Sublime soul from Anna King – a James Brown-produced sock-soul diva who predated Marva Whitney and Lyn Collins! "Get These Memories" is done in a wonderful way – tight snapping drums underneath, and some really hard-wailing raw vocals from Anna over the top – making the tune sound like you've never heard it before! "If Somebody Told You" is a slower blusier number – one that has Anna really going over the top on vocals – blowing away Etta James, Fontella Bass, and all other comers! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Kendrick Lamar takes wider creative left turns than ever before on To Pimp A Butterfly – with a funk steeped production style that filters tried-and-true P Funk influences through leftfield modern beatcraft styles, inspired by cats like Madlib to Thundercat, the latter of whom is an official contributor. Fresh material from an increasingly pivotal figure – who may not be revolutionizing the game on the level of the heavy critical praise he's heaped with, but he's certainly marching to his own beat, rather than chasing hits! Includes "Wesley's Theory" with George Clinton & Thundercat, "King Kunta", "These Walls" with Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat, "Aright", "For Sale?", "Institutionalized" with a Slick Rick-homage of a guest verse by Snoop Dogg (sign us up for any record that gives props to The Ruler...and extra points for transplanting that style of flow to Compton), "Momma", "Hood Politics", "The Blacker The Berry", "How Much A Dollar Cost" feat James Fauntleroy & Ronald Isley, "Mortal Man" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Very unique work from Dr Buzzard's Savannah Band – a set that bears all the unmistakeable touches of group leader August Darnell! The set's definitely got the older aesthetic that Darnell brought to his work at the time – possibly even more so than the group's first album – and it's also got a wonderfully acoustic approach to the music, one that uses older jazz inflections mixed with rootsier percussion – almost a late 70s club update of older swing and Latin modes! The tunes are beautifully penned too – most often starting out with a real sort of 30s or 40s style, then sweeping nicely into more of a 70s groove – but always without any sense of gimmick or trickery. Vocals are by the lovely Cory Daye, with a bit of help from Darnell – and titles include "Transistor Madness", "Organ Grinder's Tale", "Mister Love", "The Gigolo & I", "Nocturnal Interludes", and "I'll Always Have A Smile For You". LP, Vinyl record album

A jazz version of a Broadway show, but an especially great one too – and a set that's really quite fresh, given the less familiar nature of the Harold Rome compositions! Hanna's presentation of the material really gets past the roots of the tunes – and he uses the songs as great vehicles for melodic improvisation – working not only in a trio that features George Duvivier on bass and Roy Barnes on drums, but also sometimes with added guitar from Kenny Burrell, who really helps break this one past standard piano trio format! Hanna's bold but lyrical approach is a perfect fit for the tunes – and titles include "Hoop De Dingle", "I Say Hello", "Once Knew A Fella", "That Ring On The Finger", "I Know Your Kind", and "Fair Warning". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique album from pianist Roland Hanna – a set that allows him to show off all the amazing keyboard flow that he has on solo and trio dates – but in the larger space of a CTI Records session! Arrangements are by Don Sebesky – and while full, they're never overwhelming – so that the acoustic piano of Roland is always right out front, as dexterous as ever – with slight backing from a larger group of mixed electric and acoustic elements! The tunes are Gershwin and Hoagy Carmichael numbers, but that hardly matters at all – as the approach here is very unique and personal – and the album does feature trumpet from Chet Baker on one track, and soprano sax from Ronnie Cuber on another. Titles include "Skylark", "Stardust", "Oh Bess Where's My Bess", "The Nearness Of You", and "Embraceable You". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection – and one that fills in a crucially under-documented side of the New York dancefloor generation – the wealth of special mixes and edits that were made for that city's important DJs for their own use in clubs! The package sorts through a mountain of never-issued acetates, and goes way past conventional disco or rare club collections – to showcase the special mixing talents these DJs brought to their re-presentation of the material – which was usually done on tape, then pressed onto acetate discs for their own private use! Those rare treasures are brought forth here – in a beautiful package that's also overflowing with fantastic notes that finally give this lost history its due – all handled by Al Kent – who's a hell of a mixer himself, as well as an underground club historian. Vinyl part 1 features five different records, all with lots of space for the tunes to stretch out – and titles include "I Just Wanna Say I Love You (John Luongo rmx)" by Leon Collins, "What About Love (Tony Gioe rmx)" by Marboo, "Ten Percent (Walter Gibbons Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Double Exposure, "Inside America (Rick Gianatos disco queen acetate edit)" by Juggy Murray Jones, "Dancing Free (John Luongo rmx)" by Hot Ice, "Black Water Gold (Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by The Sunshine Band, "Magic Bird Of Fire (Francois Kevorkian Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Salsoul Orchestra, "It's Good For The Soul (Jay Negron Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Salsoul Orchestra, "My Love Is Free (Walter Gibbons disco madness rmx)" by Double Exposure, "Reaching Out For Happiness (Jonathan Fearing rmx)" by Fay Hauser, "Let Me Be Your Fantasy (Tom Savarese rmx)" by Love Symphony Orchestra, "The Beat Goes On & On (Jim Burgess rmx)" by Ripple, "I Wanna Be Near You (John Morales Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Ruby Andrews, "I've Been Looking For Somebody (Walter Gibbons rmx)" by TC James & The Fist O Funk Orchestra, "The Disco Scene (Rick Gianatos rmx)" by Lake Shore Drive, "Bumpsie's Whipping Cream (Tom Savarese rmx)" by TC James & The Fist O Funk Orchestra, and "Janice (Bobby DJ Guttadoro rmx)" by Skip Mahoney. LP, Vinyl record album

A great Latin groove from the mighty Les McCann – a smoking set that adds in extra percussion from Willie Correa – who gives the record a sound that's quite a change from the usual McCann groove! The percussion is wonderful throughout – and given that the great Paul Humphrey is already playing drums in the trio, the whole thing's got a rhythmic zest that never lets up – way different than just the usual "with conga" style you'd hear on a Prestige Records piano trio record – and instead a groove that's definitely dedicated to the boldest Latin piano modes of the time! The track list includes a lot of originals, such as "McCanna", "Zulu", "Bastuto Baby", "Shaam-Pu II", and "Narobi Nights" – plus versions of "Que Rico" and "It Had Better Be Tonight". LP, Vinyl record album

Warm backings from Marty Manning – and a set that really has Tony Bennett coming into his own for the 60s! Titles include the classics "I Wanna Be Around" and 'The Good Life" – plus "Once Upon A Summertime", "If You Were Mine", "Someone To Love", and "Quiet Nights". LP, Vinyl record album

The full length classic from the duo of Althea Forrest and Donna Reid – a pair who recorded the title hit as a bit of a lark, then found themselves quickly coming up with enough material to follow up with a full length album! Despite their almost accidental fame, the duo are pretty darn great – very much in the best roots mode of the mid 70s, with an easygoing vocal style that slides right into the well-crafted grooves of the set! Instrumentation is top-shelf throughout – key Kingston backing from Tommy McCook on tenor, Vin Gordon on trombone, Chinna Smith on guitar, and Sly and Robbie on rhythm – all giving the record a great midtempo groove that lets the vocals flow in a nicely seductive way throughout. Titles include "No More Fighting", "Jah Rasafari", "Make A Truce", "The West", "Jah Music", "Sorry", "They Wanna Just", "Uptown Top Ranking", and "If You Don't Love Jah". LP, Vinyl record album

Roland Hanna's certainly easy to love here – working in a free-flowing trio mode, with a fair bit more soul jazz touches than on some of his later work! Rhythm here is from Ben Tucker on bass and Roy Barnes on drums – both of whom bring in a gentle little groove that augments the more rhythmic side of Hanna's piano – taking his warmer lyrical flow, and giving it a nice sense of focus, especially on some of the standards on the set. Titles include Tucker's original "Farouk Thelonious", plus "From This Day On", "The Best Things In Life Are Free", "Night In Tunisia", "Easy To Love", and "It Never Entered My Mind". LP, Vinyl record album

Trombonely jazz from Harold Betters – the Pittsburgh legend who had a tremendous reach in the 60s! The album features Betters working his magic in a variety of settings – from catchy soul jazz-inflected numbers, to gentle ballads, to the more R&B-tinged numbers that were most likely Betters' biggest crowd pleasers on his popular live sets. The album's got a great vocal number called "Tall Girl", a two-part original groover called "Do Anything You Wanna", and nice takes on "Twist & Shout" and "Girl From Ipanema". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful single from Street People – one that's got soaring harmonies that almost take us back to earlier east coast soul, but which are also put together with a tighter groove for the clubs! The cut's one of their best – and it really has the group hitting on all burners. The flipside's great too – a sweet mellow harmony number, but one with a slightly smooth polish too! 12-inch, Vinyl record

As the title indicates, the session features Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson – but the real guy we wanna thank here is arranger Russ Garcia! Unlike some of the other Verve "soloist with the Peterson Trio" albums of the 50s, this one is more of a shared effort that has Buddy and Oscar both acting as soloists over larger backings directed by Garcia. Russ takes a lot of cues from Ralph Burns on the session – and like Burns on earlier Verve recordings, he sets things up so that the orchestrations never overwhelm the players – and instead simply augment their moods and shade in the colors of the tunes. We especially like Peterson in this format – as he was so often recorded heavily in trio format – but DeFranco is great too, snaking out over the top of the strings with a lean and angular tone on clarinet. Titles include "They Can't Take That Away From Me", "I Got Rhythm", and "It Ain't Necessarily So". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet funky fusion from one of the hippest drummers of the 70s – the mighty Les DeMerle, a player who's given the world plenty of samples over the years! The grooves on the set are some of Les' best – tightly snapping in a warm mix of electric and acoustic playing – with tight bass work that matches Les' drums perfectly, and lots of snaking horn solos from the great Don Menza. Josh Hanna sings on a few cuts, giving the record a more soulful feel than any of Les' other albums – and the whole thing's smoking at a level that really almost surpasses the best of DeMerle's studio work. Titles include "San Quenti Quail", "Freedom Jazz Dance", "Sambandrea Swing", "Quetzal", "Ambidextrous", and "Island Winds". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky soul, but with deeper roots too – a killer set from Matata – a group from Kenya, but one who arrived on the London scene in the 70s – where their blend of African roots and American soul really took the group by storm! There's a fantastic influence here from James Brown – not just on the vocals, which have a raw, shouting, completely soulful style – but also on the rhythms and instrumentation – which have this sharp riffing guitar with the bass, ala James Brown Band of the late 60s – topped with equally great horn work to match! The whole thing's fantastic – as appealing to a fan of American early 70s funk as one of 70s African grooves – and titles include "I Wanna Do My Thing", "Return To You", "Getting Together", "I Believed Her", "I Don't Have To Worry", "I Want You", "Love Is The Only Way", "Gimme Some Lovin", and the classic "Talking Talking". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual US issue of material that Memphis Slim recorded in Paris – with work by Carey Bell on harmonica, Lowell Fulsom on guitar, and SP Leary on drums! Titles include "Grinder Man Blues", "Misery", "I Wanna Dance", "Chicago Bounce No 2", "Born With The Blues", "My Baby Left Me", and "Rocking The House". LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly wonderful album – even if these guys break our cardinal rule of jazz combos, which is never to put the name of your home city in place of the players in the group! The group's a quartet with Frank Wess on flute and tenor, Roland Hanna on piano, George Mraz on bass, and Grady Tate on drums – and the set was recorded live in Munich before a very enthusiastic crowd. The sum total of the players is way more than the parts – as all of them manage to really stretch out on the set, working through some long tunes that have a soulfulness and inspiration that's rare for Wess and Hanna especially. Includes the long funky groover "Smelly Jelly Belly" (hate that title!) – plus the cuts "Rodney Round Robin", "Blues For Sarka", and "All Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little album from Nina – mostly recorded live at the Westbury Music Fair, with a hip mix of jazz, soul, and folk that's stretched out in a slightly informal setting that always brings out the best of Nina's vocals. Titles include "The Backlash Blues", "Please Read Me", "Sunday In Savannah", "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", and the nice jazzer "In The Morning". Plus, the album also includes one straight soul number – "Do What You Gotta Do", with some great arrangements by Horace Ott. LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal work from this legendary duo – singers Martha Wash and Izora Armstead – better known by their later name as The Weather Girls, but already pretty darn great here as Two Tons! The pair first famously sang backup for Sylvester in the Bay Area, but quickly stepped out on their own, due to their vocal strengths – already full formed here, and given some mighty sharp studio help from supersoul producer Harvey Fuqua! Fuqua was really hitting his clubby style at this time, which really lets the girls' vocals soar – in a way that's similar to their later Weather Girls work, but maybe a bit more tied here to the Bay Area soulful style of the Fantasy Records scene. Titles include "Gone Away", "Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven", "Do You Wanna Boogie", "Just Us", "Got The Feeling", "Taking Away Your Space", and "One-Sided Love Affair". LP, Vinyl record album

A great debut from Bow Wow Wow, and a mighty second act from Maclolm McLaren – whose work with the young group was one of his main projects after getting rejected by the Sex Pistols! This group's got a very different vibe, and an equally longstanding appeal – as playfully new wave as the Pistols were punk – with all sorts of romping rhythms that are heavy on drums, played by ex-members of The Ants – and fronted with lead vocals from the teenaged Annabella Lwin – a singer who really knows how to step out front with a lot of brash, young energy! There's a tribal groove to most tracks that really fits the title of the album – and tracks include "Jungle Boy", "King Kong", "Chihuahua", "Go Wild In The Country", "Why Are Babies So Wise", "Orang-Outang", and "Hello Hello Daddy (I'll Sacrifice You)". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic session for MPS, one of the few labels smart enough to ever make bassist Richard Davis a leader on a session! The set is arguably his best record as a leader, and it features a great group, playing in a number of different configurations – a killer lineup with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Jerry Dodgion on alto, Pepper Adams on baritone, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Roland Hanna on piano, and Louis Hayes on drums – a superb set of musicians with a real breadth of experience and styles, working under the leadership of Davis to make for a wonderfully complex record! There's a mix of formations here, from septet down to duos – and titles include "Milktrain", "What Is It", "Toe Tail Moon", and "A Child Is Born". LP, Vinyl record album

The Mingus Dynasty is a mighty great one – a lineup of players who both worked with Charles Mingus, and who were shaped by his genius – working together here in a septet format that recalls all the sharp, vibrant energy of Mingus in his classic years! Most tunes are originals by Charles – and the group features bold horn lines from Joe Farrell on tenor, Randy Brecker on trumpet, and Jimmy Knepper on drums – plus piano from Roland Hanna, drums from Billy Hart, and two different bassists – Aladar Pege and Mike Richmond – both working at once, to rival the power of Mingus on his own! Tracks are all longish – and titles include great versions of "Haitian Fight Song", "Ysabel's Table Dance", "Better Git Hit In Your Soul", "Fables Of Faubus", and "Consider Me Oh Lord". LP, Vinyl record album