Maybe the most righteous album ever from reedman Harold Vick – a crowning achievement of all his soulful years in jazz, cut as one of the key 70s releases on Strata East! Vick is fantastic here – light years ahead of his work as the funky tenorist on 60s albums by John Patton and Jack McDuff in the 60s, even as great as that material was – and emerging here as an incredibly sensitive soul jazz player, capable of turning out some incredibly sophisticated and emotional compositions – which are then graced by these really spiritual solos! Harold wrote and produced the whole album – really controlling his musical vision – and other players include Virgil Jones on trumpet, George Davis on flute, Joe Bonner on Fender Rhodes and piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – a lineup that sounds even greater on the record than it does on paper. Titles include "Don't Look Back", "Melody For Bu", "Stop & Cop", and "Senor Zamora". LP, Vinyl record album

An album that's maybe one of the least familiar Blue Note records to most jazz listeners – a set that was barely pressed up at the time, and reissued infrequently – yet which is a tremendous debut as a leader from tenorist Harold Vick! At the time of the album's release, Vick had been bringing all these amazing sounds to Hammond albums by Brother Jack McDuff – reed lines that were very different in phrasing and tone than the tenor sounds of players like Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt – and he continues that magic here, in a really wonderful group – with John Patton on the Hammond, Grant Green on guitar, and the mighty Ben Dixon on drums – a player with a loose touch that really fits Harold's unique sense of rhythm. Blue Mitchell also plays trumpet up front, bringing a nice tonal brightness to the album – and titles include a great version of Vick's "Our Miss Brooks", plus "Steppin Out", "Vicksville", and "Trimmed In Blue". LP, Vinyl record album

With Jimmy Heath and Harold Vick on tenor and soprano sax, Joe Pass on guitar, and Cedar Walton on piano. Titles include "Sleeves", "Sudden Death", "Back To Bologna", and "The Weasel". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from an unsung hero of the soulful jazz underground of the 70s! Although Joe Chambers came to great fame as the writer and drummer behind some of Bobby Hutcherson's best records late 60s, he didn't really ever make that many records under his own name as a leader – and this date is not only one of the few that he cut that way, but also one of the best! Joe's powerful presence on the record is tremendous throughout – and he works with an ultra-hip lineup that shifts throughout the album, and really gives the whole thing an almost Strata East vibe – with work from Cedar Walton on Fender Rhodes, Woody Shaw on trumpet, Harold Vick on flute and tenor, Cecil McBee on bass, and Ray Mantilla on percussion. The whole thing is as uplifting as you might expect – and tracks include "Medina", "The Almoravid", "Early Minor", "Jihad", and "Gazelle Suite". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer diller of a live set from Brother Jack McDuff – a cut that burns with energy that almost beats his studio 60s classics for Prestige! The group is one of Jack's best ever – a lineup that includes the twin tenors of Red Holloway and Harold Vick, plus incredibly sharp guitar from a young George Benson, and some of the most unique soul jazz drum work you'll ever hear – courtesy of the amazing Joe Dukes. Despite their individual strengths, which might make this whole thing an ego-fest – all players fit perfectly into place on the album's hard wailing batch of groovers, and groove together with a sympathetic energy that's simply amazing! Titles include a great remake of "Jive Samba", plus "Dink's Blues", "Grease Monkey", "Passing Through", and "Vas Dis". This is the kind of thing live recording equipment was made for! LP, Vinyl record album

The continuing evolution of the great Jess Roden – an lesser-known 70s talent who emerged from the jazz rock scene in the UK at the end of the 60s – but who's working here in a much more sophisticated mode! Jess always had a lot of soul in his style right from the start – that 60s London love of R&B and American roots – and here he fuses it with some hip arrangements from Leon Pendarvis, who takes the older Roden groove into sweet New York territory that comes across with a surprising degree of modern soul at times. There's lots of jazz in the instrumentation – including sax solos from Harold Vick and Scott Hamilton – and Jess has honestly never sounded better – extremely expressive, even on the mellower moments. Titles include "The Hardest Blow", "Drinking Again", "Sensation", "Misty Roses", "Woman Across The Water", and "The Quiet Sound Of You & I". LP, Vinyl record album

A pivotal album for Brother Jack McDuff – and one that has him cleaning the sound of his Hammond a bit – moving into the lean, clear tone that would dominate his work for most of the 60s! There's a great sense of focus here – one that moves past simple R&B-influenced organ lines, and into a more confident jazz-based mode – one that's starting to unlock the unique rhythm and solo inflections that made McDuff so great. The group here is excellent too – with a very young Grant Green on guitar, Harold Vick on tenor, and Joe Thomas on drums. The tracks are long, with some nice flourishes that make the record shine nicely – and titles include "I'll Be Seeing You", "McDuff Speaking", "A Smooth One", and "Sanctified Waltz". (Also issued under the title Goodnight It's Time To Go.) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few recordings we've ever seen to feature the work of organist Bu Pleasant – an obscure east coast talent on the Hammond, from the same generation as Shirley Scott and Trudy Pitts! The great Harold Vick sits on on the session on tenor, and adds some great sounds to the record – some of the soulful currents he was bringing to other dates at the time – and the group also features the obscure Atlee Chapman on trombone, Ted Dunbar on guitar, Mickey Bass on bass, and Freddy Waits on drums. Titles include a long groovin' version of "Summertime", plus "Opus for O.P.", "Bells for Bu", and "Melody for Bu". LP, Vinyl record album

One of a few large group sessions recorded by Charles Tolliver during his years on Strata East – and an amazingly spiritual effort that really brings together the best strands of sounds running through the underground at the time! The format's a bit similar to Tolliver's previous Music Inc big band album for Strata, released 5 years before – with lots of strong lead action from Charles on trumpet, and Stanley Cowell on piano. But this time around, the larger group seems to be more fully integrated into the tunes – there not just to support the soloists, but to rise up with a full, proud sense of majesty that's really amazing. Other players include Cecil McBee and Reggie Workman on basses, Billy Parker and Warren Smith on percussion, Jon Faddis and Jimmy Owens on trumpets, John Gordon and Garnet Brown on trombones, and Charles McPherson, George Coleman, Harold Vick, and Charles Davis on saxes! Titles include great versions of the Tolliver classics "Plight" and "Impact" – plus "Mother Wit", "Lynnsome", and "Grand Max". LP, Vinyl record album