A great lost crime jazz soundtrack – penned by Elmer Bernstein in the style of some of his best work from the 50s! There's a real Man With The Golden Arm feel here – as the orchestra rises and falls in a mode matching the Staccato title – and solos break out with a fluid and brazen sort of feel – plenty of jazz to show the west coast origin of the recording! Players include Don Fagerquist and Pete Candoli on trumpets, Dick Nash on trombone, Ted Nash and Dave Pell on saxes, John Williams on piano, and Barney Kessell on guitar. The show itself is pretty darn cool – and starred a young John Cassavetes as detective Johnny Staccato – a role that supposedly gave Cassavetes enough money to shoot the film Shadows in his free time! Great all the way through – with tracks that include "Staccato's Theme", "Thinking Of Baby", "Poi & Juice", "Deadly Game", "Night Mood", "Jazz At Waldo's", "Like Having Fun", and "MacDougal Street Special". LP, Vinyl record album

22 songs from Warren Smith, Wade & Dick, Jim Williams, Ray Harris, Carl Perkins, Edwin Bruce, Billy Riley, Tommy Blake, Hayden Thompson, Barbara Pittman, and Bill Justis. CD

An excellent set of funky jazz tracks from the legendary MPS label! The folks at Crippled Dick have outdone themselves this time – and have even surpassed their previous set of MPS grooves by collecting a totally excellent batch of cuts, most of which haven't ever been reissued before! If you pay attention to jazz funk at all, you'll know that the German-based MPS label is one of the world's best sources for incredible grooves – and the label had a 20 year tradition of mixing musics from many different sources, and for delivering some of the most groundbreaking funk of the 20th century! Titles on this stunning set include "Titty Chickie Fitterbug" by Jasper Van't Hof, "Faces In Reflection 2" by George Duke, "Scratches" by Charly Antolini, "Knock Out" by Dieter Reith, "Miss Maggie" by Rolf Kuhn, "Powerstart" by Roland Kovac, "Baiafrock/Volker" by The New Dave Pike Set, "Volcano's Daughter" by Nelson Riddle, and "Bulgarian Beans" by Rimona Francis. LP also contains the bonus cuts "Sarava" by Baden Powell, "The World Is A Ghetto" by George Shearing, and "Grand Nite For Swinging" by Mary Lou Williams. LP, Vinyl record album

22 songs from Warren Smith, Wade & Dick, Jim Williams, Ray Harris, Carl Perkins, Edwin Bruce, Billy Riley, Tommy Blake, Hayden Thompson, Barbara Pittman, and Bill Justis. CD

Beautiful Verve madness, and a darkly twisted batch of easy instrumentals, put together by the silent genius Pat Williams. The songs are mostly covers – like "Whiter Shade of Pale", "Get Back", "Joy Joy", and "River Deep Mountain High" – and the record's got a great version of Edu Lobo's "Ponteio". Dick Hyman plays organ, and there's lots of other nice jazz players in the group! LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite-ever albums from Mel Torme – a set that sparkles with the same smooth swing as his best late 50s dates for Bethlehem records! Like those sets, this one features Torme's voice really taking off over some tight jazzy charts – arranged by Johnny Williams, Shorty Rogers, and Dick Hazard – all in styles close to those used previously by Marty Paich. But almost even better is the New York theme of the record – surprising, given the anti-NYC vibe of Torme's classic "California Suite" – but perfect, too, as it really ties the whole thing together wonderfully – creating this beautiful picture of the Big Apple in the postwar years. Titles include the greatest version of "Sunday In New York" you'll ever hear – plus "Let Me Off Uptown", "Autumn In New York", "New York New York", "Manhattan", and "My Time Of Day". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge tribute to the long legend of country music on Capitol Records – with an especially strong focus on Bakersfield work! The set features 60 tracks in all – with work from Johnny Gimble, Merle Haggard, Louvin Brothers, Skeets McDonald, Tommy Collins, Jimmie Davis, Leon Payne, Tex Williams, Hank Thompson, Faron Young, Wanda Jackson, Joe Maphis, Dick Curless, Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant, Ferlin Husky, and others – but oddly no Buck Owens! LP, Vinyl record album

Features mammoth Redd Foxx vinyl, CD, video, and TV discography of over 200 titles; a Rudy Ray Moore interview; Dickies interview; Pat Boone interview, with dozens of musicians and writers debating whether he should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Swamp Dogg interview; Andre Williams meets Los Straitjackets; Cub Koda eulogy; Xuxa article; Maceo interview; Kid Creole interview; T. Valentine photo feature; and lots lots more! Magazine

With Emmett Berry on trumpet, Dickie Wells on trombone, Earl Warren on alto and clarinet, Buddy Tate on tenor, Al Williams on piano, Gene Ramey on bass, and Herbie Lovelle on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Rare work by Dicky Wells Big Seven, Sandy Williams Big Eight, Joe Thomas Big Six, and JC Higginbothams Big Eight. Lots of big groups here! LP, Vinyl record album

Accompanied by Emmett Berry, Aaron Bell, Vic Dickenson, Marlowe Morris, Bobby Henderson, and Bobby Donaldson. CD

A bit more of a high concept album than some of Wynton Marsalis' previous efforts – a set with a few more added horns on side one, and an extended suite on side two! The work definitely shows Wynton's increasing concern with jazz history – his desire to embrace, and sometimes represent, decades of past musical expression in his work – a real Lincoln Center sort of impulse, but one that still comes off relatively well here, and without as much hoke as you'd expect. Side one has Wynton working with regular pianist Marcus Roberts, plus Todd Williams on tenor and soprano sax and Wes Anderson on alto – and side two features a completely different group, much more in an older-styled jazz vein – with Michael White on clarinet, Danny Barker on banjo, Teddy Riley on trumpet, and Freddie Lonzo on trombone. Titles include "The Majesty Of The Blues", "Hickory Dickory Dock", and the expanded "New Orleans Function" suite. CD

A bit more of a high concept album than some of Wynton Marsalis' previous efforts – a set with a few more added horns on side one, and an extended suite on side two! The work definitely shows Wynton's increasing concern with jazz history – his desire to embrace, and sometimes represent, decades of past musical expression in his work – a real Lincoln Center sort of impulse, but one that still comes off relatively well here, and without as much hoke as you'd expect. Side one has Wynton working with regular pianist Marcus Roberts, plus Todd Williams on tenor and soprano sax and Wes Anderson on alto – and side two features a completely different group, much more in an older-styled jazz vein – with Michael White on clarinet, Danny Barker on banjo, Teddy Riley on trumpet, and Freddie Lonzo on trombone. Titles include "The Majesty Of The Blues", "Hickory Dickory Dock", and the expanded "New Orleans Function" suite. LP, Vinyl record album

A previously unreleased live date from west coast vocalist Bev Kelly – captured here at the end of the 70s in a great small club setting! The album's quite different than Bev's earlier work of the 60s – more dynamic, but never too over the top – just enough sense of freedom and presence to show a great evolution in her music over the course of the 70s. A number of the album's best tracks are originals penned by Kelly – and as before, she shows a lot more of a jazz-based sensibility in her music – a style that's not content to just sing standards in traditional torch modes, and which instead really takes off with the tunes – in the way you might expect from a more dynamic horn player! The group's great too – a combo headed by drummer Al Williams, who also happened to own the club the set was recorded in – with piano and electric piano by Dwight Dickerson, tenor by Rudy Johnson, guitar by Richard Madariaga, and bass by Leroy Vinnegar. Titles include "Lament", "One Day", "Welcome To My Heart", "Nonchalantly", "Drinking Again", "Reflections", "Our Time To Love", "Bein Green", and "Soul Eyes". CD