruanda", "O Morro", "Berimbau", "The Shadow Of Your Smile", "How Insensitive", "Girl From Ipanema", "Fly Me To The Moon", "So Nice", "It Might As Well Be Spring", "Once I Loved", "Corcovado", and "So Tinha De Ser Come Voce". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of early albums from the great Gordon Giltrap – both released by Transatlantic Records when Gordon was a very young fellow! The self-titled Gordon Giltrap is a gem from 1968 – a record that has Gordon stepping out as a hell of a guitarist, and a very dark-tinged songwriter – certainly of the generation that was budding with John Renbourn and Bert Jansch – but with a distinct quality that really set Giltrap apart from the rest, maybe making him as much of an individualist as Davy Graham! Although just 18, Giltrap's acoustic guitar work is fantastic– and his vocals are much more biting than some of his contemporaries – almost mean at times. Titles include "Window Pattern", "Blythe Hill", "Won't You Stay Awhile Suzanne", "Don't You Feel Good", "Birth Of Spring", "Don't You Hear Your Mother's Voice", and "Ives Horizon". Portrait is an amazing record – at one level filled with mastery of the 12 string guitar has has Gordon Giltrap matching the best of the Takoma generation in the US – but also graced with vocals that are very distinct, very pointed, and which make the tunes with lyrics such a contrast to the instrumentals! The whole thing is fantastic – a true testament to the legend that has grown up around Giltrap over the years – with titles that include "Thoughts In The Rain", "Never Ending Solitude", "Young Love", "Lucifer's Cage", "Portrait", "Tuxedo", and "Hands Of Fate". CD

Two very different groups – both presented in unissued performances recorded on the same day in Copenhagen during the spring of 1959! First up is the Jimmy Giuffre trio with some tremendous guitar from Jim Hall – a key player who really helped Jimmy find that airy, open approach on his Atlantic Records gems at the end of the 50s – working here with just the bass of Buddy Clark for accompaniment. Giuffre mostly plays modern clarinet, in that famous style of his, but also handles a bit of tenor – on titles that include "Time Machine", "Careful", "The Little Melody", and "Song Of The Wind". And speaking of clarinet, that instrument gets a nice workout on the Gene Krupa tracks – as does tenor and flute, all handled by Ed Wasserman – who plays in a Krupa quartet that also includes Ronnie Ball on piano and Jimmy Gannon on bass. The music has that open, lively small combo vibe that marked some of Gene's best 50s sessions for Verve – and titles include long takes on "Undecided" and "Flamingo" – plus a 25 minute reading of "Sing Sing Sing". CD

About as pure a distillation of the talents of both musicians as you could ever hope to get – as the album features just Charlie Haden on bass and Kenny Barron on drums – beautifully recorded at a small club in New York during the 90s! Barron's a genius in such a setting – and is no stranger to this sort of stripped-down approach – and the whole thing is also a reminder that, in a traditional jazz showcase, Haden can come across with a beautifully sensitive tone – especially at this point in his career, when it almost seemed as if he were going back to make up for lost time that he missed, since he first came out of the gate as a modernist! Titles include "Twilight Song", "Spring Is Here", "Waltz For Ruth", and "The Very Thought of You". CD

About as pure a distillation of the talents of both musicians as you could ever hope to get – as the album features just Charlie Haden on bass and Kenny Barron on drums – beautifully recorded at a small club in New York during the 90s! Barron's a genius in such a setting – and is no stranger to this sort of stripped-down approach – and the whole thing is also a reminder that, in a traditional jazz showcase, Haden can come across with a beautifully sensitive tone – especially at this point in his career, when it almost seemed as if he were going back to make up for lost time that he missed, since he first came out of the gate as a modernist! Titles include "Twilight Song", "Spring Is Here", "Waltz For Ruth", and "The Very Thought of You". LP, Vinyl record album

The last Liberation Music Orchestra effort from the great Charlie Haden – offered up here in a set that brings together two live performances from a time when he was still on the planet, plus three more songs by the group on their own – working under the guidance of longtime musical partner Carla Bley! The set begins with a beautiful reworking of Miles Davis' "Blue In Green" – redone here by Haden and the group as a masterpiece of color and tone – and the record closes with a version of Haden's "Song For The Whales", both recorded with Charlie and the group in 2011. In between are three more new performances, post-Haden – the beautiful titles "Time Life/Silent Spring", and "Utviklingssang" – all of which really live up to that long legacy of amazing colors and tones that the group did so well. The two different slices of music come together beautifully, and make for a surprisingly unified set in the end. CD

Features some arrangements by Oliver Nelson! Titles include "Spring Is Here", "Strike Up The Band", "The Man I Love", and "Summertime". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes "Miss Brown To You", "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", "Gloomy Sunday", "Billie's Blues", "Solitude", "God Bless The Child", "Sailboat In The Moonlight", "I Can't Get Started", "When A Woman Loves A Man", "Some Other Spring", and "I Cried For You". LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection from the Verve years – 16 titles that include "East Of The Sun", "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", "He's Funny That Way", "Some Other Spring", "Everything I Have Is Yours", "Comes Love", and "Stormy Blues". CD

A great album – if not just for the Billie Holiday work, then for the titles by Ralph Burns! Side one features 7 classic Holiday tunes – including "Strange Fruit", "The Man I Love", and "All Of Me" – all done in straight Verve mode, which is nice enough. But the real treat is on side two, which features The Free Forms of Ralph Burns, with main soloist Lee Konitz – the modern altoist at the height of his early powers! The set's got 8 original tunes by Burns, which provide a perfect foil for Konitz's icy tone – and the record's a key bit of modernism, in the spirit of Verve's best jazz-with-backing mode. Titles include "Terresita", "Spring Is", "Tantallion", "Places Please", and "Someday, Somewhere". CD

Possibly the rarest album ever from vocalist Johnny Holiday – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the rarity of his albums! Holiday's a really overlooked talent from the west coast scene of the 50s – a singer with a great sense of depth and darkness, and one who sounds especially great here. At some level, Johnny's got an approach that's similar to some of the less flamboyant male vocalists of his time – such as Matt Dennis – but he's also got a somewhat fuller voice and raspier tone, a sensibility that's quite human and personal – and which almost makes us feel like we're hearing Holiday speak the lyrics of most of these tunes as private musings, locked up in some corner tavern long after closing time! There's a nicely saloony feel to the whole set – a style that's not the sleepy vocalist with trio mode heard often with female singers, but which also isn't the hard-swinging Sinatra-reaching mode of other males contemporaries of Holiday. Titles include "You Don't Know What Love Is", "No One Ever Tells You", "Too Late Now", "I Remember You", "My Love Left Town", "It's Easy To Remember", and "The Things We Did Last Summer". CD also features the bonus track "It Might As Well Be Spring". CD

An overlooked gem from The Holy Modal Rounders – the group's fifth album, and a set that shows them moving into a slightly more subtle style than before – but still with plenty of their trademark touches intact! The work often has a sweetly folksy feel – one that conjures up the city-to-country modes of some of the Marin County bands of the time – with some sensitive lyrics and instrumentation, all produced beautifully down in Nashville by the legendary Bob Dorough – who was doing some surprising rock projects around this time. Despite the joke of the title, there actually is a timeless quality to this set – one that might almost make the record a good place to start if you've always been curious about the Rounders, but a bit intimidated by the fame of their earlier classics. Titles include "Black Bottom", "Spring OF 65", "Boobs A Lot", "Alligator Man", "City Blues", "The Whole World Oughta Go On Vacation", and "Melinda". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic late 60s set from John Lee Hooker – one that has the legend working in a mode that echoes some of the funkier soul styles of the time, but with a vibe that's still very much in the best spirit of his classic work! The groove is slightly amped up by the electric bass of Eddie Taylor and tight drums of Al Duncan, but the session just features a quartet – with the mighty Phil Upchurch on second guitar next to John's lead – and Hooker delivering some fantastic vocals throughout! Titles include "Hot Spring Water (parts 1 & 2)", "Backbiters & Syndicaters", "Mr Lucky", "Cry Before I Go", "I'm Standing In Line", "The Motor City Is Burning", "Want Ad Blues", and "I Can't Stand To Leave You". CD

A fantastic late 60s set from John Lee Hooker – one that has the legend working in a mode that echoes some of the funkier soul styles of the time, but with a vibe that's still very much in the best spirit of his classic work! The groove is slightly amped up by the electric bass of Eddie Taylor and tight drums of Al Duncan, but the session just features a quartet – with the mighty Phil Upchurch on second guitar next to John's lead – and Hooker delivering some fantastic vocals throughout! Titles include "Hot Spring Water (parts 1 & 2)", "Backbiters & Syndicaters", "Mr Lucky", "Cry Before I Go", "I'm Standing In Line", "The Motor City Is Burning", "Want Ad Blues", and "I Can't Stand To Leave You". CD

A fantastic late 60s set from John Lee Hooker – one that has the legend working in a mode that echoes some of the funkier soul styles of the time, but with a vibe that's still very much in the best spirit of his classic work! The groove is slightly amped up by the electric bass of Eddie Taylor and tight drums of Al Duncan, but the session just features a quartet – with the mighty Phil Upchurch on second guitar next to John's lead – and Hooker delivering some fantastic vocals throughout! Titles include "Hot Spring Water (parts 1 & 2)", "Backbiters & Syndicaters", "Mr Lucky", "Cry Before I Go", "I'm Standing In Line", "The Motor City Is Burning", "Want Ad Blues", and "I Can't Stand To Leave You". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from Freddie Hubbard – some key transitional sides for Atlantic Records, and easily some of his most soulful work ever! Freddie started out as a bopper on Blue Note, but then made a great shift at Atlantic – exploring space and sound in a really wonderful way, and opening up towards some of the killer modes you'd know from his classics on CTI. There's just a bit of electricity in the mix here, as most cuts are acoustic – but they already stretch out in some hip, spiritual styles that are really great. Titles include "For BP", "Lonely Soul", "High Blues Pressure", "Midnite Soul", "Black Soldier", Interlude I", "Echoes Of Blue", "Threnody For Sharon Tate Comment", "Spacetrack", "Leap Frog", "Up Jumped Spring", "Latina", and "On The Quee Tee". CD

Killer work from Freddie Hubbard – some key transitional sides for Atlantic Records, and easily some of his most soulful work ever! Freddie started out as a bopper on Blue Note, but then made a great shift at Atlantic – exploring space and sound in a really wonderful way, and opening up towards some of the killer modes you'd know from his classics on CTI. There's just a bit of electricity in the mix here, as most cuts are acoustic – but they already stretch out in some hip, spiritual styles that are really great. Titles include "For BP", "Lonely Soul", "High Blues Pressure", "Midnite Soul", "Black Soldier", Interlude I", "Echoes Of Blue", "Threnody For Sharon Tate Comment", "Spacetrack", "Leap Frog", "Up Jumped Spring", "Latina", and "On The Quee Tee". LP, Vinyl record album

Tracks include "Prophet Jennings", "The Core", "Up Jumped Spring", "Karioka", "Melting Pot", "Lament For Booker", and "Bridlike". CD

A lost set of work from the team of Bobby Hutcherson and Harold Land – recorded right around the same time as their famous San Francisco album! The album's overflowing with the soulful, righteous tones the pair could create together – sublime vibes from Hutcherson, both tenor and flute from Land – and a top-shelf supporting cast that includes Stanley Cowell on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums! Like others of this nature, Blue Note never issued the material at the time – but wisely released it as an album at the start of the 80s – a great contribution to Hutcherson's catalog for the label – of which we can never get enough! Titles include "Ungano", "Avis", "Comes Spring", and "Orientale". CD

A lost set of work from the team of Bobby Hutcherson and Harold Land – recorded right around the same time as their famous San Francisco album! The album's overflowing with the soulful, righteous tones the pair could create together – sublime vibes from Hutcherson, both tenor and flute from Land – and a top-shelf supporting cast that includes Stanley Cowell on piano, Reggie Johnson on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums! Like others of this nature, Blue Note never issued the material at the time – but wisely released it as an album at the start of the 80s – a great contribution to Hutcherson's catalog for the label – of which we can never get enough! Titles include "Ungano", "Avis", "Comes Spring", and "Orientale". CD

Spacey sounds from the enigmatic Iasos – a legendary figure in the 70s underground – and an artist with a heck of a great ear for organic electronics and unusual recording techniques! This cool collection of Iasos' music was put together by Carlos Nino with the guys at Numero – and as such, it's got a really sensitive feel – a way of bringing together the sounds and stories that really get at the subtle genius of Iasos – packaged in a lavish set that also features lots of vintage photos too. The style is often quite personal, and almost naive – as Iasos works on guitar, keyboards, amplified flute, and other odd tape and studio effects – all flowing out with a style that's often a bit cosmic, and pretty darn compelling. Titles include "Crystal Petals", "Procession On The Horizon", "Cloud Prayer", "Rainbow Canyon", "I Passion You A Leap Of Love Flame", and "Spring Temple Forest". CD

Three albums from pianist Klaus Ignatek – all served up in a single set! First up is Jacaranda, a set that shows that Klaus is a great player on his own, but also a really great leader – one who always has a special ear for putting a group together, and bringing out the best in the musicians on his sessions! This record is a great example of that talent – as it really seems to bring out the best in trumpeter Claudio Roditi, driven on strongly by Mario Gonzi on drums and Paulo Cardoso on bass – all stretching out on long tracks that move easily between lyrical moments and harder-burning numbers – with more than a few great originals to remind us of the compositional talents of Klaus! Titles include "Blues For Lee", "Day For Night", "Jacaranda", "Let's Take A Break", and "Monster Mood" – plus nice takes on "Eu E Brisa" and "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise". Don't Stop It Is an overlooked 80s cooker from pianist Klaus Ignatzek – a set that's full of imagination, right from the very first note – thanks to a string of all original material that matches the strong performances on the set! Trumpeter Claudio Roditi is a key part of the quartet – and maybe gets a showcase here that's as strong as some of his better-known albums from the decade – really finding his groove with the material that Ignatzek brings to the record, in ways that are also nicely distinct, and show just how much Claudio can add to a session. Other players include Paulo Cardoso on bass and Mario Gonzi on drums – and the record's a gem through and through, with titles that include "Summer & Spring", "Move It", "Ballad For Ulli", "Whisper Yes", "That's It", and "Blue Energy". New Surprise is a record with a really joyous groove, and maybe one of the tightest sets we've ever heard from pianist Klaus Ignatzek – and that's saying a lot, as all of his records are pretty darn sharp! The groove is great – rock-solid basslines from Paulo Cardoso and drums from Mario Gonzi – with sparkling solos over the top from Claudio Roditi on trumpet and Tim Armacost on tenor – plays who spark all sorts of color and light on the great material that Klaus brought to the session! Titles include "Monster Mood", "Horace Gold", "For Sure", "Black Humour", and "New Surprise". CD

A sublime solo set from pianist Masaru Imada – one that really opens up with the kind of warm, spacious approach to jazz that he showcased on his famous albums for the Three Blind Mice label! Imada's got a completely captivating sound here – really bringing us in with a personal approach, but one that's never too easygoing to be casual either – graced with an understanding of just the right touch on the keys and timing of the groove and resonating with a really great sound throughout! Titles include "Menina Moca", "Pico", "Sometime Ago", "Little Blue", "Spring March", "I Thought About You", and "3 x 3 Steps". CD

The team of Jackie & Roy have a charm that never seems to go away – even on later recordings like these which you might imagine to be suspect! The pair fit together so perfect vocally – and after decades of swinging together on a range of jazzy material they seem better equipped than ever to tackle a range of musical challenges. As usual, Jackie dominates on the gentler tunes, but the best numbers have Roy coming up with strong and warm support. Backing is by a trio led by Roy on piano, plus additional horns, strings, and guest instrumentalists that vary from track to track. Highlights include the Annie Ross tune "Music Is Forever", Jackie's own "Fred Astaire", and the lovely Fran Landesman tune "Through The Windows Of Cars" – and the album also features new versions of Jackie & Roy classics "Cheerful Little Earful" and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" – and the tracks "I Know That You Know", "You Didn't Tell Me It Was Wrong", and "The Duke". CD

These guys never miss! For years, we'd always passed up the later work of Jackie & Roy – thinking, in our elitist minds, that only their early work was worth merit. But this session from 1982 proves how wrong we were – as it's a stellar batch of small group tracks – sung in the same sweet mode as their best 50s work! The group's a nice one – with some great vibes by Paul Johnson – and the style has Jackie singing some songs in the lead, others in duet with Roy, and still others in a wonderful wordless mode that we really love. Titles include "Loving You", "I Watch You Sleep", "Too Marvelous For Words", "Am I Blue", "Bidin My Time", "Mine", and "Joy Spring". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first albums ever from the team of Jackie Caine and Roy Kral – and one of the best, too! The album's got a relaxed, open-ended approach to jazz vocals that already carries all the hallmarks of the Jackie & Roy style – wordless scatting on some tunes, playful lyrical interplay on others, and a focus on Jackie's ballad talents on some of the gentler numbers – all wrapped up in small combo backing that's sensitive, creative, and modern – yet never in a way that overwhelms the vocals. It's hard to match the poise, class, and cleverness of this one – and the album easily set a new standard for vocal jazz in the 50s! Titles include a few great early tunes by Tommy Wolf – the songwriter who would become so important for the pair – and backing is by Roy on piano, Barney Kessel on guitar, Red Mitchell on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums. Titles include "Let's Take A Walk Around The Block", "You Smell So Good", "Listen Little Girl", "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most", "Bill's Bit", "Dahuud", "I Wish I Were In Love Again", and "Lover". LP, Vinyl record album

A flawless batch of classics from Millie Jackson in the heart of her early years on Spring Records – maybe sounding better than ever here! Millie's raunchier style would come later on, but here she's working in styles that are a perfect mix of gritty and sweet – arrangements tailored perfectly to those characteristics in her sultry, smoky voice – and equally at home in sessions in Muscle Shoals, Philly or NYC. Covers the bases from moody southern soul, to tender ballads, to lightly soaring strings – and the mixes by Steve Levine really bring out the vibe of the original sessions, as closely as possible to the spirit and vision of the original recordings – a restoration as opposed to a revision. Includes "Sweet Music, Soft Lights & You" featuring Isaac Hayes, "House For Sale", "I'll Continue To Love You", "My Man, A Sweet Man", "I Cry", "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Wanna Be Right)" and "It Hurts So Good" – plus "Kiss You All Over", "Bad Risk", "Never Change Lovers In The Middle Of The Night" and more. 12 tracks on the CD. CD

A fantastic update of earlier soul duo modes – served up here by two of the most badass soul singers of the 70s! The album's got the smooth flow of Isaac Hayes' late 70s work – a bit of clubby rhythms at times, some soaring orchestrations at others – all in a mode that opens up into tunes that allow plenty of vocal interplay between Millie and Ike – who beautifully balance their deep soul roots and growing shift into modern soul modes. Brad Shapiro and Millie produced – giving the album some of the flavors of Jackson's late 70s work on Spring – but the Isaac Hayes presence really makes the record his own, too – as if we could imagine anything less! Titles include "Sweet Music, Soft Lights, & You", "Do You Wanna Make Love", "If I Had My Way", "Love Changes", and "You Needed Me". CD

Beautiful work from Jamal's early Chicago years – and a perfectly titled set that really gets at the differences he made in modern jazz! The tunes are wonderfully fluid, soulful, and swinging – but not in the gutbuckety style of other trios of the time, more in a lightly modern style that features almost equal interplay between Jamal's piano, the bass of Israel Crosby, and the guitar of the wonderful Ray Crawford – who really ads an amazing touch to the record. Tracks include the great original "New Rhumba", plus cool versions of "Jeff", "Darn That Dream", "Spring Is Here", and "All Of You". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from Jamal's early Chicago years – and a perfectly titled set that really gets at the differences he made in modern jazz! The tunes are wonderfully fluid, soulful, and swinging – but not in the gutbuckety style of other trios of the time, more in a lightly modern style that features almost equal interplay between Jamal's piano, the bass of Israel Crosby, and the guitar of the wonderful Ray Crawford – who really ads an amazing touch to the record. Tracks include the great original "New Rhumba", plus cool versions of "Jeff", "Darn That Dream", "Spring Is Here", and "All Of You". LP, Vinyl record album

A 70s 2-fer that collects 2 live sides originally issued by Argo, then subsequently by Chess under the Cadet label. Classic Chicago piano jazz – featuring the very popular pianist Ahmad Jamal, recorded at the legendary Pershing Lounge, down at 63rd and Cottage Grove and at the equally legendary Blackhawk Lounge in San Francisco. For many years we didn't get these earlier sides by Jamal, prefering the later electric stuff, but you can see the blueprint of both those later sounds and the piano style that had such a huge impact on Miles here, in sets that cover lots jazz standards, including 'But Not For Me", "Moonlight In Vermont", "poinciana", "Woody'N You", "All The Things You Are", "Cherokee", "It Might As Well Be Spring" and quite a few more. LP, Vinyl record album

Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden have been playing together for many decades – growing together in each other's musical lives, and continuing to find rich new ways of expression – even on more subtle sessions like this! The duo take on some of the standards territory that Keith's explored often with a trio – but work together wonderfully without any drums in the mix – as Charlie's bass blocks out these spare, solid spaces that Keith quickly fills with really lovely, lyrical lines on piano! There's not a huge amount of surprises in the record – but that's also what makes the whole thing so strong – as both players could really show off in such an unfettered setting, but instead choose to maturely show their strengths in such a subtle, but really effective way. Titles include "My Ship", "Round Midnight", "It Might As Well Be Spring", "Godobye", "Everything Happens To Me", and "My Old Flame". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge record in its day and it hasn't aged a minute since! On Psychocandy the Reid brothers took all the underground Brit indie psych revival modes and filtered them through the Velvet Underground at their noisiest, then paired melodies learned from sources as sweet as 60s Wall Of Sound pop and the Beach Boys to ferociously fuzzy guitars – and stunning found a way to spring this onto to fringes of the mainstream on both sides of the Atlantic! Hugely influential – a record that points the way towards sounds so many would soon follow. Titles include "In A Hole", "The Hardest Walk", "Taste The Floor", "Just Like Honey", "Never Understand", and "You Trip Me Up". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge record in its day and it hasn't aged a minute since! On Psychocandy the Reid brothers took all the underground Brit indie psych revival modes and filtered them through the Velvet Underground at their noisiest, then paired melodies learned from sources as sweet as 60s Wall Of Sound pop and the Beach Boys to ferociously fuzzy guitars – and stunning found a way to spring this onto to fringes of the mainstream on both sides of the Atlantic! Hugely influential – a record that points the way towards sounds so many would soon follow. Titles include "In A Hole", "The Hardest Walk", "Taste The Floor", "Just Like Honey", "Never Understand", and "You Trip Me Up". DualDisc audio is advanced resolution 96khz/24 bit stereo sound and Dolby stereo sound. CD

Not the normal trio set you might expect – because on half the tracks, Hank Jones plays Fender Rhodes – which makes for a very different sound than usual! The record nicely alternates between Jones on acoustic and electric – and Hank manages to give some of the Rhodes tracks this surprising level of lyricism, but in ways that are nicely altered from his acoustic playing. The trio also features Ray Brown on bass and Jimmie Smith on drums – and titles include "My Ship", "Your Feet's Too Big", "Spring Is Here", and "Alone Together" – plus an especially sweet Fender Rhodes version of "Bag's Groove". LP, Vinyl record album

Powerful live document of Janis with Big Brother live at Winterland in the spring of '68 – with recordings of their biggest and best-remembered numbers, and ones that didn't get nearly as much play over the years! Truly awesome work, with Janis and the band working their inimitable magic – all the more incredible given the potent period in late 60s San Francisco. "Down On Me", "Flower In The Sun", "I Need A Man To Love", "Easy Rider", "Combination Of The Two", "Farewell Song", "Piece Of My Heart", "Catch Me Daddy", "Magic Of Love", "Summertime", "Light Is Faster Than Sound", "Ball And Chain" and "Down On Me". CD

Beautiful ballads from Dutch singer Greetje Kauffeld – a host of rare recordings from the 60s, 70s, and 80s – all pulled together in one nicely unified set! Kauffeld sings in English throughout, with a lush style that's very much on par with the most mature American vocalists of the time – a mode that's a great later extension of older jazz torch modes – but with a refined, sophisticated style that's pretty darn compelling! Arrangements are by Rob Pronk, Jerry Van Rooyen, Addy Flor, and Rogier Van Otterloo – but tunes work together with a very similar feel – almost making the whole thing sound more like a well-conceived album than just a compilation. Titles include "Vincent", "Andorinha", "Spring Is Here", "You Must Believe In Spring", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Dear Death", "Miss Otis Regrets", and a haunting wordless version of "The Way We Were". CD

The rarest of three albums that King Pleasure ever recorded – and pretty darn hard to find, too. The set was recorded after King's earlier sides for the Prestige and HiFi jazz labels, but it's in a very similar style, with some wonderful vocalese-ing done in Pleasure's landmark style. He's really one of the greatest jazz singers of the 20th century, and it's unfortunate that apart from the big hit fame of "Moody's Mood For Love" (recorded here once again), King never got strong recognition as a richly talented singer. A number of cuts on here are re-recordings of earlier work – like "Don't Get Scared" and "Sometimes I'm Happy" – and other tracks include "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "Old Black Magic". Plus, this CD reissue also expands the original album with a lot of bonus cuts, including some great unreleased numbers – a total of 18 tracks in all, and a treasure trove of work by King Pleasure! CD

The set was recorded after King's earlier sides for the Prestige and HiFi jazz labels, but it's in a very similar style, with some wonderful vocalese-ing done in Pleasure's landmark style. He's really one of the greatest jazz singers of the 20th century, and it's unfortunate that apart from the big hit fame of "Moody's Mood For Love" (recorded here once again), King never got strong recognition as a richly talented singer. A number of cuts on here are re-recordings of earlier work – like "Don't Get Scared" and "Sometimes I'm Happy" – and other tracks include "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "Old Black Magic". LP, Vinyl record album

Great material from the tail end of their Reprise years – non-album tracks, collected to form one great last record! Titles include "Pictures In The Sand", "Where Did The Spring Go", "When I Turn Off The Living Room Light", "There Is No Life Without Love", "Til Death Do Us Part", "Groovy Movies", "Misty Water", and "Where Did The Spring Go". LP, Vinyl record album

A live quartet date – tracks include "Bag's Groove", "It Might As Well Be Spring", "Avalon", "Stritch In Time", and "Reeling & Rhyming". CD

Includes the songs "Catalina Island", "Rudy's Dream", "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "Lullaby Of Takeda", "Essence", "Lettin's Go", "Keep Hope Alive", "Baked Potato Man", "Innocence Of Spring", "Our Story", and "Peranzzetta". CD

Titles include "We Are Ships", "Sailing Ship", "Jamaica", "Diamond Lil", "Every Day II", "Burgundy Wine", and "The Lover In Winter Plaineth For The Spring". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful little record from Tony Kosinec – a lesser-known songwriter from the late 60s scene, and one with a pretty unusual sound as well! Tony originally hails from the UK, but was working in Canada at the time of this set – and the album's an unusual blend of folksy roots with jazzier phrasing – a set that sits nicely in the company of Columbia contemporaries like Leonard Cohen or Tim Hardin, and which also has a voice that's as uniquely formed as theirs! Tony's tunes are quite poetic, but never too much so – and his way of singing is sometimes fluid, but never flowery – almost informed by jazz, but not jazzy – if we can get away with that many qualifiers in one sentence. There's a slight hint of roots in the backings, but Tony's accent and performance never lapse into simple country cliches. Titles include "Mystic Fifties", "Tyrant", "Down On Words", "Cleopatra", "Feather Of A Boy", "Summer/Spring", and "I Can't Sing". LP, Vinyl record album

Mid 70s magic from vocalist Irene Kral – one of a handful of albums that really had Kral setting herself apart from most other jazz vocal contemporaries! The approach here is very simple – just Irene's voice and piano backing from Alan Broadbent – but a hell of a lot goes on in the spare space, thanks to subtly expressive vocals from Kral – never too overdone, yet filled with a mature sophistication that's wonderful – almost conversational at points, yet always with a soft swing that reminds us that she's a jazz singer at heart. Titles include "Love Came On Stealthy Fingers", "I Like You You're Nice", "When I Look In Your Eyes", "A Time For Love/Small World", "Never Let Me Go", "Lucky To Be Me/Some Other Time", "Don't Look Back", and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most". CD

Mid 70s magic from vocalist Irene Kral – one of a handful of albums that really had Kral setting herself apart from most other jazz vocal contemporaries! The approach here is very simple – just Irene's voice and piano backing from Alan Broadbent – but a hell of a lot goes on in the spare space, thanks to subtly expressive vocals from Kral – never too overdone, yet filled with a mature sophistication that's wonderful – almost conversational at points, yet always with a soft swing that reminds us that she's a jazz singer at heart. Titles include "Love Came On Stealthy Fingers", "I Like You You're Nice", "When I Look In Your Eyes", "A Time For Love/Small World", "Never Let Me Go", "Lucky To Be Me/Some Other Time", "Don't Look Back", and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most darkly beautiful sessions ever recorded by vocalist Karin Krog – a batch of spare duets done with pianist Bengt Hallberg – in a way that offers both artists plenty of space to stretch out and do their thing! Karin's vocals are recorded with an echoey quality that only seems to further underscore the edge and emotion in her singing – and in addition to some very fluid acoustic piano, Hallberg also plays some electric keys on the set as well – often in a much more laidback, spacious sort of groove – one that creates a nice degree of juxtaposition as the tunes roll on. As usual with Krog at this point, there's a fair number of lesser-known tunes that really make the set great – including the John Surman compositions "Like That" and "The End Of The Day Song". Other titles include "Dear Bix", "You Must Believe In Spring", "Love Walked In", "Spring In Manhattan", and "I Ain't Here". CD features 2 previously unissued bonus tracks – "A Child Is Born" and "Cabin In The Sky". LP, Vinyl record album

A 90s album from the farther reaches of the Wu-Tang empire – a set that still shares some qualities with the core members' solo efforts, but which also maybe stands apart more in the tone of MC La The Darkman! The rapper ended up in Atlanta, and there's a quality here that maybe hints at that move in his music – harder and more street-styled than most of the Wu-related projects – trying to tell it like it is from the grass roots, but reveling in that experience as well. Production is by Havoc, Carlos Broady, Rza, 4th Disciple, and DJ Muggs – and guests include Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, Havoc, and DJ Rogers. Titles include "Lucci", "Shine", "City Lights", "What Thugs Do", "Heist Of The Century", "Fifth Disciple", "Spring Water", "Street Life", "Figaro Chain", "Polluted Wizdom", and "Wu-Blood Kin" LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent overview of Peggy Lee's magical years at Capitol Records – featuring tracks from her initial Capitol stretch of the late 40s and early 50s – and lots more work from her later stretch of famous 60s singles and albums! The set features 113 tracks in all, plus a biography of Peggy, and notes on all the songs. The mood ranges from upbeat and swinging to mellow and moody – and just a few of the selections include "Watch What Happens", "I Love Being Here With You", "The Glory Of Love", "Close Your Eyes", "Again", "Do I Love You", "Bill", "That's All", "There'll Be Another Spring", "Stormy Weather", "Them There Eyes", "Chi Bab Chi Baba", and "Alright Okay You Win". CD

A very nice small combo album from Peggy Lee – singing here with live backings by the George Shearing Quintet, in a style that's very different from a lot of her other work for Capitol! The set's got a slight Latin feel, thanks to George's mix of percussion, vibes, piano, and guitar – and Peggy's never sounded better, stepping out strongly on tunes that include "Do I Love You", "Get Out Of Town", "There'll Be Another Spring", and "Mambo In Miami". Features 2 bonus tracks. CD

Includes the songs "Watch What Happens", "You Must Believe In Spring", "Friday Fugue", "Once Upon A Summertime", "J & B", "The Saddest Thing Of All", and "Splittons". CD

A recent set of jazz tracks from the fantastic French soundtrack genius Michel Legrand! The album has Legrand on piano and a bit of vocals – leading a large ensemble that features trumpets, trombones, saxes, and a bit of electric bass in the rhythm section. The overall effect is quite full-on – strongly voice interpretations of work by Legrand that normally receives more tender readings – and although there's a bit of a modern touch to the way the album was recorded, the record is a nice bridge between Legrand's classic LeGrand Jazz album of years back, and his more recent work. Titles include "Images", "You Must Believe In Spring", "Dingo Lament", "Le Petit Journal", "Ray Blues", and "Fast Food". CD

Some of the greatest jazz work ever recorded by Michel Legrand! Although Legrand's always been known for his sweet soundtrack work and his famous easy listening sides – he's also a heck of a jazz pianist, and here in this rare 1959 session, he works in a trio format that puts him right up there with the best of the French piano-technics of his generation, like Maurice Vander or Rene Utreger. The arrangements are wonderfully off-beat – and Legrand dances around the piano with a versatility that we didn't know he had. The group features Guy Pedersen on bass and Gus Wallez on drums – and titles include "Paris In The Spring", "Sous Les Ponts De Paris", "Paris Canaille", "Moulin Rouge", and "La Vie En Rose". CD

Sweet electric magic from Ramsey Lewis – four 70s albums in a single collection! First up is Don't It Feel Good – massive keyboard work from the great Ramsey Lewis – easily one of his best records ever, thanks to some spaciously funky production by Charles Stepney! Stepney plays keyboards here along with Ramsey, and the twin-keys approach makes for a sound that's extra-special – one that sums up all the earlier soulful creativity of both artists in their late 60s Cadet Records years, and hones it down to an even sweeter groove for the 70s! A number of tracks have some sort of vocal component, but usually in a chorus mode that soon drops out when the keyboards hit home – and the record features a few great short "interlude" tracks that are almost as great as the longer numbers! Titles include the classic "Juaacklyn", a cover of Earth Wind & Fire's "That's The Way Of The World", and the tracks "I Dig You", "Fish Bite", "Don't It Feel Good", "Something About You", and "Can't Function". Salongo is a tremendous little record, and one of the funky 70s sets that Ramsey Lewis recorded with Earth Wind & Fire! Well, not Earth Wind & Fire entirely – but the Kalimba Productions team of Maurice White and Charles Stepney that gave the group its sound – plus a nice sprinkling of other players that were often associated with sessions by the group! Ramsey's own combo here includes Steve Cobb on drums and vocals, and Derf Reklaw on reeds and vocals as well – and the overall sound has bits of African and Brazilian influences, worked into a soulful fusion groove that sounds a lot like the instrumental backings EWF were using at the time. Titles include "Brazilica", "Slick", "Rubato", "Salongo", and "Seventh Fold". Tequila Mockingbird is an overlooked gem from the Columbia Records years, filled with loads of great grooves, and some pretty mighty keyboards! Part of the record has Ramsey working with Larry Dunn of Kalimba Productions – getting plenty of the Earth Wind & Fire groove that made so much of his Columbia sessions sparkle – while the rest of the set has the great Bert DeCoteaux handling things, and giving Lewis just the right mix of sophistication and soul he was using with other Columbia acts at the time. The album's a perfect example of the way that Ramsey stepped way ahead of the pack during this time in his career – using keyboards and grooves together in ways that so many artists today are still trying to match – but never hit it this right! Titles include "Camino El Bueno", "Caring For You", "Intimacy", "That Ole Bach Music", "Skippin", "Tequila Mockingbird", and "Wandering Rose" – that cool cut by Neal Creque! Love Notes is a great little album of mid 70s funk from Ramsey Lewis – very much in the mode of his Earth, Wind, & Fire related work – no surprise, since the album's dedicated to Charles Stepney, whose influence was such a key part of the sound of the group, and of some of Ramsey's other Kalimba-produced albums from a few years before! Ramsey plays Fender Rhodes, mini moog, and Arp – and he gets help on keyboards from Stevie Wonder and Derf Reklaw, who also plays saxes and percussion on the set. Features versions of Wonder's "Love Notes" and "Spring High", plus Reklaw's "Chili Today Hot Tamale", "Shining", and "Stash Dash". CD

Sweet electric magic from Ramsey Lewis – four 70s albums in a single collection! First up is Don't It Feel Good – massive keyboard work from the great Ramsey Lewis – easily one of his best records ever, thanks to some spaciously funky production by Charles Stepney! Stepney plays keyboards here along with Ramsey, and the twin-keys approach makes for a sound that's extra-special – one that sums up all the earlier soulful creativity of both artists in their late 60s Cadet Records years, and hones it down to an even sweeter groove for the 70s! A number of tracks have some sort of vocal component, but usually in a chorus mode that soon drops out when the keyboards hit home – and the record features a few great short "interlude" tracks that are almost as great as the longer numbers! Titles include the classic "Juaacklyn", a cover of Earth Wind & Fire's "That's The Way Of The World", and the tracks "I Dig You", "Fish Bite", "Don't It Feel Good", "Something About You", and "Can't Function". Salongo is a tremendous little record, and one of the funky 70s sets that Ramsey Lewis recorded with Earth Wind & Fire! Well, not Earth Wind & Fire entirely – but the Kalimba Productions team of Maurice White and Charles Stepney that gave the group its sound – plus a nice sprinkling of other players that were often associated with sessions by the group! Ramsey's own combo here includes Steve Cobb on drums and vocals, and Derf Reklaw on reeds and vocals as well – and the overall sound has bits of African and Brazilian influences, worked into a soulful fusion groove that sounds a lot like the instrumental backings EWF were using at the time. Titles include "Brazilica", "Slick", "Rubato", "Salongo", and "Seventh Fold". Tequila Mockingbird is an overlooked gem from the Columbia Records years, filled with loads of great grooves, and some pretty mighty keyboards! Part of the record has Ramsey working with Larry Dunn of Kalimba Productions – getting plenty of the Earth Wind & Fire groove that made so much of his Columbia sessions sparkle – while the rest of the set has the great Bert DeCoteaux handling things, and giving Lewis just the right mix of sophistication and soul he was using with other Columbia acts at the time. The album's a perfect example of the way that Ramsey stepped way ahead of the pack during this time in his career – using keyboards and grooves together in ways that so many artists today are still trying to match – but never hit it this right! Titles include "Camino El Bueno", "Caring For You", "Intimacy", "That Ole Bach Music", "Skippin", "Tequila Mockingbird", and "Wandering Rose" – that cool cut by Neal Creque! Love Notes is a great little album of mid 70s funk from Ramsey Lewis – very much in the mode of his Earth, Wind, & Fire related work – no surprise, since the album's dedicated to Charles Stepney, whose influence was such a key part of the sound of the group, and of some of Ramsey's other Kalimba-produced albums from a few years before! Ramsey plays Fender Rhodes, mini moog, and Arp – and he gets help on keyboards from Stevie Wonder and Derf Reklaw, who also plays saxes and percussion on the set. Features versions of Wonder's "Love Notes" and "Spring High", plus Reklaw's "Chili Today Hot Tamale", "Shining", and "Stash Dash". CD

A great little album of mid 70s funk from Ramsey Lewis – very much in the mode of his Earth, Wind, & Fire related work – no surprise, since the album's dedicated to Charles Stepney, whose influence was such a key part of the sound of the group, and of some of Ramsey's other Kalimba-produced albums from a few years before! Ramsey plays Fender Rhodes, mini moog, and Arp – and he gets help on keyboards from Stevie Wonder and Derf Reklaw, who also plays saxes and percussion on the set. Features versions of Wonder's "Love Notes" and "Spring High", plus Reklaw's "Chili Today Hot Tamale", "Shining", and "Stash Dash". LP, Vinyl record album

A mighty nice collection of work from the second chapter in the career of piano legend Ramsey Lewis – work that he recorded for Columbia Records in the 70s and 80s, after his initial run at Chess – and with a sound that's even groovier and more soulful than before! Ramsey in the 70s was a many of many talents and expressions – still great on acoustic piano, but also a hell of a player on Fender Rhodes, which he uses often on a lot of these cuts – and also tied even more strongly than before to Maurice White (his old drummer) and the world of Earth Wind & Fire – who are on board to help Lewis hit some really righteous moments at times. There's also some live material, a bit of soul-styled tracks, and guest work from Nancy Wilson alng the way – and the set features a whopping 32 tracks on 2CDs – with titles that include "Spring High", "Caring For You", "Tambura, "So Much More", "Lynn (live)", "Hot Dawgit", "Paradise", "Expansions", "Sun Goddess", "Sassy Stew (live)", "Whisper Zone", "Camino El Bueno", "All The Way Live", "Intimacy", and "I'll Always Dream About You". CD

One of the funkiest albums ever cut by Little Milton – done at the end of the 60s with some hard Chicago soul arrangements from Gene Barge, and an overall style that mixes electric blues with some of the hard soul coming from the city's west side scene at the time! The album's much more of a soul album than a blues one – especially in comparison to some of Milton's other work – and titles include "Twenty Three Hours", "Just A Little Bit", "I Can't Quit You Baby", "I'll Always Love You", "Did You Ever Love A Woman", "Spring", "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "You're The One". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing sounds from one of the all-time greats – the legendary Little Willie John – not only a key inspiration to James Brown, but one of the formative forces in soul music at the start of the 60s! The material here was cut by King Records at the height of its R&B years, but it also stretches forth towards something new, too – a deeper, more expressive sound that really blows us out of the water, even all these decades later – vocals that are incredible, and virtually a blueprint for the style that would come to be known as deep soul in later years. The package brings together all of Little Willie John's hit singles for King, but also features the much more obscure b-sides too – making it an essential document of these legendary years – with a whopping 32 tracks that include "Now You Know", "Flamingo", "Spring Fever", "I'm Sorry", "My Nerves", "Do Something For Me", "Leave My Kitten Alone", "Let Nobody Love You", "Fever", "Tell It Like It Is", "Letter From My Darling", "Don't Leave Me Dear", "Right There", and "All Around The World". CD

Amazing sounds from one of the all-time greats – the legendary Little Willie John – not only a key inspiration to James Brown, but one of the formative forces in soul music at the start of the 60s! The material here was cut by King Records at the height of its R&B years, but it also stretches forth towards something new, too – a deeper, more expressive sound that really blows us out of the water, even all these decades later – vocals that are incredible, and virtually a blueprint for the style that would come to be known as deep soul in later years. The package features 17 tracks in all – all gems from those years before Little Willie John was incarcerated – titles that include "Home At Last", "All Around The World", "Need Your Love So Bad", "Sleep", "Walk Slow", "Spring Fever", "Leave My Kitten Alone", "Let Them Talk", "Tell It Like It Is", "Talk To Me", "Letter From My Darling", "Heartbreak", "Do Something For Me", and his famous version of "Fever". LP, Vinyl record album

A lesser-known follow-up to Julie London's classic Julie Is Her Name album – one that actually features Julie wearing clothes on the cover, but which still comes across with a very sexy sound! The approach here is similar to the first set – with Howard Roberts backing up Julie's vocals, in a style that's quite similar to that used by Barney Kessel the first time around. Red Mitchell's bass is really the only other instrumentation – and the spareness of the set is stunning – with a nakedness that gets past even Julie's heavy turtleneck on the cover! Titles include "If I'm Lucky", "Little White Lies", "Hot Toddy", "Blue Moon", "Goody Goody", and "Spring Is Here". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few 50s small group sessions recorded by Teo Macero as a leader – and one of the best! Macero's probably better known both for his work as an arranger, and as a producer of famous albums at bigger labels – but here, he's working with a quintet in a laidback vibe that really showcases his talents on the tenor saxophone! The sound is quite modern – with Teddy Charles on vibes and Mal Waldron on piano – both working in more angular styles, with lots of tones and chromes that recall their own best work as leaders at the time. And Macero's horn cuts through these instruments with a sometimes-soulful edge, similar to some of the use of tenor in Charles Mingus' work of the period (no surprise, as Macero had worked with Mingus!) Titles include "What's Not", "Polody", "Ghost Story", "Please Don't Go Now", and "Just Spring". CD

One of the few 50s small group sessions recorded by Teo Macero as a leader – and one of the best! Macero's probably better known both for his work as an arranger, and as a producer of famous albums at bigger labels – but here, he's working with a quintet in a laidback vibe that really showcases his talents on the tenor saxophone! The sound is quite modern – with Teddy Charles on vibes and Mal Waldron on piano – both working in more angular styles, with lots of tones and chromes that recall their own best work as leaders at the time. And Macero's horn cuts through these instruments with a sometimes-soulful edge, similar to some of the use of tenor in Charles Mingus' work of the period (no surprise, as Macero had worked with Mingus!) Titles include "What's Not", "Polody", "Ghost Story", "Please Don't Go Now", and "Just Spring". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet jazzy keys from Mike Mandel – grooving here in a fuller jazz funk mode that's a bit like the best work of the 70s on Kudu Records! The approach is quite nice – with Mike handling all the electrics, and getting solo support from and array of jazzy players who include David Sanborn on alto, Gary Anderson on tenor, Darryl Thompson on guitar, and Wilbur Bascomb and John Lee on bass! The sound's a nice blend of funky and slick – and the album sports a great instrumental cover of Steely Dan's "Peg", as well as the original tunes "As Fine As You Are", "Pyramids", "Elephant & Castle", "Another Kind Of Spring", and "Jupiter Finger". LP, Vinyl record album

The group's name is a reference to a classic Latin jazz instrumental, and the album's title is a reference to a Wayne Shorter song from years back – both of which together give a strong idea of the strength of the record within! These guys play Latin music, but with a lot more complexity on the tenor and trumpet solos as they soar out past the rhythms – with very strong work on horns from musicians who've worked with Incognito, Jamiroquai, and the Brand New Heavies – plus keyboards, percussion, bass, and guitar from musicians with experience in lots of other great groups too! There's a bit of vocals on the record, but the main focus is on instrumentals – titles that include great remakes of "Mahjong", "Black Nile", "Blue In Green", "Lazy Bird", and "Up Jumped Spring". LP, Vinyl record album