Essential! One wonders why when the original King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown album is so heavy, that you'd want another dub version, but one spin of this special reissue package and you'll be convinced. Altogether different dubs and versions of many of the same rhythm cuts as that watershed dub LP only prove that the whole concept of "versioning", and cutting multiple dubs of the same rhythms (usually to service selectors and sound systems who needed unique tracks) was pure genius on the part of Jamaican producers. Add that to the sheer weight of the rhythms used here, and you've got a formula for a potent set! Once again, the producers at Pressure Sounds have dug up some beautiful gems, finding unique versions of H. Swaby's melodica dancing over thundering Rockers' rhythms and taking a dip now and again in a bucket of reverb & echoplex. Insightful liner notes and a beautiful sleeve complete this package of 17 massive instrumental tracks, including "Black Gunn", "New Style", "El Rockers", "Skanking Easy", "Tribalist" and "Cassava Piece". CD

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Dubby genius from the great Augustus Pablo – a set that continues the spirit of his best 70s work in this mode, but with a sound that has a few slight 80s touches! The overall sound is still very nice and spare – laidback, gently tripping in the rhythm department, and with both melodica solos from Pablo – and some other keyboard work that really echoes the moody, spacey, snakey sound of his work on the blown instrument! The title names are a bit basic, but that hardly matters, given the sound of the set – and tracks include "Riot Dub", "In The Red Dub", "Hanging Dub", "Night Patrol Dub", "Rastaman Dub", "Zion Way Dub", and "Dubbing King James". LP, Vinyl record album

A well-done collection of cuts originally issued on the small Rockers label headed by Augustus Pablo – groundbreaking dub material that really transformed reggae at the time, and which still stands head and shoulders above so many other work from the period! The set features rare numbers, obscure singles, and more – wonderful stuff we're happy to collected in a such a well selected compilation and certainly ripe for fresh listens after all these years! Titles include "Pablo's Theme Song", "Mountain View Dub", "Brown Jim", "Ethiopia Dub", "Israel In Harmony", "Third Eye", "Pablo's Armageddon", "Memories Of The Ghetto", "King David's Melody", "Jah Dread (7" version)", "Skanking Easy", "Cassava Piece (79 Style)", and "Pablo Meets Mr Bassie". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare bit of soundtrack funk from mid 70s Venezuela – a set that's strongly influenced by Italian cop/crime modes of the time, but sometimes served up with a nicely leaner vibe as well! In addition to the funky guitar, tight basslines, and jazzy horns you might expect – there's also some interesting moments that include odd keyboards, acoustic guitar, and even a violin and piano duet – used in ways to offset more familiar funky styles to really keep things interesting! The music was scored for a sexploitation film of the time, and certainly echoes the way those films were scored around the globe – but as with so much Venezuelan work of the period, there's a very special, very unique approach as well. Titles include "Malandro", "El Secuestro", "Jenny", "la Venganza", "Bajando El Cerro", "Tacarigua", and "Tema De Amor". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunner from Cuban trombonist Juan Pablo Torres – one of the greatest forces working in Latin jazz today! The album's a large-group set of Latin jazz tracks – heavily percussive, but also equipped with a brace of horns on most tracks – making for a much fuller sound than some of Torres' other recent albums. The overall style is almost rootsy at times, and comes off with a surprising amount of grace and free-flowing, percussion-driven soul. Titles include "4x4", "Afroidea", "Lamento Montuno", "Canuot", and "Trommontuno". CD

A really sweet roots set from Pablo Moses – one that's got some cool electric moments at points, including very cool use of Arp – but which also retains all the earthy core to make the righteous currents of the lyrics come out right! Geoffrey Chung arranged and produced, and there's a vibe here that's a nice change from more mainstream work – still all the power that you'd hope for in Pablo's vocals, but a quality that's slightly trippy too – focused, yet willing to open the ears a little bit around the edges. Titles include "Be Not A Dread", "We Should Be In Angola", "Come Mek We Run", "Revolutionary Dream", "Where Am I", "Blood Money", and "Corrupted Man". LP, Vinyl record album

Uber-classic dub from Augustus Pablo! Dubbing In A Africa was produced by Pablo and features a rhythm section of Bingy Bunny, Sly & Robbie and Gladdy. Here they deliver a nice, tight set of tunes which like many of Pablo's other classics, veer closer to rhythm workouts than deep space dub excursions – and we ain't complaining about that! Tremendous stuff from one the greats! Titles include "King Of Kings Dub", "Herbal Weed Dub", "Dub In Ethiopia", "Dubbing In A Africa", "Nigerian Love Dub", and "Mount Of Olives Dub". CD

We're not entirely certain of the precise connection to Pablo here, as this set is credited as Augustus Pablo Presents, but it's excellent all the same – and there is some tasty knob twirling courtesy of the master King Tubby! There's some sweet melodica blowing over some rhythms that sound like they date from the late 70s at the earliest to us, and Pablo's given songwriting credit on most of these tunes. The real deal! Includes "House Raid", "Shake Down", "Shake Up", "Gun Trade", "Hillside Airstrip", "Barbwire Disaster", "Road Block", "Big Rip Off", and "Curly Dub". LP, Vinyl record album

A stellar early 70s collection of Pablo instrumental sides, tracked between the groundbreaking Java, Java, Java and East Of The River Nile records – Landmark material from a master! Like the above mentioned classics, this one features Pablo's melodica prominently, over some nice roots rhythms laid down by an all star cast, including Carlton Barrett, Santa Davis, Familyman, Fully Fullwood, Chinna Smith, Ansell Collins and many more. Includes "Dub Organizer", "Arabian Rock", "Pablo In Dub", "Skateland Rock", "Dread Eye" and "Lover's Mood". Classic! CD also includes 3 bonus cuts: "Java", "Guiding Red" and "Marabi". CD

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Tracks include "Cherokee", "Ain't Misbehavin", "Stardust", "You Go To My Head", "Night And Day", "Stompin' At The Savoy", and "Over The Rainbow" – 20 tracks total. CD

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Includes music from Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young, John Coltrane, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson, Louis Bellson, Benny Carter and more – 15 tracks in all. CD

Tracks include "Nature Boy", "Valeria", "Le Cannet", and "Connie's Blues". CD

A beautifully-toned set from guitarist Joe Pass – and a great demonstration of why he was recorded so heavily by Pablo Records during his later years! Joe's sound here is clear and clean, but richly chromatic too – a wellspring of full feelings, but with a great degree of subtlety too – a big change from the way so many other guitarists were playing at the start of the 80s. The trio here features Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass and Martin Drew on drums – and titles include "Robbins Nest", "Lush Life", "A Foxy Chick & A Cool Cat", "Night & Day", "Love For Sale", "Speak Low", and "Everything I Love". CD

Joe Pass plays a host of Gershwin-penned material – working in a spare combo with a slightly different sound than usual! Pass' guitar still has that deep, round tone that you'll hear on his best Pablo sides – but the group also features rhythm guitar from John Pisano, who makes for a bit of contrast with Joe – almost a second voice that makes things more interesting than a usual trio date. Other players include Jim Hughart on bass and Shelly Manne on drums – and titles include "Soon", "Oh Lady Be Good", "Love Is Here To Stay", "Embraceable You", and "How Long Has This Been Going On". CD

Features Joe Pass on guitar, John Pisano on acoustic and electric guitar, Monty Budwig on bass, and Colin Bailey on drums. CD

A nicely sensitive set from guitarist Joe Pass – hardly the usual bag of Ellington-alike material, and instead a small group outing that unlocks a newly introspective side of Duke's compositions! Joe's working here with Ray Brown on bass and Bobby Durham on drums – and the feel overall is mostly gentle, almost in a late nite mode – with plenty of space to let Pass step around the strings with care and quietude, as he works his way through titles that include "Caravan", "Solitude", "In A Mellowtone", "I Got It Bad", "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart", and "Satin Doll". CD

A late solo album from the great Joe Pass on acoustic guitar. Tracks include "Robbins Nest", "Star Eyes", "Shadow Of Your Smile", "There's A Small Hotel", "Just Friends", and the title track "Song For Ellen". CD

Joe Pass on electric and acoustic guitars, John Pisano on acoustic guitar, Jim Hughart on bass, and Colin Bailey on drums. CD

Solo guitar by Joe Pass – a beautiful little album that's a perfect showcase for the new sensitivity in his music during his years at Pablo records! The Joe Pass heard here is light years away from the guitar player who made a few gimmicky records a decade before – and this album has Joe coming across with a gentle, but sophisticated approach to his instrument that we never would have expected in the past! Titles include "Night & Day", "My Old Flame", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Sweet Lorraine", "All The Things You Are", and "Round Midnight". CD

Previously unreleased material by Joe Pass – recorded in New York in 1975, in a spare, stripped-down mode that features only Joe on solo guitar! The style is a bit similar to other work on the Pablo label at the time, but a bit more introspective, given the solo setting – and honestly, we're surprised at how much we like Joe in this mode – as he's got a warm and gentle touch that doesn't always show through in group sessions – and really manages to keep his work on the strings interesting, even in the most subtle moments. Titles include "I Never Knew", "We'll Be Together Again", "Blues For Alagarn", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Moritat", and "When Your Lover Has Gone". CD

We love the piano of Jimmy Rowles in a laidback setting – as it always seems to bring out the most charm and wit in his style! This date's a perfect example of that mode – as it just features a bit of extra guitar from Joe Pass – no bass or drums at all – which leaves Jimmy really free to open up on the keys – working with a great deal of humanity, and bringing this subtle soul that really illuminates the tunes! Titles include "What's Your Story Morning Glory", "So Rare", "Marquita", "Stardust", "Deed I Do", and "Tis Autumn". CD

Beautiful sounds from JJ Johnson and Joe Pass – one of those great stripped-down Pablo Records sessions that were easily some of the greatest moments on the label! Pass was a real star in sets like these – which were perfect for his gentle approach to jazz guitar – and it's great to hear JJ's trombone without any other rhythm section – still finding that great sense of soul and rhythm that's always made him one of our favorites – and really helping to bring some nice bite to a record with Pass, too. Titles include "Solar", "Blue Bossa", "Wave", "Naked As A Jaybird", and "Bud's Blues". CD

A striking little record – and the kind that both players could only have made with the new freedoms in jazz recording of the 70s! Although Peterson and Gillespie had played together before on earlier Verve albums, the setting was never like this – because the album's only a duet between trumpet and piano, with no other instrumentation at all – yet the sound is amazing swinging! Peterson works almost as a one man rhythm section here – bouncing the tunes with plenty of hard inflections on his left hand – and setting up a swing that Dizzy blows over with warmly muted tones. There's a quality here that's personal – but not in that "oh look at us, we're such big stars" sort of way – and titles include "Mozambique", "Caravan", "Dizzy Atmosphere", "Blues For Bird", and "Con Alma" – always a treat to hear in a setting like this! LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet laidback take on Gershwin – handled with only piano from Peterson and guitar from Pass! LP, Vinyl record album

A great date in which Eddie Cleanhead Vinson sticks only to alto sax – and doesn't vocalize at all – reminding us once again that he's a hell of a jazz player when he wants to be! Vinson plays here in a small combo led by pianist Oscar Peterson, who sets up an easygoing groove in his usual Pablo mode – cut through nicely by Eddie, who seems to give the record more of an edge than some of Oscar's other 70s dates! Trumpeter Harry Edison is also in the lead, and other players include Joe Pass on guitar, Dave Young on bass, and Martin Drew on drums – on titles that include "What's New", "Slooow Drag", "This One's For Jaws", "Stuffy", and "Broadway". LP, Vinyl record album

A great date in which Eddie Cleanhead Vinson sticks only to alto sax – and doesn't vocalize at all – reminding us once again that he's a hell of a jazz player when he wants to be! Vinson plays here in a small combo led by pianist Oscar Peterson, who sets up an easygoing groove in his usual Pablo mode – cut through nicely by Eddie, who seems to give the record more of an edge than some of Oscar's other 70s dates! Trumpeter Harry Edison is also in the lead, and other players include Joe Pass on guitar, Dave Young on bass, and Martin Drew on drums – on titles that include "What's New", "Slooow Drag", "This One's For Jaws", "Stuffy", and "Broadway". CD

An overlooked gem from Zoot Sims – a session that has him working in very laidback company with Jimmy Rowles on piano, who tipples the keys of the piano with a really timeless late nite kind of sound! The style here is a bit like that of the Rowles/Getz album The Peacocks – although a bit more straightforward overall, with a main focus on the talents of both soloists, coming together beautifully in a relatively spare setting. Bass is by George Mraz and drums are by Mousie Alexander – and the real surprise here is almost Sims, who blows with this open-ended, laidback tone that's really great – a bit languid, but never weary – and somehow with a lot more warmth than on many of his other too-tight records from the 70s. Titles include "Legs", "Shadow Waltz", "I Hear A Rhapsody", "Gypsy Sweetheart", and "Where Our Love Has Gone". LP, Vinyl record album

Way more than just a Gershwin Songbook sort of record – thanks to some tremendous blowing here by Zoot Sims, who's mellowed nicely with age, and comes up with a wonderful sound for the record! It may just be us, but there seems to be a lot more soul in Zoot's horn than ever before – more humanity, and a sort of pausing, almost faltering approach to the tunes that takes them way past their overdone versions. The rest of the group includes Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, George Mraz, and Grady Tate – but the Sims' sound is the main star of the set – and it's really wonderful! Titles include "The Man I Love", "Embraceable You", "Summertime", "Isn't It A Pity", "I've Got A Crush On You", and "Lady Be Good". CD

Material recorded in the 50s, but not issued until this 70s album on Pablo – a great trio date with Art Tatum on piano, Red Callender on bass, and Jo Jones on drums! LP, Vinyl record album

Legendary recordings from the mighty Art Tatum – captured here in some late night studio sessions from early 50s LA – produced with just the right sort of laidback vibe by a young Norman Granz! Tatum could really shine the most in a setting like this – open, yet still very focused too – able to do a hell of a lot in a very short amount of space – with this inherent sense of rhythm that few of his contemporaries (or predecessors or followers) could ever ever hope to match! Titles include "Moonglow", "Love For Sale", "Body & Soul", "It's Only A Paper Moon", "My Last Affair", and "Have You Met Miss Jones". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "In a Sentimental Mood", "These Foolish Things", "Sweet Lorraine", "On The Sunny Side Of The Street", "You Go To My Head", and "It's The Talk Of The Town". LP, Vinyl record album

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With Red Callender and Bill Douglass. LP, Vinyl record album

A historic meeting between pianist Art Tatum and tenor sax giant Ben Webster – recorded in 1956, but only first issued by Pablo Records in the 70s! At some level, it's clear that Tatum's the star of the sessions – as most tracks start out with that introspective and often complicated approach to the keys that marks his trio and solo work – but Webster always slides in just in time to keep the record from being a standard Tatum outing – blowing with a crisp tone that's beautifully recorded here, and hardly concerned at all with the presence of Red Callender on bass and Bill Douglass on drums – who are much lower in the mix. Titles include "Night & Day", "Where Or When", "My Ideal", "Gone With The Wind", and "All The Things You Are". LP, Vinyl record album

With Clark Terry on trumpet, and a bit of vocals on one cut – plus Eddie Cleanhead Vinson on alto, Art Hillery on piano, John Heard on bass, Roy McCurdy on drums, and Harmonica George Smith on harmonica. CD

With Milt Jackson and Roy Eldrige. Titles include "I Want A Little Girl", "Crawdad Hole", "Juke Joint Blues", and "How Long How Long Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Sarah Vaughan takes on the work of Duke Ellington – almost presented here in a style that's similar to some of the Songbook albums on Verve from the 50s! Billy Byers handles most of the arrangements here – especially on the larger group numbers – but some tracks are also in a small combo mode, and are often the most interesting, because Sarah opens up with a looser feel than on some of the more "respectful" big group tracks. Titles on this second volume include "Black Butterfly", "Chelsea Bridge", "What Am I Here For", "Tonight I Shall Sleep", "Mood Indigo", "Everything But You", and "Rocks In My Bed". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little date – one that's presented here with a really classic sense of jazz vocal recording, but oddly the kind of record that Sarah Vaughn hardly ever got to make back in the 50s! The setting is spare and simple – backing by a quartet that includes Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, Ray Brown, and Louis Bellson – but all players are nicely relaxed here, and never too uptight, or trying to over-express their place in the lineup – and instead step forward gently, quietly, to match Sarah's wonderfully mature vocals on the record. Titles include "Easy Living", "You're Blase", "More Than You Know", "Teach Me Tonight", "Body & Soul", "How Long Has This Been Going On", and "Midnight Sun". CD

Joe Turner on vocals and Count Basie on piano and organ – with Eddie Davis and Zoot Sims on tenor, Harry Edison on trumpet, JJ Johnson on trombone, Ray Brown on bass, Irving Ashby on guitar, and Louis Bellson on drums. CD

A quartet date with Basie on piano, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Ray Brown on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums. Titles include "Back To The Land", "Constantinople", "You Got It", "St James Infirmary", "Follow The Leader" and "Ow". LP, Vinyl record album

A great mix of bluesy rhythms and sensitive sounds from Ray Bryant – a later solo set that really shows the full range of his skills on the piano! The album's nicely unfettered – opened up in that pure Pablo way – and although Ray plays passages that hint at his soul jazz roots, there's also some moments of lyricism that really show his development as a player by the time of the mid 70s! Titles include "Moanin", "Take The A Train", "In De Back Room", "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", "Blues In De Big Brass Bed", and "Monkey Business". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Joe Pass on guitar, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Al McKibbon on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

With Ray Bryant on piano, Niels Pedersen on bass, and Jimmie Smith on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

A great quartet date – no-nonsense, and a perfect setting for Davis to hit some very classic modes! Eddie plays tenor with Tommy Flanagan on piano, Keter Betts on bass, and Bobby Durham on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the great Pablo Records efforts to revisit the jazz sound of the 50s – but in fresh new ways allowed by the freer recording modes of the 70s! The album features Ella Fitgerald and Joe Pass, plus nobody else – just voice and guitar coming together in quiet, introspective ways that are completely sublime, and a very nice change from some of Ella's fuller band recordings of the few years before this album. And far from being sleepy, the intimacy of the record almost seems to set a new kind of fire – one that comes from the gentle persona of Ella, which is a far cry from the glass-breaking singer that she'd come to be known as in the mainstream! Titles include "Take Love Easy", "Once I Loved", "Lush Life", "You're Blase", "A Foggy Day", "I Want To Talk About You", and "You Go To My Head". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet Tommy Flanagan trio date – recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977, but with a warmth and intimacy that's like catchy Tommy at a small club date! Trio members include Keter Betts on bass and Bobby Durham on drums – but the focus is very strongly on Flanagan's piano – given plenty of space to stretch out, in tones that are awash in rich colors – ringing out beautifully on tunes that include "Barbados", "Blue Bossa", "Woody N You", "Some Other Spring/Easy Living", and "Star Crossed Lovers/Jump For Joy". LP, Vinyl record album

A great Dizzy Gillespie Latin session recorded during the mid 70s – proof that he could still hold onto the cubop spirit of the old days! The session features a larger group arranged and conducted by Chico O'Farril – who manages to keep a solidly Cuban groove at the base, but really let Dizzy open up with some broader horn flourishes at the top. Given the quality of actual Cuban jazz at the time, this set may well beat most of what was going on in Havana – thanks to solid solos from Dizzy, and backings from a group led by Machito, and featuring players who include Mario Bauza, Jorge Dalto, Manny Duran, Mauricio Smith, and Victor Paz. Side one features the extended "Oro, Incienso y Mirra", and side two is a 3-part suite, "Three Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods". LP, Vinyl record album

Rune's guitar and Zoot's tenor – in a group that features additional guitar by Bucky Pizzarelli, with George Mraz on bass and Peter Donald on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Freddie Hubbard's very much in a back-to-basics mode at this point in his career – and what better place to go back to basics than at the Pablo label, where Freddie's working in an acoustic mode with the Oscar Peterson combo! The style is a far cry from Hubbard's electric records of the 70s – but the tunes still have a nicely spacious feel that shows lessons learned at CTI – a style that makes Peterson sound a bit hipper than usual, and which definitely has Freddie as the boss of the set. Other players include Joe Pass on guitar, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Martin Drew on drums – and tracks include "All Blues", "Thermo", "Weaver Of Dreams", "Portrait Of Jenny", and "Tippin". CD

Brilliant lost work by Shelly Manne – featuring a group and a format that's very similar to Manne's outstanding Live At The Blackhawk albums! The group's a quintet featuring the great (and short-lived) Joe Gordon on trumpet, plus Richie Kamuca on tenor, Russ Freeman on piano, and Monty Budwig on bass – all grooving with Shelly in a longer and more open-ended format than most of his sides for the 50s. The style is excellent – soulful hardbop, in a manner that sits somewhere between the best Blue Notes of the time, and Cannonball Adderley's albums for Riverside. Tracks are all long, and titles include "Cabu", "Bag's Groove", "Yesterdays", and "Poinciana". CD

A solo record – tracks include "My Romance", "I Cover The Waterfront", "Moonlight In Vermont", "Stardust", "April In Paris", and "Autumn Leaves". CD

Two of the few, and nobody else – a set of duets between pianist Oscar Peterson and vibist Milt Jackson – recorded here in a really stripped-down setting, especially for the date! Both players bring a really classic feel to their style here – almost making the date feel like some lost tapes from the 50s – and Peterson's got a much more rhythmic pulse to his piano without the bass and drums, really reminding us a lot of his early sides for Verve. Titles include "Reunion Blues", "Mister Basie", "Limehouse Blues", "If I Had You", "Here's Two Of The Few", "Just You Just Me", and "Lady Be Good". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those great stripped-down Peterson-plus dates for Pablo Records from the 70s – a session that features Oscar on both piano and organ, working alongside the trumpet of Roy Eldridge! There's no other instrumentation at all, and the sound is completely charming – intimate without sounding too laidback – and especially nice when the organ comes in, which makes for a real change from some of the other Peterson dates of this nature. Eldridge has more than enough command of his horn to still swing mightily in the setting – and titles include "Little Jazz", "Bad Hat Blues", "Sunday", "Blues For Chu", "She's Funny That Way", and "The Way You Look Tonight". LP, Vinyl record album

Nice mellow fusion from Monty, recorded in LA with a group that includes Ernest Ranglin on guitar, plus Andy Simpkins on bass, and added drums and percussion from 4 other players. There's a bit of steel drums on the record, in the style that Alexander was using on other MPS sides from the time – and the tracks have a nice mellow funky feel to them. Titles include 'Mango Rengue", "Jamento", "Sugarloaf At Twilight", "Slippery", and "Accompong". CD

Count Basie on piano with Benny Carter on alto sax, Eddie Lockjaw Davis on tenor sax, Clark Terry on trumpet, Al Grey on trombone, Joe Pass on guitar, John Heard on bass, and Louis Bellson on drums. CD

With Benny Carter on alto sax, Eddie Lockjaw Davis on tenor sax, Clark Terry on trumpet, Al Grey on trombone, Joe Pass on guitar, John Heard on bass, and Louis Bellson on drums. LP, Vinyl record album