DO Misiani and his Shirati Jazz band at their 70s peak – wiry, catchy guitars and passionate vocals melding in hypnotic songs and performances that came to define the Kenyan benga sound in the 70s! Misiani and Shirati Jazz were the first stars of the style, and this collection from Sterns makes it clear why the recordings made such an impact – and the sound quality is terrific, too. Includes "Giko Piny", "Wang Ni To Iringo", "LK The Pretty", "Mary: Part 1", "Mary: Part 2", "Jaa", "Safari Ya Garissa", "Sheroline", "Christina Jaber" and more. CD

More killer work from Senegal's legendary Orchestra Baobab! This CD collects music from two of the band's best late-period albums, Mouhamadou Bamba (1980) and Sibou Odia (1981), both cut prior to the band's celebrated Pirate's Choice sessions. All of the group's trademarks are present – the rollicking Afro-Cuban grooves and the gorgeous Mandinkan and Wolof melodies sung with muezzin-like soul by Thione Seck, Rudy Gomis, and Balla Sidibe. Still, it's the utterly sublime lead guitar by the brilliant Barthelemy Attisso that captivates us most. A number of the tracks were later rerecorded for Baobab's comeback album Specialist in All Styles, but there's something about the beautifully murky aura here that's lost on the slicker remade versions. Really, you can't go wrong with anything waxed by Baobad. Ten great tracks including "Boulmamine", "Doomou Baaye", "Bon Bon 1", "Autorail", "Sou Sedhiou", and "Ndiambaane". CD

Lovely work from Tabu Ley, aka Rochereau – a singer who definitely earns the "voice of lightness" title on this set! Tabu's style isn't light in a soft of mellow way – but it's got a wonderfully floating sort of quality – a way of staying on top of the percussion and guitars that back him up on the tunes, but always with a sense of depth and feeling. The approach is tremendous – and Ley's singing has a way of going beyond language in its appeal – bringing you in, even though you don't know the meaning of the lyrics. Backings are by African Jazz, African Fiesta, Afrisa International, ad Onanza – and the 2CD set features 29 tracks from the 60s and 70s – supported by a 44 page booklet of notes! Titles include "Pesa Le Tout", "Kelya", "KJ", "Christine", "Ana Mokoy", "Kasala", "Nzale", "Omanga", "Mongali", "Aon Aon", "Adeito", "Yombe", and "Kaful Mayay". CD

A terrific career-spanning anthology from one of Congolese music's most popular and influential figures! Papa Wemba first made his mark in 1969 as a co-founder of Zaiko Langa Langa, one of the great modernizers of Congolese rumba who employed a multiple singer frontline and ditched the horn section in favor of an all-guitar line-up. Wemba carried on this progressive mindset when he formed his own group, Viva La Musica, in 1974. The first CD of this excellent collection covers his early work with the band, where sublimely liquid guitar percolates, glides, and splashes over complex Cuban-flavored grooves. The second CD finds Wemba broadening his appeal as he spread his operations into Europe. While the sound definitely becomes slicker, his vocals remain deeply soulful and strong, the guitars even more crystalline, and the dense polyrhythms sturdier than ever. Wemba has come under fire in recent years, accused of illegally smuggling Africans into Belgium, but this essential document reminds us of his greatest accomplishments. Tracks include "Mere Sperieure", "Amina", "Bukavo Dawa", "M'Balumuna", and "Mi Amor". CD

Classic guitar highlife music from Ghana! Guitarist Eric Agyeman helped revive the moribund style, reinventing with the electric guitar and injecting some of the liquid magic of Congolese rumba. Beginning in the early 60s he worked with a bevy of great bands, including Dr. K. Gyasi & His Noble Kings and the mighty A.B. Crentsil & the Sweet Talks. Crentsil and Agyaaku – another of the great vocalists of the modern highlife era – sit in on lead vocals for one track each, leaving the lion's share of the vocals to Thomas Frempong – who contributes one of the most killing tracks to the great Ghana Soundz collection – who handles them with soul and grace. Agyeman's fluid guitar here contributes some sublime solos, but the real treat is the stellar rhythm work. Tracks include "Matutu Mirika", "Abenaa Na Aden?", "I Don't Care", "Nea Abe Beto", and "Odo Bra". CD

Titles include "Bakwetu", "Mukaji Wanyi", "Esclave", "Bokulaka", and "M Fono Yami". CD

Music composed and conducted by Ennio Morricone, Calo Savina, Luis Bacalov, Riz Ortolani, Francesco De Masi and others. CD

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Music from Alfred Newman, Nelson Riddle, Walter Scharf, Johnny Douglas, Paul Dunlap, David Raskin, Harry Sukman, Roy Webb, Franz Waxman, Daniele Amfitheatrof, Victor Young, and more. CD

A really fantastic score from Ennio Morricone – maybe better this time around than the images on the screen for some of his other westerns of the period – more proof that the maestro was always willing to rise above, and give his best no matter what the setting! / Ennio Morricone's beautiful score to one of the beautifully shot films of the 70s, or all time, really – Terrence Malick's legendary Days Of Heaven – the original 1978 soundtrack album and Morricone's cues programmed separately on one disc plus a bonus disc of extended score material and more bonus tracks! It's gorgeous stuff, from Morricone's haunting "Main Theme" and his more classically enthralling sounds, as well as the rootsy folk guitar by Leo Kottke and and equally swampy fiddle dance number by Doug Kershaw. CD

A really beautiful little soundtrack from Francesco De Masi – scored with a depth of feeling that's really surprising, and which goes way past the obvious! There's some beautiful woodwind passages that arc and turn with a quality that's almost fragile – yet bold enough to paint a vivid picture of the western setting of the film – mixed with some more dramatic numbers that still have a relatively unusual feel – almost as if De Masi was working as hard as he could to create a soundtrack that was different from other westerns of the period – while still staying within a familiar instrumental structure. Maurizio Graf sings the driving title tune "Find A Man" – and the CD features a whopping 27 titles that include "Emily E Johnny", "La Medaglia", "Addio Orace", "Santana E Johnny", "L'Assalto Di Santana", "Paura Notturna", "Non C'E Scampo", "Passi Nel Tempo", and "Johnny Sulla Croce". CD

A really sweet soundtrack to an earlier Spaghetti Western flick – 1965's Una Barra Per Lo Sceriffo, composed by Francesco De Masi! As with most of these 60s western gems, this one opens with a very cool theme – "A Lone And Angry Man", sung in English and with kind of a fun, almost loungey charisma to the vocals, which is a nice balance to the galloping, wild west instrumentation! The tracks that follow range from sweeping string sections to spare acoustic guitars, often with clip-clopping percussion and horns on the grander numbers – that sublime spaghetti mode that was always very different than the drama of American westerns, and which makes a set like this so great. CD features 15 tracks in all – a few of which feature chorus vocals by I Cantori Modern. CD

An expanded version of Hugo Friedhofer's score for One Eyed Jacks – a compelling soundtrack for one of the more ill-fated westerns of the 50s! Friedhofer really moves beyond familiar stereotypes here – using offbeat orchestrations, often heavy on woodwinds and solo instrumentation, to create a nice sense of place and space – almost exotic at points, then underscored by bolder dramatic themes that build as the soundtrack unfolds. There's almost as much drama in the music as you'll find on the screen – and titles include "Seduction", "Contrition", "Toast To Friendship", "Kiss Of A Scoundrel/Pursued By Rurales", and "Finale". CD features a full bonus disc – a second CD with 27 more tracks from the original score, as well as alternates of the main themes on the first disc! CD

Early darkness from Ennio Morricone – an obscure mid 60s action thriller that combines boldly driving numbers with other tunes that slip into some of the spareness of his work for westerns! The work here is as mod and cool as you might guess from the cover – a bit more in a conventional 60s soundtrack mode, but still touches with great inflections on the woodwinds, and undercut by plenty of great lines on electric bass, guitar, and organ – all used sparingly but really effectively against the larger orchestrations! Tracks are often short, but really evocative – given a nice punch by Bruno Nicolai, who conducted the orchestra for the recording. A few tunes feature vocals by I Cantori Moderni – and titles include "Una Stanza Vuota", "Un Uomo Solo", "Colpo Alla Gioielleria", "La Prima Vittima", "Sul Lago Di Lugano", and "Una Tromba A Dallas". CD

A great late 60s western score from Italian composer Francesco De Masi – hitting on all of favored sounds to accompany the best Italian made westerns of the era – rustic solo guitar, string-tightened tension, both lonely and densely orchestrated horns, and swaggery mood to spare! Excellent work that hits all the right notes – and it's got a groovy vocal opener, to boot! This CD marks the first ever release of the complete score, mastered from the original mono tapes. "Maybe Somwhere, Maybe Someday", plus "Non Potro Domenticare", "Sogni Ed Ombre Nell'Incubo", "La Pista Nella Sabbia", "Ecce Homo", "Triste E Sospeso", "Un Giorno Ti Pentirai", "Passagio Ne Nistero" and many more. CD

Beautiful 2 CD set that brings together 3 of Morricone's most famous Western soundtracks! Once Upon A Time In The West is an undisputed masterpiece, and features some incredibly haunting themes on guitar and harmonica, set amidst spare instrumental settings that give the music an even spookier quality. The other 2 scores are pretty darn great, too – and are from the famous Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns that brought fame to both him and Morricone. Titles include "Jill's America", "The First Tavern", "Per Qualche Dollaro In Piu", "Without Pity", "Almost Dead", and "Il Colpo". In a nicely priced 2 CD set – with 30 tracks in all! CD

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

Bear Family does it again – coming up with a sublime selection of vocal tunes from 50s and 60s westerns – mostly films, but with a few TV tunes thrown in for good measure! We're surprised at how much we like this stuff – and it segues nicely not only with our love of soundtracks, but also our appreciation of classic American singers – because when you see who's on the set, you'll be surprised at the voices they get! Titles include "The Hanging Tree" by Marty Robbins, "I'm A Runaway" by Tab Hunter, "Ballad Of Paladin" by Johnny Western, "The Searchers" by Sons Of The Pioneers, "The Legend Of Shenandoah" by Jimmy Stewart, "My Rifle My Pony & Me" by Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson, "North To Alaska" by Johnny Horton, "Bonanza" by Lorne Greene, "Cowboy" by Dickson Hall, "Roll On Texas Moon" by Roy Rogers, "The Rebel Johnny Yuma" by Johnny Cash, and "Nevada Smith" by Merle Kilgore. CD