3 incredible albums from the British jazz scene at the end of the 60s – all together in one 2CD package! Down Another Road is incredible work from one of England's greatest jazz talents – bassist Graham Collier, a player with an amazing ability to absorb a lot of the modern and progressive influences of his jazz generation – but all without succumbing to the same indulgences as them – a fact which resulted in a razor-sharp style that forged some of the freshest jazz ever to come out of the UK. This 1969 album is a masterpiece – filled with a modal groove and a strident searching theme, yet also as tight and grooving as most of the best Blue Note sessions from the same time. Harry Beckett's on trumpet, Nick Evans is on trombone, John Marshall plays drums, and Stan Sulzmann handles the reeds. Tracks include "Down Another Road", "Danish Blue", "The Barley Mow", and "Aberdeen Angus". Songs For My Father is a masterpiece of modernist soul jazz, with a sound that recalls the best late Blue Note work by Lee Morgan or Hank Mobley. Alan Wakeman's tenor is perfectly pitched, and searingly searching; Harry Beckett's trumpet is round, lyrical, and filled with soul; and the piano of John Taylor comps along in chunky modal grooves that make the whole album fall together brilliantly. Tracks include "Song One", "Song Two", "Song Three", etc – and they're all fantastic! Mosaics is a wonderfully searching session – filled with warm McCoy Tyner-esque modal moments, and searing post-Coltrane solos! The album comprises one long piece – Collier's "Mosaics" – performed live by a group that includes Alan Wakeman on tenor and soprano, Harry Beckett on trumpet, and Geoff Castle on piano. "Mosaics" has that amazing mid 60s Coltrane quality of going out in a spiritual kind of way – yet always returning to the groove, never getting too free, and always remaining firmly focused on the direction ahead. All players are great, and the record crackles with the intensity of a classic session on Impulse! CD

Heady heady work from the legendary Gal Costa – caught here right at her early best, smack dab in the middle of the Tropicalia years! The album's one of Gal's legendary collaborations with arranger Rogerio Duprat – and it's very much in the spirit of her other incredible session from 1969, but also features some even heavier and more tripped out guitar – in a way that really pushes the psychedelic aspect of the work! The sound here is really amazing – very fuzzy and freaky at times, in ways that make the album one of the most rocking sets of the entire Tropicalia scene, but in ways that still hang onto the quirky experimental qualities of work by Os Mutantes or Caetano Veloso. Gal's vocals really rip out amazingly at times – light years away from the sweet sound of the late 70s, and more in the frenetic, urgent style you'd expect from the politically-charged scene that spawned the set. Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil join Gal on a great version of "Pais Tropical", Jards Macale guest stars on the classic "Empty Boat" – and other tracks include "Tuareg", "Meu Nome E Gal", "Pulsars E Quasars", and "Cultura E Civilizaco". Essential! CD

One of the richest, most expressive albums ever from the great Gal Costa – a set from her immediate post-Tropicalia years, and one that shows that she's got a lot more to offer than just a wild sense of experimentation! Gilberto Gil is the musical director here – with help from Rogerio Duprat and Arthur Verocai – and the album's got the lofty feel you'd expect from all three talents – a rich blend of all the modern developments in Brazilian music that had taken place in the 60s, but infused with a newly rootsy sense as well – one that takes the whole thing back to a personal, expressive territory that's really wonderful. Instrumentationincludes work on keyboards by Wagner Tiso and Tenorio Jr, plus a bit of guitar from Roberto Menescal – and Gal does a great version of Caetano Veloso's "Relance" – alongside other tracks that include "Passarinho", "Da Maior Imortancia", "India", "Volta", and the funky "Pontos De Luz". The whole thing's incredibly beautiful – and it's got Gal in a wild bikini cover, too! CD

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Jimmy Day is another one of the all time great country guitarists who is better known as a sideman – having backed up Ray Price, Willie Nelson and others! But he also recorded some damn fine instrumentals in the early 60s for the Phillips and Columbia labels – with amazing slide work and lots of groovy girly background vocals. Tracks include "I Love You Because", "A Fallen Star", "Wild Side Of Life", "Funny How Time Slips Away", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Quite a nice record, and one that has actress Catherine Deneuve singing songs written by Serge Gainsbourg – with backing by Alan Hawkshaw, in a style that's very similar to the work he did with Jane Birkin! In fact, this could well be a Jane Birkin record, with the sound of it! Lots of smooth sexy arrangements, wth classic Serge-style songs, and some nice compressed guitar riffs over the top. Titles include "Digital Delay", "Alice Helas", "Oh Soliman", "Overseas Telegram", "Epsilon", and 2 duets with Serge Gainsbourg! LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful airy bossa! This album's a 1964 session of straight piano bossa tracks by Deodato, with production by Roberto Quartin – and a sound that's a lot more mellow and fragile than his other records from the time! Deodato is amazingly restrained in his playing, and sticks to only piano – with backing that is extremely light and subtle. Roberto Quartin was the artistic director on the session, and the album includes a lot of the same whimsical touches he brought to his work on the Forma and Quartin labels. The set's filled with loads of great tracks like "Insensatez", "O Morro Nao Tem Vez", "Samba Do Aviao", and "Amor Em Paz". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost treasure from German saxophonist Klaus Doldinger – one of his best records from the 60s, recorded at a key point when he was really shifting his style! The set's still got Klaus working with keyboardist Ingfried Hoffmann, whose work on organ made his early records so great – but on this set Hoffmann also shifts from organ to piano on a few of the tracks, working through a modal jazz style that has strong leanings towards the nascent Saba/MPS groove of the time! Doldinger himself is also really opening up – playing soprano sax as well as tenor, and going for a snakey sort of tone that fits in really well with the modally grooves, and which also sets the stage for a European style of sax work of the 70s, without all of the overindulgences that would show up in his own later work. Really great stuff all the way through, and a groove-happy album that's filled with delights! Titles include "Watch It", "Just A Little Bit Of Soul", "Five For You", "Tears", and "Quartenwalzer". Never issued in the US, either! CD

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Groundbreaking analogue electronics from the Dutch team of Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan – two musicians who can be as playful as the tem of Perry & Kingsley, but also hit some of the darker modes of the academic circuit as well! The title is very well-put – as the record has a vibe that's very outer space at times – more of a sense of the area around the electronic elements at the core – which has them echoing out nicely into the cosmos, and reaching for so many different melodic modes, it almost feels as if they're trying to make contact with other civilizations! Some tunes have a playfulness that almost evokes the German new wave of 15 years later – others are very much in the best Dutch styles of the 60s – and the whole thing sounds sort of like a mad robot playing a crazy space organ on a merry go round while dropping acid. Titles include "Moon Maid", "Sonik Re-Entry", "Pianoforte", "Orbit", "Song Of The Second Moon", and "The Visitor From Inner Space". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer early album of Batucada tracks – filled with lots of tight, short, hard percussive groovers! The record features work by the Escola De Samba Da Cidade, and the percussionist Paulinho. Tracks include "Cruzado e Bossa Nova", "Samba De Rua", "Samba De Morro", "Partido Alto", and "Teleco-Teco". LP, Vinyl record album

A great, if a bit obscure, mid 60s LP that has the Flamingos doing a fantastic batch of soul tracks, over arrangements by Leroy Glover. Some of the cuts are 60s soul updates of their older vocal pop hits the groove along quite sweetly – like "I Only Have Eyes For You" and "A Kiss From Your Lips" – but there's also some nice pumping northern groovers, like "The Boogaloo Party" and "Brooklyn Boogaloo". The album features a total of 13 tracks, and also includes "I'm Not Tired Yet", "Since My Baby Put Me Down", "I'll Be Home", "Your Other Love", "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" and "Lovers Never Say Goodbye". LP, Vinyl record album

The tunes are familiar, but the group is really coming into their own here – working with amazing arrangments from Charlie Calello, and this wild production from the great Bob Crewe! LP, Vinyl record album

"Beggin" is one of the best moments ever from the Four Seasons – and damn funky, too! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A key transitional album from The Four Seasons – marking not only their shift from Vee Jay to Philips, but also their advance into new styles in the 60s! Born To Wander album is on the folky side – with acoustic guitar used heavily in the instrumentation, alongside the fuller harmonies of the four members of the group. The style is sometimes sweet, and the use of acoustic guitar links the sound somewhat to the folk pop modes of The Brothers Four – although that group could hardly boast a striking lead vocalist as great as Frankie Valli sounds here! The mode is an unusual one for the Four Seasons, but it comes off surprisingly well – thanks to arrangements from Charlie Calello and superb production from Bob Crewe – who still knows how to bring these tunes out with the heaviest pop sort of sound! LP, Vinyl record album

A wild little concept album from the Four Seasons – one that's packaged in newspaper-style cover, and which presents tunes that almost have that late 60s British "snapshots of life" approach to pop – particularly that put forth by The Kinks on Village Green Preservation Society. The album's a true genius effort from Bob Gaudio – now risen to the ranks of producer for the group, and also the key songwriter for the album too – working here in tandem with the great Jake Holmes, a wonderful choice for a record like this! Arrangements are inventive, playful, and definitely at a level that shows some influence from Pet Sounds or Sgt Peppers – but there's also a focused, all-pop approach to the tunes too – one that's hook-heavy even when trippy, and which shows that the Four Seasons were as great at psychedelic and Sunshine Pop as any of the groups they'd inspired over the years. Titles include "Saturday's Father", "Wall Street Village Day", "Wonder What You'll Be", "Soul Of A Woman", "Something's On Her Mind", "American Crucifixion Resurrection", and "Mrs Stately's Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary meeting of two giant talents in Brazilian music – and a set that's maybe one of the best albums of the decade by both artists involved! The album has a raw, acoustic vibe – the kind of sound you'd expect from the cover photo of Jorge Ben and Gilberto Gil playing guitars together – and the style is maybe more in Ben's mode of the time, but with the acoustic qualities that Gil used on his album in 1971 – blended together perfectly, on long tracks that really have the spontaneous feel of both artists jamming together in the studio. Every minute of the double length set is great – and titles include a very long take on Ben's famous "Taj Mahal" track – done in a sparer studio setting than the original, with a haunting groove, and great vocals by both singers – plus the titles "Sarro", "Quem Mandou", "Nega", and "Meu Glorioso Sao Cristvao". CD

A rare 60s meeting of groovy talents from both sides of the Atlantic – and a record that matches the trumpet of Dizzy Gillespie with the hiply swinging vocals of The Double Six Of Paris! The group were a wonderfully groovy precursor to the Swingle Singers – and sung in a scatting approach to jazz vocals that was very much in the tradition of Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross – but also drew inspiration from the earlier work of Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure, and others. Their sound is great – much more 60s groovy than some other vocal groups – and pairing them with Dizzy gives this record an added punch that some of their other sessions are missing! Backing is small combo throughout – with either Bud Powell or Kenny Barron on piano, Kenny Clarke on drums, and James Moody on tenor – and with the presence of Diz, most of the material here is of bop orientation – taken at a fast and lively clip! Lalo Schifrin arranged the whole session too – and titles include "One Bass Hit", "Blue N Boogie", "Emanon", "Groovin High", "Ow", "The Champ", "Tin Tin Deo", "Hot House", and "Con Alma". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant mid 70s session by tenor legend Johnny Griffin – one that hearkens back to his earlier, freer days, and which features the long, driving solo style he forged during his time in Europe at the end of the 60s. The session's recorded live in Tokyo with a quartet that includes Horace Parlan piano, Mads Vinding bass, and Art Taylor drums – and each side of the album features one long track, done in a stretched-out, very driving style, thanks to stellar drum work by Taylor. Titles include "Soft & Furry" and "The Man I Love". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most hard-burning Johnny Griffin records of the 70s – a cooking live set recorded in Tokyo, with energy that's much more freewheeling and open than his studio records of the time! The tracks are all quite long, and move with a quickly-expressive quality that's totally great – that fast-thinking tenor solo mode that Griff first forged back in Chicago, getting some great support here from a group that includes Horace Parlan on piano, Mads Vinding on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. The interplay of the rhythm section really opens up the long tracks to plenty of creative exploration – and titles include "When We Were One", "All The Things You Are", and "Wee". LP, Vinyl record album

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Titles include "The Strut", "My Wish", "Taste Of Honey", "Jazz Hoot", "Hallelujah Time", and "After You've Gone". LP, Vinyl record album

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An uber-rare album from Orlando Julius & The Afro Sounders – recorded at Ginger Baker's studio in Lagos and originally (apparently quite scarcely) released by Philips in 1973 – wonderful stuff and on par with the excellent material the group recorded in the handful of previous years! The sound is terrific, still fresh and live sounding, but recorded with the best studio technology Julius had access to to date. The drums and percussion are prominent in the mix and so is the bass – with punchy, soulful brass, organs and passionate vocals. Wonderful! Tracks include "Yio Si Da Miliki Beat", "Afro Instrumental", "Osika Ranti", "Buje Buje", "Aseni" and "Kete Kete Koro". CD

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Fantastic! This is the US release of the Michel Legrand score to Jaques Demy's incredible 1965 film The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg. Every word of dialogue in the film is sung, and Legrand came up with an amazing array of themes to carry the emotion of the film. Embedded in here are lines that later became worldwide hits – like "I Will Wait For You" and "Watch What Happens" – but in this version, the songs are just themes in the huge pastiche of dialogue and narrative, and they lurk behind the score in a beautiful way. This is one of our favorite all-time soundtracks, and this US version has a heavy cardboard gatefold sleeve, with a book in the middle that has lines from the film, and very nice pictures of Catherine Deneuve! LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the greatest jazz work ever recorded by Michel Legrand! Although Legrand's always been known for his sweet soundtrack work and his famous easy listening sides – he's also a heck of a jazz pianist, and here in this rare 1959 session, he works in a trio format that puts him right up there with the best of the French piano-technics of his generation, like Maurice Vander or Rene Utreger. The arrangements are wonderfully off-beat – and Legrand dances around the piano with a versatility that we didn't know he had. The group features Guy Pedersen on bass and Gus Wallez on drums – and titles include "Paris In The Spring", "Sous Les Ponts De Paris", "Paris Canaille", "Moulin Rouge", and "La Vie En Rose". CD

Ah, so French! Quite different than most of Michel Legrand's usual work – this one is much more of a tongue in cheek effort, featuring tunes that have a jaunty French-like sound – sort of served up for the American audience – with narration by Charles Boyer, in a Maurice Chevalier-type style. The whole thing's more kitschy than romantic, as is Legrand's other work from the time – but enjoyable nonetheless, and works well as an album. Ttiles include "Bossa Nova Ala Boyer", "Booby Trapped", "Be Free At Sea", "Chango Twist Party", "Millie's Theme", and "Love Is A Ball". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the biggest world music hits of the 60s – a unique album that mixes Congolese songs with a new interpretation of the Latin mass! Les Troubadours Du Roi Baudouin are an ensemble of young singers with a very joyous sort of feel – one that works equally well for the traditional numbers, and for the new recasting of the mass which takes up the second half of the record. Instrumentation is relatively spare – often just a bit of percussion underneath the soaring voices – and titles include the entire "Missa Luba", plus "Banaha", "Twai Tshinaminai", "Lutuku & A Bene Kanyoka", "Ebu Ewale Kemai", and "Dibwe Diambula Kabanda". LP, Vinyl record album

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A "best of" collection of some of Lins' work from as early as 1970 through 1986. Tracks include "O Amor E O Meu Pais", "Depende De Nos", "Madalena", "Daquilo Que Eu Sei", "Bandeira Do Divino", "Vitoriosa", "Novo Tempo", "Comecar De Novo", "Dinorah, Dinorah", "Juntos", "Me Deixa Em Paz", and "Antes Que Seja Tarde". CD

A wonderful 70s session from bossa legend Lyra, and a set that's got a different sound than some of his earlier work – but one that's still plenty great overall! The mode is a bit more subdued than before – still with bossa at the roots, but also production and instrumentation that nod a bit more towards the singer/songwriter generation of the time – almost with a European feel at time. Roberto Menescal produced, and arrangements by Theo Barros have a slow-building, unassuming quality that's really great. Chico Buarque guests on the groover "Essa Passou", and other titles include "Identidade", "Rio Vermelho", "Primavera", "O Pregoeiro", "Ate Parece", and "I See Me Passing By". CD

A very nice album of electric guitar groovers from a young Harvey Mandel! The record has less of the trippy dippy feel of Harvey's later albums – and instead has some nice tight jazzy arrangments, with his soulful guitar soloing over the top. Abe "Voco" Kesh produced the record – and it includes a very nice cover of "Jive Samba", plus the cuts "Poontang", "Boo Bee Doo", "Summer Sequence", "Short's Stuff", and "Just A Hair More". LP, Vinyl record album

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The Mystic Moods take a clever gimmick, and make it stick – using sound effects of rain and storms, as on other early albums, and mixing the whole thing with some really sweet instrumentals! The album features some great Don Ralke originals that get past the covers on earlier sides – tracks that include "Hot Bagel", "Fire Island", and "In Your Arms" – and the set also has a great train number, called "Local Freight"! Other tracks include "A Dream", "Aja Toro", and "Autumn Leaves". As the cover says, "Whoever you are, you hold in your heart the memory of One Stormy Night!" LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best early albums from the Mystic Moods – largely because it really ups the use of sound effects that was begun on the group's first album. The record is a smooth blend of train sounds, beach sounds, night sounds, and a million other weird noises – all filtered through late 60s pop hits like "Sound of Silence", "Do You Know The Way To San Jose", "Listen To The Warm", "Homeward Bound", "Cloudy", and "Trains, Boats, & Planes", played by a tight swinging group that even features some moog by Paul Beaver! LP, Vinyl record album

This is Asphodel's wonderful reissue of "word jazz" maestro Ken Nordine's classic mid 60s ode to the sultry side of the common, the uncommon, and some seemingly made up colors. ("Muddy" anyone?) Billed as "A Sensuous Listening Experience" – and truly living up to it somehow – it's a crazy suite of smoky, jazzbo spoken word monologues, each describing a different color, with groovy, loungey jazz backing. If you're unfamiliar with the weird, wordy world of Ken Nordine, this is the perfect place to start. 34 colors get the nod, including "Azure", "Russet", "Flesh", "Nutria", "Mauve", "Cerise", "Sepia" and others on the obscure spectrum, plus "Olive", "Lavender", "White", "Orange", "Purple" and lots of others on the common tip. If Monty Burn's got high on ether and cut a jazz album, this is probably what it would sound like. CD

An album of incomparable beauty – one of the two rare albums cut by this legendary group during the 60s, and a bossa nova masterpiece all the way through! The work is guided by a young Deodato – who's moving here into much more complicated territory than his early organ jazz records – a spacious sort of sound that really marks him as one of the most inventive talents of the mid 60s bossa era! The arrangements are light, and spacious – and leave plenty of room for individual voices to float through the mix – including key piano, saxophone, or trombone passages, plus some occasional harmony vocals – which resonate with the force of work by Tamba Trio at times. The whole thing's fantastic – and titles include "Nuvens", "Sambidu", "A Chuva", "O Show E O Meu Rio", "Novo Sol", and "Razao De Viver". CD

A really fantastic final album from The Peddlers – the UK trio who effortlessly mixed jazz and soul in the 60s, but who work here in a more expanded format! All the best elements of the group's sound are still nicely in place – those raspy vocals, strong use of keyboards, and especially their great sense of a groove – one that's made them a favorite for samples for more sophisticated DJs and producers over the years! But here, the sound is maybe even cooler – thanks to work from the London Philharmonic. Group leader/singer/keyboardist Roy Phillips composed the whole thing, and the Peddlers are at the core – but they're also helped out by percussionist John Punter and guitarist Toney Walmsley, and Peter Robinson – who did the larger orchestrations. Titles include "This Strange Affair", "Raining In London", "Sequence Of Thought", "Did She", "Sequence Of Thought", "In Juxtaposition", "Under London Nights", "River Lives", "I Have Seen", "Impressions", and "A Year And A Day Metamorphosis". 2LP set features a rare bonus album – with tracks from singles that include "Nothing Sacred", "Manah", "Sing Me An Old Song", "Have You Ever Been To Georgia", and "Back Alley Jane". LP, Vinyl record album

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Elis Regina hits the London scene of the late 60s – with amazing results that make the album one of her best from the early years! The style here is still quite bossa-oriented, but backings are done by Peter Knight – who'd worked with Scott Walker and some of the other hip British singers at the time – so the sound's a bit different than Elis' Brazilian records, too. Knight's quite sensitive to Regina's way of interpreting a tune – and he nicely follows the soaring, jazzy vibe that Roberto Menescal had given her at home. But the groove's also a bit more open and fluid too – with some slight Brit Easy touches that Really send the whole album home! Titles include a great version of "Upa Neguinho", plus "O Barquinho", "Zazueira", "Giro", "A Volta", "Corrida De Jangada", "Watch What Happens", and "Wave". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible soundtrack – and the beginning of a huge subgenre in Brazilian music! This album features some amazing cuts cut by some of our favorite Brazilian artists – and it was a very successful soundtrack to a popular soap opera at the time. It features an amazing mix of music, and it was extremely successful – and spawned a huge number of similar albums during the early 70s, most of them great, and many of them filled with excellent rare stuff that was only written for the shows. The record features a lovely track called "Andrea" by a very young Joyce; two great remakes of Caetano Veloso's "Irene", one by Wilson Das Neves, the other by Elis Regina (and her version of the song was so popular that a character on the show's name was changed to Irene!); a great groover called "Tela Tema", performed in 3 different versions, one by Regininha, one by Regininha e Laercio, and one by Claudio Roditi; Marcos Valle's great cut "Azimuth", done by Apolo IV in 2 different versions; the moody "Tema De Luciano" performed by Luiz Eca; and "Abertura" by The Youngsters. The sound is a great mix of grooves and baroque pop, and the record is the kind of treasure that keeps us hunting for Brazilian albums! LP, Vinyl record album

Rita Reys meets Oliver Nelson – and a host of other great jazz talents, including Lee Konitz, Benny Bailey, Sahib Shihab, and Klaus Doldinger! The tracks on the set are all standards, but they're done in the tightly swinging style of Nelson's best backing work for vocalists at the time – complete with those warm tones and colors that always made his work some of our favorite in this mode. The mode is a bit different for Reys, who we normally know from more fragile settings – but it works especially well here, and almost seems to compensate for a faltering quality in her vocals at the time. Titles include "The Very Thought Of You", "Quiet Nights", "The Second Time Around", "If I Were A Bell", "Ill Wind", and "Wives & Lovers". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare bit of samba jazz from Brazil – the only album we've ever seen by this Hammond-lead combo featuring organist Paulo Roberto! Roberto's sound is clean and lean – very much in the spirit of Walter Wanderley from the same period, and backed here with a similar blend of snapping percussion, plus bits of guitar, sax, and trumpet that really further the groove of the set! Rhythms are a mix of samba and bossa modes – and the record reminds us a fair bit of Ed Lincoln's best records – with lots of groovers throughout! Titles include "Murmurio", "Praca Onze", "Quem Me Dera", "Chorou Chorou", "Zelao", "O Morro Nao Tem Vez", and "E Voce Nao Dizia Nada". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer concept album from Demis Roussos – his first solo project, but recorded while still working with Aphrodite's Child – and with some of the same dark elements as their legendary 666 album! The songs here are shorter, and sometimes more tuneful – but the overall presentation is very odd – sometimes echoing ancient Greek roots, sometimes a bit more progressive – and often using cool psych production on Demis' vocals – in that way that gives them the same sinister feel as with Aphrodite's Child! The sound is amazing – much more sinister than any of Roussos' later pop work – and titles include "We Shall Dance", "End Of The Line", "Mountains Beyond", "Lord Of The Flies", "Without You", "She Came Up From The North", and "Good Days Have Gone". CD

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Wonderful stuff from Nina Simone – working here still with one foot in the jazzier style of early days, but with haunting elements of the later progressive style to come! The "pastel" in the title shouldn't imply any sort of softness on Nina's part, because if anything, she's really sharpening up her game a lot here – packing a punch that wasn't allowed so strongly on some of her earlier recordings. The album features an incredible 10 minute version of "Sinnerman", arranged by Nina with complicated jazzy riffing and a nice breakdown in the middle that's completely sublime – and other tracks include "Be My Husband", "End Of The Line", "Chilly Winds Don't Blow", "Strange Fruit", and "Ain't No Use". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album from Nina – one that broke down countless barriers with the classic tune "Four Women" – a righteous portrait of 4 different women and their struggles, unique for its time, and a key part of the early Women's Liberation movement! The rest of the album has a smiliar political undercurrent – sometimes subtle, but there nonetheless – as Nina works magic on tunes that include "Break Down & Let It All Out", "Either Way I Lose", "Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair", and "That's All I Ask". LP, Vinyl record album

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One of the weirdest, wildest albums Caetano Veloso ever recorded – a highly experimental session that shows that his ties with the avant art world were still plenty strong on his return to Brazil! Despite a goofy cheeseball photo of Veloso on the cover in a bikini, the sound on this one is waaaaay out – with weird avant garde vocal bits, choppy instrumentation, and wild shifts in style that make his Tropicalia albums almost seem like pop hits! As usual, Caetano's vocals are superb, especially as he slides from experimental tunes into straighter songs – like the title cut "Araca Azul", and Milton Nascimento's "Cravo E Canela". Proof that the Brazilian intelligentsia was still alive and well in the post-Tropicalia years – with other titles that include "De Palavar Em Palavra", "Julia/Moreno", "Epico", "Viola Meu Bem", "De Conversa", and "Sugarcane Fields Forever". LP, Vinyl record album

An album of pure genius – easily one of the greatest Brazilian albums ever, and a landmark set from the Tropicalia years! There's a brilliance here that's hard to describe accurately – quite possibly because the young Caetano Veloso is experimenting with so many new ideas, the album explodes with fresh energy on each new track! Offbeat bossa runs into weird production effects, subtle psychedelia, and heartfelt singer/songwriter material – all arranged by the mighty Rogerio Duprat, and featuring guest work from Gilberto Gil on guitar. The range of work here is tremendous – from the political "Empty Boat" to the fantastical "Lost in the Paradise", through other classics that include "Irene", "Os Argonautas", "Carolina", "Alfomega", "Chuvas De Verao", "Objeto Nao Identifcado", "Atras Do Trio Eletrico", and "Marinheiro So". CD

Caetano Veloso at the end of the 70s – still sounding wonderful, but in ways that are quite different from his earliest albums! The sound here is more restrained, and more mature – a beautiful example of the songwriting strength that Veloso evolved as his career moved on – tunes that have a simple, almost elegant brilliance – and which are carried off here by a small backing combo of keyboards, guitar, bass, and percussion. Caetano's vocals have an up-close feel that reminds us of the Qualquer Coisa album – but the overall sound of this set is almost more personal and intimate than that one too. Titles include "Trilhos Urbanos", "Oracao Ao Tempo", "Elegia", "Vampiro", "Aracaju", "Os Meninos Dancam", and "Beleza Pura". LP, Vinyl record album

Caetano Veloso in a wonderfully intimate mode – singing in this great spare setting that features only a bit of minimal instrumentation on guitar, percussion, and keyboards – a style that's very much in the best territory of his Qualquer Coisa record! Veloso's vocals are wonderful in the setting – hitting this new mature mode that rings out with a great sense of power – really the start of the strong legacy that would go on to transform Brazilian music for the next few decades – always creative, but understated in ways that are different than his earliest music. Titles include "Joia", "Lua, Lua, Lua, Lua", "Minha Mulher", and his excellent cover of "Help", sung in a breathy ballad with a twist that's totally different than the Beatles' version! LP, Vinyl record album

A really overlooked album from Caetano Veloso – one that's quite different than the more experimental modes of records like his Tropicalia sets, or his Araca Azul record – but with a unique charm that makes it every bit as special as those! The set's quite stripped-down and personal – and really has Veloso getting back to basics – in ways that are a bit like his UK album from 1971, but more upbeat and positive too. The tunes are really thoughtfully presented, with spare backing that puts Veloso's amazing vocals right out front – heard to especially wonderful effect on the album's English-language readings of three late Beatles tracks – "Eleanor Rigby", "For No One", and "Lady Madonna". All titles are great, though – and tunes include "Nicinha", "La Flor De La Canela", "Drume Negrinha", and "Samba E Amor". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

A mid-60s collection of some of the big songs that were rocking the Brazilian festivals of the time – early work by Gilberto Gil, Elis Regina, Claudette Soares, Geraldo Vandre, Jair Rodrigues, Nara Leao, and others! LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

A great issue of this legendary LA bop set – long tracks with key solos from Sonny Criss and Charlie Parker on alto, Chet Baker on trumpet, and Al Haig and Russ Freeman on piano. LP, Vinyl record album

Archetypal heavy rock from Blue Cheer – one of THE underground classics of the late 60s! Guitars are firmly, very jammingly in force – and the set's produced to perfection by the legendary Abe "Voco" Kesh. Powerful, fuzzed out, blues based fire at it's most forceful and exhilarating – ultimately setting the bar too high for the group, or altered versions of it, to ever again approach! Titles include their great cover of "Summertime Blues", plus "Doctor Please", "Out Of Focus", "Parchment Farm", "Second Time Around", and "All Night Long". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An important early release of Brel's best work in the US – titled in a way that references the hit musical based on his songs, and Rod McKuen's butchered translation of "Ne Me Quitte Pas". Fortunately, the album includes the original Brel recording of "Ne Me Quitte Pas", plus the tracks "La Moribond", "Marieke", "La Colombe", "L'Are De La Betise", "La Tendresse", "Les Flamands", and "La Valse A Mille Temps". LP, Vinyl record album