Music from UKO, Andrew Cope, Trio Electro, Soul Drummers, AT Jazz and more. CD

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The second album by So Cal's great PUTS. "Crazy Love", "Youth Explosion", "Suite For The Creeper", "Sterns To Western", "Code Check", "Blowin' Wax", "Stoned Youth Truth", "King Kuff", "Stay Home" and the rest. CD

Soulful club music from Wagon Cookin' – the brothers celebrating 11 years as a band with this strong set for Om – warm, post disco soul and synth funk-steeped material that's up there with their best to date! Freshly soulful and focused, genuine songcraft sets Wagon Cookin' apart – their not simply out to fuse or replicate time-honred styles and atmospheres, they're truly crafting their own pedigree that stands out strongly! Guests include Odille Lima, Ladis Site, Melina Jones and others. Includes "No Bossy Girl", "Feel So Good" and "Music Is Not Far" all featuring Odille Lima, "Won't You Please" feat Ladis Site, "Nicest Aligned" feat Melina Jones, "Sao Paolo", "Dance Dance", "Forever", "Love Fever" feat Ricky Husbands, "Come Into The Light" feat Roberto Q Ingram and more. CD

Great work by this legendary hard swinging band – an early 60s American album issued on Atlantic Records, in the years before the Clark Boland Band's legendary run on MPS! Despite the early date, the album's got all the core elements of the band's sound in place – soaring rhythms, sharp-edged frontlines, and some great solo work by players who include Benny Bailey, Derek Humble, Jimmy Woode, Shahib Shihab, Idrees Sulieman, and Fats Sadi – coming together in a brilliant trans-Atlantic meeting of jazz talents! Tracks include "Long Note Blues", "Speedy Reeds", "Sonor", and "Om Mani Padme Hum". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible side of the talents of the legendary Alice Coltrane – obscure 80s material that was recorded in the years after her famous records on Impulse and Warner Brothers – only ever issued on cassette at the time! The tracks have Alice still very much in the same spiritual territory as before – but also mixing in some elements from American gospel music – not in any sort of Christian way, but just in terms of the use of a larger choir on some of the tracks, whose stompingly rhythmic presence can really drive a few of the tunes! Other tracks are more spare, and really focus on Coltrane's vocals and work on organ – as well as a bit of harp and string backings too – all at a level that really pushes the transcendental modes she first brought to light in the 70s. Given that most of us never got our hands on the original tapes, the whole thing is a real treasure trove – and presented with nicely detailed notes, too. Titles include "Er Ra", "Om Shanti", "Om Rama", "Rama Guru", "Haria Naryan", "Krishna Japaye", "Rama Katha", "Keshava Murahara", and "Journey To Satchindananda". CD

Double-length brilliance from the mighty Sahib Shihab – a set that collects a number of killer 60s sessions with members of the Clarke Boland Big Band – all of them great! The small combo work here is amazing – hard-hitting modal jazz that matches, if not tops the best MPS/Saba sounds of the time – all produced to perfection with a really sharp edge, and a cutting approach to jazz that's gone onto inspired countless others in the current scene – including artists on Schema and Ricky-Tick Records, as well as most Japanese club jazz combos! But long before any of those cats started copping his groove, Sahib Shihab had it all totally together – a great ear for his own amazing solos on baritone and flute, and a way of hooking up with players like Francy Boland on piano, Fats Sadi on vibes, Benny Bailey on trumpet, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums. All players here were Shihab's partners in the Clarke Boland Big Band, and they use these small combo sessions to explore some great new ideas – stripped-down groovers that are heavy on rhythm, and really allow full expression from all the players involved. Titles include "Companionship", "Om Mani Padme Hum", "Bohemia After Dark", "Serenata", "Yah Yah Blues", "Balafon", "Talk Some Yak-ee Dak", "The Turk's Bolero", "CT + CB", "Jay Jay", "Stoned Ghosts", "Just Give Me Time", and "Dijdar". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic early trio album from pianist Tommy Flanagan – a set that was originally recorded overseas by Metronome Records, hence the title – and part of a long tradition of Tommy making some of his best music for non-US labels! Flanagan's already a hell of a craftsman here on the piano – able to mix boppish sharpness with the strong sense of lyricism that would grace some of his later work – in a trio that features great bass from Wilbur Little, and a pre-Coltrane Elvin jones on drums. The set's a great early example of Flanagan's special touch on the keys – and titles include "Skal Brothers", "Verdandi", "Dalarna", "Little Rock", "Eclypso", and "Beat's Up". This great CD not only unearths this rare album (usually only the province of jazz collectors), but also includes 3 rare bonus cuts – alternate takes of titles on the album. CD

Almost twenty years' worth of never-issued recordings from the great guitarist Duck Baker – an acoustic player who can occasionally work in territory more tied to the Takoma Records and Kicking Mule scene, but one who's also a hell of an improvising jazz artist – maybe America's answer to the work of Fred Frith and Derek Bailey during the 70s! This set brings together a whole host of improvisations recorded by Baker on acoustic guitar – some live, some studio, and two with help from Eugene Chadbourne – although we'll be honest in saying that we prefer the solo material here more, as it's really got that special sort of balance that's always made Baker so unique! The package features 16 tracks in all – and titles include "Buffalo Fire", "No Family Planning", "Eusebia's Lament", "47 East Houston Street", "Like Flies", "Klee", "Breakdown Lane", "Sonadem Sol", and "Take The A Train". CD

A treasure trove of never-heard work from the great Robbie Basho – a set that almost seems to double his catalog of recordings from his classic period! Most of the music here was recorded around the time of Basho's groundbreaking work for Takoma Records – in various locations, mostly in California – although about half the material here is from performances whose details have been lost to the shifting sands of time! The settings are all solo – with Basho's fantastic guitar work stepping out in these haunting, mesmerizing lines – at times even more lean and personal than his studio albums, and with a different vibe at times too. The package is similar to the rediscovered Peter Walker live material that has come out in recent decades – a much richer look at an artist who was years ahead of his time, presented in the kind of presence that really lets you dive in deeply. Selections include "Silgo River Blues", "Some Summer Day", "A Song Of Kings", "Wonder Song", "California Raga", "The Lady She Is A Waiting", "Kowaka D'Amour", "Pasha", "Cantos California", "Bear Medicine", and "Portrait Of Fahey As A Young Dragon". CD

3 rare hardbop sides – issued together as one great 2 CD set! The album features work from 3 records first issued by the short-lived Transition label from Boston – Byrd's Eye View and Byrd Blows On Beacon Hill, both by Donald Byrd (in case you couldn't guess!), and Watkins At Large, one of the few albums ever issued by hardbop bassist Doug Watkins. The feel of the material is great – totally on a par with the Blue Note hardbop work of the late 50s, and featuring many players in common with those recordings – Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Duke Jordan, and Art Taylor. The 2CD set features 17 tracks on all, and it's the first time the material's been made available to the US market at an affordable price! Titles include "Return To Paradise", "El Sino", "Doug's Blues", "Crazy Rhythm", "If I Love Again", "What's New", "More Of The Same", and "Phinupi". CD

A set that's even more searing and sonically intense than the debut of this genre-hopping group – served up in this bracing blend of electric and acoustic instrumentation that almost takes us back to the 90s experiments on Axiom Records from the Bill Laswell generation! there's plenty of guitar and bass here – the former from Javi Perez, the latter from Jamie Benzies – driven strongly by the fierce drum work of Tim Toyle, and topped with trumpet from Axel Kaner Lidstrom, tenor from James Mollison, keyboards and electronics from Tile Gichigi Lipere, and a mix of tenor, bass, clarinet, and flute from Rob Milne – all coming together with a very dark, textured, almost layered sort of sound – even though the performance here seems to be mostly live. Titles include "3301", "Fallacy", "The Cracks In The Bricks", "Ashen Faun", "Last Throes Of The Temporal Monolith", and "Crystalline Peaks". LP, Vinyl record album

A trio of mid-to-late 60s Italian spy soundtracks – Italo Greco and Gianni Boncompagni's work for Riuscira' Il Nostro Eroe A Ritrovare Il Piu' Grande Diamante Del Mondo, Boncompagni's score for Colo Di Sole, and Bruno Canfora's work for Spia Spione – on one great CD from Beat Records! We'll admit to knowing very little about the films, but we must say, this material is very nicely curated, which shouldn't come as surprise given Beat's always warmly presented film score sets. It covers the genre terrain beautiful, from big scale, action-y orchestras, to stripped down, loungey cocktail jazz and beyond. The material from each of the three soundtracks is comprised of sequences on the title themes. 31 tracks in all! CD

An unusual slice of work from the James Brown Family – material from three different periods – early 60s cuts for Dade Records, early 70s material for Brownstone, and late 70s tracks for TK Records! The collection features some especially rare Dade material – tracks from artists that were working with James Brown, recording off for Henry Stone in a raw early 60s mode with James helping out in the studio – killer cuts that include "I Need Love" by The Baby, "Someone Up & Told Me" by Sonny Till, and "Do The Mashed Potatoes (parts 1 & 2)" by Nat Kendrick & The Swans. The set then features some early 70s cuts that were contemporaneous with the big burst of activity at People Records, but issued on Brownstone – tracks that include "Never Get Enough" and "I Need Help" by Bobby Byrd, "In The Land Of Milk & Honey" by Vicki Anderson, "You've Got To Change Your Mind" by Bobby Byrd, and "Nature (parts 1 & 2)" by The JBs International. The set also has some TK Records cuts – "You & Me Together" by Vicki Anderson, and "Mashed Potatoes" and "Rapp Payback" by James Brown – then also includes more rare cuts, including "Wichita Lineman" by Dee Felice Trio, "I Loves You Porgy" by James Brown & The Famous Flames, and "Win Your Love For Me" by Johnny The Man. CD

Tenorist Don Byas may have waned a bit on the American scene by the end of the 60s – but the saxophone genius was alive and well overseas, where he got the chance to cut some amazing records like this! The set has Byas at the top of his form – maybe as openly expressive as Dexter Gordon on some of his great late 60s recordings from Europe, although with a slightly more compact, direct approach as well – one that's given a nice sort of punch here by pianist Charles Thompson, work works alongside the excellent bass of Isla Eckinger and drums fo Peter Schmidlin. Titles include "Darn That Dream", "Autumn Leaves", "The Girl From Ipanema", "Loverman", "Stella By Starlight", and "Bag's Groove". CD

Tenorist Don Byas may have waned a bit on the American scene by the end of the 60s – but the saxophone genius was alive and well overseas, where he got the chance to cut some amazing records like this! The set has Byas at the top of his form – maybe as openly expressive as Dexter Gordon on some of his great late 60s recordings from Europe, although with a slightly more compact, direct approach as well – one that's given a nice sort of punch here by pianist Charles Thompson, work works alongside the excellent bass of Isla Eckinger and drums fo Peter Schmidlin. Titles include "Darn That Dream", "Autumn Leaves", "The Girl From Ipanema", "Loverman", "Stella By Starlight", and "Bag's Groove". CD

Erick Sermon returns, and if the record can't come close to living up to the landmark recordings he made with Parrish Smith, at the very least he can still spit venom, wisdom, and wise venom with the best of them. The record features guest appearances by Method Man, Redman, Keith Murray, MC Lyte, Ghostface, Al Green (!?!) and others (thanks for making hip hop the backbone of your young label, Clive, but can't the seasoned pros you so smartly signed carry their own records?). Still, Erick is WAY out front on this thing, as it should be, and like Large Professor, he proves that there is still a lot of life left in hip hop's late 80s/early 90s pioneers. 14 tracks including "React", "This Way", "Love Iz", "Don't Give Up", "Keep Watchin'", and "On The Air". LP, Vinyl record album

The cover says "roots of rock n roll" – but the set features some killer tenor work from Savoy Records – late 40s sides by Paul Williams, Hal Singer, and Big Jay McNeely – a 1954 date by Lee Allen – and obscure 1961 recordings by the great Sam Taylor! LP, Vinyl record album

Five incredible albums from the legendary Roy Ayers – all presented in a single set! First up is Tear To A Smile – one of the best early soul albums by Roy Ayers! Roy's working here with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Edwin Birdsong, William Allen, Harry Whitaker, and other hip players – a perfect crew to forge Roy's unique blend of jazz and soul. This is perhaps the first record to really have Roy stretching out in this mode – moving more fully away from funky jazz, into a ream of vocal tracks that would make him one of the most unique artists of the 70s. This mid 70s period of Roy's career was remarkably fertile, creatively as well as for sheer productivity – and Tears To A Smile is one of them that shows some the most artistic growth, and also a deeper sense of soul! Features righteous cuts like "2000 Black", "Ebony Blaze", "Time & Space", and "A Tear To A Smile" – plus the mellow "Magic Lady", and a great remake of Earth Wind & Fire's "That's The Way Of The World". Next is Mystic Voyage – an archetypal album by Roy – and one that really shows him at the turning point! Gone are the trippier jazz funk moments of earlier albums – and in their place are some tight grooves and wonderfully spacey soul. Roy hits the dancefloor with one of his first uptempo funk numbers "Brother Green", a catchy groover with lots of clavinet, and the massive "Life Is Just A Moment", a storming 2-part number that rolls along with a pounding almost house-like groove. "Mystic Voyage" shows the sweet jazzy side of Roy – as it's a vibes-heavy instrumental with a light stepping groove, perfect for the mellow direction he'd take on other records. The album also features some great off-beat funk numbers that recall earlier albums – including the break-heavy "Spirit Of Doo Doo", plus "Funky Motion" and "The Black Five". Everybody Loves The Sunshine is one of Roy Ayers' biggest albums ever – and also one of his deepest, too! The whole thing's an incredible album of mellow jazzy soul – and it shows Roy at the crossroads, perfecting his earlier funk style with a sweet mellow R&B edge, getting a bit slicker, but still staying on the righteous path, and opening up a whole new bag in soul music. There's a wonderful electric vibe running through the record – not just from Roy's vibes, but from the Fender Rhodes and Arp work by Phillip Woo – and the amazing energy of the rest of the group too. Features the landmark title cut – "Everybody Loves The Sunshine", one of those tunes that becomes more and more of a classic each year – plus spiritual numbers like "Third Eye" , "Keep on Walking", and "The Golden Rod". Vibrations is fantastic – a set that tightens up the groove from previous Polydor productions, yet still keeps all the soul intact! The record picks up the style begun with the Mystic Voyage album, and pushes it to some slightly tighter territory – a more focused Roy Ayers sound that's totally great, and which makes the album sparkle wonderfully throughout! All aspects of Roy's talents are perfectly balanced here – his warm vocals and jazzy vibes, his uptempo grooves and mellower rhythms – played to perfection by a hip lineup of players that includes Philip Woo on electric piano, Justo Almario on tenor sax, and Steve Cobb on drums. Edwin Birdsong guests a bit on the record – bringing in a nice edge to a few tunes – the album's got a really unique dark undercurrent, even in smoother moments – that subtle Roy Ayers' approach that's always made him one of our all-time favorite artists. Titles include the wonderful jazz-tinged "Searching", a great midtempo stepper that we really love; the funky break track "The Memory", a righteous number that feels like work from earlier records; the clubby classic "One Sweet Love to Remember"; and the sweet instrumental "Vibrations", which has a mellow kickback feel! Other tunes include "Higher", "Domelo (Give It To Me)", "Baby I Need Your Love", and "Better Days". Last up is Lifeline – a sublime blend of mellow numbers and some of his more club-oriented grooves of the time – all wrapped together with a genius that we can only describe as Ayers-like! The album's a beautiful example of the balance that Roy was striking in his work at the time – because alongside some of the more upbeat, catchy numbers, there's other tracks that are a fair bit more laidback, and almost abstract at times – a wonderful extrapolation of that sensitive Ayers blend of jazz and soul, with key emphasis on the vibes and keyboards. Titles include the massive groover "Running Away" – which you'll recognize from a key sample history over the years – and club cuts "Cincinnati Growl", "Fruit", "Sanctified Feeling", and "Stranded In The Jungle" – plus the more laidback cuts "Gotta Find A Lover", "I Still Love You", "Lifeline", and "This Side Of Sunshine". Also features bonus tracks – "Evolution (7" mix)", "Domelo (7" mix)", and "Running Away (12" long version)". CD

One of our favorite-ever albums on Blue Note – a great 60s session that features one of the most unique reed players to ever record for the label! George Braith takes a bit of a page from Roland Kirk – in that he handles a variety of oddly-tuned reed instruments, but with a wonderfully soulful focus – mixing this nice edge with more familiar soul jazz modes, at a level that makes his records of the time completely unique! The group also features some sublime organ lines from Billy Gardner – a player you might know more from previous records with Lou Donaldson on piano, but who's very open and expressive here – almost echoing Larry Young at times – which is great next to the work of Grant Green's guitar on the record! Braith's playing is incredible – slightly exotic, but also quite soulful – and titles include "Nut City", "Sweetville", and "Extension". CD

A really great double-length set from James Brown – maybe slightly less iconic than some of his other classics from the early 70s, but a record that really shows the man stretching out and finding his groove! The whole thing is a great example of the new freedoms that Brown was experiencing away from King Records – and the approach not only recreates the mix of funk and soul that you'd find on Hell, but also echoes some of the People Records style to come too – in part because there's a few tracks that have the vibe of a funky 45, and also because James lets the newly-revived Hank Ballard come in and do a 5 minute recitation about how great James has been to his career. Titles include the long numbers "Funky Side Of Town" and "Please Please" – plus "Your Love Was Good For Me", "The Whole World Needs Liberation", "Nothing Beats A Try But A Fail", "My Part/Make It Funky (parts 3 & 4)", "I Got A Bag Of My Own", "Dirty Harri", "Recitation by Hank Ballard", "Ain't It A Groove", "I Know It's True", "Get On The Good Foot (parts 1 & 2)", and "Cold Sweat", in a new arrangement by Dave Matthews! LP, Vinyl record album

A righteous classic from Burning Spear – not the first album from Winston Rodney, but the one that really pushed his music and message over the top – thanks to big global exposure from Island Records! The album began as an indie set in Jamaica, where producer Lawrence Lindo really helped find a special sort of magic in the studio for Rodney's vocals and politically-themed lyrics – and Island remixed the whole set upon wider release, a fact that some have argued about over the years – but with results that made the record one of THE standout classics from the roots reggae generation. There's plenty of top-shelf talent in the lineup – including Earl Chinna Smith on lead guitar – and the titles of the tracks almost read like a manifesto for social change, and include "Slavery Days", "Marcus Garvey", "Jordan River", "Red Gold & Green", "Live Good", and "The Invasion". LP, Vinyl record album

A standout session from guitar giant Kenny Burrell – and a set that's maybe one of his most modern albums of the 60s! The record features backings from arranger Gil Evans – most famous for his work with Miles Davis, and working here in a style that's nicely different with Kenny – less overwhelming in his approach to the charts, with a mode that still really lets Burrell dominate, and maybe even sets him free from the role of rhythm, so that he can really show off some of the more sophisticated sides of his playing! The album's one of a handful that have Burrell working this way from the time – and as on the others, there's sometimes a quality that's even more soulful than some of his records with smaller groups – a real surprise, but a great one too. The group features an excellent array of top-shelf musicians – including Johnny Coles on trumpet, Lee Konitz on alto, Steve Lacy on soprano, and Richie Kamuca on tenor – and titles include "Lotus Land", "Downstairs", "Moon & Sand", "Terrace Theme", "Greensleeves", and "Loie". LP, Vinyl record album

You might know Cochemea Gastelum from his work in The Dap-Kings over the years – but this time around, the saxophonist is very much his own man – blowing a version of his instruments that often seems electrified, ala classic Varitone from the late 60s – used in these really new and compelling ways! Cochemea has occasional tribal impulses that belie his look on the cover – but all in this very focused way that never sounds too indulgent, and which instead always steps back to the soulful territory we love from Daptone Records! And yet the record's also maybe something new for the label too – looser, never straight funk or soul – as Cochemea heads up this fantastic ensemble that's very heavy on percussion, which drives the sound with a raw, rootsy vibe – while Victor Axelrod plays keyboards, and the man himself blows on alto, flute, and bass clarinet. A real killer – with titles that include "Maso Ye'Eme", "All My Relations", "Sonora", "Los Muertos", "Mescalero", "Song Of Happiness", and "Mitote". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic work from Willie Colon – the "payoff" of his youthful hoodlum routine, and a hard-hitting batch of salsa tunes pulled from earlier records – all in a package that defines his groove of the 70s! Hector LaVoe's on vocals with Willie's group – and he's also standing with Willie on the cover, a nice image that has the two of them dressed as big-time gangsters, standing next to a Rolls Royce! (Wonder what it cost them to rent that for the cover shoot?) But more important than Willie's perpetuation of himself as the bad boy of Latin music, is the overall sound of the record – fierce salsa, with a really strong approach that's as bold and proud as the image which supports it. Solid all the way through, and tracks include "El Malo", "Jazzy", "El Titan", and "Che Che Cole", a nice groover. LP, Vinyl record album

A bold new chapter in the career of Nicola Conte – quite possibly his most collaborative record to date, and easily his most righteous as well! Although Conte looks cheesy on the cover, his style here is even deeper than before – still driven by the classic modal and bossa sounds of the 60s that you'll remember from earlier records, yet also infused with a sense of spiritual jazz too – a vibe that's perfect for the album's placement on Impulse Records, where Conte's got a way of linking together the best 60s and 70s aspects of the label's aesthetic! He gets plenty of help in the process – wonderful vocals from the likes of Gregory Porter, Jose James, Alice Ricciardi, and others – trumpet from Till Bronner, Fabrizio Bosso, and Flavio Boltro – tenor from Magnus Lindgren and Tim Warfield, flute and baritone from Timo Lassey, and loads of other groovy touches too! Nicola Conte's never let us down – and this record is a rich reward for all the faith we've had in him over the years – a bit like the way that Gilles Peterson's always changing and growing, yet still always keeps true to his roots. Titles include "Love From The Sun", "Here", "Black Spirits", "Quiet Dawn", "Shiva", "Ghana", "I'm The Air", "Ra In Egypt", and "All Praises To Allah". LP, Vinyl record album

De La Soul take on the world of hip hop with a record that's very much at the top of their game – leaner in production than before, but at a level that also brings a bit more bite to their rhymes – a good thing too, as the group take on some of their contemporaries as they assess the state of hip hop in the shadow of the 21st Century! The shift from previous records is almost like that taken by Tribe Called Quest on Low End Theory – focusing their music, while still throwing in some of their trademark skits – and maybe even making the group sound more serious, yet never in some of the "too hard" styles that they rail against on the set. The set has two key moments for the up-and-coming generation – great cut "The Bizness", with a guest appearance by Common, and "Big Brother Beat" with help from Mos Def – next to other tracks that include "Supa Emcees", "Itzsoweezee", and "Betta Listen". CD