Soaring soul from Carlos Garnett – one of the reedman's key 70s sides for the Muse Records label – work we'd rank right up there with the spiritual best of Gary Bartz or Norman Connors at the time! Like both of those contemporaries, Garnett's really reaching for something new in the post-Coltrane generation – mixing electric and acoustic instrumentation with compelling rhythmic changes – and often letting in a bit of vocals as well. Most of the music here is instrumental – with Garnett on tenor and baritone sax, plus the great Hubert Eaves on keyboards and Reggie Lucas on guitar – but some tracks also feature very nice vocals from Prema, a female singer who takes up the same sort of role you might find Dee Dee Bridgewater doing with Connors, or Jean Carn with husband Doug. The blend is wonderful, and the vocals really help give the musical message some weight when the come into the mix – and titles include "Panama Roots", "Senor Trane", "Samba Serenade", and "Ghetto Jungle". CD

One of Serge Gainsbourg's best albums ever – a set that we love every bit as much as his Melody Nelson classic, or his killer records with Jane Birkin! The set was recorded in the mid 70s, and it features amazing orchestrations from Alan Hawkshaw – backings that are even better than Hawk's previous sound library work, and which are filled with loads of cool spare moogy and electronic bits filtering in and out of the mix! Some tracks bubble with the same brooding brilliance and funky touches that you'd find on the Melody Nelson album – and others have a uniquely spacey quality that's unlike any of his other work! Tracks include "Transit A Marilou", "Aeroplanes", "Variations Sur Marilou", "Premiers Symptomes", and "Lunatic Asylum". A great record – and one of the first of Serge's that we'd recommend! CD

One of Serge Gainsbourg's best albums ever – a set that we love every bit as much as his Melody Nelson classic, or his killer records with Jane Birkin! The set was recorded in the mid 70s, and it features amazing orchestrations from Alan Hawkshaw – backings that are even better than Hawk's previous sound library work, and which are filled with loads of cool spare moogy and electronic bits filtering in and out of the mix! Some tracks bubble with the same brooding brilliance and funky touches that you'd find on the Melody Nelson album – and others have a uniquely spacey quality that's unlike any of his other work! Tracks include "Transit A Marilou", "Aeroplanes", "Variations Sur Marilou", "Premiers Symptomes", and "Lunatic Asylum". A great record – and one of the first of Serge's that we'd recommend! 2CD version features a whole bonus set of instrumental tracks from the album sessions – and alternate versions of "Transit A Marilou", "Lunatic Asylum", "Meurtre A L'Extincteur", and "Ma Lou Marilou". CD

A complete collection Charles Mingus' classic recordings for the Candid label – far and away some of the best recordings he ever made, and some of the few studio sessions that really let him stretch out and do his thing! Players here are a firey lineup of young modernists that includes Eric Dolphy, Ted Curson, Charles McPherson, Booker Ervin, Paul Bley, Roy Eldridge, Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Knepper, Jo Jones and Dannie Richmond – all working here with Mingus on really long tracks that burst out with raw emotion, intense energy, and some really searing solo work! 17 tracks spread out over 4 LPs, with titles that include "Lock Em Up", "MDM", "Stormy Weather", "Folk Forms No 1", "Original Faubus Fables", "Bugs", "All The Things You Could Be If Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother", "Mysterious Blues", "Melody From The Drums", "Vasserlean" and "Wrap Your troubles In Dreams" LP, Vinyl record album

A very wild record – maybe more free jazz than you'd guess from the image on the cover, and the Guatemala in the title! These guys are a brass band, but the way they mix their horns together often feels more like some Lester Bowie experiment, or some other AACM-related project – as folkloric modes really get changed up in a blend of cornet, baritone horn, and c melody sax – all combined with spare percussion, and an occasional touch of violin! Given the cultural currents, we might also link this one slightly to some of Charlie Haden's Liberation Music records – even though the group themselves are the authentic real deal, a funeral band from a remote mountain village. Titles include "Las Tres Botellas", "Marcha Numero Cuatro", "Chufa", "El Son De Los Altos", "Noches Eternas", and "Marcha Numero Seis". LP, Vinyl record album

Elvin Jones towers above his bandmates on the cover of this 70s classic – and really leads them onward to some great sounds within! The record has a bit more focus and soul than some of Jones' other albums of the period – still quite powerful and dynamic, but with a good adherence to melody, and plenty of room for the group members to open up and make some beautiful sounds – including Pat LaBarbera and Michael Stuart on soprano and tenor sax, and Roland Prince on guitar! The twin reed players are wonderful – and work together in ways that are different than some of Elvin's records at the start of the 70s – and titles include "Kalima", "Section 8", "Giraffe", and "Familiar Ground". CD

An amazing package – two full albums of work from Olatunji, plus bonus tracks, notes, and vintage photos! The original Drums Of Passion is a classic session of pounding percussion – quite possibly the most successful entry into this earthy genre that hit the recording scene at the end of the 50s! Babatuned Olatunji is joined here by a great assemblage of players – including Montego Joe and Baba Hawthorne Bey on percussion, who further flesh out the rumbling, rhythmic groove at the bottom. There's also a group of vocalists on the record, soaring over the top of the percussion with a nicely righteous feel – and the record's a key crossover moment that heralds later African expressions in the American mainstream. Titles include "Odun De Odun De", "Oya", "Jin Go Lo Ba", "Baba Jinde", and "Shango". Bonus cuts include "Eyo She She", "Menu Diyeh (remake)", "Jolly Mensah (new version)", and "Menu Di Ye Jewe". On More Drums Of Passion, Babatunde Olatunji goes even more drum-crazy than before – working here with no less than nine percussionists, plus a host of singers as well! The tunes have a very rootsy groove throughout – instrumentation that only comes from the rhythm instruments, some of which are pointed towards melody – and a setting that features none of the added strings or horns you might get from a jazz or exotica-styled session of this nature – just drums and voices, presented by Columbia Records in a really groundbreaking blend! Titles include "Wasalu", "Ayinde", "Frekoba", "Alose", and "Omo Pup". Bonus tracks include "African Waltz", "Hail The King", and "Saturday Night Limbo". 2CD set also comes with a huge booklet of notes and vintage photos! CD

One of Serge Gainsbourg's best albums ever – a set that we love every bit as much as his Melody Nelson classic, or his killer records with Jane Birkin! The set was recorded in the mid 70s, and it features amazing orchestrations from Alan Hawkshaw – backings that are even better than Hawk's previous sound library work, and which are filled with loads of cool spare moogy and electronic bits filtering in and out of the mix! Some tracks bubble with the same brooding brilliance and funky touches that you'd find on the Melody Nelson album – and others have a uniquely spacey quality that's unlike any of his other work! Tracks include "Transit A Marilou", "Aeroplanes", "Variations Sur Marilou", "Premiers Symptomes", and "Lunatic Asylum". A great record – and one of the first of Serge's that we'd recommend! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Serge Gainsbourg's best albums ever – a set that we love every bit as much as his Melody Nelson classic, or his killer records with Jane Birkin! The set was recorded in the mid 70s, and it features amazing orchestrations from Alan Hawkshaw – backings that are even better than Hawk's previous sound library work, and which are filled with loads of cool spare moogy and electronic bits filtering in and out of the mix! Some tracks bubble with the same brooding brilliance and funky touches that you'd find on the Melody Nelson album – and others have a uniquely spacey quality that's unlike any of his other work! Tracks include "Transit A Marilou", "Aeroplanes", "Variations Sur Marilou", "Premiers Symptomes", and "Lunatic Asylum". A great record – and one of the first of Serge's that we'd recommend! 2LP version features a whole bonus set of instrumental tracks from the album sessions – and alternate versions of "Transit A Marilou", "Lunatic Asylum", "Meurtre A L'Extincteur", and "Ma Lou Marilou". LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy sounds from the New England scene of the late 60s – material that was originally issued on the tiny Stratford and Right Records labels, but which often has a bit of a nod to the British Invasion sound as well! Most of these groups are wonderfully tuneful, with a great sense of melody and harmony that makes many of the cuts different than more garage-tuned tracks from other US scenes fo the time – and although the production is definitely indie, there's a farther-reaching quality that really makes the tunes soar! The set includes a few tracks each by The Falcons, Tidal Waves, Outside Inn, and The 90th Congress – plus one more by Skid Mark & The Victims. CD

Four full albums from the great Martin Denny – presented here with bonus tracks too! First up is the initial Exotica album – the birth of a sound and the birth of a legend – Martin Denny's first album in the Exotica series, and a record so great it named an entire genre! Denny certainly didn't invent the tropical style of easy listening that came to be known as "exotica" in the 50s – but with a record like this, he delivered the goods better than anyone else – by taking away all the too-sweet styles of Hawaiian music, and serving up a stripped-down, jazzy kind of sound! The album features Denny's classic original quartet – with Arthur Lyman on vibes and Augie Colon on bongos – and titles include "Stone God", "Jungle Flower", "Busy Port", "Lotus Land", and his hit recording of "Quiet Village". Exotica 2 is the second album in Denny's legendary Exotica trilogy – a set of records that provided the extreme definition of the small sub-genre that today has become the stuff of legend! Denny's still working here in his classic format – a small group with heavy piano lines, playful percussion, and some birdcalls sung by the members of the group! The set's a mix of strange songs from strange sources, all given the sublime Denny twist – and titles include "Singing Bamboos", "Escales", "August Bells", "Ebb Tide", "Rush Hour In Hong Kong", and "Soshu Night Serenade". Exotica 3 is sublime late 50s work from Martin Denny – his third album under the Exotica banner, and almost a deeper and weirder album than the other two! The sound here is extremely haunting – even more freed from conventional melody than the rest, and very fixated on the tonal possibilities that could be produced from Denny's unique grouping of percussion, piano, bass, and vibes. There's few tricks or gimmicks on the set – just a spare and other-worldly approach to music that's totally great! Titles include "Manila", "Mama Iti E Papa E", "Bamboo Lullaby", "Ringo Oiwake", "Moon Of Manakoora", "Congo Train", and "Beautiful Kahana". Quiet Village is an undisputed classic in the exotica genre – and the record that yielded Martin Denny his biggest hit! The title track "Quiet Village" was originally written by Les Baxter, but it was Martin Denny's approach that really managed to send the tune over the top – using spare percussion, rhythmic piano, and just the right amount of vibes and bird calls to give the track a really haunting feel. That approach is echoed throughout the set – with shifting instrumentation that includes celeste, bongos, marimbas, and marimbula as well! Titles include "Quiet Village", "Paradise Found", "Sake Rock", "Martinique", "Tune From Rangoon", and "Pagan Love Song". CD features bonus tracks too – "Llama Serenade" and "The Enchanted Sea" and more. CD

One of our favorite records by Earl Hines – a hip little comeback set, recorded in the mid 60s with an Ellingtonish lineup that includes Clark Terry, Cat Anderson, Ray Nance, Lawrence Brown, Jimmy Hamilton, and Johnny Hodges. Hines' piano is certainly a strong force in the record, but even more delightful is the solid feel of the players overall – working with that complete coherence found in the best 60s sides by Duke, but touched here with some of Hines' sprightly approach to the melody. Titles include "Once Upon A Time", "Black & Tan Fantasy", "You Can Depend On Me", "Hash Brown", and "Fantastic That's You". CD

A hell of a record from the young Roland Kirk – one of his first for Mercury Records, and the start of a great run of genius in the 60s! Kirk is mindblowing here – playing tenor, flute, manzello, and stritch – often at the same time, as pictured on the cover – a mode that's no gimmick at all, but which instead shows this wonderfully sophisticated understanding of sound and resonances between the reed instruments! And as always with Kirk, there's a strong current of soul in the music too – emphasized here by backing work from players who include Richard Wyands or Hank Jones on piano, Art Davis or Wendell Marshall on bass, and the great Charlie Persip on drums. Titles include the sublime modal number "We Free Kings" – plus "Three For The Festival", "The Haunted Melody", "You Did It You Did It", "Sack Full Of Soul", and "Moon Song". CD also includes an additional bonus take of "Blues For Alice". CD

A hell of a record from the young Roland Kirk – one of his first for Mercury Records, and the start of a great run of genius in the 60s! Kirk is mindblowing here – playing tenor, flute, manzello, and stritch – often at the same time, as pictured on the cover – a mode that's no gimmick at all, but which instead shows this wonderfully sophisticated understanding of sound and resonances between the reed instruments! And as always with Kirk, there's a strong current of soul in the music too – emphasized here by backing work from players who include Richard Wyands or Hank Jones on piano, Art Davis or Wendell Marshall on bass, and the great Charlie Persip on drums. Titles include the sublime modal number "We Free Kings" – plus "Three For The Festival", "The Haunted Melody", "You Did It You Did It", "Sack Full Of Soul", and "Moon Song". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent little album from the team of Herbie Mann & Buddy Collette – one that has both players using a wide range of reed instruments, and not just flute! Herbie and Buddy are wonderfully paired here – in a way that expands past the usual flute jazz mode by adding in bits of tenor sax, alto, and clarinet – as well as a range of different flutes too – not in a mode that's gimmicky, but which complements the lighter sound of the flute with some heavier notes on tenor at just the right moment – in a style that reminds us of some of Jerome Richardson's best records of the time. Rhythm is by the trio of Mel Lewis on drums, Buddy Clark on bass, and Jimmy Rowles on both piano and a bit of celeste – and tracks are long, with a freshly spontaneous feel that's really great! Titles include "Morning After", "Here's Pete", "Theme From Theme From", "Give A Little Whistle", "Herbie's Buddy", and "Pop Melody". This is a 2nd pressing of the Mode album Flute Fraternity – without Buddy Collette as the co-leader on the cover, and with his name listed in the notes as Bobby Collette! LP, Vinyl record album

Two key albums from a young Jackie McLean – both very early entries in the "new thing" mode of the 60s! First up is Let Freedom Ring a record that features a young Jackie McLean at the height of his powers – really stretching out here, but never going too far out – a perfect balance between his modern bop of previous records, and his groundbreaking "new thing" jazz to come! The group is a relatively straight ahead one – with Walter Davis on piano, Herbie Lewis on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – but the tracks are all quite long, and have this really arch sensibility on Jackie's horn – this edge, this cry he didn't have a few years before – easily one of the freshest voices in alto sax at the time, yearning here to break free with new ideas and new modes of expression. The vibe is perfectly balanced – like McLean's classic A Fickle Sonance – and titles include the classic "Melody For Melonae", plus "Rene", "I'll Keep Loving You", and "Omega". Destination Out is a modernist classic from 60s Blue Note! The album's one of Jackie McLean's greatest from the time – and one of his seminal "new thing" sessions cut with young modernists Grachan Moncur III on trombone and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes – both young players who were really finding the sharper edges of their sound at the time! Three of the four long tracks on the record were written by Moncur, and have a similar approach to his own recordings for Blue Note – moody and introspective, in a style that's as concerned with sound and space as it is jazz and rhythm – and Hutcherson's vibes are beyond compare here, with have a sinister metallic quality that he only used briefly in his early career! The whole record's a gem, and one not to pass up! Titles include "Kahlil The Prophet", "Riff Raff", and "Love & Hate". CD

A great lost bit of funk – and a pretty mysterious record, too! The record came out hot on the heels of Manu Dibango's big original version of "Soul Makossa" – and while it's got a groove that definitely leans towards Afro Funk, it's also got plenty of Caribbean touches too – a wicked blend of funk and island styles that's almost like The Beginning Of The End at some of the best moments – but with a touch of New York underground as well! We've never been entirely sure if the group wasn't just a Winley Records studio project – maybe The Rimshots under another name – but whatever the case, the record's a damn funky classic – filled with lots of original-sounding grooves that make the whole thing well worth tracking down. Titles include a version of "Soul Makossa", with a groove that's harder than the original – plus "Skin N Soul", "Good Groove", "Mozambique", "Finger In It", "Dance Girl", and the extended "Bahamas Melody". CD

An overdue full length set from the great Helene Smith – a Miami singer who recorded for a number of small labels in the 60s, in a style that mixes deep soul leads with some wonderful sweet soul presentation! Helene's best known for the title cut, which has gotten some great play in recent years, thanks to a reissue – but the whole body of work here is great – and some of the cuts feature early production work from talents who'd later form the backbone of TK Records in the 70s, including Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid. Titles include "Sure Thing", "Pain In My Heart", "You Got To Do Your Share", "Thrills & Chills", "The Pot Can't Talk About The Kettle", "China Melody", "Gossip Don't Worry Me", "True Love Don't Grow On Trees", and "I Am Controlled By Your Love". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most beautiful albums we've ever heard from either player involved – a set that's a tremendous showcase for the alto and soprano work of Steve Wilson, and an open presentation of the drum genius of Lewis Nash! The record comes as a bit of a surprise – especially in contrast to some of Wilson's work in larger groups, which can be more structured and sometimes darker – and although we love when Nash can swing a quintet or a quartet, we're also wonderfully impressed at his presentation here in a looser format. The set feels very improvised along themes, but still has a sense of melody and swing – as the pair deliver very unique readings of tunes that include "Equinox", "Con Alma", "Chelsea Bridge", "Senor Blues", "Island Birdie", and "Freedom Jazz Dance". CD

Not much of a cover photo, but one of the most amazing collections so far from the Numero Group – a richly archival project that finally brings to light the lost efforts of the short lived Tap Records label! Tap was the brainchild of Jeremiah Yisrael – an ambitious producer, and legendary perfectionist – so much so that he often put more effort into these indie productions than you'd find at bigger label projects of the time! Most material here dates from the years 1981 and 1982, and the music is a mix of club, modern soul, boogie, and a bit of hip hop – nearly all of which hardly got any exposure at the time. The booklet not only tells the tale of the label and Yisrael's career, but also Numero's efforts in resurrecting these lost tapes from a very moldy near-death experience – a narrative that's almost as exciting as the music in the package. And the package is pretty great too – not only because of the 24 page, full color booklet – but also because of the supplemental book that reproduces lost sheet music and studio notes from the Tap sessions. Amazing stuff throughout – well worthy of another deep bow for the Numero team – with a total of 14 tracks that include "Breakout" and "We've Had Enough" by Arnie Love & The Lovettes, "Invisible Wind" and "Guilty" by Jackie Stoudemire, "Missy Missy Dee" by Missy Dee & The Melody Crew, "So Nice" by Annette Denvil, "Rub A Dub Dub" by The Fabulous 3 MCs, "Don't Stop Dancin" and "Run Away Hide From Love" by Jackie Stoudemire, and "Breakout" by Magnetism. Also features two tracks from 1971 – "Does He Really Mean It" and "Love Which Way" by Bonnie Freeman. CD