One of those really great records from a time on the UK scene when some groups were effortlessly mixing jazz and rock elements up in the mix – but in ways that are very different than some of the more familiar jazz rock modes of the mainstream! Gaillard have plenty of strong horn solos on this set – not in a brassy bigger lineup, but as a way of bringing in tenor, trumpet, or other instruments where you might normally have a guitar solo – also blown with qualities that show that the musicians in the group are doing a lot more than just flavoring in the tunes! Players include Tony Roberts on tenor and flute, Lyle Jenkins on tenor and baritone, Dave Caswell on trumpet, and even the great jazz musician Harry Beckett on flugelhorn – and the record also sports some nice sitar, Hammond, and electric piano as well. Geoff Brown and Andy Abbott handle vocals – and titles include "Open Up Your Mind", "Something's Going On", "Premonition", "In Your Minds Eye", "Winter Spring Summer", "Ask For Nothing", and "New Dawn Breaking". CD

A fierce, full-on session from British pianist Pat Smythe – a player you might know from more conventional settings, but who really lets loose here in this unreleased live set from the early 70s! Pat plays plenty of Fender Rhodes in addition to piano – and the set's got an especially strong electric component in the presence of Allan Holdsworth on guitar – who's at his searing best here, and really seems to push Smythe to new levels of energy! The group also features Daryl Runswick on bass and John Marshall on drums – and the set features material from two live French performances in 1973, with titles that include "Casa Forte", "Village Greene", "Floppy Hat", "Rank's Vibe", "Golden Lakes", "British Rail", and "Waiting For The Walrus". CD

Kind of a silly name for a group – but the record's pretty nice! Elbow Bones & The Racketeers were one of the many retro-soul groups working under the guidance of producer August Darnell – aka Kid Creole – who gave the group a style that was similar to his own unique blend of 80s club grooves, 40s swing, and 30s gangster cliches! Vocals are by Gichy Dan, Stephanie Fuller, and Dutch Robinson – and the set's unified by Darnell's good ear for a catchy hook – those quirky, groovy little numbers that always made the Kid Creole and Dr Buzzard albums so great! Titles include "A Night In New York", "Other Guys", "Our Love Will Always Stand", "You Got Me High", and "I Call It Like I See It". CD features a huge amount of bonus tracks – 7 more numbers that include "Night In New York (12" ext)", "Happy Birthday Baby (12" ext)", "Happy Times (12" ext)", "I Wanna Remind You", "Night In New York (single)", and "Happy Birthday Baby (single)". CD

New Horizons Ensemble is Ernest Dawkins on alto and flute, Ameen Muhammad on trumpet and small instruments, Steve Berry on trombone, Yosef Ben Israel on bass, and Reggie Nicholson on trap drums. CD

Totally wicked guitar work from the mighty O'Donel Levy – easily one of the hippest talents to ever work for the Groove Merchant label! Levy's got a sound here that's a bit like Wes Montgomery on some of his late 60s sides, but also a fair bit funkier overall – a style that's steeped in soul and schooled on advancements in the 70s generation of funk fusion and blacksploitation soundtracks. Backings are relatively large – arranged by Manny Album, with players who include Charles Covington on organ and electric piano and Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet. Tracks include covers like "I Wanna Be Where You Are", "People Make the World Go Round", and "Maiden Voyage" – plus some nice originals, like "Dawn Of A New Day" and "Baa Waa". CD

A trio of funky guitar gems – all served up in a single set! Black Velvet is a stone laidback set from O'Donel Levy – one of the greatest soul jazz guitarists of the 70s, and a player who sounds fresher and fresher to us over the years! This album's a bit more laidback than some of Levy's other sets for Groove Merchant – with larger arrangements that feature Charles Covington on electric piano and organ, Fats Theus on tenor and flute, and Billy Skinner on trumpet – but the approach actually works well, as the slow-moving tracks trip out over a lot of space, giving O'Donel plenty of room to craft his uniquely spacious and chromatic solos. Titles include versions of "Watch What Happens", "Love Story", "Call Me", "You've Made Me So Very Happy", and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time", plus the originals "Granny" and "Nature's Child", both of which have a nice little groove! Windows is a great later album from O'Donel Levy – recorded after his initial flurry of work for the Groove Merchant label, but still plenty darn nice! The sound here is slightly smoother and a bit more electric than before – with Levy's sweet guitar work snaking out over some larger backings that almost have a funky soundtrack feel. The groove is still great, and O'Donel brings plenty of his trademark chromatic lines to the set – guitar parts that almost sound even better in this setting! Titles include "Moisturizer", "Green Machine", "Panama Red", and a track called "I Believe In Miracles", which is not the Jackson Sisters' hit, but a nice mellow groove with vocals that sounds like some of the George Duke soul cuts! Dawn Of A New Day features totally wicked guitar work from the mighty O'Donel Levy – easily one of the hippest talents to ever work for the Groove Merchant label! Levy's got a sound here that's a bit like Wes Montgomery on some of his late 60s sides, but also a fair bit funkier overall – a style that's steeped in soul and schooled on advancements in the 70s generation of funk fusion and blacksploitation soundtracks. Backings are relatively large – arranged by Manny Album, with players who include Charles Covington on organ and electric piano and Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet. Tracks include covers like "I Wanna Be Where You Are", "People Make the World Go Round", and "Maiden Voyage" – plus some nice originals, like "Dawn Of A New Day" and "Baa Waa". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant setting for the spiritual reed talents of the legendary Idris Ackamoor – set here amidst more meditative sounds from Carlos Nino, who uses percussion and other instrumentation to create a magical landscape of sounds – while guitarist Nate Mercereau also joins in the mix, and also directs the overall sound of the set from the recording studio too! The sharper reed lines of Idris are a wonderful contrast to the more organic elements in the music at times – and really gives the feel of a jazz performance to the record, which might be more of a soundscape effort without his mighty presence. Titles include "Lightning Progression"," Time On Earth", "Group Effervescence", "We Love You So Much", and "Heaven Cruise Heaven Humming 2". LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure set of zouk from the glory days of the genre – but one that's also cut in a style that's nice and lean, and maybe a bit more down to earth than some of the more commercial zouk records of the time! All the best elements are still in place here – rhythms that draw plenty from electro styles of the US scene a few years before, but tuned to more tropical grooves overall, and warmed up in all the right way with keyboard lines and vocals – set up on tunes that have a gentle sort of complexity – never too overwhelming, but very groovy throughout! Titles include "Histoire D'Amour", "Songe Ethiopie Apartheid", "Marie Helene", "Pa Flipe", and "Vivre Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Back in the first decade of this century, Build An Ark were one of the few groups to really carry forward the spiritual jazz legacy of the 70s – part of the same LA underground that rose up on Nimbus Records back in the day, and guided by the unstoppable power of Carlos Nino – who worked perfectly as both an instrumentalist in the group, and their producer! There were always some contemporary elements in the music, but maybe more surprising was the way that Build An Ark resisted all the remixing and programming that would often get in the way of the few others who tried for this territory – as they were always a committed spiritual jazz ensemble from the outset, not a club jazz act or a funk group. The package brings together all the best music from their out of print albums – a great 3LP run of titles that include "You Gotta Have Freedom", "John Coltrane", "Mother", "Build An Ark", "Door Of The Cosmos", "In The Park", "Sunflowers In My Garden", "Dawn", "Healing Song", "Love Sweet Like Sugar Cane", "World Music", "Our Cry For Peace", "Conversations", "Pure Imagination/The Tortoise & The Hare", and "When Ancestors Speak". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A record with an unassuming cover, but a wonderfully rich sound within – a set of easygoing spiritual jazz numbers that have a very live, very spontaneous vibe – in part because the musicians collaborated on the cuts in a very short span of time, and were able to create something very fresh and vibrant in the process! Miles Spilsbury leads the group on saxes and keyboards – and the lineup features additional piano and keys from Oliver Cadman, drums from Finn Booth, and a bit of vocals from Alizee Leriche – plus percussion and "texturising" from Carlos Nino – whose spiritual sonic touches are very clearly present on the recording! We're not sure why the record was issued in such a limited, white label pressing – as it hardly fits the depth of the music – yet perhaps that's also part of the mystery and charm as well. Titles include "Tungsten", "Water On Water", "Cyclamen", "Gratitude", "Light Theme", and "Cloud Formations". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautifully cascading sounds from drummer Kaito Nakamura Davis – a player whose own work is often more a part of the larger group in which he works, at a level that has all the other elements wrapped up and rolling along together! The group features superb bass from Keisuke Furuki, a player who is bold and warm at the same time – spacious and present as well – on grooves that are punctuated with just the right chords from the fingers of Kento Tsubosaka on the piano, then topped with these alto lines from Riko Sasaki – who sometimes breaks free of the rest on his solos, sometimes moves in these chunky formations that hang on to the rhythms. Titles include "Blaque Dawn", "Song For Numan", "Noir", "My Funny December", "New Friends", and "That Little Boy". CD

Seminal ESP work from Albert Ayler – a unique session done as a soundtrack to a short (and weird!) film from experimental director Michael Snow! The lineup is a bit different than some of Ayler's other ESP albums – and features Don Cherry on trumpet and cornet, John Tchicai on alto, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums. At times, the record's got a bit of a "new thing" vibe – a bit more spacious and sonic than some of Ayler's other material – but at other times, it burns with an intensity that's almost harder and freer than any of Albert's trio dates of the 60s. The album features 2 long tracks – "AY" and "ITT" – plus the shorter "Don's Dawn". CD

Never-heard music from the enigmatic Jim Sullivan – the singer/songwriter who disappeared in the New Mexico desert after giving the world his fantastic album UFO! The style here is a bit different than that one, and maybe even more to the heart of Jim's spirit – as the work was all recorded in 1969, with just vocals and guitar – in a way that lets the brilliance of Jim's songcraft come across even more strongly than before – but all without ever feeling like scratchy demo tapes, or half-finished ideas! Instead, the album stands as a much-needed addition to the tiny Sullivan catalog – and really has us wondering what else Jim would have given us, if the shadows of mystery hadn't taken him away. Titles include "Roll Back The Time", "Walls", "Sandman", "Jerome", "Close My Eyes", "What Is My Name", and "So Natural". CD

Seminal ESP work from Albert Ayler – a unique session done as a soundtrack to a short (and weird!) film from experimental director Michael Snow! The lineup is a bit different than some of Ayler's other ESP albums – and features Don Cherry on trumpet and cornet, John Tchicai on alto, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Gary Peacock on bass, and Sunny Murray on drums. At times, the record's got a bit of a "new thing" vibe – a bit more spacious and sonic than some of Ayler's other material – but at other times, it burns with an intensity that's almost harder and freer than any of Albert's trio dates of the 60s. The album features 2 long tracks – "AY" and "ITT" – plus the shorter "Don's Dawn". CD

A tremendous package of work from Ornette Coleman – five albums issued under his own name, and one collaboration with Jackie McLean too! First up are At The Golden Circle Vols 1 & 2 – important second chapter work from Ornette Coleman – a record that marked a real shift in his sound from the Atlantic Records years – issued by Blue Note at a level that gave the rest of the world a chance to see what Ornette had been cooking up on the underground scene! The album was recorded in Stockholm – in the tradition of European live performances that saw Coleman grow so strongly in the mid 60s – and the tracks are long, free, and full of improvised moments – with Ornette adding in trumpet and violin next to his familiar alto – in a trio with David Izenzon on bass and Charles Moffett on drums – both fantastic players who can be loose at the right moments, and bring things back at others. Tracks are long and unbridled – with less of the rhythmic changes that you'd hear in work by the classic quartet, and more of a full-on fierce soloing mode. Titles include "Snowflakes & Sunshine", "Morning Song", "Faces & Places", "Dee Dee", "Dawn", "The Riddle", and "Antiques". Next is Empty Foxhole – one of our favorite Ornette Coleman albums of the post-Atlantic 60s years – a set that still hangs onto some of the bold rhythmic conception of his previous records, but also points the way towards his freer jazz modes to come! The group's a trio – with really tremendous work from Charlie Haden on bass, able to match Coleman's energy with effortless ease, and really getting a lot of room to leave his mark on the music – plus the very young (10!) Denardo Coleman, who plays drums here with this stark, simple style that's not only completely unique, but which also leaves a lot of open room left for Haden and Ornette to really stretch out. Ornette plays his usual alto, plus trumpet and violin – and titles include "Good Old Days", "The Empty Foxhole", "Zig Zag", and "Freeway Express". Next is New York Is Now – a pretty bold statement from saxophonist Ornette Coleman, but one that definitely shows his shift in role – from a major force on the LA underground of the early 60s, to an artist who was helping pave the way for a huge wave of growth on the New York downtown scene in years to come! Ornette's at his most late 60s unbridled here – freer than before, and working with a lineup that includes Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums – still no piano at all – plus great work from Dewey Redman on tenor, who really burst into new prominence with this album. Ornette plays a bit of violin alongside alto sax – and tracks include "Toy Dance", "Round Trip", "Broad Way Blues", and "We Now Interrupt For A Commercial". Then comes Love Call – a really great late 60s session from Ornette Coleman – one that shows is increasing expansion in sounds and styles, and which also offers a bridge between avant jazz generations too! That bridge comes in the presence of Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums – a surprising Coltrane rhythm duo, working here with Ornette's mindblowing work on alto sax, and tenor from a young Dewey Redman – already a crucially intense player here next to Coleman, as both are set free in a group without any piano – that Ornette melding of rhythm and melody, but with a very different vibe than the Atlantic years! Coleman blows trumpet on one tune – and titles include "Love Call", "Airborne", "Check Out Time", and "Open To The Public". The set also includes the album New & Old Gospel – one of Jackie McLean's last "new thing" albums for Blue Note – and a very unique record that features Ornette Coleman on trumpet! The sound here is stark and hard – slight hints of the soulfulness that the "gospel" in the title might imply, mixed with the angular exploratory sound that McLean had been forging at Blue Note during the mid 60s – a wonderful balance that really gives the record a lot of bite! The album's easily one of the most "out" that McLean ever recorded, and the group also includes Lamont Johnson on piano, Scott Holt on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – all pushing themselves in the company of the avant jazz giants. Tracks include the extended "Lifeline" suite, which takes up all of side one – plus "Old Gospel" and "Strange As It Seems". LP, Vinyl record album

A full helping of work from Claudine Clark – a killer 60s soul singer, and one with a really great ear for upbeat, romping tunes! Claudine originally hails from Georgia, but the work here is much more in Detroit, Chicago, or New York styles of the time – nicely moving numbers with a Motor City blend of tight instrumentation and bold lead vocals – sometimes a bit sweet, but always with enough power to keep up with the grooves in the tunes! The package does a great job of bringing together work from Claudine's varied recording career in the 60s – material done for labels that include Chancellor, Jamie, Fayette, Swan, Herald, and Match – under Clark's name, and the names of Joy Dawn and Sherry Pye as well. CD features full notes on Claudine's music and recording history at the time – plus 24 tracks that include "Party Lights (alt take)", "Gimme A Break", "A Sometimes Thing", "Easy To Love", "The Strength To Be Strong", "The Telephone Game", "Goodbye Mama", "Hang It Up", "Standing On Tip Toe", "Moon Madness", "My Turn To Laugh", "Who Will You Hurt", "Angel Of Happiness", "What Kind Of Party", and "Teenage Blues". CD

A wonderful soul album on the Black Fire label – a hip 70s imprint best known for spiritual jazz – stepping out here on a record that has a lot more vocals than their other releases, but which makes for a mighty nice fit! Wayne Davis is wonderful here – singing with the warmth of a Leroy Hutson at times, and some of the more righteous currents of DJ Rogers at others – often with harmony backings that really elevate the tunes, and a jazzy current in some of the instrumentation that ties things strongly back to the other artists on the Black Fire label! One of those groups, Experience Unlimited, lend their horn section for the record – and Davis himself shows off his deeper musical skills by also handling the piano and keyboards on the record. The whole thing is great – and titles include "Morning", "Things See Just Right Now", "Strive On and Be Strong", "The Garden", "Look at the People", and Al Johnson's "Dawn of a New Day". LP, Vinyl record album

Four incredible albums from the young Georgie Fame – plus a bonus CD of rare material, bonus tracks on all CDs, and 18 previously unreleased tracks – all in a box set with a 48 page book, 5 postcards, and a poster too! First up is Rhythm & Blues At The Flamingo – blistering early work from a young Georgie Fame – a set that definitely lives up to the Rhythm & Blues in the title! The set was recorded live at London's hip Flamingo club – and Georgie and The Blue Flames are very much in command of the crowd – burning with the intensity of a American small organ combo, especially the early 60s variety that often played equal parts soul jazz and R&B! Georgie's on the Hammond, and also sings with a rough-edged style that's plenty soulful, and incredibly appealing – a mode that oozes charisma, but never sounds fake or forced. Titles include "Do The Dog", "Eso Beso", "Work Song", "Baby Please Don't Go", "Shop Around", "Humpty Dumpty", and "You Can't Sit Down". Fame At Last is a brilliant mix of jazz, soul, and R&B – all filtered through a mod sort of London freshness, as early proof that the city could always take some great things from our own musical roots, and feed it back to us with a whole new flavor! Georgie's no copycat here, though – and the sound is instantly Fame-like – a style that's really not the sort that any Americans were doing at the time, and certainly never this well. Hard-burning Hammond colors most of the tunes here – played with a tightly vamping quality – but it's Georgie's charmingly crackling vocals that really win us over! Titles include "Gimme That Wine", "Pink Champagne", "Monkeying Around", "Green Onions", "Let The Sunshine In", "Get On The Right Track Baby", "I'm In The Mood For Love", and "I Love The Life I Live". Sweet Things is a definite sweet thing from Georgie Fame – a record that has him filling in his sound even more than before, with tremendously soulful results! The backings here are bigger than before – a bit tooled in an American soul mode, but still with that beautifully raspy Georgie Fame touch – lots of jazzy inflections on the vocals, and a way of handling a tune, even a familiar one, and really working it on his own level. Hammond still fills in most of the tunes, but other instrumentation includes some nice African percussion from Speedy Acquaye, saxes from Pete Coe, and some nice bold drums from John Mitchell. These come out to the forefront on the classic funky tune "Music Talk" – and still sound great on other numbers that include "The World Is Round", "Last Night", "Dr Kitch", "My Girl", "Ride Your Pony", and "Sweet Thing". Sound Venture is one of the jazziest early albums from Georgie Fame – a set that has him singing with the big band of Harry South, at a level that's a lot more complicated than some of his other work with The Blue Flames! The style here still has that mod 60s London feel, but it also has some deeper inflections as well – modes borrowed a bit from Jon Hendricks or Mose Allison, yet served up with even greater complexity – at a level that really points towards the tremendous growth Fame would unleash over the next few years. Members of the group include Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Tony Coe, Dick Morrisey, Kenny Wheeler, and many other key Brit jazz figures of the time – and titles include "Three Blind Mice", "Dawn Yawn", "Feed Me", "Lovey Dovey", "Lil Darlin", "Lil Pony", "I Am Missing You", and "Many Happy Returns". CD5 is Bend A Little – a package with 20 unusual titles – demos, rare tracks, and outtakes – including unreleased tracks, IBC recordings, and even two German tracks too! Plus, each individual CD comes with bonus tracks – 40 bonus tracks, in addition to the 20 more titles on the Bend A Little set – a huge amount of material! CD

HP Lovecraft drummer Michael Tegza soldiers on with a new group as Lovecraft – with a tighter sound that blends hard driving drums and guitars with more delicate, harmony vocal accented songcraft! It's a far cry from the psychedelic experimentation of HP Lovecraft – but it's actually a pretty impressive rock record in its own right – prefiguring the later 70s rock sounds long before the better known giants of the decade! Titles include "We Can All Have It Together", "Brother I Wonder", "Love Has Come To Me", "Will I Know When My Time Comes", "Two Step Hustle", "Lady Come Softly", "The Dawn", "Never Gonna Go Back", "Dear" and "Hopefully". LP, Vinyl record album

Harmony soul heaven – and the only full album from The Montclairs! The group were a sublime vocal group from the 70s – one with a sound to rival The Whatnauts or The Moments, but which also had a bit more of the super-dope touches you'd expect from their look on the cover of the record – a bit like Soul Generation at their best! The sound is sweet, but with an edge – and a young Phil Perry wrote most of the tracks on the record, with a really unique feel that goes beyond simple cliches from the better-known groups of the genre. Oliver Sain produced, and although the record came out on Jewel, it's got much more of a New Jersey feel than other work on the label. Titles include "Dreaming's Out Of Season", "Grand Finale", "Just Can't Get Away", "Prelude to a Heartbreak", "Do I Stand a Chance", and "Unwanted Love". CD features 9 more bonus tracks from singles – including "Make Up For Lost Time", "I Need You More Than Ever", "Hung Up On Your Love", "I'm Calling You", "Dawn Of My Life", "Out My Back Door", and "Ease The Pain". CD

A record with a very deep sound – maybe what you'd guess from the richness of the trombone work of Steve Swell, which is also echoed here by the bass of Peter Giron and drums of John Betsch – both of whom make for a very solid bottom to the set! The music is improvised, but this grounding seems to give it some earth from which to grow – resulting in these flowering lines from Rob Brown on alto sax, and Michel Edelin on flutes – both players whose sense of tonal expression is really opened up here! Swell has this way of moving between the different layers of sound with effortless ease – and the quintet improvise over light compositions with the sort of freshness that keeps free jazz so vibrant over the years. Titles include "Dawn", "Nexus", "Hop Skip & Jump", "New Orleans", "Oer The Wall", "Prevert Is Now", and "For Frank Lowe". CD

An early gem from keyboardist Carlos Franzetti – a mid 70s session done with a really ambitious sound, and easily one of Franzetti's most righteous recordings ever! At the time of the set, Carlos was fresh on the New York scene from years in his native Argentina – but he's working here with a host of American players to craft a record of boundless soul and imagination – in a style that mixes free solo work on keyboards and saxes with added strings on many tracks, and a few choice vocals that really expand the set. There's a sound here that almost reminds us of the mix of modes used by another Argentinian, Gato Barbieri, in some of his best work of the period – but Franzetti's approach is much more in a spiritual soul jazz mode than Gato's, yet it shares a similar optimism and ability to freely combine styles. Players on the session include Omar Clay on drums, Marvin Blackman on soprano and tenor sax, Kenny Rogers on flute, and Ray Mantilla on congas – and voices are by Mel Dancy and Gayle Dixon Clay. Titles include "Southamelodic", "In The Dawn Of Time", "Prime Element", "Lola", "Aldebaran", "Norma Jean", "Shave & Haircut", and "Alborada". Originally only out on the Argentinian Trova label – beautifully presented here! CD

Landmark work from Sun Ra – a rare 1964 performance that features some very early work from Pharoah Sanders, a good deal of which is appearing here for the first time ever! The material was recorded at Judson Hall – and marks a great large venue performance by the Arkestra on the New York scene. Ra and the group recorded the set on New Year's Eve, 1964 – at a time when John Gilmore had left the Arkestra to work with Art Blakey – leaving Pharoah Sanders to come and take his place on tenor. Also noteworthy is the presence of Black Harold (Harold Murray) on flute – blowing with a dark edge alongside other group members who include Al Evans on trumpet, Teddy Nance on trombone, Marshal Allen on alto sax, Pat Patrick on baritone sax, and both Alan Silva and Ronnie Boykins on bass. The performance starts with a relatively fierce sound, but then moves into some beautifully lyrical moments – and titles include "Gods On A Safari", "The World Shadow", "Rocket Number Nine", "The Voice Of Pan", "Dawn Over Israel", and "Space Mates". LP, Vinyl record album

A massive hit and creative triumph for Salt N Pepa – a record that was both maybe their biggest ever, and which had the duo working with Spinderella at a level that also bridged both hip hop and R&B! Although there were some younger up-and-comers on the scene at the time, Salt N Pepa had already honed their craft, matured a bit, and were able to serve up just the right hook-heavy blend of hip hop and a touch of R&B – mixing both freewheeling fun with some feminist positivity and maybe just a touch of social consciousness in all the right ways. Titles include their classics "Whatta Man and "Shoop" – plus "Groove Me", "No One Does It Better", "Step", "Heaven Or Hell", "Big Shot", "Sexy Noises Turn Me On", "Somma Time Man", "I've Got Aids (PSA)", and "Break Of Dawn". This 30th Anniversary 2CD version is loaded with bonus tracks, including "Emphatically No", "I Am The Body Beautiful", multiple remixes of "Whatta Man" and "Shoop", "Heaven N Hell (Carron Hall Mix)" and more – plus new liner notes! CD

One of the deepest explorations of the disco era we've come across from author Peter Shapiro – not at all a nostalgic look back, really more of a cultural study that looks into the music and the world around it. Shapiro does a great job of putting it all into perspective, from the social factors leading to the growth of the music, to the technological and artistry behind it, from the dawn of the sounds, to full blown pop culture fad that exploded it and sunk it back underground later in the decade, and how it survives in the new millennium. Softcover edition is 346 pages, and features a new epilogue, a timeline, and helpful appendix details! Book

Attica Blues, and beyond – a great late 70s performance that has Archie Shepp turning the clock back towards that famous album – but also making some very new grooves with a richly expanded lineup! The double-length set was recorded in Paris, in front of a very lively crowd – and it's honestly one of Shepp's most dynamic records from the time – definitely inspired by all the freedom he'd had in the French scene for the previous decade – yet also brought together with a great sense of focus too. The lineup is excellent – with vocals from Joe Lee Wilson and Irene Datcher – trumpets from Malachi Thompson, Charles McGhee, and Roy Burrowes; trombones from Charles Greenlee, Dick Griffin, and Steve Turre; reeds from Marion Brown, James Ware, and Marvin Blackman; plus piano from Art Matthews, some added strings, great percussion, and piano, tenor, and soprano sax from Shepp himself! Ray Copeland directs the group – giving it the hip focus of his few key recordings like this – and titles include "Star Love", "Moon Bees", "Attica Blues" (in two parts), "Steam", "Quiet Dawn", "Hi Fly", "U-Jaama", "Ballad For A Child", "Simone", "Crucificado", :A Change Has Come Over Me", "Goodbye Sweet Pops", and "Skippin'". CD

Amazing sounds from British pianist Keith Tippett – a startling crossroads of musical scenes that beautifully brings together the best jazz, rock, and jazz rock impulses on the UK scene at the time – still with a freshness and clarity that the work would never reach a few years later! The sound here is brilliant – often a bit funky at the bottom, and definitely stretching out to freer jazz ideas on the solos, yet always managing a sense of soul and swing that really gives the record a rock solid core – so that even loopy lines seem to land back on the ground, and set the group on fire with a whole new energy. In addition to Tippett's work on electric and acoustic piano, the set also features Elton Dean on alto and saxello, Marc Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone, and Robert Wyatt on drums – on titles that include "Gridal Suite", "Five After Dawn", "This Is What Happens", "Thoughts To Geoff", and "Black Horse". CD

Wow, this is SO not the Tortoise that first set the underground aflame in the early 90s – the group has evolved and opened up in ways we never would have expected. With It's All Around You it's emerged with an airy, open, stargazing set of tracks that resemble the languid atmosphere of Tangerine Dream as much as they do early post rock! Gone, for the most part from early Tortoise is that strong, rubbery electric bass groove and tightly thudding live drum sound. It's All Around You retains the bright vibes and sputtering electronics of the TNT album, and the out front, almost rock & roll guitar lines of the Standards album – and adds an ever present, ambient synthesizer bubble of sound to surround the thing. It's all so catchy, too, and almost sunny. If Tortoise hasn't really broken any new ground this time, it's only because they're the ones who broke it in the first place. Tracks include "It's All Around You", The Lithium Shifts", "Crest", "Stretch", "Dot/Eyes", "By Dawn", "Five Too Many" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Spiritual keyboard giant Lonnie Liston Smith joins the duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – and the result is maybe one of the deepest records in this wonderful series! As you can imagine, Lonnie is on keyboards, and delivers some wonderful solos throughout – very much in the spirit of his classic Flying Dutchman albums of the 70s – at a level that even seems to bring out some deeper vibes from Younge and Muhammad as well! Vocalist Loren Oden joins the group on four tracks, recalling the great vocal style used on Lonnie's classic records, in this beautiful mix of jazz and soul that really shapes the tunes – in a set that that includes "A New Spring", "Love Brings Happiness", "Cosmic Changes", "Dawn", "Gratitude", "What May Come", and "Love Can Be". CD

Spiritual keyboard giant Lonnie Liston Smith joins the duo of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad – and the result is maybe one of the deepest records in this wonderful series! As you can imagine, Lonnie is on keyboards, and delivers some wonderful solos throughout – very much in the spirit of his classic Flying Dutchman albums of the 70s – at a level that even seems to bring out some deeper vibes from Younge and Muhammad as well! Vocalist Loren Oden joins the group on four tracks, recalling the great vocal style used on Lonnie's classic records, in this beautiful mix of jazz and soul that really shapes the tunes – in a set that that includes "A New Spring", "Love Brings Happiness", "Cosmic Changes", "Dawn", "Gratitude", "What May Come", and "Love Can Be". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Catchy dawn of the 70s rock that's rooted in hooks and grooves, but taken to the next level with some killer piano and keys, and production touches! The group's best known for the sublime track that kicks this record off, "Something In The Air", which was covered pretty faithfully by the Flaming Lips – but Thunderclap Newman's original is more timelessly wonderful. The vocals remind us of Pete Townsend at his best, and the whole thing's pretty wonderful. Titles include "Hollywood", (#s 1 & 2) "The Reason", "Open The Door, Homer", "Acidents", "Wild Country", and "The Old Cornmill". This CD version includes 6 bonus tracks of singles. CD

Catchy dawn of the 70s rock that's rooted in hooks and grooves, but taken to the next level with some killer piano and keys, and production touches! The group's best known for the sublime track that kicks this record off, "Something In The Air", which was covered pretty faithfully by the Flaming Lips – but Thunderclap Newman's original is more timelessly wonderful. The vocals remind us of Pete Townsend at his best, and the whole thing's pretty wonderful. Titles include "Hollywood", (#s 1 & 2) "The Reason", "Open The Door, Homer", "Acidents", "Wild Country", and "The Old Cornmill". Pete Townsend is the secret, uncredited bass player! LP, Vinyl record album

Massive later music from Coleman Hawkins – a date that might be easy to overlook, given the unassuming package – but one that really features that newfound mix of modernism and soul that graced the later years of Hawk! The setting is a bit unusual, but that's part of the charm – as Hawkins' tenor comes into play with the trumpet of Thad Jones, piano and vibes of Eddie Costa, bass of George Duvivier, and drums of Osie Johnson – a group who are mostly easygoing, and really let Coleman take the lead – although Jones gets in a few great moments too! Titles include "Cloudy", "Almost Dawn", "Stake Out", "Cross Town", and "Shadows". LP, Vinyl record album

The mindblowing full length debut of Joni Mitchell – and a record that instantly set a whole new tone for singer/songwriter material in the late 60s! Joni had years of folk experience before this set, but the record is something else entirely – dark at times, deeply personal, and inflected with an understanding of jazz phrasing that haunts some of the guitar work, and maybe a bit of the vocals – yet all in a way that's very different than much of Mitchell's later work too. The record is definitely one of those landmarks in this moment of an artist who emerges fully formed, with a sound that's all their own – resonating with a strength that's as powerful now as it was way back then! Titles include "I Had A King", "Sistowbell Lane", "The Dawntreader", "Cactus Tree", "Song To A Seagull", "The Pirate Of Penance", "Nathan La Franeer", and "Night In The City". LP, Vinyl record album

An insanely wonderful record from De La Soul – a set that's sometimes eclipsed by its legendary precursors, but which would easily stand as the best record in the catalog by any other group! Prince Paul's production is impeccable – leaner than before, likely due to new restrictions on samples – but with a focus that really hones in on the incredible word play that De La have developed even more strongly than before! That strong sense of whole album presentation the group really helped forge in hip hop is definitely in place here – on titles that include the classics "Ego Trippin' (Part 2)" and "Breakadawn", "Eye Patch", "En Focus", "Patti Dooke", "I Be Blowin'", "3 Days Later", "Area", "I Am I Be", "In The Woods", and "Stone Age". LP, Vinyl record album

The mindblowing full length debut of Joni Mitchell – and a record that instantly set a whole new tone for singer/songwriter material in the late 60s! Joni had years of folk experience before this set, but the record is something else entirely – dark at times, deeply personal, and inflected with an understanding of jazz phrasing that haunts some of the guitar work, and maybe a bit of the vocals – yet all in a way that's very different than much of Mitchell's later work too. The record is definitely one of those landmarks in this moment of an artist who emerges fully formed, with a sound that's all their own – resonating with a strength that's as powerful now as it was way back then! Titles include "I Had A King", "Sistowbell Lane", "The Dawntreader", "Cactus Tree", "Song To A Seagull", "The Pirate Of Penance", "Nathan La Franeer", and "Night In The City". LP, Vinyl record album

An insanely wonderful record from De La Soul – a set that's sometimes eclipsed by its legendary precursors, but which would easily stand as the best record in the catalog by any other group! Prince Paul's production is impeccable – leaner than before, likely due to new restrictions on samples – but with a focus that really hones in on the incredible word play that De La have developed even more strongly than before! That strong sense of whole album presentation the group really helped forge in hip hop is definitely in place here – on titles that include the classics "Ego Trippin' (Part 2)" and "Breakadawn", "Eye Patch", "En Focus", "Patti Dooke", "I Be Blowin'", "3 Days Later", "Area", "I Am I Be", "In The Woods", and "Stone Age". CD

The third album from symphonic rock pioneer Mike Oldfield – at this point unable to steer his way out of the engulfing shadow of his massive Tubular Bells album of a couple years earlier – yet still bearing fruit creatively, as Ommadawn is his third excellent and pretty much unprecedented album of layered instrumental mood rock grandeur in a row! It's not only his third album, it's his third 2 part, single piece epic in a row that's woven from acoustic, electric, classic and modern instrumentation – with a choir and and folk instrumentation keeping in something of an earthy realm, even with synthezisers and more otherworldly touches. Influences from Irish folk to African percussion, it's uncompromising, intricate and interesting to this day! This 2010 CD version features new stereo mixes by Oldfield, bonus tracks, and nice booklet of notes. Bonus tracks include "In Dulce Jubilo" and "Portsmouth" (both A-sides of singles), "First Excursion" and Argiers". CD

Brilliant work from the "Vice Pres" – tenorist Paul Quinichette, stepping out here in one the best of of his all-too-few sessions as a leader! Paul's tone is amazing throughout – very much on a par with that of Ben Webster or Coleman Hawkins, and proof that his admission to the jazz "executive branch" in the 50s was well deserved. The tunes are shortish, but very swinging – and Quinichette's tenor work dominates in a group that also includes Nat Pierce, Henry Coker, Thad Jones, Freddie Green, and Joe Newman. There's a Basie-esque swing overall – but the final result is miles from Basie, and has a very different vibe overall. Titles include "Big Deal", "Happy Feeling", "Pardon The Blues Please", "Start Here", and "The Kid From Denver". CD features all the material from the album Kid From Denver – plus 4 more bonus tracks from other sessions Quinichette recorded with the Gene Roland sextet and septet – "Suitcase", "Minor Scene", "Colonel Hodge", and "The Creeper". CD

Brilliant work from the "Vice Pres" – tenorist Paul Quinichette, stepping out here in one the best of of his all-too-few sessions as a leader! Paul's tone is amazing throughout – very much on a par with that of Ben Webster or Coleman Hawkins, and proof that his admission to the jazz "executive branch" in the 50s was well deserved. The tunes are shortish, but very swinging – and Quinichette's tenor work dominates in a group that also includes Nat Pierce, Henry Coker, Thad Jones, Freddie Green, and Joe Newman. There's a Basie-esque swing overall – but the final result is miles from Basie, and has a very different vibe overall. Titles include "Big Deal", "Happy Feeling", "Pardon The Blues Please", "Start Here", and "The Kid From Denver". LP, Vinyl record album

The title's no lie, as the set sparkles with a host of rare pop diamonds from the 60s – very much the kind obscure but well-chosen gems we've come to love from Teensville collections over the years! This isn't the pop of 60s radio charts, but music that's much less familiar – culled from rare singles that barely saw the light of day, and mixed in with a few obscure tracks from bigger names of the time too. The vibe is great throughout – and titles include "Twelve Feet High" by Kenny Ancel, "Spider & The Fly" by Linda Jean, "I Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" by The Collegiates, "Hands Off Buddy" by Gary Criss, "Let's Get Together" by Billy & Dawn, "Only A Fool" by The Madisons, "Same Old Song" by Joe South, "Queen Of Hearts" by Bobby Skel, "Think" by Ronnie Dante, "I Knew The Girl" by Jackie Gardner, "You Make Me Happy" by Val Martinez, "Johnny Turn Your Head Away" by The Wayward Winds, and "For Adults Only" by Jim Eller. CD

One of the most important albums on the mighty 2 Tone label – and part of a huge ska revival on the British scene that would send ripples through modern music for years to come! And sure, the words "ska" and "revival" in the same sentence can often make most folks wince – but The Specials here work at a time long before the mode was reduced to cliche – and during a punk rock period when their contributions were especially vital – presented beautifully here on an album that's also produced by a young Elvis Costello! There's no overdone jams, no schlocky frat boy modes, just hard-edged London ska with a strong nod back to Kingston roots – on titles that include "A Message To You Rudy","Do The Dog", "It's Up To You", "Doesn't Make It Alright", "Concrete Jungle", "Monkey Man", "(Dawning Of A) New Era", "Too Much Too Young", and "Gangsters". CD