Sublime solo piano work from Tete Montoliu – a set that takes off from the superb directions he'd hit on his Spanish albums of the 60s – when Tete was emerging as one of the most lyrically fluid pianists on the European scene! That legacy is greatly enhanced here – as Montoliu works without any bass or drums at all, yet has this wonderfully rhythmic quality to his music – not in the ways that Garner or Tatum might have expressed in a similar setting, but this more flowing sense of color – really illustrating some of the advances that the European jazz scene was making at the time. Titles include "Rainy Day", "Two Catlan Songs", "Gentofte 4349", "Apartment 412", "Ballad For Line", and "Little Camila". CD

A great look at one of our favorite sub-genres of 60s soul – tunes that deal with the ins and outs of big city life, most of which were recorded as uptown soul tunes with really great production! It's hard to describe the charm of this work accurately, but the tunes are almost mini-movies, or sound snapshots of urban life at the time – often penned by Brill Building songwriters with a slight fantasy of life in the farther-flung boroughs of the city. Some of the tunes here are well-known, but lots more are obscure – really compelling tracks by singers who bring great life to the songs, and manage to make these little musical moments live on wonderfully over the years! Titles include "Nights In New York City" by Jan Bradley, "Street Talk" by The Tymes, "No Butterflies" by Walter Jackson, "I Love New York" by Marva Josie, "In My Apartment" by Dee Clark, "Big New York" by Chuck Jackson, "On Broadway" by The Cookies, "Concrete Jungle" by Arthur Alexander, "I Don't Want To Hear It Any More" by Jerry Butler, "Second Window Second Floor" by Clyde McPhater, "I Found A Daisy In The City" by Barry Darvell, "Song Of The Street" by Donald Height, "Strange Neighborhood" by The Imaginations, "Up In The Streets Of Harlem" by The Drifters, "City Of Fools" by Colette Kelly, and "That Old Neighborhood" by Eric Williams. CD

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The original soundtrack to Trouble Man is nothing short of a masterpiece – a full-on moment of studio genius from Marvin Gaye, right in the middle of his classic 70s run – a record that's given a fantastic new treatment here by Lo Res, who delivers exactly what's promised in the title! The record's not a straight rehash of the original – as Lo Res clearly knows and loves, and has completely absorbed the original – so that he can take the whole thing and open it up with new arrangements, interesting instrumentation, and a mix of strings, jazz, and funky elements that are completely sublime. If anything, the set seems to more fully expand on the orchestrations of the original, while losing none of the sense of the soul – and apart from a vocal appearance by Blackwolf, most of the focus is instrumental – on titles that include "Cleo's Apartment", "T Plays It Cool", "Don't Mess With Mr T", "T Stands For Trouble", "Theme From Trouble Man", "Poor Abbey Walsh", "The Break In", and "Deep In It". LP, Vinyl record album