Maybe the most ambitious album from Myele Manzanza to date – a set that's exploding with contributions from a great range of guests – singers who include Omar, Rosie Frater Taylor, China Moses, and Wallace – next to a great array of keyboard work from Lewis Moody! Myele handles drums and percussion, plus a bit of keys – but the sound of the record is more soul than before, and definitely in the post-jazz mode of other recent work on the London scene – co-produced and mixed by Moody, with tracks that include "Gone Up In Flames", "Silencing The Sun", "wasted Time", "Unfold", "Crisis & Opportunity", and "Falling Fast". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record – one of the best on Motown's short-lived Workshop Jazz subsidiary! The album is the first to feature Roy Brooks as a leader – and the super-hip drummer from Detroit really knows what to do with the opportunity! He's working here with a hip group that includes members of the Horace Silver quintet – including Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor, and Gene Taylor on bass – as well as Detroit contemporaries George Bohannon on trombone and Hugh Lawson on piano. The overall style of the record is quite different from Brooks' work with Silver – and has a much more open-ended feeling emotionally – an early hint at the qualities that Roy would unveil on his rare indie sides at the start of the 70s. The tracks are a mix of soul jazz numbers and others with a rougher-hewn sense of modernism – almost like the excellent work coming out of Chicago during the early 60s, from artists like Gene Shaw or the MJT+3. All the players are at their best, and the album features some of the nicest tenor work we've ever heard from Cook. Titles include "Soulsphere", "Soulin", "Homestretch", "Passin The Buck", and "My Secret Passion". LP, Vinyl record album

Great early work from Oscar Brown Jr – a hip mix of jazz and soul, working in Brown's unique sense of showmanship, and his almost beat-like flair with a lyric! Ralph Burns and Quincy Jones handled the arrangements – and the album's filled with great original tracks by Brown, including "Mr. Kicks", "Opportunity, Please Knock", Love is Like a New Born Child", "Elegy (Plain Black Boy)", "Hazel's Hips", and many more! Nice jazzy groove, and very much in the best style of Oscar's 60s work! LP, Vinyl record album

An album with a very mod-looking cover – and a set that's also overflowing with lots of mod-styled tracks to match – a cool current of soul from the 60s, but still handled with the sharper 70s vibe of young Attractions! Production is by Nick Lowe – and although The Jam were also turning towards more soul-styled sounds at the time, Elvis and Lowe may well have done them one better with this set. Titles include "Love For Tender", "Opportunity", "The Imposter", "Secondary Modern", "King Horse", "Possession", "High Fidelity", "Riot Act", "Human Touch", "Beaten To The Punch", and "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down". Remastered with 10 bonus tracks. CD

Amazing live documents of Miles Davis and his incredible mid-to-late 60s quintet – Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums – complete concert recordings from Antwerp, Copenhagen and Paris on 3CDs seeing release for the first time ever, plus a DVD featuring the only known video footage of this group from the period! CD 1 features material from 10/28/68 in Antwerp, CD 2 on 11/2/67 in Copenhagen and 11/6/67 in Paris, with the latter concert continued on CD 3. This is landmark stuff here – a surprisingly rare opportunity to hear first rate live recordings of legendary material from the ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer and Nefertiti albums – as well as brilliant revisits of vital earlier material. Includes live takes on "Agitation", "Foot Prints", "No Blues", "Gingerbread Boy", "On Green Dolphin Street", "The Theme", "Footprints", "Masqualero", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "Walkin'" and more. The DVD starts with five numbers recorded on 11/7/67 in Karlzruhe, Germany: "Agitation", "Footprints", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "Gingerbread Boy" and "The Theme". It concludes with material in Stockholm on 10/31/67: "Agitation", "Footprints", "'Round Midnight", "Gingerbread Boy" and "The Theme". CD

A hokey cover and title, but a hip little record from Duke Ellington – kind of a story of percussion and jazz, all wrapped together with some great vocals and narration! The format is kind of far-reaching, but never too stuffy – and in a way, the album offers a great opportunity to hear some of the Ellington players stepping out in a slightly different vibe than the usual Columbia date from the decade. Duke does a bit of narration himself – and singers include Margaret Tynes, Joya Sherrill, and Ozzie Bailey – who beautifully illustrate the shifting passages of the longer suite. Solos are by Johnny Hodges on alto, Clark Terry on trumpet, and Paul Gonsalves on tenor – and titles include "Congo Square", "Madam Zajj", "Drum is A Woman", "You Better Know It", "Rhythm Pum Te Dum", and "Rhumbop". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible lost slice of music from the young Bob Marley – an unissued set of recordings done at the Capitol Studios in LA, at a time when the Wailers were just beginning to rise in global power! The session came at an unusual moment for the group – they had come to the US to tour with Sly & The Family Stone, and were fired because the audiences were not yet ready for their groove – leaving the group a bit astray in California. But an opportunity arose to record at Capitol, a performance that was also filmed – and the result is this amazing set of tracks that captures Bob and the group at a level that's even different than their massive Island Records sets to come. There's a current of funk running through a number of these tracks, and a lean groove that's wonderfully soul-drenched throughout – not just in Marley's vocals, but in the overall performance of the rest – a tight sextet that includes Peter Tosh, Joe Higgs, Aston Barrett, Carlton Barrett, and Earl Lindo. Titles include "Rastaman Chant", "Midnight Ravers", "Put It On", "Stop That Train", "Get Up Stand Up", "You Can't Blame The Youth", "Slave Driver", "Duppy Conqueror", and "Burnin & Lootin". LP, Vinyl record album

Bala Miller's got a great pan-African group here – one that's more from the western side of the scene, despite the pyramids mentioned in their name – with players hailing from Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon – all coming together in a mighty righteous style! The music is fairly cerebral – thoughtful tunes that have a layered blend of horns, guitar, keyboards, and sweetly-stepping rhythms – plus occasional organ, kora, goga, and kwarya – all given a stronger focus from the vocals in the lead, which shift between male and female singers, and some backup as well. Titles include "Ikon Allah", "Yo Gboko", "Opportunity Knocks", "Stretch Your Nose", and "All Work No Play". LP, Vinyl record album

A vital box set of both classic and rare Nina Simone! This is much more than just another Nina Simone hits package – and instead, a massive collection of work – one that not only features 8 previously unissued tracks, but also a full bonus DVD, which contains a never-reissued documentary on Nina! The package is quite impressive, drawing from a variety of different record labels – and even the presentation is different than the usual box treatment – 3CDs, 1 DVD, and a 48 page booklet that features rare family photos, and track by track details on the music. Unreleased titles include "Zungo (live)", "Nina (live)", "Let It Be Me (live)", "Tanywey", "No Opportunity Necessary (live)", and "When Malindy Sings/Swing Low Sweet Chariot (live)" – and the set features 51 tracks in all, with other numbers that include "Mood Indigo", "Mississippi Goddam (live)", "Four Women", "Feeling Good", "Baltimore", "Here Comes The Sun", "Just Like A Woman", "To Love Somebody", and "Revolution (live)". DVD features "Nina – A Historical Perspective" – a 1970 TV special with rare performances and interviews! CD

Titles include "Comes A Time", "Human Highway", "Four Strong Winds", "Motorcycle Mama", "Field Of Opportunity", "Lotta Love", and "Look Out For My Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful album of obscure jazz recordings from the Chicago scene of the 70s – way more than just the usual school band record, as the tracks here are mostly originals, and performed by a very inventive group of musicians! Governor's State University was a very hip place at the time – a public college at the end of the main train line running through the south side of Chicago – which made the school a place of great opportunity and expression for the city's African-American community. Rather than a junior college, GSU had higher levels of learning – and had an especially strong jazz program, as you'll hear in this set – which features both sextet performances and work by a larger ensemble – both imbued with some of the best creative legacy of the Chicago scene. Things never go far outside, but there's definitely a deeper understanding of musical reaches taking place here – and the core quartet features Walter Henderson on cornet, John Pate on piano, Eugene Vineyard on tenor, Ronald Askew on guitar, Jeff Simon on bass, and Curtis Prince on drums. These players are in the larger group – which also features William Howell and Gerald Myrow on trombones, Vincent Carter and Steele Seales on saxes, and Kenneth Brass and Melvin Williams on trumpets. Titles include "Crabmeat", "Song For Suzanne", "Keishaz", "Give It One", "Listen Here", and "Spanish Samba". LP, Vinyl record album

Not one of the original Vee Jay albums recorded by pianist Wynton Kelly – but a really sweet set that has him stretching out in a live setting recorded by Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society in 1968! Wynton's trio – with Ron McClure on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums – is joined by the great George Coleman on tenor, who really gets a great opportunity to stretch out on the album's long tracks. The 2CD set features all of the concert, with some tracks that run upwards of 20 minutes, and which show that Coleman had a richly inventive solo talent at this point. Titles include "Unit 7", "On The Trail", "Mr PC", and "On A Clear Day". CD

Raw work from the American underground of the 60s – material that predates punk by more than a decade, but which really sets the scene for the kind of searing, sneering attitude that really burst forth at the end of the 70s! The work is from a variety of scenes, although is especially heavy on the west coast – tracks recorded as a great antidote to more polished pop of the time, especially the sort that was trying to pass itself off as rock, but which was really a much more watered-down vibe. The "garage" in the title doesn't really do the music justice – as many of these acts are great musicians, given a key opportunity to really showcase their sound – and some of these tracks were surprising hits, although many others are under-discovered gems. The set is put together in the best style of the Strawberry label – a nice box, and plenty of notes on the tracks within – a whopping 94 titles in all, with work from The Unusuals, Dimensions, Shadows Of Knight, We The People, The Standells, Rationals, Other Half, Rangers, Strangeloves, Barbarians, Castaways, Remains, McCoys, Mad Hatters, Love, Mojo Men, Rocky & The Riddlers, Chris Morgan & The Togas, Limey & The Hanks, Echoes Of Carnaby Street, Don & The Goodtimers, Bobby Fuller Four, Seeds, Merrell & The Exiles, New Yorkers, Bedlam Four, Jackals, and dozens of others. CD

A famous date that showcases the Chess Records influence on the sound of the Brit rock scene – one that has a number of key players "giving back" to the label, and working on a special date with Howlin Wolf! Wolf's rough vocals are in the lead on all tracks, and he also plays a bit of harmonica and guitar as well – and other artists include Steve Winwood on piano and organ, Eric Clapton on guitar, Bill Wyman on bass, and Charlie Watts on drums – all players who are respectful of the original bluesy sound of Chess, and who clearly dig the opportunity to show off their chops in the setting. Titles include "I Ain't Superstitious", "Poor Boy", "Do The Do", "Red Rooster", "Built For Comfort", "What A Woman", "Highway 49", "Who's Been Talking", and "Rocking Daddy". LP, Vinyl record album

The title's an apt one, as trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff's out here in his loneliness – blowing solo, and beautifully, in a set of highly imaginative numbers! Solo trombone may not sound like the most earth-shattering thing in the world – but in the hands of Mangelsdorff, it can definitely move mountains – creating complicated patterns of shape and sound with a very familiar instrument – used here in ways you'd never expect, even from some of Albert's other group recordings. There's a strong sense of tone here – one that's perhaps only matched by George Lewis for sheer inventiveness and creativity – and Mangelsdorff never misses an opportunity to surprise, and the whole set is refreshing throughout. Titles include "Do Your Own Thing", "Fur Peter", "Marc Suetterlyn's Boogie", "Creole Love Call", "Questions To Come", and "Bonn". LP, Vinyl record album

More than just a great overview of Lou Rawls' jazz work for Capitol Records – because the set also features 3 previously unissued numbers that Rawls recorded with the Curtis Amy Sextet! Those 3 tracks are almost worth the price of the album alone – as Amy's combo was one of the hippest on the LA scene of the time, and offers Lou a rare opportunity to sing in a more relaxed setting than some of his more tightly arranged big band numbers. But honestly, all the work here is pretty darn great – and even the already-issued tracks are tremendous – a great illustration of how Lou linked together jazz and blues during the 60s soul era – and came up with a classy, sophisticated groove that inspired many others in years to come! Arrangements are by Benny Carter, Onzy Matthews, and HB Barnum – and titles include "Nobody But Me", "How Long How Long Blues", "Blues For Weepers", "Something Stirring In My Soul", "I Wonder", "Let's Burn Down The Cornfield", "Old Folks", "Somebody Have Mercy", and "Why Do I Love You So" – as well as the 3 unissued numbers, "Fine & Mellow", "Mean Old World", and "Long Gone Blues". CD

One of the Direct Cutting audiophile recordings made during the 70's, pressed up on Japanese vinyl, and pressed so that it needs to be played at 45 rpm for maximum fidelity. Apart from that geeky sort of information, though, the set's a nice quartet session featuring Lew Tabackin on tenor and flute, Toshiko Akioshi on piano, Bob Daugherty on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums. The set's a rare opportunity to hear Tabackin and Akioshi from the time without their big band, and the group plays nicely on 4 extended tracks. The best of these is a Tabackin original called "Trackin", but there's also a nice rendering of "Summertime". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Comes A Time", "Human Highway", "Four Strong Winds", "Motorcycle Mama", "Field Of Opportunity", "Lotta Love", and "Look Out For My Love". CD

A wonderful overview of contemporary sounds from the Brazilian underground – artists all marked by the "10s" in the title, as they've just begun to blossom in the current decade! The set's one of the freshest we've heard in years – and really gives us a great opportunity to sample music we might have missed otherwise – as recent years haven't seen the influx of Brazilian acts to the global market that we've known in decades past – which has kept so much recent music hidden from our ears! The range of styles is wonderful – still plenty of older roots, but often inflected with lots of new ideas, in a manner that's maybe a bit like some of the Cuban experiments that Gilles Peterson has been promoting on his own label – yet maybe even stronger, as these cuts have sprung from the underground on their own. Titles include "Obatala" by Abayomy, "Zulumbi" by Zulumbi, "O Rei De Tupanga" by Iconili, "Cervejas Populares" by Ive Seixas, "Lucifer Colombia" by Burro Morto, "Zebrabeat" by Zebrabeat Afro-Amazonia Orquestra, "Ecos De Niafunke" by Andre Sampaio E Os Afromandinga, "Faria Lima Pra Ca" by Passo Torto, and "Feito Tamborim Para Ceu" by Fabricio. CD

Tremendous work from the 70s jazz underground – music that comes from a special place where freedom and rhythm walk hand in hand! Most of the artists here are ones with a legacy that includes some more outside performances – but the cuts here are all upbeat and grooving – often in a modal jazz style that's completely sublime, and which provides boundless energy for the soloists to really take off! Most numbers are from a spiritual, post-Coltrane generation – and most of the work here is not that easy to find otherwise. Tracks include "Abuella" by Billy Bang, "V Movimento" and "III Movimenhto" by Giorgio Gaslini, "Latin Black Funk" by Sparrow, "Theme/Souls" by George Russell with Jan Garbarek, "Benediction" and "Pursuit" by Tina Marsh Creative Opportunity Orchestra, and "Now Is The Time" by Dick Griffin. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing history of Japanese jazz, and another great testament to the impact jazz had on global cluture! The book covers the entire history of Japanese jazz, from the first wave in the dancehalls of the 1920s, to the amazing renaissance of the 60s and 70s. It's a well-paced, incredibly researched, thoughtfully laid out story that we are glad to have had the opportunity to enjoy – with a lot history of that is deeply neglected in the Dusty Groove half of the world, if not everywhere. There are life stories of passionate, unrecognized musicians that mirror those in other parts of the world, as well as those unique to the Japanese experience. Atkins understands the artistic impulses of the musicians and followers, which is essential to the book's appeal to music freaks like us, but he's also an accomplished historian with a great capacity for conveying the nationalist cultural big picture. More than 350 pages, including the bibliography (which is worth the price alone) with a lot of amazing photos that help push the narrative along at a fast clip, not unlike a great piece of music! Book