A monster – and one of the best jazz funk albums ever on Prestige! Rusty Bryant blows his top off on this one – taking his tenor stylings out of the more staid R&B mode of earlier years, working with some younger heavy funk jazz players to craft a brilliant album of long searing tunes that's forever been one of the must-haves of the early 70s jazz funk scene! Idris Muhammad's on drums, Wilbert Longmire's on guitar, and the organ work is split between Leon Spencer and Bill Mason, both monstrously great talents, with a propensity for open-stopped hard-wailing playing! Titles include "Fire Eater", "The Hooker", "Mister S", and "Free At Last". LP, Vinyl record album

A 2-in-1 killer that features some of the funkiest work ever from Rusty Bryant! First up is the legendary Fire Eater album – one of the best jazz funk albums ever on Prestige! Rusty Bryant blows his top off on this one – taking his tenor stylings out of the more staid R&B mode of earlier years, working with some younger heavy funk jazz players to craft a brilliant album of long searing tunes that's forever been one of the must-haves of the early 70s jazz funk scene! Idris Muhammad's on drums, Wilbert Longmire's on guitar, and the organ work is split between Leon Spencer and Bill Mason, both monstrously great talents, with a propensity for open-stopped hard-wailing playing! Titles include "Fire Eater", "The Hooker", "Mister S", and "Free At Last". Wild Fire is very much in the style of his Fire Eater classic, as you might guess from the title! The tracks here are all long, open, and rock-solid – held firmly in place by some incredible drums from Idris Muhammad – and featuring a group that includes Jimmy Ponder on guitar, plus the little-heard Bill Mason on organ – a player who recorded briefly for the Eastbound label, and who also handled the Hammond chores on Rufus Harley's funky album! Rusty's tenor is great, as always – really opening up with this younger generation – and titles include "If You Really Love Me", "Wildfire", "Alobamo Kid", and a version of "Riders on the Storm", of all things! CD

An amazing collection – and one that really lives up to the genius of the original Anthology Of American Folk Music put together by Harry Smith for Folkways Records! That groundbreaking set is the stuff of legend – a package that collected rare blues, folk, string band, hillbilly, and other styles from Smith's own collection of 78rpm singles – then brought together by Folkways with copious notes and a huge amount of detail that opened the door to this lost world of music for listeners over many decades. Here, the collection goes back to further Smith's choices – by offering up the flipside of all the records included in the original set – tracks that are almost always as great as the other sides, given that so many of these artists were getting a brief time in the studio, and really gave their all during the recordings. The package is one of the nicest we've ever seen on Dust To Digital – done with more than enough notes and packaging detail to live up to the spirit of the original – in a set of 84 tracks, with work by Dick Justice, Clarence Ashley, Coley Jones, Bill & Belle Reed, Buell Kazee, Buster Carter & Preston Young, Williamson Brothers & Curry, The Masked Marvel, William & Versey Smith, Carter Family, GB Grayson, Mississippi John Hurt, Uncle Eck Dunford, Uncle Bunt Stephens, Carolina Tar Heels, Furry Lewis, Ernest Phipps, Cannon's Jug Stompers, Richard Rabbit Brown, Rev Moses Mason, Alabama Sacred Harp Singers, Cincinnati Jug Band, Rev JM Gates, Jim Jackson, Breaux Freres, Blind Willie Johnson, Dock Boggs, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Julius Daniels, Ramblin Thomas, Sleepy John Estes, and many others! CD

Great 80s grooves with some 70s moments thrown in as well – a double-length collection that features a host of overlooked gems from the past! The "giants" here aren't overplayed disco hits or classics that have been compiled too much – and instead, the set continues the great approach of previous volumes by really digging deep to find the kind of snapping, uptempo cuts that were perfect for the underground clubs in the years between disco and house! Titles include "You & I" by Ronnie Jones, "Good Lovin" by Al Mason, "You Fooled Me" by Grey & Hanks, "Gotta Take Your Love" by Game, "You & Me" by Ronnie Dyson, "You're A Blessing" by Heaven & Earth, "Wanna Make It Good" by Tyrone Davis, "Baby Not Tonight" by Madagascar, "California Flight" by California Flight Project, "Never Gonna Let You Go (special disco version)" by Shazar, "Holding On" by The Givens Family, "This Is Where The Love Is (extended)" by Zinc, "Love Me Today (12" version)" by First Love, "Space Lady" by Bill, and "Good Girl" by Bonnie Byrd. CD

A seminal jazz funk session of the 70s – Herbie Hancock's legendary meeting with The Headhunters, and a killer batch of tunes that really gave the combo their name! Herbie's playing a wide range of keys here – including Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and Arp – but almost even better is the work from the rest of the group – including Bennie Maupin on soprano and tenor sax, Paul Jackson on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion! The earthier elements of the rhythm players really keep Herbie on track – bringing him back to the planet from previous trips into space, and helping him hit an all-solid, all-righteous funky groove! Titles include a great remake of "Watermelon Man", the classic original recording of "Chameleon", and the cuts "Vein Melter" and "Sly" – all nice and long! LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal jazz funk session of the 70s – Herbie Hancock's legendary meeting with The Headhunters, and a killer batch of tunes that really gave the combo their name! Herbie's playing a wide range of keys here – including Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and Arp – but almost even better is the work from the rest of the group – including Bennie Maupin on soprano and tenor sax, Paul Jackson on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion! The earthier elements of the rhythm players really keep Herbie on track – bringing him back to the planet from previous trips into space, and helping him hit an all-solid, all-righteous funky groove! Titles include a great remake of "Watermelon Man", the classic original recording of "Chameleon", and the cuts "Vein Melter" and "Sly" – all nice and long! CD

One of the great 70s albums that Joe Henderson cut for Fantasy Records in the 70s – a set with some nice larger arrangements, and a very soulful vibe! The group includes Dawilli Gonga (aka George Duke) on electric piano, Ron Carter on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, and Bill Summers on conga – a killer rhythm group at the core – and the set also features work from Lee Ritenour on guitar, Oscar Brasher on trumpet, Goerge Bohanon on trombone, and Hadley Caliman on both flute and tenor sax! Titles include "Immaculate Deception", "Black Miracle", "Gazelle", and "Solution". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal jazz funk session of the 70s – Herbie Hancock's legendary meeting with The Headhunters, and a killer batch of tunes that really gave the combo their name! Herbie's playing a wide range of keys here – including Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and Arp – but almost even better is the work from the rest of the group – including Bennie Maupin on soprano and tenor sax, Paul Jackson on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion! The earthier elements of the rhythm players really keep Herbie on track – bringing him back to the planet from previous trips into space, and helping him hit an all-solid, all-righteous funky groove! Titles include a great remake of "Watermelon Man", the classic original recording of "Chameleon", and the cuts "Vein Melter" and "Sly" – all nice and long! CD

A seminal jazz funk session of the 70s – Herbie Hancock's legendary meeting with The Headhunters, and a killer batch of tunes that really gave the combo their name! Herbie's playing a wide range of keys here – including Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and Arp – but almost even better is the work from the rest of the group – including Bennie Maupin on soprano and tenor sax, Paul Jackson on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, and Bill Summers on percussion! The earthier elements of the rhythm players really keep Herbie on track – bringing him back to the planet from previous trips into space, and helping him hit an all-solid, all-righteous funky groove! Titles include a great remake of "Watermelon Man", the classic original recording of "Chameleon", and the cuts "Vein Melter" and "Sly" – all nice and long! CD

Sweet, smooth, and soulful – a heck of a great album from Stanley Turrentine, and one that's recorded in a mode that steps off nicely from his best work at CTI! The sound's a bit tighter than most of his sides as Mister T, but the groove is still quite similar – a warm approach to electric soul jazz, played by the best in the business, and topped off by some great lead solo work from Stan – all in that impeccable tone, and with some surprisingly creative solo flourishes that seem to pop out of nowhere and keep the record interesting! Wade Marcus arranged, and players include Paul Jackson, Harvey Mason, Bill Summers, and Joe Sample – on tunes that include "I'm Not In Love", "There Is A Place", "Stairway To Heaven", "Everybody Come On Out", "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon", and "Airport Love Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last records made by avant sax legend Albert Ayler – a really mind-expanding album that's unlike anything else he ever did! By the time of the record, Ayler had made a full round trip between the New York and European jazz scenes – leaving important influences wherever he went, and trying desperately to pick up new ones the further he moved on. Here, he's working in a style that's a bit like that of Archie Shepp at the time – still steeped in free jazz and new thing ideals, but infused with a free-thinking approach to the music that allows for bold new styles and sounds. In addition to his own stunning work on tenor, Ayler's also blowing bagpipes and vocalizing a bit next to singer Mary Maria, who does a great recitation on one track of the record. Rhythm is by the two-bass team of Stafford James and Bill Folwell, next to drums by Muhammad Ali – and the whole thing's capped off by guitarist Henry Vestine, who plays in modes that range from bluesy to free. At the time, this one was kind of dismissed as a messed-up mistake that occurred at the end of Ayler's too-short life – but honestly, over the years, this record really really opens itself to us more and more, and we have to say that we think it's one of his most groundbreaking albums! Titles include "Island Harvest", "Drudgery", "Oh Love Of Life", "Masonic Inborn (part 1)", and "A Man Is Like A Tree". LP, Vinyl record album

Free and easy grooves from the great Phil Upchurch – a set that has the guitarist evolving more strongly into the world of fusion, after beginning his career with instrumental soul, shifting to heavier funk, and continuing to really open up his jazz chops as the years went by! Here, Phil's playing with a great lineup that includes plenty of soulful tenor from Eddie Harris, billed as having a "saxophone attachment" – which might be an update of his earlier Varitone sound – plus lots of nice work on keyboards from Russ Ferrante, and bass from Phil's son too. The great Harvey Mason sets the groove on drums – and titles include "Groovin Slow", "Midnite Blue", "Free & Easy", "Reunion", "Moment's Notice", and a nice take on "People Make The World Go Round". CD

An all-star soul affair produced by Quincy Jones, and featuring the talents of studio greats like Harvey Mason, Billy Cobham, Toots Thielmans, Dave Grusin, Lee Ritenour, and many others – not to mention the Brothers themselves! We'll be honest, though, in saying that we really think it's the great jazzy backing and the tight arrangements by Quincy that make this record so great. The Brothers' bass and vocal work is fine – but it's the non-bass instrumental moments that really make this album great, as you'll hear on cuts like the moog-heavy "Tomorrow", or the timbales/keyboard/flute groover "Thunder Thumbs & Lightnin Licks". Great stuff if you dig mid 70s work by Q – and featuring the tracks "I'll Be Good To You", "Land Of Ladies", "Free & Single", "Get The Funk Out Ma Face", and "The Devil". LP, Vinyl record album