A set that strongly continues the special spirit that Grover Washington brought to his music during the Elektra Records years – as one of the few artists who really found a way to move forward from the style of 70s jazz funk, but not fall into some of the smoother jazz cliches that were about to envelop his contemporaries! Part of the strength of the record lies in Grover's strongly soul-based sense of timing – allowing for just the right amount of space between the notes to remind you that you're listening to a jazz soloist first and foremost, even when a guest like Patti Labelle might step in for a bit of vocals. Titles include "Brazilian Memories", "Mixty Motions", "Can You Dig It", "I'll Be With You", "Things Are Getting Better", and "The Best Is Yet To Come". LP, Vinyl record album

If there's anyone we trust with a fusion groove, it's the great Grover Washington – as Washington's 70s albums for Kudu are still the blueprint for mixing saxophone solos with electric jazzy backing – a rich legacy he continued strongly into later years! This early 80s set has Washington soaring to the skies on soprano sax – as expressive a voice on the record as any soul singer might be – and maybe even more so on the few spots that do include vocals. Jon Lucien sings a bit on the record – and if you read these pages, you know how much we love him – but Grover's still the giant here, with a sense of timing and phrasing that few of his contemporaries could ever hope to match in a setting like this. Titles include "Jet Stream", "Sassy Stew", "Dawn Song", "Inside Moves", "Watching You Watching Me", and "Secret Stew". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Hargrove on trumpet, Sherman Irby on alto, Larry Willis on piano, Gerald Cannon on bass, and Willie Jones on drums – backed by a string section with arrangements by Hargrove, Willis, and Cedar Walton! CD

Features Roy Hargrove on trumpet and flugelhorn, Stephen Scott on piano, and Christian McBride on bass. Tracks include "Marmaduke", "Dewey Square", "Dexterity", "Laura", and "Yardbird Suite". CD

An excellent 2LP set that compiles Grover's killer funky cuts for Kudu – packaged here in an expanded best-of set that Motown issued when they took over the Kudu distribution. We hardly need to tell you how great these cuts are – as the set includes classics like "Mister Magic", "Black Frost", "Do Dat", "Summer Song", "Feels So Good", and "Ain't No Sunshine" – all stone winners from Grover's best years! LP, Vinyl record album

A set of unreleased duets between trumpeter Roy Hargrove and pianist Mulgrew Miller – two players who are definitely in harmony throughout the recording! Most tracks are nice and long – taken with an open, lyrical sensibility – one that's driven strongly by Miller's sense of imagination on the piano, and which seems to have Roy Hargrove maybe opening up a bit more than some of his studio recordings of the time! Titles include versions of "Triste", "Con Alma", "This Is Always", "I Remember Clifford", "Never Let Me Go", "Invitation", Ruby My Dear", "Ow", and "Just In Time" – plus a nice reading of the Blue Mitchell tune "Fungii Mama". LP, Vinyl record album

Grover Washington blows over some great arrangements from William Eaton – full, but lean too – and with the same sort of slinky groove that always worked best for Grover back at Kudu Records! The sound is tight, but never too slick – that magically soulful approach that always made Grover a real standout from his contemporaries – one of the few cats who could smooth out jazz without ever losing its soul – thanks to lots of well-crafted lead lines on soprano sax! Titles include "East River Drive", "Jamming", "Little Black Samba", "Be Mine", and "Reaching Out". LP, Vinyl record album

Bouncy soul from Grover Washington – a set that returns to his earlier roots in a space between soulful fusion and R&B! The slinky Washington soprano sax gets plenty of space in this set – blown with those seductive notes that always made Grover one of the most distinctive players on the instrument – and the backings often have this gentle R&B groove that's even stronger on the few cuts here with vocals. Titles include "Soulful Strut", "Bordertown", "Village Groove", "I Can Count The Times", "Headman's Hunt", and "Can You Stop The Rain". CD

The second set of jazzy jam tracks from Roy Hargrove's RH Factor – following very nicely on the style of the first! Hargrove's funky trumpet is very firmly in the lead of the set – pushing the group through a sound that's tightly percussive at the bottom, but which also has a lot of complicated horn parts on the top. There's traces of New Orleans, Afro Funk, and New York grooves in the set – but the overall approach is also pretty laidback, open, and personal to the group. We really love the mellow grooving soul of the title cut "Strength" – which features lead vocals by Renee Neufville and piano by the great Bernard Wright – and other tracks include a remake of "Listen Here", plus "Rich Man's Welfare" and "Bop Drop". Also includes a bonus "Bigga Than You Know It Is" mix of "Universe", and a "Soulfest Vocal Remix of "For Fun", featuring Omar! CD

Pure dark magic from Grover Washington – a record that was a megahit back in the 70s, but which still sounds amazing many decades later! There's a sound here that's completely sublime – and the album is to Grover's career what the first 2 CTI sets by Bob James were to his – a stretched-out, masterpiece of sublime jazzy energy – served up with a really spacious sound overall! Grover's sharp-edged sax is at the lead of the set – but the album's also awash in electric piano work from Bob James – and backings that are as lean, clean, and soulful as the best on CTI from the time. Titles include the killer "Black Frost" – a track that we never tire of – plus the hit "Mister Magic", and the cuts "Earth Tones" and "Passion Flower". LP, Vinyl record album

Pure dark magic from Grover Washington – a record that was a megahit back in the 70s, but which still sounds amazing many decades later! There's a sound here that's completely sublime – and the album is to Grover's career what the first 2 CTI sets by Bob James were to his – a stretched-out, masterpiece of sublime jazzy energy – served up with a really spacious sound overall! Grover's sharp-edged sax is at the lead of the set – but the album's also awash in electric piano work from Bob James – and backings that are as lean, clean, and soulful as the best on CTI from the time. Titles include the killer "Black Frost" – a track that we never tire of – plus the hit "Mister Magic", and the cuts "Earth Tones" and "Passion Flower". CD

Includes the songs "It Feels So Good", "Mister Magic", "Do Dat", "Sunner Song"., "A Secret Place", "Ain't No Sunshine", and "Masterpiece". CD

Man, it's like a talent bomb exploded! This set's stuffed with work by some of the greatest jazz funk players of the early 70s – Johnny Hammond, Bob James, Deodato, George Benson, Joe Farrell, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Grover Washington Jr, Hubert Laws, and others – all playing together at a massive live concert recorded in Hollywood in 1972! And although you might worry that the collection of so many great talents on one stage might just create confusion – don't! The quality of the work is excellent – almost better than the best of the CTI studio sides, with a lean, clean sound that's really really tight – never overblown, just sweet electric funk with loads of great space for solo work. This second volume of the 3 LP set includes takes of "Blues Force", "Rock Steady", "People Make The World Go Round" and a medley of "Ithe From Love Story", "Pavane" and "Fire & Rain". LP, Vinyl record album

Roy Hargrove on trumpet and flugelhorn, Ron Blake on tenor and soprano sax, Cyrus Chestnut on piano, Rodney Whitaker on bass, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums. CD

We're normally not the biggest fans of Oscar Peterson, but on this set, he's working with tenorist Ralph Moore and trumpeter Roy Hargrove – and really gets past his usual trio sound! The album's got a strong and soulful frontline that really makes things happen – with Moore's tenor solos as impeccably placed as always, and Hargrove's trumpet strutting boldly at the top of the proceedings. Some of the strongest work on the set happens on Peterson's original compositions – and titles include "Rob Roy", "Blues For Stephane", "Cool Walk", "Ecstasy", "Truffles", and "She Has Gone". CD

A trio of Columbia Records sets from Jean-Luc Ponty – served up here in a single package! First up is Gift Of Time – a set that really shows him embracing keyboards much more than at the start of his career – even though he also still turns in plenty of great jazzy sounds on violin! Ponty often seems to be mixing both – using the keyboards to augment inflections in the violin – at a level that makes you feel like he's not using the older stringed instrument at all during some sections, even though it's there in the mix. The set's got a vibe that very much fits with its cover – somewhat lean, with guitar from Pat Thomi, bass from Baron Browne, and percussion and drums from Rayford Griffin. Titles include "Faith In You", "New Resolutions", "No More Doubts", "Metamorphosis", and "Introspective Perceptions". Storytelling is a set that has Jean-Luc Ponty really staying on top of his fusion game – part of that ever-evolving run of records that took the European musician from early straight jazz violin records in the 60s, to the height of American jazz crowds in the 70s and 80s! Here, Ponty continues his exploration of various keyboard modes, while also folding in warm work on electric violin – a blend that's surprisingly seductive, and augmented along the way with guest work from Grover Washington on soprano sax, and Patrice Rushen on additional keyboards. The core group also has guitar from Jamie Glaser, and piano and more keyboards from Wally Minko – on titles that include "Tender Memories", "In The Fast Lane", "After The Storm", "The Amazon Forest", "A Journey's End", and "Pastoral Harmony". Tchokola is a very different record than usual for Jean-Luc Ponty – as you maybe can tell from the global-styled image on the cover! This time around, Ponty's bringing in some key elements from African music – plenty of live, acoustic percussion, which makes for a really great blend with the warmer keyboard and electric violin styles he's normally known for! The percussion was recorded at an analog level, which helps it retain its warmth – a great mix of balafon, tama, sabar, bongos, and other instruments – plus some nice use of kora too. There's also some vocals on the record – sung by Angelique Kidjo and Myriam Betty – and titles include "Yeke Yeke", "Rhum N Zouc", "Cono", "Bottle Bop", "Tchokola", "Sakka Sakka", and "Mouna Bowa". CD

We're not normally ones to stock urban fire books here at Dusty Groove – but as you probably know, our hometown is Chicago, a city with a pretty incredible history – part of which is a fantastic fire that burned the whole place to the ground back in the 19th century! This huge book dives into great detail about the fire – its origins, its too-long burnout, initial failed efforts to stop it, and the surprisingly quick rise from the ashes that Chicago experienced as a result – as the city turned the tragedy into a way of rethinking and modernizing itself, which made it very well-poised to become a global powerhouse in years to come! Carl Smith tells the tale with a nicely narrative voice, while also showcasing the long research that went into the project – and this hardcover edition is 374 pages, with some black and white images. Book

Great work from the second chapter of Grover Washington's career – his post-Kudu run over at Elektra Records! The work here's a bit tighter than the Kudu sides, but still pretty great overall – thanks to that key Washington approach to a solo – a sense of space and soul that few other players could match! Most of the tracks were done with Ralph MacDonald at the production helm – in a similar blend of jazz and soul to his own work – and the tracks here are an excellent example of how a late 70s evolution in jazz funk created a keen sense of economy in the decade's best players! Titles include Grover's classic duet with Bill Withers, "Just The Two Of Us" – plus "Jammin", "Little Black Samba", "Let It Flow", "Jet Stream", "The Best Is Yet To Come", "East River Drive", "Can You Dig It", and "In The Name Of Love". CD

A totally great Grover Washington record – and with 25 years behind us, we really now realize how fantastic all the early Kudu sessions really were! The record was recorded live at the Bijou, and is spread out over 2 long LPs, with lots of room for tasty open-ended solos by Grover and the group. Includes the great version of "Lock It In The Pocket", plus "Funkfoot", "Sausalito", "Summer Song", and a long version of "Mr Magic". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes the songs "Take Five (Take Another Five)", "Sacred Kind Of Love", "Only For You (Siempre Para Ti Sere)", "Please Send Me Someone To Love", "Strawberry Moon", "Summer Nights", "Heat Index", "Near Exit", "Blues For DP", "Soulful Strut (The Top Down Version)", "The Love In His Infant Eyes", "The Night Fantastic", and "Protect The Dream". CD