Includes classic LA material with Johnny Moore's group – plus more obscure 50s material recorded in New Orleans and Cincinnatti! LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent early 78rpm material from the legendary Charles brown – most with the Three Blazers combo! LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from an overlooked guitar jazz talent of the 50s – a player who's best known for his 40s stints in the Nat King Cole Trio and The Three Blazers, with brother Johnny Moore – but who steps out here on his own in a straight jazz setting! This is one of Oscar's first records – recorded for the rare Skylark label, with pianist Carl Perkins and bassist Joe Comfort – on titles that include "Roulette", "Kenya", and "Blues In B Flat". LP, Vinyl record album

Early recordings by the King Cole Trio, with Nat King Cole on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, and Johnny Miller on bass, and also with a later line-up of Irving Ashby on guitar, Joe Comfort on bass, and Jack Costanzo on bongos. LP, Vinyl record album

With Mercer Ellington, Money Johnson, Johnny Coles, and Barry Lee Hall on trumpets; Vince Prudente, Art Baron, and Chuck Connors on trombone; Harry Carney, Harold Ashby, Russell Procope, Geezil Minerve, and Percy Marion on reeds; Joe Benjamin on bass; Rocky White on drums; and Anita Moore and Money Johnson on vocals. LP, Vinyl record album

Includes Lester Young recordings from 1946 with Nat Cole on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, Johnny Miller on bass, and Buddy Rich on drums, plus his quartet with Kenny Kersey on piano, Billy Hadnott on baritone, and Rossiere Shadow Wilson on drums; and Coleman Hawkins recordings from 1945 and 1946, with his quintet and quartet, with Howard McGhee on trumpet, Charles Thompson on piano, Oscar Pettiford on bass, and Denzil Best on drums; and the Jubilee All Stars with Irving Ashby on guitar. LP, Vinyl record album

Mad Mats is not only digging beyond the crates here, he's also digging beyond any conventional expectations you might have – as the set's got a unique vibe that may well make it one of the most compelling BBE compilations in years! The music is from the late 60s through the present – but it all comes together in a very future-sounding way – with rhythms that are often offbeat, electric elements that seem to crackle with independent energy, and vocals that can fall down in the mix one minute and burst forth the next! This isn't a dance music compilation, and it's also not a set of rare funk tracks either – and instead, Mats creates his own very personal journey in sound – heedless of time periods, genres, and often national boundaries. Titles include "Take A Stand" by Psalms, "Big Big Boss" by Johnny Moore, "Badly" by Cuthead, "Sherriff (Murlo rmx)" by Gappy Ranks, "Keep The Music Alive" by Yvonne Gray, "Evil Woman" by Bobby Hebb, "Jazz In Outer Space" by BSTC, "The Traveller" by Deft, "Space Based" by Mode M, "Don't Hold Back The Feeling (key trip dub)" by U N I, "Animations" by Intimate Disco, and "Jah I See You" by Ensemble Entendu. LP, Vinyl record album

2nd volume in this classic series – with a cool mix of TV themes to cartoons, sitcoms, and spy/crime shows! The 65 song set includes such favorites as The Three Stoges, Johnny Quest, Spiderman, Underdog, Route 66, I Spy, The Saint, Outer Limits, NBC Mystery Movie, Rawhide, Brady Bunch, Patridge Family, Car 54 Where Are You, The Odd Couple, Mary Tyler Moore, and lots lots more! LP, Vinyl record album

Raw rockabilly from Arkansas – with work by Bobby Brown & The Curious, plus Johnny Moore, K Owens, Chuck Comer, Earl Smith, and Bill Duniven! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest collections of music we've ever heard from the legendary TK Records in Miami – a company that was a powerhouse of 70s hits and disco classics – but which also cut some wonderful underground soul at the time! This sublime set looks at that great lesser-known legacy of TK – the hipper, more sophisticated music they cut in between the chart numbers and boogie singles – often by soul artists who had some involvement with bigger acts, but who really got a chance here to shine on their own! There's a surprising amount of funk in the mix – that deeper current that made Miami a key heir to 60s funky styles from Memphis and New Orleans – and there's some equally great modern soul, but served up with a complexity that goes way past the usual – both in the songwriting and arrangements. If you've only heard TK hit collections, you'll find plenty to love here – and even for deeper diggers like us, there's still plenty of new bits to be discovered! Titles include "Confusion" by Leno Phillips, "You Knock Me Out" by Wildflower, "Hey There Jim" by Jimmy Bo Horne, "Tears Of The World" by Robert Moore, "I Got Bills To Pay" by Johnny K, "I Want To Be Loved" by Stevens & Foster, "Sleep On Dream On" by Raphael Munnings, "Life Is A Beautiful Feeling" by Formula 1, "Bahama Soul Stew" by Funky Nassau, "Lay It On Me" by Willie Johnson, "The Silence That You Keep (version 1)" by Milton Wright, and "There Must Be Something" by Friday Saturday & Sunday. LP, Vinyl record album

A hell of a record from the great Merle Haggard – partly a tribute to the western swing pioneer Bob Wills, but also a fantastic demonstration of all the growth that Merle had undergone in such a short time! The songs are all Bob Wills classics, and they're interpreted here by a group that also features members of Bob's original Texas Playboys lineup – including Johnny Gimble on fiddle and Billie Tiny Moore on mandolin – but the real revelation is the way that Merle can not only give complete credit to the way that Bob Wills influenced his music, but also step into the role of a leader with the same sort of strength as Bob – yet in a completely different way. Hag's vocals are different than other Capitol Records of the time – able to capture all the jazzy inflections that Tommy Duncan had when singing with the Texas Playboys – and the style seems to just be another feather in Merle's mighty cap at the time. Titles include "Right Or Wrong", "Brown Skinned Gal", "Misery", "Roly Poly", "Old Fashioned Love", and "Take Me Back To Tulsa". LP, Vinyl record album

The "shellac dust" in the title will let you know what sort of territory you're in here – Christmas songs that go way way back, to the glory days of the 78rpm single, served up in a host of jazz and vocal modes! The set features a fair bit of tracks from the prewar years, and although some of the song titles are familiar, the choice of cuts is unique – so that you'll hear a fair bit of unusual readings of Christmas classics – all of which makes for a package that really lives up to other Bear Family Holiday sets that we've been digging for years! LP version features 14 tracks in all – and titles include "Snow Ball" by Louis Armstrong, "Peace Sister Peace" by Monette Moore & The Ebonaires, "Jingle Bells" by Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke, "And The Angels Sing" by Count Basie with Helen Humes, "What Will Santa Claus Say" by Louis Prima, "Blow Blow Thou Winter Winds" by Bob Crosby with Marion Mann, "Let It Snow" by The Ramblers Orchestra, "Santa's Secret" by Johnny Guarnieri with Slam Stewart, "Ring Dem Bells" by Charlie Barnet, "Christmas Night In Harlem" by Paul Whiteman with Jack Teagarden, "There's Frost On The Moon" by Chick Webb with Ella Fitzgerald, "Bells Of Auld Lang Syne" by Joel Cowan & Thornel Swartz, and "Santa Claus Came In The Spring" by Putney Dandridge. LP, Vinyl record album