A previously unreleased live date from late in the career of Ben Webster – recorded at The Renaissance in Hollywood in 1960, but unissued until nearly 25 years later! The group features Jim Hall on guitar, Jimmy Rowles on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Frank Butler on drums – and tracks are all longish, and live-feeling – with that sense of fragility that marked some of Webster's later recordings in this mode, and even further deepened the humanity in his tone. And while the recording quality is definitely "live" at times, Ben's tone comes through loud and clear – different than on some of the tighter Verve recordings of a few years before, but in a way that's really great. Titles include "Georgia On My Mind, "Caravan", "Stardust", and "Ole Miss Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Ole Kock Hansen on piano, Bo Stief on bass, and Alex Riel on drums. Titles include "Set Call", "Old Folks", "I Got Rhythm", and "Sunday". LP, Vinyl record album

A previously unreleased live date from late in the career of Ben Webster – recorded at The Renaissance in Hollywood in 1960, but unissued until nearly 25 years later! The group features Jim Hall on guitar, Jimmy Rowles on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Frank Butler on drums – and tracks are all longish, and live-feeling – with that sense of fragility that marked some of Webster's later recordings in this mode, and even further deepened the humanity in his tone. And while the recording quality is definitely "live" at times, Ben's tone comes through loud and clear – different than on some of the tighter Verve recordings of a few years before, but in a way that's really great. Titles include "Georgia On My Mind, "Caravan", "Stardust", and "Ole Miss Blues". CD features 4 more bonus tracks – "Gone With The Wind", "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Mop Mop", and "Renaissance Blues". CD

A great little record from alto saxophonist Norman Williams – also known as The Bishop – and the first record on the mighty Theresa label too! The sound here is maybe a bit funkier than some of the other Theresa sessions of the late 70s – in part because there's some monstrous bass on the record, courtesy of Michael Formanek – who works magic alongside the keyboards and warmly-rolling rhythms – which are a perfect foil for the sharper lines that Williams brings to the record on his alto! The approach has some of the warmth and soul of the best 70s sessions on Black Jazz or Catalyst – and titles include "Trane's Paradise", "Mr Peabody", "Figure Eight", "Terry's Song", and "Ole Brown". LP, Vinyl record album

Most folks can't even find Estonia on the map, much less tell you about its music – yet that might change soon, thanks to the legendary quality of the rare gems on this set! As the title implies, there's a great mix here of funky styles – some clubby, some more jazz-based – and the music represents a really lost legacy of grooves from a very unlikely source – tracks that are nicely different than some of the other Eastern Bloc material from the period, and which often have a cool, classy vibe that's quite a nice surprise! The track selection here is every bit as great as the wonderful first volume – and titles include "Maskeraad" by Marju Kuut & Apelsin, "Nuud On Mul Muusika" by Laine, "Mind Veel El Ole (short inst)" by Jaan Kumani, "Veerev Paev" by Els Himma, "On See Hea (inst)" by Pirita, "Malestus (short)" by Eesti TV & Radio, and "Hoia Ennast Koos" by Teravik. LP, Vinyl record album

Think you've heard everything on Motown? Think again – because this sweet little set is filled with unissued 60s recordings by some of the best male singers on the label! The collection is a soul fan's dream come true – as the music here represents some real lost corners of Motown, with sounds that span almost the full stretch of the 60s – and really show the label's greatness at work – because if most of these tracks were recorded by other labels, they would have been pushed as potential hits! There's great work from artists who were just starting out, surprising moments from big names at the time, and a few entries we wouldn't have guessed without looking at the notes – and titles include "Headin North" by Shorty Long, "Only On The Weekend" by The Headliners, "Satisfaction Is Guaranteed" by Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers, "Safety Zone" by Marv Johnson, "Hold On To Me" by The Spinners, "Show Me You Can Dance" by The Hit Pack, "Tell Me How To Forget A True Love" by Johnny Bristol, "Mojo Hannah (studio)" by Marvin Gaye, "I Wanted To Cry" by Bruce Channel, "I'm Gonna Make It To The Top" by Freddie Gorman, "This Ole Heart" by The Quails, "The Night We Called It A Day" by The Four Tops, and "Just Your Love" by Ivy Jo. CD

A wonderfully wide-ranging tribute to the great John Coltrane – served up here in a whole host of tracks recorded after his too-early death, each of which take his musical message in different directions! The sound is certainly spiritual – in keeping with the different volumes in this long-running series – but there's a nice mix of expressions and instrumentation, offering up a journey into John Coltrane's important influence on so many different spheres of jazz – far more than you might expect! And this isn't just a set of Coltrane remakes or covers, either, as new songs are mixed with familiar ones – in a well-chosen batch of tracks that includes "Trane" by Carmelo Garcia, "Transition" by Malachi Thompson, "John Coltrane" by Clifford Jordan, "Naima" by Darwin Strickland Trio, "Terre Engloutie" by Gilles Torrent Jazztet, "To Trane" by Carsten Meinert Kvartet, "Welcome" by Norman Connors, "Ole" by Sonny Fortune, and "Naima" by Jack McDuff. CD

A wonderfully wide-ranging tribute to the great John Coltrane – served up here in a whole host of tracks recorded after his too-early death, each of which take his musical message in different directions! The sound is certainly spiritual – in keeping with the different volumes in this long-running series – but there's a nice mix of expressions and instrumentation, offering up a journey into John Coltrane's important influence on so many different spheres of jazz – far more than you might expect! And this isn't just a set of Coltrane remakes or covers, either, as new songs are mixed with familiar ones – in a well-chosen batch of tracks that includes "Trane" by Carmelo Garcia, "Transition" by Malachi Thompson, "John Coltrane" by Clifford Jordan, "Naima" by Darwin Strickland Trio, "Terre Engloutie" by Gilles Torrent Jazztet, "To Trane" by Carsten Meinert Kvartet, "Welcome" by Norman Connors, "Ole" by Sonny Fortune, and "Naima" by Jack McDuff. LP, Vinyl record album

Live recordings from Oslo – with Per Husby on piano, and either Bjorn Kjellemyr or Terje Venaas on bass, and Espen Rud or Ole Jacob Hansen on drums! LP, Vinyl record album

Quincy Jones may be best remembered for his funky soundtrack work of the 70s – but the man can also hit a deeper, more serious vein when he wants – as he does on this ambitious album-length project inspired by the landmark Roots mini-series! The music isn't a straight soundtrack from the program, but instead evokes the longer narrative over the passage of its different selections – working as its own "saga of an American family", as it moves from African roots, through years of oppression, to moments of pride and power – amidst larger orchestrations from Jones, with help from Letta Mbulu on some key vocals, and more help from Bill Summers, James Cleveland, and even Lou Gossett. Titles include "Many Rains", "Free At Last", "Jumpin De Broom", "Ole Fiddler", "Boyhood To Manhood", "Oluwa", and "Motherland". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly the greatest record ever by Mike Longo – a wicked batch of electric funky piano tunes, recorded with a sublime 70s feel! The set's got a really stripped down group – with Ron Carter on bass, Mickey Roker on drums, and Patato Valdez on percussion – all grooving behind Longo's work on electric and acoustic piano, creating some magical rhythms that snap a groove out of just about every single tune! The whole set's great – not just a "one number" funky jazz set – and titles include versions of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", Dizzy Gillespie's "Ole' For the Gypsies", Les McCann's "Samia", and Longo's own "Southern Soul" and "Funkia". CD

An insane bit of fuzzed-out funk! This is Parliament's rare first album – a trippy batch of tunes that come off of Clinton's experimentation in the Detroit soul scene, infused by the rock-heavy energy of the city at the time, and probably a heck of a lot of cannabis, too! The record is quite different than the slick funky sound of the group's later work for Casablanca – and has the psychedelic funk sound of the early work of Funkadelic, which was also recorded during the same period. The album's filled with funky classics – including "I Call My Baby Pussycat", "Little Ole Country Boy", "My Automobile", "Funky Woman", and "Nothing Before Me But Thang". CD

An insane bit of fuzzed-out funk! This is Parliament's rare first album – a trippy batch of tunes that come off of Clinton's experimentation in the Detroit soul scene, infused by the rock-heavy energy of the city at the time, and probably a heck of a lot of cannabis, too! The record is quite different than the slick funky sound of the group's later work for Casablanca – and has the psychedelic funk sound of the early work of Funkadelic, which was also recorded during the same period. The album's filled with funky classics – including "I Call My Baby Pussycat", "Little Ole Country Boy", "My Automobile", "Funky Woman", and "Nothing Before Me But Thang". LP, Vinyl record album

With Ole Kock Hansen on piano and Lennart Gruvstedt on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

It's easy to give the great Freddie Redd due respect – especially when the pianist sounds every bit as wonderful here as he did on his classic Blue Note albums from decades back! Freddie's a hell of a pianist, with a very unique vibe – able to be modern in conception, but lyrical in execution – sharp edges and angles warmed with a sense of humanity that always has Redd's music making this beautifully inherent sense, and drawing us right in, right away! The same seems to also be the case for his sidemen – who really flower in the setting – a lineup that includes John Mosca on trombone, Chris Byars on alto and flute, and Stefano Doglioni on bass clarinet. Mosca's trombone is especially nice – a real treat to hear in Redd's music – and titles include "A Night In Nalen", "Reminiscing", "Blue Hue", "I'm Gonna Be Happy", "OD", "Ole", "Lady J Blues", and "Melanie". CD

A very important crossover soul album – a huge hit for Otis Redding that was released after his tragic death in December 1967 – but it's also hard to say if it would have had the impact it did had Redding not passed while the LP was still in production. In a way, the record sort of set the stage for the mythologies of pop stars that would surround the tragedies in the coming years of the late 60s – with liner notes on the back by Jon Landau about the impact of Redding's work and passing on the rest of the music industry, which would be even more charged with meaning to folks buying the album at the time, who certainly knew that Redding had cut "Dock of the Bay" a few days before his death, and had missed its meteoric rise to #1 after his passing. And in fact, the album itself is more of a loose collection of tracks pulled from singles and other sources to cash in on Redding's passing – and includes odd numbers like "The Huckle Buck", which had previously appeared on a Stax promo album, or "Tramp", his famous funky duet with Carla Thomas. Other titles include "I'm Coming Home", "Ole Man Trouble", "Open The Door", and "Let Me Come On Home". LP, Vinyl record album

Blue belles with attitude, and plenty of soul as well – a sweet collection of west coast female R&B from the postwar years – put together with the usual top-shelf standard we expect from Ace Records! And although R&B, the tunes here almost have an early soul sound at points – deep, heartfelt vocals that definitely lay the groundwork for southern soul and other styles to come in the 60s. All the work here comes from the vaults of Modern/RPM Records – and in addition to some key sides from the late 40s and 1950s, the package also features some unreleased treasures that easily stand head-to-head with the commercially released tracks on the set. The CD features 28 tracks in all – 23 on this format for the first time ever – and as usual with Ace, the booklet's a wealth of information, label scans, and vintage photos. Titles include "Mr T 99" by Del Graham, "Two Years Of Torture" by Edna Broughton, "I Ain't In The Mood" by Helen Humes, "I'm Tellin You Baby" by The Nic Nacs, "That's Fat Jack" by Jimmy Lee & Artis, "Nightmare Blues"by Mari Jones, "Be Bop Boogie" by Effie Smith, "Lonely Girl" by Cordella De Milo, "Mean Ole Gal" by Esther Jones with Johnny Otis, and "Vivianne's Boogie" by Vivianne Green. CD

A fantastic testament to the slow-burning spiritual genius of Marion Brown – a player who sometimes got eclipsed in an era of bigger avant personalities, but who really gets to showcase his talents in a spare setting like this! The live performance pairs Brown's alto with the piano of Dave Burrell – another player who's sometimes understated, but in the best way possible – and together the pair sound completely sublime – gently exploring the farther reaches of tonal space with their improvisations, and almost always keeping things in relatively soulful formation! The set features beautiful readings of two Billy Strayhorn tunes – "My Little Brown Book" and "Lush Life" – balanced with original material that includes "Gossip/Fortunado", "La Placita", "Crucificado", "Puna Mae Ole", and "Punaluu Peter". CD

An excellent John Handy album from the 60s – and one that features some especially nice vibes from Bobby Hutcherson – in a group that also features Pat Martino on guitar! Tracks are all nice and long, and the record maybe features some of the most "out" moments in Handy's career – as he blows very soulful solos on alto, while Hutcherson hits some very hard noisy notes on the vibes. The rest of the group includes Albert Stinson on bass and Doug Sides on drums – and titles include "Naima", "A Little Quiet", and "Tears Of Ole Miss (Anatomy Of A Riot)". LP, Vinyl record album

A groundbreaking album from the young John Hartford – not really folk, not really country – but a unique hybrid of both, and done with a good ear for unique sounds as well! Hartford's a really unique artist, especially at this key point in his career – and he's working here with producer David Bromberg, who himself was also helping to reinvent acoustic music at the time. The Warner Brothers placement of the record is key – as Hartford's got this sense of the past, mixed with the irony of the present – one which strongly echoes some of the hip rock contemporaries on the label, particularly the up and coming brand of post-Sunset LA talents. Titles include "Turn Your Radio On", "Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie", "First Girl I Loved", "With A Vamp In The Middle", and "Tear Down The Grand Ole Opry". LP, Vinyl record album

Very groovy work from Peggy – a set of tunes tone with a nice little Latin flair! The tunes themselves are all Broadway hits of the late 50s and early 60s, but they're redone wonderfully here – so that they often bear little resemblance to the originals. Jack Marshall handled the arrangements with a swinging and jazzy sound – really throwing in some tight syncopated rhythms to make the album crackle more than most of Peggy's other work from the time. Titles include "Hey There", "I Am In Love", "Heart", "On The Street Where You Live", "The Party's Over", "Dance Only With Me", and "I Enjoy Being A Girl". CD features 3 bonus tracks – "Senza Fine", "Ole", and "Manana". CD

Sweet electric magic from Ramsey Lewis – four 70s albums in a single collection! First up is Don't It Feel Good – massive keyboard work from the great Ramsey Lewis – easily one of his best records ever, thanks to some spaciously funky production by Charles Stepney! Stepney plays keyboards here along with Ramsey, and the twin-keys approach makes for a sound that's extra-special – one that sums up all the earlier soulful creativity of both artists in their late 60s Cadet Records years, and hones it down to an even sweeter groove for the 70s! A number of tracks have some sort of vocal component, but usually in a chorus mode that soon drops out when the keyboards hit home – and the record features a few great short "interlude" tracks that are almost as great as the longer numbers! Titles include the classic "Juaacklyn", a cover of Earth Wind & Fire's "That's The Way Of The World", and the tracks "I Dig You", "Fish Bite", "Don't It Feel Good", "Something About You", and "Can't Function". Salongo is a tremendous little record, and one of the funky 70s sets that Ramsey Lewis recorded with Earth Wind & Fire! Well, not Earth Wind & Fire entirely – but the Kalimba Productions team of Maurice White and Charles Stepney that gave the group its sound – plus a nice sprinkling of other players that were often associated with sessions by the group! Ramsey's own combo here includes Steve Cobb on drums and vocals, and Derf Reklaw on reeds and vocals as well – and the overall sound has bits of African and Brazilian influences, worked into a soulful fusion groove that sounds a lot like the instrumental backings EWF were using at the time. Titles include "Brazilica", "Slick", "Rubato", "Salongo", and "Seventh Fold". Tequila Mockingbird is an overlooked gem from the Columbia Records years, filled with loads of great grooves, and some pretty mighty keyboards! Part of the record has Ramsey working with Larry Dunn of Kalimba Productions – getting plenty of the Earth Wind & Fire groove that made so much of his Columbia sessions sparkle – while the rest of the set has the great Bert DeCoteaux handling things, and giving Lewis just the right mix of sophistication and soul he was using with other Columbia acts at the time. The album's a perfect example of the way that Ramsey stepped way ahead of the pack during this time in his career – using keyboards and grooves together in ways that so many artists today are still trying to match – but never hit it this right! Titles include "Camino El Bueno", "Caring For You", "Intimacy", "That Ole Bach Music", "Skippin", "Tequila Mockingbird", and "Wandering Rose" – that cool cut by Neal Creque! Love Notes is a great little album of mid 70s funk from Ramsey Lewis – very much in the mode of his Earth, Wind, & Fire related work – no surprise, since the album's dedicated to Charles Stepney, whose influence was such a key part of the sound of the group, and of some of Ramsey's other Kalimba-produced albums from a few years before! Ramsey plays Fender Rhodes, mini moog, and Arp – and he gets help on keyboards from Stevie Wonder and Derf Reklaw, who also plays saxes and percussion on the set. Features versions of Wonder's "Love Notes" and "Spring High", plus Reklaw's "Chili Today Hot Tamale", "Shining", and "Stash Dash". CD

Sweet electric magic from Ramsey Lewis – four 70s albums in a single collection! First up is Don't It Feel Good – massive keyboard work from the great Ramsey Lewis – easily one of his best records ever, thanks to some spaciously funky production by Charles Stepney! Stepney plays keyboards here along with Ramsey, and the twin-keys approach makes for a sound that's extra-special – one that sums up all the earlier soulful creativity of both artists in their late 60s Cadet Records years, and hones it down to an even sweeter groove for the 70s! A number of tracks have some sort of vocal component, but usually in a chorus mode that soon drops out when the keyboards hit home – and the record features a few great short "interlude" tracks that are almost as great as the longer numbers! Titles include the classic "Juaacklyn", a cover of Earth Wind & Fire's "That's The Way Of The World", and the tracks "I Dig You", "Fish Bite", "Don't It Feel Good", "Something About You", and "Can't Function". Salongo is a tremendous little record, and one of the funky 70s sets that Ramsey Lewis recorded with Earth Wind & Fire! Well, not Earth Wind & Fire entirely – but the Kalimba Productions team of Maurice White and Charles Stepney that gave the group its sound – plus a nice sprinkling of other players that were often associated with sessions by the group! Ramsey's own combo here includes Steve Cobb on drums and vocals, and Derf Reklaw on reeds and vocals as well – and the overall sound has bits of African and Brazilian influences, worked into a soulful fusion groove that sounds a lot like the instrumental backings EWF were using at the time. Titles include "Brazilica", "Slick", "Rubato", "Salongo", and "Seventh Fold". Tequila Mockingbird is an overlooked gem from the Columbia Records years, filled with loads of great grooves, and some pretty mighty keyboards! Part of the record has Ramsey working with Larry Dunn of Kalimba Productions – getting plenty of the Earth Wind & Fire groove that made so much of his Columbia sessions sparkle – while the rest of the set has the great Bert DeCoteaux handling things, and giving Lewis just the right mix of sophistication and soul he was using with other Columbia acts at the time. The album's a perfect example of the way that Ramsey stepped way ahead of the pack during this time in his career – using keyboards and grooves together in ways that so many artists today are still trying to match – but never hit it this right! Titles include "Camino El Bueno", "Caring For You", "Intimacy", "That Ole Bach Music", "Skippin", "Tequila Mockingbird", and "Wandering Rose" – that cool cut by Neal Creque! Love Notes is a great little album of mid 70s funk from Ramsey Lewis – very much in the mode of his Earth, Wind, & Fire related work – no surprise, since the album's dedicated to Charles Stepney, whose influence was such a key part of the sound of the group, and of some of Ramsey's other Kalimba-produced albums from a few years before! Ramsey plays Fender Rhodes, mini moog, and Arp – and he gets help on keyboards from Stevie Wonder and Derf Reklaw, who also plays saxes and percussion on the set. Features versions of Wonder's "Love Notes" and "Spring High", plus Reklaw's "Chili Today Hot Tamale", "Shining", and "Stash Dash". CD

Sweet electric Ramsey Lewis – an overlooked gem from the Columbia Records years, filled with loads of great grooves, and some pretty mighty keyboards! Part of the record has Ramsey working with Larry Dunn of Kalimba Productions – getting plenty of the Earth Wind & Fire groove that made so much of his Columbia sessions sparkle – while the rest of the set has the great Bert DeCoteaux handling things, and giving Lewis just the right mix of sophistication and soul he was using with other Columbia acts at the time. The album's a perfect example of the way that Ramsey stepped way ahead of the pack during this time in his career – using keyboards and grooves together in ways that so many artists today are still trying to match – but never hit it this right! Titles include "Camino El Bueno", "Caring For You", "Intimacy", "That Ole Bach Music", "Skippin", "Tequila Mockingbird", and "Wandering Rose" – that cool cut by Neal Creque! LP, Vinyl record album

Mid 70s magic from the team of Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz – playing together here with an even sharper edge than their recordings of two decades before! The recordings are all live – done at the Club Montmartre in December of 1975 – but they've got a clarity that's almost studio-worthy, which really captures the tone of the players. Marsh is especially great – working with that stretched-out sense of freedom he was hitting in the 70s – and Konitz is pretty swinging himself, with a bit less of the more modern tones of that decade. The 4CD set features a huge amount of material – really 8 albums worth of music – and backing is by two different groups, one with Ole Kock Hansen on piano, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Alex Riel on drums; another with Dave Cliff on guitar, either Peter Ind or Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Alan Lewitt on drums. CD

An insane bit of fuzzed-out funk! This is Parliament's rare first album – a trippy batch of tunes that come off of Clinton's experimentation in the Detroit soul scene, infused by the rock-heavy energy of the city at the time – and probably a heck of a lot of cannabis, too! The record is quite different than the slick funky sound of the group's later work for Casablanca – and has the psychedelic funk sound of the early work of Funkadelic, which was also recorded during the same period. The album's filled with funky classics – including "I Call My Baby Pussycat", "Little Ole Country Boy", "My Automobile", "Funky Woman", and "Nothing Before Me But Thang". CD features loads of bonus tracks too – 7 more numbers that include "Red Hot Mama", "Come In Out Of The Rain", "Unfinished Instrumental", "Loose Booty", "Breakdown (mono)", "Fantasy Is Reality", and "Breakdown (stereo unedited version)". CD

An amazing leap forward for the incredible Walter Wanderley – a record that has him mixing his earlier bossa groove with the wider vision of late 60s A&M/CTI – supported by an amazing cast of American and Brazilian artists! The vibe is wonderful from the very first note – a refinement of bossa with the more sophisticated scoring touches of CTI – arrangements from both Deodato and Don Sebesky, working wonderfully to support Wanderley's lead keyboard lines on organ and electric harpsichord! The record's arguably more sophisticated than most work of this nature coming from Brazil at the same time – and with classic production by Creed Taylor, the sound is sublime through and through! A few tracks feature a slight bit of vocals – from Milton Nascimento, Anamaria Valle, and others – and instrumentalists helping on the session include Hubert Laws on flute and Marvin Stamm on flugelhorn. Titles include great versions of "Open Your Arms", "When It Was Done", "Reach Out For Me", "Ponteio", "Surfboard", "Baiao Da Garoa", "Capoeira", and "Ole Ole Ola". LP, Vinyl record album

Very noisy work from the Soviet scene of the 70s – modern music experiments on the ANS synthesizer, which was one of the darker forces in electronic music at the time! The set really showcases the new wave of avant inspiration that was brewing up after so many years of Soviet-promoted more mainstream modes – and at times, there's a denseness and power to the pieces that almost make you feel as if there were some secret underground corner of the scene, just waiting for a moment like this to unfurl a very rich musical message! The set features two tracks by famous film composer Eduard Artemiev – "Mosaic" and "Twelve Looks At The World Of Sound" – and other cuts include "Stream" by Alfred Schnittke, "Birds Singing" by Edison Denisov, "Sacrament" by Ole Buloshkin, and "Vivent Non Vivente" by Sofia Gubaidulina. CD

Features Anders Aarum on piano, Ole Morton Vagan on bass and Andreas Bye on drums. CD

The brilliant consummation of Bowie's late 70s years in Berlin – a record that showed he could take the experiments in sound he was crafting with Brian Eno, and turn them back into the kind of creepily catchy rock tunes that first made him a legend! Eno's help on the record is still quite strong – heard very well in the record's use of odd electronics and exotic themes – of a sort that Eno would later explore on his own with David Byrne. But the real charm here is pure Bowie – with an unabashed flair for a dramatic lyric, a well-chosen use of a heavier guitar, and a sense of personality and poise that makes the record one of his most unified ever! Titles include "Red Sails", "Look Back In Anger", "Repetition", "Boys Keep Swinging", "Red Money", "Yassassin", and "DJ". Includes the bonus tracks "I Pray Ole" and "Look Back In Anger (1988 version)". CD

Three-dimensional magic from the great Jimmy Castor – an artist who'd already conquered the worlds of sweet soul, heavy funk, and Latin by the time of this release! Jimmy draws on all his rich background in the soul underground, and also seems to move with a new sort of sophistication, too – not in a way that's slick or commercial, but which shows Jimmy only deepening his ideas in the era of Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes – going for some bigger arrangements and ambitious production, while still staying true to his groovy self! There's a vibe to the record that almost reminds us of some of the creative productions that Harvey Fuqua was doing for RCA at the same time – with New Birth and The Nite-Liters – and Jimmy's maestro seems to be Gerald Thomas, who knows how to spin just the right mood for each different track. There's even a few instrumentals, which showcase Castor's great skills on tenor – ala Stanley Turrentine in a similar mode – and tracks include "How Beautiful You Are", "Helpless", "I'm Not A Child Anymore", "The Lone Ranger", "Revelation", "Whiter Shade of Pale", and the tasty "The Last Ole", which is sort of a rumbling sinister slow funk track. CD

A beautiful album of understated brilliance – one of Art Farmer's early shifts into the sublime, and an easily-blown batch of trumpet tracks that always takes our breath away! There's a sense of relaxed freedom here that's really tremendous – a difference from some of Farmer's more arranged, or more hard-blown moments of the 50s – and a real move into notes that are airier and more open – almost effortless at times, and played like nobody else! The group's a quartet – with Tommy Flanagan on piano, Tommy Williams on bass, and Albert Heath on drums – and the tracks are all in the four to five minute range, with Art crafting lyrically soulful lines over the top. Titles include "Who Cares", "Out Of The Past", "Younger Than Springtime", "That Ole Devil Called Love", and "Goodbye Old Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

A great CD that combines most of the material on Art's two albums for Argo – Art (1960) and Perception (1961). Art is a beautiful album of understated brilliance – one of Farmer's early shifts into the sublime, an easily blown batch of trumpet tracks played with trio backing by Tommy Flanagan, Tommy Williams, and Albert Heath. The tracks are all in the four to five minute range, with Art crafting lyrically soulful lines over the top. Titles include "Who Cares", "Out Of The Past", "Younger Than Springtime", "That Ole Devil Called Love", and "Goodbye Old Girl". Perception is similar, an amazingly beautiful set of tracks from Art – playing with superb accompaniment from a young Harold Mabern, in a laidback quartet format that really lets Art open up! Art's playing is fresh and creative throughout – never over the top, with that subtle genius that he was bringing to his work in the 60s – and the choice of material includes Tom McIntosh's great composition "The Day After", plus Art's "Punsu" and "Kayin". One track from each album has been omitted to fit the material on one CD (which is BS, by the way, as the CD is only 64 minutes long!) – but if you can stand having the incomplete versions of the albums, this is a great deal for some rare material! CD

Very cool live material from Dizzy Gillespie – a set that has him working in that groovy blend of Latin with slight funky currents that we love on his best albums from the 70s! The setting here is very open and free, with very extended tracks that really let the rhythms build before the solos come in – a great flow from a quintet that features Mike Longo on piano, Al Gafa on guitar, Earl May on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums – all players who match that special spark and energy that Dizzy brings to the proceedings! Many tracks feature a short spoken announcement, with that wit that Gillespie always has on the stage – and Jon Faddis plays guest trumpet on two tracks as well. Titles include the long cuts "Sunshine", "Brother K", "Ole For The Gypsies", "The Truth", "Manteca", and "The Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A groundbreaking album from the young John Hartford – not really folk, not really country – but a unique hybrid of both, and done with a good ear for unique sounds as well! Hartford's a really unique artist, especially at this key point in his career – and he's working here with producer David Bromberg, who himself was also helping to reinvent acoustic music at the time. The Warner Brothers placement of the record is key – as Hartford's got this sense of the past, mixed with the irony of the present – one which strongly echoes some of the hip rock contemporaries on the label, particularly the up and coming brand of post-Sunset LA talents. Titles include "Turn Your Radio On", "Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie", "First Girl I Loved", "With A Vamp In The Middle", and "Tear Down The Grand Ole Opry". CD

Although Nara Leao has always been one of the more important singers to come out of the bossa era, and continue to grow within the music scene of Brazil, her work is always darn tough to find. This 20 track compilation features tracks from the full range of her career – from 1964 to 1984 – with titles that include "A Banda", "Outra Vez", "Wave", "Joao E Maria", "Ole, Ola", "A Rita", "Diz Que Fui Por Ai", "Sabe Voce", and "14 Anos". CD

A gem of a set from drummer Stan Levey – one that features some incredible tenor work from Richie Kamuca! The album's got a relaxed feel that's different than a lot of Stan's other sets – not nearly so tightly arranged as before, and with room for Kamuca to open up on tenor in that magnificent tone of his, with some additional strong work in the frontline from trumpeter Conte Candoli – and some inventive piano work from Lou Levy, who manages to give the record a real sense of depth with his phrasing. Levey's leadership is wonderful on the set – very much in the background, but with a warmth that's clear in the playing of all the members of the group – and a clear inspiration to make the record more than just another "players you know from larger groups heard in a quickly done small group session". Tracks are longish, and titles include 2 great Kamuca originals – "Stan Still" and "One For Joan" – plus "Ole Man Rebop", "What Can I Say", and "Old Folks". CD

Mid 70s magic from the team of Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz – playing together here with an even sharper edge than their recordings of two decades before! The recordings are all live – done at the Club Montmartre in December of 1975 – but they've got a clarity that's almost studio-worthy, which really captures the tone of the players. Marsh is especially great – working with that stretched-out sense of freedom he was hitting in the 70s – and Konitz is pretty swinging himself, with a bit less of the more modern tones of that decade. Rhythm is from a trio that features Ole Kock Hansen on piano, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Alex Riel on drums – and titles include "Background Music", "Kary's Trance", "Lennie-Bird", "Blues By Lester", "April", and "You Stepped Out Of A Dream". CD

An incredible record from the Danish scene of the late 60s – beautifully spiritual, and a set that we might well place next to our classics from John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders! The album grabs us right away – not just because leader Carsten Meinert begins the record with aversion of Coltrane's "Naima", but also because his tone on tenor is incredibly moving – both bold and fragile at the same time, as he blows tremendously on the tune, then leads the group through these wonderful modal compositions of his own – all building in this round, elliptical energy through the piano of Ole Matthiessen, bass of Henrik Hove, and drums of Ole Streenberg – as Meinert soars over the top with these incredible solos, and this sense of freedom that still holds onto plenty of soul, and which works with a really inherent sense of rhythm. The approach is wonderful – and the players build together in a style that's certainly informed by the work of the Coltrane Quartet of the early 60s, but which definitely comes through in their own voices as well – not a European rehashing of the inspiration of the Great One – but a step forward, using his genius as a platform. Titles include "Naima", "One For Alice", "Blues To Someone", "To You", "Dansevise", and "Before Sunrise". CD also features bonus tracks – "This Time", "To Trane", "The Promise", and a live version of "Dansevise". CD

With Philip Catherine on guitar, Ole Kock Hnasen on piano, and Billy Higgins on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

25 of Otis Redding's best numbers, pulled together out of the Stax vaults after Atlantic had more or less completely taken over the Memphis label. Includes "Shake", "Ole Man Trouble", "Good to Me", "I Can't Turn You Loose", "I've Been Loving You Too Long", "Tell The Truth", "Satisfaction", "Cigarettes & Coffee", "Down In The Valley", "These Arms Of Mine", "Tramp", "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)", "Try A Little Tenderness", "Rock Me Baby", "That's How Strong My Love Is", "My Girl", "Love Man", "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Just One More Day", "Respect", "Pain In My Heart", "My Lover's Prayer", "Chain Gang", "You Don't Miss Your Water" and "Dock Of The Bay". LP, Vinyl record album

A very important crossover soul album – a huge hit for Otis Redding that was released after his tragic death in December 1967 – but it's also hard to say if it would have had the impact it did had Redding not passed while the LP was still in production. In a way, the record sort of set the stage for the mythologies of pop stars that would surround the tragedies in the coming years of the late 60s – with liner notes on the back by Jon Landau about the impact of Redding's work and passing on the rest of the music industry, which would be even more charged with meaning to folks buying the album at the time, who certainly knew that Redding had cut "Dock of the Bay" a few days before his death, and had missed its meteoric rise to #1 after his passing. And in fact, the album itself is more of a loose collection of tracks pulled from singles and other sources to cash in on Redding's passing – and includes odd numbers like "The Huckle Buck", which had previously appeared on a Stax promo album, or "Tramp", his famous funky duet with Carla Thomas. Other titles include "I'm Coming Home", "Ole Man Trouble", "Open The Door", and "Let Me Come On Home". CD

With 20 tracks including "Respect", "These Arms Of Mine", "Pain In My Heart", "Chained And Bound", "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)", "Ole Man Trouble", and "Mr. Pitiful". CD

An excellent document of an under-recorded part of Buddy Rich's career – a late 50s group that featured Sonny Criss on alto sax! The quintet is an especially sharp ensemble – graced not only with well-blown solos from Criss, done in the best sharp-edged mode of his Imperial years, but also with great piano from Kenny Drew, and trombone by Ole Hansen, a player we know little about, but who we've heard rumored to actually be Melba Liston! The set's got a similar feel to Sonny's album At The Crossroads – which was also recorded with Hansen – although this session is recorded live at Birdland, as part of a well-done radio broadcast in 1958. One track features a guest appearance by the Dave Lambert Singers on "Every Day" – and other tracks include "Four", "If I Were A Bell", "In A Prescribed Manner", "Our Delight", and "The Cinch". CD

A previously unreleased live date from late in the career of Ben Webster – recorded at The Renaissance in Hollywood in 1960, but unissued until nearly 25 years later! The group features Jim Hall on guitar, Jimmy Rowles on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Frank Butler on drums – and tracks are all longish, and live-feeling – with that sense of fragility that marked some of Webster's later recordings in this mode, and even further deepened the humanity in his tone. And while the recording quality is definitely "live" at times, Ben's tone comes through loud and clear – different than on some of the tighter Verve recordings of a few years before, but in a way that's really great. Titles include "Georgia On My Mind, "Caravan", "Stardust", and "Ole Miss Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Greasy Mike's been making the global rounds on records like this – serving up an imagined landscape of weird and wonderful sounds, all pulled from rare singles of late 50s/early 60s vintage! We're not sure Mike's efforts will ever win him a harem, but he's done a great job here – coming up with tunes that often have some slight exotic or Eastern sort of vibe, mixed with more familiar American sounds of the time – like electric guitar or Latin percussion! Titles include "Ole Tsasa" by Valisas & His Slaves, "Desert Wind" by The Vaqueros, "Cairo Twist" by The Royce McAfee Combo, "Cobra" by The Boys, "Sahara" by The Cotillions, "Port Said" by The Kasuals, "Moroc-Kin" by Arabian Knights, "Snake Charmer" by Torrents, "The Bagdad Fantasy" by Ilo Kay & His Trio, and "Istanbul" by Jol Coyes Boys. LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet cuts for the Christmas season – a great batch of jazz, vocal, and R&B numbers pulled from the postwar years – excellent songs and singles from a time when the best sort of Holiday music was coming out on record, year after year! The set's a great addition to the ever-growing Bear Family Christmas collections – and like the rest, it really shows a strong understanding of what makes a great Christmas tune so great – not just a hit, or a familiar chart number from the past – but new takes on old tunes, or fresh songs that really show just how much Holiday music was flooding the record business back in the day! The package is great, with notes on each track – and titles include "Ole Santa" by Dinah Washington, "Mambo Santa Mambo" by The Enchanters, "I've Had A Very Merry Christmas" by Jerry Lewis, "Happy New Year Baby" by Johnny Otis, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" by Ramsey Lewis, "Christmas Ball" by Georgie Auld with Bill Darnel, "Jingle Bells" by Knuckles O'Toole, "Jing A Ling Jing A Ling" by The Andrews Sisters, "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson, "Come On Santa Let's Have A Ball" by Kay Martin & Her Body Guards, and "Mister Santa" by Dorothy Collins. LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet cuts for the Christmas season – a great batch of jazz, vocal, and R&B numbers pulled from the postwar years – excellent songs and singles from a time when the best sort of Holiday music was coming out on record, year after year! The set's a great addition to the ever-growing Bear Family Christmas collections – and like the rest, it really shows a strong understanding of what makes a great Christmas tune so great – not just a hit, or a familiar chart number from the past – but new takes on old tunes, or fresh songs that really show just how much Holiday music was flooding the record business back in the day! The package is great, with notes on each track – and titles include "Ole Santa" by Dinah Washington, "Mambo Santa Mambo" by The Enchanters, "I've Had A Very Merry Christmas" by Jerry Lewis, "Happy New Year Baby" by Johnny Otis, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" by Ramsey Lewis, "Christmas Ball" by Georgie Auld with Bill Darnel, "Jingle Bells" by Knuckles O'Toole, "Jing A Ling Jing A Ling" by The Andrews Sisters, "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson, "Come On Santa Let's Have A Ball" by Kay Martin & Her Body Guards, and "Mister Santa" by Dorothy Collins. CD

A hell of a great record from Ruby Andrews – a Chicago soul singer who started out sweet, but comes on hard and heavy on this righteous classic from the start of the 70s! The record's got a badass vibe you never would have expected from Andrews a few years before – with tremendous vocals, and these arrangements that are right on the money – and which pack a solid funky punch into nearly every tune! Brothers Of Soul provide the great backings – but Ruby's the clear star of the show, and works here in a deep soul style that blows us away every time we hear the record – and we've been listening to this one for more than a few decades. Wonderful all the way through – and with titles that include the funky classic "You Made A Believer Out Of Me", plus "Good N Plenty", "My Love Is Comin Down", "You Ole Boo Boo You", and "Overdose Of Love". CD

Late work from the amazing Rolf Billberg – material recorded in the final years of the Swedish altoist's all-too-short career! As you'll hear from the very first notes in the set, Billberg's a hell of a player on the alto – an artist with the sharp crispness of a Lee Konitz, but the fluid, ever-shifting style of Stan Getz – a mode that makes him a killer talent right out of the gate, perfect for both upbeat swingers and more laidback ballads! The set has a number of Konitz compositions in the mix – clearly Rolf showing his debt to one influence – but the overall feel is quite different than any Lee Konitz albums we've ever heard – thanks partly to tight rhythms from the other players. The first batch of tracks are from a quintet with trumpeter Jan Allan, the next batch a quartet with pianist Knud Jorgensen, and the last with a quintet that features Allan Botschinsky on flugelhorn and Ole Molin on guitar. Titles include "Ablution", "Fobic", "Hi Beck", "Nursery Rhyme", "Chicarones", "Far Jag Lamna Hangra Blommar", "Stella By Starlight", and "Palo Alto". CD

The debut of a legend – Chico Buarque's first album for RGE, and a groundbreaking batch of tunes that helped shape the sound of popular music in Brazil for years to come! Buarque predates the Tropicalia era, but is working here in a style that clearly allowed for their later impact – a mode that draws on styles from bossa, folklore, and samba – but which somehow manages to rise into a groove that's all its own. Buarque's genius can immediately be summed up in classics on the set – like "Pedro Pedreiro", "A Rita", "Tem Mais Samba", "A Banda", and "Ole Ola" – all wonderful numbers that make the album an essential one in any collection! Amazing package, too – comes in a hardcover book-style jacket, with a bonus 42 page book that also includes full color images, with lots of vintage photos, plus notes on the record in Portuguese! The whole thing's sort of an update of the old Abril Cultural style of the 70s – brought into the CD generation. CD

One of the more ambitious records ever cut by guitarist Charlie Byrd – a set that begins with a side-long suite of tracks – the "Blue Sonata", which features Byrd playing in a much more complex way than usual! The sonata features three parts, all composed by Byrd, and Charlie plays acoustic with just a bit of trio backing – mixing jazz guitar modes with some slight serious music undercurrents – in ways that almost remind us of later European dates by Baden Powell. The rest of the record has Byrd on electric guitar, with piano from Barry Harris, bass from Keter Betts, and drums from Buddy Deppenschmidt – all on more standard jazz tracks that include "Jordu", "That Ole Devil Called Love", and "Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

Cee-Lo Green gits up and gets out on his own – without the heavy burden of too many guest appearances – and the result may be the best album to come out of the Dirty South in quite a while! Cee-Lo's raspy, cotton-mouthed speak & sing style has always been one of the strongest attributes of the Goodie crew, and it's great to hear it stretched out over a fully-realized LP that is worthy of his unique talents. Sweaty, deeply funky, and a bit similar to the kind of material we used to expect from the Native Tongues at their strongest, but with Cee-Lo's unmistakable Cameo inspired croon out front. Includes "Bad Mutha", "Big Ole Words (Damn), "Closet Freak", "Live (Right Now)", "El Dorado Sunrise", "A Thug's Concern", "One For The Road", "Let Him Sing If He Wants To (Break)", "Suga Baby" featuring Big Gipp and Backbone, "Gettin' Grown", "Bass Head Jazz", "Microhard" featuring Jahalla and Kirland Underwater, "Under The Influence", "(Follow Me)", "Medieval Times (Great Pretender)", "Country Love", "Awful Thing", "Maintenance Man (Break)" "Young Man (Sierra's Song)", and "Well Damn, Lo (Break)". LP, Vinyl record album

Snotty New York rock with more than just an undercurrent of comedy running through the beefy tunes, and a heavy dose of good ole cockrock swagger fueling the proceeding! This record by the Dictator's is truly, completely punk – even though the groove is closer to the crotch thrusting of a garage version of Bad Company than it is to the CBGB's varieties. The Dictators are punks in the truest sense – sarcastic a**holes that perfected sneering irony a couple decades before smug indie rockers killed it forever. Handsome Dick Manitoba and the boys run through 9 numbers on this classic debut LP: "The Next Big Thing", "I Got You Babe", "Back To Africa", "Master Race Rock", "Teengenerate", "California Sun", "Two Tub Man", "Weekend" and "(I Live For) Cars & Girls". LP, Vinyl record album

Sonny Fortune on soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone – with John Hicks on piano, Santi Debriano on bass, and Ronnie Burrage on drums. Tracks include "In The Spirit", "For John", "Africa", "Trane and Things", "Ole", and "Hangin' Out With JC". CD

A classic batch of Motown duets from Marvin Gaye and some of his best female co-stars – with a few contributions a piece from Mary Wells, Kim Weston, and Tammi Terrell! Although other artists explored the male/female duet mode back in the 60s, few did it as well as Marvin – thanks in part to a warmly sensitive vocal approach that made his duets come across as personal, loving conversations – and not the too-gimmicky modes used to push the big stars over at other labels. Marvin & Mary Wells sing "Once Upon A Time", "What's The Matter With You Baby", "Together", and "Deed I Do". Marvin & Kim Weston sing "I Want You 'Round", "What Good Am I Without You", and "It Takes Two". And Marvin and Tammi Terrell sing "Your Precious Love", "Little Ole Girl, Little Ole Boy", "I Can't Help But Love You", and "Good Lovin Ain't Easy To Come By". LP, Vinyl record album

Mid 70s magic from the team of Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz – playing together here with an even sharper edge than their recordings of two decades before! The recordings are all live – done at the Club Montmartre in December of 1975 – but they've got a clarity that's almost studio-worthy, which really captures the tone of the players. Marsh is especially great – working with that stretched-out sense of freedom he was hitting in the 70s – and Konitz is pretty swinging himself, with a bit less of the more modern tones of that decade. Rhythm is from a trio that features Ole Kock Hansen on piano, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Alex Riel on drums – and one track features Peter Ind on bass and Dave Cliff on guitar. Titles include "Back Home", "Chi Chi", "Wow", "Just Friends", "Little Willie Leaps", "You Don't Know What Love Is", and "Old Folks". CD

An excellent collection of the amazing work by this oft-overlooked Brazilian vocal group. The MPB4 combo managed to skirt bossa, samba, and MPB styles – and come up with a unique sound that was always extremely pleasing, and often a little challenging. This record features many great cuts by the band – like "Cravo E Canela", "Partido Alto", "Bom Dia, Boa Tarde, Boa Noite", "Roda Viva", "Lamento", and "Ole Ola". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty hip live album from this great Brazilian singer – recorded with jazzy small combo backing, and an uptempo groove that takes a bossa style in the best moments! At some level, the record reminds us a lot of Elis Regina's live work from the 60s – particularly in the way that Eliana takes the songs, makes them her own, and holds the crowd in rapt attention with her masterful readings. Features a great version of "Ponteio", plus "Aquele Rosa", "Ole Ola", "Travessia", "Alegria De Carnaval", and "Das Rosas". LP, Vinyl record album

A really obscure group from the Detroit scene of the late 70s and early 80s – but one who live on strongly in this double-length set – thanks to the recording efforts of drummer Leonard King! The group were kind of a follow-up to King's previous Soul Messengers group – and to his work with the legendary Lyman Woodard – and they've got a mix of styles that's rooted in jazz, but embraces lots of the groovier soul modes of the period – which means a bit of clubby funk at times, and some warmer grooves that would be right at home in the Fantasy Records/Bay Area scene of the 70s. The scope of material is great – a really deep look at this lost creative ensemble – and tracks range from shorter numbers like "Ain't No Friend Of Mine", "El Sol", "Commercial", "Ole", "Feel It", and "The Glow Of My Life" – to very long jams that include "Gwen Laster", "Boiler Room A", "March Of The Granfaloons", and "Motherland". CD

With Ole Kock Hansen on piano. CD

Ben Webster and Ole Kongsted on tenor saxophone, John Darville on trombone, Arnvid Meyer on trumpet, Kenny Drew and Niels Jorgen Steen on piano, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Alex Riel and Hans Nymand on drums. CD

Three great 70s albums from keyboardist Mike Longo! First up is Awakening, killer electric piano work from the mighty Mike Longo – recorded at a time when he was definitely at the height of his powers! The album sports a rare Mainstream Records appearance from James Moody – who was a frequent partner of Longos on sessions at the time – particularly on some of Dizzy Gillespie's funky records – which bear a lot of similarity to the sharp-edged grooves on this one! The rhythm section is wonderfully tight, and a big part of the success of the set – as they keep things grooving with a slightly sharper edge than some of Longo's other records – thanks to bass from Ron Carter, drums from Mickey Roker, and even a bit of extra congas from Dizzy Gillespie, of all people! Other players include Moody on alto, tenor, and flute – plus Virgil Jones on trumpet and Curtis Fuller on trombone. Titles include "Just To Let You Know", "A Piece Of Resistance", "The Awakening", "Pass It", and "Bitchin". Funkia is quite possibly the greatest record ever by Mike Longo – a wicked batch of electric funky piano tunes, recorded with a sublime 70s feel! The set's got a really stripped down group – with Ron Carter on bass, Mickey Roker on drums, and Patato Valdez on percussion – all grooving behind Longo's work on electric and acoustic piano, creating some magical rhythms that snap a groove out of just about every single tune! The whole set's great – not just a "one number" funky jazz set – and titles include versions of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", Dizzy Gillespie's "Ole' For the Gypsies", Les McCann's "Samia", and Longo's own "Southern Soul" and "Funkia". 900 Shares Of The Blues is stone funky, and one of his best albums ever! The whole thing's done in a really laidback style that's simply amazing – a lot like the best CTI work of the time, but somehow rougher, and with a darker edge. Longo riffs out on the keys over rhythm by Ron Carter, Mickey Roker, and Ralph MacDonald – and Joe Farrell and Randy Brecker add in some great horn work that fleshes out the tunes with a deeply soulful jazzy feel. The whole album's great, with a range of moods, emotions, and grooves that Longo hardly ever hit again – and titles include "Summers Gone", "El Moodo Grande", "Like a Thief In the Night", "Ocean Of His Might", and "Magic Number". CD