A great bit of island funk from one of the grooviest artists to record for the TK family of labels in the 70s! Titles include "Fire Keep On Burning", "Get On Down", "That Funky Groove", "Move & Groove", and "Baboo". CD

A great bit of island funk from one of the grooviest artists to record for the TK family of labels in the 70s! Titles include "Fire Keep On Burning", "Get On Down", "That Funky Groove", "Move & Groove", and "Baboo". LP, Vinyl record album

The heavy conga image on the front cover will give you plenty of hints at the sound inside – a percussion-driven record served up by the mighty King Sporty – who works here with plenty of TK Records Miami funk in the mix! George Perry co-produced the record with Sporty, and the whole thing's at the hipper side of the TK spectrum and done with a very cool backing combo that features Harold McKinney (of Tribe Records fame) on percussion and flute, and the great Timmy Thomas on keyboards! Thomas also sings a bit on the set, and the record's got a backing female group too – which includes Betty Wright – and the whole thing is a soulful funky disco jam, with cuts that include "Mr Rhythm", "Good Loving", "Shake It Shake It", and "Let's Go To The Party". CD

Forget the reggae in the title, as the album's a Miami funk classic through and through – done with maybe a very slight nod to the sounds of Jamaica, but served up with all those great TK Records styles of the mid 70s! Percussion is string, instrumentation nicely offbeat, and larger arrangements wrap nicely around the funky grooves at the core – a mix of acoustic percussion, bubbling basslines, and choppy guitars that never fail to delight! Labelmates Chocolate Clay helped produce the set – and titles include "Music Maker", "That's What My Whole Thing Is All About", "If It's Funky, Wake Me", "Safari", "Hold Down To The Funk", and "Searching". CD

A massive groover from Timmy Thomas – really hitting here on all burners, and moving with a groove that's much fuller than the drum machine fills of his early years! The sound is Miami club at its best – wickedly uptempo rhythms that are played with razor-sharp intensity – still mostly funk at the core, with lots of live instrumentation that moves at a precision that's hard to beat! Timmy still adds in some great sweet moments from time to time – reminding us of his skill with a ballad – but the groovers also push him into Bohannon territory – which is quite a compliment from us! King Sporty handled the arrangements and production – and definitely deserves credit for the grooves – and Betty Wright adds in a bit of sweet guest vocals too. Titles include "Touch To Touch", "When A House Got Music", "Game Of Life", "Africano", "Torrid Zone", "Love For The People", and "Sweet Music". LP, Vinyl record album

A heavy package of treasures from the vaults of Studio One – tracks from the early days of the label that really illustrate the special touch that Studio One had right from the start! The work here is some of the most soulful from the early years of reggae – Jamaican music that's clearly drawn strong inspiration from American work, but which is already really finding its own sort of special groove – mellow burning rocksteady, early reggae, and more – still sounding every bit as righteous and powerful as it did back in the day! This double-length set brings together both volumes of the original compilations – and titles include "Peeping Tom" by Brentford All Stars, "Honey Come Back" by Jerry James, "Get You Off My Mind" by Larry Marshall, "I'll Be Waiting" by Alton Ellis, "Got To Be Sure" by Horace Andy, "My Eyes" by John Holt, "He Don't Love You" by Larry Williams, "Psychedelic Rock" by Ernest Ranglin, "Life" by Hortense Ellis, "Always Something There To Remind Me" by Winston Francis, "Old Time Saying" by Burning Spear, "Riddle I This" by Dennis Alcapone, "Feel Good All Over" by King Sporty, "Zion Higher" by Burning Spear, and "Home Home Version" by Dennis Alcapone & Ken Boothe. CD

A killer blend of soulful elements – the guitar of Jamaican legend Ernest Ranglin and the warmly grooving sound of the Miami scene – served up here with some mighty nice help from King Sporty in the studio! Despite the date of the recording, there's a vibe here that's a lot more like some of the best TK Records material of the late 70s – with Ranglin's guitar filling in a spot that might have been used by Little Beaver – in some great arrangements that are filled with other TK luminaries like Betty Wright and Timmy Thomas! The whole thing's great – solos from Ranglin on guitar, plus a bit of supporting vocal choruses – on titles that include "In The Rain", "Soft Touch", "Keep On Dancing", "Papa Doo", "Why Not", and "Be What You Want To Be". CD

One of Max's real killers from the late 50s! After experiencing the hardship of the loss of Clifford Brown and his LA connection, Max seemed to set his sights on Chicago – where his keen talent for spotting strong young players hooked him up with some of his best bandmates in years. This album has Roach working with windy city young lions like George Coleman, Booker Little (both of whom were up in Chicago from Memphis), Bob Cranshaw (from the MJT+3), and Eddie Baker, an underrated midwestern pianist. The tracks are played with a soulful electricity that graces Roach's best work from the time – and titles include "Shirley", "Sporty", "Memo To Maurice", and "Stella By Starlight". LP, Vinyl record album