... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Titles include "I'm On The Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep", "Stairway To The Stars", "Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll", "Redeemed", "Before The Kiss A Redcap", and "Screams" – plus 4 previously unreleased demos! CD

Collection of earlier Miles recordings for Prestige, put together under as a 2LP 70s set, with good notes, and a lot of great material from the days when he was getting longer time for tracks in the studio, and developing a lot more as a player from his earlier sides with Bird and for Blue Note. Players include Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, Tommy Flanagan, Walter Bishop, and Paul Chambers – and titles include "Vierd Blues", "Easy Living", "My Old Flame", "Conception", "No Line", "Serpent's Tooth", and "Compulsion". LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary debut of Bobby Caldwell – a blue-eyed soul singer who borrowed just the right amounts from AOR and R&B! Bobby's got a voice that's really great, and wrapped up warmly amidst keyboards and larger arrangements that all come across with a very cool compressed style – almost as if Caldwell discovered that midtempo and mellow style on some of the Earth Wind & Fire albums from a few years before, and used it as inspiration to craft a classic groove that's very much his own! The set features Bobby's huge classic "What You Won't Do For Love" – but the whole album's great, and other titles include "Special To Me", "Can't Say Goodbye", "My Flame", "Love Won't Wait", "Come To Me", "Down For The Third Time", "Take Me Back To Then" and "Kalimba Song", another nod to Maurice White and crew, to be sure! LP, Vinyl record album

A great little album cut by Randy during the height of her career! She'd just broken big with her vocals on "Street Life" by the Crusaders – and although that track's not on here, the Crusaders team of Wilton Felder, Stix Hooper, and Joe Sample produced the album, and have given it a very similar sound to that track. There's a few weak moments where Randy's singing in a mellower style that lets her voice wobble a bit too much – but the stronger tracks have a good jazz funk groove, and these include "Blue Flame", "Last Night At Danceland", and "My Heart Is Not As Young As It Used To Be". LP, Vinyl record album

A really well-done collection of work by Randy Crawford – one that not only gets at that unique place she holds in soul music, but also one that shows just how much she kept growing as the years went on! Randy's voice was maybe first exposed to folks for her famous work on The Crusaders' "Street Life" – but even before that, she was emerging as one of the elite in a new generation of sophisticated soul singers – equally well-skilled in jazzy expressions and soulful styles, and able to bring a new level of maturity to the music from the late 70s onwards! This great package traces Randy's growth as a solo artist over the course of many albums for Warner Brothers – and also includes some duets, live material, and compilation cuts – really getting at the importance she held in the field at the time. There's a whopping 57 tracks on 3CDs, complete with a big booklet of notes – and titles include "Don't Wanna Be Normal", "Blue Flame", "I Stand Accused", "Same Old Story", "Tender Falls The Rain", "Gonna Give Lovin A Try", "Ain't No Foolin", "Everything Must Change (live)", "Street Life (edit)", "When Your Life Was Low", "One Day I'll Fly Away", "Time For Love", "Your Precious Love (live with Al Jarreau)", "Windsong", "We Had A Love So Strong", "Imagine (live with Yellowjackets)", "All It Takes Is Love", "Single Woman Married Man", "Last Night At Danceland", "Just A Touch", "He Reminds Me", "Knockin On Heaven's Door", "Almaz", "I Let You Walk Away", "Bottom Line", "Cigarette In The Rain", and lots more! CD

Titles include "Blue Haze", "Round Midnight", "My Old Flame", "Will You Still Be Mine", and "Solar" – 11 tracks total. CD

An oft-overlooked jazz vocal session by Mary Ann McCall, with superb arrangements by Johnny Richards, and a nice batch of tracks that have a surprisingly dark quality to them. Titles inlcude "Blue (and Broken Hearted)", "Lover Is Blue", "Melancholy Nights", "Am I Blue", and "My Old Flame". LP, Vinyl record album

Howard McGhee's trumpet work for Blue Note was probably his best-ever – and it sparkles with a modernist approach to bebop that shows the early-50's maturity of the movement in the hands of its masters. McGhee leads a crackling sextet here that includes Max Roach, JJ Johnson, Kenny Drew, and the great Brew Moore on tenor. The titles alone should give you an idea of the kind of energy and imagination fueling this set: "Lo-Flame", "Fluid Drive", and "Fugetta" – and the packaging of CD retains all of the original packaging of the original 10" release, which has a very cool abstract graphics look! As an added bonus, you also get another rare 10" jazz session – the early 50's trio album that was pianist Kenny Drew's first session as a leader. Between the two albums, the CD contains a total of 17 cuts – a whopping good deal, especially when you consider that the original albums would probably cost you $200 apiece! CD

Sal Salvador was one of the 50s more accomplished modernist talents on jazz guitar – and his work ranks up there with players like Tal Farlow, or Gil Melle's great bandmate Joe Cinderella. This is Salvador's rare first album for Blue Note – only issued in a 10" vinyl format! The record features quartet and quintet material, and includes tenorist Frank Sokolow, an icy-toned genius who's never gotten his just dues. Sokolow and Salvador sound great together, and create a haunting sound that's better than anything we've heard on other Salvador records from his later years. Titles include "My Old Flame", "Get Happy", "Too Marvelous For Words", "Gone With The Wind", and "After You've Gone". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best albums from singer Teri Thornton – a jazz vocalist who was really starting to come into her own at the beginning of the 60s, and shines here in a way that's different from some of her bigger label sets! Backings are by Norman Simmons – a pianist we love on his own, and for his work in small groups with other singers – but a real surprise here for his work on the album's dark-tinged charts, which have a similar undercurrent of modernism to some of the work at the time by Abbey Lincoln. The group's relatively small – and features work by Seldon Powell on tenor, Clark Terry on trumpet, Earl Warren on alto, Freddie Green on guitar, and Wynton Kelly on piano – and titles include a version of Bob Dorough's "Devil May Care", plus dark takes on "My Old Flame", "Dancing In The Dark", "Left Alone", "What's New", and "Lullaby Of The Leaves". LP, Vinyl record album

Damn amazing work from Charles Bradley – an instant soul classic for all generations, as you'll hear from the very first note! Not only are Bradley's vocals incredible – the kind of once-in-a-long-time approach he brought to his debut – but the backings and production are completely sublime too – magical music from the Menahan Street Band, who sound here like some lost combo from 60s Memphis, but without any of the hoke that reference might imply – instead that really unique approach that you'd only find on one of your few favorite vintage soul albums – maybe Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers, or Jesse James on his 60s album for 20th Century! Yet the sound here isn't just vintage for vintage sake, either – as there's an intensity that's very present, contemporary, and urgent – a sound that doesn't die – and which just gets better and better with each new listen. Tremendous stuff – even from the Daptone universe we've been loving for years and years – with titles that include "Strictly Reserved For You", "You Put The Flame On It", "Dusty Blue", "Love Bug Blues", "Hurricane", "Through The Storm", "Confusion", and "Where Do We Go From Here". CD

The legendary debut of Bobby Caldwell – a blue-eyed soul singer who borrowed just the right amounts from AOR and R&B! Bobby's got a voice that's really great, and wrapped up warmly amidst keyboards and larger arrangements that all come across with a very cool compressed style – almost as if Caldwell discovered that midtempo and mellow style on some of the Earth Wind & Fire albums from a few years before, and used it as inspiration to craft a classic groove that's very much his own! The set features Bobby's huge classic "What You Won't Do For Love" – but the whole album's great, and other titles include "Special To Me", "Can't Say Goodbye", "My Flame", "Love Won't Wait", "Come To Me", "Down For The Third Time", "Take Me Back To Then" and "Kalimba Song", another nod to Maurice White and crew, to be sure! LP, Vinyl record album

A great return to form for tenorist JR Monterose – a player who always sounds amazing on record, even though he only made a handful of albums over a 30 or 40 year period of performance! Most folks know JR's classic 50s album for Blue Note, but later dates like this are well worth seeking out – and this set may be one of the purest later demonstrations of Monterose's genius – as the tenorist has the sort of effortlessly creative solo ability you'd find in a rare few – able to spin things out with the imagination of a Sonny Rollins or Von Freeman, while still managing to hold tight with the rest of the group – who are equally great, and include the wonderful Hod O'Brien on piano, plus Teddy Kotick on bass and Jimmy Wormworth on drums. Titles include sublime readings of "Giant Steps", "My Old Flame", and "Lush Life" – plus the great originals "Marty's Place", "Evelyn's Delight", and "Luan". CD

Key material from Davis' first few years at Prestige – about as classic as you can get from Miles' early period – with a great sextet that include Sonny Rollins on tenor, Jackie McLean on alto, Walter Bishop on piano, Tommy Potter on bass and Art Blakey on drums. One of the first bop recordings to afford the players room to stretch out because of advances in recording technology, this set includes the classic "Dig", a great reading of "It's Only A Paper Moon", plus "Denial", "Conception", "Bluing", "My Old Flame", and "Out Of The Blue". LP, Vinyl record album

Progressive piano from a young Kenny Drew – already swinging here with a sound that's unlike anybody else at the time! The album follows nicely from Drew's early work for Blue Note – and like those sides, the groove here is a mix of creatively compelling solo lines, and a slight soulful undercurrent in the rhythms – kind of a blend of bop inspiration and some of the more creative 50s piano modes, all wrapped together with just a hint of the generation of players to come. The group features Eugene Wright on bass and Charles Wright on drums – and titles include "Angie", "Bluesville", "Four & Five", "Lo Flame", "Chartreuse", "Kenny's Blues", "Many Miles Away", and "My Beautiful Lady". CD

Tremendous early work from George Jones – the full White Lightning album for Mercury Records, stacked here with a huge amount of bonus tracks too! George is wonderful throughout – already a standout in the shifting country scene of the 50s – with one ear that understands the sharper edges of the rock generation, but another that brings out all the sentiment in the tunes he touches – material that's delivered with this magical approach that few other singers could touch. If you only know George as a blue-tinged singer of ballads from his later years, you'll really be stunned here – as lots of the tracks have a sound that's quite different, and a lot more vibrant. Titles include "White Lighning", "Give Away Girl", "Wandering Soul", "Life To Go", "Flame In My Heart", "What Am I Worth", "I Take The Chance", "Settle Down", "I'm A One Woman Man", "Revenooer Man", "Sparkling Brown Eyes", and "Color Of The Blues". CD

Include the songs "Opening Statement", "Minor Sweet", "Bee Tee's Minor Plea", "Life's A Little Blue", "The Grand Valse", "Who Can I Turn To", "My Old Flame (Take 1 Stereo)", "My Old Flame (Take 2 Mono)", "Sweet And Lovely", "Moonlight Becomes You", "Blues De Tambour", and "Tune Up". CD

The legendary debut of Bobby Caldwell – a blue-eyed soul singer who borrowed just the right amounts from AOR and R&B! Bobby's got a voice that's really great, and wrapped up warmly amidst keyboards and larger arrangements that all come across with a very cool compressed style – almost as if Caldwell discovered that midtempo and mellow style on some of the Earth Wind & Fire albums from a few years before, and used it as inspiration to craft a classic groove that's very much his own! The set features Bobby's huge classic "What You Won't Do For Love" – but the whole album's great, and other titles include "Special To Me", "Can't Say Goodbye", "My Flame", "Love Won't Wait", "Come To Me", "Down For The Third Time", "Take Me Back To Then" and "Kalimba Song", another nod to Maurice White and crew, to be sure! Also includes a bonus track – the TK version of "Can't Say Goodbye". CD

A key early appearance on record by Sonny Rollins – recorded here with Miles Davis and Jackie McLean in the landmark Dig session! The album's the stuff that 50s bop dreams are made of – a session that has up-and-coming modernists working in the new freedom of the long playing record, in a way that allows them to break past the shorter, more urgent sound of the 78rpm single! Rollins is young, but a surprisingly strong voice on the set – and Jackie McLean's alto is incredibly sharp at this point, with strong hints of the genius to come later in the decade. The rest of the lineup includes Walter Bishop on piano, Tommy Potter on bass, and Art Blakey on drums – and tracks include Miles' classic version of "It's Only A Paper Moon", plus "Denial", "Out Of The Blue", "Dig", and "Bluing". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – "Conception" and "My Old Flame". CD

Out of print Japanese Blue Note LP that brings together both of the excellent Howard McGhee sessions for the label. Both of the records were originally issued only on 10" LPs, but they're both here in full, on a 12" LP, with a side devoted to each record. The quality of the material is superb – and the recordings are quite possibly McGhee's best work ever. Titles include "Jarm", "Tranquility", "Shabazz", "Ittapnna", and "Lo Flame". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the earliest work ever issued by the great Georgie Fame – a 4-track EP that features all instrumental tracks with Georgie on the Hammond – serving up a unique groove that really spoke to the changing London scene of the time! The rhythms here are part of the package, and definitely echo some of the new immigrants and their styles arriving in West London – while Fame's solos on organ also show plenty of influence from American players too, both in the jazz and soul instrumental modes! Titles include "Rik's Tune", "JA Blues", "Orange Street", and "Stop Right Here". 7-inch, Vinyl record

Four incredible albums from the young Georgie Fame – plus a bonus CD of rare material, bonus tracks on all CDs, and 18 previously unreleased tracks – all in a box set with a 48 page book, 5 postcards, and a poster too! First up is Rhythm & Blues At The Flamingo – blistering early work from a young Georgie Fame – a set that definitely lives up to the Rhythm & Blues in the title! The set was recorded live at London's hip Flamingo club – and Georgie and The Blue Flames are very much in command of the crowd – burning with the intensity of a American small organ combo, especially the early 60s variety that often played equal parts soul jazz and R&B! Georgie's on the Hammond, and also sings with a rough-edged style that's plenty soulful, and incredibly appealing – a mode that oozes charisma, but never sounds fake or forced. Titles include "Do The Dog", "Eso Beso", "Work Song", "Baby Please Don't Go", "Shop Around", "Humpty Dumpty", and "You Can't Sit Down". Fame At Last is a brilliant mix of jazz, soul, and R&B – all filtered through a mod sort of London freshness, as early proof that the city could always take some great things from our own musical roots, and feed it back to us with a whole new flavor! Georgie's no copycat here, though – and the sound is instantly Fame-like – a style that's really not the sort that any Americans were doing at the time, and certainly never this well. Hard-burning Hammond colors most of the tunes here – played with a tightly vamping quality – but it's Georgie's charmingly crackling vocals that really win us over! Titles include "Gimme That Wine", "Pink Champagne", "Monkeying Around", "Green Onions", "Let The Sunshine In", "Get On The Right Track Baby", "I'm In The Mood For Love", and "I Love The Life I Live". Sweet Things is a definite sweet thing from Georgie Fame – a record that has him filling in his sound even more than before, with tremendously soulful results! The backings here are bigger than before – a bit tooled in an American soul mode, but still with that beautifully raspy Georgie Fame touch – lots of jazzy inflections on the vocals, and a way of handling a tune, even a familiar one, and really working it on his own level. Hammond still fills in most of the tunes, but other instrumentation includes some nice African percussion from Speedy Acquaye, saxes from Pete Coe, and some nice bold drums from John Mitchell. These come out to the forefront on the classic funky tune "Music Talk" – and still sound great on other numbers that include "The World Is Round", "Last Night", "Dr Kitch", "My Girl", "Ride Your Pony", and "Sweet Thing". Sound Venture is one of the jazziest early albums from Georgie Fame – a set that has him singing with the big band of Harry South, at a level that's a lot more complicated than some of his other work with The Blue Flames! The style here still has that mod 60s London feel, but it also has some deeper inflections as well – modes borrowed a bit from Jon Hendricks or Mose Allison, yet served up with even greater complexity – at a level that really points towards the tremendous growth Fame would unleash over the next few years. Members of the group include Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Tony Coe, Dick Morrisey, Kenny Wheeler, and many other key Brit jazz figures of the time – and titles include "Three Blind Mice", "Dawn Yawn", "Feed Me", "Lovey Dovey", "Lil Darlin", "Lil Pony", "I Am Missing You", and "Many Happy Returns". CD5 is Bend A Little – a package with 20 unusual titles – demos, rare tracks, and outtakes – including unreleased tracks, IBC recordings, and even two German tracks too! Plus, each individual CD comes with bonus tracks – 40 bonus tracks, in addition to the 20 more titles on the Bend A Little set – a huge amount of material! CD

Features very early work with Chris Powell & His Blue Flames – on "Ida Red" and "I Come From Jamaica" – plus 3 longer Philly sides from 1956, with Billy Root on tenor and Sam Dockery on piano – on titles that include "Walkin", "Donna Lee", and "Night In Tunisia". CD

Classics from the vaults of Sun Records – not just bit rock hits, but some more obscure blues and country as well! Titles include "Bear Cat" by Rufus Thomas, "Baker Shop Boogie" by Willie Nix, "Red Velvet" by The Kirby Sisters, "Oh Red" by Howlin Wolf, "Ooby Dooby" by Roy Orbison, "Drinkin Wine Spodee O Dee" by Malcolm Yelvington, "Call Me Anything But Call Me" by Big Memphis Ma Rainey, and "Feelin Good" by Little Junior's Blue Flames. LP, Vinyl record album

The roots of British mod, served up here in a fantastic package that's overflowing with soulful, jazzy, and groovy gems that we might never have heard otherwise! The big British Invasion love of American sounds is no secret to anyone – but the cuts here are all from a moment before on the London scene, and represent some really wonderful experiments in ways of mixing together elements of jazz, soul, and blues – and coming up with something really fresh and unique! Tracks are a great mix of instrumental and vocal modes – and as usual with Ace, they're supported by detailed notes that really open up our understanding of both the music, and this point in time. Titles include "Danger Man" by Red Price Combo, "A New Kind Of Lovin" by Eden Kane, "Christine" by Miss X, "Sugar Baby (parts 1 & 2)" by Jimmy Powell, "When You Walked Out" by Alex Murray, "Chicago Calling" by Cyril Davies & His Rhythm & Blues All Stars, "King Of Kings" by Jimmy Cliff, "It Ain't Necessarily So" by Duffy Power, "Gurney Slade" by Max Harris, "Moanin" by Lynn Cornell, "I'm Just A Baby" by Louis Cordet, "Orange Street" by The Blue Flames, "Strawberry Fair" by Anthony Newley, "Sounds Like Locomotion" by Sounds Inc, and "Air Travel" by Chris Farlowe. CD

Music from Lulu Reed & The Teeners, Ron & The Motions, Joe Caldwell, The Velps, The Rollettes, Lillian Brooks & The Moroccos, The Nobles, Shirley Ross, The Twilighters, The Toneblenders, Chris Powell & Five Blue Flames, and more - 26 tracks in all. CD

The roots of British mod, served up here in a fantastic package that's overflowing with soulful, jazzy, and groovy gems that we might never have heard otherwise! The big British Invasion love of American sounds is no secret to anyone – but the cuts here are all from a moment before on the London scene, and represent some really wonderful experiments in ways of mixing together elements of jazz, soul, and blues – and coming up with something really fresh and unique! Tracks are a great mix of instrumental and vocal modes – and as usual with Ace, they're supported by detailed notes that really open up our understanding of both the music, and this point in time. Titles include "Danger Man" by Red Price Combo, "A New Kind Of Lovin" by Eden Kane, "Christine" by Miss X, "Sugar Baby (parts 1 & 2)" by Jimmy Powell, "When You Walked Out" by Alex Murray, "Chicago Calling" by Cyril Davies & His Rhythm & Blues All Stars, "King Of Kings" by Jimmy Cliff, "It Ain't Necessarily So" by Duffy Power, "Gurney Slade" by Max Harris, "Moanin" by Lynn Cornell, "I'm Just A Baby" by Louis Cordet, "Orange Street" by The Blue Flames, "Strawberry Fair" by Anthony Newley, "Sounds Like Locomotion" by Sounds Inc, and "Air Travel" by Chris Farlowe. CD

Wonderful late work from pianist Bud Powell – recorded in France, where Bud seemed to do all of his best recordings in the early 60s! The setting is a trio – with Art Taylor on drums and Michel Gaudry on bass – but as always in such a mode, Powell has a way of opening the tunes up wonderfully – exploring the boppish currents that he first helped unveil years before, but also showing a newfound lyricism that makes us wonder what strong role Bud would have played on the European scene, had he survived into the 70s! Titles include "Una Noche Con Francis", "Like Someone In Love", "Blues For Bouffemont", "Moose The Mooche", "Little Willie Leaps", and "My Old Flame". CD

Music from John Lee Hooker, Billy Boy Arnold With Tony McPhee, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Johnson, Memphis Slim, Buster Benton & Carey Bell, Louisiana Red, Sunnyland Slim, Muddy Waters, and more. CD

Juan Garcia's at his best here on Exploring New Sounds In Stereo – gazing into a telescope on the cover, looking at the stars and contemplating his next musical direction. For that, the session leaps into a swinging hi-fi mode that brings the hi-ghest fi-delity to the band's nutty approach to arrangements. Esquivel's definitely swinging on a star here – especially on the cuts "My Blue Heaven", "Spellbound", "Whatchamacalit", "La Ronde", and "Bella Mora". Despite the "strings" in the title on Strings Aflame, this one actually swings quite well, and has a bit of an exotic gypsy flavor to it, augmented by cool spacey production that makes the strings hum with a strange other-worldly tonality. The set's filled with the usual crazy Esquivel arrangements, and includes the cuts "Turkish March", "Andalusian Sky", "Misirlou", and "Gypsy Lament". CD

Tremendous guitar work from the great Tal Farlow – easily one of our favorite jazz guitarists ever, and a player with a wonderful sense of tone and timing! This early album has Tal declaring himself loudly and firmly – using a style that's got some slightly raspy edges, and which is a nice change from some of the too-clean modes of other 50s guitarists. The album features a core original 10" album session with a group that includes Oscar Pettiford on bass, Barry Galbraith on guitar, and Joe Morello on drums – plus 4 more tracks from a trio with Red Mitchell on bass and Claude Williamson on piano. Titles include "This Is Always", "Tea For Two", "Blues In The Closet", "Gibson Boy", "My Old Flame", "Is There Somebody Lovelier Than You", "Everything I've Got", "You And The Night and Music", "Love Nest", and "When The Wind And The Rain Are In Your Hair". CD

Obscure trio material from pianist Al Haig – recorded later than most of his more famous bop sides, with a trio that includes Bill Crow on bass and Lee Abrams on drums. The setting is pretty open ended on most tunes – with Haig playing solo on 3 numbers, and the rhythm team joining in gracefully, but still letting Al take the lead on the other tracks. Titles include "Royal Garden Blues", "Isn't It Romantic", "If I Should Lose You", "On The Alamo", "My Old Flame", and "April In Paris". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest jazz vocal albums you'll ever find! Frank Minion sings this suite of tracks billed as an "Introduction To Black Opium Street", and he puts the music together with little recitations in between the tracks, so that the whole thing sounds like one of the great Langston Hughes jazz albums from the same period. Minion's singing voice is in the same rich-toned tradition as singers like Johnny Hartman, but his speaking voice is raw and very soulful – and he gets more than able backing by a great set of players that includes Tommy Flanagan on piano, Roland Alexander on tenor and flute, Dannie Richmond on drums, and Paul Chambers on bass. The whole album sounds more like a rare session on Candid than it does the usual stuff on Bethlehem – and it's a surprisingly hip album that still holds up well over the years! Titles include "Oddsville USA", "Bongo Blues", "Autobiography Of A Musician", "Watermelon", "Flamenco Sketches", "Laughing Boy", and "Later". CD

Includes the tracks "Moose The Mooche", "Yardbird Suite", "Ornithology", "A Night In Tunisia", "Loverman", "The Gypsy", "Hot Blues", "Cool Blues", "Relaxin' At Camarillo", "Stupendous", "All The Things You Are", "Bird Of Paradise", "Embraceable You", "Klact-Oveeseds-Tene", "Scrapple From The Apple", "My Old Flame", "Out Of Nowhere", and "How Deep Is The Ocean?". CD

A nice overview of Coleman Hawkins' career in a great 2LP set, containing material recorded between 1939 and 1947, and later work recorded in 1956. Most of the early work is in a wonderful small group format that lets Hawkins' tenor really come to the forefront. Other players on the sessions include Benny Carter, JC Higginbotham, Allen Eager, Peter Brown, and Budd Johnson – and titles include "Half Step Down Please", "Bouncing With Bean", "Meet Doctor Foo", "Spotlite", "Low Flame", and "Jumping For Jane". The later work features the orchestra of Billy Byers, including soloists Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and Hank Jones. Coleman's the main blower, though – and the arrangements have a solid base that lets him open up in that exploratory tone he was crafting during the time. And although tracks are short, there's a heck of a lot of soul packed into them – recorded with impeccable quality, much more so than earlier sides. Titles include "I Never Knew", "Bean & The Boys", "The Essence of You", "Have You Met Miss Jones", "Dinner For One Please, James", and "I'm Shooting High". LP, Vinyl record album

The first album that Momus recorded for Creation Records – a label that provided him with a much stronger springboard than before – which was perfect for the way the singer blended very offbeat lyrics with compelling mainstream songcraft! Momus was always very different than most of the Brit 80s scene in which he worked – influenced strongly by the French work of singer/songwriters like George Brassens, Jacques Brel, and Serge Gainsbourg – but graced with a very British wit, which made for an especially biting style that worked well with the themes of his songs. Momus has a vocal style that's maybe somewhere in Donovan territory, but sharper – and he draws from a variety of European song modes, fitted to the situation of each individual songs – as you'll hear on classics like "Situation Comedy Blues", "Three Wars", "The Gatecrasher", "Flame Into Being", and the Serge Gainsbourg-like "Closer To You". LP, Vinyl record album

Post-Mingus work from reedman George Adams and pianist Don Pullen – three albums in a single set! Decisions is one of those key records that has George Adams and Don Pullen reinventing expectations of jazz for the 80s – both musicians with plenty of ear for the outside, but also coming back home with a well-rounded, deeply-rooted approach that's crucial in taking the American jazz legacy another step forward! Like some of their similar contemporaries, who could also be avant at times, and straight at others – Adams and Pullen have no concern with setting themselves in one camp or another – and not only flesh out the spirit of the record with both of those aspects of their playing, but also have some surprisingly bluesy undercurrents at times. The group features George Adams on tenor, Don Pullen on piano, Cameron Brown on bass, and Dannie Richmond on drums – and titles include "Decisions", "Triple Over Time", "I Could Really For You", "Message Urgent", and "Trees & Grass & Things". Life Line is a strong outing from this key post-Mingus collaboration – and a record that really shows both Don Pullen and George Adams really coming into their own! Pullen's piano can have plenty of edges, as can Adams' tenor – but there's also some warmer, lyrical moments that really round things out – kind of a balance between righteous energy and deeper quietude that the musicians might have learned during their time with Charles Mingus – taken to a logical small group extension here. Adams also plays a bit of flute, which is especially nice – and the group also includes Cameron Brown on bass and Dannie Richmond on drums. Titles include "The Great Escape Or Run John Henry Run", "Seriously Speaking", "Soft Seas", and "Protection". Live At Montmartre is solidly soaring work from tenorist George Adams – recording live here with pianist Don Pullen, one of his best musical partners during the 80s! The album's got a bit more of a bite than some of the pair's studio sessions – a bit straighter overall, but recorded with a nice degree of energy, and some long tracks that really let both players open up nicely – in a combo that also features John Scofield on guitar, Cameron Brown on bass, and Dannie Richmond on drums. The inclusion of Scofield's guitar changes up the group's sound in a nice way – adding in some more chromatic elements that really stand out – and titles include "IJ", "Flame Games", "Song Everlasting", and "Forever Lovers". CD

Tremendous guitar work from the great Tal Farlow – easily one of our favorite jazz guitarists ever, and a player with a wonderful sense of tone and timing! This early album has Tal declaring himself loudly and firmly – using a style that's got some slightly raspy edges, and which is a nice change from some of the too-clean modes of other 50s guitarists. The album features a core original 10" album session with a group that includes Oscar Pettiford on bass, Barry Galbraith on guitar, and Joe Morello on drums – plus 4 more tracks from a trio with Red Mitchell on bass and Claude Williamson on piano. Titles include "This Is Always", "Tea For Two", "Blues In The Closet", "Gibson Boy", "My Old Flame", "Is There Somebody Lovelier Than You", "Everything I've Got", "You And The Night and Music", "Love Nest", and "When The Wind And The Rain Are In Your Hair". LP, Vinyl record album

Early blue eyed soul work from Boz Scaggs – an album that's got a lot more rootsy touches than some of his bigger crossover hits! At one level, the album seems to have a Bay Area-styled approach – genre-blending soul, R&B, and rock influences into a sound that proudly steps forth without any care for categorization. But at another, Boz already displays a keen ear for a sweeter soul track – and comes across nicely with a compressed AOR mellow groove on the album's best tracks. The set was put together with a lot of heavy production work and investment (despite a homey "hey we're just the band" sort of cover image) – illustrating the fact that CBS clearly already saw a lot of promise in Boz – and titles include "Monkey Time", "Flames Of Love", "You're So Good", "Here To Stay", and the nicely funky "Why Why". LP, Vinyl record album

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record