One of the funkiest records of the French scene of the 70s – a now-legendary sound library album from Jacky Giordano – and one that's filled with amazing keyboards throughout! Jacky stars with grooves that are like some of the best Lalo Schfrin crime/cop modes of the early 70s – then adds in all these excellent keyboard lines, plus a bit of jazz – with some cuts that have warm Rhodes-like lines, others with a spacier moogier groove – all instrumental, and all wonderfully funky! There's a developed depth to the record that goes way beyond just riffing on a groove – a richness that almost puts some of the best cuts at the level of longer CTI keyboard jazz. Titles include "Terefic War", "The Big Mameluk", "Moving Grooving", "Devil's Train", "Sex Girl", "Blue Circuit", and "Tabla Minor". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the boldest statements from the French avant garde of the late 60s – a fairly free set led by Michel Portal, and featuring a quintet that includes Joachim Kuhn on piano, alto sax, and percussion, JF Jenny-Clark on bass, and Aldo Romano and Jacques Thollot on drums and percussion. Portal himself plays tenor, clarinet, and bass clarinet – as well as other percussion – and overall, the album's a fairly percussive affair – pulsating along with the rhythmic intensity of an ESP session, but even taking things further, with FMP-like full-blown, free range improvisation. Titles include "Our Meanings & Our Feelings", "A Train In A Very Small Town", "Dear Old Morocco", and "For My Mother". LP, Vinyl record album

A very compelling set from Japanese bassist Isao Suzuki – one that draws on the electric traditions being forged at the time by artists like Miles and Joe Henderson – but which is also graced by the warm lyricism that was running through other Japanese jazz sessions of the 70s! Suzuki plays a surprising range of instruments – electric piano, cello, and bass – and his group displays an amazing ability to move into freely flowing numbers, then shift abruptly into sparer, subtler territory. The vibe of the record is quite unique – and group members include Kenji Mori on alto and flute, Kazumi Watanabe on guitar, Samu Kawakami on bass, and Shinji Mori on drums – and one title features vocals from Mari Nakamoto. The tracks are on the longish side – and the titles include "Blue Road", "Where Are You Going?", "My One And Only Love" and "Orang-Utan". Great cover, too! LP, Vinyl record album

A great little record from the Japanese scene of the 70s – a set that not only shows the great blend of acoustic and electric styles that was happening at the time, but which also really illustrates the inventive approach of the Three Blind Mice label at their best! The vibe here is very different than the usual Japanese fusion album of the time – a bit more relaxed and open-ended, and really free to play around with different rhythms and tonal changes – yet all while still moving forward, and avoiding some of the proggy, jamming modes of the European scene. Tracks all push past the ten minute mark – and in addition to both piano and electric piano from Masaru Imada, the set also features guitar from Kazumi Watanabi, bass from Osoo Fukui, drums from Tetsujiro Obara, and percussion from Yuji Imamura. Titles include "A Green Caterpillar", "Straight Flash", "Blue Impulse", and "Spanish Flower". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little record from the Japanese scene of the 70s – a set that not only shows the great blend of acoustic and electric styles that was happening at the time, but which also really illustrates the inventive approach of the Three Blind Mice label at their best! The vibe here is very different than the usual Japanese fusion album of the time – a bit more relaxed and open-ended, and really free to play around with different rhythms and tonal changes – yet all while still moving forward, and avoiding some of the proggy, jamming modes of the European scene. Tracks all push past the ten minute mark – and in addition to both piano and electric piano from Masaru Imada, the set also features guitar from Kazumi Watanabi, bass from Osoo Fukui, drums from Tetsujiro Obara, and percussion from Yuji Imamura. Titles include "A Green Caterpillar", "Straight Flash", "Blue Impulse", and "Spanish Flower". LP, Vinyl record album

An essential collection of work from one of the hippest funk groups of the 70s – the mysterious Wood Brass & Steel, who also participated in the legendary Skullsnaps record! The first part of the set features an unreleased album that the group recorded for the All-Platinum label in 1973 – music that's hard and funky, but which also shows a strong current of jazz as well – the kind of material that has the group very much in the best Earth Wind & Fire territory of the period, with a sense of righteous perfection that should have made them huge – had the album not stayed in the vaults! The set includes their fantastic "Hey What's That You Say" – which was later reworked as "It's A New Day" for the Skullsnaps album – plus a few more cuts that later appeared on the Brother To Brother debut album – titles that include "Trespassing", "Let's Take A Stroll", "Jermilah", "If He Can Do It She Can Do It", "I Wish It Would Rain", and "A Love Of My Own". Next is the self-titled Wood Brass & Steel album – a legendary bit of east coast funk from the 70s – by a group who'd go on to have a huge influence both in the worlds of hip hop and house! Wood Brass & Steel feature two key players who later became part of the Sugarhill Records house band, and later the On-U Sound collective – Doug Wimbush and Skip McDonald – but the set's got a much fuller, more soulful vibe than work from those later projects – nice use of horns, as hinted at in the title – but not in a way that make these guys a brassy funk band either! Instead, there's a smooth groove throughout – one that comes up from the rhythms first, with a wonderful quality that's years ahead of its time – never disco, but not afraid of some faster rhythms that point the way towards underground club to come. The whole thing's the kind of funky lost gem that makes us happy to do what we do – and it's had long life over the past few decades, thanks to the rich variety of tunes on the set. Titles include the classic cut "Funkanova", an uptempo jazzy instrumental that continued to be a club favorite throughout the house years – plus loads of other good cuts, too, like "WBS Theme", "Welcome To The Party", "Same Ol Me", "Working On A Dream", and a version of "Always There". Hard & Heavy is the incredibly rare second album from Wood Brass & Steel – the mighty funk group we've loved for years for their landmark debut from the mid 70s! This sophomore set is from a few years later, and has the group honing their groove even more – working with these righteous currents in their music that expand the sound into territory that's almost a bit like Roy Ayers at times! As with Ayers, the vocals are often layered into the rhythms – sometimes sung by group members with this soulfully flowing current that has a subtle, sublime sort of vibe – and which works perfectly for the message in the music. Tunes are often in the faster side of midtempo – but never conventional club or disco at all – and there's this really special quality to the whole record, one that even tops the unique vibe of their first album. The original album was very briefly issued by Sugar Hill, during a time when the label was mostly doing hip hop – and is impossibly hard to find in the original pressing. Titles include "Open Up Your Heart", "Be Yourself", "Long Live Music", "Space Walk", "Fly With Music", "Superstar", and "Are You Busy". CD

Far and away the greatest album that Brother To Brother ever cut – and a monster record that's satisfying all the way through! At their roots, the band have an ensemble funk style similar to many other 70s groups – but they also add in a lot of jazzy changes and a nascent sense of a club groove that's shown to best effect on their great cover of Gil Scott Heron's "In The Bottle", done here with sweet flanged-out vocals, electric piano riffing, and the same sort of flute solo heard in the original. Other tracks include "Mother Earth", "A Love Of My Own", "If He Can Do It", "Trespassing", and "Junkie". Wood Brass & Steel back the group up – and the instrumentation is similar to the work on their own album for Turbo. LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful musical celebration of the 100th release on the Yellow Productions label! Over the past decade or so, Yellow has been home to some of the most exciting club music to come out of the French underground scene – including many projects headed up by DJ Yellow and Chris The French Kiss, aka Bob Sinclar. The groove here runs from clubby funk to retro disco – with loads of warm soulful touches, and the kind of catchy approach to dance tunes that you've come to love and expect from Yellow! Tracks include some of the best singles in the label's history – many of which have been out of print for years – with titles that include "Too Deep" by Duncan, "Tres Bien" by Jazzanova, "Soulvision" by Ingrid De Lambre, "Black Shrine" by Chari Chari, "My Fantasy" by Mighty Bop, "Wish (Clive rmx)" by Mikael Fitzpatrick, "Prisons (DJ Vadim rmx)" by Silent Poets, "Miner's Son (Bang Bang rmx)" by Beth Hirsch, and "Butterfly" by Ernest St Laurent. CD

A legendary album from saxophonist Sahib Shihab – a record that's gone onto become the birth of all things modal and club jazz in the current scene! Shihab always sounded great, no matter what the setting, but there was definitely something magical going on with this session – a one-of-a-kind energy that made his baritone and flute work sound incredibly soulful, searching, and searing – set up with a tight small combo that includes Francy Boland on piano, Fats Sadi on vibes, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums – a hip slice of the Clarke Boland Big Band that works beautifully together! Every tune here is wonderful, and you're bound to recognized a few covered or sampled classics over the years – on cuts that include "Seeds", "Peter's Waltz", "Who'll Buy My Dream", "Another Samba", "Jay Jay", "Uma Fita De Tres Cores", and "Mauve". LP, Vinyl record album