... LP, Vinyl record album

Pure dynamite throughout – a really killer batch of cuts that easily steps between 60s and 70s styles in Jamaican music – shaking things up with soulful late 60s numbers, funky 70s gems, and some dubbier tracks from a time when production styles really opened up! As with other volumes in this excellent series, the choice of cuts is wonderful – really well-chosen tracks that go past the hits, but also feature some numbers that have become underground classics over the years – but all at a level that's got a lot more bite than some of the oft-played reggae that's been keeping dorm rooms running for decades. There's a total of 14 tracks in all – and titles include "Rocker's Rock" by Augustus Pablo, "No No No" by KC White, "Ring The Alarm" by Tenor Saw, "One Two" by Sister Nancy, "Woman Of The Ghetto" by Kim Harriott, "Heatwave" by Johnny Organ, "King Tubby Dub" by Tommy McCook & The Agrovators, "Earthquake" by Jackie Mittoo, and "Ready Or Not" by Johnny Osborne. CD

Pure dynamite throughout – a really killer batch of cuts that easily steps between 60s and 70s styles in Jamaican music – shaking things up with soulful late 60s numbers, funky 70s gems, and some dubbier tracks from a time when production styles really opened up! As with other volumes in this excellent series, the choice of cuts is wonderful – really well-chosen tracks that go past the hits, but also feature some numbers that have become underground classics over the years – but all at a level that's got a lot more bite than some of the oft-played reggae that's been keeping dorm rooms running for decades. There's a total of 14 tracks in all – and titles include "Rocker's Rock" by Augustus Pablo, "No No No" by KC White, "Ring The Alarm" by Tenor Saw, "One Two" by Sister Nancy, "Woman Of The Ghetto" by Kim Harriott, "Heatwave" by Johnny Organ, "King Tubby Dub" by Tommy McCook & The Agrovators, "Earthquake" by Jackie Mittoo, and "Ready Or Not" by Johnny Osborne. LP, Vinyl record album

You'll be hard pressed to find a better collection of Charlie Parker's classic work on vinyl! Bird's great recordings for Savoy have often been poorly packaged over the years, but here you get the whole batch of seminal bop sides by the pioneering artist of the genre! Bird's the leader on most of these sides, but there's a nice set of recordings under Tiny Grimes and a very young Miles Davis too, with a host of players from the dawn of the bebop age, including Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Sadik Hakim, John Lewis, Duke Jordan, Curly Russell, Tommy Potter and Max Roach. An as you'd expect from this kind of set, you get loads of multiple takes so you can hear these pioneering players creating the style that would change the face of jazz forever. Put together in 1978, this set features 66 tracks in all, spread out over 5 LPs, with a nicely annotated book, and includes "I'll Always Love You Just The Same","Romance Without Finance", "Billie's Bounce", "Now's The Time", "Thriving On A Riff", "Koko", "Donna Lee", "Chasin The Bird", "Buzzy", "Milestones", "Half Nelson", "Another Hair Do", "Bird Gets The Worm", "Barbados", "Ah-Leu-Cha", "Constellation", "Parker's Mood", "Perhaps","Marmaduke", "Steeplechase" and more! LP, Vinyl record album

James Moody on alto and tenor saxophone, Pee Wee Moore on baritone saxophone, William Shepherd on trombone, Dave Burns on trumpet, Jimmy Boyd and Sadik Hakim on piano, John Lathan on bass, Clarence Johnson and Joe Harris on drums, with vocals from Eddie Jefferson and Iona Wade. CD

Includes music from R.L. Burnside, Jr. Kimbrough, Big Jack Johnson, Frank Frost, Jesse Mae Hemphill, Roosevelt 'Booba' Barnes, Lonnie Pitchford, Jack Owens, Bud Spires, and more. CD

Beautiful work from Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre – a rare Japanese-only album, recorded for the Baystate label with style that's a perfect summation of the AACM approach at the time! The record rivals Kalaparusha's greatest in the US – and has a building, spiritual approach that's out, but never free – keenly directed by the master's musical vision, and superbly conveyed by a well-matched group of players that includes Malachi Thompson on trumpet, Hakim Jami on bass, John Betsch on drums, and Juma Sultan on percussion. There's a sadness and depth here that's extremely compelling – and an off-beat sense of timing that creates sudden surprise and charms as the set rolls on. Titles include "Buumba", "Leo", "Kwanza", and "Around We Go". CD

1954-1955 recordings with Moody on alto and tenor sax, playing in several group settings that includes Dave Burns on trumpet, William Shepard on trombone, Pee Wee Moore on baritone sax, Sadik Hakim on piano, John Latham on bass, Joe Harris on drums, and a few vocal tracks – featuring Eddie Jefferson on the title track and "I Got The Blues", and Iona Wade on 'That Man O' Mine". Other tracks include "I'm Gone", "Over The Rainbow", "Mambo With Moody", "Blues In The Closet", "It Might As Well Be Spring", and "Faster James". 16 tracks in all, and with some nice soulful and bluesy moments! LP, Vinyl record album

A great little soundtrack from Pete Rugolo – Stan Kenton's right-hand man during the early 50s modernist years, and a hell of an arranger in his own right! Pete wrote some of the best crime jazz soundtracks of the late 50s and early 60s – and his work for television ranks up there with the best by Mancini or Nelson Riddle. This 24-track set is the first time that Rugolo's work for the original Fugitive TV show has been reissued – and it's a nice mix of crime themes, chase numbers, and mellower scene-setting tunes. Titles include "Kimble vs One Armed Man", "The One Armed Man's Name is Fred Johnson", "Theme From The Fugitive", "Tragic Homecoming", "Under Arrest", "On The Run", "Brass Interlude", "Freedom & Finale", and "Back On The Road". CD

With Branford Marsalis, Darryl Jones, Omar Hakim, Kenny Kirkland, and William Orbit. Remix by John Jellybean Benitez. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Includes material by Franz Koglmann and John Zorn with George Lewis and Bill Frisell. CD

An insane package – one that features the material from the 6CD Complete Concert Wattstax set, plus 5 more CDs from Summit Club Recordings in 1972, plus one more CD of additional material too! First up are 6 CDs that feature a stunning presentation of the legendary Wattstax concert – that huge moment of pride and power when the folks at Stax Records filled up the Los Angeles Coliseum with one of the most memorable shows of the 70s! The meeting of talents here is the stuff of legend – and this great package brings together the complete show in running order – really building up excitement as the concert progresses – with different acts each bringing their own sort of fire to the stage, culminating in a fantastic long finale by Isaac Hayes! The presentation is different than the two double albums that Stax issued back in the 70s – and this expanded package features a number of unreleased tracks in place of material the label later added – such as work from Richard Pryor and The Emotions. There's a whole instrumental section at the start, and more spoken links between some parts – and new material includes unissued work from Kim Weston, Freddie Robinson, Ernie Hines, Eric Mercury, Tommy Tate, Billy Eckstine, and Isaac Hayes – in addition to famous performances by The Soul Children, Jesse Jackson, Rufus Thomas, Albert King, Carla Thomas, William Bell, The Bar Kays, David Porter, The Temprees, Eddie Floyd, and David Porter – plus plenty more from Isaac Hayes too! Great package – with a full color book with new notes and essays, and plenty more too. The Summit Club material follows on five more CDs – material that was partly issued on some other reissues by individual artists, but augmented here with a wealth of unreleased material too! There's a a full show of work from Johnnie Taylor and Rufus Thomas – the latter of whom even does some comedy bits – plus some extra funky performances from The Sons Of Slum, heavy blues from Little Milton, great soul from The Emotions, and a huge amount of never-issued work from the great duo Mel & Tim – arguably better here than on their Stax studio sessions. CD12 features additional recordings that were layered into some of the LP releases issued under the Wattstax name – 15 more tracks that include titles by The Emotions, Isaac Hayes, The Dramatics, Staple Singers, and Eddie Floyd – plus some comedy routines by Richard Pryor. CD