One of the greatest albums of European jazz from the early 60s – a tremendous effort from pianist Michael Naura, working here with lots of vibes and a fair bit of grooves – in a style that sounds a lot like some of the best early recordings made by the team of Roy Ayers and Jack Wilson! The groove here is definitely modern, but also plenty darn soulful too – and thanks to some alto sax in the mix, the tracks have a cutting quality that really gives them an edge – a kind of rasp that predates some of the late 60s soulfulness of the Saba/MPS scene, of which this album is a definite precursor! Alongside Naura's piano, the group also features vibes by Wolfgang Schluter, alto sax by Peter Reinke, bass by Wolfgang Luschert, and drums by the great Joe Nay – soaring together on tunes that includes Tubby Hayes' "Down In The Village", Oliver Nelson's "Three Seconds", Jackie McLean's "Dr Jekyll", and the originals "Night Flower", "Stratosphere", and "Grunga Mood". LP, Vinyl record album

Bop, ballads, and lots more too – played by reedman Lucky Thompson at a time when he was really picking up some new ideas on the European scene! As with contemporaries like Sonny Criss or Benny Bailey, Thompson was great before he hit the continent – but then came back from Europe a completely changed man – a musician whose sense of expression had evolved strongly in a very short time – to a point where the music on these recordings from 1959 and 1960 is quite different than his American records from a few short years before! Part of the change might come from pianist Michael Naura – who's on all these sides, and is one of the hippest cats working in Germany at the time – but you can already hear Lucky opening up his tone and his inflections, especially on the numbers that feature soprano sax. Other players include Jimmy Gourley on guitar, Hans Koller on tenor, and the great Wolfgang Schulter on vibes – on titles that include "The World Awakes", "Brother Bob", "Yesterdays", "Deep Passion", "Thin Ice", and "Summertime". CD

A searing entry into the Mojo Club series – and one that really shows the way the compilations have evolved over the years! The album's heavier on soul music than ever before – but also features some tremendous jazz, Brazilian, and European gems as well – a wonderful set list that really keeps things fresh! Titles include "Give Me Your Love" by The Sisters Love, "Wouri" by Manu Dibango, "Maracaibo" by Michel Legrand, "Take Us Down To The River" by Michael Naura, "Sambao" by Walter Wanderley, "Roots" by Willie Bobo, "Soul Soul Soul" by Wild Magnolias, "Strange Games & Things" by Love Unlimited Orchestra, "Praise The Lord" by Mary Lou Williams, "In Memory Of" by Randy Weston, "Nao Bate O Coracao" by Astrud Gilberto, "Mundo Deserto" by Elis Regina, and the great "El Soul Condor" by Certain Lions & Tigers (a very rare German release from 1970!) CD

Fender Rhodes and vibes – a combination that always sounds fantastic, but which maybe sounds especially great here in a rare 70s session from Dutch keyboard legend Rob Franken! Rob's usually fantastic, no matter what the setting – but here, he's working on a set of spacious grooves that get plenty of great tones and colors from the vibes of Wolfgang Schulter – who works alongside Rob in a groove that's right up there with some of the best MPS funky electric jazz from the early 70s! About half the tracks on the set were written by German pianist Michael Naura – who himself was also doing some great Fender Rhodes work in the 70s – and titles include "Call", "Samba For Sander", "Song For Josef", "Barracuda", "Brown Out", "Concensus", and "Serenade For Myself". LP, Vinyl record album

That's a Fender Rhodes on the cover, and there's lots of it on the record too – played by Frans Elsen with a wonderful sound, in a range of different settings – all heard here on rare tracks from the 70s that were never commercially issued at the time! Frans has a fantastic sound on the keys – an approach that's more in the European use of the Rhodes than some of the American recordings of the time – maybe the style you'd hear from Michael Naura, or some of the players on MPS – with a great focus on tone, a nicely spacious quality, and a strong ear for the other sidemen on the dates! The lineup here shifts throughout – there's initially four tracks with a septet that includes Piet Noordijk on alto, Eddie Engels on trumpet, and Wim Overgaauw on guitar – then more with Ferdinand Povel joining the group on tenor and flute, and a few others that switch bassist Victor Kaihatu for Rob Langereis, who's on the first four numbers. These tracks were mostly done for radio, and sound fantastic – with titles that include "Otta", "Skabu", "Ringebu", "Harpefoss", "Ah Mooh", "Mordor", and "Whirligig". LP, Vinyl record album