Classic recordings by Jamal's early trio – with Israel Crosby on bass and Ray Crawford on guitar. Tracks include "Squeeze Me", "Perfida", "Love For Sale", "Rico Pulpa", "Autumn Leaves", "Don't Blame Me", and "Black Beauty". LP, Vinyl record album

The hands of Webster Lewis are on a classic Fender Rhodes on the cover – and you'll hear plenty of that instrument on this collection, along with all the other many keyboards that Lewis can handle so well! Webster started out as a straighter jazzman in his early years, but by the time of these tracks he was at the top of his game in the world of soulful fusion – picking up a torch first lit by Herbie Hancock and Ramsey Lewis, and blending it with more influences from soul music too – which means that in addition to great keyboard solos from Lewis, you'll also hear wonderful vocals on most of these cuts – a key element that really helped Webster cross over into so many worlds at the time. As with work from the same period by Patrice Rushen, there's a sublime blend going on here – one that still sounds tremendous all these many years later, and which is presented with a great selection of cuts – including the rare "Japanese Umbrella" and "Boston" – plus "El Bobo", "Barbara Ann", "Hideaway", "Give Me Some Emotion", "Dancer", "Do It With Style", "Let Me Be The One", "Touch My Love", "Reach Out", "Love Won't Harm No One", and "There's A Happy Feeling". CD

A biography of one of the key creators in comics in the 20th Century – done in the format that he helped pioneer! The book is written in the first person – so more of an autobiography – although writer Tom Scioli provides all the words, and traces Kirby's evolution from a young child artist to a 40s giant in the new form of comic books, through his leaner postwar years, big 60s Marvel comics work, his 70s run at DC, and other moments too. Scioli really does a great job of opening up the intricacies of the comic business, and showing it's sometime seedier side – which illustrates some of the challenges that Kirby faced in his career, even while his work continued to be incredible. Hardcover edition is full color, 201 pages. Book

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Issued in 1983, but a good look back at the classic Brunswick years of this massive soul group from Chicago! The Chi-Lites are one of the best harmony acts ever to come out of the Windy City – and while at the Brunswick label during the late 60s and early 70s, leader Eugene Record forged a sound that became a virtual blueprint for the Chicago group sound of the next decade to come. The harmonies are impeccable on the record – as you probably know if you've already heard hits like "Have You Seen Her", "(For God's Sake) Give More Power To The People", "Lonely Man", "Oh Girl", "The Coldest Days Of My Life", "A Letter To Myself", and "Homely Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge legacy of work from Rare Bird – a group who hardly made a blip on our side of the Atlantic at the start of the 70s, but who were one of the sharpest, tightest acts to emerge in the new wave of prog in the UK! The group have a really great way with an organ line – and the vocals from Steve Gould have a surprisingly soulful current, nicely rough around the edges at times – which always keeps these guys from sounding too polished or precious! Like many of their contemporaries, the group start out with some shorter tracks, then stretch things out as their albums progress – and along the way, they also manage to deliver some surprisingly heartfelt tunes as Gould develops more and more as a singer. There's a mix of simplicity and complexity here that's wonderful – a real under-tapped legacy, presented here on the full albums Rare Bird, As Your Mind Flies By, Epic Forest, Somebody's Watching, and Born Again – plus a full never-issued 1974 live set recorded in London – plus 12 more bonus tracks too! CD

... CD

A trio of albums from the reborn Steppenwolf – all presented here in a single set! First up is Slow Flox – a set that has the group really coming back into the fray, after John Kay had left for a bit and recorded as a solo act! All the raw power of the group is still very much at play here – plenty of searing guitars, at that level that made Steppenwolf such a key precursor to the hard rock sound of the 70s – maybe answered to by the group themselves here, who felt a need to reform and show the younger acts how things were done! But there's also some fuller production at times too – touches of soul inspiration that hit a few of the songs, but without ever knocking the guitars out too much – on titles that include "Get Into The Wind", "Children Of The Night", "Smokey Factory Blues", "Morning Blue", "A Fool's Fantasy", and "Gang War Blues". Hour Of The Wolf is a record that seems to have Steppenwolf adapting nicely for the 70s – not in any sort of too-commercial way, but with a vibe that brings in all these nice shifts to their sound! The guitar and bass are still plenty high in the mix, but the vocals of John Kay are varied a bit more from track to track, as is the use of organ – which sometimes steps out as a great force in the sound, even at a time when so many other groups had switched to more modern styles of keyboards. Titles include "Caroline", "Just For Tonight", "Two For The Love Of One", "Someone Told A Lie", "Mr Penny Pincher", "Another's Lifetime", and "Annie Annie Over". Skullduggery is a set with a skull on the cover and some massive drums at the start – both of which are key signals to the world that Steppenwolf are still alive and well! Despite their lack of chart success at this point, the group are still super-sharp – burning on all the best elements that made their classics so great – burning organ, bubbling basslines, searing guitar, and those vocals from John Kay that really send things over the top – schooled on soul in the 60s, but turned much more towards a hard rock standard here – on titles that include "Rock N Roll Song", "Life Is A Gamble", "Skullduggery", "Lip Service", "Pass It On", and "Train Of Thought". 3CD set features two bonus tracks – "Angeldrawers" and "Caroline (mono promo mix)" – plus a big booklet of notes! CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Includes the albums "At Budokan: The Complete Concert (expanded 2-CD version)", "Found All the Parts EP", authorized version of "Next Position Please", expanded versions of "Cheap Trick", "In Color", "Heaven Tonight", "Dream Police", and "All Shook Up", newly mastered versions of "One on One", "Standing on the Edge", "The Doctor", "Lap of Luxury" and "Busted", CD

With 20 tracks including "Carrie-Anne", "King Midas In reverse", "Sorry Suzanne", "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Long Dark Road", and "Sandy" – plus previously unreleased versions of "Everything Is Sunshine" and "Magic Woman Touch". CD

One of the greatest soundtracks ever – a record that set a whole new standard for audio representation of a film! The mad music for the set was composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim, with lyrics by Vincius De Moraes – and performed by Luiz Bonfa on guitar – but despite such prime bossa pedigree, the whole thing's got a sound that goes way beyond the familiar – a crazy mix of batucada percussion, samba rhythms, bossa guitar, and loads of sound effects from the film – so much so that the first half of the record is almost a sound-for-sound replication of the first 20 minutes of the movie! The sound collage is amazing – an extremely unique approach to soundtrack representation, and one that's never been done so beautifully since. A truly breathtaking record, filled with mindblowing sounds – and an early example of the genius that would explode in 60s music in Brazil. Some key bossa classics are represented here in early versions – including "Felicidade", "O Nosso Amor", and "Manha De Carnaval" – but they're wrapped up in odd sounds and rhythms that really make them sound different! LP, Vinyl record album

A four movement suite composed and performed by Yusef Lateef – with Adam Rudolph, Charles Moore, Ralph Jones, Federico Ramos, and the Cologne Radio Orchestra! CD

The hands of Webster Lewis are on a classic Fender Rhodes on the cover – and you'll hear plenty of that instrument on this collection, along with all the other many keyboards that Lewis can handle so well! Webster started out as a straighter jazzman in his early years, but by the time of these tracks he was at the top of his game in the world of soulful fusion – picking up a torch first lit by Herbie Hancock and Ramsey Lewis, and blending it with more influences from soul music too – which means that in addition to great keyboard solos from Lewis, you'll also hear wonderful vocals on most of these cuts – a key element that really helped Webster cross over into so many worlds at the time. As with work from the same period by Patrice Rushen, there's a sublime blend going on here – one that still sounds tremendous all these many years later, and which is presented with a great selection of cuts – including the rare "Japanese Umbrella" and "Boston" – plus "El Bobo", "Barbara Ann", "Hideaway", "Give Me Some Emotion", "Dancer", "Do It With Style", "Let Me Be The One", "Touch My Love", "Reach Out", "Love Won't Harm No One", and "There's A Happy Feeling". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

A stunning surprise from Andre 3000 – at least if you only know him as part of Outkast – and a record that finally gives us an audio document of the sounds that Andre has really been involved with in recent years – a beautiful blend of spiritual jazz with mellower currents, aided here by some members of the contemporary LA scene! There's a resonance here with some of the more laidback projects on the International Anthem label, and with the work of Carlos Nino – and no surprise, Nino is on board to deliver great production work throughout, and co-produced the album with Andre too. Andre delivers a lot of work on flute, as hinted at by the cover – and also serves up beautiful sounds on wind controller too – as the set moves between contributions from other artists who include Nate Mercereau on guitars, and Diego Gaeta and Surya Botofasina on keyboards – as well as guest vocals from Mia Doi Todd on two tracks, and shakuhachi from Shabaka Hutchings on one more. Titles include "That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther & Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn't Control", "Ninety Three Til Infinity & Beyonce", "Dreams Once Buried Beneath The Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens", "Ants To You Gods To Who", and "I Swear I Really Wanted To Make A Rap Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me". CD

A stunning surprise from Andre 3000 – at least if you only know him as part of Outkast – and a record that finally gives us an audio document of the sounds that Andre has really been involved with in recent years – a beautiful blend of spiritual jazz with mellower currents, aided here by some members of the contemporary LA scene! There's a resonance here with some of the more laidback projects on the International Anthem label, and with the work of Carlos Nino – and no surprise, Nino is on board to deliver great production work throughout, and co-produced the album with Andre too. Andre delivers a lot of work on flute, as hinted at by the cover – and also serves up beautiful sounds on wind controller too – as the set moves between contributions from other artists who include Nate Mercereau on guitars, and Diego Gaeta and Surya Botofasina on keyboards – as well as guest vocals from Mia Doi Todd on two tracks, and shakuhachi from Shabaka Hutchings on one more. Titles include "That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther & Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn't Control", "Ninety Three Til Infinity & Beyonce", "Dreams Once Buried Beneath The Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens", "Ants To You Gods To Who", and "I Swear I Really Wanted To Make A Rap Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Includes "Strip", "Puss N Boots", "Baby, Let Me Scream At You" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Kind of hard to put a finger on the style of Jho Archer – which is probably why they used the phrase "many talents" in the title of this one! Jho's got a bit of Caribbean in his vocals – traces of calypso and Haitian soul, inflected with a hipper French approach to the backings, which are handled by H Rostaing, in a manner that reminds us of some of those used on the recordings of Henri Salvador. Jho sings in English and French – and the best cuts are nicely swinging. Titles include "Work Song", "Le Condamne", "The Peanut Vendor", "Cousin", "Ibo Lele", and "Sky Boat Song". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Lady Lady", "Never Keeping Secrets", "Rock Bottom", "Saturday", "And Our Feelings", "When Can I See You", and "Well Alright". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Hardbop albums don't get any better than this – and although drummer Dave Bailey only recorded for a brief stretch as a leader, this session's one that shows that he was a heck of a force to contend with! The record's got an intensity that easily rivals the best by Art Blakey over at Blue Note during the early 60s – but Dave's also got a slightly looser groove too – a bit more sense of humanity, and one that allows for really organic interplay between the players. There's a slight soul jazz undercurrent – especially in the piano lines of Billy Gardner – and other players in the quintet include Bill Hardman on trumpet, Frank Haynes on tenor, and Ben Tucker on bass. The group wails on an early version of Tucker's classic "Comin' Home Baby", plus other great originals like "Coffee Walk", "Lady Iris B", and "Two Feet In the Gutter". A old favorite on the south side of Chicago! LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Music from the Tridents, the Yardbirds, the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart, the Jeff Beck Group, Beck, Bogert & Appice, and Jeff Beck. CD

... CD

Titles include "You Know What I Mean", "Air Blower", "Scatterbrain", "Cause We've Ended As Lovers", "She's A Woman", and "Freeway Jam". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "El Becko", "The Golden Road", "The Final Peace", "Space Boogie", and "You Never Know". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Titles include "Blue Wind", "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", "Play With Me", "Love Is Green", "Head For Backstage Pass", and "Come Dancing". CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album