An extremely eclectic selection of groovers – with that spiritual jazzy vibe that you'd expect from the London scene, and from the crates of the legendary Russ Dewbury. The compilation has a similar feel to the Freedom Time set – with a batch of tracks that move beyond the usual heavy funk numbers to include some excellent jazz vocal numbers, and some other more complicated tracks that have a sweet fusiony sound. Just about all the tracks on here are super-obscure, and you won't find them easily on original vinyl – nor in such a set as lovingly put together as this one! Titles include "Morning Spring" by Copeland Davis, "Afro Beat" by Jazz Techniques, "Let The Sunshine In" by Sons & Daughters Of Life", "If You Can Live With Yourself" by Dale Dennard, "Gang Progress" by Andre Ceccarelli, "Partido Alto" by Airto & Flora, "Pretty Bird" by Terea, "No Other Love But You" by Clarice Labbe, "Gemstones" by Jack Wilson, "Morning" by Lorez Alexandria, and "Frozen Tundra Lady" by Steamheat. Loads more, and packed with rare tracks! CD

With Freddie Greene on guitar, George Duvivier on bass, Eddie Shaughnessy on drums, Roy Eldridge on trumpet, Al Grey and Billy Byers on trombone, and Eddie Lockjaw Davis on tenor sax. LP, Vinyl record album

Really great work from the Kent/Modern family of labels on the LA scene of the 60s – a company that initially broke big during the postwar years of R&B, but continued to record a huge amount of wonderful artists as the years went on! Because of their ties to R&B in the previous decade, Kent also had a great ear for the deeper side of soul music – so there's plenty of tracks on this set that may well have come from Memphis, Muscle Shoals, or other points south – mixed in with others that have a cool Cali vibe, including a few great early funk tracks, and some crossover gospel gems! The collection is the sort that Ace does the best – and is filled with rare singles, unreleased tracks, and other gems – all supported by very detailed notes. Titles include "At Last" by Jimmy bee, "Where She Att" by ZZ Hill, "Like I Do" by Bobby John, "Don't Believe Him" by Stacy Johnson, "Mighty Clouds Of Joy" by BPS Revolution, "Nobody But Me" by The Other Brothers, "Ghetto Child" by Johnny Copeland & His Soul Agents, "What Is This World Coming To" by Charles Taylor, "Jodine" by Earl Foster, "It's Getting Late" by Al King, "Whole World Down On You" by Larry Davis, "The Good Side Of My Girl" by Clay Hammond, "I'll Be Standing By" by Chuck Walker & The VIPs, "You're Still My Baby" by Venetta Fields, and "Rock Me Baby" by Millie Foster. CD

One of the greatest albums ever from organist Charles Earland – a double-length set that's filled with spiritual, soaring grooves! The style here is a perfect blend of the rougher soul jazz of Earland's roots with some of the spacier styles of his later recordings – served up in a sound that's majestic and powerful, almost with an indie soul jazz sort of vibe overall! There's an immediate urgency to most numbers that's totally undeniable – a lesson learned from the electric experiments of Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, but fused down into a core essence – then let loose on a soaring journey to the heavens. Earland plays Hammond, moog, clavinet, and Arp on the set – and other players include Joe Henderson on tenor, Dave Hubbard on alto and soprano sax, Eddie Henderson and Freddie Hubbard on trumpets, Marc Elf on guitar, Harvey Mason on drums, and the incredible Patrick Gleeson on synthesizers – bringing in a spacey edge to the record that's really amazing! Rudy Copeland sings a wonderful vocal on the title cut, "Leaving This Planet" – and all other instrumental cuts include "Red Clay", "Warp Factor 9", "Tyner", "Van Jay", "Never Ending Melody", "Mason's Galaxy", and "Asteroid". CD

A record that documents a meeting of two giants of modern jazz in the 50s – the angular genius Thelonious Monk, and the younger John Coltrane – a tenor player who was probably better-known for his work with Miles Davis during this period! The recordings are more Monk's than Coltrane's – Monk was signed to Riverside at the time – and the set mixes in three quartet tracks that have the pair working with Wilbur Ware on bass and Shadow Wilson on drums – plus two more from the sessions for the famous Monk's Music record – alternate takes from those sessions, with a larger group that features Gigi Gryce on alto, Coleman Hawkins on additional tenor, and Ray Copeland on trumpet! Quartet tracks include "Ruby My Dear", "Trinkle Trinkle", and "Nutty" – with the larger group on alternates of "Off Minor" and "Epistrophy" – and a solo performance by Monk on an alternate of "Functional". CD

A record that documents a meeting of two giants of modern jazz in the 50s – the angular genius Thelonious Monk, and the younger John Coltrane – a tenor player who was probably better-known for his work with Miles Davis during this period! The recordings are more Monk's than Coltrane's – Monk was signed to Riverside at the time – and the set mixes in three quartet tracks that have the pair working with Wilbur Ware on bass and Shadow Wilson on drums – plus two more from the sessions for the famous Monk's Music record – alternate takes from those sessions, with a larger group that features Gigi Gryce on alto, Coleman Hawkins on additional tenor, and Ray Copeland on trumpet! Quartet tracks include "Ruby My Dear", "Trinkle Trinkle", and "Nutty" – with the larger group on alternates of "Off Minor" and "Epistrophy" – and a solo performance by Monk on an alternate of "Functional". CD

A record that documents a meeting of two giants of modern jazz in the 50s – the angular genius Thelonious Monk, and the younger John Coltrane – a tenor player who was probably better-known for his work with Miles Davis during this period! The recordings are more Monk's than Coltrane's – Monk was signed to Riverside at the time – and the set mixes in three quartet tracks that have the pair working with Wilbur Ware on bass and Shadow Wilson on drums – plus two more from the sessions for the famous Monk's Music record – alternate takes from those sessions, with a larger group that features Gigi Gryce on alto, Coleman Hawkins on additional tenor, and Ray Copeland on trumpet! Quartet tracks include "Ruby My Dear", "Trinkle Trinkle", and "Nutty" – with the larger group on alternates of "Off Minor" and "Epistrophy" – and a solo performance by Monk on an alternate of "Functional". LP, Vinyl record album

20 songs from Larry Davis, Johnny Copeland, Lowell Fulson, T-Bone Walker, BB King, Jimmy Nelson, Ray Charles, Saunders King, Jimmy Witherspoon, Mari Jones & more. CD

One of the greatest albums ever from organist Charles Earland – a double-length set that's filled with spiritual, soaring grooves! The style here is a perfect blend of the rougher soul jazz of Earland's roots with some of the spacier styles of his later recordings – served up in a sound that's majestic and powerful, almost with an indie soul jazz sort of vibe overall! There's an immediate urgency to most numbers that's totally undeniable – a lesson learned from the electric experiments of Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, but fused down into a core essence – then let loose on a soaring journey to the heavens. Earland plays Hammond, moog, clavinet, and Arp on the set – and other players include Joe Henderson on tenor, Dave Hubbard on alto and soprano sax, Eddie Henderson and Freddie Hubbard on trumpets, Marc Elf on guitar, Harvey Mason on drums, and the incredible Patrick Gleeson on synthesizers – bringing in a spacey edge to the record that's really amazing! Rudy Copeland sings a wonderful vocal on the title cut, "Leaving This Planet" – and all other instrumental cuts include "Red Clay", "Warp Factor 9", "Tyner", "Van Jay", "Never Ending Melody", "Mason's Galaxy", and "Asteroid". LP, Vinyl record album