An extremely rare set – recorded in 1970 in Holland, and featuring the tenor of JR Monterose in quintet with Jon Eardley on trumpet, Rien De Graaff on piano, Henk Haverhoek on bass, and Pierre Courbois on drums. The set's a key lost chapter in the career of this enigmatic tenor player – as it's got a sound that reaches back to his few hardbop recordings from the 50s, but also shows that Monterose had grown a lot as a soloist in the past decade, inserting a lot more freeness to his style, possibly an influence from 60s modernists like Coltrane or Ayler. The Dutch rhythm of the set works quite well for the nature of the materials – and Courbois' drums are especially compelling, nicely held back here from some of their more over-the-top tendencies, but adding in a lot of complicated fills and rhythmic changes underneath the sax solos. Titles include "Short Bridge", "Old Folks", "For Hank", "Just Blues", and "Body & Soul". CD

Dusko Goykovich on trumpet, Peter Mihelich on piano, Yasuhiko Sato on bass, and Mashiko Osaka on drums. CD

Tenorist Eddie Lockjaw Davis always had a hell of a tone – and although his best-remembered dates are maybe from the 50s and 60s, the saxophonist still kept on making great records for many years to come! This album's definitely one of those – a European live recording, done in Munich, with Eddie stretching out with the sort of raspy tone that always made his early duets with Johnny Griffin such a delight – getting the sort of sensitive accompaniment here that Griff had on some of his later European dates too. The wonderful Horace Parlan is on piano, with Reggie Johnson on bass, and Alvin Queen on drums – and although it's clear that the Davis tenor solos are the main attraction, the album's a very sold group effort too. Titles include "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Jaw's Blues", "I'll Remember April", "Young Man With A Horn", and "But Beautiful". LP, Vinyl record album

Three overseas sessions from American tenor great Eddie Lockjaw Davis! Jaws Strikes Again is a slightly different setting than some of the other 70s albums from Eddie Lockjaw Davis – in that the set was recorded for the Black & Blue label, who always liked to get a nice gritty punch out of the players they recorded! Given Eddie's legendary tone, the approach works perfectly here – on tracks that are short and focused – and which feature some mighty nice work on Hammond from Wild Bill Davis, plus guitar from the great Billy Butler, and drums from Oliver Jackson! Titles include "Jumpin With Symphony Sid", "The Man I Love", "When Sunny Gets Blue", "Candy", "After You're Gone", and "Light & Lovely". Nice Jazz 1978 is a great example of Eddie in collaboration – as Eddie Lockjaw Davis is a hell of a player on his own – but he's maybe even more amazing when he works alongside other horn soloists – who always seem to inspire Davis to bring out the boldest, mouthiest side of his horn! That tenor is alive and well, and wonderfully set up here – in five different live performances from the Nice Jazz Festival in 1978 – two with Illinois Jacquet on tenor, six with Harry Edison on trumpet, and one more with Paul Bascomb on tenor and Eddie Vinson on alto. Tracks are nice and long – that back/forth jam session style that Eddie does so well – and titles include "Rompin With JC", "Brazil", "Lover Come Back To Me", "Just Friends", "On Green Dolphin Street", and "Misty". Jaw's Blues is a nice one from the start of the 80s! Tenorist Eddie Lockjaw Davis always had a hell of a tone – and although his best-remembered dates are maybe from the 50s and 60s, the saxophonist still kept on making great records for many years to come! This album's definitely one of those – a European live recording, done in Munich, with Eddie stretching out with the sort of raspy tone that always made his early duets with Johnny Griffin such a delight – getting the sort of sensitive accompaniment here that Griff had on some of his later European dates too. The wonderful Horace Parlan is on piano, with Reggie Johnson on bass, and Alvin Queen on drums – and although it's clear that the Davis tenor solos are the main attraction, the album's a very sold group effort too. Titles include "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Jaw's Blues", "I'll Remember April", "Young Man With A Horn", and "But Beautiful". CD

A really wonderful addition to the too-small body of work left behind by the great Albert Ayler – a set that brings together some really obscure performances done during a visit to Europe in 1966! We're not sure these have ever appeared elsewhere – at least that we can find in digging around ourselves – and the first three tracks on the set are especially nice, done for a film production in Munich, with variations on "Ghosts", "Our Prayer", and "Infinite Spirit" – all done in shortish takes that really focus on the "tune" more than longer live ones. And if you like the latter, don't worry – as there's plenty of that here too – served up on concert performances in Rotterdam and Helsinki from November of 1966 – with Ayler on tenor, Don Ayler on trumpet, Michel Samson on violin, William Folwell on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums. These live selections include "Bells/Infinite Spirit", "Prophet", "Truth Is Marching In", "Change Has Come", and "Divine Peace Maker". CD

A rare set of avant jazz from the Dutch scene – long tracks performed by a quartet that features Rene Van Helsdingen on piano, Peter Guidi on saxes, Essiet Essiet on bass, and Don Mumford on drums! LP, Vinyl record album

A huge breakout moment for disco in the 70s – the first album from Silver Convention, a very early example of the European power on the club scene! The group's the brainchild of arranger Sylvester Levay and producer Michael Kunze – who come up with some great German disco rhythms for the record, mixed with soaring female trio vocals, by a group that includes two German gals and American soul singer Roberta Kelly! The vocal approach is similar to that 70s Philly group mode – popularized by First Choice, Three Degrees, and others – and pumped it up with the Munich sound of throbbing bass and heavy beats, which was arguably one of the first steps towards house music in the 80s. Titles include the huge hit "Fly Robin Fly", plus "Save Me", "I Like It", "Chains Of Love", "Tiger Baby", "Always Another Girl", and "Heart Of Stone". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge breakout moment for disco in the 70s – the first album from Silver Convention, a very early example of the European power on the club scene! The group's the brainchild of arranger Sylvester Levay and producer Michael Kunze – who come up with some great German disco rhythms for the record, mixed with soaring female trio vocals, by a group that includes two German gals and American soul singer Roberta Kelly! The vocal approach is similar to that 70s Philly group mode – popularized by First Choice, Three Degrees, and others – and pumped it up with the Munich sound of throbbing bass and heavy beats, which was arguably one of the first steps towards house music in the 80s. Titles include the huge hit "Fly Robin Fly", plus "Save Me", "I Like It", "Chains Of Love", "Tiger Baby", "Always Another Girl", and "Heart Of Stone". CD features bonus tracks – "Fly Robin Fly (12" disco version)", "Save Me Again", "Always Another Girl (US promo 12", "I Like It (special disco edit)", and "Tiger Baby (12" disco version)". CD

2 lost jazz rock classics from Cressida – back to back in a single package! While decidedly more rock-oriented than some of their progressive contemporaries in the UK jazz rock scene, Cressida still had a great approach to rock that used a lot of jazz-based chords and rhythms, in the manner that was being explored by other bands at the time – like Colosseum or Nucleus. On the self-titled Cressida album, the general instrumental mix features hard drums, organ, and guitars – plus vocals that are very much in a Moody Blues tradition, but which seem to have more of an early King Crimson approach to lyrics, touched by some of the Nick Drake chord progressions on guitar. A hard one to pin down, but surprisingly enjoyable today – and the kind of record that lives way way past its noodly progressive roots! Titles include "Lights IN My Mind", "The Only Earthman In Town", "To Play Your Little Game", "Time For Bed", and "Down Down". Asylum has an even fuller, more ambitious feel than the first album – and the lineup is expanded slightly to make some great room for the legendary Harold McNair on flute! Tracks are bold and focused – with great lead vocals from Angus Cullen, who sometimes sings in a jazzy mode – but other times comes off with a raspy, heartfelt quality – and there's almost a Moody Blues-esque sense of mysticism going on with some of the best tracks. Titles include "Munich", "Asylum", "Goodbye Post Office Tower Goodbye", "Let Them Come When They Will", "Summer Weekend Of A Lifetime", and "Survivor". CD

Japanese pianist Masahiko Sato is in a great trinity here – working with European players Peter Warren on bass and Pierre Favre on drums – on two side-long tracks that bristle with imagination! The music was recorded live at Studio 70 in Munich, and has the flow of some of the best free improvisation of the time – these boundless lines on piano from Sato, who's almost in a Cecil Taylor mode, but takes these nice pauses of introspection – while Favre does a great job of holding back, then kicking forth with energy – often in bursts that are nicely unified with Warren's bass. Titles include "Trinity" and "Far Trip". CD

A rare disco groover with lots of wicked percussion underneath the bassline – and a cool mish-mash of influences that seems to bring together Miami and Munich disco in one sweet groover! Joanne's vocals give the tune a nice soulful grounding – while guitars, percussion, and spaced-out keyboards do lots of weird things – even more in the dub mix, and tweaked nicely on the Whiskey Barons version! 12-inch, Vinyl record