Seminal 70s work from one of the most righteous jazz musicians ever! On this set, Alice Coltrane moves past the rawer spiritual sound of her Impulse albums – working with a more focused vision and an approach to jazz that takes her way past the identity of just being "Mrs Coltrane", into territory that's a more perfect expression of her spiritual vision. The approach calls for more ambitious orchestrations, yet never in a way that overwhelms the jazz basis of the music – and Alice herself is on Fender Rhodes, organ, and harp – working with players who include Fred Jackson and Hubert Laws on reeds, Oscar Brashear on trumpet, George Bohannon on trombone, Charlie Haden on bass, Ben Riley on drums, and Armando Peraza on congas. Titles include "Spiritual Eternal", "Om Supreme", "Morning Workshop", "Wisdom Eye", and "Los Caballos". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the classics from that 70s stretch when Alice Coltrane was really opening up her sound – not just walking away from more familiar jazz modes, but also embracing a very strong influence from Indian music and eastern thought as well! These elements had always been part of Coltrane's makeup somewhere in the background – but here, the modes are really foregrounded, as Alice plays some amazing organ, Fender Rhodes, and harp alongside a set of additional musicians that are mostly of Indian background – adding in some amazing percussion, and some incredibly haunting vocal chorus bits too! The approach is wonderful – different than her later, more meditative music – thanks in part to her excellent keyboards – and tracks include "Om Namah Sivaya", "Hare Krishna", and "Govinda Jai Jai". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful record from Alice Coltrane – a swirling mix of spiritual jazz and themes from Indian music! Alice plays organ, Fender Rhodes, and harp – building the sound as the album progresses, from simple airy strings to an earthier groove that features vocal refrains in unison with the keyboards, chanting away, over and over, stretching to the heavens in a cosmic groove! Most of the other musicians are Indian musicians, and the record features a lot of variations on traditional Indian themes – including "Sivaya", "Ghana Nila", and "Bhaja Govindam" – plus the original tracks "Transcendence" and "Vrindavana Sanchara". LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work by Alice Coltrane – a real back to basics session, recorded in trio format, at a time when most of her other albums featured larger, more complicated arrangements. The album was recorded live at UCLA in 1978 – with Alice on piano and organ, Reggie Workman on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums – and the approach of the album has the group hitting a number of trance-like modes, spinning out in a freely searching style that's always one of the stronger sides of Alice's playing. One track, "Prema", features overdubbed strings, a bit like some of Alice's more ambitious work on Impulse – but other tracks are straight trio recordings, with titles that include "Krishnaya", "Leo", "Affinity", and "Transfiguration". LP, Vinyl record album

Herbie Hancock further expands his cosmic vision in this groundbreaking album of free-flowing fusiony tracks – a record that really steps up his range of keyboards, mixing in both acoustic and electric pianos, mellotron, and even a bit of spacey moog from the legendary Patrick Gleeson! The whole thing is wonderful – very open and flowing, and even more organic than Hancock's later work on Columbia – especially given the length of the tracks on the set. In addition to Gleeson, other players include Benny Maupin on reeds, Julian Priester on trombone, Buster Williams on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – and titles include the 3 long tracks "Quasar", "Sleeping Giant", and "Water Torture" – all good ones! LP, Vinyl record album

The start of funky funky Herbie Hancock! This album's the first to feature Herbie really breaking away from his straight jazz work – moving into a groove that's nice and funky, using electric piano along with acoustic, to forge the sound that he'd develop famously over the 70s. The album's got a harder, heavier sound than some of his straight electric ones – and it features a larger group with soloists that include Johnny Coles on trumpet and Joe Henderson on tenor – plus some sweet basslines from Buster Williams – all led by Herbie into a tight soul jazz flurry of excellent tracks! Includes the cuts "Fat Mama" and "Wiggle Waggle", both sample favorites, plus "Tell Me A Bedtime Story" and "Lil Brother". Classic stuff, and one of his best records ever! LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent session that was one of Herbie Hancock's first free-flowing fusion records of the 70s! Herbie's playing Fender Rhodes with a sound that's at once cosmically beautiful, soulfully fragile, and spacily grooving – and he gets some excellent accompaniment from an all-hip group of players that includes Benny Maupin on bass clarinet and flute, Buster Williams on bass, Eddie Henderson on trumpet, and Julian Priester on trombone – plus percussion from Jose Areas and Ndugu Chancler. The roots of later classics like Sextet and Flood all start with this session – and the album contains 3 long tracks – "You'll Know When You Get There", "Ostinato", and "Wandering Sprit Song". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest albums ever from the legendary soul singer Curtis Mayfield – even though it's different than most of the rest as well! Curtis is captured here in a small club, with a tight band, spinning out these extended readings of some of his best tunes – both tracks he sang with The Impressions, and as a solo act – completely transformed here in the righteous energy of the setting! The vibe is similar to the classic Donny Hathaway Live album from the same time – save for the fact that this set is double-length, and maybe even more powerful as Curtis sings and plays guitar in a small group with additional guitar, bass, and drums – and some very hip percussion from Master Henry Gibson, of Pharoahs fame. Tracks include "We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue", "Stare and Stare", "Check Out Your Mind", "Stone Junkie", "I Plan To Stay A Believer", "If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go", "Mighty Mighty", and "The Makings Of You". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant early work from Lee Perry & The Upsetters – and an album that already shows that Perry's got a fantastic production style firmly in place! The rhythms are great – the kind of laidback, bad-stepping grooves you'd expect from The Upsetters – but there's also a special finish to the album, as Lee works the studio knobs with some subtle tricks to make the tunes explode with strange sonic elements – never in a way that gets in the way of the vocals, when they're important – but always enough to augment the record in really thrilling ways. Titles include "Kentucky Shank", "In The Iaah", "Jungle Lion", "Hail Stones", "Ironside", "Soul Man", and "Cold Weather" by The Upsetters – plus "Stick Together" and "Double Six" by U Roy, "We Are Neighbours" and "Just Enough" by David Isaacs, and "High Fashion" by I Roy. LP, Vinyl record album

Nice batch of early 70s cuts by Lee Perry, replete with his unique approach and the roots of the out there production and songwriting skills that Lee would use to transform Jamaican music for decades to come! Taken from the LPs Scratch The Upsetter Again and Eastwood Rides Again, filled with the sort of prime funky organ driven jammies Scratch and the Upsetters were kicking out at the time. A bit more sublime than some of the outer space funk Perry would drop at the Black Ark, but more than worthwhile. A dozen chubby numbers in all, including "Bad Tooth", "One Punch", "Soul Walk", "Mule Train", "The Dentis'", "I Want To Thank You", "Touch Of Fire", "Outer Space", "Will You Still Love Me", "Take One", "She Is Gone Again" and "The Result". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautifully fragile record cut by UK folkie Simon Finn – a singer with an incredibly distinct voice, recording here in an equally distinct musical setting! Finn's guitar and percussion are set in a trio with tabla, percussion, and dulcimer from Paul Burwell – and a lot of other assorted instrumentation from David Toop – including flute, harmonium, accordion, violin, and steel guitar! The sound is spare and folky, but not in a conventional way – as Finn's voice has a really dark quality, almost a David Tibet-like mode that makes the record a lot more "acid" than many of the so-called acid folk sets from the same time. As the record moves on, the whole thing gets odder and odder – balancing the few sweet moments with others of despair and darkness that are quite usual for the more-confident British scene of the time, and which almost point the way towards more experimental music from a decade later. Titles include "The Courtyard", "What A Day", "Fades", "Where's Your Master Gone", "Hiawatha", and "Patrice". LP, Vinyl record album

The only album ever recorded by troubled folk singer Jackson C Frank – but more than enough to have built up a huge legend around his music over the years! The album's a gem right from the very first note – and has that incredibly personal, incredibly unique feel you get in a rare few records like this – maybe Nick Drake (who claimed Frank as an influence) or Fred Neil – yet like both of them, a completely individual set that will leave you breathless at the end, and frustrated that you've got nothing else to follow it with! The record was produced by a young Paul Simon – who was working in British clubs during the same stretch that Frank was in London – and a young Al Stewart also plays just a bit on the record – another key supporter of Jackson's early music, as was Bert Jansch. Yet even without those famous friends, the record would be more than enough on its own – so years ahead of its time, the record companies never knew what to do with it – which has kept it very fresh over the years – the kind of set that's waiting to be discovered by an elite few. Titles include "Milk & Honey", "Yellow Walls", "Kimbie", "Blues Run The Game", "Don't Look Back", "Here Come The Blues", and "Just Like Anything". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning example of the way that the harmony trio had developed in late 60s Jamaica – a short but fantastic evolution of a mode that began in American soul, yet quickly expanded into something else entirely during the rocksteady years – to the point where it became the global calling card of a group like The Wailers! Yet despite the big fame of that group, there were many others working in Kingston who were equally wonderful – case in point is The Kingstonians, a wonderful trio with a very rich vibe – honed to perfection here with the production talents of Derrick Harriott, who makes the record as powerful a statement as any coming from the scene at the start of the 70s. This is the kind of music that should have been passed upwards along the same chain as Bob Marley, but which sadly never fully got its due – which makes it ripe for rediscovery, on titles that include "Hold Down", "Singer Man", "Sufferer", "Nice Nice", "Come We Go Moonwalk", "The Clip", "Rumble Rumble", and "Winey Winey". LP, Vinyl record album