A really great record – and one that's hardly what you'd guess from the title! Sure, the Cleopatra movie was a giant hit in the 60s – but it also gave the chance for some jazzmen to explore more exotic territory – as was also the case with material from Spartacus and Lawrence Of Arabia! Tenorist Paul Gonsalves plays a nice batch of soul jazz takes on Cleopatra – and he brings his gutsy solo style into play with a set of groovy arrangements of "Egyptian" tunes, both from the score of the film and from the pen of players on the session. And speaking of players, Dick Hyman's on organ, and he gives the album a nice nice groovy sound that works very well with Gonsalves' sharp-edged tenor. Titles include "Caesar & Cleopatra Theme", "Bluz For Liz", "Cleo's Asp", "Cleopatra's Lament", and "Action In Alexandria". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A 60s party record – hidden under the guise of an historical album about Cleopatra! LP, Vinyl record album

A great little look not just at a small indie label of the 60s – but also that decade's larger underground music scene – served up here on a set of recordings done for the tiny Cleopatra label in New Jersey! There's definitely lots of those "wanna be hitmaker" cuts that can make a tiny label so great – but Cleopatra also had a great ear for talents who ran around the farther range of pop as well – cool female singers with a nice slinky sound, or male artists who might have been going for deeper styles that wouldn't really flourish more strongly until a few years later in the mainstream – all captured with surprising care and taste by label head Tommy Falcone! As with the best of the other Numero sets like this, the story behind the label is as great as the music itself – quite compelling, given that Falcone and most of his artists were just a stone's throw away from New York – but often a world away, given the gap between mainstream fame and indie obscurity. The set features 26 tracks in all – and includes some by The Inmates, probably the biggest act to come from Falcone's studios – plus Bernadette Carroll, The Tabbys, Dick Hunter, Vickie & The Van Dykes, The Ovations, Centuries, Hallmarks, Johnny Silvio, Jimmy Davis, Tommy Manno, Eugene Viscione, and The Shandillons. CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

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Ohio Players bounce back for this late 80s album – coming across with a leaner groove than before, and a style that's right up there with the best mainstream funk of the time! Most instrumentation is electric – plenty of beats and keyboards here – but the group still seem to hang onto the looser, freakier style they brought to their Mercury work of the 70s – a mode that's definitely updated here with more 80s aesthetics that run through the vocals and production, but still in a way that doesn't have the Players straying far from their roots! Titles include "Get 2 The Good Part", "Show Off", "I'm Madd", "Vibe Alive", "Just A Minute", and "Try". CD

Ohio Players bounce back for this late 80s album – coming across with a leaner groove than before, and a style that's right up there with the best mainstream funk of the time! Most instrumentation is electric – plenty of beats and keyboards here – but the group still seem to hang onto the looser, freakier style they brought to their Mercury work of the 70s – a mode that's definitely updated here with more 80s aesthetics that run through the vocals and production, but still in a way that doesn't have the Players straying far from their roots! Titles include "Get 2 The Good Part", "Show Off", "I'm Madd", "Vibe Alive", "Just A Minute", and "Try". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... CD

Amazing sounds from The Ohio Players – the only live performance ever issued by the group, and a set that captures them right at the height of their mid 70s fame! The sound here is every bit as tight as on their classic studio albums for Mercury Records, but the music has a lot more bite, too – a sharpness that really comes through in the live setting, where the bass, drums, and other instruments come across with a raw power that's really incredible – a great reminder that groups like this could do everything they did, long before ever walking into a studio. Titles include "Alone", "Who'd She Coo", "Love Rollercoaster", "Skin Tight/Fopp", "Drum Solo", "Sweet Sticky Thing", and "Fire (parts 1 & 2)". LP, Vinyl record album

Man and machine – a perfect summation of the Kraftwerk genius, delivered perfectly on this classic late 70s set! The album's got a bit more punch than some of their previous efforts – almost a not towards the dancefloor at times, yet hardly the disco you'd get from other groups of the period – and more a prefiguring of the sounds of the future from various UK and European sources! There's some great electro moments that made the record a favorite for the New York scene in the early 70s – including some wicked vocoder bits, and tight beats on a few numbers. Titles include the excellent "The Model" – plus "The Man Machine", "Neon Lights", "The Robots", "Spacelab", and "Metropolis". CD

The scene may be changing, but nothing can dampen the fire of the great Bud Powell – and, if anything, this fifth installment in Blue Note's "Amazing" series may well have the pianist at his mature best! The rhythm duo are wonderful – more late 50s modern hardbop than some of Bud's accompanists in years past – the great Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums, both of whom can bring the fire when needed, yet also craft their lines with these subtle touches that really match Powell's incredible dexterity on piano. Tunes are shorter than usual for a Blue Note album of this vintage – but mostly because all three players pack a hell of a lot into a very small space – and really make timeless magic on titles that include "Down With It", "Cleopatra's Dream", "Gettin' There", "Danceland", "Borderick", and "Duid Dee". CD features a bonus alternate take of "Comin Up". CD

Possibly not as righteous as you might expect from the title or queen images on the cover – but a pretty nice little album nonetheless, and maybe the best so far from the Ritchie Family! The trio are working with disco maestro Jacques Morali here – and side one features the extended "African Queens" suite – a long track that tells the tales of Nefertiti, Cleopatra, and Sheba – all set to lush disco rhythms! Side two features some shorter numbers – one of which is a great remake of "Quiet Village", given some great disco rhythms and lyrics – plus "Summer Dance" and "Voodoo". LP, Vinyl record album

Foundation is right, in more than one sense of the word! The Brentford Avenue stalwarts are showcased here on a nice double album compilation of classic and groundbreaking early ska and rocksteady tracks that would become the template for so much Jamaican music to follow. The team of Coxsone Dodd with Don Drummond, Lloyd Brevett, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Roland Alphonso, Jerry Hinds, Dizzy Moore and Johnny Moore was unstoppable, it's hard to imagine where the reggae sound would be without this seminal music! 32 tracks in all, including "Dick Tracy", "Alley Pang", "Christine Keeler", "Fidel Castro", "Beardsman Ska", "Third Man Ska", "Simmer Down", "Exodus", "King Solomon", 'Eastern Standard Time", "I Should Have Known Better", "Hot Cargo", "Black Sunday", 'Ska La Parisienne", "Don D Lion", "Third Man Ska", "Nimrod", "Cleopatra", "Addis Ababa", "Silver Dollar", "Killer Diller", "Naked City" and "Ringo's Theme". CD

An incredible collection of work from the great John Cameron – kind of a secret hero on the British scene of the late 60s and early 70s – as most of his work was done for bigger artists at the time, or came out on obscure sound library sessions! Yet despite that obscurity, Cameron was a true hero of the time – a jazz musician who was able to bring a fresh sensibility to the studio when supporting the work of key artists on their important records – maybe most famously in collaboration with Donovan, but heard here working with a variety of different rock, folk, soul, and other artists – all of whom really benefit from the John Cameron touch! We've always loved Cameron's work in the studio, are always thrilled to see his name on a record – and this collection is maybe the first to really showcase his contributions to the world in a really unified way – all with the usual Ace Records strong attention to details and great liner notes too. Titles include "Barnes Bridge" by Harold McNair, "Willow's Harp" by World Of Oz, "Boat Trip" by Gordon Haskell, "Ding Dong The Wicked Witch Is Dead" by Julie Felix, "The Observation" by Donovan, "Avenues & Alleyways" by Tony Christie, "Everybody Needs Somebody" by The Fascinations, "Isn't This Where We Came In" by Lionel Bart, "A Road To Nowhere" by Lesly Duncan, "Open Your Window" by Ella Fitzgerald, "Primrose Hill" by Kathe Green, "Cleopatra Jones" by Bobby Harrison, and "Brother" by CCS – plus "Half Forgotten Daydreams", "Heat Haze", and "Kes" by Cameron himself. CD

The title certainly gets this one right – as The Delcos are one of the heaviest 60s vocal groups you could ever hope to hear! The group were very obscure, even in their day – as they hailed from the "out of the spotlight" scene of South Bend/Mishiwaka, Indiana, where they recorded most of the work on this CD. Only a few of the tracks on the set have ever been issued – and those go for quite a bit on the collectors market these days – and the rest have been pulled from the vaults of Ebony Records, issued here for the first time ever! The group have a fantastic harmony approach that bridges the doo wop and early soul years – and they sing with very little accompaniment, so that the vocals come across very strongly. Titles include "Peace Of Mind", "Arabia", "Three Little Words", "Still Miss You So", "Cleopatra", "Come On Back", "Give Me A Chance", "When You Dance", and "Just A Memory". 28 tracks in all! CD

A much-needed look at the early jazz years of Paul Horn – featuring tracks recorded for 3 different Columbia albums of the early 60s – all of them great! At the time, Horn had a free-thinking sound that was one of the most lyrical in US jazz – working on alto and flute with a groove that really presaged the modal sound to come on the European scene – making equal use of bossa, exotic, and soul jazz rhythms – and working out a sound that was completely sublime! The set features Horn working with some great groups that include Emil Richards on vibes throughout – plus either Paul Moer or Victor Feldman on piano, and a variety of drummers and bass players that groove with a sweet west coast vibe! Tracks are from the albums Sound Of Paul Horn, Profile Of A Jazz Musician, and Impressions Of Cleopatra – and the CD features 16 titles that include "Benny's Buns", "Love & Hate", "Cleopatra's Palace Music", "Lazy Afternoon", "Anthony & Cleopatra Theme", "Yazz Per Favore", "Short Politician", and "Count Your Change". CD

JJ Johnson is known to most folks as a jazz trombonist – but during the early 70s, he did some fantastic work in the studio for a handful of films – including blacksploitation classics Cleopatra Brown, Across 110th Street, and Willie Dynamite! Johnson's legacy in that world is short, but is augmented strongly here by this great collection of unreleased cues for movies and television – some short, some long, some funky, some sweet – and all of them pretty darn groovy! Most of the material is from sources that are completely unknown, and a few tracks are rare extras from bigger cinematic projects – all making their debut here in a set that's essential both for soundtrack collectors and fans of 70s funk. Titles include "Here Come De Fuzz", "Moog Rock", "Sun Country", "The Zeroids", "The Bold Ones", "Top Of The Heap", "Angry Astronaut", "Better Days", and "Mistoso" – plus the groovy "Mr M", which is a cigarette commercial with a harmony vocal! LP, Vinyl record album

Tracks inlcude "Love Train" by The O'Jays, "Soul Makossa" by Manu Dibango, "Stoned Out of My Mind" by The Chi-Lites, "Theme from Cleopatra Jones" by Mainstreeters & Joe Simon, "Love I Lost, Pt. 1" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, "Show and Tell" by Al Wilson, "Boogie Down" by Eddie Kendricks, "Jungle Boogie" by Kool & the Gang, "T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia)" by MFSB & The Three Degrees, "Lookin' for a Love" by Bobby Womack, "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely" by The Main Ingredient, and "Be Thankful for What You Got" by William DeVaughn . CD

Beautiful sounds from the Entourage ensemble – a group who were years ahead of their time, but hardly got recognized in the 70s – because all of their work was issued on the Folkways label! In some ways, the group grew out of two different strands – both the acoustic underground of the Takoma scene, and some of the spiritual changes in jazz in the post-Coltrane Years. Their music is a really meditative blend of acoustic elements with a few electric touches – used in ways that start in jazz, then move way beyond! Instrumentation includes guitar, flute, keyboards, violin, and mbira – coming together with really unusual inflections that are partly borrowed from Eastern sources – like Noh theater, or Balinese music – but which unfurl with a more freewheeling, American underground vibe as well! No sounds are ever too sharp, and there's almost a hint of the instrumental experiments in the 80s underground – such as work by Penguin Cafe Orchestra or Soft Verdict – but with an earthier feel overall. This great collection features lots of unissued work by the group – with titles that include "Journey By Water", "Days (early version)", "Millbrook (original version)", "Tarbox Poltergeist (alt take)", "E Minor Piano", "Soft Fist", "Euphoric Bells (fragment)", "Military Music 1", and "Sleazy Sue" – and the 3CD set includes loads of extra material, including a full disc of outttakes from the Neptune Collection & Cleopatra and collected wokds from '72-'76. 30 tracks on 3CDs! CD

The scene may be changing, but nothing can dampen the fire of the great Bud Powell – and, if anything, this fifth installment in Blue Note's "Amazing" series may well have the pianist at his mature best! The rhythm duo are wonderful – more late 50s modern hardbop than some of Bud's accompanists in years past – the great Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums, both of whom can bring the fire when needed, yet also craft their lines with these subtle touches that really match Powell's incredible dexterity on piano. Tunes are shorter than usual for a Blue Note album of this vintage – but mostly because all three players pack a hell of a lot into a very small space – and really make timeless magic on titles that include "Down With It", "Cleopatra's Dream", "Gettin' There", "Danceland", "Borderick", and "Duid Dee". LP, Vinyl record album

A great celebration of the music of Matt Berry – a figure who's known to most for his comedic work on screen, but who also turns out to be a hell of a singer/songwriter in his own right! Matt's music is completely different from his acting – often very open and personal, but not without an occasional moment of wit – as the singer works with a host of vintage keyboards the often form the core of his music, graced with guitar and more familiar instrumentation too. This set brings together some of Barry's best moments over his recording career for the Acid Jazz label – with titles that include "World In Action", "Summer Sun", "Take A Bow", "Something In My Eye", "say It Again", "Music For Insomniacs (part 4)", "Solstice", "Obsessed & So Obscure", "The Innkeeper's Song (live)", "October Sun", "Badger's Wake", "Snuff Box Theme", and "Middle Of The East". CD2 features many more rarities and unreleased tracks! CD3 features more Phantom First tracks that include "Covered In Clowns", "You Danced All Night", "A Shot Rang Out In The Forest", "Take A Bow", "The Preacher's House", "I'm Going", "Peter Cleopatra & The Windmill", and "Where's My Love". CD4 is titled Live At A Festival – and features more live cuts – and the whole thing is packaged in a very nice book-style cover! CD

One of the earliest albums on Motown – and the only one ever cut by Eddie Holland! Eddie's best known as a producer, arranger, and songwriter – part of the holy Holland-Dozier-Holland trinity – but back in his early days, he was a soulful tenor, with a sound and style that was a bit like Jackie Wilson or Sam Cooke. This album's a pretty decent batch of tunes with an early Motown feel – cut during the early 60s, with that perfect bridge between R&B and soul. Eddie produced along with William Stevenson – and titles include "Take A Chance On Me", "If Cleopatra Took A Chance", "Last Night I Had A Vision", "What About Me", and "Jamie", which was a relatively big single. The original album's expanded here by a huge number of bonus singles – for a set list of 31 tracks that includes "Magic Mirror", "Come On Home", "A Little Bit Of Lovin", "Brenda", "Baby Shake", "Welcome Back", and "Everybody's Going". CD

The scene may be changing, but nothing can dampen the fire of the great Bud Powell – and, if anything, this fifth installment in Blue Note's "Amazing" series may well have the pianist at his mature best! The rhythm duo are wonderful – more late 50s modern hardbop than some of Bud's accompanists in years past – the great Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums, both of whom can bring the fire when needed, yet also craft their lines with these subtle touches that really match Powell's incredible dexterity on piano. Tunes are shorter than usual for a Blue Note album of this vintage – but mostly because all three players pack a hell of a lot into a very small space – and really make timeless magic on titles that include "Down With It", "Cleopatra's Dream", "Gettin' There", "Danceland", "Borderick", and "Duid Dee". CD features a bonus alternate take of "Comin Up". CD

A great little groover from Johnny Hammond Smith – and one of his rarest albums! The record may be rare because it's got a strange cover that features a comic character that looks like the Green Lantern, and Prestige might have gotten nervous about copyright infringement – but more likely they held it back because the record was such a good one! Johnny's in great form on the Hammond, and his combo really cooks nicely – with Floyd Smith on guitar, Earl Edwards on tenor, and Houston Person sitting in for the version of the title cut. The set features a great version of Smith's groover "Cleopatra & The African Knight", plus "Benny's Diggin", "There Is No Greater Love", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "The Stinger", and "Brother John". CD

Rare live work from the legendary Three Sounds trio – tracks recorded at a small jazz club in Seattle, at a time when the group were turning out their classic albums on Blue Note and Verve! There's a looser, more laidback vibe to some of these cuts than those studio records – and Gene Harris is especially amazing on his solos – blowing our mind even more than before with his deft, soulful approach to the keys – almost hitting Bobby Timmons territory on some of these tracks, given his non-stop ability to groove while still opening up on the melody! All tracks also feature the great Andy Simpkins on bass – a wonderfully warm player who really shapes the sound – and drummers include Carl Burnett, Bill Dowdy, and Kalil Madi – depending on the tunes. Material was recorded in 1964, 1966, and 1968 – and very well-recorded, too – presented here with a clarity that rivals their albums of the decade. Titles include "AM Blues", "Girl Talk", "Blue Genes", "Night Has A Thousand Eyes", "Rat Down Front", "The Boogaloo", "Caesar & Cleopatra", and "The Shadow Of Your Smile". CD

Incredible postwar bop recordings by one of the hippest groups in Germany! During the 50s, pianist Jutta Hipp cut a number of straighter sides for Blue Note that were recorded in the US – but this set features earlier German recordings, some later issued by Blue Note – all done with a killer quintet that features a young Joki Freund on tenor sax and Emil Mangelsdorff on alto! Jutta's core trio features Hans Kresse on bass and Karl Sanner on drums – but the real charm of the records is the horn players – working with amazing interplay that really makes the record shine – working in unison on many of the intros to the songs, cutting back and forth like a double-edged sword, then breaking out into wonderfully compact solos that easily rival the best of the west coast at the time! Titles include "Cleopatra", "Mon Petit", "Yogi", "Variations", "Laura", "Simone", "Two Oranges", and "Cool Dogs". CD