Not a trio date, but an unusual moody set – one that mostly has Kenny Barron on piano in duos with either Ron Carter or Michael Moore on bass. LP, Vinyl record album

A great project from Philly Joe Jones' Dameronia group – with trumpet from Johnny Coles, alto from Frank Wess, baritone from Cecil Payne, tenor from Charles Davis, and piano from Walter Davis Jr! LP, Vinyl record album

A spiritual jazz masterpiece from drummer Norman Connors – one of those unique albums he cut before moving into soul music – done at a level that rivals the early 70s genius on labels like Strata East or Impulse Records! Connors worked with many contemporaries on those labels, and gets ... LP, Vinyl record album

A great batch of material that Art Farmer recorded for Prestige in the early fifties. This is way before he got hyper-lyrical, and his playing is raw and hard on a bunch of Quincy Jones arrangements, including the savage cut "Mau-Mau", which features a very early use of the electric bass ... LP, Vinyl record album

One of the grooviest albums from Archie Shepp's post-new thing years for Impulse – a nicely grooving session that mixes soul-based tracks with more righteous spiritual jazz moments! The approach here is a nicely varied – a laidback, collaborative spirit that's even quite different from ... LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful collaboration between Miles Davis and the great Gil Evans – and perhaps the most perfectly realized of all their projects! The album's got a wonderfully unified feel – as it begins with long compositions that have a distinct Spanish-tinge (and not a Latin-tinge, which is an ... LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album from this legendary Chicago soul jazz combo – and a record that helped set the tone for changes to come in funky jazz for the 70s! Tenorist Clarence Wheeler heads up the group – and they've got an amazing organ/bass sound that's made them a legend with funk fans for ... LP, Vinyl record album

If you've ever needed a definition of hardbop, this is it! The set's a crack quartet session for Blue Note, recorded in the mid 50s by a young Johnny Griffin – fresh in from Chicago, and playing with tons of fire and loads of imagination! Wynton Kelly's on piano and Max Roach is on drums ... LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work by this underrated trumpet player – a haunting set of tracks that range from moody soul jazz, to straighter funkier numbers, all handled with the kind of flourish you'd expect more from a small-label indie release than a major label session. Owens is in good company here ... LP, Vinyl record album

Jazzy and classy – and one of the first of Ramsey's albums to feature him working with larger arrangements instead of the usual trio. In this case, the whole thing was arranged and conducted by Richard Evans – with a spacey hip sound that's not too far from some of Ramsey's later work ... LP, Vinyl record album

A smokin' McDuff set from his prime period of recording for Prestige! Red Holloway plays tenor on all cuts, except for "The Live People", which features him and Harold Ousley playing back to back. Joe Dukes is on drums throughout, and the guitar parts are handled by Pat Martino and ... LP, Vinyl record album

Bad Bossa Nova is right – as Gene Ammons really hits a great groove here – one that's not exactly bossa, but which has lots of Latin and tropical touches! The session makes great use of 2 guitars at the same time – using that of Kenny Burrell for soulful rhythm, but also adding ... LP, Vinyl record album