Music from Betty Johnson, The Four Coins, Kitty Kallen, Al Martino, Tony and Martin and others! CD

The Detroit soul scene at the start of the 60s – music from a time before Motown was dominating the city's reputation, and a whole host of other great labels brought the motor city sound to the masses! The work here is quite a surprise if you're only thinking in terms of Northern Soul and some of the more uptempo Detroit groovers – as the work here burns on so many different levels – often with a style that reflects some of the nascent soul coming out of Chicago on labels like Chess and Vee Jay, the latter of whom is featured here amidst a range of other imprints that include Wand, Atlantic, Scepter, Time, Old Town, and Brent – all of whom released some of these early Detroit soul tracks as singles back in the day. In true Ace/Kent fashion, the set also features a few unreleased gems, plus a wonderful set of notes on the city's soul scene – alongside tracks that include "Nosey Folk" by The Del-Phis, "Answer Me" by Vivian Collins, "Can't We Get Together" by Harry Reid, "Here I Am" by Betty Lavette, "Shakin Fit" by The Pyramids, "That's No Way To Spend My Time" by The Pen Ettes, "Wedding Bells" by Melvin Davis, "You Lied" by Marva Josie, "Think A Little Sugar" by Barbara Lewis, "Just One More Time" by JJ Barnes, "My Letter" by Priscilla Page, "I Know How It Feels" by Laura Johnson, "I'm A Lonely Guy" by Timmy Shaw & The Sternphones, "Come Back To Me" by La Wanda William, "I Cried For My Last Time" by The Sonnettes, and "Tears Running & Falling From My Eyes" by James Lately. CD

A 2-fer set from the 70s – with 2 great older albums from Buck & Buddy! First up is the self-titled Buck & Buddy – beautiful blowing from Buck Clayton and Buddy Tate – captured here in the relaxed, easy-going setting of the Swingville label! The album's got a lot more charm than some of Clayton's sides for Columbia – a bit more mellow, with the kind of after hours feel that lets players like these show their strongest suits on their instruments. Clayton plays trumpet, Tate tenor – and rhythm is from the trio of Sir Charles Thompson on piano, Gene Ramey on bass, and Mousie Alexander on drums. Titles include "High Life", "Birdland Betty", "Can't We Be Friends", and "Kansas City Nights". Next Is Buck & Buddy Blow The Blues – a romping little session from Buck Clayton and Buddy Tate – served up in a looser, more relaxed setting than the former's albums for Columbia, and a slightly more swing-based mode than the latter's dates for Chess! Both horn players get plenty of room to solo in the open-ended Swingville mode – Buck on trumpet and Buddy on both tenor and clarinet – and the group's a nice one too, since Sir Charles Thompson's playing piano, Gene Ramey's on bass, and Gus Johnson's on drums. Titles include "Blue Creek", "Blue Breeze", "Blue Ebony", "Rompin At Red Bank", and "Dallas Delight". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful overview of the early years of American soul music – put together as a set that easily moves between deep soul, northern soul, and some of the other hard-burning modes of the time! The package is a great effort from the folks at Mississippi Records, to kick off their Cairo Records imprint – and is done with the sense of history you'll find in their other reissues – right down to the nice booklet of notes that comes with the album. Titles include "My Heart Is Closed For The Season" by Betty Swann, "I'll Never Love Again" by Cookie Gabriel, "You Killed The Love" by Betty LaVette, "Time" by Chris Kenner, "The Best Of Luck To You" by Earl Gaines, "Enchanted Sea" by The Counts, "It's Raining" by Irma Thomas, "No No I Can't Help You" by Beverly McKay, "Another Day Gone" by Reuben Bell, "I'll Run Your Hurt Away" by Ruby Johnson, "She's Gone" by OV Right, "Easy As Saying 123" by Timmy Willis, "Stop These Teardrops" by Tammy McKnight, and "Try Love" by Dori Grayson. LP, Vinyl record album

The first full album from the great Ray Bryant – recorded shortly after his famous Epic Records session with Betty Carter! The album's got Ray grooving in a hard early soul jazz mode – working in a trio with either Kenny Clarke or Osie Johnson on drums, and Wyatt Reuther on bass – at a level that still shows some influence from other pianists, but already with that unique hard-left style that would make Bryant a big favorite in short years to come. Candido joins in on congas on 2 of the album's best tracks – a hard grooving take on "Night In Tunisia", plus Ray's classic "Cubano Chant", a dancing Latin groover that went onto become an oft-recorded Latin Jazz standard – and other titles include "Pawn Ticket", "Philadelphia Bound", and "Off Shore". CD

This series keeps on getting better and better – and this fourth installment may well be the best illustration to date of the birth of soul music! As hinted by the title, the collection features tracks from the late 50s and early 60s that marked a key transition from earlier R&B and blues into soul music – work that pulled a bit more strongly from the church than some of its predecessors, and which also put over a groove that was a bit more sophisticated, sometimes a bit more polished – all to set the stage for the huge soul music explosion to come later in the 60s! A number of the artists here are familiar from R&B years, but they're represented by tracks that show a real change in their styles – and others are known from later successes, but stand out here with early work that's a lot more formative – making them a perfect choice for the collection. CD features 24 tracks in all – including "Come On & Stomp" by Marv Johnson, "Lil Valley" by The MMs & The Peanuts, "Bossa Nova Baby" by Tippie & The Clovers, "Irresistible You" by Bobby Peterson, "Take Your Heart" by Betty Willis, "Puff" by Kenny Lynch, "Jack Be Nimble" by The Intruders, "A Clock That's Got No Hands" by Della Reese, "I Came Running" by Wade Flemons, "You'd Be Crying Too" by The Matadors, "The Gypsy Said" by The Fiestas, "Please Don't Cry Anymore" by Ketty Lester, "Pretty Little Girl Next Door" by Bobby Day, and "Trouble I've Had" by Clarence Ashe. CD

An incredibly cool collection – one that offers up all sorts of weird and wonderful soul music covers of mainstream mellow 70s hits – new versions of the famous tunes that pull them strongly over to the world of R&B, often with results that are better than the original versions! The set is both a great demonstration of how much soul there was lurking in the original AOR productions of the mid 70s, and how strongly those currents could be unlocked even more in the right hands – as you'll hear in these sublime takes on tunes by Hall & Oates, Toto, Seals & Crofts, The Doobie Brothers, and other 70s pop giants. Titles include "Dirty Work" by Pointer Sisters, "Minute By Minute" by Peabo Bryson, "Georgie Porgy" by Side Effect, "He's Gone" by Dee Dee Bridgewater, "Summer Breeze" by Main Ingredient, "Lazy Nina" by Greg Phillinganes, "In The Way" by Brothers Johnson, "This Is It" by Millie Jackson, "Takin It To The Streets" by Quincy Jones, "I Hope You'll Be Very Unhappy Without Me" by Tavares, "God Only Knows" by Betty Lavette, "Let Em In" by Billy Paul, and "A Love Of Your Own" by The Ebonys. CD

Famous tracks from the legendary Miami Soul powerhouse TK Records – famous not because they were hits in the 70s, but because they were used in later years as hip hop samples – dug from the deep well of music that TK recorded back in the day, to lay the blueprint for a whole new generation! The set brings together 15 gems that are not only funky, and which have key elements that you'll know from hip hop songs – but which also stand pretty darn strongly on their own, as a fantastic overview of the care of creation that TK brought to its work in the studio. Titles include "Groove To Get Down" by T-Connection, "Dedicate All My Love" by Raw Soul Express, "Sweet Thang" by The 13th Floor, "Living Together Is Keeping Us Apart" by Clarence Reid, "Good Good Lovin" by Charles Johnson, "To Touch You Again/Lady Blue" by John Tropea, "Givin Me Your Love" by Facts Of Life, "Dance With Me" by Peter Brown, "Why Can't We Live Together" by Timmy Thomas, and both versions of "90% Of Me Is You" – one by Gwen McCrae, one by Vanessa Kendrick. Also features some J Rocc mixes – "I Get Lifted (J Rocc edit)" by George McCrae, "Keep It Up (J Rocc edit)" by Milton Wright, "I Love The Way You Love (J Rocc dub)" by Betty Wright, and "Clean Up Woman (J Rocc edit)" by Betty Wright. CD

A UK-only set, featuring rare female soul from the Duke/Peacock label – with work by Mildred Jones, Gwen Johnson, Olive Brown, Bonita Cole, Gladys Hill, and Bettye Jean Washington! LP, Vinyl record album