The early 80s debut from singer, songwriter Gary Taylor – also playing Rhodes, piano and synth on this set – filled with nicely grooving 80s soul! The songs are solid, and though he'd go on to write songs for a number of soul and R&B stars, he lets these numbers build slowly into the hooks and choruses. There's lots of bouncing keys and drum machine thump and washes of synth – and nice, funky bass lines. Includes "Down For The Count",, "Just What I Have In Mind", "On The Line", "This Time", "Looking Back", "Special" and more. This CD edition includes the bonus track "On The Line (Long Version)". CD

An unusual little session for Kenny Dorham – one in which he sings as well as plays trumpet – perhaps taking a page out of Chet Baker's book, but with a completely different approach! The group features Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, Sam Jones, and Charlie Persip on drums – who is replaced by GT Hogan on a couple of numbers. The set's all standards, and Kenny's style is nicely raspy – not the best technically, but with some surprisingly gentle feeling that's a nice complement to his work on trumpet. Includes "Autumn Leaves", "Since I Fell For You", "From This Moment On", "This Is The Moment", "Angel Eyes", and "Golden Earrings". LP, Vinyl record album

The "new" thing here is that Kenny's playing with horns – always a refreshing change from his trio sides, and a setting that really brings out an edgier side to his playing. About half the record features a quintet with Donald Byrd and Hank Mobley, plus Wilbur Ware on bass and GT Hogan on drums – and the other half of the set features the same group without Mobley. Titles include "Carol", "Little T", "Paul's Pal", and "This Is New". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic early work from Kenny Dorham as a leader – a brilliant set that sparkles with modern touches! The group's a quartet that pairs Kenny's trumpet with the alto sax of the late Ernie Henry – a perfect accompanist that brings out both the brightness in Kenny's horn, and the edgier touches that made him one of the most exciting trumpeters to appear in the 50s scene. The rest of the group features GT Hogan on drums and Wilbur Ware or Eddie Mathias on bass – and the session's got a great reading of Kenny's classic "Lotus Blossom", plus the tracks "Jazz Classic", "Noose Bloos", "The End Of A Love Affair", and "Soon". CD also features a bonus track – an alternate take of "Sposin". CD

A rare early date as a leader from pianist Walter Bishop Jr – cut for a tiny east coast label that folded almost as soon as the record was issued – but a date that's gone onto great fame over the years, thanks to circulation in a few different formats! Bishop's got a really maturing approach here – as sharp as his work from the bop years, but with a deeper sense of tone and color too – occasional lyrical moments that get great shading from the bass of Jimmy Garrison and drums of GT Hogan – both players who make the album really something special – a real cut above the usual trio session. In that manner, the record features two tunes that run for nearly 10 minutes each – opening up in that reflectively soulful mode that Bish would be known much more for in later years – and titles include "Speak Low", "Milestones", "Green Dolphin Street", and "Blues In The Closet". CD features 4 bonus alternate takes! CD

Classic early work from Kenny Dorham as a leader – a brilliant set that sparkles with modern touches! The group's a quartet that pairs Kenny's trumpet with the alto sax of the late Ernie Henry – a perfect accompanist that brings out both the brightness in Kenny's horn, and the edgier touches that made him one of the most exciting trumpeters to appear in the 50s scene. The rest of the group features GT Hogan on drums and Wilbur Ware or Eddie Mathias on bass – and the session's got a great reading of Kenny's classic "Lotus Blossom", plus the tracks "Jazz Classic", "Noose Bloos", "The End Of A Love Affair", and "Soon". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual little session for Kenny Dorham – one in which he sings as well as plays trumpet – perhaps taking a page out of Chet Baker's book, but with a completely different approach! The group features Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, Sam Jones, and Charlie Persip on drums – who is replaced by GT Hogan on a couple of numbers. The set's all standards, and Kenny's style is nicely raspy – not the best technically, but with some surprisingly gentle feeling that's a nice complement to his work on trumpet. Includes "Autumn Leaves", "Since I Fell For You", "From This Moment On", "This Is The Moment", "Angel Eyes", and "Golden Earrings". CD

Marchel Ivery on tenor saxophone, Joey DeFrancesco on organ, Lyles West on bass, and Andrew Griffith and GT Hogan on drums. CD

The only session as a leader from trumpeter Cal Massey – a big influence on soulful modernism in the 60s, but an artist who showed up more in the liner notes for records than he did in the studio! The record's a really unique one – and a set that crackles with the best sort of intensity of the Candid jazz label at the time. Massey's vision here is one that's extremely progressive – open in a hardbop sort of way, but often touched with more of the modernism that was showing up in the darker corners of the Blue Note scene. His trumpet work here has a mix of sweetness and sharp edges that reminds us a lot of Johnny Coles at his best – but almost even more important is his writing and overall conception – as the tunes here are a fantastic mix of high concept ideals that never fail to groove – of a sort that would show up later in the 60s on records by Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, and others. The group here is a sextet – with Massey on trumpet, Julius Watkins on French Horn, Hugh Brodie on tenor, Patti Brown on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and GT Hogan on drums – and titles include "These Are Soulful Days", which was recorded by Lee Morgan, and "Bakai", which was recorded by Coltrane – and the tracks "Blues To Coltrane", "What's Wrong", and "Father & Son". CD

The debut full length from England's funkiest combo! The New Mastersounds are a current group – but they've got a deep funk approach that puts them in the same camp as 60s funky 45 combos, or that of more recent acts in the new funk underground, like those on Desco or Soul Fire records. The combo's got a core groove center of bass, drums, guitar, and Hammond organ – augmented from track to track by additional sax, trumpet, and funky flute work, plus the occasional vocal. Most tunes are instrumental, and preserve the late 60s/early 70s funky 45 sound very well – with plenty of heavy drum beats, wah wah and tightly plucked guitar lines, and fast and furious bass parts to keep the whole set bouncing around like a baby in a car seat on a bumpy road! Titles include "Nervous", "Python", "Miracles", "Bondo Samba", "Hot Dog", "So Many Pies", "The Rooster", "Coffee Providers", and "GT". CD

A fantastic album from trumpeter Clark Terry – a small group date that features superb tenor from Paul Gonsalves, in a mode that's very similar to the work that both he and Terry recorded for Chess/Argo Records in the late 50s! This set's a French date, and features both horn players in a hip quintet with Raymond Fol on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and GT Hogan on drums – playing in a mode that's laidback, open, and which really has Terry showing off the most soulful side of his phrasing! Gonsalves is fantastic too – very different in a setting like this than in his larger group performances with Ellington – and the pair together are really at their best, with very expressive tones. Titles include "Blues For The Champ Of The Champs", "Clark Bars", "Lonely One", "Pannonica Ou Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 No 2", and "Serenade To A Bus Seat". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the rarest Newport albums ever issued – a split LP that features a side apiece by two of the coolest talents of the late 50s! Side one features work by the Randy Weston trio – with Weston on piano, George Joyner on bass, and GT Hogan on drums – performing great Weston originals that include "Machine Blues", "Hi Fly", "Beef Blues Stew", and an excerpt from the great "Bantu Suite"! Even groovier is work from the quartet of vibist Lem Winchester – a combo that also includes piano from Ray Santisi, bass from John Neves, and drums from Jimmy Zitano. The set is one of the few times that Winchester recorded away from Prestige Records in his all-too-short career – and the cover even bills him as "Patrolman Lem Winchester", with a picture of him in a police hat – a reference to his day job. Winchester titles include "Now's The Time", "Take The A Train", and "Polka Dots & Moonbeams". LP, Vinyl record album

Duke joins the combo of Louis Armstrong on piano – a group that includes Trummy Young on trombone and Barney Bigard on clarinet! CD

On Great Summit Duke joins the combo of Louis Armstrong on piano – a group that includes Trummy Young on trombone and Barney Bigard on clarinet! We've always loved Duke Ellington's soundtracks, and Paris Blues is one of his best! The score is a moody introspective one, written for a 1961 film that starred Paul Newman as a frustrated jazz musician living in Paris. The "Paris Blues" theme is a dark, somber composition that is supposedly Newman's masterpiece as a jazz writer – and it works beautifully with the film's themes of frustration and unfulfilled desire. Ellington's at his best here, and apart from the main theme, the score also has great versions of classics like "Mood Indigo" and "Take The A Train", plus originals like "Nite", "Wild Man Moore", "Guitar Amour", and "Paris Stairs". Also features Louis Armstrong on one track! CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Hard to deny the lasting power of this crucial album from The Beatles – a set that unleashed some of their trippiest sounds and most tender moments too! The mix of wit and honesty is wonderful – and the sonic range is dynamic as the archetypal cover image – a package that's had an undeniable impact on modern music for the past few decades! Titles include "With A Little Help From My Friends", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "She's Leaving Home", "Lovely Rita", "When I'm Sixty Four", "A Day In The Life", and "Fixing A Hole". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of later jazzy vocal LP gems by Teresa Brewer, both backed by jazz greats – Songs Of Bessie Smith with Count Basie and Thad Jones, and It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing with Duke Ellington – both released by Flying Dutchman in 1973! Teresa's popularity peaked a couple decades earlier as a girlish pop singer, and she succeeds strongly on both records – not just because of the jazz heavies in the band, but because she has the pipes and genuine affection for the material to pull it off. It's lovely stuff! Songs Of Bessie Smith have the bluesy overtones necessary to make it work, without trying the hide Teresa's naturally softer approach. Basie on piano throughout, with arrangements by Jones, and a great big band on half and more intimate arrangements on the other half. It Don't Mean A Thing. . .works just as wel, with Duke Ellington and Ernie Wilkins arrangements, and great Flying Dutchman players that include Bernard Purdie, Joe Beck and Mtume. 20 tracks in all, including "Trombone Cholly", "Gmme A Pigfoot", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "St Louis Blues", "I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues", "Mood Indigo", "I'm Beginning To See The Light", "I've Got To Be A Rug Cutter", "Tulip Or Turnip", "I'ts Kinda Lonesome Out Tonight" and more. CD

Keyboardist Julius Brockington really takes off here – in a style that's not quite funk, not quite jazz – and which has some of the unique sophisticated changes that Gene Harris was bringing to his Blue Note records in the mid 70s! Like Gene, Julius already has a strong background on the keys – and here, he's able to open up and create all sorts of new rhythms in his music – working on organ, piano, and even a bit of Arp – in a combo that features Steve Turner on alto and flute, Jim Wilson on trumpet, and Garry Langston on guitar! The vibe is great – sophisticated, but funky too – and very unusual compared to other albums of the time. All the material is original – and titles include "Gettin' Into It", "Lost Tribe", "Jaded Jackie", and "In the Back of the Churchyard". CD

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 – and this CD has a very groovy little gatefold package! CD

With Rufus Reid on bass. CD

Grover Washington Jr on Blue Note – but sounding really great here in the company of guitarist Kenny Burrell – very much back to the more basic reed work of his roots, and away from some of the smoother settings of his bigger dates from a few years before! Kenny's well-crafted guitar lines really direct the set – spinning out with energy and soul, and shaping the sound in tones that work especially well with Washington's soprano sax lines. The rest of the group features Ron Carter on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Ralph MacDonald on percussion – and titles include "Togethering", "Daydream", "Sails Of Your Soul", "Soulero", and "What Am I Here For". CD features the bonus tracks "Summertime" and "I'm Glad There Is You". CD

Features Steve Wilson on alto, Uri Craine on piano, David Gilmore on guitar, and Pheeroan akLaff, Billy Hart, and Joey Baron taking turns on drums. CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

A set recorded very early in the career of drummer Terri Lyne Carrington – an album that's tight, and full of fantastic work from both the leader and the all-star quartet on the date! Terri's already amazing on drums – shining through here in a more soaring, familiar jazz mode than on some of her later dates – unadorned, and with a great ear for both arrangements and work as a leader – guiding a group that features superb work from Kenny Barron on piano, George Coleman on tenor, and Buster Williams on bass. Sonny Carrington plays guest tenor on "Sonnymoon For Two" – and other cuts include "La Bonita", "St Thomas", "Seven Steps To Heaven", and "What Is This Thing Called Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic stuff, and proof that Rosemary Clooney was always one heck of a great singer – with strengths in jazz that you didn't always hear in her pop work! As you'd guess from the cover, Duke Ellington's leading the group on the album – and most of the tracks here are older Ellington standards, reworked with bold vocal lines from Clooney – in a way that's right up there with any of the usual singers with Ellington's band! Players include Clark Terry, Cat Anderson, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, and Harry Carney – and titles include "I'm Checkin Out", "Mood Indigo", "Blue Rose", "Grieving", "Hey Baby", and "Passion Flower". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "If You Were In My Place" and "Just A Sittin & A Rockin". CD

Fred Frith plays a variety of guitars – and Chris Cutler plays both drums and "noise"! LP, Vinyl record album

Formica may seem like an everyday surface to some – but at the time of its creation, it was a pretty revolutionary development – one that allowed household and business spaces to step free from longer-term care – giving the workers and residents lots more time to pursue their hopes and dreams! That bright promise of Formica is presented beautifully here – in a lovely history of the product, complete with dozens of vintage images that range from magazine ads to promotional flyers – to some higher-end projects in Formica from the art world! The book's beautiful – as stylish as an interior design magazine from the 60s – with a special color by color section in the middle, including writings by John Updike, Margarate Atwood, and others – on pages that are also perforated and can be folded! The first half of the book is in English, and awash with these images and text – and the second half offers more images, and text in six other languages. 408 pages, softcover, and beautiful color throughout! Book

The great CD release of two previous albums from this hip contemporary combo – two vinyl albums back to back on a single CD! Both albums have a fantastic blend of jazz, contemporary soul, and hip hop – served up by a group who can really get the sound right – Terrace Martin on keyboards and alto, Robert Glasper on keyboards, Kamasi Washington on tenor, and 9th Wonder on beats! Vocals on most tracks are by Phoelix, who really helps give the instrumentation some focus – yet the jazz component of the record is never buried under the lyrics, as the players get plenty of space to do their thing – with a vibe that's a bit like some of Glasper's Black Radio project, yet given much more the kind of cool Crenshaw vibe that we've loved in Martin's previous records. All four artists are credited with songwriting and production and you can really hear that balance in the sound – on tracks that include "Love You Bad", "Sleepless Nights", "The Mighty Tree", "Freeze Tag", "Luv U", "Sleepless Nights", and "From My Heart & Soul". The Dessert album offers up a reworked version of the core record – with titles that are partly remixes, partly reworks – with guest appearances from Snoop Dog, Cordae, Herbie Hancock, Reuben Vincent, and others! CD

Maybe the best work so far from this really wonderful group – a magnificent match of the keyboards of Robert Glasper, the saxophones of Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington, and the superb production talents of 9th Wonder – all working together in a stunning blend of jazz, soul, funk, and hip hop! The tunes have a sharpness and focus that's even more powerful than previous work by the lineup – like they've really found that special space where the all-stars can come together in a united voice that really soars – working with key contributions from Phoelix on vocals, alongside Arin Ray and Ant Clemons. Titles include "Insane", "Watts Renaissance", "For Granted", "Secure", "Can't Go", "The Lower East Side", "Love Love", and "Answered Prayer". CD

Maybe the best work so far from this really wonderful group – a magnificent match of the keyboards of Robert Glasper, the saxophones of Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington, and the superb production talents of 9th Wonder – all working together in a stunning blend of jazz, soul, funk, and hip hop! The tunes have a sharpness and focus that's even more powerful than previous work by the lineup – like they've really found that special space where the all-stars can come together in a united voice that really soars – working with key contributions from Phoelix on vocals, alongside Arin Ray and Ant Clemons. Titles include "Insane", "Watts Renaissance", "For Granted", "Secure", "Can't Go", "The Lower East Side", "Love Love", and "Answered Prayer". LP, Vinyl record album