Palm/SeriE.WOC (France), 1974. (reissue)
Alfa/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1991.
Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Alvin Queen on drums.
(Jazz CD)
Timeless/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1986.
A really fantastic setting for the tenor genius of Pharoah Sanders – and a record that's very different than just about anything else he ever recorded! As the title implies, the album's a duo recording with pianist John Hicks – just his piano and Pharoah's tenor – working ...
(Jazz CD)
Marlin/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1976.
The Ritchie Family continue the exotic themes of their disco work started on the Brazil album – working here with Jacques Morali and Ritchie Rome on a set of tunes that have a nice pop sort of undercurrent and a playful groove that's not afraid to be a bit silly when it wants to! Side two ...
(Soul CD)
Marlin/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1978.
Titles include "Big Spender", "Good In Love", "Music Man", "American Generation", and "I Feel Disco Good". Composed and produced by Jacques Morali, too!
(Soul CD)
Konduko/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1978.
The second US album by the team of Phillip & Lloyd – much more in the Miami soul mode than their first record, cut for the Konduko subsidiary of TK with a feel that's almost Caribbean disco! The style's still got some traces of the duo's reggae roots, but the production's also more ...
(Soul CD)
Glades/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1980.
Sweet late 70s grooves from Latimore – a bit less bluesy than at the start of the decade, but in a mighty nice way! The set's got loads of warm undercurrents – and shows Latimore pushing his southern soul roots into a modern soul mode – with surprisingly great results – a ...
(Soul CD)
Glades/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1978.
Latimore's digging deeper, and sounding greater than ever – working at Muscle Shoals with some great Miami production from Steve Alaimo – and coming across with a sound that's even warmer and more sophisticated than before – yet still very true to its deep soul roots too! At a ...
(Soul CD)
Glades/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1977.
Little Milton's always been as much of a soul singer as a bluesman – and this overlooked gem from the 70s has him hitting equally well on both fronts! The set's a great precursor to Milton's 80s revival on Malaco – but has the singer working in Chicago, with these deep soul ...
(Blues CD)
Glades/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1976.
Tight and soulful blues from Little Milton – just the sort of record that helped him cross over to bigger audiences back in the day, and a set that still sounds plenty great all these many years later! The set was done in Chicago – arranged by James Mack, with backing vocals from Kitty ...
(Blues CD)
Alston/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1980.
Great work from this oft-overlooked smooth soul singer! Lew Kirton was part of the Miami soul scene that centered around TK Records in Florida – but he has a smooth sexy style that reminds us a lot more of northern modern soul singers – especially the most sophisticated side of the New ...
(Soul CD)
Blue Candle/Ultra Vybe (Japan), Late 70s.
An overlooked gem from the glory days of the TK soul empire – a mix of sweet soul steppers and more upbeat groovers – all set to tight arrangements from Snoopy Dean! There's a great Miami groove to most numbers – especially that modern soul style that started coming in during the ...
(Soul CD)
Village Again/At Home Sound (Japan), 2014. (reissue)
A wonderful reworking of a wonderful record – as Root Soul take on all the tracks from Shuya Okino's Destiny record – and delivery them with an old school funky club sound! The instrumentation is great – live and very spontaneous, with an energy that takes us back to vintage ...
(New Grooves LP)
Click/P-Vine (Japan), 1978. (reissue)
Breezy electric vocals from 70s Sweden – a great little record that's heavy on electric piano and organ, and which features some sublime vocals from singer Meta Roos! The record does a great job of blending influences from bossa nova and sophisticated American soul – in a style that ...
(Vocalists LP)
Im-Hotep/P-Vine (Japan), 1974. (reissue)
Amazing sounds from the righteous Roy Brooks – a drummer who worked strongly in the soul jazz mainstream of the 60s, then stepped out into even headier territory here in the 70s! The album's a spiritual masterpiece all the way through – an album on par with early 70s Impulse sides from ...
(Jazz LP)
Mark De Clive-Lowe/Andrea Lombardini/Tommaso Cappellato
Dreamweavers
Mother Tongue (Italy), 2020.
Some of the most jazz-based work we've ever heard from keyboardist Mark De Clive-Lowe – continuing a progression that's been taking place over the past decade or so – to a point where the musician is turning out a record to rival the classics of some of the 70s giants who influenced his ...
(New Grooves LP)
Tiombe Lockhart feat Robert Glasper, Bilal, eCUSSIONIST
Aquarius Years
Mother Tongue, Early 2000s.
The first official release of this debut solo album from Tiombe Lockheart – originally distributed via shows when she was a member of the Platinum Pied Pipers, and still a completely winning bit of spacey soul – with a vibe that really prefaces so much energy on the west coast in more ...
(Neo Soul LP)
Motown/Music On Vinyl (Netherlands), Early 1970s. (reissue)
An obscure Jackson 5 album – one that hails from 1979, but which features work from the early 70s – tracks recorded during the glory years of the group's best Motown era, seven of which were unissued at the time – and packaged under the Boogie title to cash in on the chart success ...
(Soul LP)
Vibro Succes Intercontinental Orchestra
Drunkard
Dig This Way (Italy),
Pavimento Fertile (Italy),
Forbidden Dance (Italy), 2LP
Ancient Archive Of Sound (UK),
Steeplechase (Denmark), 1979. (reissue)
An excellent later set – a trio date with Doug Raney on guitar and Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass – on long tracks that include "For Minors Only", "Down", "Broken Wing", and "Daybreak".
(Jazz LP)
MPS/Endless Happiness (Italy), 1969. (reissue)
A fantastic album that brings together all of the European winners of the recent Downbeat polls – like Karin Krog, John Surman, Albert Mangelsdorff, Francy Boland, Daniel Humair, and Niels Henning Orsted-Pedersen. The sextet is a lively batch of free-swinging European jazz stylists, with ...
(Jazz LP)
Elektra/Strut (UK), Late 1970s/Early 1980s.
Stunning work from the great second chapter of Patrice Rushen – the time when the lady moved over to Elektra Records and really opened up her groove! Rushen had already been making great music for most of the 70s – playing fantastic keyboards as a real up-and-coming star on the funky ...
(Jazz LP)
Warner/Rhino, 1978. (reissue)
The classic! This beautiful album showed that Chaka could stand very well on her own two feet without the help of Rufus, thank you. Of course, she's got some fantastic help from Arif Mardin, who works as much magic with Chaka here as he'd worked with Aretha Franklin a decade before. Includes the ...
(Soul LP)
Warner/Rhino, 1978.
The classic! This beautiful album showed that Chaka could stand very well on her own two feet without the help of Rufus, thank you. Of course, she's got some fantastic help from Arif Mardin, who works as much magic with Chaka here as he'd worked with Aretha Franklin a decade before. Includes the ...
(Soul CD)
Infidelity/Bureau B (Germany), 1980. (reissue)
Infidelity/Bureau B (Germany), 1980.
Steeplechase (Denmark), 1979. (reissue)
A warmly wonderful trio record – from a time when Chet Baker was exploring a whole new side of his talents! The group features just Doug Raney on guitar and Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass – which gives Chet a lot of room to open up!
(Jazz LP)
Criss Cross (Netherlands),
Enja/BBE (UK), 1982. (reissue)
Impulse, 1971. 2LP
A fantastic live performance from Alice Coltrane – and one that features a very heavy-hitting group, one that features both Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp on tenor, in a spirit that's as strong and righteous as Alice's Ptah The El Daoud album! The lineup features two bassists – Jimmy ...
(Jazz LP)
Impulse, 1971. 2CDs
A fantastic live performance from Alice Coltrane – and one that features a very heavy-hitting group, one that features both Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp on tenor, in a spirit that's as strong and righteous as Alice's Ptah The El Daoud album! The lineup features two bassists – Jimmy ...
(Jazz CD)
Deutsche Grammophon, 2024.
Chrysalis/Be With (UK), 1996. 2LP (reissue)
An underrated classic! Beats by Primo, Guru, the Beatminerz, the Roots, Ski and others. Tracks include "True Honey Buns", "I Confess", "Word Play", "UKNOWHOWWEDU", "Three The Hard Way" with , "Da Jawn" with the Roots, "3 Tha Hard ...
(Hip Hop LP)
Holidays (Italy), 1980. 3LPs
A very cool Sun Ra performance from 1980 – recorded in Rome, and a wonderful summation of all the new directions the Arkestra took during the 70s! There's a wonderful balance here between intimate vocal tracks, sung by June Tyson, and some fuller ensemble numbers – mixed up in ways ...
(Jazz LP)
Ancient Archive Of Sound (UK),
Superior Viaduct, 1983. (reissue)
Caroline, 1988. (reissue)
Pretty much all the essentials from the Danzig era Misfits catalog with the exception of "Hybrid Moments" – includes the ghoulish hits "She", "Bullet", "Teenagers From Mars", "Night Of The Living Dead", "Where Eagles Dare", "I ...
(Rock LP)
Bulk, 2001. 2LP (reissue)
Hip hop for the Gainsbourg fan? This Handsome Boy Modeling School spin off has Nathaniel Merriweather, aka Dan The Automator, working in his smoothest, sexiest, loungiest mode ever! Like Handsome Boy, Lovage is packed to the rafters with mysterious guest appearances, including the turntable and ...
(Hip Hop LP)
Maggot Brain/Third Man, 2024.
Monica Lassen & The Sounds
Woman
Sony/Lawson (Japan), Late 60s. (reissue)
A set that's definitely all woman – thanks to the sexy sounds of Monica Lassen on vocals! The singer works at a wordless level here – breezily scatting alongside these slinky, jazzy lines from The Sounds – a Japanese group who've clearly drunk deep from the well of bossa nova and ...
(Vocalists LP)
Sony/Lawson (Japan), Late 60s. (reissue)
A totally wonderful little record that's every bit as sexy as you might guess from the cover – and which also has some of the groovy French elements you might expect from the title! The set's got this slinky, erotic vibe that's almost in Serge Gainsbourg territory – save for the fact ...
(Vocalists LP)
Meta, 2000.
A great later moment from Pharoah Sanders – a set that's one of his few from the time that really stretches out in the same open, spiritual territory of his classic recordings for Impulse! The group's a trio – with Sanders on tenor and wood flute, Hamid Drake on drums and other ...
(Jazz CD)
Born Bad (France), Early 80s. 2LP
Totally cool, totally amazing music from the enigmatic Francis Bebey – a contemporary on the early 80s African scene of William Onyeabor, and an equally experimental artists! Bebey used a fair bit of electronics, but often with sounds that had acoustic roots – in this case, the ultra ...
(Global Grooves LP)
MGM/Quartet (Spain), 1973.
An action score from Jerry Fielding, but one that's done in a great mix of modes – definitely with some of the driving numbers you might expect, but also with these mellower, moodier tracks that are perfect for a film starring Alain Delon – and which really do a great job of linking it ...
(Soundtracks CD)
Finders Keepers (UK), 1981. (reissue)
Amazing sounds from Polish composer Andrzej Korzynski – penned for a legendary horror film from the early 80s! The movie goes way beyond typical grit and gore – with a surreal bent that's made it the stuff of much discussion over the years – and Korzynski's music definitely lives ...
(Soundtracks LP)
Saravah/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1970.
Genius work from French composer Francis Lai – one of his greatest soundtracks ever, and done during the same period as Live For Life and A Man & A Woman! The feel here is very similar to the work of those films – and was also done for a project directed by Claude Lelouch – ...
(Soundtracks CD)
Seven Seas/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1976.
A sleazy film, but one with some really great music from Francis Lai – the composer better known for his mainstream contributions to classics like A Man & A Woman and Live For Life! In any setting, Lai displays an amazing genius for spare tunes that hit a lyrical chord and a warmly ...
(Soundtracks CD)
Disc AZ/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1967.
One of the greatest soundtracks ever – an archetypal album from French composer Francis Lai, and a record that set the tone for countless other imitations to come – yet which is still the best! The groove here is really unique – a spare blend of bossa influences, jazzy organ ...
(Soundtracks CD)
Philips/Universal (Japan), 1976.
A sexy soundtrack to a mid-70s film written and directed by Serge Gainsbourg – and starring Jane Birkin and a young Gerard Depardieu! The feel here is very much in the spirit of Serge's work of the time – especially that recorded with Birkin – but in a way, it's almost even ...
(French CD)
Philips/Universal (Japan), 1966. 2CDs
One of our favorite soundtracks ever – a jazzy swinging ode to love found and love lost – all penned by the legendary Michel Legrand! The work was composed in collaboration with director Jacques Demy for his 1966 film of the same name – and, like the previous Demy/Legrand ...
(Soundtracks CD)
Philips/Universal (Japan), 1964. 2CDs
One of the most wonderful soundtracks ever! Michel Legrand wrote the jazzy groovy score for this legendary French film from the mid 60s – and every word of dialogue in the film is sung throughout, making for a very cool, ever-changing array of vocal bits and jazzy styles. Embedded in here ...
(Soundtracks CD)