A really beautiful album of spiritual soul jazz – featuring the Visions group of tenorist Sam Sanders, an ensemble that worked in Detroit for many years, but rarely made it out of the Motor City! This album's a fantastic demonstration of Sanders' talent and power – wonderfully compelling tenor solos blown with a real edge, over backing by bass, drums, and piano, the latter of which is played by Kenny Cox on a number of tracks. Bassist Ed Pickens is also a very strong element of the set, as his warm round tones on the instrument keep a good rolling groove going on most tracks – a soulful bottom that provides a strong counterpoint to Sanders' searching searing solos. Tracks include "Free Fall", "Fantasy", "Gift Of Love", "Slightly Anxious", and "Day After Yesterday". LP, Vinyl record album

Really wonderful work from trombonist Al Grey – sounding hipper here than at any other point in his career! One of the great reason for Al's sound here is the presence of tenorist Billy Mitchell – a partner with Al in the Basie band, and a great player who gives just about any session a deeply soulful finish. The rest of the group is equally nice too – with work by Dave Burns and Donald Byrd on trumpet, Floyd Morris and Herbie Hancock on piano, and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. The use of vibes is especially striking for a set like this, and really gives the proceedings a different feel than you might think. Titles include "R.B.Q.", "Minor On Top", "African Lady", and "Hi Fly". CD

Archie Shepp in Europe is always an amazing thing – and here, the spiritual master is captured right between his late 60s free French recordings, and some of his more tightly-controlled Italian albums of the second half of the decade! There's a great balance here – as Archie's still flowing forth with some of the inspirations of his Impulse sessions, while also pushing that spirituality into an exploration of older jazz material too – at that level that would really evolve in his recordings of the following decade. The lineup here is nicely unusual – with some superb piano from Dave Burrell, plus bass from Donald Garrett, percussion and flute from Zusaan Fasteau Garrett, and drums from Muhammad Ali. Shepp plays piano on one track, and Jasper Van't Hof plays piano on another – and titles include "Dr King The Peaceful Warrior", "Little Willie Leaps", "Round Midnight", "Sonny's Back", "African Blues", and "Sophisticated Lady". LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked album from the legendary Nina Simone – recorded in Paris in the early 80s, and not circulated as much as some of her records from the 60s and 70s – but every bit as compelling in its own sort of way! Nina's working here with a greater array of global elements than on previous recordings – very much in that way that the French scene was embracing sounds from the Caribbean and African cultures in these post-colonial years, and using them to forge a wealth of wonderful new styles in the studios of Paris. The approach is still jazz-based, but with lots of earthy percussion, including some handled by Nina with her own piano work – a mode that's not foisted on Simone by another producer, but arranged and conceived by the lady herself. Lyrics are in French and English, and titles include "I Sing Just To Know That I'm Alive", "They Took My Hand", "Stop", "Liberian Calypso", "Vous Etes SEuls Mais Je Desire Etre Avec Vous", "Fodder In Her Wings", "Thandewye", "Heaven Belongs To You", and "Le Peuple En Suisse". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most important work ever recorded by Randy Weston – 5 early albums that really pushed the boundaries of modern jazz! First up on the set is Little Niles – a fantastic set that features some of Weston's best early compositions – angular and Monk-ish numbers, but with a profound influence from African rhythms. Next up is Live At The Five Spot – a really compelling live set that features Randy working out Little Niles-ish numbers with a live group that includes Kenny Dorham and Coleman Hawkins. After that is Piano A La Mode – a sublimely simple album of mellow piano tracks – followed by a series of previously unissued tracks done with a quartet that includes Roy Haynes, Cecil Payne, and Ron Carter. Following that are some of Randy's most Afro-centric albums – very unique for the time, and equally powerful today – the records Uhuru Afrika and Highlife – both of which feature larger groups working through some distinctly African ideas in jazz. Nearly every record features arrangements by Melba Liston – and if you've ever wondered where to start with Randy, this is it – because the set encapsulates nearly all of the biggest contributions he ever made to jazz! 40 titles in all – with tunes that include "Little Niles", "Nice Ice", "Earth Birth", "Gingerbread", "Saucer Eyes", "204", "CB Blues", "Where", "Fe Double U Blues", "African Lady", "Bantu", "Kucheza Blues", "Blues To Africa", and "Congolese Children". CD

Incredible work by Randy Weston – light years ahead of his trio material from just a few years before! The album is one of his most progressive from the early years, and features an extended suite dedicated to the newly-won freedoms of the African Nations – with occasional lyrics by Langston Hughes, and arrangements by the great Melba Liston! The material's political, radical, and modernist – but it never fails to groove, and uses its politics to achieve an added emotional punch, as in the best work from the same time by Max Roach and Charles Mingus – and some of their larger progressive projects. The group is much larger than you'd expect from Randy – with Benny Bailey and Richard Williams on trumpets, Slide Hampton on trombone, Sahib Shihab on reeds, and Candido and Olatunji on percussion – which really dominates the record. The whole thing is amazing – one of the purest realizations of the African influence in Weston's music – and movements of the suite are entitled "Uhuru Kwanza", "African Lady", "Bantu", and "Kucheza Blues" CD

A whole new world of grooves we've never heard before – music from a short stretch on the Italian scene when local artists were really taken with the new developments in Afro Funk, and started to serve up some fresh styles of their own! The music here is maybe a blend of West African sounds and sound library modes – often leaner than the large group ensembles of Fela and some of his contemporaries, which also makes the tracks perfect for the clubs as well – but with a vibe that's sharper and tighter than some of the Afro/disco crossover cuts of the time! The selection of tracks is wonderful, and the whole thing is very revelatory – with titles that include "Why O" by Beryl Cunningham, "Kumbayero" by Weyman Corporation, "L'Unica Chance" by Walter Rizzati, "Amore" by Chrisma, "Tabu Tuba (part 1)" by I Robots, "Africa Sound" by Jean Paul & Angelique, "Contrabbando Di Fagioli" by Ramasandiran Somusundaram, "MAAGO" by Prognosi Riservata, "The Voodoo Lady" by Lara Saint Paul, and "Soul Makossa" by African Revival. LP, Vinyl record album

A whole new world of grooves we've never heard before – music from a short stretch on the Italian scene when local artists were really taken with the new developments in Afro Funk, and started to serve up some fresh styles of their own! The music here is maybe a blend of West African sounds and sound library modes – often leaner than the large group ensembles of Fela and some of his contemporaries, which also makes the tracks perfect for the clubs as well – but with a vibe that's sharper and tighter than some of the Afro/disco crossover cuts of the time! The selection of tracks is wonderful, and the whole thing is very revelatory – with titles that include "Why O" by Beryl Cunningham, "Kumbayero" by Weyman Corporation, "L'Unica Chance" by Walter Rizzati, "Amore" by Chrisma, "Tabu Tuba (part 1)" by I Robots, "Africa Sound" by Jean Paul & Angelique, "Contrabbando Di Fagioli" by Ramasandiran Somusundaram, "MAAGO" by Prognosi Riservata, "The Voodoo Lady" by Lara Saint Paul, and "Soul Makossa" by African Revival. CD

The cover image here really demonstrates the charisma of Fela at his height – dozens of topless women, kneeling around the maestro and spelling out the number 70 – but to us, the music is what really shows the man's power – a bold, progressive statement of the new energy bubbling up on the African scene – served up here on two amazing side-long tracks! Tony Allen is at the head of the Africa 70 – and his rhythms are already incredibly complex, but always right on the money – mixed with heavy tenor from Igo Chico, great electric piano lines, and a fiercely collaborative sense of energy that makes every move of the entire group come together as one. Titles include "Lady" and "Sakara Oloje" – both completely sublime! LP, Vinyl record album

Really wonderful work from trombonist Al Grey – sounding hipper here than at any other point in his career! One of the great reason for Al's sound here is the presence of tenorist Billy Mitchell – a partner with Al in the Basie band, and a great player who gives just about any session a deeply soulful finish. The rest of the group is equally nice too – with work by Dave Burns and Donald Byrd on trumpet, Floyd Morris and Herbie Hancock on piano, and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. The use of vibes is especially striking for a set like this, and really gives the proceedings a different feel than you might think. Titles include "R.B.Q.", "Minor On Top", "African Lady", and "Hi Fly". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most righteous albums ever from Archie Shepp – a beautiful late Impulse set of grooves, and a record that matches the genius of Attica Blues! Shepp's working with a losse collective of players that includes Charles Greenlee, Harold Mabern, and Beaver Harris – plus vocalists like Joe Lee Wilson and Peggie Blue – all to craft a set of tunes that are as righteous and political as they are spiritual and soulful! The great Cal Massey handled arrangements on a number of the tracks on the set – bringing together the players with a wonderfully unified feel, pushing away the easy spirituality of earlier records to forge a massively powerful sound – and Shepp matches his great efforts by blowing some of his most soulful lines on record! Titles include the wonderful "African Drum Suite (parts 1 & 2)", plus "A Prayer", "Cry Of My People", "The Lady", "All God's Children Got A Home In The Universe", and "Rest Enough". CD

A collection of work that Eric Dolphy cut for the Candid label in the early 1960s – most of it under the name of other leaders, pulled from a variety of records, and remastered here to make a strong collection of tracks that documents this semi-lost chapter of Dolphy's career. Given the strength of the short-lived Candid label – a hotbed of modern jazz in the early 60s, filled with Newport Rebels like Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Booker Little, and Dolphy – the sides are all on a par, or better than, Dolphy's work for other labels at the time. Titles include "Reincarnation Of A Love Bird (take 1)", "Stormy Weather (take 1)", "Quiet Please (take 1)", "Moods In Free Time (take 5)", "Hazy Hues (take 5)", and "African Lady (take 4)". CD

Great work from Al Grey – one of the most soulful trombonists of his time – all pulled from the Chess/Argo albums Last Of The Big Plungers, Snap Your Fingers and Al Grey Billy Mitchell Sextet LPs! Easily some of Grey's hippest work – with players who include Billy Mitchell on tenor, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Floyd Morriss and Herbie Hancock on piano, and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes! Titles include "Things Ain't WhatThey Used To Be", "Open Wider Please", "I Got It bad And That Ain't Good", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "The Elder", "Bewitched", "Bluish Grey", "Wild Deuce", "Bantu", "Melba's Blues", "Nothng But The Truth", "RBQ", "Minor On Top", "African Lady", "Hi Fly" and "Home Fries". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest Yusef Lateef albums on Atlantic Records – and that's saying a lot, given the high level of quality he was hitting at the label! The album's a perfect blend of the newly-funky Lateef style with some hipper, more sophisticated touches – a mode that hints at his bigger-concept recordings to come, but which is still pretty lean and clean overall – and damn funky on most of the best tracks! Yusef plays a host of hip flutes here, plus tenor and oboe – and an almost equal star on the record is Kenny Barron, whose electric piano lines really make the album something special. The album begins with a long take on Barron's "Nubian Lady" which begins the record – and Kenny also contributed the tighter grooving "Jungle Plum". Other tracks include "African Song", "Queen Of The Night", "Poor Fishermen", "Below Yellow Bell", and a strange version of "Hey Jude" that goes on for a long time, and really messes with the volume – listed on the cover with the note "Do not adjust the playback level on your audio equipment – readjust your mind!" LP, Vinyl record album

There's nothing Straight Ahead about this record – as the album's one of the first bold statements of modernism from Abbey Lincoln – and the kind of set that builds nicely from the vocal experiments she was doing with Max Roach at the time! The group here is almost one of those largeish Roach ensembles from the Impulse years – an assortment of players that includes Max on drums, Mal Waldron on piano, Eric Dolphy on reeds, Julian Priester on trombone, and Booker Little on trumpet – plus the surprising additions of Walter Benton and Coleman Hawkins on tenor sax! Gone are the sleepy standards of earlier sessions, and in their place is Lincoln's emerging sense of anger, power, and righteous indignation – served up on the original compositions "Retribution", "Straight Ahead", and "In The Red" – plus versions of "Blue Monk", "African Lady", and "Left Alone". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most righteous albums ever from Archie Shepp – a beautiful late Impulse set of grooves, and a record that matches the genius of Attica Blues! Shepp's working with a loose collective of players that includes Charles Greenlee, Harold Mabern, and Beaver Harris – plus vocalists like Joe Lee Wilson and Peggie Blue – all to craft a set of tunes that are as righteous and political as they are spiritual and soulful! The great Cal Massey handled arrangements on a number of the tracks on the set – bringing together the players with a wonderfully unified feel, pushing away the easy spirituality of earlier records to forge a massively powerful sound – and Shepp matches his great efforts by blowing some of his most soulful lines on record! Titles include the wonderful "African Drum Suite (parts 1 & 2)", plus "A Prayer", "Cry Of My People", "The Lady", "All God's Children Got A Home In The Universe", and "Rest Enough". CD

A great set that brings together 2 albums recorded by Weston during his most formative years – the classic Uhuru Afrika album, and a lighter trio side for Jubilee, from 1960. Uhuru Afrika was one of the first-ever Afro-centrist albums of jazz – was one of Randy's most progressive from the early years, and features an extended suite dedicated to African freedom, with occasional lyrics by Langston Hughes, and arrangements by the great Melba Liston. The material's political, radical, and modernist – but it never fails to groove, and uses its politics to achieve an added emotional punch, as in the best work from the same time by Max Roach and Charles Mingus. Players are all totally hip, and include Benny Bailey, Richard Williams, Candido, Olatunji, Slide Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, and Sahib Shihab. Movements of the suite are entitled "Uhuru, Kwanza", "African Lady", "Bantu", and "Kucheza Blues". The trio sides are more restrained, but still quite nice – with Randy grooving with a group that includes Peck Morrison on bass and Connie Kay on drums – on tracks that include "Gingerbread", "Saucer Eyes", "Fe Double U Blues", and "Earth Birth". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most soulful voices in Jamaican music – presented here in a wonderful collection that includes some of Ken Boothe's early rocksteady material, then runs through his bigger famous cuts of the 70s! Ken wasn't nearly as big a hit over here as artists like Jimmy Cliff or Bob Marley, but his vocals here easily match theirs for sheer, raw, soulful power – and maybe show an even more direct inspiration from American music, especially on the earlier cuts – or his great covers of cuts by artists like Syl Johnson and Bill Withers. Boothe can also sing as sweetly with a groove as his bigger 70s reggae counterparts, but knows how to draw an edge when the song calls for it – and this 40 track set is overflowing with Trojan Records gems from the vocalist – with titles that include "Crying Over You", "Freedom Street", "Speak Softly Love", "Ain't No Sunshine", "African Lady", "You Send Me", "Black, Gold & Green", "Is It Because I'm Black", and "Everything I Own". LP, Vinyl record album

An important larger work from Duke Ellington – a suite of tracks that encompasses a range of styles and emotions in African-American expression! The work features some key guest work from Mahalia Jackson – singing here in a way that's different than other vocalists who worked with Duke in the 50s – much more steeped in a rootsy tradition. Group members include John Sanders, Harry Carney, Ray Nance, Quentin Jackson, and Cat Anderson – and the piece is divided into 6 sections, and includes the famous "Come Sunday" theme throughout most of the second half. Bonus tracks are cut from 1950 and 1957 recording sessions and include "Portrait Of Ella Fitzgerald", and longer versions of "Mood Indigo" and "Sophisticated Lady". CD

Funky Divas is right – as this classic album by En Vogue is one that had the group really redefining the sound of girl group soul for a whole new generation! The girls do a wonderful job of blending together hip hop beats and warmer mainstream soul – at a level that marked one of the key bridges between R&B and hip hop in the 90s – almost making the group kind of a trans-generational healing force in African American music. After all these years the beats are still pretty great, and the vocals even better – and titles include "My Lovin (You're Never Gonna Get It)", "Free Your Mind", "Giving Him Something He Can Feel", "Give It Up Turn It Loose", "Hooked On Your Love", "Love Don't Love You", "This Is Your Life", "Desire", "Hip Hop Lover", and "It Ain't Over Till The Fat Lady Sings". LP, Vinyl record album

Throw away your crates and just pack this album under your arm for a gig – and you'll have 16 classic funky tracks to get the party started right! As with other volumes, the focus here is on 70s tracks sampled by hip hoppers during the mid and late 90s – with full sample credits for all tunes, so that you can remember where you remember them from! Titles include "Strollin" by Jack McDuff, "Danube Incident" by Lalo Schifrin, "Born to be Blue" by Jack Bruce, "Lovely Is Today" by Eddie Harris, "Little Lady Maria (skit)" by Ohio Players, "Pastures (skit)" by Ahmad Jamal, "Ready Or Not" by The Delfonics, "Tripping Out" by Curtis Mayfield, "I Can't Stand The Rain" by Ann Peebles, "Vallarta (skit)" by Les McCann, "ET Boogie" by Extra T's, "Sign Song" by Buddy Baker, "American Fruit, African Roots" by Zulema, "Shamboozie" by Bob James, and "The World Is A Place" by Rhythm. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the more interesting later sessions from the Art Ensemble – one in which the group push their African influence strongly, by teaming up with the Amabutho Male Chorus for a real Soweto soul sound! Oddly, the Art Ensemble are the ones in African garb on the cover – while the chorus is going more for a late 80s American male fashion look – but in the grooves of the record, the two units come together nicely – and make for a set of tunes that have the AACM sound heading way way past Graceland (that's a Paul Simon/Ladysmith Black Mambazo reference, not an Elvis one!) – really coming up with some compelling cross-cultural sounds in the process. Titles include "African Woman", "Coming Soon", "Black Man", "Fresh Start", and "The Bottom Line". CD

Music from Izingqungqulu Zomhlaba, Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens, Noise Khanyile & The Jo'Burg City Stars, Lucky Dube, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Tebogo, Spokes Mashiyane, African Jazz Pioneers, the Elite Swingsters, Bheki Mseleku, West Nkosi, Soul Brothers, Boyoyo Boys, Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks, Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. CD

A pivotal album for Gladys Knight and group – as the record features their super-huge hit "The Midnight Train To Georgia", a landmark track that not only had a catchy pop hook, but which spoke volumes about African-American migration in the postwar years. The track's one of those you've heard a million times, but it's got a strength that still holds up tremendously. Part of this is due to great production work by Tony Camillo – who handled arrangements and studio work on about half the tracks – and part is due to Jim Weatherly, who wrote the song, and about half the others on the album. The whole album's great – one of the best Buddah Records moments for the group – and titles include "I've Got To Use My Imagination", "Window Raising Granny", "Where Peaceful Waters Flow", "Once In A Lifetime Thing", "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me", and "Storms Of Trouble Times". Includes three bonus tracks ; "We Don't Look For Trouble", "Alone Again" & "Rainbow Ride". CD

A pivotal album for Gladys Knight and group – as the record features their super-huge hit "The Midnight Train To Georgia", a landmark track that not only had a catchy pop hook, but which spoke volumes about African-American migration in the postwar years. The track's one of those you've heard a million times, but it's got a strength that still holds up tremendously. Part of this is due to great production work by Tony Camillo – who handled arrangements and studio work on about half the tracks – and part is due to Jim Weatherly, who wrote the song, and about half the others on the album. The whole album's great – one of the best Buddah Records moments for the group – and titles include "I've Got To Use My Imagination", "Window Raising Granny", "Where Peaceful Waters Flow", "Once In A Lifetime Thing", "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me", and "Storms Of Trouble Times". LP, Vinyl record album

The first two volumes in this legendary series – back to back in one set! Volume 1 is an amazing collection – and one that really helped completely revise our understanding of Caribbean music! The collection features a fair bit of artists with roots in the West Indies, but who made a huge impact on London's postwar immigrant population – the new rise of non-native residents who were swelling the ranks of the city in the years after the way – bringing with them new cultures, new sounds, and new traditions – with all the requisite ideas and politics that might imply! The work here often has a subtle social agenda – working through themes important to these new Londoners, yet still echoing modes of the homeland as well – often with great musical backings that's heavy on percussion, jazzy instrumentation, and very upbeat rhythms. Titles include "London Is The Place For Me" by Lord Kitchener, "I Was There" by Young Tiger, "Some Girl Something" by The Lion, "No Carnival In Britain" by Mighty Terror, "Jamaica Hurricane" by Lord Beginner, "Birth Of Ghana" by Lord Kitchener, "Victory Test Match" by Lord Beginner, "Spanish Calypso" by The Lion, "Bulldog Don't Bite Me" by Timothy, "My Landlady" by Lord Kitchener, "If You're Not White You're Black" by Lord Kitchener, and "Aguiti" by Lord Invader. Volume 2 compiles the stylistically varied music coming from the emergent West Indian and African communities of 50s and 60s London – far more than just the topical, and often quite whimsical calypso tunes of the era! Calypso is well represented, but the set includes strains of jazz, percussive instrumentals that veer towards native Trinidad and Nigeria, and loads of Caribbean grooves! It's all exceptionally bright – with some lovingly, and knowingly, naive vocals that are as sweet as they are wise. A truly wonderful compilation. Essential! 20 tracks in all: "Calypso Be" by Young Tiger, "Yolanda" by Ambrose Campbell, "Calypso Blues" by Mona Baptiste, "My Wife's Nightie" by Lord Kitchener, "Ominara" by West African Rhythm Brothers, "Gerrard Street" by King Timothy, "ET Mensah's Rolling Ball" by West African Swing Stars, "West Indian Drums" by Russ Henderson, "Gbonimawo" by Rans Boi's Ghana Highlife Band and more! CD