A great bit of funk from this obscure 70s combo – the first of their many good albums, and with a sound that's rougher and rawer than the others. The band's grooving in a pretty slow mode here – without the uptempo club tracks of later years – and they've got a style that's a mix of electric LA wah wah funk, plus some of the more Afro-influenced rhythms you might expect from their name. The set's got many great numbers – including the killer cut "Smoke", which begins with fuzzy wah-wah guitar, rolling congas, and a mighty nice groove! Other titles include "Siggy Siggy", "Young Warrior", "The World Should Learn To Party Together", and "We've Got To Life Together". LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece from prime era Tribe Called Quest! Midnight Maurauders was Tribe's third LP, and even though there were no tracks yet credited to the Ummah, this is pretty much the beginning of Tribe's transition to that sound – with the same mellow, laid back vibe as their best early material, but less of an overtly jazzy reference in their sound. Phife and Tip are still on point lyrically, and honestly, this is pretty much the last LP that Tribe dropped that's got nearly all hits and no misses on it. With the cuts "Award Tour", "Midnight", "Electric Relaxation", "Clap Your Hands", "Oh My God", "The Chase, Part II", and "Keep It Rollin". LP, Vinyl record album

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Genius work from the Detroit underground of the 70s – one of the greatest records ever on the now-famous Tribe Records label, and a masterpiece of soul, jazz, and righteous spirit! The session's headed by tenor player Wendell Harrison – and it's got an all-star Motor City lineup that includes Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Phil Ranelin on trombone, Jeamel Lee on vocals, Charles Eubanks on electric piano, and Charles Moore on flugelhorn. The tracks have a spacious spiritual approach that recalls some of the later Archie Shepp on Impulse – a blend of soul jazz with slight touches of electric instrumentation, some vocals, and a very progressive spirit overall – stepping proud in the new freedoms of the 70s, yet still swinging and very groovy. Titles include "Angela's Dilemma", "What We Need", "How Do We End All Of This Madness", "Merciful", and "Beneficent". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible session from the legendary Tribe Records scene – an equal effort from leader Doug Hammond and keyboardist David Durrah, who contributes some groundbreaking Fender Rhodes and moog work to the set! Hammond handles drums plus a bit of vocals and synthesizer on the session – working alongside Durrah in a groove that mixes electric and acoustic instrumentation into a totally righteous sound with lots of heavy Afro Jazz leanings. A number of tracks feature great vocals from Hammond – righteous, and with a beautifully soulful message-oriented approach – and a few other tracks, such as the classic "Space I" and "Space II", feature a sparer all-electric sound. The whole thing's wonderful – skittishly rhythmic, warmly flowing, and righteously beautiful. Titles include "Sea Of Nurnen", "Fidalgo Detour", "Reflections", "Space II", and "For Real". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that no hip hop home should be without – the debut album from Main Source, but a set that's more than strong enough to stand next to the best from contemporaries like De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, and Black Sheep! Like all three of those groups, these guys have a way of bringing together fresh rhythms and samples, sharp-edged writing, and a keen sense of wit – all part of that next-generation level of intellectual hip hop that made them so groundbreaking at the time – and which still makes this album a fantastic delight all these many years later! The album introduced the world to the genius of Large Professor – and continues to shine for decades, thanks to tunes that include "Snake Eyes", "Looking At The Front Door", "Live At The Barbecue", "Just A Friendly Game Of Baseball", "Peace Is Not The Word To Play", "Watch Roger Do His Thang", "He Got So Much Soul (He Don't Need No Music)", and "Just Hangin Out". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the stranger chapters of the Holland-Dozier-Holland story of the early 70s – and one of the coolest, too! Warlock are a jazzy rock combo with plenty of soul – a bit like a twisted version of Blood Sweat & Tears, but with all the sinister energy you'd guess from the image on the cover! Most of the numbers have a nasty scratchy sort of vocal – almost Alice Cooper-ish, in keeping with the Warlock name of the group – but a few others get a bit more soulful and funky, belying the HDH connection of the group – sometimes even showing a righteous jazzy vibe, as kind of an odd echo of the Detroit Tribe Records scene. The best tracks have some jazzy phrasing in the mix, and let the guitars go off to the side – and titles include "Love Girl", "You've Been My Rock", "So Can Woman", "Thrills Of Love", and the 14 minute jammer "As You Die/Music Box", which almost has a Colosseum build to it! LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing album that has Art Blakey completely reinventing himself for the 70s! Blakey shifts from straight hardbop to kind of a modal soul jazz groove, touched with some of the electric playing of the younger jazz generation, but not enough to qualify as fusion or funk. Instead, he's working with some great younger players – like Carter Jefferson, Woody Shaw, and Michael Howell – hitting a groove that reminds us of some of the best underground soul jazz on labels like Muse or Strata East. Includes the amazing long groovers "Mission Eternal" and "Chant For Bu", a famous Tribe Called Quest sample – plus new electric piano versions of "Moanin" and "Along Came Betty", both of which feature vocals by Jon Hendricks. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best Rotary Connection albums for Cadet – with an incredible baroque spacey soul sound that still feels very fresh today! The group's vocals are especially eerie – and float around these wild arrangements by Charles Stepney, peppered with strings, soul, fuzzy guitars, and even slight bits of electronics. The album features their incredible cut "Memory Band" – the one that begins with those cool sitar riffs that have been sampled by Tribe Called Quest and The Fugees. Other tracks include "Ruby Tuesday", "Soul Man", "Amen", "Rapid Transit", and "Black Noise". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice, if a bit obscure, recording featuring Bluiett's compositions for a larger group, with a stellar lineup that includes Chief Bey, Michael Carvin, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Abdul Wadud, Reggie Workman, Olu Dara, Don Pullen and others. There's a strong pulse and some heavy African influence here, buoying Bluiett's robust playing, and Dara's trumpet offers up some nice lines, which we don't hear often enough on recordings. Mining a vein that pulls from some of the other more overtly Afro-centric out jazz explorations of the time, this set stands up nicely alongside more groove and vamp oriented material like the Tribe records stuff from the same era. "Glory (Symphony For World Peace)" features a large group, "Nioka" is a duet with Don Pullen and "Oasis – The Well" is a septet side. LP, Vinyl record album

A massive classic from Lou Donaldson's funky years with Idris Muhammad on drums – an album that's filled with lots of bottom-heavy grooves, plus some great work on alto, guitar, and organ! Muhammad's drums are in fine fine form here – right up there with his other LD Blue Note work, if not even better – and the rest of the lineup features Leon Spencer and Lonnie Smith on organ, Ted Dunbar and Melvin Sparks on guitar, and Blue Mitchell on trumpet – all top-shelf players who really make the album kick nicely. Titles include the classic cut "Pot Belly", which was sampled by Tribe Called Quest and about a hundred others – plus "Curtis Song", "Sassie Lassie", "Love", and a version of "Tennessee Waltz" that's even a nice one too! LP, Vinyl record album

Moody genius from Freddie Hubbard – a really unusual album that stands out not only from some of his other Blue Note work of the 60s, but also from most of the rest of his catalog as well! Part of the album's uniqueness is its group – an unusual lineup with McCoy Tyner on piano, Wayne Shorter on tenor, and Bernard McKinney on euphonium – a tuba-like instrument that gives the album a nicely shadowy sound! McKinney's probably better known for his 70s work with the Tribe scene in Detroit – but here, he's a young player with an innovative sound – one that makes the album one of Freddie's most striking of the period – a soulfully modern set that's set apart from his straighter hardbop work! The album features some great original tunes by Hubbard and Shorter – and other players include Elvin Jones on drums and Art Davis on bass – on titles that include "Crisis", "Birdlike", "Arietis", and "Weaver Of Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

Not a bad year in retrospect – featuring "Dangerous" by Busta Rhymes, "Lost Ones" by Lauryn Hill, "Intergalactic" by The Beastie Boys, "Deja Vu" by Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, "Rosa Parks" by Outkast, "Find A Way" by A Tribe Called Quest, and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Genius, pure genius! It was hard for Earth, Wind & Fire to go wrong at this point – and the album's a stellar blend of jazz, funk, and soul, all done in that perfect style they'd hit by the mid 70s. And even though this one was a monster album, of the type that you see in everyone's record collection from the time, it's still got a freshness that we always forget about – and lots of nice twists and turns that show that the band hadn't lost their more sophisticated roots. Case in point is the wonderful "Brazilian Rhyme", a short little groover that you'll instantly recognize as a sample from the first Tribe Called Quest album. Other tracks include "Jupiter", "In The Marketplace", "Magic Mind", "Runnin", "Be Ever Wonderful", and "Serpentine Fire". LP, Vinyl record album

Great later work from Wendell Harrison – a set that has the Tribe Records giant of the 70s taking the sound of the Detroit underground into a whole new vibe! The record takes the spiritual post-Coltrane jazz of Harrison's earlier days, and infuses it with some warmer, electric modes – a way of pushing spiritual jazz currents into other territory, a bit like Gary Bartz did with some of his work in the late 70s! Tracks are shorter and slightly less political than before – but the overall vibe is equally soulful in an 80s indie jazz style – and proof that Harrison was still keeping strong after the early days of the Tribe movement. There's some nice dark edges to the record that really keep things interesting – maybe imagine Larry Mizell producing some of the more off-beat albums on Strata East – and there's a bit of vocals on the set, which also features work from Phil Ranelin on trombone. Tracks include "Where Am I", "Sea Minor Blues", "Take Time Out", and "Dreams Of A Love Supreme". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful album from the Isley Brothers – and a real departure from their funkier sound of the 70s! The album has the group operating in a wonderful smooth soul mode – just what you'd expect from the "between the sheets" in the title, and the silky bedclothes on the cover! The centerpiece of the album is the loving title cut – a wonderfully catchy number that works well not only as a stepper's dancefloor tune, but also as a hip hop sample track (used most famously in Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum".) The whole thing's great, though – and other tracks include "Choosey Lover", "Touch Me", "Slow Down Children" and "Getting' Over". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic set from the late 80s – one of the first records to really herald the new generation to come with De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest – served up by Native Tongues partners The Jungle Brothers! While this set never got the major label push that debuts by the other groups would have, the set was an instant sensation in the world of hip hop – the start of a new level of wit and wisdom – urban sensibility able to look back at itself, almost a postmodern commentary on the then-short history of hip hop! Production is great – and the JBs not only reworked use of classic samples, but also added a newly jazzy sensibility – on titles that include "On the Run", "Straight Out the Jungle", "Black Is Black", "Braggin & Boastin", "Behind The Bush", "Because I Got It Like That", and the classic "Jimbrownski". LP, Vinyl record album

Two Groove Merchant albums by organist Reuben Wilson – back to back in one single set! First up is Sweet Life – a great groover by Wilson, and one of his best albums ever! The funky organist really takes off from the sound of his earlier Blue Note albums here – hitting a vibe that's sharper, darker, and plenty darn righteous – still small combo jazz funk, but with a depth that we wouldn't have expected a few years before! The group's a great one – with Ramon Morris laying down some great lines on tenor sax, plus Bill Hardman on trumpet, Lloyd Davis on guitar, Mickey Bass on bass, and Thomas Derrick on tightly funky drums. The album features Reuben's amazing cover of "Inner City Blues" – which has a great jagged groove that was sampled years back by Tribe Called Quest – and it also includes the groovy cut "Creampuff", plus "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Sugar", "I'll Take You There", and "The Sweet Life". On Cisco Kid, Reuben Wilson's working with an all-hip lineup, with players who include Melvin Sparks on guitar, Garnett Brown on trombone, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Mickey Roker on drums, and Ray Amando on conga. The groove has a nicely choppy approach to rhythm, which you'll hear on the nice remake of "Cisco Kid", a big sample hit over the years – plus the sweet originals "Groove Grease" and "Snaps", both of which are hard and funky! The album's also got a great cover of "Superfly" – and other tracks that include "The Look Of Love", "We've Only Just Begun", and "Last Tango In Paris". LP, Vinyl record album

Second volume recruiting contemporary jazz artists reworking rap songs as modern smooth jazz. We're not certain if the world needs a smooth jazz version of Nelly's "Hot In Herre" or Ludacris' "Roll Out (My Business)", but we guess everything has it's place. 12 tracks in all, including a medley called "Here They Come", stringing together bits and pieces of Black Sheep's "The Choice Is Yours", Digable's "Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)", Busta's "Wooh Hah! Got You All In Check" and Tribe's "Award Tour", plus versions of "Electric Relaxation", "Still Not A Player" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from this Australian big band of the 70s – a group who had all the soulful inspiration of the Clark Boland Band from a few years before, but who also work in a funkier 70s style too! There's a nice mix of electric instrumentation in the rhythms, and although singer Kerrie Biddell is on a few tracks, the instrumental moments are mabye even better. Titles include the fantastic "Dirty Feet", which starts with hard drums, and comes in with off-kilter guitar, in a very Tribe Called Quest-y sort of way! We don't know if this has been sampled by anyone, but man oh man, it should be! The record's got some other funky tracks – like "Limp Dropper" and "Col's Dilemma" – both great too. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best Stitt sessions from the 70's, and a sweet batch of electric tracks with Eddie Russ on the piano. In a way, this is his best album on the Jazz Master label – better than the Tornado album, which seems to show up more. It's got a very nice version of "We've Only Just Begun" that has a super-sample intro, with a jazzy Tribe Called Quest vibe. Other nice ones include the group's version of "Ain't No Sunshine", and a nice long take of "Hill Where The Lord Hides". LP, Vinyl record album

Buddy Miles hits the Bicentennial, and he's giving a nod to Native Americans on the cover – although a few years late of that trend in comparison to efforts by other singers of his generation! The album's also an obscure date for Casablanca – one that has Miles in smoother soul territory than before, but still with a bit more edge than other artists on the disco powerhouse label. Buddy produced himself, and the tunes are an updated version of the rock/soul vibe laid down by Miles on the early Mercury albums – taken to territory that's a bit smoother 70s, yet still with strong crossover appeal. Titles include "Inflation", "Now's The Time", "Where You Gonna Run To Lady", "Grecian Lady", "Won't You Be My Friend", and "Wake Me Shake Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Features traditional music from the Yao, Karen, Meo, Lahu, Akha, and Lisu Tribes of China. LP, Vinyl record album

Arguably one of the greatest concept albums of the 80s – and the only really strong full length album cut by Frankie Goes To Hollywood! At the time of the set, the group was riding high on the success and controversy of their singles "Relax" and "Two Tribes" – but in the ambitious ZTT mode, sought to expand their sound way past familiar hits, and into a realm of sonic exploration that rivaled that of labelmates Art Of Noise. Don't get us wrong, because the Frankie of this album is still very much in groove-oriented territory – but they also let Horn take over with some more striking tunes that are both longer and shorter than the usual pop track – offsetting the vocal numbers on the record with a rich tapestry of musical backdrops that also more firmly forward the group's social and sexual leanings. The album features surprising covers of "War", "Do You Know The Way To San Jose", and "Born To Run" – plus the hits "Relax" and "Two Tribes", and the original numbers "Welcome To the Pleasure Dome", "Krisco Kisses", "The Ballad Of 32", "Wish The Lads Were Here", "Black Night White Light", "The Only Star In Heaven", "The Power Of Love", and "Bang". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from the early Thin Lizzy trio lineup – a record that has all the power of their later records, but which also mixes in some airier moments that really help shape the sound! These guys are already setting themselves apart from their psych or blues rock predecessors – thanks to Phil Lynott's wonderful vocals and unique approach to a tune – which gives the record loads of great moments that don't always get their due! Titles include "The Rise And Dear Demise Of The Funky Nomadic Tribes", "Sarah", "Brought Down", "Chatting Today", and "Shades Of A Blue Orphanage". LP, Vinyl record album

A full length collabo from Nas & Damien "Jr Gong" Marley – who've worked together in the past on a track two – and overall it's a win that goes well beyond simple hip hop/dancehall fusion! The duo samples Mulatu, collaborate with K'Naan , Dennis Brown, Stephen Marley and others, and bring global dramatic sweep and and timeless funk to Distant Relatives that ends up working better as an eclectic whole than you may have suspected! Titles include "As We Enter", "Tribes At War" feat K'Naan, "Strong Will Continue", "Leaders" feat Stephen Marley, "Count Your Blessings", "Nah Mean", "Patience", "Africa Must Wake Up" feat K'Naan and more. LP, Vinyl record album