A pretty groovy soundtrack – one that goes way past the hit! Sure, this one's always been famous for the wonderful track "To Sir With Love" – done here in 3 versions by the young and lovely Lulu, who also starred in the film. But the record's also got some great instrumentals by Ron Granier – ones that mix in a bit of electric bass with easy instrumentation, in a manner that makes for some nicely gliding and playful numbers. Also included are two vocal tracks by The Mindbenders – rocking numbers with a Brit invasion feel. Titles include "To Sir With Love", "The Funeral", "Perhaps I Could Tidy Your Desk", "A Classical Lesson", "Museum Outings Montage", "Thackeray Meets Faculty Then Alone", and "School Break Dancing". LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent later work fromt his great trombonist – with Al Cohn on tenor – plus Richard Wyands on piano, Ray Drummond on bass, and Akira Tana on drums! LP, Vinyl record album

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A fitting title for a great album – Eric Dolphy's last live recording, performed on June 2, 1964, with a trio of youngsters that included two of the greatest names in European avant garde jazz – Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink! The sound is jagged and a bit free – showing the way towards even greater innovations that might have marked Dolphy's 60s years, had he not been taken from us so quickly! The album's filled with beautiful Dolphy playing in his late mode – on alto, flute, and bass clarinet – and tracks include "The Madrig Speaks, The Panther Walks", "Miss Ann", and "Hypochristmutreefuz". LP, Vinyl record album

A long-lost album from one of our favorite jazz talents of all time – British tenor legend Tubby Hayes, a player we'd easily place on a short list with giants like Dexter Gordon or Sonny Rollins! Like both of those players, Hayes has an incredible talent for longform solos that never lose their fire, direction, or imagination – a quality that emerges here maybe even more strongly than on some of the records that preceded it – as Hayes works with just a quartet, on long tracks that are really dominated by both his great sound, and the strong contributions of pianist Mike Pyne – an equal star on the set! At a time when British jazz was going for a lot of new recording modes, crossover styles, and other gimmicks, the whole thing is a back to basics record for Tubby – but also one that shows just how much he's grown as a soloist in just a few short years – really on fire, as the tenor is driven strongly by the efforts of Ron Mathewson on bass and Spike Wells on drums, completing a great quartet who really get the energy of their leader. Titles include a great version of the Duke Pearson tune "You Know I Care", a lovely take on "Where Am I Going", and the Hayes originals "For Members Only", "Rumpus", and "Grits Beans & Greens". Fantastic stuff – long overdue, and instantly a key addition to the Tubby Hayes Fontana catalog of the 60s! CD

A huge overview of the second chapter of work from House Of Love – a group who were a key part of the legendary Creation Records scene in the UK in the mid 80s, then made a shift to a bigger label – where they cut all the music in this package – and then some! Unlike some of their contemporaries, House Of Love never traded in their swirling guitars for too much in the way of dance music – which means that the work here is a nice extension of their early Creation sound – that great moment when older psych influences were filtered through a leaner post-punk sensibility – really revolutionizing British rock, at a level that made this group one of the key forbearers of a new generation! The package features all the albums the group recorded for Fontana – House Of Love, Babe Rainbow, and Audience With The Mind – but with an 8CD set, you can imagine that there's a lot of bonus material – 3CDs worth of single tracks, remixes, and other material – 2 more CDs worth of live performances – and even lots of bonus tracks added to the core albums too. There's 139 tracks in the set – including some unreleased selections! CD

A really cool concept album from the Chicago scene of the late 60s – a set that has dreamy sunshine pop harmonies blended with some darker psychedelic elements – all at a level that resonates strongly with the Dunwich production the whole thing received! There's almost a UK late 60s vibe to the whole thing, although the harmonies are pure US sunshine too – served up by a variation of The Castaways, who you'll know from earlier catchy classics! Guitar lines – both acoustic and electric – and other production elements provide a nicely sinister core – and the whole thing is a lost gem really worth rediscovering. Titles include "Recess With Mrs Grim", "Death & The Reality", "Time Marches On", "Theme From House Of Leather", "Sarah's On Her Knees", "She Lives With Me", and "There Is Love In The Country". CD

A really cool concept album from the Chicago scene of the late 60s – a set that has dreamy sunshine pop harmonies blended with some darker psychedelic elements – all at a level that resonates strongly with the Dunwich production the whole thing received! There's almost a UK late 60s vibe to the whole thing, although the harmonies are pure US sunshine too – served up by a variation of The Castaways, who you'll know from earlier catchy classics! Guitar lines – both acoustic and electric – and other production elements provide a nicely sinister core – and the whole thing is a lost gem really worth rediscovering. Titles include "Recess With Mrs Grim", "Death & The Reality", "Time Marches On", "Theme From House Of Leather", "Sarah's On Her Knees", "She Lives With Me", and "There Is Love In The Country". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Oscar Brown's great ones, recorded live at the Cellar Door in Washington before an enthusiastic crowd of hipsters! The record's a beautiful mix of soul, jazz, and folk – in the same Chicago tradition that spawned Terry Callier (although Brown's style has a bit more of a "show" feel to it). There's a lot of great stuff on here, and most of it doesn't appear on Oscar's other albums in studio versions. Tracks include "Call of the City", "Muffled Drums", "Maxine", "Brother Where Are You?", and more! Backing's by a tight little combo that includes Floyd Morris and Phil Upchurch! LP, Vinyl record album

Haunting work from Jimmy Campbell – an overlooked British songwriter at the end of the 60s, and one with a really unusual approach to his music! At some level, Jimmy's got some of the folksy touches of the Nick Drake generation – a sound that might have been right at home on Island Records – but at another level, his style here is very much his own too – a bit more sensitive, and delivered with this odd vocal quality that's unlike anything we can think of – as unique to Jimmy as Tom Rapp's voice was to Pearls Before Swine, or Biff Rose's was to his own great late 60s sides! Instrumentation is relatively spare on most numbers – just acoustic guitar and a bit of rhythm, yet hardly in typical folksy modes – and titles include "When I Sit Down To Reason", "Adrian Henri's Party Night", "On A Monday", "Lyanna", "Dear Marge", "Penny In My Pocket", "Another Vincent Van Gough", and "Michelangelo". CD

A classic set of jazz vocals from Blossom Dearie – recorded at Ronnie Scott's nightclub when she was living in London during the 60s! The set's got a nice intimate feel, and is one of Blossom's best-ever jazz recordings – a bit more live and hip than some of her Verve material, with backing from Jeff Clyne on bass and Johnnie Butts n drums. The record has little of the cocktail sound that marred some of her other releases, and more of the swinging jazz piano and vocals that you find on her best work. Blossom's voice is as unique as always, and the set's got some great groovy numbers, like "I'm Hip", "Once Upon A Summertime", "When In Rome", and "The Shape Of Things". Very nice vibe, with a good live feel and lots of interaction with the audience! CD features the bonus track "Cornflower Lavender Wallflower Blue (mono)". CD

A classic set of jazz vocals from Blossom Dearie – recorded at Ronnie Scott's nightclub when she was living in London during the 60s! The set's got a nice intimate feel, and is one of Blossom's best-ever jazz recordings – a bit more live and hip than some of her Verve material, with backing from Jeff Clyne on bass and Johnnie Butts n drums. The record has little of the cocktail sound that marred some of her other releases, and more of the swinging jazz piano and vocals that you find on her best work. Blossom's voice is as unique as always, and the set's got some great groovy numbers, like "I'm Hip", "Once Upon A Summertime", "When In Rome", and "The Shape Of Things". Very nice vibe, with a good live feel and lots of interaction with the audience. CD

A stunning look at one of our favorite singers of all time – captured here in the grooviest period of her career, and presented with a huge amount of rare and unreleased material too! In the late 60s, after her famous recordings for Verve, Blossom Dearie moved to the London scene, worked with hip arrangers, songwriters, and producers – and came up with a sound and style that was even more sublime than her earlier work – sometimes with touches of mod rhythms, sometimes bits of jazz, bossa, or soundtrack elements – and delivered in a mode that's unlike anything else she recorded before, or afterwards! This massive package brings together four albums from that time – That's Just The Way I Want To Be, Soon It's Gonna Rain, Sweet Blossom Dearie, and Blossom Time At Ronnie Scott's – plus two full CDs with 27 more London sessions that appear here for the first time ever! Those tracks include mono versions of some album tracks, but also some unusual tracks too – like "You Have Lived In Autumn", "The Joker", "Rings & Things", "Now That We're Here", "Wave", "What Is", "Feeling Good Being Me", "Windows Of The World", "Inside A Silent Tear", "Until It's Time For You To Go", "Didn't We", "Inside Out", "Let It Be Me", "While We're Lovin Me", "My Favorite Things", "What The World Needs Now", and "I'm Hip" – and the package then also has some bonus singles added to the albums – including "The Music Played", "Discover Who I Am", "Moonlight Saving Time", "Wallflower Lonely Cornflower Blue", and "Feelin Groovy". Plus, the whole thing comes in a cool 10" slipcover, with a huge booklet of notes and images in the middle! CD

One of a handful of totally wonderful albums cut by Blossom Dearie in London – a gem of a set, and one that really takes off from the style of her earlier American albums on Verve, thanks to some hip Brit arrangements from Reg Guest! Blossom embraces all sorts of sounds here that she hadn't touched before – a bit of bossa, French soundtrack, and material from other sources – all wrapped up with those wonderfully charming vocals that are unlike anyone else at all – in a way that makes even familiar tunes sound very much like Dearie's own! There's some great jazzy elements in the music – including alto sax from Keith Bird – and titles include "Dindi", "Once I Loved", "Trains & Boats & Planes", "Watch What Happens", "Sunny", "The Folks Who Live On The Hill", "Once I Loved", "A Wonderful Guy", "Meditation", and the incredible "Soon It's Gonna Rain". CD features two bonus tracks – mono single versions of "Discover Who I Am" and "The Music Played". CD

An amazing record – one that we'd never part with! The session is one of Blossom Dearie's greatest records ever – a sublime set of tunes recorded in London, at the end of the 60s, with larger arrangements than usual, and a feel that's almost psychedelic. Backings were arranged and conducted by Brian Gascoigne – with a host of Brit underground jazz players that include Harold McNair, Ian Carr, Kenny Wheeler, and Ray Warleigh. More incredibly than that, though, is the set of tunes that Blossom wrote and chose for the record – tunes that have really dark edges, playful turns, and which go past the simplicity of some of her other work. The whole thing's truly amazing – really – and is a record that we've been coming back to again and again and again over the years! Titles include "I Know The Moon", "Long Daddy Green", "Hey John", "That's Just The Way I Want To Be", "Dusty Springfield", "Will There Really Be A Morning", and "I Like London In The Rain". CD features the bonus tracks "Feelin Groovy" and "Hey John (mono)". CD

Two really unusual albums from British drummer/singer John Dummer – an artist who was part of the British blues scene in the 60s – but who's something very different altogether! First up is John Dummer's Famous Music Band – a set that features key contributions from Nick Pickett on vocals, guitar, harmonica, vibes, and a host of instrumentation – all used in ways that really move past traditional blues-based modes – certainly there at the core, as in the work of the rest of the group – but already moving past any sort of slavish attempt to both be American, and even blues at all. We'd be tempted to call the approach roots rock, but it's also a bit weirder and more offbeat than that – part of that special spirit that's always made Dummer so unique. Titles include "Lady Luck", "Love Ain't Nothing But Sorrow", "Run Around", "Searching For You", "Nine By Nine", "Coming Home", "Green Leaves", and "Fine Looking Woman". Blue is a set that has the band of British drummer John Dummer moving over to Vertigo records – a shift that helps them sound even tighter and cooler than before! Singer Nick Pickett gets equal billing on the cover – and it's Pickett's contributions that really shape the sound – really offbeat vocals, plus guitar, organ, and even a bit of violin – used in that blues inspiration that got Dummer started, but with a weirder, more unusual style overall – at that moment when London was past being slavish to Chicago or Memphis! Titles include "Medicine Weasel", "The End Game", "Me & The Lady", "Time Will Tell", and "If I Can't Keep From Laughing". CD

A landmark collaboration between Serge Gainsbourg and actress Jane Birkin – his paramour at the time, and a much younger woman! This album is perhaps the archetypal Gainsbourg erotic effort – and it's filled with wonderful duets set to breathy, bouncy orchestrations – tunes that forged a whole new "adult" level in pop music – not just in France, but around the globe! The arrangements are amazing, and feature some of the weirdest instrumentation ever heard on a pop record – especially one that was as successful as this – and titles include the classic "69 Annee Erotique", plus"Jane B", "Elisa", "Orang Outan", "Les Sucettes", and "Manon". LP, Vinyl record album

A hip collection of some of Gilberto Gil's best compositions – performed by Gil and some of the best talents of his generation. The material is mostly lifted from other LPs on Philips in Brazil, but the whole set works very well together, due to the strength of Gil's writing. Titles include "Lugar Comum" by Joao Donato, "Louvacao" by Elis Regina & Jair Rodriguez, "Ladainha" by Nara Leao, "Expresso 2222" by MPB 4, "Preciso Aprender A So Ser" by Maria Bethania, "Mancada" by Claudette Soares, "Procissao" by Quinteto Violado, "O Sonho Acabou" by Alcione, and "Copo Vazio" by Chico Buarque. LP, Vinyl record album

A killer set of jazzy Hammond – recorded on the UK mod scene of the 60s! This jazzy British organist is paired with drummer Tony Crombie, and the two of them go at it in a real stormin' kind of way – very jazzy, with wonderful rhythmic changes! The groove is definitely jazz, but there's also touches of Brit beat group sounds in there, especially on some originals like "Clapham Junction" and "Cod and Chips Twice". Nice bit of organ jazz, and proof that the Americans weren't the only ones jazzin' it up on the keys in the 60s! LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal work from British tenor giant Tubby Hayes – one of his greatest, and most ambitious albums ever! The album features Tubby at the head of a larger ensemble of jazz musicians, working through his own arrangements of jazz standards – re-worked and expanded in ways that practically turn them into completely different tunes. Players on the set include the cream of British jazz of the mid 60s – like Kenny Wheeler, Ronnie Ross, Ronnie Scott, and Gordon Beck – and Tubby plays vibes and flute in addition to tenor, working in an open-ended style that is tremendously evocative. Titles include "Nutty", "Milestones", "Sonnymoon For Two", and "Night In Tunisia" – all done in very different versions than usual! The set also features Tubby's own "100% Proof" – a really great track in its own right! CD

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Great work by one of Brazil's most unique groups! Of all the contributions that Brazil has made to the world pop legacy, one of the greatest is their strong tradition of pop vocal groups – most of which took a basic American jazz harmony sound and turned it into something really special and amazing. This set compiles some wonderful sides from the the all-male MPB4 one of our favorite Brazilian groups! There's a total of 26 tracks in all, including "De Palavra em Palavra", "Meu Violao", "Agora e Portela 74", "E Preciso Perdoar", "Lamento", "Pot Pourri de tom Jobim", "Ultima Forma", "San Vincente", and "Candeias". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent collection of the amazing work by this oft-overlooked Brazilian vocal group. The MPB4 combo managed to skirt bossa, samba, and MPB styles – and come up with a unique sound that was always extremely pleasing, and often a little challenging. This record features many great cuts by the band – like "Cravo E Canela", "Partido Alto", "Bom Dia, Boa Tarde, Boa Noite", "Roda Viva", "Lamento", and "Ole Ola". LP, Vinyl record album

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A really unusual moment from the young tenor Tubby Hayes – a live date recorded at the familiar Flamingo nightclub, a spot Tubby played often in London – but featuring a group who appear here on record in contrast to some of the smaller combo work that Hayes was recording in the studio! The lineup is large – not a big band, but not a quartet either – and Tubby turns out to be a master as a leader, working together different contributions from players who include Ronnie Scott, Terry Shannon, Jeff Clyne, Stuart Hamer, and Alan Branscombe – coming together in sharp ensemble formation, but breaking out into great individual solos too. The material shows the sharply modern voice that Hayes would soon bring to British jazz on his 60s recordings for Fontana – on titles that include "But Not For Me", "Ow", "Treble Gold", "Sonny Sounds", "Tour De Force", "Design For Drums", and "Lifeline". CD

A cool collection of vocal songs from the world of soundtrack maestro Ennio Morricone – many of which are more unusual than some of his bigger themes, and brought together here as a great addition to the Segreto series! The work runs from the early 60s to the early 70s – and the package mixes together dreamy female vocal numbers, catchy western themes, and plenty more great bits – all at a level that also showcases the way the maestro was working in Italian vocal music during the 60s, before moving more firmly into the world of cinema. The package features 21 rare tracks in all – including one number by a singer who's completely unknown – with titles that include "Splash" by Peter Boom, "Fruscio Di Foglie Verdi" by Trio Junior, "Una Stanza Vuota" by Lisa Gastoni, "Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso" by The Sorrows, "Nuvole" by Jimmy Fontana, "You & I" by King Harvest, "Luce Chiara Per Vergine" by Edda Dell'Orso, "Filastrocca Vietnamita" by Sergio Endrigo, "Metti Una Sera A Cena" by Florinda Bolkan, and "Matto Caldo Soldi Morto Girotondo" by I Cantori Moderni Di Alessandroni. CD

One of the weirdest, wildest albums ever from Nurse With Wound – and a set that's completely different than most of their other material too! The album's got a feel that really lives up to the cover – sort of a parody of 50s lounge music, filtered through the sensibility of mid 80s British industrial – which means that the sounds come from an array of different elements – including original records, old tapes, live performance, and lots of electronics and production twists – which really abstract all the elements into this mad sort of bachelor pad nightmare! There's still plenty of the noise we love in NWW, but also a surprising sense of humor – not one that goes for easy jokes, but which like Current 93 at this point, is really beginning to find its aesthetic and hone its skills. The bulk of the record features the maddening "You Walrus Hurt The One You Love" – and the rest is "Great Balls Of Fur", billed as the last performance of Murray Fontana! Great 2CD version features a whole bonus disc of rare materials recorded at the same time – including "Elderly Man River", "Chicken In Drag", "Yoko's Anniversary", "It Just Ain't So", and "Excerpt From Pricksongs". CD

Great stuff! In a manner that's similar to (but better than) her live albums with Jair Rodriguez, Elis performs here in a great live show with the nutty Miele. The backing is by the Elis 5, led by Roberto Menescal, and they have a great groove that supports the material very nicely. Plus, the presence of Miele adds a lot of humor to the album, and his English language commentary opens the fun of the show up to American listeners like this. The album's a real treat – and a lost mad chapter of Elis' rich career! Includes a groovy version of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You", Caetano Veloso's "Irena", plus the songs "Samba Da Bencao", "Casa Forte", "Carolina", and "Aquele Abraco". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty obscure late 60s set on Capitol Records – by one of those great bands who briefly got the chance to record for the label, then never showed up again! The Serfs have a lot going on for such a relatively unknown group – a sound that's partly folk, partly roots, and with some groovier touches too – even a bit of jazz inflections at points, in ways that remind us a bit of The Shades Of Joy on Fontana. Instrumentation includes congas, vibes, organ, tenor, and trumpet – and titles include "Evil Days", "Early Bird Cafe", "All Blue", "Leda", "I'm A Man", and "Prologue & Mechanical Man". LP, Vinyl record album

Baroquely beautiful pop from the great Claudette Soares – arranged by Cesar Mariano with a mix of jazz, late bossa, and those cool and groovy styles that were really percolating during the Blue Brazil generation! Claudette's voice is strong and proud – stretching over some tunes with a jaunty groove and counterbalancing them nicely. There's a lot of nice use of electric bass in the set – which makes tunes bounce more than you'd think, the bass stepping underneath soaring orchestrations – in a really great juxtaposition of modes. Titles include "De Tanto Amor", "Por Causa De Voce", "Ave Maria", "De Palavra Em Palavra", "Coisas", and "Ao Amigo Tom". LP, Vinyl record album

We love Wayne Talbert – and think he's one of the great under-discovered talents of his time! Wayne worked in the Sir Douglas Quintet, which is probably how he ended up recorded for Mercury – but he's got a sound that's very distinct, and has this really amazing mix of jazz, soul, and Texas elements – but all with a vibe that's unlike anything else we can think of! Wayne wrote most of the tunes on this set himself, and they often have these jazzy arrangements that includes bits of vibes, modal piano, soaring horns, and other elements that are all jumbled together – with a unique blend that's maybe in the territory of that great Shades Of Joy album on Fontana, with a similar disregard for easy labels or tags! Yet Talbert's soulful vocals also have a charm that really sets this one apart, too – almost Mose Allison meeting Joe Cocker somewhere down near the border – a quality that should have made Wayne huge – on titles that include "Dues to Pay", "What More Can I Say", "Schizophrenic Susan Minnick", "Funky Ellis Farm", and "Hell of a World". CD

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Includes selections by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Beach Boys, Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, The Searchers, The Castaways, James Brown, Them, Marvelettes, The Vogues, The Rivieras, Louis Armstrong, and spoken bits by Adrian Cronaur. LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful album of crispy cool jazz from the LA scene of the 50s – one that features the octet of Bill Perkins recorded live in Hollywood, but in a "special hi-fi theater recording" that has sound as sublime as his studio work! The group includes Perkins on tenor, Bud Shank on alto, Jack Nimitz on baritone, Stu Williamson on trumpet, Carl Fontana on trombone, Russ Freeman on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Mel Lewis on drums. The live setting takes nothing away from the perfection of the group's conception, as Perkins' leadership is impeccable, bringing together the horns in a beautiful wash of sound. Titles include "Let Me See", "Zing Zang", "For Dancers Only", "One Hundred Years From Today", "Song Of The Islands", and "As They Reveled". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent album – and one of Joe Henderson's boldest sets from the early 70s! The record features Joe working with a hip group of young Japanese players that includes Terumasa Hino on trumpet and Masabumi Kikuchi on piano and electric piano – and the sextet format of the session stretches way past Joe's other Japanese recording from the time, which was issued in the US on Milestone. This one features very long tracks, with tremendous intensity from both the group and Joe, who's got a real edginess to his playing here. Includes a version of "So What", plus the originals "Sunrise In Tokyo" and "Get Magic Again". LP, Vinyl record album

A dozen tracks from Dimitri From Paris, DJ Smash, Nick Jones Experience, Loop Trick Featuring Maria, Shinji Takeda, Idjut Boys, Second Floor Collective, Lenny Fontana Presents Eastside Movement, Mondo Grosso, Groove Box, and Whats Happenin. CD

A pretty nice left turn from Krautrock pioneer Michael Rother – who veers from the more outwardly lumbering sound of his earlier Flammende Herzen LP into a tighter, even more melodic instrumental sound on Sterntaler! This album indeed shares some of the traits of Rother's earlier partners in Kraftwerk – particularly the gliding atmosphere the Autobahn album – not to mention Rother's earlier work with Neu! That said, Rother does his own thing with a bit more of an anthemic quality that really manages to tug at your emotions – also with a little more of a reliance on traditional rock & roll instrumentation behind the soaring keyboards! Titles include "Sterntaler", "Blauer Regen", "Stromlinien", "Sonnenrad", "Fontana Di Luna", "Orchestrion". LP, Vinyl record album