Billy Cobham's always got something funky going on in his music – and this 70s classic for Atlantic Records has the drummer at the height of his powers – really mixing together jazz, rock, and funk impulses – all without some of the overindulgence of his more jamming records of the time! There's still some great trippy sounds at times – some fierce future jazz passages that have Billy's drums really propelling keyboards and guitar – but overall the tracks are short and focused, with a nice nod back to the kind of energy that Cobham brought to his sessions with other artists. One exception is the great "Moody Modes" – a sweet long electric track that almost feels like George Duke on MPS – alongside other cuts that include "A Funky Kind Of Thing", "Some Skunk Funk", and "Light At The End Of The Tunnel". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Kenny Garrett on alto and soparano sax – plus guest work from George Duke, Joe Sample, and Paulinho Da Costa. Titles include "Cobra", "Big Time", "Hannibal", "Jo Jo", "Amandla", "Jilli", and "Mr Pastorious". CD

With Miles Davis, Erroll Garner, Dizzie Gillespie, Earl Coleman, Howard McGhee, Dodo Mamarosa, Warnell Gray, Lucky Thompson, Duke Jordan, Max Roach, Tommy Potter, Barney Kessel, Red Callender, and George Handy. CD

With Omar Hakim on drums, Marcus Miller on bass, Michael Sembello on guitar, Don Freeman on keyboards, Paulinho da Costa and Malando Gassama on percussion, Buzz Feiten on rhythm guitar, George Duke on clavinet, James Skelton on Hammond B-3, and Bob Mintzer on bass clarinet. LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful stuff from Frank Zappa – a set that still has all the freak-out feel of the early years, yet which also shows a real maturation in his arrangement styles as well! The instrumentation is fantastic – not just great guitar from Frank, but heavy keyboards from George Duke, slide guitar from Tony Duran, raw drums from Aynsley Dunbar, and even some great horn arrangements that bring in a jazzy undercurrent that's mighty nice – almost grounding the free-form energy of the band's impulses with a sophisticated groove that really makes you take them seriously! Titles include the side-long "Big Swifty" – plus "Waka/Jawaka", "Your Mouth", and "It Might Be A One Shot Deal". CD

One of Frank Zappa's biggest-selling albums of the early 70s and it's also one of his best ever! Over-Nite Sensation finds Zappa's leftfield weirdness and sly social satire at play within adventurous, but accessible arrangements. It's got some early fusiony bits paired with heavy drums and muscular rock riffs – and it's a hell of a great sound! The songs themselves are sharp, too. If forced to make a list of favorite Zappa songs, it'd certainly include "Camarillo Brillo", which kicks this record off – and other titles include "I'm The Slime", "Montana", "Dinah-Moe Humm", "Zomby Woof", and "Dirty Love". Features keyboards from George Duke and violin from Jean Luc Ponty – plus horns by Ian Underwood, Sal Marquez, Tom Fowler and Bruce Fowler – plus percussion by Ruth Underwood and amazing drums by Ralph Humphrey. CD

Features work by Slave, Soul Searchers, Faze-O, Pleasure, The Chapparals, George Duke, Kleeer, Jimmy G & The Tackheads, One Way, and Xavier! CD

A fantastic overseas session from Duke Ellington's famous trumpeter – and easily one of his best on record! The tracks are all nice and long, and done in a lateback, late nite vibe that fits the title – with a small combo that also features Quentin Jackson on trombone, Russell Procope on clarinet, George Arvanitas on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Sam Woodyard on drums! LP, Vinyl record album

A monstrous bit of jazzy fusion from the 70s – and the record that really put drummer Billy Cobham on the map – virtually creating his own sort of space between jazz, funk, and prog – thanks to the help of an all star lineup too! Cobham is tremendous on drums – and is joined on most of the record by guitarist Tommy Bolin and keyboardist Jan Hammer – both at the height of their early powers – and a few other tracks feature a slightly different lineup, with great work from saxophonist Joe Farrell and trumpeter Jimmy Owens! The drummer is definitely in the space of the territory he would explore with George Duke – but is also maybe looser and more open to new sounds too – really stepping out on cuts that include the slow mellow funk number "Red Baron", which has great breaks and nice electric piano – plus "Stratus", "Taurian Matador", "To The Women In My Life", and "Quadrant 4". LP, Vinyl record album

Subtle genius from Joe Henderson – a wonderfully laidback album that interweaves Latin rhythms, west coast soul jazz, and some slight electric touches – all in a mode that shows Henderson to be one of the deepest thinking players of his scene! All tracks are long and exploratory, without going too far out – and they're done here with a style that's gentler and more introspective than Henderson's first few electric records – but in a way that makes them even more complicated and deeply soulful. Players include Oscar Brashear, George Duke, Luis Gasca, Hadley Caliman, and Mark Levine – but Henderson's tenor is the main guiding force of the set – moodily exploring some wonderful space laid out on the tunes "All Things Considered", "Las Palmas", "Tres Palabras", and "Canyon Lady". CD

Two different concert recordings from the great Charles Mingus – recorded with the space of more than a decade between them, and showing the continual evolution of his genius! The first 2CDs bring together a sublime recording by German Radio in Bremen from 1964 – work that's from that important European tour that included the soon-to-be late Eric Dolphy on alto, flute, and bass clarinet – as part of a fiery sextet that also includes Johnny Coles on trumpet, Clifford Jordan on tenor, and Jaki Byard on piano. All players are fantastic – getting that push with Mingus that could often make soloists even more dynamic with the leader at the helm than on their own recordings – as you'll hear on the extended concert readings of "Hope So Eric", "Fables Of Faubus", "Parkeriania", and "Meditations On Integration" – plus a shorter solo by Byard. Mingus is at the helm of a different, but equally great group on the 1975 concert – with Jack Walrath on trumpet, George Adams on tenor, Don Pullen on piano, and Dannie Richmond on drums (as on just about every Mingus recording!) The politics of the 64 performance are still in place, with a slight shift – and they're mixed with some of the late Mingus' love of Duke Ellington, who gets a tribute here in a few spots, but with some great touches by Charles. Most tracks are nice and long – and titles include "Remember Rockefeller At Attica", "Devil Blues", "Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love", "Black Bat & Poles", "For Harry Carney", "Sue's Changes", and "Free Cell Block F Tis Nazi USA". CD

A bevvy of funky sample tracks, pulled from the Polygram-related catalogs of labels like Verve, MGM, and Motown. There's a lot of nice nice groovers on here that haven't been seen on wax in ages – and the whole set has a classic London Jazz Dance feel to it, like some of the older Jazz Juice comps. Titles include "Jim On The Move" by Lalo Schifrin, "Burning Spear" by Kenny Burrell, "Outrageous" by Johnny Pate, "La Descarga El Bobo" by Willie Bobo, "Sliced Tomatos" by The Just Brothers, "Party Sex" by Roy Ayers, "Au Right" by George Duke, "Afro Disia" by Roy Hargrove's Cristal, and "Sunny" by Herb Alpert. LP also includes the bonus cut "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" by Jimmy Smith! LP, Vinyl record album

Two of the later Blackbyrds LPs on one CD! Action is a great little sleeper from the Blackbyrds – a record that never gets as much due as their earlier records that have a hard funky feel, but offer instead a tasty batch of smoother jazz funk numbers that show the group still continuing to grow. Donald Byrd's still at the production helm – and the band's got a nice spacey sound that almost reflects directions that other funk groups, like Kool & The Gang, were taking at the time. The best case of this is the massive cut "Mysterious Vibes", a slow jazzy stepper that was sampled to great fame a few years back – but you can also hear it on the cuts "Supernatural Feeling", "Soft & Easy", and "Dreaming About You". Better Days is filled with sweet warm grooves from the mighty Blackbyrds – a set that has George Duke working with the group, giving them some of the electric vibe of his own great work! The sound is less sharply funky than the early days of the group, but still mighty nice – and titles include "Do It Girl", "Love Don't Strike Twice", "What We Have Is Right", and "What's On Your Mind". CD

Sweet Lucy, and mighty groovy – a wonderful album from Raul De Souza, cut during the height of his fame on the California scene! Like Raul's other work for Capitol, this record really sparkles from tight help from George Duke – who handles production, and some of the arrangements – and really helps De Souza find a tight jazzy groove! The instrumentation is a bit leaner than some of Raul's other records of this nature, which is a nice thing – as you get to hear plenty of keyboards from Patrice Rushen, Fender Rhodes from Dawilli Gonga, trumpet from Freddie Hubbard, and percussion from Airto. There's a bit of chorus vocals at times, but the main focus is on Raul's trombone solos – and cuts include of Joao Donato's "Banana Tree", plus "Sweet Lucy", "New Love", "Wild & Shy", "Bottom Heat", "Wires", and "At Will". CD

Hi Records goes nice and deep – not just in a deep soul style, but in a setting that also showcases some of the lesser-known talents who recorded for the legendary Memphis soul label! The package is overstuffed with rare goodies from the vaults of Hi – 26 tracks that include a fair bit of really obscure gems from the Memphis scene of the late 60s and early 70s – a motherlode of music that's almost like digging into some of the deeper reaches of the Stax/Volt single collections! There's a few more familiar names here, but we really treasure the more obscure artists – who come together in a very unified collection of laidback, mellow-grooving, deep soul numbers. Titles include "Mama's Boy" by James Fry, "Sweetness Ain't Sweet No More" by T99, "Is It Over" by David Duke, "Say Yes To Love" by Willie Clayton, "I Love Her" by Willie Walker, "I Wanna Share Everything" by Teacher's Edition, "Wake Up Fool" by Masqueraders, "I'm Gonna Wait" by George Jackson, "Hey Little Girl" by Norm West, "Charlie Tuttle" by Sam Mosley, "Back To You" by Jean Plum, "She's My Woman" by Bobo Mr Soul, "That's The Man Is For" by Phillip Mitchell, and "Be Good To You" by Jimmy Mack. CD

Features guest spots from George Duke, Herb Alpert, and Gerald Albright. CD