Two vintage radio broadcasts – the first from Dizzy Gillespie, fronting a small group with Leo Wright and Lalo Schifrin – the second with Art Farmer leading a quartet with Jim Hall and Steve Swallow! CD

A sublime solo set from pianist Masaru Imada – one that really opens up with the kind of warm, spacious approach to jazz that he showcased on his famous albums for the Three Blind Mice label! Imada's got a completely captivating sound here – really bringing us in with a personal approach, but one that's never too easygoing to be casual either – graced with an understanding of just the right touch on the keys and timing of the groove and resonating with a really great sound throughout! Titles include "Menina Moca", "Pico", "Sometime Ago", "Little Blue", "Spring March", "I Thought About You", and "3 x 3 Steps". CD

A mighty nice trio, and one with a lot darker sound than you might expect from the "casual jazz" reference in the title! The group features keyboards, bass, and drums – all used in ways that draw on older fusion modes, but which have a more laidback, 21st Century vibe – an approach that lets the groove grow to find its flow, while things ring out in all these nicely spacious ways, then start getting funky! As the album moves on, it picks up a wonderfully soulful vibe – leaner than any classic representations of 70s keyboard funk, which makes for a fresh approach that's mighty nice – on titles that include "Liberty City", "Meches", "L'Arche", "Temple", "Double Comete", "Jungle Meat", and "Better Before". LP, Vinyl record album

A set with maybe the most striking cover image that Monday Michiru's given us in years – and a record that really delivers on that promise, too – filled with really captivating tunes that represent a new high level in Monday's already-high career! There's a depth and maturity to the record that we never would have guessed when we first fell in love with her music – and we thought she was already pretty darn deep way back then – as Monday delivers hers vocals alongside musical complexity that takes strong advantage of the many great guest jazz musicians in the lineup – players who include Misha Tsiganov and David Kikoski on Fender Rhodes, Gil Goldstein on piano, Lew Tabackin on flute, and Steve Wilson on soprano sax. But at the center of it all is Monday – far more a jazz singer in recent years than the soul artist of her start – but balancing the spirit of both worlds beautifully, and with command of her vocal instrument that's completely stunning! Where most singers seem to get a bit more casual about their craft over the years, Michiru's just continued to master her natural instrument with a fantastic range and wonderfully expressive quality. Titles include "Ombre Of Time", "Pivot", "Cycles", "The Sound", "Ringo Oiwake", "Hope Pretend To Sleep", "Rise Above", "Life", and "Gossamer's Touch" – plus "Untethered", which features some great guest work from Ursula Rucker! LP, Vinyl record album

A west coast classic – featuring some of Bud Shank's best small group work of the mid 50s! The album has Shank playing in two different groups, one with Shorty Rogers on trumpet, one with the great Bill Perkins on tenor – and we'll be honest in saying that Perkins' tone is incredible, a perfect match for Shank's well-honed sound of the time – blown with a nice edge that really deepens the sound of the record – a slight sense of soul that goes past traditional west coast modes, and really fits Shank's sometimes-edgey playing. Rogers is still pretty great too – and the casual setting of the album is a refreshing change from some of his more over-arranged work for other labels at the time! Titles include "Casa De Luz", "Jasmine", "Left Bank", "Paradise", "Fluted Columns", and "Royal Garden Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection of music from the great pianist Lennie Tristano – and maybe the first-ever set to truly get at the range of genius he could express on the piano! Given that Tristano only made a small amount of records during his too-short career, yet also left a major impact on the field of modern jazz – this set really documents the full span of everything that Tristano had to offer – pulled from a wonderful range of his own recordings, all of which appear here for the first time! These aren't casual solo recordings done in the basement – and instead, the package brings together a mixture of studio, live, and even television performances – all with a different spirit on each of the CDs in the set! One of the most revelatory is the final CD – which features a number of tracks in a "free session" in 1948 - with Tristano on piano, Lee Konitz on alto, Warne Marsh on tenor, and Billy Bauer on guitar – coming together with an amazing sound throughout. That same disc also features a superb 1962 live date at the Half Note – with Konitz on alto and Zoot Sims on tenor. CD1 is wonderful too – a selection of live material with the tremendous Billy Bauer on piano – a player, like Tristano, who was instrumental in shaping the sound of his instrument in modern jazz during the postwar years. CD3 features live performances by a sextet that includes Konitz, Marsh, and Bauer – plus Arnold Fishkin on bass and Jeff Morton on drums. CD2 features beautiful solo performances recorded from the early 50s through 1970. CD4 features trio session, most with Peter Ind on bass – while CD5 features different trio and duo material, but with Sonny Dallas on bass. The set is impeccably done – in cooperation with Tristano's family – and given the wealth of material, the whole thing may well have doubled his recording catalog in the process, while also really illuminating so many different aspects of his career! CD

A really cool record by a very unique group – a set of singers from Guyana, working together in chorus formation – but with an approach that's nicely suited to the funkier modes of the instrumentation! The approach is a bit hard to describe – this isn't soul or jazz choral work, and the structure is often loose at points too – which means that there's almost a casual sense of collaboration as the vocals come together in all these really great ways – adding a heck of a lot of spirit to the percussion, guitar, and other elements that keep things nice and funky! Titles include "Ojinga's Own", "Stay Away", "Neighbor Jean", "Massacura Man", "Go Go", "Woman A Dead Ya Fuhn Man", "No Intention", "Ka Duma", and "I've Got To Be Somebody". LP, Vinyl record album

Two CTI label gems from vibist Milt Jackson – back to back on a single CD! Sunflower is proof that Milt Jackson was easily the hippest member of the Modern Jazz Quartet – and one of the few who could really open up into different sounds away from that combo! This sweet 70s set for CTI is totally great – a whole new chapter for Jackson's vibes, and a real re-setting of the soulful modes he'd explored as a leader in the 60s. There's a wonderfully warm and chromatic feel to the set from the start – as Milt's vibes are set in fuller arrangements from Don Sebesky – with added instrumentation from Herbie Hancock on electric piano, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, and Phil Bodner on reeds. The highlight of the album is a nice long take on "People Make The World Go Round", but it's all pretty sweet, and other titles include nice versions of "Sunflower" and "What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life" – and Jackson's own "SKJ" and "For Someone I Love". Goodbye is classic work from vibist Milt Jackson – opening up his bag a lot for the 70s, in a way that makes for some wonderfully casual grooves! The album's not as moodily funky as some of Jackson's other CTI records, but it is a nice batch of laidback tunes played with a distinctly soulful edge – handled by a group that features Cedar Walton on piano, Hubert Laws on flute, Ron Carter bass, Steve Gadd drums – and some guest trumpet from Freddie Hubbard on the track "SKJ". Other titles include "Opus De Funk", "Detour Ahead","Goodbye", and "Old Devil Moon". CD

Very nice jazz-oriented material that has Sarah working with Jimmy Jones, one of her best accompanists, or John Malachi, who was in Billy Eckstine's band at the same time Sarah was with the group. All the tracks have nice small combo instrumentation – and Sarah keeps things nice and warm vocally, free to get a bit more intimate than usual in the album's casual setting. Titles include "All Of Me", "Lover Man", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", "Prelude To A Kiss", and "You Hit The Spot". LP, Vinyl record album

Very nice jazz-oriented material that has Sarah working with Jimmy Jones, one of her best accompanists, or John Malachi, who was in Billy Eckstine's band at the same time Sarah was with the group. All the tracks have nice small combo instrumentation – and Sarah keeps things nice and warm vocally, free to get a bit more intimate than usual in the album's casual setting. Titles include "All Of Me", "Lover Man", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", "Prelude To A Kiss", and "You Hit The Spot". CD

The fourth and final Eric B & Rakim LP from their classic mid 80s to early 90s run – with some of Rakim's finest rhymes and most devasting delivery to date, and some of Eric B's best production, too! The title track, if course, is a monster – with Rakim's precise rhymes, the furious funky beat, massive soul jazz bass and horn bit culled from Young-Holt Unlimited and Kool & The Gang samples, it'll be a stunner til the end of time – but the record as a whole deserves an eternal shelf life. The end of an incredible era in hip hop. "What's On Your Mind", "Teach The Children", "Pass The Hand Grenade", "Casualties Of War", "Rest Assured", "The Punisher", "Relax With Pep", "Keep The Beat", "What's Going On" and "Kick Along". CD

Just when you thought Prince Paul and Cat Power would never make a record together PRESTO – it's the new Handsome Boy album! HBMS takes a bit more of a chillout tack with this long overdue second opus – with lots of laidback beats and samples, and a surprising amount of live instrumentation! The gleeful, sarcastic comedy of the stellar first album remains intact, with some genuinely amusing skits (including one with Jay Z appearing under the pseudonym Hines Buchanan), and the deep range of guest vocalists isn't as surprising as how strong their work is in the best tunes. It would have been pretty easy for Prince Paul and Automator to find a bunch of interesting names to flesh out their big pop culture frappe, but something else altogether to make trippy hip hop tracks featuring Cat Power and the Hieroglyphics make sense on the same record. A pretty solid set from the most adventurous pseudo duo in the game! Guests include Del The Funky Homosapien, De La Soul, RZA, Lord Finesse, AG, Rahzel, Jazzy Jay, Qbert, Mike Patton, Casual, Hieroglyphics, Grand Wizard Theodore, El-P, John Oates, Pharrell, Kid Koala, and George W. Bush (just kidding). Tracks include "If It Wasn't For You" with De La, "Are You Down With It" with Mike Patton, "The World's Gone Mad" with Del and others, "It's Like That" with Casual, "I've Been Thinking" with Cat Power, "Rock And Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Pt 2" featuring Lord Finesse, Qbert and others,"First. . .And Then" featuring Dres from Black Sheep, "A Day In The Life" featuring RZA, AZ and others and more, plus intro/outro by Father Guido Sarducci. LP, Vinyl record album

An album that has Frank Zappa really continuing to push the instrumental complexity of his music – showing the world that he's not just another long-haired casualty from the 60s, and instead an artist who just kept on getting deeper and deeper into his own really unique groove! The record's overflowing with instrumental tracks that some might argue had a huge impact on jazz fusion – especially that mid 70s moment when the door opened in jazz to some more rock-like solos and rhythms – and that link is maybe no surprise, given that the lineup includes work from older jazzmen who include Billy Byers on trombone and the great Fred Jackson on saxes – plus George Duke on keyboards and Ernie Watts on c-melody sax. As always, the drums of Aynsley Dunbar are superb – and titles include "The Grand Wazoo", "Eat That Question", "Blessed Relief", "For Calvin & His Next Two Hitch-Hikers", and "Cleatus Awreetus-Awrightus". LP, Vinyl record album

An album that has Frank Zappa really continuing to push the instrumental complexity of his music – showing the world that he's not just another long-haired casualty from the 60s, and instead an artist who just kept on getting deeper and deeper into his own really unique groove! The record's overflowing with instrumental tracks that some might argue had a huge impact on jazz fusion – especially that mid 70s moment when the door opened in jazz to some more rock-like solos and rhythms – and that link is maybe no surprise, given that the lineup includes work from older jazzmen who include Billy Byers on trombone and the great Fred Jackson on saxes – plus George Duke on keyboards and Ernie Watts on c-melody sax. As always, the drums of Aynsley Dunbar are superb – and titles include "The Grand Wazoo", "Eat That Question", "Blessed Relief", "For Calvin & His Next Two Hitch-Hikers", and "Cleatus Awreetus-Awrightus". CD

An album that has Frank Zappa really continuing to push the instrumental complexity of his music – showing the world that he's not just another long-haired casualty from the 60s, and instead an artist who just kept on getting deeper and deeper into his own really unique groove! The record's overflowing with instrumental tracks that some might argue had a huge impact on jazz fusion – especially that mid 70s moment when the door opened in jazz to some more rock-like solos and rhythms – and that link is maybe no surprise, given that the lineup includes work from older jazzmen who include Billy Byers on trombone and the great Fred Jackson on saxes – plus George Duke on keyboards and Ernie Watts on c-melody sax. As always, the drums of Aynsley Dunbar are superb – and titles include "The Grand Wazoo", "Eat That Question", "Blessed Relief", "For Calvin & His Next Two Hitch-Hikers", and "Cleatus Awreetus-Awrightus". CD