The fantastic debut of Gypsy – a group who blend wonderful harmonies with really well-crafted inspiration – very much in the jazz-inspired jamming of some of the headier California groups, like Spirit or Santana at their best! The group use a swirling blend of organ and guitar next to their really beautiful vocals – warm and sweet at some of the best moments, but never in a way that ever feels like soft rock – given the intensity of the instrumentation! The album was issued on the Metromedia label, and never got the attention it would have deserved had it hit the racks from a company like Columbia or Warner – but it's every bit as great as some of their giants from the time, with titles that include "Last December", "Man Of Reason", "Third Eye", "Tomorrow Is The Last To Be Heard", "Here In My Loneliness", "Dead & Gone", "Dream If You Can", "Decisions", and "Gypsy Queen". CD

Only the second album from Gypsy, but one that really has the group opening up their wings to soar – especially on the longer tunes that really feature some nicely freewheeling interplay between organ and guitar! Yet even on the shorter cuts, the sound between the two is great too – driven on by some rhythms that feature very tasty use of congas, in a way that might draw some slight comparison to Santana, although these guys maybe have some more mid-American elements in the mix too, almost a dash of light Allman Brothers at times! Whatever the comparisons, though, the whole thing is great – a really under-discovered gem that deserves to be in the bigger pantheon of the time – with cuts that include "Here In The Garden", "Blind Man", "Reach Out Your Hand", "Around You", and "As Far As You Can See". LP, Vinyl record album

Only the second album from Gypsy, but one that really has the group opening up their wings to soar – especially on the longer tunes that really feature some nicely freewheeling interplay between organ and guitar! Yet even on the shorter cuts, the sound between the two is great too – driven on by some rhythms that feature very tasty use of congas, in a way that might draw some slight comparison to Santana, although these guys maybe have some more mid-American elements in the mix too, almost a dash of light Allman Brothers at times! Whatever the comparisons, though, the whole thing is great – a really under-discovered gem that deserves to be in the bigger pantheon of the time – with cuts that include "Here In The Garden", "Blind Man", "Reach Out Your Hand", "Around You", and "As Far As You Can See". LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool set from the Italian scene of the 70s – one that features very hip vocals from the great Shirley Bunnie Foy, set to lean instrumentation that makes the whole thing nicely different than just a standard jazz vocal session! Shirley plays percussion next to her vocals, and the set features some mighty nice organ and piano from Sonnie Taylor – plus added percussion by a third player too, all with a vibe that makes for some really unusual tracks that have the piano and percussion dancing around with a loose, open vibe – which Shirley is only happy to explore with these vocals that unravel in a completely wonderful way – all sorts of personal inflections that groove with the rhythms, in a unique style that goes way past jazz – maybe with some of the righteous energy of Nina Simone at her hippest! Titles include "Go Down Moses", "Way O Comin Home", "Ulele Angolian Blood", "Gershwin/Summertime", "When Sunny Gets Blue", and "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child". CD

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Gypsy Lane were produced here by Jacques Morali, of Village People fame – but don't hold that against them, as the set's got a deeper vibe than you might expect! The group seem pretty tight on their own already – and work more as a tight ensemble funk group than the kind of disco studio creations Morali was more tied to – grooving at a level that seems informed by the best mid 70s advances of Earth Wind & Fire, which includes some warmer moments next to the uptempo cuts. Lead vocals are by Alfonso Carey, but other members of the group often harmonize alongside – and titles include "Show Me How To Groove", "We'll Have Love", "Hey Sister", and "I Could Use Some Loving". CD

With Hisao Fukushima and Satoshi Arai on guitar. CD

Only the second album from Gypsy, but one that really has the group opening up their wings to soar – especially on the longer tunes that really feature some nicely freewheeling interplay between organ and guitar! Yet even on the shorter cuts, the sound between the two is great too – driven on by some rhythms that feature very tasty use of congas, in a way that might draw some slight comparison to Santana, although these guys maybe have some more mid-American elements in the mix too, almost a dash of light Allman Brothers at times! Whatever the comparisons, though, the whole thing is great – a really under-discovered gem that deserves to be in the bigger pantheon of the time – with cuts that include "Here In The Garden", "Blind Man", "Reach Out Your Hand", "Around You", and "As Far As You Can See". CD

A really cool set from the Italian scene of the 70s – one that features very hip vocals from the great Shirley Bunnie Foy, set to lean instrumentation that makes the whole thing nicely different than just a standard jazz vocal session! Shirley plays percussion next to her vocals, and the set features some mighty nice organ and piano from Sonnie Taylor – plus added percussion by a third player too, all with a vibe that makes for some really unusual tracks that have the piano and percussion dancing around with a loose, open vibe – which Shirley is only happy to explore with these vocals that unravel in a completely wonderful way – all sorts of personal inflections that groove with the rhythms, in a unique style that goes way past jazz – maybe with some of the righteous energy of Nina Simone at her hippest! Titles include "Go Down Moses", "Way O Comin Home", "Ulele Angolian Blood", "Gershwin/Summertime", "When Sunny Gets Blue", and "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child". LP, Vinyl record album

Stunning soul from the great Joe Bataan – a really groundbreaking mix of modes that's right up there with the best of the Spanish Harlem scene of the late 60s! The album is Joe Bataan's debut for the Fania Records label – and the start of an incendiary run of Latin classics that forever changed the face of the New York scene – a mindblowing mix of Latin rhythms and soul-based inspiration, served up in a mix of English and Spanish language lyrics! The title track is a sublime cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Gypsy Woman" – one that's even more heartbreaking than the original – and other titles include "Ordinary Guy", Sugar Guaguanco", "So Fine", "Fuego", and the groovy "Chickie's Trombone" – a tight little jammer that shows that Joe's group also drew plenty of inspiration from the descarga scene too. LP, Vinyl record album

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Saxophonist James Carter dips into the Django Reinhardt songbook with help from Regina Carter on violin, Jay Berliner on steel string guitar, Romero Lubambo on nylon string guitar, Charlie Giordano on accordian, Steve Kirby on bass, Joey Baron on drums, and percussion wild man Cyro Baptisto. CD

A set that features Al DiMeola moving into some very dynamic territory – jamming out heavy on a mix of electric and acoustic guitars, with additional help from Paco DeLucia on acoustic at points. The instrumentation also features heavy electric piano from Jan Hammer, other keyboards from Barry Miles, bass from Anthony Jackson, and drums from Steve Gadd and Lenny White – all fusion powerhouse players who really take over the groove at times, but still leave enough room on the record for some gentler sounds from Paco and Al. Titles include "Elegant Gypsy Suite", "Flight Over Rio", "Midnight Tango", and "Race With Devil On Spanish Highway". LP, Vinyl record album

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One of Gabor Szabo's best records – a hip small combo session, featuring backup by Gary McFarland, Sadao Watanabe, Richard Davis, and Willie Rodriguez – an odd kind of lineup, but one that goes well with the offbeat grooves of the set! The overall sound has lots of touches of the McFarland Latinized rhythms of the time – but also stretches out with some of those great snakey guitar solos from Szabo – not nearly as extended or trippy here on other albums of the time, but in a really great way that makes for some tight, hip, mod little tracks! The set's one of Gabor's best from the 60s – and titles include "Flea Market", "Walk On By", "Gypsy Jam", "Gypsy '66", and "The Echo Of Love". The whole thing's kind of a compressed take on the sound of Gabor's Spellbinder album – if you know that one! CD

A long-overdue look at a little-heard side of the career of 60s pop giant Lou Christie – his great but ill-fated recordings for Columbia Records – most of which appear here for the first time ever! Lou hit the label right after a massive hit for MGM – and Columbia gave him plenty of time in the studio, and continued his work with producer Charles Calello – the genius who crafted so many wonderful settings for Christie, as well as the Four Seasons at the time. Calello's genius is in full effect here – creating these incredible backdrops for Christie's stunning vocals – really pushing him past simple pop into a whole host of different modes that make the whole thing a great "what if" – had the label not given up on Lou so quickly. The CD features great sound, detailed notes, and 24 tracks in all – 15 of which appear here for the first time ever – a blindingly great mix of tracks that includes "I Remember Gina", "The Greatest Show On Earth", "Blue Champagne", "Tender Loving Care", "Gypsy Bells, "Escape", "Standing On My Promises", "Shake Hands & Walk Away Cryin", "Self Expression", "Yellow Lights Say", "Meditation", and "How Many Days Of Sadness". CD

An amazing reissue of this now-legendary album – once a lost psych oddity, but a set that's gone onto make plenty of waves over the years! Song Of A Gypsy may well be one of the best self-issued psych sets from the American underground – a really well-written, well-recorded record that has a very dark personal vision – an approach to the music that's instantly unique, and which shows that digging for rare psych albums can really yield the occasional gem that stands head and shoulders with the bigger names of the time! Damon's voice is darkly spooky, and couched with these cool flanged-out guitar lines on the sides – creating a space that's very personal, and which seems to let the lyrics hit these qualities that go much deeper than usual. The core album's been treasured for years by the few fans who had an original copy, and by a few more who had a previous reissue – but this double-length set is the first to ever tell the true tale of the enigmatic Damon – with a huge 64 page booklet of notes, and a massive amount of rare bonus tracks too. The core album includes "Song Of A Gypsy", "Funky Funky Blues", "Don't You Feel Me", "The Night", "Feel Your Love", "Oh What A Good Boy Am I", and "Birds Fly So High". Bonus tracks include some demo and 45 versions of "Song Of A Gypsy", plus "Don't Cry", "Lonely Surfer", "Bowlin Alley Jane", "Everything Is Alright", "The Little White Cloud That Cried", "I Wonder Why", and "I've Got My Pride". LP, Vinyl record album

Recent genius from the true king of Latin Soul – the mighty Joe Bataan, sounding every bit as great now as he did back in the day! Bataan gets some very hip backing from Los Fulanos – a Barcelona-based combo who help recreate the tight sound of Joe's early grooves from the late 60s, with just a touch of the funk he picked up in the 70s too – a really great blend that helps Bataan breath fresh new life into a range of classics from years back. The set list includes some of our favorite Latin Soul gems from Joe, and both the rhythms and production styles are completely faithful to the originals – but also aren't just simple copycat versions either. After so many years in obscurity, it's great to see Bataan back in action so strongly – cooking it hard and heavy on cuts that include "Latin Soul Square Dance", "Gypsy Woman", "Mestizo", "The Bottle", "Johnny's No Good", "Special Girl", "Subway Joe", "Puerto Rico Me Llama", and "Rap O Clap O 2008". CD

A great group set with Bobby Watson on alto, Bill Pierce on tenor, and James Williams on piano! Tracks are long – and titles include "Gypsy Folk Tales", "How Deep Is The Ocean", "Webb City", and "Skylark". CD

Boy, does the heavy slab psychedelic sludge grooves of Blue Cheer ever sound wonderful, even more than 40 years since it originally walked the earth! Outsideinside hit not too long after the classic Vincebus Eruptem, and damned if we can determine why it's not as celebrated as the debut. That fuzzed out stomp of a sound is back in full effect, as are the titanic drums and an overall sound that uses an electric blues influence as a springboard into heavy cosmic space. Includes their ferocious cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" plus "Feathers From Your Tree", "Just A Little Bit", "Gypsy Ball", "Come And Get It", "The Hunter", "Babylon" and "Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger". LP, Vinyl record album

A jazz guitar double-header – two older albums from the classic Great Guitars series packaged in a single set! First up is Great Guitars At The Winery – a date that has a sweet trio of guitarists – Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel, and Herb Ellis – swinging in easygoing, open-ended formation that allows for plenty of fast string interplay! Rhythm is from Joe Byrd on bass and Jimmie Smith on drums, and at times, the guitar-driven approach is almost in the mode of gypsy swing – but with a lot more of a contemporary feel overall. Titles include "So Danco Samba", "Sheik Of Araby", "Broadway", "Air Mail Special", and "Talk Of The Town". Great Guitars At Charlies Georgetown follows the great format first set out by the trio of guitarists Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel, and Herb Ellis – a pretty airy approach to jazz guitar swinging that also features a bit of bass from Joe Byrd and some drums from Chuck Redd! As before, the approach seems to work best on older swing-styled numbers – letting one guitar play rhythm while another solos strongly – on titles that include "Where Or When", "New Orleans", "Change Partners", "Opus One", "Get Happy", and "Danielle". CD

A great set of duets between Gene Clark and Carla Olson – with titles that include "Fair & Tender Ladies", "The Drifter", "Gypsy Rider", "De Gato", "Every Angel In Heaven", "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home", and "I'm Your Toy". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from Marcia Griffiths – the Jamaican singer who first rose to fame in the duo of Bob & Marcia – but who already sounds very much her own woman on this classic set from the 70s! The groove is as much funky soul as it is reggae – in fact maybe more the former than the latter – and Marcia's got this proud, righteous approach that's very different than her style of just a few years before – set to great grooves that have sharp core instrumentation with Lloyd Charmers on piano and organ, and Willie Lindo on guitar. Almost more of a female funky soul record on most cuts – with tracks that include "Here I Am Baby", "Children At Play", "I'd Rather Be Lonely", "Sweet Bitter Love", "There's No Me Without You", "Everything I Own", "Green Grasshopper", and "Gypsy Man". Also features a full album of rare bonus tracks – including "Play Me", "The First Cut Is The Deepest", "Melody Life", "Don't Let Me Down", "Band Of Gold", "I See You My Love", "It's Too Late", "Baby If You Don't Love Me", "Love Walked In", and "Working To The Top". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of charmers from legendary producer Lloyd Charmers – served up here with lots of bonus tracks too! First up is the classic Sweet Bitter Love from Marcia Griffiths – a set that helped cement her reputation as one of the most soulful female singers in Jamaican music at the time – and one that really helps bridge worlds by serving up some great reggae-styled takes on American soul music! Marcia serves up sublime takes on tunes by Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Roberta Flack, and others – completely reworked by Charmers' instrumentation – which also includes some wonderful keyboards! Titles include "Play Me", "Gypsy Man", "Sweet Bitter Love", "Green Grasshopper", "Just Don't Want To Be Lonely", and "Everything I Own". Far & Distant features wicked guitar work from Willie Lindo – spun out here over an all-instrumental set that almost feels more like Jamaican records of the late 60s than you'd guess from the mid 70s date of the album! The grooves are definitely more 70s – certainly with a strong reggae current – but the spare, stripped-down manner of presentation takes us back more to some of the instrumental rocksteady records – especially in the way the production allows for lots of focus on the core musician – which means you really get to hear all the wicked, trippy currents of Lindo's instrument – used in a heady style that almost makes him come across like the Phil Upchurch of the Jamaican scene! Lloyd Charmers produced, and also plays piano and organ – and titles include "Drum Song", "Darker Shade Of Black", "Midnight train To Georgia", "Samba Pati", "Chopper", "Hear I Am Baby", "Charmers Mood", "Mystic Mood", "Breezing", and "Holly Holy". 2CD edition features 20 more bonus tracks – 17 of which are new to CD – a full alternate mix of the Marcia Griffiths album, the tune "Midnight & You" by Willie Lindo, and more Lloyd Charmer productions from rare 7" singles – work by Big Youth, Drifting Blenders, Bob Andy, BB Seaton, Errol Thomas, and others. CD

Seminal work from Freddie Hubbard – an early hardbop session that features some great work by Tina Brooks on tenor, piano by McCoy Tyner, and rhythm from the team of Sam Jones on bass Clifford Jarvis on drums! And although Freddie's great at this early point in his career – playing with a brash, urgent tone that's totally compelling – we're even bigger fans of the Tina Brooks work on this record! Brooks' tone is amazing – right up there with the style he used on his own rare few Blue Note sides, full of fresh fire and a really edgey approach to the tenor – and together with Hubbard, he helps craft a tight little set that's one of Hubbard's best-ever straight sides from the 60s. Titles include "But Beautiful", "One Mint Julep", "Hub's Nub", "Open Sesame", and "Gypsy Blue". Plus, the CD features bonus alternate takes of "Open Sesame" and "Gypsy Blue". CD

A real departure in the career of Brian Hyland – and light years away from his earlier fame as a teen pop singer! The Hyland of this record is a brooding one – mature, sometimes slightly folksy – but also able to draw on a wealth of soul, blues, and other musical references that were never part of his earlier music. The album unites Hyland with another older 60s star – Del Shannon, who wrote some of the songs, played guitar, and also produced the album. Shannon, like Hyland, was at a similar head-searching point in his career – and was a perfect foil for the new ideas that were bubbling around in Brian's head. There's a strangely somber feel to the set – handled partially by intimate guitar work, but also by some large, but gentle arrangements that use strings sparingly to create the same sort of sad, evocative sounds that you might expect from a Tim Hardin album. Hyland actually scored a hit with the album's great remake of "Gypsy Woman", but the original tunes are really the best – and include "On The East Side", "Mail Order Gun", "I'm Without You", "Driving Me Crazy", and "You & Me". CD

Nifty 2LP set that brings together a motherlode of the Impressions' best material from their ABC years – plus some of Jerry Butler's nice solo material for Mercury from the same time, and a few Curtis cuts from the early 70s. Too much to mention here, but titles include "Keep On Pushin", "Gypsy Woman", "Need To Belong To Someone", "Woman's Got Soul", "Amen", "You've Been Cheatin", "Mr. Dream Merchant", "We're A Winner", "Moody Woman", and "Only The Strong Survive". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic run of records from Waylon Jennings – brought together in a single package! First up is Lonesome Onry & Mean – a pivotal album for Waylon Jennings – the record where he really found the new direction that would finally get him the fame he deserved – delivered in a way that's free from all the later cliches, and which also ties Waylon pretty strongly to the hipper currents of the underground – especially that point where singer/songwriter genius intersected with country! The production is his own, and vastly different than the late 60s records – even though we love those to death too – and that magical Jennings vocal approach does fantastic things to tunes by Steve Young, Mickey Newbury, Kris Kristofferson, and others! Titles include the fantastic "Lonesome Onry & Mean", plus "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues", "Freedom To Stay", "Lay It Down", "You Can Have Her", "Pretend I Never Happened", "San Francisco Mabel Joy", "Sandy Sends Her Best", and a great take on "Me &Bobby McGee". Honky Tonk Heroes is genius material from Waylon Jennings – one of those career-defining records from the early 70s that completely put him on top, and heralded a whole new generation in country music! The set's maybe equally noteworthy as a showcase for the up-and-coming Billy Joe Shaver, who wrote much of the songs on the record – and it's also a great showcase for the important production talents of Tompall Glaser, who really gets the spirit of the music right! Titles include great versions of "Honky Tonk Heroes", "Old Five & Dimers Like Me", "Ride Me Down Easy", "Black Rose", "Willy The Wandering Gypsy & Me", "Omaha", and "Ain't No God In Mexico". This Time is one of those Waylon Jennings records from a time when he could do no wrong – fighting the stronger powers at RCA to really find his voice – recording at the studio of Tompall Glaser, with great production help from Willie Nelson – who was enjoying his own transformation at the time too! As with the previous two gems from this period, the choice of material and presentation is great – songs by Willie, JJ Cale, and Billy Joe Shavers – in a set of titles that include "Heaven Or Hell", "It's Not Supposed To Be That Way", "This Time", "Pick Up The Tempo", "If You Could Touch Her At All", "Walkin", "Slow Rollin Low", "Louisiana Woman", and "Slow Movin Outlaw". Ramblin Man is Waylon Jennings at peak mid 70s perfection! Ramblin' Man fits in stylistically with the gruff honky tonk hero mode he first fully realized a couple albums earlier, but he's still fiercely blazing trails here, pairing his gruff lead vocals with sweeter female harmonies on some tracks, changing the groove from laidback swagger to fast-paced honky tonk, working in some tender ballads with the gruffer numbers...Waylon at his best. Starts up with the eternal title track and equally classic "Rainy Day Woman" and hardly lets up in greatness from there, with "Cloudy Days", "The Hunger", "It'll Be Her", a great cover of the Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider", "Memories Of You And Me", "Amanda" and more. Features bonus tracks too – "Laid Back Country Picker", "The Last One To Leave Seattle", "Big Big Love", "Got A Lot Going For Me", "The Last Letter", and "The One I Sing My Love Songs To". CD

A totally fantastic live set from Japanese drummer Yoichi Kobayashi – a musician who's played on the scene for decades, and who has a way of bringing forward all the strengths of those years to his music! The set features appearances from American all-stars, but more on them later – as the core group is great enough to win us over on the first half of the set, with an updated take on a Blue Note-styled groove, but with inventive rhythms that really open things up too – as the drummer works with Yutarao Suzuki on trumpet, Tomonori Sakurai on tenor, Heitetsu Rin on piano, and Koji Yasuda on bass – plus koto from Makiko Goda, who echoes some older jazz Japan styles in a great way. The second half of the set also brings in Eric Alexander on tenor and Vincent Herring on alto – both players who are as strongly soulful as you might expect – on titles that include "Uncle Eddie", "Akita Rap", "Yama", "Eddie Harris", "Peace", "The Gypsy", "Encounter", and "Safari". CD

Really early work from the legendary Derrick Morgan, and a set that was one of the earliest full length sets in the Island Records catalog – the start of a legendary run of Jamaican music, with proof that Morgan was one of the originators who was there at the start! As you might guess from his look on the cover, Derrick is working in a ska-based mode on the set – but he's also drawing plenty from American soul for inspiration too – wonderful vocals that float in a dreamy way over the tight-stepping rhythms in the tunes! There's a few cuts that feature duets with Patsy Todd – and titles include "The Hop", "Look Before You Leap", "Last Chance", "Don't You Worry", "Blazing Fire", "Housewife's Choice", "Don't Be A Fool", and "It's True My Darling". CD features a massive amount of bonus tracks – 46 titles added to the original record, some from The Best Of Derrick Morgan, many of which are new to CD too. Titles include "Real Ring Ding", "Revenge", "Try Me", "Greedy Gal", "Don't Say", "Horse Dead Cow Fat", "Sunday Morning", "Gypsy Woman", "Be Still", "Corner Stone", "Sail On", "Tell It To Me", "Loving Baby", and lots lots more! CD

The cover image of a nude couple running in a field should be more than enough to recommend this one – but the music is equally great, and surprisingly groovy! We know little about Morning Dew (do you?), but they've got a really weird sound that's almost a fuzzed-up and free-thinking take on an earlier east coast rock style of the 60s. The approach isn't really garage rock, although there's plenty of garagey overtones – especially in the way the guitars are recorded – and it's not that psychedelic, either, although it certainly is trippier than most of the more mainstream work of the time. Let's just say that the spirit of this one is very clearly caught up in the forced innocence of the cover image – unbridled joy on the face of things, but with a darker current running underneath. Titles include "Save Me", "Something You Say", "Gypsy", "Cherry Street", "Then Came The Light", and "Crusader's Smile". CD

The sound of Gerry Mulligan in the early 60s – and one of the best records by his larger than usual Concert Jazz Band! Given Gerry's piano-less experiments of the 50s, it's surprising to actually have him as the pianist on this session – hitting the keys with a nice light touch, so that the larger horn section can take over most of the tunes – a beautifully-arranged ensemble who have a feel that's lighter than some of the groups of the 50s – such as the Kenton ensemble – yet one that's equally modern at times! The lineup is wonderful – with Clark Terry and Nick Travis on trumpets, Willie Dennis and Bob Brookmeyer on trombones, and Gene Quill, Gene Allen, and Eddie Caine on saxes – plus guitar from Jim Hall, bass from Bill Crow, and drums from Gus Johnson. Titles include "Big City Life", "Bridgehampton South", "My Kind Of Love", "Pretty Gypsy", "Bridgehampton Strut", and "Big City Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes the tracks "Moose The Mooche", "Yardbird Suite", "Ornithology", "A Night In Tunisia", "Loverman", "The Gypsy", "Hot Blues", "Cool Blues", "Relaxin' At Camarillo", "Stupendous", "All The Things You Are", "Bird Of Paradise", "Embraceable You", "Klact-Oveeseds-Tene", "Scrapple From The Apple", "My Old Flame", "Out Of Nowhere", and "How Deep Is The Ocean?". CD

Two great bassists, working here together in a really fantastic setting – not as a spare duo, but also not lost in a too-large group as well – as the lineup features guitar from Philip Catherine and drums from Billy Higgins – both very sensitive players who let Sam Jones and Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen take the lead! The basses move nicely between rhythm and melody – almost with a gypsy swing guitar inspiration – which is maybe echoed just a bit by Catherine, who is at his best here – a great straight jazz player without some of the gimmicks of other albums of the period. Higgins is, as always, a delight – and he gets help from Tootie Heath on percussion on two tracks too. Titles include "A Notion", "Giant Steps", "Au Privave", "Yesterdays", "Little Train", and "Miss Morgan". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful group soul vocals effort from the Persuasions in the early 70s – working in a throwback acapella mode, but still with a fresh feel – thanks to a hip dawn of the 70s sound, and a stripped-down feel that you'd probably have never gotten back in the day! It's amazing how fresh it sounds, even today – each individual voice captured with crystal clarity, and strong genuine emotion – with an honest and real sound that's not overly polished. Wonderful! Titles include "Chain Gang", "Walk On The Wild Side", "Gypsy Woman", "Another Night With The Boys", "Let It Be", "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home", and "The Sun". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal bit of crossover disco from the mid 70s – and a record that broke big on its title reworking of The Animals' earlier hit! Leroy Gomez heads the group on vocals and alto sax – and brings a slight Latin flourish to the album – mixing strings with some brassier "Spanish" horns and acoustic guitars – used here in a way that predates the Gypsy Kings' move onto the dancefloor many years later. Side one is taken up completely by an extended reading of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" – which runs into the "Esmeralda Suite", really just an extension of the first number. Side two continues the "oldies" mode of the first with a cover of "Gloria" – then rolls into the original tunes "You're My Everything" and "Black Pot". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that's way more than the classic rock outing of some of the group's Bay Area contemporaries – as the young Carlos Santana finds a way to mix inspirations from blues and Latin music into this fierce fusion of so many different elements at once – stretching out, jamming, and touching decades of listeners in the process! The whole thing's a perfect sonic blend – guitar, keyboards, and plenty of percussion – on the group's stunning remake of "Oye Como Va", their fusion of "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen", and the cuts "Se A Cabo", "Samba Pa Ti", "El Nicoya", and "Singing Winds Crying Beasts". LP, Vinyl record album