Although most Nonesuch Explorer sessions were ethnographic ones, recorded in the field by the label's engineers – this one's a studio session, recorded in New York by a group that's reputedly from Ghana, but which seems to be kind of a "fake" one from our perspective. Why? Well, because Charles Earland's playing tenor, for one – and although his native Philly was kind of far away from New York, we never heard it referred to as "Ghana"! Other players here are US-based jazz ones, too – like drummers Sonny Morgan and Robert Crowder, vibist Garvine Masseaux, and bassist George Brooks. The set's still got a strong High Life sound to it – but it also has jazz flourishes, too, in the way that was used some of the Art Blakey Afro-Drum experiments from the same time. Titles include "Ebony", "Bus Conductor", "Saturday Night", and "Sugar Soup". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record – one of the best on Motown's short-lived Workshop Jazz subsidiary! The album is the first to feature Roy Brooks as a leader – and the super-hip drummer from Detroit really knows what to do with the opportunity! He's working here with a hip group that includes members of the Horace Silver quintet – including Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor, and Gene Taylor on bass – as well as Detroit contemporaries George Bohannon on trombone and Hugh Lawson on piano. The overall style of the record is quite different from Brooks' work with Silver – and has a much more open-ended feeling emotionally – an early hint at the qualities that Roy would unveil on his rare indie sides at the start of the 70s. The tracks are a mix of soul jazz numbers and others with a rougher-hewn sense of modernism – almost like the excellent work coming out of Chicago during the early 60s, from artists like Gene Shaw or the MJT+3. All the players are at their best, and the album features some of the nicest tenor work we've ever heard from Cook. Titles include "Soulsphere", "Soulin", "Homestretch", "Passin The Buck", and "My Secret Passion". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic material by Chet Baker – a series of selections recorded for Prestige Records after his return from Europe – done with a lot more bite than his 50s material! The group here is very hip – George Coleman on tenor, Kirk Lightsey on piano, Herman Wright on bass, and Roy Brooks on drums – a quartet of very cool youngsters from Detroit – and Chet also blows fluegelhorn,w hich makes for a different vibe too. This album features the material from the albums Cool Burnin With The Chet Baker Quintet and Boppin With The Chet Baker Quintet. CD

One of the most famous early albums from Hammond organ giant Jimmy Smith – and for good reason too, as he was using the instrument to pioneer a whole new field in jazz! Before Jimmy, others had used the organ on short tracks, usually for a bit of color – but here, Smith explodes as a master soloist on very long tracks – allowing strong jam session interplay with an all-star group that also includes Lee Morgan on trumpet, George Coleman and Lou Donaldson on altos, Tina Brooks on tenor, Kenny Burrell and Eddie McFadden on guitars, and Donald Bailey and Art Blakey on drums. The set features three long tracks – "The Sermon", "JOS", and "Flamingo" – with a hard-wailing, jam session feel all the way through! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most famous early albums from Hammond organ giant Jimmy Smith – and for good reason too, as he was using the instrument to pioneer a whole new field in jazz! Before Jimmy, others had used the organ on short tracks, usually for a bit of color – but here, Smith explodes as a master soloist on very long tracks – allowing strong jam session interplay with an all-star group that also includes Lee Morgan on trumpet, George Coleman and Lou Donaldson on altos, Tina Brooks on tenor, Kenny Burrell and Eddie McFadden on guitars, and Donald Bailey and Art Blakey on drums. The set features three long tracks – "The Sermon", "JOS", and "Flamingo" – with a hard-wailing, jam session feel all the way through! This early CD reissue collects material from the Sermon & House Party sessions, with a slightly different track list than the original album, or the RVG remaster – includes "The Sermon", "Flamingo", plus "S Wonderful", "Blue Room", "Lover Man", "Confirmation", & "Au Private". CD

A fab bunch of ska and rocksteady numbers, one of those compilations that Trojan has oddly let go out of print. 18 great tracks, including "Big Bamboo" by Lord Creator, "Latin Goes Ska", "Beardman Ska", "Street Corner" and "Ball O Fire" by the Skatalites, "hallelujah" by the Maytals, "Garden Of Love" and "Let George Do It" by Don Drummond, "Rough & Tough" by Stranger Cole, "Shame & Scandal" by Peter Tosh & The Wailers, "Bonanza Ska" by Carlos Malcolm, "Dance Crasher" by Alton Ellis, "Rudie Bam Bam" by the Clarnedonians, "Ska Jam" by Tommy McCook & The Supersonics, "Doctor Dick" by Lee Perry & The Soulettes, "Owe Me No Pay Me" by the Ethiopians, "Independence Ska" by Baba Brooks and "Don't Be A Rude Boy" by the Rulers. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the strange lost Chet Baker sessions from the mid-60's, recorded (we've always thought under duress) for Prestige, and at a time when he really wasn't recording that much straight jazz. Baker plays fluegelhorn, and he's backed by a fairly soulful combo that includes George Coleman on tenor, Kirk Lightsey on piano, Herman Wright on bass, and Roy Brooks on drums. The set grooves in a way that few other Chet Baker albums do, which is something you might expect from a record that has tracks with titles like "Go Go", "Pot Luck", and "Bud's Blues". CD

Some obscure but great 60s work by Chet Baker – and one of 5 albums recorded under the guidance of Richard Carpenter, best known as the author of "Walkin", but also Chet's manager at the time. The record's got a lot more soulful feel than some of Chet's other work – thanks to a hip group that includes George Coleman on tenor next to Chet, plus rhythm backing by Kirk Lightsey, Herman Wright, and the great Roy Brooks. Tracks include "Madison Avenue", "Lonely Star", "Wee, Too", and "Tan Gaugin". And as proof of how obscure Baker's career had gotten at one point, the liner notes are by a jazz critic who says that he thought that Baker had died a few years before! CD

Prime Jimmy Smith material from his earliest years at Blue Note – hidden here under some more modern 70s cover art! The work here is very much in the best long-blown, open-ended style of Smith's jam session sides for the label – and the album features Jimmy's Hammond in the company of two different groups – one with George Coleman on tenor, Lee Morgan on trumpet, and Curtis Fuller on trombone – the other with Lou Donaldson on alto, Tina Brooks on tenor, and Morgan on trumpet! Kenny Burrell plays guitar, and all tracks are nice and long, with plenty of room for solos! Titles include "Cherokee", "What Is This Thing Called Love", and "Confirmation". CD

One of the most famous early albums from Hammond organ giant Jimmy Smith – and for good reason too, as he was using the instrument to pioneer a whole new field in jazz! Before Jimmy, others had used the organ on short tracks, usually for a bit of color – but here, Smith explodes as a master soloist on very long tracks – allowing strong jam session interplay with an all-star group that also includes Lee Morgan on trumpet, George Coleman and Lou Donaldson on altos, Tina Brooks on tenor, Kenny Burrell and Eddie McFadden on guitars, and Donald Bailey and Art Blakey on drums. The set features three long tracks – "The Sermon", "JOS", and "Flamingo" – with a hard-wailing, jam session feel all the way through! CD

A standout early session from organist Shirley Scott – noteworthy in that it's a quintet recording, different than Shirley's mostly-trio output from the time! Here, she's working in a group that includes Oliver Nelson on tenor sax and Joe Newman on trumpet – and Nelson's edgey tone adds a lot to the record, as it did on other Prestige sides from the same time – a deeper soul vibe than you might normally get from Shirley alone on the Hammond. The tracks are simple swinging soul jazz numbers – handled in tight format by the group – and other players include George Tucker on bass and Roy Brooks on drums. Tunes include "Blue Seven", "Wagon Wheels", "Nancy", "Don't Worry Bout It Baby Here I Am", and "Give Me The Simple Life". CD features the bonus track "How Sweet". CD

One of the greatest Roy Brooks albums of all time – an a set that rivals the spiritual genius of his classics released on the Imo-Hotep label! The tracks here are long, live, and feature stunning performances from George Coleman on tenor, Woody Shaw on trumpet, Hugh Lawson on piano, and Cecil McBee on bass – a group who are really on fire throughout, as they take on tunes that include "Understanding", "The Free Slave", "Five For Max", and "Will Pan's Walk". LP, Vinyl record album

A heavenly set of southern soul – a package that pulls together a wealth of rare and unreleased singles from the Malaco label – that important Jackson, Mississippi imprint that took on the deeper sounds of the 70s – after the Memphis and Muscle Shoals scenes were losing steam! Some of the artists here are ones who would have ended up on Stax or Volt, had the labels still been going at the time – and instead found a great home on Malaco, a company who also had a great legacy of work in southern blues, and really knew how to bring out the best in a strong-voiced singer! Yet despite that side of the label, the music here is all-soul all the way through – not some of the soul/blues hybrids that Malaco could do well, and instead amazing deep soul, handled with a new sort of sophistication for the 70s! The sound is wonderful throughout – and the set features loads of cuts we'd never heard before – 18 titles that include "Overflowing" by Jewel Bass, "Ain't No Love For Sale" by Tommy Tate, "Sour Love Bitter Sweet" by Joe Wilson, "Lovin On Borrowed Time" by Anita Mitchell, "Got To Find The Nerve" by Hank Sample, "Two Of A Kind" by Dorothy Moore, "Once Upon A Love Affair" by Chuck Brooks, "That's How Much I Love You" by Eddie Houston, and "Talkin About Love" by George Soule. CD

A very strange and unusual chapter in Chet's career – an album that was recorded as a part of a marathon session that Chet did under the guidance of his 60s manager – issued across other records that include Groovin, Smokin, and Comin On – all of which were leased to Prestige, but have kind of disappeared from their catalog over the years. The sound here is much harder than Chet in the 50s – largely because there's a Detroit rhythm section that includes Kirk Lightsey on piano, Roy Brooks on drums, and Herman Wright on bass – as well as some searing tenor work from George Coleman. Titles include "Etude In Three", "Sleeping Susan", "Hurry", and "The 490". CD

A very strange and unusual chapter in Chet's career – an album that was recorded as a part of a marathon session that Chet did under the guidance of his 60s manager – issued across other records that include Groovin, Smokin, and Comin On – all of which were leased to Prestige, but have kind of disappeared from their catalog over the years. The sound here is much harder than Chet in the 50s – largely because there's a Detroit rhythm section that includes Kirk Lightsey on piano, Roy Brooks on drums, and Herman Wright on bass – as well as some searing tenor work from George Coleman. Titles include "Etude In Three", "Sleeping Susan", "Hurry", and "The 490". CD

An obscure session that Chet recorded in the mid 60's with a rhythm section from Detroit that includes the Kirk Lightsey, Herman Wright, and Roy Brooks – and that features some firey playing by George Coleman on tenor. Tracks include "Rearin' Back", "Grade A Gravy", and "Fine & Dandy". Much more soulful than some of Chet's other LPs – and a record that was oddly licensed both to Prestige and Roulette! CD

Two hip records from organist Shirley Scott – back to back on a single CD! First up is Hip Soul – early Shirley Scott at her best – working with husband Stanley Turrentine to craft a great set of soul jazz tracks! The mood is laidback and easygoing, and honestly, it's Turrentine's deeply soulful solos that really make the set crackle – bringing an edge to the record that Shirley didn't always have, even on her earlier recordings with Eddie Lockjaw Davis. Stan's tone is superb – with a subtle rasp that really breaks open the sound – and his playing is extremely well-handled – always keeping us on the edge of our seat, blowing as he goes with incredible confidence and creativity! The rest of the group features Herb Lewis on bass and Roy Brooks on drums – and titles include "Trane's Blues", "Hip Soul", "411 West", "By Myself", and "Stanley's Time". On Hip Twist, Shirley's joined by husband Stanley Turrentine, whose tenor work on any Scott album always takes it to the next level! Stan's tone is still nice and raw here – blowing out some hard and soulful lines that are the perfect complement to Shirley's more composed work on the Hammond. The rest of the group includes George Tucker on bass and Otis Finch on drums – and tracks include "Hip Twist", "Violent Blues", "That's All", "All Tore Down", and "Rippin & Runnin". CD

A fantastic tribute to the legendary Disco Spectrum series of compilations – a run of records that first burst forth at the end of the 90s, and showed the world that there was a huge amount of underground music to discover from the mainstream disco years! Disco Spectrum cuts aren't the ones you'll know from Saturday Night Fever – or from K-Tel compilations of the time – and instead, they represent the much deeper current of groove that was still burning bright away from the limelight, even while the more commercial disco crumbled into dust – music that was sometimes cut by artists who disappeared quickly, sometimes by older masters, and sometimes by talents who never fully got the respect they deserved. Both Joey Negro and Sean P have given us some great sets before, but this one is right at the top of their talents – filled with gems that include "Let Me Down Easy" by Rare Pleasure, "Spread Love" by Al Hudson & The Soul Partners, "Can't Shake Your Love (Larry Levan 12" mix)" by Syreeta, "Trinidad (special disco mix)" by John Gibbs & US Steel Orchestra, "Isabelle & The Rain" by Jo Boyer, "Don't Let My Rainbow Pass Me By (club 12" mix)" by Cloud One with Margo Williams, "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This" by Idris Muhammad, "I Don't Want You Back" by Ramona Brooks, "Hot To Trot" by Alfredo De La Fe, "Out Of My Hands" by Omni, "Under The Skin" by The Brothers, "Let Me Love You" by Bunny Mack, "Can You Get Down" by Universe City, and "I Want You For Myself" by George Duke with Lynn Davis. CD