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A nice bit of slinky disco from Andy Gibb – a tune that snakes along nicely with a similar feel to the work of his Brothers Gibb at the time, but with an overall style that's a bit less cliched! There's a nicely compressed vocal into the groove on the track, and the beat's a bit chunky in all the right places. "Manhattan Skyline" is an instrumental from the film Saturday Night Fever – one that's got a skipping disco groove, penned by funky soundtrack maestro David Shire! 12-inch, Vinyl record

Later genius from Dexter Gordon – an album recorded upon his return to the US in 1976, and done in a style that breaks the bounds of some of his sessions in Europe! Gordon seems to take new life in the recording – moving past the simple role of main soloist on familiar tunes, and stepping into a much more strongly group-minded leader – one who grooves easily with the piano of George Cables, bass of Rufus Reid, and drums of Eddie Gladden – in a session that's overflowing with soulful invention. Even older tunes take on a new spark of life in these arrangements – and Gordon's phrasing has this "bite" that comes through beautifully, even in the mellower moments. Titles include "Tanya", "I Told You So", "LTD", "Moment's Notice", and "As Time Goes By". LP, Vinyl record album

Charles McPherson on alto saxophone, Mulgrew Miller on piano, Ray Drummond on bass, Victor Lewis on drums, and Bobby Sanabria on percussion. CD

Wonderful work by Oscar Pettiford! Manhattan Jazz Septette is a nice mid 50s effort from– with a sound that ranges from an easy-going, lightly swinging style to full on, dexterous workouts! The arrangements by Manny Alban really allows for a lot of tight grooving from a stellar group – including Herbie Mann on flute and tenor, Barry Galbraith on guitar, Osie Johnson on drums, Urbie Green on trombone, Hal McKusick on alto, and Eddie Costa on piano and vibes! Titles include "King Porter Stomp", "Never Never Land", "Like Listen", "Rapid Transit", the great Herbie Mann showcase "Flute Cocktail", My Shining Hour" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A great return to basics for Pieces Of A Dream – a set that's tightly jazzy, yet still filled with plenty of soul! The style's a great illustration of the smooth jazz roots the group first offered the world – a style that was really coming into its own at the time of this release, but which still sounded better in the hands of Pieces Of A Dream than just about anyone else! Eva Cassidy sings a bit on the record, but there's plenty of instrumentals – many with some very nicely focused tenor lines from Ron Kerber – just joining the group for this release, but already helping them get a new voice. Titles include "Magens Bay", "After Dark", "We're All Alone", "Bassik Instinct", "Lights Out", "Let's Get Smooth", "Club Jazz (Quiet Storm mix)", and "Have A Little Faith". CD

Ricky Ford on tenor saxophone, Jaki Byard on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, and Ben Riley on drums. CD

Lean, righteous blowing from the legendary Frank Foster – one of a handful of extremely hip sessions he cut in the 60s under his own name! The album's the only record Foster ever did for Blue Note – and we dare say it's even better than his previous 60s work on Prestige and Impulse – with a quality that's even darker, even deeper, even more advanced from his earlier years with Basie. There's a rolling, joyous groove to many numbers – that late 60s take on soul jazz that made for so many great tracks on albums by Hank Mobley or Lee Morgan near the end of the decade. Foster keeps things tight, but he's also got an expansive vision too – an edge in the horns that points the way towards some of the chances he'd take in the 70s, but which is still wrapped around a leanly leaping soul jazz groove! Foster wrote 5 of the 6 tracks on the album, and he's working here with a sextet that includes Garnett Brown on trombone, Marvin Stamm on trumpet, and Richard Wyands on piano, who brings in some offbeat notes and colors throughout. Rhythm is by the excellent team of Bob Cranshaw on bass and Mickey Roker on drums – and titles include "Seventh Avenue Bill", "Stammpede", "Little Miss No Nose", "Manhattan Fever", and "Loneliness". LP, Vinyl record album

An early 80s score for Italian horror maven Lucio Fulci by composer Fabio Frizzi – pretty chilling, but also in a bit of a post disco groove – appropriate for the time period and especially so given the NYC setting! The flick sounds like it owes more than a little bit to Rosemary's Baby and The Omen, and the soundtrack has some nice, spacey synth and rubbery bass grooves to go along with the necessary eerie moments. Includes 12 variations on the theme "Baby Sequenza". CD

One of the greatest albums ever by the consummate jazz hipster – Babs Gonzales! Babs was part singer, part poet, and part philosophy – working in a jive-heavy style that was filled with inside jokes on the New York jazz scene of the postwar years – and peopled with odd characters from that scene, including musicians, hustlers, hookers, and small-time crooks. Babs speaks and sings on the set, backed by arrangements from Melba Liston, played by a small combo that includes Kenny Burrell, Peck Morrison, and Roy Haynes. The whole thing's great – one of the best blends of hipster jive and jazz ever – and titles include "Dem Resolution Liars", "The Hat Box Chicks", "Dem Jive New Yorkers", "The Squares", and "The Cool Cat's Philosophy". LP, Vinyl record album

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A really burning live set from tenor giant Big Jay McNeely – a rare chance to hear this 50s jukebox legend doing his thing in a spontaneous setting! The set features Jay's tight combo working before a very appreciative crowd – clearly a bunch of youngsters there to let loose and do their thing, while McNeely blows hard and soulfully on the tenor sax, and gets some great support from organist Fred Thompson and the rest of the group. The sound's surprisingly raw – especially given that the album was issued by Warner Brothers in the 60s (during a time when they were briefly pinching R&B players from the indie scene) – and the record is an essential partner to Big Jay's better-known earlier work on King! Titles include "Deacon's Hop", "Sunset", "Cisco's", "Big Jay's Count", "Big Boy", "Big Jay's Shuffle", "Further On Up The Road", and "Shake It Shake It Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

Nice raw material from Murray's shaggy early days. The set's a batch of quartet tracks – with Lester Bowie, Fred Hopkins, and Phil Wilson joining Murray's tenor and soprano lead. Recorded at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club, and packaged with some nice notes on the scene by Stanley Crouch. 6 numbers in all, including "Obe", "Nevada's Theme", "Bechet's Bounce","Let The Music Take You", "For Walter Norris" abd "Santa Barbara & Crenshaw Folies". CD

A real lost chapter in the career of vibist Dave Pike – an obscure one-off Latin session recorded for Decca in the mid 60s! The album was done in the years between Pike's first few early jazz sides and his later tripped-out sessions for MPS and Vortex – and features Dave leading a groovy combo that has a really playful approach to the work. Players include trumpeter Dave Burns, flautist Hubert Laws, guitarist Atilla Zoller, and a young Chick Corea – as well as Latin instrumentalists that include Willie Bobo, Patato Valdez, and Israel Cachao Lopez. The tunes include a number of really strong originals that push the format of such a set – stretching past simple Latinized cover tunes, and displaying the ear for modal and global grooves that would mark some of Pike's best later years! Titles include "Dream Garden", "Latin Blues", "Montuna Orita", "Aphrodite", "Not A Tear", "Mambo Dinero", and "Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

With Monty Alexander on piano, Ben Wolfe on bass, and Clyde Lucas on drums – plus special guests Hendrik Meurkens on harmonica and vibes, and Dick Oatts on flute and soprano sax. CD

An overlooked later Blue Note gem – sweet duets between the vibes of Bobby Hutcherson and piano of McCoy Tyner! CD

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Includes 14 tracks from Eddie Palmieri, Orquestra Broadway, Charlie Palmieri, Machito, Cortijo Y Su Combo, Johnny Pacheco, and Fajardo Y Sus Estrellas. CD

There's a bit of reverie here, but it's usually the swinging kind instead of the sleepy variety – thanks to a well-formed groove from Richie Beirach on piano, George Mraz on bass, and Billy Hart on drums! The tunes certainly include a few ballads, but Richie usually takes them with a freely fresh sound that gets past any obvious standard-heavy cliches – inspired, no doubt, by the inventive changes of Mraz and Hart, who seem to spur him on strongly, especially on the more upbeat tracks. Titles include "Manhattan Reverie", "Transition", "Veils", "Etude", "On Green Dolphin Street", and "Footprints". CD

With Claudio Roditi on trumpet and flugelhorn, Fareed Haque on acoustic and electric guitar, Daniel Freiberg on acoustic and electric guitar, Sergio Brandao and Paul M Socolow on electric bass, Ignacio Berroa on drums, Ricardo Eddy Martinez on synthesizers, and Sammy Figueroa, Daniel Ponce, and Ciro Baptiste on percussion. Titles include "Manhattan Burn", " For Leny (Andrade)", "Guataca City (For David Amram)", "Paquito", "Paquito's Samba", " Feelings Of The Heart", "Two Venezuelan Waltzes", "A Lo Tristano", and "All The Things You Are". LP, Vinyl record album

Overlooked genius from Art Farmer – a less-remembered session from the early 80s, and one that features him in a hip quintet with the great Sahib Shihab! The feel here is as lyrical and laidback as some of Art's other work from the time, but the presence of Sahib on soprano and baritone brings a good sense of feeling to the record – one that almost sharper than usual for a Farmer session, and which seems to push the trumpeter more strongly than usual on the upbeat numbers. An added plus is the rhythm section – which features Kenny Drew on piano, Mads Vinding on bass, and Ed Thigpen on drums – all players who had plenty of time together on the Copehagen scene, and who work in an equally cohesive way here. Titles include "Arrival", "Blue Wail", "Context", "Back Door Beauty", and "Passport". LP, Vinyl record album

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A classic set from singer Lee Wiley – and proof that she was one of the best small group jazz vocalists of her time! The album's got a nice small combo swing mode – with players that include Bobby Hackett, Joe Buskin, and Stan Freeman – all backing Lee in a mellow set of familiar numbers, done in an easygoing sort of way. Titles include "Manhattan", "Street Of Dreams", "A Woman's Intuition", "Oh Look At Me Now", and "Sugar". LP, Vinyl record album

Classy soul and killer grooves – a great helping of rare New York sides from the late 60s – all of which show a great evolution of the Uptown style from a few years before! Things are polished, but never too smooth or commercial at all – and instead, the music's got this quality of coming right from the heart of the music scene of the time – the cream of the crop, right from the top – and that includes singers, songwriters, and session help too! Vocals are mighty deep throughout – and the tracks all have a strong indie pedigree, as they're pulled from the labels Wand, Scepter, and Musicor – all imprints we always check out when digging for rare singles. As usual, Kent's gone way beyond expectations – not just with the track selection, but with full notes too – for a total of 24 tracks that include "Runaway Slave" by Joe Perkins, "That Girl" by Porgy & The Monarchs, "Kiss & Make Up" by The Inspirations, "I Don't Want Nobody To Lead Me On" by The Masqueraders, "Horsin Around" by Benny Gordon & The Soul Brothers, "Lonely Weatherman" by The Premiers, "A Man A Woman" by Chris Bartley, "I Just Gotta Have You" by Nella Dodds, "Knick Knack Patty Wack" by Lou Lawton, "No Jealous Lover" by Lois Lane, and "I'm Gonna Have A Party" by Ed Bruce. CD

The second chapter in the career of Bridget St John, presented here in all its glory – with one key album, lots more rare material, and even some unissued session tracks too! The set begins with the wonderful album Jumblequeen – post-Dandelion Records work by British singer Bridget St John – an album that's a bit more straightforward than some of her earlier work, but still pretty darn great! Bridget still sings and plays guitar in a relatively folksy way – but there's a tighter focus here than before – a sense of song structure that's really wonderful, and which is delivered with these incredibly haunting vocals that almost remind us of Nico on her first album for Verve – only a bit better! Other instrumentation is often spare – but includes just the right amount of cello, organ, viola, and other lightly-used instruments to flesh out the tunes with sad colors and nicely blue shades. Titles include "Sparrowpit", "Song For The Waterden Widow", "Curious & Woolly", "Want To Be With You", "Last Goodnight", "Long Long Time", and "Sweet Painted Lady". CD1 also features other UK recordings from the time – including "3db Australia", "Bumper To Bumper", "Grow", "Nancy Alice", and "Just Like A Woman (Battered Ornaments version)". Next is the record Take The 5ifth – a set issued in the 90s, but with late 70s/early 80s demo tracks recorded by Bridget on her own, many with a fair bit of piano and keyboards – and contributions from other musicians that make them way more polished than just solo demo tracks. Titles include "Jealous Jailer", "Make Me Whole", "I Need It Sometimes", "Talk To Me", "Manhattan Madhatters", "One Night Wonder", and "Catch A Falling Star". Last up is the most unusual material, as CD3 features New York Sessions from the mid 70s, most of which have never been released, and show Bridget in a really wonderful mode – a bit warmer than her previous UK recordings, but with that edge we always love in her vocals – sometimes getting instrumental help from the team of Jim Mullen and Dick Morrissey. Titles include unusual versions of "Curious & Woolly", "Help Him Through", "Crazy Heart", "Talk To Me", "Sunnyside Up", "Flying For Now", "Moody", "Easy Come Easy Go",a nd "Keep You In Touch". CD

One of our favorite-ever albums from Mel Torme – a set that sparkles with the same smooth swing as his best late 50s dates for Bethlehem records! Like those sets, this one features Torme's voice really taking off over some tight jazzy charts – arranged by Johnny Williams, Shorty Rogers, and Dick Hazard – all in styles close to those used previously by Marty Paich. But almost even better is the New York theme of the record – surprising, given the anti-NYC vibe of Torme's classic "California Suite" – but perfect, too, as it really ties the whole thing together wonderfully – creating this beautiful picture of the Big Apple in the postwar years. Titles include the greatest version of "Sunday In New York" you'll ever hear – plus "Let Me Off Uptown", "Autumn In New York", "New York New York", "Manhattan", and "My Time Of Day". LP, Vinyl record album

Warmly soulful work from tenor giant Stanley Turrentine – recorded with some Philly soul arrangements from Richie Rome – and help from Rome on keyboards, Greg Poree and Ronnie James on guitar, and Shondu Akiem on percussion. There's a bit of backing vocals at times, and titles include "Feel The Fire", "Heritage", "My Wish For You", "Wind & The Sea", and "Manhattan Skyline". LP, Vinyl record album

The only "west" these guys have gone is the West Village – the home of their aesthetic, and a post-Stonewall playground that was getting very firmly noticed by the mainstream by this point! The album's their last big one for Casablanca – and features arrangements from Horace Ott, who gives the record a surprisingly soulful core in the grooves – something that's also enforced by the production at the New York branch of Sigma Sound! Titles include the massive hit "In The Navy", plus the tracks "Go West", "Citizens Of The World", "I Wanna Shake Your Hand", "Manhattan Woman", and "Get Away Holiday". LP, Vinyl record album

Reedman Alan Wakeman may not be the biggest name in British jazz, but he works here with all-star lineups on both performances – really showcasing his unique vision as a leader, which is emphasized by the strength of the musicians in the group! At some level, these octet recordings are somewhere in the territory of Mike Gibbs or early Mike Westbrook – very fresh approaches to larger group material, with a mix of modern elements and breakout solos amidst a greater, more composed whole – almost a Charles Mingus vibe at times! Wakeman blows both tenor and clarinet – and the 1969 performances include work from Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Paul Rutherford and Paul Nieman on trombones, John Taylor on piano, Lindsay Cooper on bass, and Paul Lytton on drums – as well as percussion and gongs from most players too. The 1979 sessions have a different lineup – with Skidmore and Art Themen on tenor next to Wakeman's tenor and soprano sax – plus trumpet from Henry Lowther, trombone from Paul Rutherford, piano from Gordon Beck, bass from Chris Lawrence, and drums from Nigel Morris. Titles include "Chaturanga", "Manhattan Variation", "Vienna", "Kingside Breakthrough", "Dreams", "Forever", and "Merry Go Round". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most important records in the career of Dinah Washington – even if only for the hit title track! The work here has Dinah elevating yet again – way past the R&B of her roots, and the jazz of a few years later – into a territory that definitely earns her the title of Queen, with her majestic ability to balance all those previous styles, yet also come across with a new level of sophistication! The vocals are heartbreaking – really moving into that rich emotion of her final years – at a level that would become a huge influence for countless others in decades to come. Titles include "What A Difference A Day Makes", "Manhattan", "Time After Time", "It's Magic", "I Won't Cry Anymore", and "I Thought About You". CD

Way more than just classic disco – hardly the hits package you might expect, and a really well-chosen batch of grooves that gets right down to the music that really mattered on the dancefloor back in the day! As you'd hear in the best clubs of the late 70s, the grooves here come from a range of different sources – funky jazz, clubby soul, crossover club, and more – tracks from both big labels and small, laid out back to back at a level that really recreates the excitement of a hip disco back in the day – not in a live mix, so you can enjoy each song on its own, but still in a way that makes you feel like there's a legendary DJ guiding the grooves. Titles include "Love Magic" by John Davis & Monster Orchestra, "Thanks For Loving Me" by Double Discovery, "Do Your Dance" by Rose Royce, "Keep On Dancin" by Gary's Gang, "Counting On Love" by Peter Jacques Band, "Gone Gone Gone" by Johnny Mathis, "What A Difference A Day Makes" by Esther Phillips, "Makes You Blind (re-edit)" by Glitter Band, "Just A Groove" by Glen Adams Affair, "Livin Up To Love" by Companion, "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone" by Manhattan Transfer, "Turn The Music Up" by Players Association, "It Burns Me Up" by Change, "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This" by Idris Muhammad, "Lady Bug (disco mix)" by Bumblebee Unlimited, "Bama Boogie Woogie" by Cleveland Eaton, "Can't Live Without Your Love" by Tamiko Jones, "Dancin" by Grey & Hanks, and "Cherchez La Femme/Se Si Bon" by Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. 2CD set comes in a cool 7" package – with 24 tracks in all! CD

Originally issued as a part of the Manhattan College Quarterly Literary Magazine, intended to display the creative talents of Manhattan students, with all original compositions. LP, Vinyl record album

Yes, it was a mega-hit – and yes, it was one of those records that everyone who lived through the 70s seemed to own at one time – but after all these decades, you can't deny the power of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack – especially for the way that it mixed club soul classics with new original material! Obviously, the Bee Gees cover placement make them big stars of the record – but the set's also got some great early disco gems – like "Open Sesame" by Kool & The Gang, "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps, "KJEE" by MFSB, "Calypso Breakdown" by Ralph MacDonald, "Fifth Of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy, "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman, "Boogie Shoes" by KC & The Sunshine Band, and "More Than A Woman" by Tavares. The Bee Gees reinvent themselves from the early days – and sing "Stayin Alive", "How Deep Is Your Love", "More Than A Woman", "Jive Talkin", "You Should Be Dancin", and "Night Fever" – and the set also features a few instrumentals by David Shire – "Manhattan Skyline", "Night On Disco Mountain" and "Salsation". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderfully hard-storming set – and a record that not only firmly put the Jazz Messengers on the map, but also set a whole new standard for live jazz recording! The group here is the early version of the Messengers – almost co-led by drummer Art Blakey with pianist Horace Silver – and featuring Clifford Brown on trumpet, just a few months before his early death – plus Lou Donaldson on alto and Curley Russell on bass. The presence of alto instead of tenor makes the sound slightly different than later incarnations of the group – and the overall approach is one that virtually defines the shift from straight bop to hardbop in the 50s – a mode that both Blakey and Silver were key in creating. Tracks include "Wee Dot", "Quicksilver" (alternate), "Now's The Time", and "Confirmation". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful collection of Blossom's excellent early vocal work for Verve – some of the sweetest, grooviest jazz singing recorded at the time – in a style that other singers didn't pick up for years! Most tracks feature warmly jazz small combo backing – with Blossom's light and magical vocals at the top of the mix, tippling nicely through 16 tracks that include "L'etang", "Dearie's Blues", "Manhattan", "The Party's Over", "Bang Goes The Drum", "Little Jazz Bird", "Let Me Love You", "They Say It's Spring", and "Rhode Island Is Famous For You". CD

A portrait of Duke, done by Dizzy – and one that's got a whole different feel than you might think! Gillespie's working here with arrangements by a young Clare Fischer – who takes Ellington's themes and recasts them with an even deeper sense of color and tone – one that pushes the already-modern themes of the numbers into a whole new realm of sound, and uses the horn passages to carve things out a lot differently than Duke might have done! The result is a wonderfully striking session – one with familiar melodies that unfold in a whole new way – and which showcases some great phrasing from Dizzy, over rhythms by a combo that features Hank Jones, George Duvivier, and Charlie Persip – playing alongside a group of larger horns. Titles include "Perdido", "Caravan", "Upper Manhattan Medical Group", and "Chelsea Bridge". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest indie soul albums of the 60s – a hell of a debut from The Manhattans, who were singing with an incredible style even at this early point in their career! The album cooks seriously on all burners – and features both sweet harmony numbers and more upbeat Northern-styled tracks – all of which are recorded in sublime simplicity, so that the group's vocals dominate with a near doo wop approach to the tracks – yet have a fresh 60s crackle that never sounds hokey! Titles include "Follow Your Heart", "Can I", "The Boston Monkey", "Manhattan Stomp", "Searchin For My Baby", "What's It Gonna Be", and "Teach Me The Philly Dog". LP, Vinyl record album

80s release of some rare sessions cut at Tristano's private Manhattan studio in the mid 50s, featuring spare trio tracks with Peter Ind on bass and Tom Weyburn on drums. The album is an essential chapter in Tristano's under-recorded career, and the tracks are a delight all the way through. Titles include "I'll Remember April", "Manhattan Studio", "Momentum", and "Mean To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A crazy collection of singles from the pre-hippie years of the beatnik – that cool cat who loved jazz, read poetry, and dug the scene with plenty of attitude! That attitude is the main focus of most of the cuts here – obscure tracks from the late 50s and early 60s that poke fun at the heady thoughts and easy intellectualism of the beat scene – presented in a range of different styles that really run the gamut – from jazz, to rock, to many other genres in between – including a fair bit of offbeat spoken word and instrumental records too! The vibe here follows nicely in the other Lux & Ivy collections on the Righteous label – full of weird and wild records we never would have discovered otherwise – with cuts that include "Dog" by Bob Dorough, "Laffin Beatnik" by Johnny Beeman, "Reaching Into In" by Ken Nordine, "No Pictures Please" by Rod McKuen, "Manhattan Fable" by Babs Gonzales, "Pimples & Braces" by Spike Jones & The City Slickers, "Teenage Beatnik" by Louis Nye, "A Beatnik Story" by The Expressos, "Meet The Bongo Man" by Johnny O, and "William Butler Yeats On The Third Avenue El" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. CD

Cugat and cocktails – what could be better? The set's a bit later than Xavier Cugat's classic vintage – but in a really nice way, one that has him opening up with some groovy 60s rhythms! The style is still heavily Latin, but there's also some nice influences from bossa nova and some of the dance trends that were creeping into the dancefloors of the time – and arranger Hal Mooney gives the whole thing a playful kind of approach that's still as rhythmic and percussive as Cugat's other albums, but which also uses the horn charts to carve some nice colors over the top! Titles include the excellent original "Cugi's Cocktail" – a great slow-groover with a soul jazz finish – plus "Manhattan", "Zombie", "Singapore", "Daiquiri", "Old Fashioned", and "Cuba Libre". CD

Brilliant early work by Miles Davis – some of his first truly important sessions to appear under his own name – originally issued as singles or 10" LP recordings by Blue Note, and brought together here in a full length set that would help to define the early years of his career! This is work before Miles was able to stretch out on longer sessions for Prestige, but the material already showcases his unique contribution to jazz – shorter tracks that are perhaps more boppish, than you might expect from some of Miles' other 50s work – but in a way that still allows for many moments of lyrical beauty, and that brilliantly cool sound of his which forever changed the sound of jazz trumpet. The set features work from an assortment of players who vary from track to track – including Jimmy Heath on tenor, Jackie McLean on alto, JJ Johnson on trombone, Horace Silver on piano, and Art Blakey on drums. Titles on this second volume include "Weirdo", "Donna", "Ray's Idea (alt)", "Take Off", "Would'n You", "The Leap", "Lazy Suzan", and "Tempus Fugit (alt)". LP, Vinyl record album