Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Vincent Herring on soprano and alto saxophone, Mulgrew Miller on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, and Carl Allen on drums. CD

With Christian McBride & Reuben Rogers on bass, Mark Whitfield on guitar, Daniel Sadownick on percussion, Anthony Wonsey on piano, Cyrus Chestnut on piano & organ, Vincent Herring on saxophone, Nicholas Payton on trumpet & Kevin Mahogany on vocals. CD

A tribute to a lost side of the creative powers of the legendary Sun Ra – his work in prose and poetry, presented here on record by a variety of different voices – all in a production that features some cool electronics from Marshall Allen as well! The instrumental work of Ra and the Arkestra have an undeniably righteous power and spiritual message – and those qualities are presented here in a more focused, more direct style through his pen – ideas that are clear and forthright, and which show very powerful concepts of life, music, politics, race, and the cosmos – all at a level that really showcases the depths of Ra as a philosopher! EVI electronics are played by Allen, who also speaks a bit on the record – alongside others who include Carl Hancok Rux, Zakia Sewell, Abioudun Oyewole, Melanie Charles, Jive Poetic, Tara Middleton, L'Rain, Saul Williams, and Mahogany L Browne. Titles include "When Angels Speak", "The Invisible Giants", "Sun-Day", "Nothing Is", "The Melody of Air", "The Void", "The Neglected Plane Of Wisdom" and more. CD

A tribute to a lost side of the creative powers of the legendary Sun Ra – his work in prose and poetry, presented here on record by a variety of different voices – all in a production that features some cool electronics from Marshall Allen as well! The instrumental work of Ra and the Arkestra have an undeniably righteous power and spiritual message – and those qualities are presented here in a more focused, more direct style through his pen – ideas that are clear and forthright, and which show very powerful concepts of life, music, politics, race, and the cosmos – all at a level that really showcases the depths of Ra as a philosopher! EVI electronics are played by Allen, who also speaks a bit on the record – alongside others who include Carl Hancok Rux, Zakia Sewell, Abioudun Oyewole, Melanie Charles, Jive Poetic, Tara Middleton, L'Rain, Saul Williams, and Mahogany L Browne. Titles include "When Angels Speak", "The Invisible Giants", "Sun-Day", "Nothing Is", "The Melody of Air", "The Void", "The Neglected Plane Of Wisdom" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A long-awaited full length set – one that finally brings together all of the amazing Tony Allen reworks done by the Honest Jon's label! These "chop up" tracks were originally issued over a range of limited 12" singles, and they're really amazing stuff – not just remixes of Tony Allen's work, but re-recordings and re-interpretations as well – a batch of music that stands amazingly well on its own, even if you're not a fan of Tony originally – and which takes his music into even more exotic territory than just Afro Funk! The choice of artists here is key to the set – as players from other Afro-influenced genres really take a new spin on Allen's music – and are allowed to strongly bring their own sounds to the set. Titles include "Ole (Cairo version)" by Salah Ragab, "Sankofa" by Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, "Kilode (rmx)" by Carl Craig, "Awa Na Re (rmx)" by Bonde De Role, "Mark's Disco Dub" by Mark Ernestus, "Reggae Land Dub" by Wareika Hill Sounds, "Samba" by Son Palenque De Colombia, "Kilode (rework)" by Wajeed, "Ole (rmx)" by Moritz Von Oswald, "Fuji Ouija" by Diplo, and "One Tree (TP's spirit of unity mix)" by Terrence Parker. LP, Vinyl record album

With Rodney Jones on guitar, Marc Johnson and Christian McBride on bass, and Jack DeJohnette and Carl Allen on drums. CD

Features Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Mike LeDonne on piano, Buster Williams on bass, and Carl Allen on drums. CD

Benny Golson on tenor saxophone, Kevin Hayes on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, and Carl Allen on drums. CD

Benny Green on piano, Christian McBride on bass, and Carl Allen on drums. CD

Produced by Betty Carter with Javon Jackson on tenor, Jacky Terrasson on piano and a rotating rhythm section that includes Carl Allen, Peter Washington, Chris Thomas, and Clarence Penn – plus guest vocals from Dianne Reeves and two tracks with Kenny Garrett on alto. CD

Carolyn Leonhart on vocals – accompanied by Wayne Escoffery on saxophone, Toru Dodo on piano, Hans Glawischnig on bass, and Jason Brown and Carl Allen on drums. CD

Bassist Christian McBride's always got a great ear for the players he chooses to work with – and that's definitely the case here, as the group features the great Warren Wolf on vibes and reedman Steve Wilson on both alto and soprano sax! Wilson and Wolf have this great way of balancing each other out – the sometimes-sharp edges of Steve's saxophones, and the inherent warmth of Warren's vibes – dancing together joyfully and really opening up the sound, in the company of other players who include Peter Martin on piano and Carl Allen on drums. As always, McBride proves to be a really special sort of bassist-as-leader – and titles include "Ms Angelou", "The Shade Of The Cedar Tree", "Fair Hope Theme", and "Gang Gang" – all nice and long! LP, Vinyl record album

Features Jackie McLean on alto sax, Rene McLean on saxophones and flute, Hotep Idris Galeta on piano, Nat Reeves on bass, and Carl Allen on drums. CD

A later gem from this great altoist – with Hotep Idris Galeta on piano, Nat Reeves on bass, and Carl Allen on drums! CD

The title's a bit misleading – because it makes you think that Art Pepper's playing TV Themes – but the music's great, and the session features some excellent work from Pepper during the razor-sharp year of 1957! The tracks on the set are recordings made for the LA-based Stars Of Jazz and Steve Allen Show – all of which feature Pepper in quartet formation with players that include Larry Bunker, Victor Feldman, Carl Perkins, Ben Tucker, and Chuck Flores – and one of which features vocalist Pam Russell singing with the group. The sound quality is wonderful – especially given the TV recording nature of the tunes – and Pepper's tone is incredible throughout, a real delight, with that sharp edge and soulful undercurrent that made his late 50s recordings so great. Titles include "All The Things You Are", "Over The Rainbow", "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Stormy Weather", "Everything Happens To Me", and "Cherokee". CD

One of the best non-Saturn Sun Ra albums of the 60s – material recorded live on a tour of New York colleges in 1966, and very much in a spirit that captures the Arkestra at their best! Longer tracks are juxtaposed nicely with shorter ones – in a way that has the group running very outside one minute, yet stepping soulfully back to the center the next – never schizophrenicly, but in a mode that really displays the full range of energy pulsing in the group. Interesting instrumentation on the set includes Ra on clavoline, plus Carl Nimrod on the beautiful-sounding "sun horn" – and other players include Marshall Allen on alto, John Gilmore on tenor, Pat Patrick on baritone, and James Jacson on log drum and flute. Titles include "Dancing Shadows", "Next Stop Mars", "Outerspaceways", "Shadow World", and "Sun Ra and His Band From Outer Space". CD

A late date for Woody Shaw, but a great one too – a bit more straightforward than some of his more righteous albums of the 70s, but still proof that Shaw is easily one of the greatest trumpeters of his generation! The album's got a laidback sort of feel, and features a fair bit of familiar standards – but Woody and the group do plenty to transform them, especially on the solo spots. Shaw's leading a quintet here – with Steve Turre on trombone, Kirk Lightsey on piano, Ray Drummond on bass, and Carl Allen on drums – and titles include "Steve's Blues", "Dat Dere", "Imagination", "If I Were A Bell", "You & The Night & The Music", and "Stormy Weather". CD

Buster Williams on bass, Steve Nelson on vibes, Mulgrew Miller on piano, and Carl Allen on drums! CD

A really unique pairing of talents – Japanese singer Miki Yamaoka, and American tenor legend Benny Golson – who also produced and arranged the set! Miki's got a voice that's surprisingly deep and dusky at points, which makes here a great match for Golson's tenor solos on the record – blown in this easygoing, soulful style that matches the pace of the rhythms nicely – served up by the trio of Soichi Moriki on piano, Buster Williams on bass, and Carl Allen on drums! Yamaoka's definitely got a different vibe than some of the other female Japanese jazz singers on the market – and titles include "One Day Forever", "Feeling Good", "I Remember Clifford", "Whisper Not", "Autumn In New York", "I Love You", and "Fly Me To The Moon" – which just features Miki's vocals and Buster's bass! CD

Some of the more hillbilly-oriented work from the Mar-Vel label – with tracks by Shorty Ashford, Jim Gatlin, Jack Bradshaw, Stony Calhoun, Billy Hall, Bill Lillpop, Basil Smith, Harold Allen & JT Watts, Bob Burton, Tex Justus, and Ronnie Durbin. LP, Vinyl record album

Don Braden on tenor, Tom Harrell on trumpet and flugelhorn, Benny Green on piano, Christian McBride on bass, and Carl Allen on drums. CD

One of the most compelling albums ever recorded by guitarist Eugene Chadbourne – a set billed as "free improvised country and western bebop" – and which features Chadbourne serving up these wild variations on tunes by Carl Perkins, Roger Miller, David Allen Coe, Bobby Bare, Merle Haggard, and other country music legends! The album's much more Eugene than Nashville – although Chadbourne does sing lyrics on all of the tunes, but in a way that's very offbeat and hardly unlike the originals at all – as is his guitar work, which is acoustic and all twisted and turned up in all the offbeat phrasings you might expect! Much of the record is Chadbourne on vocals and electric dobro – but the set also features some drums by David Licht, saxes from John Zorn, and cello from Tom Cora. Titles include "The Last Word In Lonesome Is Me", "I'm The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised", "Georgia In A Jug", "Motel Time Again", "Dang Me", "Window Shopping", "Jealous Loving Heart", "Mr Record Man", and "Swingin Doors". CD

32 tracks from the Five Satins, the Silhouettes, Billy Myles, Lee Allen, Gloria Lynne, Rudy Greene, the Miller Sisters, the Embers, George Tinley, Jimmy Young, and more. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest records that Charlie Haden ever did, and a record that stands as sort of a bookend to his Liberation Music album on Impulse. As with that record, he's got a large group on here, and also like that one, he's playing a batch of tracks that have a definite political bent. Players include Don Cherry, Carla Bley, Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, Jim Pepper, and Michael Mantler; and tracks include "Ballad Of The Fallen", "Too Late", "La Pasionaria", and "The People United Will Never Be Defeated". The sound's a little bit less harsh than his Impulse recording, but it's no less impassioned, and the record's a very emotional batch of music. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest records that Charlie Haden ever did, and a record that stands as sort of a bookend to his Liberation Music album on Impulse. As with that record, he's got a large group on here, and also like that one, he's playing a batch of tracks that have a definite political bent. Players include Don Cherry, Carla Bley, Dewey Redman, Paul Motian, Jim Pepper, and Michael Mantler; and tracks include "Ballad Of The Fallen", "Too Late", "La Pasionaria", and "The People United Will Never Be Defeated". The sound's a little bit less harsh than his Impulse recording, but it's no less impassioned, and the record's a very emotional batch of music. CD

Three albums from this great reedman! Gibraltar features a killer Dutch duo from the end of the 70s – tenorist Harry Verbeke, who's got a bold, clear sound – and pianist Rob Agerbeek, who's been making soulful sides from the 60s onwards! The pair get great accompaniment here from drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Herbie Lewis – the last of whom may be at his best here – with these well-placed, well-rounded lines that help the record groove right from the start – and which give the record a nice bounce, even in gentler moments – followed up strongly by Agerbeek and his strong sense of chord progressions. Most tunes are familiar, but get nice readings by the group – and titles include "Gibraltar, "Holy Land", "Soul Sister", "No Me Esqueca", and "No Problem". It's You Or No One is a gem, as Harry Verbeke's a tenor player we grow to love more and more over the years – especially as we discover more of his obscure Dutch recordings like this album from the 70s! Verbeke's a tenorist who's completely fully-formed and strong-voiced right from the very first note – maybe indicated by his choice of a Barney Wilen tune to lead off the set – as, like Wilen, Harry's one of these great under-discovered European talents who really helped move his instrument forward, but away from recognition on our side of the Atlantic. The rest of the group is top-shelf too – the great Irv Rochlin on piano, Harry Emmery on bass, and Max Bollerman on drums – on titles that include "Blue Bossa", "Prelude In Blue", "Mariette", "Sugar", and "Chelsea Bridge". As for Harry Verbeke Plays Romantic Ballads, the title's no lie, but it can't even begin to get at the very special sound of the record – as there's a lot more going on here than just a saxophonist taking on American standards! Harry Verbeke's got this sense of tone and phrasing that are very much his own – a quality that we love on his harder-swinging records from the 70s, but which opens up with even more individuality here – a raspy sort of charm that's hard to describe in words, but which makes the album very different than so many other tenor outings of this type. Another strong element is the use of organ instead of piano – an instrument played here by Carlo De Wijs, who mostly shades in things under Harry's lead, rather than try to challenge him to a sonic battle – as the core get gentle support from Hein Van De Geyn on bass and Arnoud Gerritse on drums. Titles include "Stella By Starlight", "A Child Is Born", "Chelsea Bridge", "Spring Fever", and "Everything Happens To Me". CD

A deep soul take on the sound of Christmas – served up here in a range of classic Holiday cuts from the legendary Stax Records! The set's nicely different than the previous Stax Christmas set, and features some tunes from later in the label's run – some of those cool singles that they continued to issue for the 12th month of the year, at a label that maybe had them matching Motown as one of the few soul labels really dedicated to putting out a Holiday tune! The package includes a previously-unissued alternate mix of "Merry Christmas Baby" by Otis Redding", and a version of "Blue Christmas" by Carla Thomas" – plus the tracks "Season's Greetings" by Cix Bits, "I'll Be Your Santa Baby" by Rufus Thomas, "Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas" by The Staple Singers, "Winter Wonderland (take 2)" by Booker T & The Mgs, "Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin" by Albert King, "That Makes Christmas Day" by Rufus & Carla Thomas, "White Christmas" by Rance Allen Group, "The Mistletoe & Me" by Isaac Hayes, "It's Christmas Time Again" by The Temprees, and "What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas" by The Emotions. CD

A deep soul take on the sound of Christmas – served up here in a range of classic Holiday cuts from the legendary Stax Records! The set's nicely different than the previous Stax Christmas set, and features some tunes from later in the label's run – some of those cool singles that they continued to issue for the 12th month of the year, at a label that maybe had them matching Motown as one of the few soul labels really dedicated to putting out a Holiday tune! The package includes a previously-unissued alternate mix of "Merry Christmas Baby" by Otis Redding", and a version of "Blue Christmas" by Carla Thomas" – plus the tracks "Season's Greetings" by Cix Bits, "I'll Be Your Santa Baby" by Rufus Thomas, "Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas" by The Staple Singers, "Winter Wonderland (take 2)" by Booker T & The Mgs, "Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin" by Albert King, "That Makes Christmas Day" by Rufus & Carla Thomas, "White Christmas" by Rance Allen Group, "The Mistletoe & Me" by Isaac Hayes, "It's Christmas Time Again" by The Temprees, and "What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas" by The Emotions. LP, Vinyl record album

A bit of a change for Allen Toussaint – the kind of an album that makes good use of all the connections he was making during the early 70s, when he was becoming the darling of the Warner Brothers scene in LA. Overall, Allen's getting pretty smooth by this point – so smooth that even some rootsy production by Jerry Wexler still makes it hard to remember that he got his start in the raw New Orleans soul scene – but at its heart, the album's still got a good talent for the kind of rolling groove that Toussaint brought to his own work, and that of so many other artists, in earlier years. This album features lots of LA studio backing, with players like Richard Tee, Victor Feldman, Paulinho Da Costa, Larry Carlton, and others of that ilk. Titles include "Motion", "Night People", "Just A Kiss Away", "Declaration Of Love", and "Viva La Money". LP, Vinyl record album

Allen Toussaint's complete recordings for Warner – a trio of classic albums from one of the greatest forces in Crescent City soul, plus rare live tracks – in a perfect 2CD set! Includes the complete Life Love & Faith, Southern Nights and Motion albums – from a creatively fruitful 70s period when Toussaint was mixing a bit of funk into the heavy soul mix, and even some mellow LA soul touches – coming up with a blend of styles without ever betraying his New Orleans roots! New Orleans legends like Leo Nocentelli, Zig Modeliste, Art Neville and George Porter Jr factor in to the Life Love & Faith and Southern Nights sessions, along with LA sessions all stars like Richard Tee, Victor Feldman, Paulinho Da Costa, Larry Carlton and producer Jerry Wexler on the Motion sessions – this this excellent Rhino CD anthology also include 10 previously unreleased live records! Titles include Soul Sister", "Victims Of The Darkness", "Am I Expecting Too Much", "Out Of The City", "Goin Down", "Electricity", "Fingers & Toes", Southern Nights", "Basic Lady", "Last Train", "Worldwide", "You Will Not Lose", "When The Party's Over", Motion", "Night People", "Just A Kiss Away", "Declaration Of Love", "Viva La Money" and more from the studio recordings, plus "Touch Of Love", "Brickyard Blues", "What Is Success", "Shoo-Ra", "Last Train" and more live tracks! CD

Wallace Roney on trumpet, Clarence Seay on bass, Eric Allen on drums, Carlos McKinney on piano, and Antoine Roney on tenor saxophone. CD

Features JD Allen on tenor sax, Carlton Holmes on piano, Fender Rhodes, and keys, George Mitchell on bass, and leader Cindy Blackman on drums. CD