A Brazilian singer with a hell of a voice – the lovely Helena De Lima, whose vocal range really fits the lush moods of the tunes on the set! Things are in a more melancholy look than you'd guess from Helena's look on the cover – a nice sort of blueness that's never too overdone, and which has a good balance between the lead vocals and the woodwinds and strings used in the backings. Arrangements are by Ruben Pocho Peren – an overlooked sophisticated talent – and titles include "So So So", "Fio De Cancao", "Flor Da Noite", "Cravo Vermelho", "Balada De Saudade", "Vai", "Pierrot", "Por Onde Eu Vou", and "Boa Noite Rio". LP, Vinyl record album

A live and lively little bossa vocal set – recorded at the Cangaceiro nightclub, with backing by a really great small combo! The style here is similar to other live bossa jazz sets from the time – such as Elis Regina's classic with the Zimbo Trio – and although Helena's vocal style is a bit full and sometimes emotive, the spontaneous nature of the performance really helps keep things lean and clean! The combo here is named after the club – and features Raul Mascarenhas on piano and supposedly Rildo Hora on a bit of harmonica – although he doesn't seem to appear on the record as much as the cover might indicate. Titles include "Oitavo Botequim", "Penumbra", "Ponto E Chuva", "Aconteceu", "Desilusao", "Verdade Da Vida", and 2 longer "Pot-Pourri" tracks. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The title's a bit misleading – as Chico really wasn't much of a hitmaker, at least as far as the charts go – but the album is a wonderful collection of his groundbreaking work for Impulse, killer tracks that are head and shoulders above any of his earlier work! At the time, Hamilton was really going out from his more composed style of earlier years – exploring modal and eastern rhythms with the help of strong players like Gabor Szabo, Charlie Mariano, Charles Lloyd, Jerome Richardson, and Larry Coryell – setting up incredible off-beat grooves that proved to be a perfect foil for edgey reed solos, and tightly woven guitar work. The set's got a heck of a lot of great work from those years – and titles include "For Mods Only", "That Boy With The Long Hair", "Helena", "Baby You Should Know", "Manila", "Lonesome Child", "El Moors", "Transfusion", and "Man From Two Worlds". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing, simply amazing – and light years ahead of the staid sounds that Chico Hamilton was cutting in the 50s! Hamilton's one of those players who has an amazing range to his music – almost all of it really incredible, as Chico always shifts things up over time – continually trying new things, and new modes of expression – even though, given his popularity, he could have just kept recording the same things year after year. This album is true testament to that propensity for growth in Hamilton's music – a wonderfully unbridled set that's filled with unusual rhythms, odd instrumentation, and even some of the first touches of psychedelic jazz to appear in the 60s! Players include Sadao Watanabe on alto and flute, Gabor Szabo on guitar, Jimmy Cheatham on trombone, and Willie Bobo and Victor Pantoja on percussion – all working together in a really wonderful range of modes from track to track – always groovy, but also pretty far-reaching and exploratory too! Titles include "El Moors", "Helena", "Strange", "Marcheta", "El Chico", and "Conquistadores". LP, Vinyl record album

A smoking little set from George Harmonica Smith – an album recorded in late 60s LA, but done with plenty of Chicago blues touches! The players here are all top-shelf – and include Muddy Waters on guitar and Otis Spann on piano – who definitely help keep a Windy City vibe going on the record – that spare, raw, but electrified approach to the music that was still wonderfully fresh at the time of the sessions. And Smith's vocals alone are totally great – very deeply soulful – but also alternate strongly with sharp lines on harmonica too. Titles include "Mellow Down Easy", "Key To The Highway", "You Better Watch Yourself", "Last Night", "West Helena Woman", "Tell Me Mama", "Juke", and "Everything Gonna Be Alright". CD features 3 bonus tracks – "Love With A Feelin", with vocals by Lucille Spann – plus "Just A Feelin" and "Goin Down Slow". CD

A long-overdue entry in this amazing series – a set of music that's gone on to be a genre unto itself, and which stands as a tribute to the song-picking genius of the great Dave Godin! The music here is a really special breed of soul – sounds that start out in the heart-worn style of southern work of the 60s, but which also expand to encompass other modes of very expressive singers – music that definitely lives up to the "deep" in the deep soul title! Godin's been gone from the planet for a number of years, but the set list is based on suggestions he had when compiling the earlier versions of the famous series – and Dave lives again in the notes, which include an interview with the soul music expert by Jon Savage. But even without the words, the music is more than enough – on titles that include "Without Love" by Ronnie Taylor, "Where Is The Party" by Helena Ferguson, "Dead" by Carolyn Sullivan, "Who Knows" by Soul City, "I Will" by Lattimore Brown, "Right Here Is Where You Belong" by Jerry Washington, "Can't Last Much Longer" by Betty Harris, "Standing At The Crossroads" by Eddie & Ernie, "What Can I Do Without You" by Linda Jones, "It's Too Late For Tears" by Rene Bailey, and "All I Want Is You" by Zilla Mayes. CD

A long-overdue entry in this amazing series – a set of music that's gone on to be a genre unto itself, and which stands as a tribute to the song-picking genius of the great Dave Godin! The music here is a really special breed of soul – sounds that start out in the heart-worn style of southern work of the 60s, but which also expand to encompass other modes of very expressive singers – music that definitely lives up to the "deep" in the deep soul title! Godin's been gone from the planet for a number of years, but the set list is based on suggestions he had when compiling the earlier versions of the famous series – and Dave lives again in the notes, which include an interview with the soul music expert by Jon Savage. But even without the words, the music is more than enough – on titles that include "Without Love" by Ronnie Taylor, "Where Is The Party" by Helena Ferguson, "Dead" by Carolyn Sullivan, "Who Knows" by Soul City, "I Will" by Lattimore Brown, "Right Here Is Where You Belong" by Jerry Washington, "Can't Last Much Longer" by Betty Harris, "Standing At The Crossroads" by Eddie & Ernie, "What Can I Do Without You" by Linda Jones, "It's Too Late For Tears" by Rene Bailey, and "All I Want Is You" by Zilla Mayes. CD

Chicago's long-living, always great zine Roctober takes a look at the 80s – through the wholy unique Roctober lens that shows this oft-maligned and/or nostalgia prone decade in a totally great way! The Livin' In The 80s Issue has interviews with lost 70s/80s funkster Captain Sky Glenn, Danzig, Boyd Rice, Curtom Records' Eddie Thomas, PiL, Stax Record historian Rob Bowman, TSOL, The Zero Boys, French diva Helena Noguerra, Japanese group sound legends The Golden Cup, The Knots, Plus Daniel Lanois, The Cheepskats, Clara & Chris Ware on Tiny Tim, Ernie Kovacs, Electric Prunes, Joe Strummer, The Romantics, comics, obits, reviews, and unpublished photos of Black Flag, Bad Brains, Misfits and more! Magazine