The 13 fingers of Sir Julian hit the sixties, and pound away on this album of covers like "Live for Life" and "A Man and A Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a title that sounds like it should be something of a bachelor pad release from the title, but which is instead a good old fashioned, no holds barred, open-ended jazz session from trumpeter Buck Clayton! All tracks are nice and long – way more than usual for big label jazz at the time – and Clayton's trumpet is lineup alongside those of Joe Newman and Joe Thomas, plus other players who include Woody Herman on clarinet, Urbie Green and Benny Powell on trombones, Julian Dash and Al Cohn on tenor, Charlie Fowkes on baritone, Freddie Green on guitar, and Sir Charles Thompson on piano. Titles include "Moten Swing", "Sentimental Journey", "How Hi The Fi", and "Blue Moon". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from the Three Suns, Sir Julian, Esquivel & his Orchestra, Henri Rene & his Orchestra, John Klein & Sid Ramin, Marty Gold & his Organ Ensemble, Dennis Farnon & his Orchestra, Henry Man cini, Perez Prado, Russ Case & his Orchestra & more. CD

2 fantastic unreleased sets by Lee Morgan! The first one later came out under the name The Procrastinator – and it has this really weird sound, which is a combination of Morgan's trumpet, Wayne Shorter's tenor, Herbie Hancock's piano, and Bobby Hutcherson's vibes – the last of which gives the record a uniquely angular quality, and a stark modernist sound that's different from other Morgan albums. Titles include "Dear Sir", "Stopstart", and "Rio". The second set features a sextet with Julian Priester, George Coleman, Harold Mabern, and Walter Booker – on tracks that are equally great, and entitled "Free Flow", "Mr Johnson", "The Stroker", "Uncle Rough", and "Untitled Boogaloo". LP, Vinyl record album

A heavy classic from trumpeter Buck Clayton – and a record that set a whole new standard for the jam session on record at the time! The album pushes forward strongly from the territory of the Jazz At The Philharmonic and Jam Session records on Verve – with a vibrancy that's even stronger, and which really has Clayton's leadership bringing all the players into sharp focus. Each track takes up a side of the record – with plenty of room for individual solo work from players who include Joe Newman on trumpet, Urbie Green and Henderson Chambers on trombones, Lem Davis on alto, Julian Dash on tenor, Charlie Fowlkes on baritone, Sir Charles Thompson on piano, and Freddie Green on guitar! The performances are nicely more focused than looser live jam session material of this nature – and titles include "The Huckle-Buck" and "Robbin's Nest". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most spiritual recordings put out by the Strata East label – and the album that put tenor giant Billy Harper on the map! Harper leads a hip group here – one that features George Cables on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, Jimmy Owens on trumpet, and Julian Priester on trombone – and they're joined by a quintet of voices that includes Eugene McDaniels, all singing behind the jazz players in an uplifting spiritual mode that cries out with the new soul jazz freedom of the 70s! Max Roach and Donald Byrd had begun experiments like this a decade before, but Harper's work here blows them all away – with a sense of righteousness and focus that's simply astounding, especially considering that the album was Billy's first as a leader! Harper's solos are worth the price of the record alone – searing with a raw, post-Coltrane energy as he darts in and out of the voices in the backings. Titles are all original compositions – and include "Capra Black", "Soulfully I Love You", "New Breed", "Sir Galahad", and "Cry of Hunger". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Augie Colon, Miguelito Valdes & His Orchestra With Machito & His Cubans, Xavier Cugat featuring Lina Romay, Yma Sumac, Hugo Montenegro, Perez Prado, the John Buzon Trio, Lenny Dee, Orizaba & His Orchestra, Richard Hayman, Sir Julian, Belmonte & His Afro-American Music, and Duke Ellington. CD

One of the first albums to feature the trumpet of Blue Mitchell in a larger group – a really great move that let his soulful horn really come to the lead! Blue sounds wonderful here – soaring out in front of larger charts from Duke Pearson, Jimmy Heath, Don Pickett, and Melba Liston – all talents who start to bring in a bit of funk to Mitchell's music – which Blue responds to with a mighty nice kick! The group also features Pepper Adams on baritone, Jerry Dodgion on alto, Julian Preister on trombone, and Junior Cook on tenor – and titles include "Heads Up Feet Down", "Togetherness", "Good Humor Man", "Len Sirrah", and "People in Nassau". CD features bonus alternate takes of "Togetherness" and "Good Humor Man". CD

One of the first albums to feature the trumpet of Blue Mitchell in a larger group – a really great move that let his soulful horn really come to the lead! Blue sounds wonderful here – soaring out in front of larger charts from Duke Pearson, Jimmy Heath, Don Pickett, and Melba Liston – all talents who start to bring in a bit of funk to Mitchell's music – which Blue responds to with a mighty nice kick! The group also features Pepper Adams on baritone, Jerry Dodgion on alto, Julian Preister on trombone, and Junior Cook on tenor – and titles include "Heads Up Feet Down", "Togetherness", "Good Humor Man", "Len Sirrah", and "People in Nassau". LP, Vinyl record album

2LP set that brings together 2 (then) unreleased sessions recorded by Sam Rivers for Blue Note during the mid 60s! The first album was later issued as Dimensions & Extensions – and features Sam Rivers starting to stretch out and get kind of free in a bit of a Blue Note late 60s New Thing mode, but still hanging back from the freer side he'd explore on later recordings for Impulse. James Spaulding, Donald Byrd, Julian Priester, and Cecil McBee are in the larger piano-less band which Rivers would later move away from as he started playing in more trio and small group settings. 6 tracks in all: "Precis", "Paean", "Effusive Melange", "Involution", "Afflatus" and "Helix". Next up is extremely dark material recorded by Andrew Hill as a leader, but featuring Rivers on tenor – a quartet date that's filled with jagged edges and bold fragments of sound! There's a really strong new thing vibe going on here – at a level that matches the brilliance of Hill's Smokestack album, but which is perhaps even better, given Rivers' sharp lines on tenor! As with many of the best Blue Note sets in this mode, the bass and drums almost get equal space with the main solo instruments – so that the percussion of JC Moses and bass of Walter Booker often hang out in space, shaping the sound of the record on their own, as all players contribute equally to the structure of the songs. Hill wrote all the numbers on the set, and titles include "Violence", "Pain", "Illusion", "Hope", "Lust", and "Desire". LP, Vinyl record album