With a name like Chubby, the set ought to be a snoozer – but it swings nicely, thanks to some strong bass work by Jackson! The group's a Chicago ensemble, featuring lesser-known players of the 50s – like Vito Price, Cy Touff, Don Lamond, and Jimmy Gourley – plus trombone by Bill Harris, whose earlier work is clearly an influence on Jackson's own here. Tunes are in a swinging Basie/Hefti mode – and titles include "Flyin The Coop", "Plymouth Rock", "Tiny's Blues", and "Raffles". LP, Vinyl record album

A great early album by this famous 70s bassist – originally issued as the album Infinite Search on Embryo, but expanded here with the additional track "Cerecka". One of the greatest moments ever from bassist Miroslav Vitous – a very cool album recorded for the trippy Vortex label! The lineup here has Miroslav working with key help from the American underground – piano from Herbie Hancock, tenor from Joe Henderson, and drums from Jack DeJohnette – plus added guitar from John McLaughlin, who seems to have the same spacey sensibilities as Vitous! Henderson really opens up too – in that fluid style of his post-Blue Note work on Milestone – and obviously Herbie's a great one for a set like this too – hitting some of the spiritual modes of his Warner work. Some tracks are nice and long – and titles include "Freedom Jazz Dance", "Infinite Search", "I Will Tell Him On You", "Mountain In the Cloudes", and "Epilogue". LP, Vinyl record album

A new sense of focus in the Weather Report sound – that building, soaring groove that would become the group's trademark in the mid 70s – offered up here in one of it's first and finest examples! The approach is one to describe accurately on paper – but which is instantly recognizable as the Weather Report sound of the time – a flowing, stretching, organic vibe that builds equally from the talents of all players, and turns it into a wonderfully righteous groove! Senior members Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, and Miroslav Vitous are still at the core – alongside Dom Um Romaeo, Alphonso Johnson, and Ismael Wilburn. Tracks include "Mysterious Traveller", "Jungle Book", "Nubian Sundance", and "Cucumber Slumber". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite albums ever from Weather Report – an album that has them picking up a bit more soul than before, and shaking off some of the experimental sounds of their roots – yet all in a way that still makes them one of the most revolutionary fusion combos of the time! There's an incredible sense of tightness between the reeds of Wayne Shorter, the keyboards of Joe Zawinul, and the bass of Miroslav Vitous – and even when things go a bit outside, there's always a sense of focus and groove that brings them back together – a style that's never entirely funky, but which has plenty of funky elements to please our ears! Dom Um Romao's percussion is always a treat, and Zawinul's electric keys come through beautifully in the mix – on tracks that include "125th Street Congress", "Boogie Woogie Waltz", "Adios", "Manolete", "Will", and "Non-Stop Home". LP, Vinyl record album