... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Features flute from a young Peter Gabriel! Titles include "Time", "Katmandu", "I Wish I Wish", "Lillywhite", "Pop Star", "Maybe You're Right", "Lady D'Arbanville", and "I Think I See The Light". CD

Features the completely sublime "Wild World" – plus "Longer Boats", "Father & Son", "On The Road To Find Out", "Miles From Nowhere", "Where Do The Children Play", "Hard Headed Woman", and "Sad Lisa". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Tuesday's Dead", "How Can I Tell You", "Morning Has Broken", "Peace Train", and "The Wind". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The funky freaky soundtrack to Ralph Bakshi's animated feature Fritz The Cat – a really messed-up little film based around the original character created by Robert Crumb! Like the movie, the album's got a very skittish kind of feel – leaping from one genre to the next with each different track – but mostly featuring some older numbers from the Fantasy catalog, plus some key newer tracks for the set that are nice and funky! Original tunes include the bad-rapping "Fritz The Cat", by Ed Bogas and The Watson Sisters – plus the instrumentals "Duke's Theme" and "Bertha's Theme" by Ray Shanklin, and "The Riot" and "Winston" by Ed Bogas. Also includes "Love Light Of Mine" by The Watson Sisters, "Black Talk" by Charles Earland, and "Mamblues" by Cal Tjader. LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the best album we've ever heard from Dining Rooms – a set that has the group moving way past just makers of seductive grooves, into wider, fuller territory that definitely puts them at the top shelf level we love from the best at Schema Records! The album balances some of their earlier modes with really strong songs that feature a variety of different singers – including Sean Martin, Beatrice Velasco Moreno, and Georgeanne Kalweit – who each give the record a lot more lyrical power than before, and a strong presence on the vocal tracks that makes instrumental moments feel like well-placed interludes. Titles include "When You Died", "Little Girl", "Art Is A Cat", "Carpet Of Green", "Nella Sua Loca Realta", "Ghosts", "Two Thousand Parts", "No Frame", "Teach Me To Dance", and "Astratto". CD

"Black Cat" is a groovy little tune from Turkish rocker Durul Gence – maybe slightly more Anglo-styled than music from some of his contemporaries, but in a really great way! Lyrics are in English, and the tune's got this great groove that mixes acoustic guitar and fuzz with plenty of dark corners around the edges – and "Boo Song" maybe feels even more British overall, with this use of acoustic guitar amidst more soaring arrangements – which, with Durul's vocals, make the whole thing feel like some lost London gem from 1969! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Seminal sounds from trumpeter Ian Carr and his Nucleus group of the early 70s – maybe one of the few jazz rock groups that was ever able to work with a fair bit of jazz in their sound! Unlike his contemporaries, who often started in rock first, then added some horns – Carr was already coming off an important 60s legacy, co-leading a group with tenorist Don Rendell – so the vibe here is like an extension of that very rhythmic, very tonal modern work – but with the addition of electrified instrumentation – thanks to the guitar work of Chris Spedding and keyboards of Karl Jenkins – who plays some fantastic electric lines throughout! The vibe is maybe a bit in the territory of early 70s electric work by Miles Davis and Donald Byrd (pre-Mizell for the latter) – but there's maybe a farther-reaching concept at play on many of the records, at a level that always helped the group cross over to the prog crowd, and move beyond just a straight jazz audience. Other key players include Brian Smith on tenor and soprano saxes – a really fantastic part of the lineup – plus Jeff Clyne on bass and John Marshall on drums – and as the albums move along a bit, the lineup shifts slightly, and also opens up to guests who include Kenny Wheeler and Harry Beckett on trumpets, Tony Levin on drums, and Norma Winstone on voice. And although some of the albums have been reissued before, this is the first set to really dive in completely – and bring together material from the Vertigo Records releases that include Elastic Rock, We'll Talk About It Later, Solar Plexus, Belladonna, Labyrinth, Roots, Under The Sun, Snakehips Etcetera, and Alley Cat. CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A runaway hit for reedman Tom Scott – and the record that helped to elevate him to the ranks of studio and fusion superstardom in the 70s! By the time of the record, Scott had already done some key work under his own name, and was contributing heavily to countless other sessions in the jazz, pop, soul, and soundtrack worlds. But this album's the one that really helped Tom get his groove out there – a particular approach to smooth fusion that still kept things plenty funky overall! Part of the credit for the set really goes to bassist Max Bennett and drummer John Guerin – who bring in a tightly snapping bottom that lets Scott get a bit smoother on the top with his saxes, in a style that's augmented by plenty of great keyboard work from Larry Nash. Titles include "Keep On Doin It", "Tom Cat", "Rock Island Rocket", "Mondo", "Refried", "Backfence Cattin", and "Love Poem". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

A real high point in Jimmy Smith's famous 60s run at Verve Records – a key collaboration with arranger Lalo Schfrin, who brings a great blend of jazz and soundtrack styles to Jimmy's famous groove on the Hammond! Lalo's backings are totally great – with touches of Latin and Brazilian that really open up the sound from some of Smith's other records – but in a way that still keeps the whole thing nicely on point as Jimmy soars away on his solos. The single "The Cat" was kind of a minor hit for Smith – and there's a lot of other nice tunes on the album, including "Theme From Joy House", "Chicago Serenade", "Delon's Blues", and "Main Title From Carpetbaggers". LP, Vinyl record album

Compositions by Mary Jeanne Van Appledorn, Stephen Chatman, Michael Mauldin, Christopher Berg, and Andrew Violette. LP, Vinyl record album

A double-dose of rare soul and blues – served up here on a double-length set that's overflowing with plenty of obscure gems from the 50s and 60s! The format here follows some of the other collections on Stag O Lee – a nicely rough-n-ready sound, pulled from 45s from back in the day – and there's a heck of a lot more sounds and styles here than just the blues hinted at by the title! 32 tracks in all – with titles that include "Dead" by The Poets, "My Isabella" by Danny Cobb, "Castanet Senorita" by Ray Johnson, "My Love Is Coming Down" by Kenny Martin, "Come On Home" by George Allen, "Misery" by Barrett Strong, "Pneumonia" by Joe Tex, "Talkin Bout Me" by Moose John, "How Much Land" by Frank Minion, "Mama Linda" by The Monitors, "Little Girl" by Sugar Boy Williams, "Hard Times" by Jackie Ross, "Hey Boy" by The Sterlings, "Every Whicha Kinda Way" by Earl King, and "Going Back Where I Belong" by Sugar Pie Desanto. LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Sweet Miami funk from the team of George "Chocolate" Perry and Clay Cropper – one of the rarest TK albums from the time, and also one of the funkiest too! The sound here is slightly polished, but never too much – a bit more in the sound of bigger Florida groups, like Miami, with a tight groove overall, but still enough sharper funky bits on the edges! George plays bass and Clay handles guitar and keyboards – and the vocals seem to be sung by both parties, often in that slightly-flanged Miami style of the time. Titles include "My Uncle Funky", "Sweet Mary", "Cream Is Rising To The Top", and "Two Different Worlds" – plus the excellent mellow soul track "Free (I'll Always Be)", which has a nice sweet sound in the same vein as work by Milton Wright. CD

It's easy to get Beaver Fever when things sound this great – a wonderful modern soul take on the sound of Little Beaver from the 70s – serve up with plenty of warm tones, and a nicely matured version of Beaver's styles! All the bluesy bits from the start are gone, and some of the funkier edges have been smoothed down – but in their place are some great grooves that move along with a cool jazzy vibe that often makes great use of Beaver's guitar – a style that's almost like some of the more mature modern soul from up north, instead of the usual 70s Miami groove. A few tunes echo the earlier years – like the great remakes of "Party Times" and "Katie Pearl" – and other tracks include "Thank You For My Life", "Don't Get Tired Of Me", "I Feel Like Crying", and the groovy "Groove-On". CD

A funky classic from Little Beaver – one of the best albums to come out of the Miami scene of the mid 70s! Little Beaver lays down some righteous guitar and heavy vocals over a cool spare backing groove on this one. It's a party, alright, but it's got the feel of the smoldering, latenight hours of it – after everyone's feeling real good for a long while! The sound is sort of a mix between slow cooking raw soul and heavier stripped down funk outings. One of Little Beaver's best – and one of our all time favorites! Titles include "I Can Dig It Baby", "Money Vibrations", "Let The Good Times Roll", and "Party Down (parts 1 & 2)". CD

A Miami soul classic from the 70s – and a legendary pairing of George and Gwen McCrae – with results that soar past the individual work by the pair! Gwen's vocals are killer – deep, soulful, and still with the bite of her own TK albums – and the grooves here echo a bit more of George's world, but in a way that really makes for great interplay between the two singers – a back/forth sort of energy that pushes things away from any sleepy moments and throwaway tracks – and which also offers up a great 70s Miami take on the soul duo mode of the 60s. The record includes the wonderful "I'll Do The Rocking", plus "Mechanical Body", "Winners Together Or Losers Apart", "The Rub", "You And I Were Made For Each Other", "Let Your Love Do The Talking", and "I'm Coming At You". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album from the Miami soul scene of the 70s – the record that put Gwen McCrae on the map, and showed to the world that the TK sound was about to dominate the charts! There's a really unique groove to the set – part older southern soul, part percolated electric modes – that funky groove that Little Beaver, Timmy Thomas, and some of Gwen's TK contemporaries had been cooking up at the time. Both Beaver and Thomas are working on the sessions – as are Willie Clark, Latimore, and George Perry – and even the backup vocals are hip – with help from George McCrae, Betty Wright, and KC of Sunshine Band fame. But throughout it all, Gwen's the real star – singing with an impeccable vocal approach that's full of soul, yet never overdone – heard to amazing effect on the classic track "90% Of Me" – and other gems that include "For Your Love", "He Keeps Something Groovy Going On", "It Keeps On Raining", "He Don't Ever Lose His Groove", "Move Me Baby", and "Let Them Talk". CD

A killer bit of southern soul from Gwen McCrae – one that's in the best tradition of Miami work of the time, but which also takes Gwen into even deeper territory vocally! The record's got a mature depth that we totally love – a quality that shows the key "adult" transitions that were going on in the Miami studios of the 70s – as southern soul was shaking off its rougher roots, and going for a more sophisticated audience – yet still managed to keep all the raw power and honest emotion that made the genre so great in the first place. Most tracks here are in a mellow or midtempo mode, and there's surprisingly little club-oriented tracks on the set. Titles include a killer remake of Latimore's "Let's Straighten It Out", plus "Love Insurance", "Cradle Of Love", "At Bedtime", and "Early Morning Love", an excellent number by the great Sam Dees. LP, Vinyl record album

Sexy soul from the great Gwen McCrae – a key follow-up to her massive Rockin Chair, and an album that showed that she could go a lot deeper than just crossover soul! Given Gwen's contribution to the early disco years, the record's got a surprisingly laidback feel – classic female southern soul at its best, with a number of tracks that hit a great sort of late nite, lovelorn sort of mode – almost like some of Ann Sexton's work from the time. Other tunes pick up the groove a bit more, but still go for more of a funky soul sort of style than a disco one – and all tracks really make the best use of Gwen's deep soul vocals. Clarence Reid wrote most of the material, and great cuts include "Love Without Sex", "Something So Right", "Tears On My Pillow", "Mr. Everything", "Damn Right It's Good", and "Iron Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

A monster of a rare funk album – recorded by a tight little combo who should have been huge! Raw Soul Express have a touch of jazz in their playing – coming off here with a sound that reminds us of Wood Brass & Steel, and a rare few other funk acts of the time who knew how to do more than just hit a heavy drum and pluck a noisy bass – really going beyond the usual to come up with a groove that's wonderfully crafted throughout – and way way more than just the sum of its parts! Not that the band is slick or too polished, though – because they definitely earn the "raw" in their name with some sharp edges on the instrumentation – a sharp sense of power that really helps the whole thing cook. Titles include "RSE", "Burn The Candle", "Music Meditation", "Right On", and "Emergency". CD features two bonus tracks – "The Way We Live" and "This Thing Called Music". CD

The story of Guided By Voices – a group who labored in the American underground for quite some time before finding big fame – a story that makes the group's success far more interesting than most! The book details all the work and time that Robert Pollard put into getting the group going, and finding the right path forward – and Pollard cooperated heavily with the author, so that his voice is every bit as much a part of the book as that of James Greer. This softcover edition features a black and white photo section in the middle, and some great discographical details at the end – including solo and side projects too. 319 pages. Book

A funky classic from Little Beaver – one of the best albums to come out of the Miami scene of the mid 70s! Little Beaver lays down some righteous guitar and heavy vocals over a cool spare backing groove on this one. It's a party, alright, but it's got the feel of the smoldering, latenight hours of it – after everyone's feeling real good for a long while! The sound is sort of a mix between slow cooking raw soul and heavier stripped down funk outings. One of Little Beaver's best – and one of our all time favorites! Titles include "I Can Dig It Baby", "Money Vibrations", "Let The Good Times Roll", and "Party Down (parts 1 & 2)". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer bit of southern soul from Gwen McCrae – one that's in the best tradition of Miami work of the time, but which also takes Gwen into even deeper territory vocally! The record's got a mature depth that we totally love – a quality that shows the key "adult" transitions that were going on in the Miami studios of the 70s – as southern soul was shaking off its rougher roots, and going for a more sophisticated audience – yet still managed to keep all the raw power and honest emotion that made the genre so great in the first place. Most tracks here are in a mellow or midtempo mode, and there's surprisingly little club-oriented tracks on the set. Titles include a killer remake of Latimore's "Let's Straighten It Out", plus "Love Insurance", "Cradle Of Love", "At Bedtime", and "Early Morning Love", an excellent number by the great Sam Dees. CD

Incredible funky guitar – an all-instrumental gem from the legendary Little Beaver – quite different than his other vocal albums of the 70s, and a fair bit funkier too! The sound here is amazing – lots of snakey compressed guitar parts, nice wah wah moments, and a dope laidback groove that's similar to Shuggie Otis on his Inspiration Information album, but a little funkier too! Especially sweet are the sudden changes within the tunes – which find a killer groove, take a left turn or two, and then fall back into the groove nicely. Beaver wrote most of the cuts, and the track list includes "Hit Me With Funky Music", "Loosen Up", and "Tribute To Wes". But some of his best playing comes out on the covers, which have a nice laidback feel, in the best dope Little Beaver style – like "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Let's Stay Together", and "Summertime". Total perfection! CD

An excellent album of smooth soul tracks – very different than Little Beaver's earlier work, but every bit as great! The album's got a warm, mellow finish that's almost a maturation of the sound that Beaver first forged on his Party Down album – with plenty of his deep soul vocals and guitar work laced through the mix, on top of lots of nice keyboard bits from Timmy Thomas! The groove is mellow Miami soul at its best – and in a way, it's this shift that really helped Beaver keep his music alive – giving it a depth that sets it apart from some of the hitbound Miami music of the period. Titles include the classic groover "Concrete Jungle", plus "When Was The Last Time", "Pretty Little Girl", and "I Really Love You Babe". CD

... CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

Ray Barretto's definitely going down different road here – and sounding amazingly great in the process! The record is unlike anything else that Ray did at the time – a stunning batch of fusion tracks, with more of an electric jazz approach than usual – one that's a soaringly sublime blend of Latin, fusion, and soul – all delivered with a near-perfect sound throughout! There's a depth of soul and sophistication here that's hard to match – save, perhaps, by Bobby Vince Paunetto's mid 70s gems – and the group features killer Fender Rhodes from Eddy Martinez, plus a three trumpet frontline dancing together with a sound that's a lot more soul jazz than Latin leads. Billy Cobham plays drums, Art Webb is on flute, and titles include "Lucretia The Cat", "Oracion", "The Other Road", "Little Ting", and "Abidjan Revisited". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from one of our favorite jazz arrangers ever! As proven by some of his impeccable work crafting larger backings for artists on the Verve and Clef labels, Ralph Burns had an approach that was quite different than most of his contemporaries. He worked in a mode that seemed pretty standard at the outset – with an approach to backdrops that worked in broad colors of sound and tone – but he also had a talent for putting in strange modern twists, little surprises, and other embellishments that never detracted from the soloist, and instead seemed to keep them on their toes, forcing them to really come up with some great stuff during their time at the recording. You'll hear plenty of that kind of action going on here – in one of Burns' rarest sets ever, recorded with a group that includes Billy Byers, Joe Newman, Dave Schildkraut, Herbie Mann, and Milt Hinton. Mann's particularly great, and plays a number of horns with ease – and titles include "Cool Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", "What Am I Here For", "I'll Be Around", "Jazz Club USA", and "South Gonzales Street Parade. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest collections of work we've ever seen by The Cadillacs – a set that definitely rocks, but which also presents the group in all their mad and many modes! In some ways, The Cadillacs were sort of an east coast counterpart to The Coasters – able to sing with as much dynamic energy, and with ears for all sorts of unusual tunes that were filled with wit – almost an audio version of a cartoon, given some of the storylines and really animated vocals! The group have always been one of our favorites from back in the day – and this cool collection really gets at all the things that made them so great – with a whopping 34 tracks in all, and the usual great Bear Family notes and production values. Titles include "Sugar Sugar", "Zoom (version 2)", "No Chance", "Down The Road", "Great Googly Moo", "Cool It Fool", "Jay Walker", "Romeo", "Bad Dan McGoon, "Naggity Nag, "Dumbell", "Gloria", "Still You Left Me Baby", "Shock A Doo", "I Want To Know About Love", "Copy Cat", and "A Looka Here". CD

A landmark set of grooves by this excellent Detroit group – a trio who recorded for the local indie Karen, but got a much bigger boost towards fame when their record was picked up by Atlantic! The set's one of the killer 60s Motor Town sets produced by Ollie McLaughlin – and like the rest, it's got a really special edge – music that goes way past any simple 60s soul cliches, and which will make the set one of the real standouts in your collection. Arrangements are by Dale Warren, Riley Hampton, and Mike Terry – and titles include The Capitols' big hit "Cool Jerk", and also includes loads of other great tracks written by Donald Storball of the group – like "Dog & Cat", "Zig Zaggin", "The Kick", and others – plus versions of "Hello Stranger", "Love Makes The World Go Round", and "Good Lovin". LP, Vinyl record album

This is about as strong as you can get from Willie Colon – he's holding a gun to some cat's head on the cover! (And hip hoppers think they invented the gangster image!) More than just a catchy picture, though, the image is really important at a symbolic level – as the guy Willie's capping is an older one, possibly a bloated bandleader from years past, being shoved out of the way by Willie's leaner, cleaner sound and style. The album more than lives up to that picture, too – as it's filled with hard-hitting salsa numbers that show Willie and crew refining their sound even more from their already-strong previous albums. Includes the long cut "Junio 73", a really wonderful number, plus loads of other great ones that include "Guajira Ven", "Vo So", and "Calle Luna Calle Sol". CD

Jess Conrad looks a bit more straight-laced than the usual British rocker of the 60s – and he sounds a bit more here, too – in a set of completely charming tracks that had their birth at the moment when the UK labels weren't above bringing a huge production force to bear on the talents of a singer! Conrad was often as much a screen actor as he was a singer – and in a way, he's maybe a bit like a British version of Tommy Sands – charming at the start, and able to bring a subtle sense of drama to his vocals – one that's never too overdone, but which paces things nicely here – and which creates some surprisingly nice moments in the music, maybe more than you'd expect from his clean teen look. This set features a huge 63 tracks in all – singles issued well into the 70s, along with some unissued tracks too – titles that include "There's Gonne Be A Day", "See The Tinker Ride", "Pussy Cat", "Tempted", "A Little Bit Of Loveliness", "My Idea", "A Conspiracy Of Cards", "Twist My Wrist", "Pretty Jenny", "Unless You Mean It", "Mystery Girl", "Out Of Luck", "There's Gonna Be A Day", "Every Breath I Take", "You Too", "Swimming In Tears", "Lock Up Your Daughters", and "Down Town Tonight". CD

So many great ones – including "School's Out", plus "Grande Finale", "Alma Mater", "Public Animal", "Street Fight", and "Gutter Cat Vs The Jets". LP, Vinyl record album

A great solo performance from Jerome Cooper – not just drums and percussion, but work on flute, balaphone, and other instruments too! Cooper really brings all of his most thoughtful elements into play here – working slowly, and covering space with ideas that really take some time to stretch out and find themselves – then confidently move forward to open up new chapters in the performance – a bit like some of the best early moments of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, but presented here as a solo act! Side one features "The Unpredictability Of Predictability", in four movements – and side two features "Bert The Cat". LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to imagine these guys giving up their day job, as of all the country rock groups at the start of the 70s, they've probably got more instrumental talents than most! In fact, these guys come across more like some of the new wave of bluegrass groups that were appearing on indie labels than you'd expect from some of the bigger label work of the time – harmonizing wonderfully, and serving up instrumentation that's heavy on deft fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and guitar! There's a really fresh approach – a bit like that new way of presenting old roots that groups like Seldom Scene were touching on – and the group serve up their own material, and work by Elton John, Don McLean, and CSNY. Titles include "Huckleberry Hornpipe", "The Fallen Eagle", "My Oklahoma", "Teach Your Children", "Honky Cat", "Snowball", and "Deputy Dalton". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of overlooked gems from Country Gazette – a hip country-styled band from the start of the 70s! First up is Traitor In Our Midst – a pretty great set from a country rock group who clearly have a sense of humor – but one who also have some surprisingly great chops as well! In some way, these guys are a bit like labelmates Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – who also were maybe approaching acoustic roots music with a tongue in cheek vibe at the start – but also provided plenty to get past any sort of joke they were trying to hide behind! There's excellent instrumentation on the set – fiddle, mandolin, and banjo – and the vocals often harmonize at level that would make most bluegrass groups pretty darn proud. Plus, Jim Dickson put the whole thing together with perfect production – on titles that include "Forget Me Not", "Sound Of Goodbye", "Aggravation", "If You're Ever Gonna Love Me", "Anna", "Tried So Hard", "Keep On Pushin", and "Lost Indian". Next is the excellent Don't Give Up Your Day Job – a set that reminds us that of all the country rock groups at the start of the 70s, Country Gazette have probably got more instrumental talents than most! In fact, these guys come across more like some of the new wave of bluegrass groups that were appearing on indie labels than you'd expect from some of the bigger label work of the time – harmonizing wonderfully, and serving up instrumentation that's heavy on deft fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and guitar! There's a really fresh approach – a bit like that new way of presenting old roots that groups like Seldom Scene were touching on – and the group serve up their own material, and work by Elton John, Don McLean, and CSNY. Titles include "Huckleberry Hornpipe", "The Fallen Eagle", "My Oklahoma", "Teach Your Children", "Honky Cat", "Snowball", and "Deputy Dalton". CD

Titles include "I Feel Free", "NSU", "Dreaming", "Cat's Squirrel", "Toad", and "I'm So Glad". LP, Vinyl record album

A masterful tribute from one bad cat to another – and easily one of Miles Davis' greatest electric albums ever! The album's got a powerful, epic sort of feel – a renewed focus after the looser style of Bitches Brew, and the 70s live albums – and one that mixes a deeper funky sound with the raw, exploratory style Davis had let loose a few years before. Michael Henderson's bass is a big part of the power of the record, and John McLaughlin's guitar has never sounded better, or sharper. Teo Macero made the whole thing magic in the studio, and titles include two sidelong funkdafied jams – "Right Off" and "Yesternow". CD

A masterful tribute from one bad cat to another – and easily one of Miles Davis' greatest electric albums ever! The album's got a powerful, epic sort of feel – a renewed focus after the looser style of Bitches Brew, and the 70s live albums – and one that mixes a deeper funky sound with the raw, exploratory style Davis had let loose a few years before. Michael Henderson's bass is a big part of the power of the record, and John McLaughlin's guitar has never sounded better, or sharper. Teo Macero made the whole thing magic in the studio, and titles include two sidelong funkdafied jams – "Right Off" and "Yesternow". CD

Duke Ellington at Newport and in the studio – in a set of tracks recorded both live and away from the concert – but with a really unified feel overall! Duke's group here is in fine fine form – with key late 50s players who include Johnny Hodges on alto, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet, and Cootie Williams, Clark Terry, and Cat Anderson on trumpets – plus a guest appearance by Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax! A few tunes stretch out nicely with that mix of complicated modernism and all-out swing that Duke was bringing to the table at the time – and although initially aimed at the popular festival crowd of the time, the album's got more than enough depth to please fans of his other 50s classics on Columbia. Titles include "Juniflip", "El Gato", "Just Scratchin The Surface", "Princes Blue", "Multicolored Blue", "Happy Reunion", and "Jazz Festival Jazz". CD features 4 bonus tracks not on the original album – including "Happy Reunion", "Mr Gentle & Mr Cool", "Jazz Festival Jazz", and "Feet Bone". CD

Excellent Duke Ellington work from the late 50s – written and recorded during a period in which he was reemerging with a stronger jazz vision than ever before! The set was written by Ellington and Strayhorn – and dedicated to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario – but forget the Bard-inspired roots of the tracks, because the shimmering moods of the pieces is pure Ellington – with a richness of feeling that's totally great, and a sound that's wonderfully fresh, given that most of these numbers aren't overplayed Ellington compositions! Players include Cat Anderson and Clark Terry on trumpets, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, and Johnny Hodges on alto – and titles include "The Telecasters", "Circle Of Fourths", "Sonnet For Caesar", "Sonnet To Hank Cinq", and "Such Sweet Thunder". CD also features 3 previously unissued tracks, and a bunch of alternate takes and outtakes – for a total of 22 cuts in all! CD

A set of some the coolest material that the legendary trumpeter Maynard Ferguson cut throughout the 70s – from fiercely energetic, large combo takes on standards, to looser, more simmering styles of timeless jazz, to spacey jazz funk! Not to be confused with Ferguson's similarly titled early 60s set, this Maynard is a compilation of his creatively exploratory 70s years – on records like New Vintage, Live At Jimmy's, Carnival and the Bob James-produced Primal Scream – really showing the breadth of his astonishing range. Great stuff played with large groups and with Maynard at his most diverse. Includes "Airegin", "Stay Loose With Bruce", 'Round Midnight", "The Cheshire Cat Walk", "Chameleon", "Birdland", "Naima", "Got The Spirit" and more. This CD edition has 2 bonus tracks: the fun, funky "Rocky II Disco" and "Gabriel". CD

Prepare to discover your new favorite artist – a tremendously hip cat who never got his due – and who should be held as high on these shores as British talents like Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, or John Martyn! Like all of those three, Davy Graham is a complete original – a guy with an acoustic guitar, but light years beyond familiar folk – often using all these jazzy changes in his style, and mixing his own music with songs by Dylan, The Beatles, Muddy Waters, and even Art Blakey – but all in ways that are completely transformative, and which maybe use the familiar songs just as a way for Graham to show us how individual he can be – because even a song we know sounds nothing like the original. His guitar work is superb – full of all the fresh ideas, unusual phrasings, and special sounds that the best of his generation were bringing to acoustic music – and titles include "Lotus Blossom", "Down Along The Cove", "Stan's Guitar", "Bulgarian Dance", "Buhaina Chant", "I'm Ready", "Getting Better", "Hornpipe For Harpsichord Played Upon Guitar", and "Pretty Polly". LP, Vinyl record album

A sound library album from the Italian 70s scene – but one that's more like a jazz record overall, given that it's the product of musician Sandro Brugnolini, working under an assumed name – a cat who gave the world plenty of great jazz records in his day! There's a nice mix of keyboards on the set – acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, and other keys – used in small combo modes that move between upbeat groovers, jazz dance numbers, and a few mellower moments – a really well-rounded record that also has some nice guitar work in the group too! Titles include "Frilioni", "Alta Vegetazione", "Topgrafie", "Sugar's Bread", "Quorum", "Veline", and "Constellation's Colours". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal sides from Herbie Hancock – amazing material recorded for Warner Brothers in the years between his time at Blue Note and his big fame at Columbia Records – all sides that definitely show Hancock as one mighty righteous cat! Herbie's really stretching past his more conventional jazz of earlier years here – working both with a bit more electricity in his keys, and some larger arrangements that have a wonderful sense of flow and funk – a groove that definitely puts Hancock on a par with Quincy Jones at his funky best during the early 70s! The album's filled with great grooves pulled from the Warner Brothers albums by Hancock – including some quite long numbers – titles that include the funky nuggets "Wiggle Waggle", "Lil Brother", and "Tell Me A Bedtime Story" – plus "Sleeping Giant", "Crossings", "Quazar", "Ostinato", and "You'll Know When You Get There". CD

The genius of Neal Hefti comes through for us again! Have you ever stopped to listen to the Odd Couple theme? Really listen to it – break it apart with your ears, and let the strange and complex nature of the groove sink into your brain? It's mad stuff, we tell you – one of the most genius moments ever in 60s scoring! This soundtrack features a few versions of Hefti's amazing tune – including one stunning vocal version, with very strange lyrics about Oscar and Felix that almost seem to "out" them as a real couple! The record mixes music from the film with snippets of dialogue – and titles include "Clean Poker", "The Odd Couple", "End Title", "Curse Of The Cat People", "Dirty Poker", "Metropole", and "Down With The Lights". LP, Vinyl record album