... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Barbara Dennerlein on organ and synthesizer, Andy Sheppard on tenor saxophone, Mitch Watkins on guitar, and Mark Mondesir on drums. CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A late 50s Verve session by Stuff Smith – one in which the jazz violinist does a wonderful job shaking off his often quite hammy persona for a strong, straight up set of standards and well-known bop era cuts! He's got a great crew for these sessions, with the great Shirley Horn on piano on a number of cuts, Red Mitchell on bass, and Harry Saunders on the kit. Stuff does his vocal thing on "Oh, Lady, Be Good" and "Somebody Loves Me", but the by-and-large focus of the set is to shine a light on his skills as a leader. Other tracks include "Undecided", "The Man I Love", "Take The 'A' Train", "'S Wonderful" and more! CD

Wow! We really grew to love southern soul singer Paul Kelly's sweet run of records for Warners in the 70s, but heard scant few of his earlier 45s – recorded for Lloyd, Dial, Phillips and the Happy Tiger label from the mid 60s into the early 70 – it's wonderful stuff! Hot Runnin' Soul collects each of these singles cuts, which run from swaggery soul with anthemic chorus and bursts of brass, to smoldering soul balladry, to some early Motown styled numbers that break the southern mode bit. Kelly wrote most of the songs, with rawly emotional and completely impressive vocals. We had no idea how strong this earlier material from Kelly is – thanks to Kent UK for the reveal! Includes "Chills And Fever", "It's My Baby", "Since I Found You", "The Upset", "Can't Help It", "Sweet Sweet Lovin'", "Glad To Be Sad", 'Sailing", "Sailing", "Hot Runnin' Soul", "Poor But Proud", "My Love Is Growing Stronger", "The Day After Forever", "Hangin On In Here" and more. CD

One of the lesser-known albums from the mid 70's, and one that includes a mix of remakes of old stuff, and some faster tracks that seem to be aimed at the dancefloor. Dave Matthews arranged a number of tracks, including "Hot", "So Long", and "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons". James did the rest, including "Future Shock Of The World", "Woman", "Most Of All", and "Goodnight My Love". Not his greatest – but also with some pretty decent funky moments that aren't too fast! LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing collection of 40s and 50s jazz drawings by Gene Deitch – the complete anthology of his work for legendary jazz magazine Record Changer! Gene was an amazing artist and cartoonist, whose work helped solidify the legacies of some of the most famous cartoon characters in the American pop culture canon – from Popeye, to Tom & Jerry and beyond – but we're especially in love with his jazz-centric Record Changer era! Gene adored jazz and his love for it really shows! Cat On A Hot Thin Groove includes all of his magazine covers, cartoon panels and other bits from Record Changer – versatile work that ranges from fun, cartoon-y panels of "Jazz Cat" characters, to more elaborate and abstract illustrations. Wonderful, vital stuff – and it's very nicely anthologized here by Fantagraphics! Coffee-table scale paperback – 160+ pages of prime Deitch jazzy drawings with text accompaniment. Book

Clasic toasting and freestyling from I- Roy, one of the most heavyweight DJs of all time! Riding some of the finest rhythms of Buny Lee & Keith Hudson mixed by dub master King Tubby & Errol Thompson, this collection features boasts and more conscious topics, too: "Hot Stuff", "Black Talk", "Sufferer's Psalm", "Superfly" and "Straight to Heathen Head". CD

A killer set from drummer George Jenkins – with a hard-wailing Central Ave groove, augmented by some killer tenor work by Plas Johnson! This is one of the best albums ever to hear Johnson blowing in a jazz mode – and his tenor skills put him right up there with Willis Jackson or Gene Ammons for sheer soulful blowing. Most rhythms are in an R&B-ish tone, with piano by Ray Johnson, Duke Harris on bass, and Jenkins on drums – and titles include "Gee Gee", "Caravan", "Drum Boogie", "Hot Spot", and "Last Call". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing stuff from Isaac Hayes! Although Ike had first appeared on LP with the album "Introducing", this was the first record to really expose his true soul genius – and it was also the first release on Ike's successful sub-label at Stax, Enterprise Records. The record shows that for all the years Ike was working away on other folks' songs for Stax, he was carefully cooking up his own style of soul that would forever change the way we think about the music. Back in 1969, the album must have blown more than a few minds for its incredibly baroque approach to soul music – taking common elements like strings, piano, and funky rhythms, and stretching them out into long waves of sound that cycle over and over, working a sly subtle magic along with Ike's super-sexy vocals, and his monologue-heavy approach to popular tunes. The album features incredible remakes of pop hits "Walk On By" and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" – both of which run for over 10 minutes, and which completely transform the songs into something way more than simple radio fodder. Also features the psychedelic soul masterpiece "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic", which has this crazy funky piano, and a messed-up sound that would make even George Clinton weep! LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent set released by the CMF, and featuring a wealth of rare rockabilly tracks by the likes of Joe Clay, Ric Cartey, Pee Wee King, Tommy Blake, Jimmy Dell, Hoyt Johnson, and others. Loads of great stuff, and ripping all the way through! CD

Strings of many shapes and sizes – not just violins, but guitars as well – all coming together in a host of instrumental pop classics! The package is a lot cooler than you might expect – and features about a decade of chart-topping instrumentals – the kind of clever little tunes that made radio so great back in the day, and which often took familiar instrumentation and played around with it a bit in the studio – so that the end result was a heck of a lot more than just the sum of its parts! Styles are great – and run from folksy to rocking to exotic, and more – really creative stuff spun out over a set list of 28 tracks that include "The Dis-Advantages Of You" by The Brass Ring, "Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat, "Fly Me To The Moon" by Joe Harnell, "Flying Circle" by Frankie Slay, "Image" by Hank Levine, "Mexico" by Bob Moore, "Beautiful Obsession" by Sir Chauncey & His Exciting Strings, "Summer Set" by Monty Kelly, "Baby Elephant Walk" by The Minature Men, "Java" by Al Hirt, "The Enchanted Sea" by The Islanders, "More" by Kai Winding, "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" by Sounds Orchestral, "Swingin Safari" by Billy Vaughan, "Calcutta" by Lawrence Welk, and "Lost Love" by HB Barnum. CD

A set that's way more than just a "best of" sort of anthology – as the package features three full albums by the group, plus other material too! The set begins with the classic debut, Gilded Palace Of Sin – a true late 60s rock masterpiece – and like albums by Love and The Velvet Underground, a set that barely made a mainstream impact at the time – but which has gone on to be the stuff of influence and legend over the decades! The album's the first from Gram Parsons and the group – one of only two they would cut together – and the whole thing is a perfect blend of rough-edged rock and country influences rising up from the LA scene – all those glimmers of brilliance that Parsons had brought to the Byrds and other projects, maybe given their full flowering here in a mode that's unabashed about its country music influences – maybe even more so than some of Gram's later solo work. Sneeky Pete Kleinow's steel guitar really adds a lot – but so does the presence of Chris Hillman on guitar and mandolin, and Chris Ethridge on bass and piano. Titles include the brilliant "Sin City" – a track we'll love until we die – plus "Christine's Tune", "Do Right Woman", "Dark End Of The Street", "My Uncle", "Wheels", "Juanita", "Hot Burrito No 1", "Hot Burrito No 2", "Do You Know How It Feels", and "Hippy Boy". Burrito Deluxe is the second of only two albums recorded by Gram Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers – and a masterpiece that pushes the group's sound even farther than their debut! The set is filled with special moments – songs that show just why these guys were such a special bridge between late 60s country and rock music – and why all of the other groups they inspired just never came close to serving things up this well! Gram Parsons is fantastic on vocals, of course – but the whole group is great, especially Sneaky Pete on steel guitar. Titles include the fantastic romper "Man In The Fog", the very groovy "Lazy Days", the haunting "God's Own Singer", and the group's Jagger/Richards' approved take on "Wild Horses – plus other cuts that include "High Fashion Queen", "Image Of Me", "Older Guys", and "If You Gotta Go". Flying Burrito Brothers is The Burritos first LP, post-Parsons – and a pretty strong statement for the merits of the now unquestioned leader, Rick Roberts, and multi-instrumentalist new guy Bernie Leadon, who would later turn to the dark side and join the Eagles! Roberts penned or co-penned seven of the album's ten tunes, including "Colorado", "Hand To Mouth", "Just Can't Be", and "Four Days Of Rain". His contributions are for the most part nicely fragile, with just the right doses of sweetness and sadness. The group also covers Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever", Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard", and Dylan's "To Ramona". This is one of the band's rarer LPs, probably because of the absence of hipster hero Gram Parsons – truly a worthy piece of work! CD also features some other tracks recorded by Parsons with the group – including "Six Days On The Road", "Break My Mind", "Sing Me Back Home", and "Close Up The Honky Tonks" – and live tracks "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" and "Losing Game" – plus Gene Clark singing on "Here Tonight". CD

A set that's way more than just a "best of" sort of anthology – as the package features three full albums by the group, plus other material too! The set begins with the classic debut, Gilded Palace Of Sin – a true late 60s rock masterpiece – and like albums by Love and The Velvet Underground, a set that barely made a mainstream impact at the time – but which has gone on to be the stuff of influence and legend over the decades! The album's the first from Gram Parsons and the group – one of only two they would cut together – and the whole thing is a perfect blend of rough-edged rock and country influences rising up from the LA scene – all those glimmers of brilliance that Parsons had brought to the Byrds and other projects, maybe given their full flowering here in a mode that's unabashed about its country music influences – maybe even more so than some of Gram's later solo work. Sneeky Pete Kleinow's steel guitar really adds a lot – but so does the presence of Chris Hillman on guitar and mandolin, and Chris Ethridge on bass and piano. Titles include the brilliant "Sin City" – a track we'll love until we die – plus "Christine's Tune", "Do Right Woman", "Dark End Of The Street", "My Uncle", "Wheels", "Juanita", "Hot Burrito No 1", "Hot Burrito No 2", "Do You Know How It Feels", and "Hippy Boy". Burrito Deluxe is the second of only two albums recorded by Gram Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers – and a masterpiece that pushes the group's sound even farther than their debut! The set is filled with special moments – songs that show just why these guys were such a special bridge between late 60s country and rock music – and why all of the other groups they inspired just never came close to serving things up this well! Gram Parsons is fantastic on vocals, of course – but the whole group is great, especially Sneaky Pete on steel guitar. Titles include the fantastic romper "Man In The Fog", the very groovy "Lazy Days", the haunting "God's Own Singer", and the group's Jagger/Richards' approved take on "Wild Horses – plus other cuts that include "High Fashion Queen", "Image Of Me", "Older Guys", and "If You Gotta Go". Flying Burrito Brothers is The Burritos first LP, post-Parsons – and a pretty strong statement for the merits of the now unquestioned leader, Rick Roberts, and multi-instrumentalist new guy Bernie Leadon, who would later turn to the dark side and join the Eagles! Roberts penned or co-penned seven of the album's ten tunes, including "Colorado", "Hand To Mouth", "Just Can't Be", and "Four Days Of Rain". His contributions are for the most part nicely fragile, with just the right doses of sweetness and sadness. The group also covers Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever", Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard", and Dylan's "To Ramona". This is one of the band's rarer LPs, probably because of the absence of hipster hero Gram Parsons – truly a worthy piece of work! CD also features some other tracks recorded by Parsons with the group – including "Six Days On The Road", "Break My Mind", "Sing Me Back Home", and "Close Up The Honky Tonks" – and live tracks "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" and "Losing Game" – plus Gene Clark singing on "Here Tonight". CD

Amazing stuff from Isaac Hayes! Although Ike had first appeared on LP with the album "Introducing", this was the first record to really expose his true soul genius – and it was also the first release on Ike's successful sub-label at Stax, Enterprise Records. The record shows that for all the years Ike was working away on other folks' songs for Stax, he was carefully cooking up his own style of soul that would forever change the way we think about the music. Back in 1969, the album must have blown more than a few minds for its incredibly baroque approach to soul music – taking common elements like strings, piano, and funky rhythms, and stretching them out into long waves of sound that cycle over and over, working a sly subtle magic along with Ike's super-sexy vocals, and his monologue-heavy approach to popular tunes. The album features incredible remakes of pop hits "Walk On By" and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" – both of which run for over 10 minutes, and which completely transform the songs into something way more than simple radio fodder. Also features the psychedelic soul masterpiece "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic", which has this crazy funky piano, and a messed-up sound that would make even George Clinton weep! CD

A great little album from Masta Ace – part of his early-millennium comeback moment! Ace caught us off guard with his damn strong Disposable Arts LP – which immediately went on our short list of all time best hip hop comeback LPs, along with Slick Rick's Art Of Storytelling – and he mines some of the same lyrical territory on this album – with some straight up, no BS storytelling in which he contemplates his status as one of hip hop's true pioneers, a near legend in his own medium who nevertheless has to deal with day jobs and bills! There's also some more common street hop stuff, but Ace that pretty deftly – on titles that include "Big City", "Good Ol' Love", "Da Grind", "Beautiful", "Soda & Soap", "The Ways", "Wutuwankno", "Oh My God", and "Revelations". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning celebration of one of the greatest pairings in Brazilian music – and in American music as well, given that both Airto Moreira and Flora Purim recorded plenty of these cuts up in our neck of the woods! Airto's percussion is the stuff of legend – a key force in Brazilian recordings in the late 60s, and then equally important in American jazz – in famous recordings with Miles Davis and other artists, and plenty of great records on his own! Flora's vocals are equally crucial – a soaring, fluid approach that forever changed the way that female singers approached jazz – bred in 60s bossa, but instantly something new by the time the 70s came along – especially when Airto was supporting her with great grooves! This huge package brings together material that both artists recorded – often under the name of one or the other, but often with the other artist present on the recording – with a heavy batch of work from the 70s and 80s, but also crucial cuts from other years too! 3CD set features 37 tracks and a really great package – with titles that include "Love Lock", "The Happy People", "Hungry On Arriva", "The Road Is Hard", "Samba De Flora", "O Canto Da Sereia", "Jeito Bom De Sofrer", "Papo Furado", "Xibaba", "Back Streets Of Havana", "Vera Cruz", "Flora's Song", "When Angels Crie", "Celebration Suite", "Casa Forte", "Black Narcissus", "A Secret From The Sea", "O Cantador/I Just Want To Be Here", "Jump", and "Hot Sand". CD

A stunning celebration of one of the greatest pairings in Brazilian music – and in American music as well, given that both Airto Moreira and Flora Purim recorded plenty of these cuts up in our neck of the woods! Airto's percussion is the stuff of legend – a key force in Brazilian recordings in the late 60s, and then equally important in American jazz – in famous recordings with Miles Davis and other artists, and plenty of great records on his own! Flora's vocals are equally crucial – a soaring, fluid approach that forever changed the way that female singers approached jazz – bred in 60s bossa, but instantly something new by the time the 70s came along – especially when Airto was supporting her with great grooves! This huge package brings together material that both artists recorded – often under the name of one or the other, but often with the other artist present on the recording – with a heavy batch of work from the 70s and 80s, but also crucial cuts from other years too! 5LP set features 37 tracks and a really great package – with titles that include "Love Lock", "The Happy People", "Hungry On Arriva", "The Road Is Hard", "Samba De Flora", "O Canto Da Sereia", "Jeito Bom De Sofrer", "Papo Furado", "Xibaba", "Back Streets Of Havana", "Vera Cruz", "Flora's Song", "When Angels Crie", "Celebration Suite", "Casa Forte", "Black Narcissus", "A Secret From The Sea", "O Cantador/I Just Want To Be Here", "Jump", and "Hot Sand". LP, Vinyl record album

Very nice stuff from the duo of Chad Taylor and Rob Mazurek, two players who are currently among some of the best in Chicago's hot jazz/rock crossover scene. Taylor plays percussion and vibes, Mazurek plays cornet, piano, and flute – and the pair are joined by guitarist Jeff Parker on a number of tracks. Titles include "The Pursued", "Not Quite Dark Yet and The Stars Shining Above The Withered Fields", "Lemon Grass", and "The Big Bang Theory". CD

Rare late 60s work from guitar genius Jerry Cole – and even more compelling than his famous records from earlier in the decade! This collection unearths a lost side of Jerry's career – tripped-out psych instrumentals from 1967 and 1968, recorded under a variety of different aliases – like The Generation Gap, Projection Company, Stone Canyon Rock Group, and T-Swift & The Electric Bag – all groups that didn't exist in real life, but were album-based studio projects by Cole! Jerry's brought a lot more fuzz to the sessions than on his surf and hot rod instrumental tracks – but the groove is mighty tight throughout, with almost a funky undercurrent to some of the best tracks – kind of an American equivalent to the UK freakbeat modes of the period, served up by Cole and a host of tight LA studio musicians. Great stuff throughout – all pulled from the Custom Records catalog – and titles include "Tune Out Of Place", "Fool's Luck", "Wild Times", "Hard Times", "What's Your Bag", "Our Man Hendrix", "Red Eyes", "I Love You I Do", "Expo In Sound", and "The Stinger". CD

A true late 60s rock masterpiece – and like albums by Love and The Velvet Underground, a set that barely made a mainstream impact at the time – but which has gone on to be the stuff of influence and legend over the decades! The album's the first from Gram Parsons and the group – one of only two they would cut together – and the whole thing is a perfect blend of rough-edged rock and country influences rising up from the LA scene – all those glimmers of brilliance that Parsons had brought to the Byrds and other projects, maybe given their full flowering here in a mode that's unabashed about its country music influences – maybe even more so than some of Gram's later solo work. Sneeky Pete Kleinow's steel guitar really adds a lot – but so does the presence of Chris Hillman on guitar and mandolin, and Chris Ethridge on bass and piano. Titles include the brilliant "Sin City" – a track we'll love until we die – plus "Christine's Tune", "Do Right Woman", "Dark End Of The Street", "My Uncle", "Wheels", "Juanita", "Hot Burrito No 1", "Hot Burrito No 2", "Do You Know How It Feels", and "Hippy Boy". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful early 70s debut LP from a then 20 year old, Halifax-reared Catherine Howe – produced and arranged by US jazz pianist Bobby Scott in a mode that manages to feel lush and opulent while never belying Catherine's warmth, intimacy and maturity! The sound is warmly baroque, and Catherine's lovely vocals and evocative songwriting style is sheerly natural – recorded in a fairly stripped down setting and fleshed out with strings by the London Symphony Orchestra. The mix of intimacy and grandeur makes the record a bit of stylistic cousin to Nick Drake's Bryter Layter – we take our Drake seriously and we don't throw that comparison out lightly! Released by a doomed Reflection Records, which closed up shop the same year – the album was almost instantly relegated to obscurity, but has become the stuff of legend over the years – thanks to reissues, and interest in Howe's music from younger generations. Titles include "Up North", "On A Misty Morning", "Nothing More Than Strangers", "My Child", "The Innocence Of A Child", "It Comes With The Breezes" and more – plus the bonus demo "In The Hot Summer" – which led to the next phase of Catherine's career at RCA. CD

A landmark album that is perhaps the single most influential beat source in hip hop! The record was the brainchild of bongo player Michael Viner – who also happened to be running the Pride subsidiary of MGM at the time. Viner's got a meeeeeean touch on the bongo, hitting it hard and funky like the best 70s conga players – and his approach to the instrument is kind of like a funky update of popular instrumental styles laid down on guitar by The Ventures or on moog by Hot Butter. This album features the classics "Apache" and "Bongo Rock" – both with monster funky breakdowns that showed up on a heck of a lot of hip hop records over the years – plus loads of other goodies like "Last Bongo In Belgium" and "Bongolia". Excellent stuff – and darn hard to find! (We can still remember how stunned we were when we found our first copy in a Canadian record store back in 1987 – and even then we had to pay plenty!) LP, Vinyl record album

Essential funk in a single set – three killer albums from James Brown's legendary backing group! First up is Food For Thought – the classic first album by The JBs – James Brown's Fred Wesley-led backing band, and the force behind most of his greatest records of the early 70s! The band are incredible at this point – sharper, harder, and funkier than just about any other combo around – and that includes all the thousands of groups in the funky 45 underground who were always trying to copy their sound, but never got things this right! Not only are the rhythms the stuff of legend – but the use of the instruments is far far above the norm – as can be heard on the mindblowing "The Grunt", which was sampled heavily by Public Enemy to great fame – and which features a saxophone solo that sounds more like a whistling tea kettle! The set collects some of the group's best early singles, and includes all of the short little funky cuts that made them a legend right out of the box – "Pass the Peas", "The Grunt", "These Are The JBs", "Hot Pants Road", "Wine Spot", "To My Brother", "Blessed Blackness", "Theme From King Heroin", "Escapism (parts 1 & 2), and "Gimme Some More" – all together here in one tight little album of massive funky hard beats and breaks! Doing It To Death is an incredible album – a landmark piece of funk that nobody should be without, funk fan or not! The album is the second to feature James Brown's famous backing combo of the early 70s – and unlike their first one, which was really more of a collection of singles, this album has the group playing hard, long, and loud, in the free funk improvisational mode that was James' real contribution to the music at the time. The tracks are all incredibly long, with James at the forefront, egging the band on with shouts and comments – but also letting them open up large instrumentally, playing in a mode that's as much jazz as it is funky soul. The whole thing's peppered with some nice shorter segues between tracks – but the long cuts are the winners, and are some of the best funk ever recorded! Titles include "Mo Peas", "Doing It To Death", "La Di Da La Di Day", "You Can Have Watergate, Just Gimme Some Bucks & I'll Be Straight", and "Sucker". Last up is Damn Right I Am Somebody – quite possibly our favorite record by the JBs, ever! The set starts with a wonderful conversational bit – rapping and musing on the idea of "Damn Right, I Am Somebody" – showing the group in a political and righteous mode for the first time ever. The grooves then kick in – with the same heavy funk as on earlier records, but also a nice nod towards experimental production – from strange fade ups and fade downs, to stark time and rhythm changes, and even bits of electronics used to create some very cool moments in the grooves! The whole thing's as dead funky as can be, and is stuffed with insane classics like "Blow Your Head", "Same Beat", "Damn Right I am Somebody", "I'm Payin' Taxes, What am I Buyin'", and a great cover of Marvin Gaye's "You Sure Love to Ball"! CD

Some of the best R&B you could ever buy! Wynonie Harris was one of the all-time greats – a raw, raunchy, hard-rockin singer who was getting into more trouble with the law, ladies, and booze than most 70s rock groups combined! Wynonie's songs for King are the stuff that kick-started rock and roll – and even from today's perspective, they're still gosh darn hard-rolling, filled with subject matter like drinkin, gamblin, and sleepin around that you'll be hard-pressed to beat in most gangster hip hop albums. And on top of it all, Wynonie's got one hell of a sense of humor, put over the top perfectly by his great swinging vocal style. 18 tracks in all, and nearly all of them are gems! Titles include "Grandma Plays the Numbers", "I Feel That Old Age Coming On", "All She Wants To Do Is Rock", "Bloodshot Eyes", "Don't Take My Whiskey Away From Me", "Lovin Machine", "Good Morning Judge", and "I Like My Baby's Pudding". CD

A fantastic book of images from the early 80s hip hop scene in New York – put together by a photographer who was right on the scene for a number of key years – and snapped hundreds of images of performers, clubs, street scenes, graffiti artists, and all the other forces that made hip hop happen! The book's a bit like the classic Back In The Days by Jamel Shabazz, but it also goes even further – as Bramly managed to capture a heck of a lot of key DJs and rappers, and also includes comments and memories from many of them too – snippets of text that are every bit as essential as the images – although the images are more than enough on their own! Bramly's got a great eye – both for a key moment, and composition within the frame – and the book is stuffed with images throughout, both color and black and white – in a hefty softcover volume that's over 300 pages in length. Book

One of the most lavish, loving books on hip hop that we've ever seen – a huge volume that manages to be a history of rap music, a photo book, a guide to key albums, and also a personal journey as well – all served up with a vivid, non-stop array of images that make the whole thing even more of a visual delight than digging in the crates! The volume is huge – stuffed with over 1000 images, most in color – photos of album covers, street art, hip hop DJs and MCs, and countless other subjects – all presented in loose chronological order, alongside a history and evolution of the music, plus a timeline of key records and moments – all guided by some personal reflections by the author as well. Chuck D gives the book some huge props in the intro – and this updated volume is a heavy 446 pages, in a softcover edition, filled with images throughout. Book

The great live compilation of classic Hendrix – pulled from incendiary performances at Isle Of Wight in 1970 and other benchmark west coast gigs from '68 to '70! It's as fine of a snapshot of Jimi as you could really hope for, as it features numbers that showcase his fiery blues psych side that pretty much single-handedly change rock guitar forever after, as well as more loosely furnished bluesy jams that demonstrate his love for the blues legends before him. So, it's Jimi paving the way and showing love for his predecessors – and historical importance aside, it's simply great stuff! Some gigs have Noel Redding on bass and others have Billy Cox. Includes "The Queen", "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Little Wing", "Fire", "Red House", "Johnny B Goode", "Lover Man", "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful book on the dancehall scene in Jamaica – one that's done in a different style than some of the other Soul Jazz books – which are often focused more on album cover art! This book's got a very different approach – and is more an art book with photos of the dancehall scene in Jamaica, as well as lots of detailed information – including a history of Jamaican dance culture, bios of artists, and more information. Beth Lesser has already given us other great writings on reggae, and she really knows her stuff – and her care here is apparent, and a great complement to the hundreds of photos included within! And don't worry, there's still some pictures of records – but the book also offers up a lot lot more. Over 200 pages, oversize, and full color throughout – and this new edition also includes a fresh introduction from Duro Olowu, and more material than the original volume! Book

The wonderful Raincoats are on the cover this time around, and the issue looks at the way their once-overlooked music has gone on to get the attention it deserved, and keep on having an influence over generations to come! There's lots more too – a very interesting piece that has Terry Riley and Hamid Drake commenting on Don and Moki Cherry, a set of unpublished AC/DC photos from 1977, the duo of guitarists Marisa Anderson and William Tyler, unseen collage art from Jim Jarmusch, an interview with singer/songwriter Tim Rutili, the rebirth of singer Merry Clayton, a cool collection musical artifacts at the Henry Ford Museum, 13 pages from issue #2 of Gary Panter's Jimbo comic, and lots more cool stuff too – the sort of articles that have continued to make Maggot Brain one of the most interesting magazines in recent years! Magazine

A really fantastic score from Ennio Morricone – maybe better this time around than the images on the screen for some of his other westerns of the period – more proof that the maestro was always willing to rise above, and give his best no matter what the setting! / Ennio Morricone's beautiful score to one of the beautifully shot films of the 70s, or all time, really – Terrence Malick's legendary Days Of Heaven – the original 1978 soundtrack album and Morricone's cues programmed separately on one disc plus a bonus disc of extended score material and more bonus tracks! It's gorgeous stuff, from Morricone's haunting "Main Theme" and his more classically enthralling sounds, as well as the rootsy folk guitar by Leo Kottke and and equally swampy fiddle dance number by Doug Kershaw. CD

A nice live snapshot of a later P Funk incarnation, circa 1983 – with players like Dennis Chambers and Michael Hampton aboard the mothership with Clinton's family of funk all stars! The rest of the crew includes includes stalwarts Bernie Worrell, Eddie Hazel, Blackbird McKnight, Maceo Parker, Mudbone Cooper and George Clinton working hard to extend their legendary style of live funk into the 80s. There's a slow build up of energy that's works well – kicking off slowly but surely with a laidback intro and band intro before busts open in a big way, and from there it's one exciting classic after another 'til the very end! Includes lengthy live riffs on P-funk classics like "Cosmic Slop", "(Not Just) Knee Deep", "Maggot Brain", "Atomic Dog"and "Flashlight", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", "Do That Stuff", "Cosmic Slop" plus a medley of "Let's Take It To The Stage", "Mothership Connection (Starchild)" and "I Call My Baby Pussycat" in a nearly 100 minute set! CD

You'll be hard pressed to find a better collection of Charlie Parker's classic work! Not only does the set include all of the legendary Dial Records sides – which have been compiled elsewhere, but not as beautifully as here – but it also contains all of Bird's great recordings for Savoy, excellent tracks from the classic years, often poorly packaged over the years, but here part of a really wonderful set! This thing's got to be seen to be believed – as it's got a spiral notebook containing 8 CDs, with a slipcase for a big book that features loads of photos, notes on the session, and voluminous liner notes commissioned for the package. Plus, in addition to master and alternate takes of all the Dial and Savoy recordings, you'll also get sides recorded with Dizzy Gillespie for the Guild, Bel-Tone, and Comet labels! Wonderful stuff, and a great gift – for yourself! CD

Swinging organ tracks from Shirley, with large band backing by Oliver Nelson, very much in the mode of Jimmy Smith's albums with Nelson on Verve! Includes a nice reading of the theme from "Shot In The Dark", plus "Hoe Down", "Shadows Of Paris", and "Great Scott". Also includes a side of trio material, including one track that features Shirley on vocals. Titles on that stuff include "Make Someone Happy", "5 O'Clock Whistle", and "The Blues Ain't Nothin But Pain". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of incredible early Motown albums from Mary Wells – one of the label's first truly great singers – in a great single set from Kent UK! Mary Wells never sounded better than in her Motown years – and 1962's The One Who Really Loves You is key proof of her talents, as it's overflowing with laidback and mellow soul tunes – done in Mary's great blend of bluesy and classy styles! Titles include classics like "Drifting Love", "Strange Love", "The Day Will Come", "I've Got A Notion", "The One Who Really Loves You", "You Beat Me To The Punch", "Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right", "I'll Still Be Around" and more. The follow-up Two Lovers features the subtitle And Other Greatest Hits, but it's actually a great batch of songs that were most newly-recorded by Mary at the time – and not at all a simple round-up of singles! The approach here has just a little more rawness than some of the girl groups Berry Gordy was scoring hits with at the time, but also a sense of urban classiness. As is their wonderful way, Kent goes above and beyond here – with a great booklet of notes and photos – which shines a light on the making of these great records. Wonderful stuff! Titles include "Two Lovers", "Guess Who", "My 2 Arms - You = Tears", "Goody, Goody", "Stop Right Here", "Laughing Boy", "Looking Back", "(I Guess There's) No Love", "Was It Worth It" and "Operator". CD

Not much of a cover photo, but one of the most amazing collections so far from the Numero Group – a richly archival project that finally brings to light the lost efforts of the short lived Tap Records label! Tap was the brainchild of Jeremiah Yisrael – an ambitious producer, and legendary perfectionist – so much so that he often put more effort into these indie productions than you'd find at bigger label projects of the time! Most material here dates from the years 1981 and 1982, and the music is a mix of club, modern soul, boogie, and a bit of hip hop – nearly all of which hardly got any exposure at the time. The booklet not only tells the tale of the label and Yisrael's career, but also Numero's efforts in resurrecting these lost tapes from a very moldy near-death experience – a narrative that's almost as exciting as the music in the package. And the package is pretty great too – not only because of the 24 page, full color booklet – but also because of the supplemental book that reproduces lost sheet music and studio notes from the Tap sessions. Amazing stuff throughout – well worthy of another deep bow for the Numero team – with a total of 14 tracks that include "Breakout" and "We've Had Enough" by Arnie Love & The Lovettes, "Invisible Wind" and "Guilty" by Jackie Stoudemire, "Missy Missy Dee" by Missy Dee & The Melody Crew, "So Nice" by Annette Denvil, "Rub A Dub Dub" by The Fabulous 3 MCs, "Don't Stop Dancin" and "Run Away Hide From Love" by Jackie Stoudemire, and "Breakout" by Magnetism. Also features two tracks from 1971 – "Does He Really Mean It" and "Love Which Way" by Bonnie Freeman. CD

An essential chapter of Miami soul – even if most of the work is appearing here for the first time ever! The set is a magnificent companion to Numero's Deep City collection of pre-TK Miami soul – but it's put together in such a way that it's almost a beautiful introduction to the south Florida sound on its own – served up in a batch of rare, unreleased tracks! The music is every bit as wonderful as you'd expect – Miami soul recorded at a time before cliches had started to hit that scene – and when the best artists down south were strongly resonating ideas from Memphis and Muscle Shoals with other elements borrowed from northern groups both funky and mellow. But even above the 20 great tracks on the CD, the package is amazing too – filled with notes on each group, a special appendix on Miami soul, a rare indie label discography, and a wealth of great images and photos – all layered lovingly into a full-color, 32 page booklet! Numero have really outdone themselves with this one – and the collection is way more than a part 2 to their previous package – more of a brilliant set of soul tunes on its own, complete with a booklet that's as beautiful as the music. Titles include "One Little Piece" by The Rollers, "Don't Be Surprised" by Lynn Williams, "No Way Out" by Clarence Reid, "What's In The Lovin" by Helene Smith, "Mr Lucky" by Betty Wright, "There Goes My Baby" by James Knight & The Butlers, "Do What You're Doin" by The Rising Sun, "Do Your Stuff" by Perk Badger, "Masterpiece" by Deep City Band, "Nasty Dog (part 2)" by The Nasty Dog Catchers, "Thank You Baby" by Betty Wright, "Your Love Won't Let Me Leave You" by Snoopy Dean, "The Pot Can't Talk About The Kettle" by Helene Smith, "Show Me What You Got" by Frank Williams & The Rocketeers, "Don't Be A Fool" by Clarence Reid, and "Knockin At The Wrong Door" by The Rollers. CD

Early work from Al Haig – featuring the bop pianist in the company of some of the better tenor players of the late 40s. The set features Al playing piano in groups led by Wardell Gray, John Hardee, Coleman Hawkins, and vocalist Buddy Stewart – and titles include "The Toup", "Shawn", "Hot Halvah", "Bopelground", "Light Gray", "Stoned", "Stuffy", and "Boppin In B Flat". LP, Vinyl record album

Ennio Morricone's beautiful score to one of the beautifully shot films of the 70s, or all time, really – Terrence Malick's legendary Days Of Heaven! It's gorgeous stuff, from Morricone's haunting main theme and his more classically enthralling sounds, as well as the rootsy folk guitar by Leo Kottke and and equally swampy fiddle dance number by Doug Kershaw. LP, Vinyl record album

A jazz treasure chest – the 73 original recordings by Charlie Parker issued by Verve Records, all packaged in a special box with loads of great extras! The package strips down the Bird sides that have been issued by Verve over the years – going for just the original releases issued in the late 40s and 1950s, before alternate takes and extra material started overwhelming most standard packages of Parker's work. The set very nicely gets back to basics – hitting all the original 78rpm and LP sides cut by Bird, with supporting players that include Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Red Rodney, Flip Phillips, and Max Roach. The set's got 73 tracks on 3CDs, packaged in a totally cool metal box, along with a 60 page booklet on the music, and lots of rare photos! Beautiful stuff – and surprisingly nicely priced for what's inside! CD

The excellent second album from Pilot, really perfecting the guitars, keyboards and vocals and hooks formula that shot them into the pop consciousness a year or so earlier – probably their best album ever! The first record had the massive hit "Magic" (aka oh, oh, it's. . .) but this record has a few tunes with hooks that are just as sharp. The opener "You're My No 1" is so catchy, we can hardly believe it's not a throwback pop radio staple, and the record has a few of tracks nearly as grand. The vocals & harmonies are better arranged, and the guitars and keyboards are in that great comfort zone between the glam pop of the previous couple years and the new wave pop to come. Somewhat silly bubble gum lyricism, sure, but it's tasty stuff! Other tracks include "January", "Love Is", "Call Me Round", "To You Alone", "Passion Piece", "Dear Artist" and more! LP, Vinyl record album

Rare late 60s psychedelia from blue collar Rockford, Il – a totally great lost album of pop psych tunefulness from Pisces – who had an incredible knack for experimental sounds that weave in and out of the hallucinatory pop structure! The group centered around core players Jim Krein and Paul DiVenti, and a number of the tunes have fragile, beautiful lead vocals by Linda Bruner, bringing in a bit of Velvets style stark, haunting loveliness – and most of the tracks languished unreleased all this time! This is essentially the first real release of almost all of the tunes, and the best shot at finding an adventurous audience any of it has ever had! We think this stuff would have been hugely influential had it found an audience in its time, hell, it sounds to us like it actually did influence countless groups, even though that's hardly even possible! There's a tunefulness at the center that bears the fruits of the experimental pop sounds that came from benchmark scenes of the era, from Haight Ashbury to Abbey Road – but the found sound ephemera, tape manipulations, and tripped out atmospherics really bring in some far out vibes! An essential discovery from Numero that's as exciting, insistently groovy and eclectic as any of the rock oriented stuff they've dug up to date! Titles include "Dear One", "Children Kiss Your Mother Goodnight", "Motley Mary Ann", "Say Goodbye To John", "The Music Box", "Like A Hole In The Wall Where The Rat Lives", "Elephant Eyes", "Circle Of Time" and more – plus the "extended play" bonus tracks "A Flower For All Seasons" and "In The Summer A Grape Grows". CD

Not much of a cover photo, but one of the most amazing collections so far from the Numero Group – a richly archival project that finally brings to light the lost efforts of the short lived Tap Records label! Tap was the brainchild of Jeremiah Yisrael – an ambitious producer, and legendary perfectionist – so much so that he often put more effort into these indie productions than you'd find at bigger label projects of the time! Most material here dates from the years 1981 and 1982, and the music is a mix of club, modern soul, boogie, and a bit of hip hop – nearly all of which hardly got any exposure at the time. The booklet not only tells the tale of the label and Yisrael's career, but also Numero's efforts in resurrecting these lost tapes from a very moldy near-death experience – a narrative that's almost as exciting as the music in the package. And the package is pretty great too – not only because of the 24 page, full color booklet – but also because of the supplemental book that reproduces lost sheet music and studio notes from the Tap sessions. Amazing stuff throughout – well worthy of another deep bow for the Numero team – with a total of 14 tracks that include "Breakout" and "We've Had Enough" by Arnie Love & The Lovettes, "Invisible Wind" and "Guilty" by Jackie Stoudemire, "Missy Missy Dee" by Missy Dee & The Melody Crew, "So Nice" by Annette Denvil, "Rub A Dub Dub" by The Fabulous 3 MCs, "Don't Stop Dancin" and "Run Away Hide From Love" by Jackie Stoudemire, and "Breakout" by Magnetism. Also features two tracks from 1971 – "Does He Really Mean It" and "Love Which Way" by Bonnie Freeman. CD

A 2CD half-century mile marker set for Stax Records – one of the most vital and popular southern soul labels ever – as if you needed us to tell you that! The set features a selection of many of the most popular and most culturally important singles from the early 60s and on through the mid 70s – in a nice little box package and a thick booklet of essays, notes and photos! 50 tracks on 2CDs: "Gee Whiz (Look In His Eyes)", "Last Night" by Mar-Kays, "You Don't Miss Your Water" by William Bell, "Candy" by The Astors, "Let Me Be Good To You" by Carla Thomas, "Soul Finger" by The Bar-Kays, "I Got A Sure Thing" by Ollie & The Nightingales, "What A Man" by Linda Lyndell, "Who's Making Love" by Johnny Taylor, "Time Is Tight" by Booker T & The MGs, "So I Can Love You" by The Emotions, "Mr Big Stuff" by Jean Knight, "Theme From Shaft" by Isaac Hayes, "In The Rain" by The Dramatics, "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)" by The Staple Singers, "Woman To Woman" by Shirley Brown and much more! CD