Features Chuck Ramsey on bass, John Thomas on piano and Russ Lewellen on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Obscure recording by the great trombonist Slide Hampton, and one of the last that he made in the US before disappearing to Europe for a long while. The set's put together by trombonist Harold Betters for the Gateway label, based in Betters' home base of Pittsburgh. The two players trade off solo lines and arrangements here, but the bulk of the tracks have Slide penning the charts. As always, his work in this respect is flawless, and the LP grooves nicely with a nice bottom sound. Cuts include "Major Minor", "Rum & Coke", "The Beat", and "The New Waltz". LP, Vinyl record album

Trombonely jazz from Harold Betters – the Pittsburgh legend who had a tremendous reach in the 60s! The album features Betters working his magic in a variety of settings – from catchy soul jazz-inflected numbers, to gentle ballads, to the more R&B-tinged numbers that were most likely Betters' biggest crowd pleasers on his popular live sets. The album's got a great vocal number called "Tall Girl", a two-part original groover called "Do Anything You Wanna", and nice takes on "Twist & Shout" and "Girl From Ipanema". LP, Vinyl record album

Sammy Davis Jr is looking pretty darn hip on the cover – and all the artists inside are sounding pretty darn hip as well – coming together during the glory days of soul jazz, at a time when blues, vocals, and R&B were also criss-crossing into other styles too! There's an upbeat, soul-drenched, ultra-cool vibe to the whole thing – not too-familiar retro jazz numbers, but instead a wealth of rare cuts that often come from the sort of 7" singles that change hands for big money in the funky 45 underground, next to obscure album cuts too – mixed with the kind of unreleased material that the Ace/Kent label has always done such a good job of digging up! The package explodes with groovy musical delights – and titles include "What Is love" by Bobby Jenkins, "Out House" by Eddie Bridges & His Lowriders, "Empire City" by Gene Walker & The Combo, "Pushin The Button Of Soul" by Hank Jacobs, "Fat Man" by Montego Joe, "The Bold" by Russell Evans & The Nite Hawks, "Hey Mrs Jones" by Jimmy Witherspoon, "Poppa Nickel" by The Tempo Rhythms, "Sherry's Party" by Ray Johnson, "Hot Tamale Man" by Harold Betters, "Shank & Grits" by Ray Shanklin, "Pluckin" by Jimmy Mayes & The Soul Breed, "East 24th Ave" by Billy Graham & The Escalators, and "Do The Thing" by Gate Wesley. CD